Urban/Global Politics

I’m struck by the beauty of the Italian language. If I’m ever somehow involved in a celebrity media gossip controversy again, I hope it’s reproduced in as many Romance languages as possible. Also, thanks to Noam Cohen at Media Decoder. Just one correction: I watched a substantial amount of the shoot from the sidewalk, from […]

Breaking news…several students were attacked, beaten and arrested at Baruch College protesting a proposed tuition increase for all of CUNY. This happens on the heels of the pepper spray incident at UC Davis, which has forced the placing on administrative of leave of the University police chief. I’m assuming you’ve already seen that video.Right now […]

If nothing else, this latest move by the Occupy crew made it widely known where Mayor Bloomberg actually lives. Right down the block from the Met, of all places. I mean, we all knew that he didn’t live at Gracie Mansion because it was below his standards. No, a man of his ilk needed to […]

http://current.com/shows/countdown/videos/keiths-special-comment-why-occupy-wall-street-needs-michael-bloomberg Couldn’t have said it any better myself. I suppose he could have pointed out the connection between Frank Miller, OWS and Batman movies. And now, for something completely different, from my old pal Papo: http://Papoletospeaks.blogspot.com Go ahead, click on it!

I started a new blog that will consist of short takes on whatever comes up on random (shuffle) play. They will be meditations on songs and memory. Expect regular updates. Right now I have them up on wordpress and tumblr. Not sure which format I’m going to stay with right now.

  Johnny Depp’s new movie, The Rum Diary certainly seems to be motivated by good intentions. It’s a homage to his late friend, gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson, and it replaces some of his original novel’s derogatory treatment of Puerto Ricans with a progressive argument against the way unbridled speculative business ventures exploit that vulnerable island […]

I never really knew Piri at all although the one time I met him he was an incredibly generous spirit. It was one of the last times I read poetry on the Lower East Side and he seemed to understand the dificulty I was having communicating and he told me that I had to get […]

“Here…This is my world,” says J-Lo in the voiceover. “This place inspires me…to be tougher…to stay sharper…to think faster.” In other words, this is how the other 99 percent lives. With a little luck and some socially responsible philanthropy, they might just… The ad embedded above was partially shot on my block a few weeks […]