On the Outside Agitators Question Governors, Mayors, Police Chiefs, and many network TV journalists with their security experts are all set on promoting the idea that the uncontainable sectors of the enormous protests that are engulfing America are made up of sinister “outside agitator” elements. These breakfast table theories vary from a slightly sophisticated knowledge […]
“It felt like the world stopped”: A Hasidic Jew’s perspective on COVID-19 in Brooklyn
Recently, much controversy has arisen regarding Orthodox Jewish communities in NYC and the COVID-19 virus. Early in the pandemic, a media narrative emerged that Orthodox communities in Brooklyn neighborhoods were disproportionately violating social distancing measures. Many argued this was false, exaggerated, and/or betrayed an outsized media focus on these communities, leading to antisemitism. Recent data […]
The Fire Down Below
The popular saying is “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” It is often used to explain the reasons for a rumor, or to describe another firearm metaphor “the smoking gun” (the hidden truth that will blow the story wide open). The fires we all saw in Minneapolis on Thursday night (May 28th) illuminated a lot more […]
“An Injury to One is an Injury to All” A Minneapolis Bus Driver on Solidarity with Minneapolis Protesters
Adam is a bus driver in Minneapolis and a member of ATU Local 1005 and Socialist Alternative MN. In the midst of the ongoing protests in Minneapolis, he made the decision to refuse police officers’ request to use his bus to transport arrested people to the precinct. As a consequence of this and other pressure, […]
Cats, Rats and Bats: Dick Whittington’s Cat, Rat Infestations and the Trump Quackery
At the foot of Highgate Hill in North London is a statue of Dick Whittington’s cat. The Dick Whittington story is a part of English folklore. It has been embellished over the centuries, and re-enacted through ballads, nursery rhymes, poetry, theater, pantomimes, and even puppet shows. Dick Whittington might be a stranger to people who […]
ON THE TB WARD: A few stories of lungs
When I was being treated for TB in the old St Mary’s Hospital on Harrow Road in London – this was in 1972, a long time ago – the nurses used to give the patients a bottle of Guinness every day, to aid our recovery. The trolley would come round at about 4pm, and we’d […]