Immigration
The Biden Administration calls the tumult at our Southern border a “challenge,” while critics call it “chaos.” As Shakespeare wrote, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Or, in this case, stink. A few days ago, some of those from Central America arrived at the border wearing
Racism
To the tune of “Green Eggs and Ham” I am Suess/No excuse/I am Suess Do you like/Yellow Japs and Blacks?/I do not like them I am Suess/I have no excuse Would you like them/Here or there? I would not like/Them anywhere I am
Culture
This is a story about a plumber, no wise cracks. (Pardon the pun.) While most of us just stared dumbly at the crazy cold that brought Texas to its knees, turning out the lights and bursting the water pipes, Andrew Mitchell was spurred to action. He reacted when he saw
Animals
Nathan Winograd, a highly regarded animal advocate who leads the No-Kill Advocacy Center, tells me the Pennsylvania Senate has a bill that could cut the heart of the state’s misery-inducing puppy mills. I’ll let him speak here: “Legislation introduced in Pennsylvania would make it illegal for
Race Relations
How many unarmed Black men do you think were shot by police in 2019, the last year available from the Washington Post, which maintains probably the best data base on this subject? Do you think it was 10? 100? 1,000? 10,000? Have you picked a number? Do you
Uncategorized
I had a “Mister Potato Head” as a kid. Two things were true. It did not have much “play value,” meaning time spent playing with the thing. And I wasn’t thinking about gender norms when I stuck ears on it. I often chose to stick the ears in the
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You ever get a tune stuck in your head, one that comes around like a merry go round, and you can’t shake it? Please don’t come at me with Baby Shark. For me, lately, it’s been “Me and Bobby McGee.” I don’t know why, but it
Sports
Which professional sport produces the biggest major league asshats? I mean players, not fans. (In Philly, you gotta specify.) It's axiomatic that most athletes in the Big Four — baseball, football, hockey, basketball — are coddled, but which sport offers up the characters with the worst character? Which athletes get
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It’s been more than a week since the death of Mary Wilson, one of the three original Supremes, one of the most important groups in American music, and in America. The other two were Florence Ballard and Diana Ross. They were three Black Detroit teens with talent, and the
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This probably will make my former colleague Helen Ubinas mad at me. But the Inquirer columnist has been mad at me, or my opinions, before. Two things we share — our Bronx birthplace and our love of dogs. That’s about it. We disagree that she is a liberal. I once
Racism
Let’s agree there’s more than one way to skin a cat, but no one should want to skin a cat. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping used to say he didn’t care what color a cat was, as long at it caught mice. Curiously — because cats are curious — this
Race Relations
I grew up steeped in the belief of equality. For a number of years I wore a round lapel pin that was all black except for an = symbol in white. It was a simple, powerful message, a product of the Urban League. In recent months, maybe longer, I noticed the