How many of the homeless here in affluent State College will be dead by midnight Christmas Day?
I took this photograph less than an hour ago. A homeless man is bundled over a cup of coffee as the wind chill factor is 27 degrees F and scattered flakes of snow are beginning to fall. Four blocks away a brand new multi-story Hyatt has gone up where on premium football weekends a single room costs $450 a night. As the Manhattanization of Downtown State College progresses with abandon, it is no surprise that this month—just in time for Christmas—less than three blocks away one of this community’s homeless shelters shut down. The temperature is dropping rapidly. Will this man be dead by midnight when Santa Claus begins his rounds determining who has been naughty or nice?
Come back soon, hear, I have just begun this screed
Rose Mallinger, 97, was the eldest of the 11 members of Pittsburgh’s Conservative congregation killed in the worst anti-Semitic attack in US history
“I’ve known Rose a long time and it was always going to be that she was so vibrant and bright and sharp-witted that she would live past 100,” said Organist. “You knew something was going to take her eventually, but it wasn’t going to be gun violence.”
Lady Gaga: Poker Face
Poker Face is the best song of our decade What decade are we in? Mum mum mum mah Mum mum mum mah Mum mum mum mah Mum mum mum mah Mum mum mum mah I wanna hold ’em like they do in Texas, please Fold ’em, let ’em hit me, raise it; baby, stay with … Continue reading Lady Gaga: Poker Face
At Rittenhouse Square, in love then, now, and forever with Leah, Jean Shepherd, and….
“Speaking of fishbowls, this is WOR—AM and FM, New York.” ++++ It was then, a more recent then from Rittenhouse Square, but then nonetheless. I am not only older but old with pain radiating from the base of my spine until I remember: Leah, 16, the Ethical Culture Society, The Congress of Racial Equality and … Continue reading At Rittenhouse Square, in love then, now, and forever with Leah, Jean Shepherd, and….
For me the Worricker Trilogy is an example of the power of entertainment to distract from pain
I am the kind of person who craves catnip given my personal circumstance. Yesterday, when I watched the series from start to conclusion without pause, my objective was distraction to the point where I no longer felt relentless pain–a consequence of surgery for kidney cancer. As with Ralph Fiennes’ ability to transfer pressure and whiplash from the real to the non-existent, the realization of David Hare’s words was entirely successful.
Transcript of my preliminary hearing where the Court found enough evidence to try me in Commonwealth Court
THE DEFENDANT: I understand you don’t want to talk about anything other than the street and I appreciate that. But PennDOT is responsible for major
injury to the elderly and disability community that resides
on Beaver Avenue. This particular issue, namely depriving me of the right to go to synagogue finally got my goat as it were.
The officer was correct in everything he said. You know, this was a planned arrest. There was no danger at all to me or anybody on the highway when I went out into the middle of the road with two police cars. I knew the unmarked police car was an unmarked police car There were several officers and an ambulance over there.
I am not certifiable. Proof that I’m not certifiable is that the police chief and an officer sent me to the hospital to try to certify me. Mt. Nittany Medical Center wouldn’t do it.
THE COURT: Point taken.
Dancing a wheelchair tango at the Inaugural Ball for New Mexico Governor Grisham
Santa: In my Yiddisha stocking, please insert a plane ticket to New Mexico, a reservation for a mobility device when I arrive, one $1,00 ticket and enough moola to make a donation to HIAS, pay off my most demanding creditors before dancing the tango at the inaugural ball for Michelle Lujan Grisham, the wonderful new governor of New Mexico, who will embrace refugees from the horrors of central America as the Statute of Liberty recommends.
PBS: Appoint Jane Ferguson, risking her life in Yemen, permanent moderator, Washington Week
Yesterday, at risk to her life, Jane Ferguson reported on the PBS’ excellent News Hour from the only open port in Yemen from which food and medicine can still be shipped to provide relief to millions of civilians .
A fragile cease-fire the UN negotiated in Sweden may bring a modicum of hope in a country where tragedy prevails.
Meanwhile, on the PBS network, Washington Week—once the premier weekly opinion program in the US—exemplifies the dominant isolationism of,the White House Corps. On Friday night Washington Week continued to ignore ( as it has for years) the humanitarian tragedy in Yemen and President Trump’s complicity in Saudi genocide.
PBS should immediately appoint Jane Ferguson Washington Week’s peermant moderator,replacing Robert Costa who covers the White House for The Washington Post. If Ferguson is not available, Reporters without Borders has many brave reporters on the front lines of the world’s humanitarian crises. American politicians tell the public we are the leading power in the world. If that power is to mean anything, it must be used to resolve crises— not hide from them and pretend they do not exist.
“Enclosed is an invitation I received from the White House” 1978
Letter to my sister ++++ On page two, I wrote: “Also, I have another painting. This one is of a boat house on Long Island. It is neat. ++++ Page two of two … Continue reading “Enclosed is an invitation I received from the White House” 1978