May 27, 2008

Fun With 'NE Times' Letters Page

It's been a while since we've checked in with the Northeast Times letters page. Let's take a look.

But one thing that bites at me is that all these fine men in blue were white. How is it that they are always the first to respond?

Last year I visited my old hometown (Philadelphia). I drove by six police patrol cars on the road. Four out of six had the "rap music" on so loud I don’t think they could hear a dispatcher’s call. And the other two were on cell phones with their heads bobbing left to right. Very professional.

Oh, all six were black. I’m not saying I wished the cops that were killed were black, because I am not. But it just seems so strange that all were white.

Thanks, Anthony J. Porta from Sebring, Florida, for your insightful letter. "I'm not saying anything racist, like I wish black cops were killed. I just think all the black officers on the Philadelphia police department are lazy and listen to rap 'music.' See what I did there, with the quotes around it, insinuating it's not any good?"

Why are the white cops the ones to die? [Northeast Times, 4th from bottom]

Posted by D-Mac at 11:02 AM | Comments (4)

May 22, 2008

KYW Apparently Pushing Jail For Fliers

KYW 1060 has yet another story on those race-baiting fliers and once again I am going to write about it. Apparently, the radio station is just extremely pissed off that we can't go out and arrest those stupid skinheads who put them up and defamed Family Guy. Aargh, why can't we just lock up people who say things with disagree with?

This latest story talks to Mayor Nutter and is headlined "Nutter Acknowledges Difficulty of Prosecuting Those Who Distributed Race-Baiting Fliers," making me wonder if Nutter just wishes he could actually prosecute those who put up the fliers.

Fortunately, Mix Master Mike says nothing of the sort! "Much as we don't like some things, we can't always chase after people legally for things we don't like," he says, which sounds fine to me, I guess. And it certainly sounds better than notifying the authorities when you've been offended.

Sigh. Isn't there somebody at KYW or the Human Rights Commission we can lock up for saying this stupid shit? Erhm.

Nutter Acknowledges Difficulty of Prosecuting Those Who Distributed Race-Baiting Fliers [KYW 1060]
Earlier today: It's Apparently Legal To Be Offensive

Posted by D-Mac at 02:44 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2008

Speech Police Investigate Posters

Remember those Family Guy-quoting racist posters noted a little bit ago?

Well, it appears they've spread outside of our little Internet circle? The city's official speech police, the Human Rights Commission, has launched an investigation into those posters!

KYW 1060 reports:

Nick Taliaferro, executive director of the Human Relations Commission, says its response is more like outreach than investigation: "We are not policemen. We don't go out and try to arrest people. What we do is try to proactively engage the community in ways that will resist that type of poisonous engagement of an otherwise very decent community. You won't find better people than you will find at Shiller and Almond Street." Taliaferro says the commission will look to see if the law was broken and if the poster had any effect beyond creating upset.

They are not policemen, yet they will look and see if the law was broken. Clearly, these posters aren't sanctioned city billboards -- someone has to pay with some time in jail.

Phila. Human Relations Commission Probes Racist Fliers [KYW 1060]

Posted by D-Mac at 02:04 PM | Comments (12)

May 12, 2008

Family Guy-Quoting Racists!

Hey, look, there are racist posters everywhere! I guess. The above shot is from Cottman and Frankford; it was posted at Domelights (the thread later turns into posters arguing that few black officers go to benefits for slain white officers). It's also, uhm, a freaking joke from Family Guy.

And, hey: A poster at Young Philly Politics found a different one (uh, I guess) after regaling us with a story of buying a new belt at the Gap outlet and realizing some people might not like Barack Obama because he's black.

Posted by D-Mac at 09:41 AM | Comments (3)

April 17, 2008

Get It? Get It?

Don Russell, aka Joe Sixpack, notes an oh-so-hilarious shirt from Casper's Place on Cottman Avenue.

While heading down Pattison Avenue toward the ballpark for Jackie Robinson night at the Phillies, I found myself behind some guy in a green t-shirt advertising Casper’s Place on Cottman Avenue. The cartoon ghost on the shirt is shown saying, “No spooks allowed.”

