2,804 words

There is no city quite like Detroit, Michigan that exemplifies American deindustrialization. If one flies into the city’s airport at night, one looks down on a dark void, occasionally lit by streetlamps shining their light upon a ruin. By day, things look no better. Vast stretches of the city have become urban prairie. The story of Detroit (more…)

Detroit today

3,936 words

Much ink has been spilled on the decline of Detroit, once nicknamed the “Paris of the West.” Conservatives credit its failures to Democratic leadership while Leftists of all flavors conclude it’s Big Racism: America’s largest industry. (more…)

Detroit

2,875 words

The following is the text of a talk that was delivered at The New York Forum on January 28, 2017.

I might as well blab about outlaw fraternity. I know a thing or two about outlaw fraternity from running with the white boys in Detroit, pre-crack epidemic through post-crack epidemic. I ran in stride with Ferretti, (more…)

6,560 words

Green Lantern
(2011); 114 min.
Director: Martin Campbell
Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern; Mark Strong as Sinestro; Peter Sarsgaard as Hector Hammond  (more…)

930 words

The most depressing thing about Detroit’s bankruptcy isn’t the hours victims wait for police responses, sprawling neighborhoods reverting back to nature, historic buildings crumbling to ruin, or the once-vanquished problems of illiteracy and sex slavery climbing out of their graves. It’s certainly not the financial quandary the city’s in, or the uncertain fate of its pensioners and employees. The most hopeless thing about Detroit is the false hope which hangs on despite reason and sanity. (more…)

The Patriots lost

830 words

I didn’t watch the Super Bowl, but I did end up finding out about Chrysler’s dramatic attempt to frame the massive federal bailout of their floundering corporation as something to get patriotic about. During the half-time commercial break, Clint Eastwood snarls that “It’s half-time in America” . . . (more…)