This August a former student of mine will go on trial for capital murder in Texas. I have no reason to suspect anything other than that he will receive the maximum sentence in the end, which is death. The thought that hung over my head wasn’t “how did we not see it coming?” but something […]
Archives for 2020
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: On The Demolition of the Symbols
When we see something that we are used to seeing being taken away or changed, we tend to pay special attention. In this recent upsurge against police violence, the protestors have been advocating for the removal of statues, flags, names of well-known places like parks and streets, even the titles of military bases in the […]
Police Rebellion, Then and Now
Jarrod: A recent New York Times headline sums it up well: “Facing Protests Over Use of Force, Police Respond With More Force.” Even as America’s cult of cop worship implodes before our eyes, it is clear that many cops across the country have no interest in playing nice for the cameras. Rayshard Brooks was murdered […]
Fireworks
As the murder of George Floyd set the streets alight, revelers in New York City lit up the night skies with volleys of fireworks smuggled in from out of state. The celebration seemed fitting — the people had risen up, the Minneapolis precinct burned. Apparently overnight, the police had lost their legitimacy in the eyes […]
When the PBA Defends Bad Cops
I wrote the following letter to the editor of The Irish Echo in 2000. Patrick Lynch, the current President of the NYC Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA), had just been elected to his first term. Suffice it to say that he has continued acting in a despicable tradition, so what I wrote then still stands. Pictured […]
Middle of the Road
“The middle of the road is no private cul-de-sac I can’t get from the cab to the curb Without some little jerk on my back” Middle of the Road – The Pretenders During the Ariel Sharon reign, the Israeli Defense Force (the IDF) was particularly prone to brutal attacks and incursions into Palestinian refugee camps. […]