Oh, that good ol' fashioned American racism. Joe Vento's place looks like Multicultural Mexican Food compared to this place.

Casper the unfriendly racist ghost [Beer Radar]

Posted by D-Mac at 12:23 PM | Comments (4)

July 19, 2007

Let's Ask Philly.com Users What The Dirtiest SEPTA Stop Is

I imagine the stop that's the most offensive is the one with the most blacks at it all day.

Uhh, yeah, let's not.

It's SEPTA riders vs. subway rodents [Inquirer]

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April 09, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Phillies Make Fans Look Good

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th Loss, coming sometime later this year. Currently, the Phillies stand at 9960 losses, only 40 away from 10,000.

It's no doubt the Phillies are one of the worst teams in professional sports history. But what if they deserve it?

The Inquirer is running a series on Jackie Robinson's 60th birthday; today Frank Fitzpatrick recounts the treatment the Phillies game Robinson on his first trip to the City of Brotherly Love. Sadly -- but naturally -- people chanted racial slurs at the rookie, but it wasn't the fans. It was the players, goaded on by the manager.

Racist manager Ben Chapman decided the best way to welcome Robinson to Philadelphia would be to make it as unpleasant to him as possible. And so, when Robinson came up to bat, Jonathan Eig said, "[h]is accounts in later years, and accounts by others who were there, say the Phillies mentioned Robinson's thick lips, thick skull, and sores and diseases his teammates and their wives would likely contract by associating with him." (Sadly enough, Robinson also wasn't allowed to stay at the hotel the rest of the Brooklyn Dodgers stayed at.)

Here's how bad it was:

This time, the vitriol from the Phils was so intensely unrelenting that several fans seated near their dugout wrote commissioner Happy Chandler to complain.

The racism from the manager and the players was so bad even Philadelphia sports fans were pissed. To this day, Ben Chapman remains the only man to make us look good.

Part 2: Phils hurled insults at the 'noble experiment' [Inquirer]

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October 10, 2006

Eagles Fans 1, Croatian Soccer Fans 0

See those people? Those are Croatian soccer (football, whatever) fans at a friendly in Italy a few months ago. And -- that's right -- they've come together to boo the other team by forming a nice giant swastika in the stands.

We Eagles fans behaved pretty well on Sunday. But next time somebody's telling you how bad Eagles fans are, well, then just pull out the old "other people are worse" card.

'Cuz, hey, for all our faults, Eagles fans have never formed a human swastika to boo the other team.

Nazty [The Sun via Deadspin]

Posted by D-Mac at 02:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

KKK Blankets Jersey With Poorly-Drawn Fliers

A community gathering at a park in Deerfield Township, New Jersey, was invaded over the weekend. No, it wasn't invaded by ants or whatever else ruins picnics in cartoons. It was invaded by a the Ku Klux Klan.

Two men were arrested for passing out Klan fliers at the gathering, including the flyer shown in the photo, which appears to be some sort of crude drawing of Casey Jones from Ninja Turtles. The two Millville men -- 37-year-old Joseph Bednarsky Jr. and 33-year-old Robert Barker -- obviously annoyed a few people at Deerfield Township's Harvest Festival and a ruckus broke out. They ended up being arrested by state police for disorderly conduct, although it seems pretty clear they were actually arrested for passing out Klan fliers.

So who are these two mystery men? Barker said he wasn't passing out literature -- but did say he's a Klan member, natch -- while Bednarsky wasn't home when NBC 10 contacted him (emphasis mine):

Bednarsky, who calls himself the imperial wizard of the Confederate Knights Of The Ku Klux Klan Of Millville, was not home Monday afternoon. His mother answered the door.

What's lamer than being in the KKK? Not even being a good enough racist fuck to get a real title from the organization, and making up your own. Oh, and living with your mom on top of all that.

Two Klan Members Arrested At Local Festival [NBC 10]

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