Opinion
-
FeaturesOPINION: On the Unfunctionality of Philly’s Open Government Machine
In an old sketch comedy bit, two bored airplane pilots get on the PA system and repeatedly assure passengers the plane’s wings aren’t on fire. Passengers grow more worried with…
Jack Grauer | 08/25/2016 -
OpinionThe Local Lens: So Long, Sammy
Let’s consider the empty house on the street where I live. The house is empty because the owner, Sammy, a guy about 30, suddenly moved out after living…
Thom Nickels | 08/25/2016 -
OpinionThe Local Lens: They Come In Droves…
They come to the neighborhood in droves. Sometimes they come as couples and occasionally they have a dog in tow. They set up camp in the strangest places: in…
Thom Nickels | 08/17/2016 -
OpinionLocal Lens: A Tour of Philly’s New Mormon Temple
Last week I participated in a press tour of Philadelphia’s new Mormon temple. As I made my way to the opening event, I thought of my introduction to Mormonism…
Thom Nickels | 08/10/2016 -
DNC 2016The Local Lens: The DNC is History
The Democratic National Convention is now history. City streets are quieter, the traffic less daunting, and there’s finally a sense of being able to breathe easy. Though a national…
Thom Nickels | 08/03/2016 -
OpinionThe Local Lens: The Community as a Bad Influence
Somewhere in the Riverwards there was a little boy named Oswald. Oswald was 5 years old when he wondered why his parents never let him play with the ordinary…
Thom Nickels | 07/27/2016 -
OpinionThe Local Lens: Chaput’s Amoris Laetitia Guidelines Have Caused Quite the Stir
Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles J. Chaput created a stir when he published his “Pastoral Guidelines for Implementing Amoris Laetitia,” his clarification of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on love and the family. In…
Thom Nickels | 07/20/2016 -
NewsLetter to the Editor: “I’m In The Dead Center Looking Around”
“I’m not on the outside looking in, I’m not on the inside looking out. I’m in the dead center looking around.” As a young adult in today’s society, I see…
Michael Beck | 07/14/2016 -
DNC 2016The Local Lens: Will This DNC Lead to the “New World Order?”
When the DNC comes to Philadelphia, we can expect crowds, a cacophony of different accents filling the city’s hotel lobbies, more taxis and limos on the street than we’ve seen…
Thom Nickels | 07/14/2016 -
OpinionThe Local Lens: A Story of Nazareth
I’m standing on Aramingo Avenue waiting for a bus when a guy passing on a bicycle skids to a stop in front of me. The stranger takes off his helmet…
Thom Nickels | 07/06/2016 -
FeaturesThe Local Lens: A Converstation with Carlton Willers
I first heard the name Carlton Willers while interviewing author Victor Bockris, when Bockris was in Philadelphia to introduce an early (and bad) Andy Warhol film entitled “Kitchen.” Willers,…
Thom Nickels | 06/29/2016 -
OpinionLocal Lens: Looking Back on Orlando
It’s hard to know what you or I would do if confronted with a gunman in a crowded nightclub. Any decision about where to run or hide would be a…
Thom Nickels | 06/22/2016