
The only reason that the two deaths caused by cyclists in recent days are notable is because deaths caused by cyclists are so rare.
Let's let that sink in for a second.
If you look at it with [...]

The only reason that the two deaths caused by cyclists in recent days are notable is because deaths caused by cyclists are so rare.
Let's let that sink in for a second.
If you look at it with [...]
On Tuesday, we officially learned that Comcast has challenged the City of Philadelphia's application to the federal government for stimulus funds to build broadband infrastructure for disenfranchised communities. This decision by Comcast exhibits the worst of corporate malfeasance and it must be challenged.
In comments last week to a [...]
All righty! Election year fun begins with this little number introduced yesterday into the House by a sub-sub-subset of the Republican brain trust: HB 2112: An act prohibiting membership in labor unions by illegal aliens.
No labor organization representing public or private sector employees shall:
(1) Knowingly have as [...]
Defensiveness and indignance replaced last week’s spunk and incisive critique by Joe Biden at this morning’s annual fundraising breakfast for the Committee of Seventy.
Last week, Biden spoke of the current health care system as “socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.” This morning however, most of [...]
As we all know by now, Councilmen Kenney and DiCicco have decided that the city needs new laws to regulate bicycles. These proposed regulations include:
1) That not only must you register your bikes- for a 20 dollar fee- but you must have a license plate on that bike;
2) Riding [...]
Former Commonwealth Court judge Doris Smith-Ribner is running for Senate.
Her campaign appears to be just getting underway.
I don't know that much about her except that she is from the Pittsburgh although I think she has lived in Mt. Airy for some time. I don't know much about her positions [...]
Each year in the U.S., 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school with limited options for higher education or employment. Many undocumented youth were brought to this country as children, even infants, by their parents. They are indistinguishable in every way but one from their citizen friends, classmates, and siblings: [...]
Members of the Philadelphia Digital Justice Campaign are concerned about the potential merger between Comcast and NBC-Universal. And you should be, too. Here's why:
If the FCC approves the deal, it is obvious that consumers will end up paying higher fees for both content and access to programming. The cable giant [...]
I will leave it to Dan to pound the nails into the coffin, but the front page of today's papers and this quote are pretty amazing:
Perzel, the former House speaker, was charged yesterday with 82 counts of theft, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and conflict of interest. The grand jury [...]
This story rocks:
Eighteen months ago, Hauger set his students' eyes on what ought to be an absurd competition for a small, underfunded high-school club to enter: the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE.
The competition requires entrants to create an affordable car that gets 100 mpg and can be mass-produced.' [...]
Some progressives, motivated in part by Dennis Kucinich’s vote against HR 3926 are expressing disappointment with and even opposition to the health care reform legislation going through Congress.
While HR 3926 is not perfect—and the anti-abortion language added to it is terrible and will, we believe, be removed later in the [...]
I cringed when I saw the cover of this morning’s Philadelphia Daily News: the blurred back of an Asian man with the headline "The lonely, illegal world of ‘Mr. Cheng’."
After all, how many Daily News covers do you see with Asians on them? So now we get a [...]
Political Scientist Michael Parenti catalogued seven generalizations about the way the news media create anti-union messaging--from painting workers as greedy, to omitting the salary of management or depicting public officials (like Mayor Nutter) as neutral. Using this lens to dissect the coverage of the SEPTA strike, it becomes clear [...]
Please make a few quick phone calls to help prevent foreclosures, bankruptcies and increased poverty in our communities. At present there are a number of state lawmakers working hard to promote [...]
All the work we have been doing to create a guarantee of quality affordable health care for all is coming to a point: The House vote on HR 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act is scheduled to take place this Saturday, November 7 at around 6:00 pm.
The vote [...]
While on the subject of unions, the Temple Nurses union has been in tense negotiations with the hospital for months. At issue, among other things, is a contract demand that the union shut up about the bosses at the hospital.
The workers say the gag order sucks. [...]
The mainstream press across Philadelphia is turning commuters against transit workers. Instead of practicing journalism and explaining to the public why transit workers have gone on strike, they have instead given a platform to one side of the contract negotiations and helped the Mayor pit working people across the [...]
The Inquirer recently printed a cheerleadery puff-piece about Marcellus Shale development in Southwest and Northwest, Pennsylvania. Too bad they didn't combine the story with about how the drillers managed to weasel out of a severance tax (and the Governor's very unconvincing rhetoric' [...]
My ancestors immigrated to the US for the assortment of typical reasons we all know about, including escaping the hostile climate towards Jews in Eastern Europe, and leaving Ireland in search of a better, more secure life.
It wasn't an uncommon story. My great-grandfather supported my Grandmom and her 11' [...]
Man, I knew him when:
This was Seth Williams at Drinking Liberally at Ten Stone, if I remember correctly. It was 2005, there hadn't been an Obama campaign yet, YPP was still in its infancy, Seth had some more hair, and a lot of us (i.e. me' [...]
Right behind Norma Fiorentino's house, they have been drilling for natural gas. Some of the gas is coming from under Norma's property, so she gets a little money for it (not all that much so far, though). She also got a present on New Year's Day. Her water well [...]
SEPTA is on strike.
I spent a lot of my walk to work today thinking about the strike. And although there is a lot more that could be said, more than anything I was happy that in this country--which has been ravaged by corporate interests and a rapid right-wing--that every [...]
On Friday, the Media and Democracy Coalition stood with SEIU, the Teamsters, UFCW, Healthcare for America Now, small business owners, Greenpeace, PennEnvironment, AFSCME, Change to Win, the Sierra Club, and many other groups in denouncing the regressive policies of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at its meeting in Philadelphia.
The [...]
Mike H, Dan U-A, jennifer, HelenGym, twolfson, BradyDale, Marc Stier, Blkleaf, Ray Murphy