Disqus - Latest Comments for lspikol

Re: Black Comedy - philadelphia weekly online

lspikol — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:00:05 -0000

I think your phrasing is beautiful, and I plan to quote you on it.

As for the movies, Lois, you are so right, which is why it was going waaaaay out of my comfort zone to abandon what I call the Holy Tradition of the Two Rs: the Ritz and Race Street. (There's something wrong with that capitalization, but I can't put my finger on it right now.)

But I do want to clarify something: Jim David, the comedian I mention, is actually a hilariously funny guy. I thought his act was great and I really enjoyed him. He's not a bigot -- I hope I didn't imply that he was. Someone suggested that it might have come across that way. As I said to the person who read it that way, my critique was communally directed -- at the Yidn, not the comedians. Jim meant nothing wrong by using the word.

Re: Black Comedy - philadelphia weekly online

lspikol — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:00:35 -0000

I've refrained from commenting, but I think it's time. Sometimes I don't make my point as eloquently as I wish, so I'm grateful the web allows us the time for further dialogue. To me what the word means in Yiddish, as spoken by Yiddish speakers, is irrelevant. I would guess that 99 percent of American Jews don't speak fluent Yiddish, if any Yiddish beyond "meshugena" and "oy vey" and other idiomatic expressions. When I took the language in graduate school, I was blown away by how much I didn't know, despite thinking I'd had a lot of exposure to it. Most Jews don't know Yiddish as a language: They don't know how it's written, what it's roots are, its grammar, etc. etc. So those who know Yiddish intimately are lucky, but in a select group.

The key question at hand is whether the word is offensive when spoken in an English-language context. If we were all sitting around speaking exclusively Yiddish, this would be a different conversation. So is the word offensive when those who are primarily English-speakers relay it to others who speak primarily English? This apparently is debatable.

Such debates are long-standing. It's interesting that within the debate, the word Yid comes up too. I used it once in a headline and was torn apart by angry Jewish readers who said I was totally offensive and a self-hater by using a derogatory term to apply to our community. Again, it was debatable, but I wouldn't use it again. Seeing that some people felt wounded by it, I don't feel it's worth it. It's not a sufficient argument to say, "Well, in Yiddish, it just means Jew..." If it hurts people and marginalizes people, what are we gaining?

Linguistic and semantic discussions aside, why do we argue whether such terms are offensive? You're right, yunger yid, words travel. By arguing how far words have traveled, we're not really addressing what matters. I would ask not if the word is offensive, but why we feel the need to defend it? Why can't we just say, "It wounds people. It has, for some, a racist connotation. That's enough to do without it."

Is it so hard to imagine a world in which we live without it? I speak now not to fluent Yiddish speakers, but to every other Jew. Can you make a case for its use? I can't imagine one.

Re: A Nutter Day - philadelphia weekly online

lspikol — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:50:09 -0000

That's a great idea. I'll run it by our editor.

Re: A Nutter Day - philadelphia weekly online

lspikol — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:36:18 -0000

You make a lot of good points. My point about police department cuts is not pragmatism; it's about attitude. It's to say that if there were cuts to University City or Chestnut HIll, for instance, the protests would be as heated, if not more so, and that there aren't any cuts that wouldn't (and won't) provoke fury. But I agree that the cops are often in the wrong places, like Chestnut Hill, and usually just to quell rich people who actually think "crackheads" want to steal their DVD players. If they only understood why crimes occur and where, they'd leave their doors wide open.

My point about school libraries is to challenge the one-issue people who say they're interested in keeping the branches open for children because the schools don't have libraries for those children. People who are focused exclusively on that cause and effect aren't looking at the school system; they're content to rely on the library system to provide what the schools lack. I truly believe that if we really want to advocate for our children, we'd do well to start with the SDP. Sometimes our Quaker parochialism limits our activism. The schools in Philadelphia have been shitholes for years, with kids using outdated textbooks and suffering without proper facilities. I heard one teacher say her entire curriculum was based on the library because the school was so under-resourced. Jesus. I wish people were willing to stand outside their neighborhood schools and demand their children get a decent education when they hear about illiteracy and drop-out rates. I wish they'd stand in the frickin' doorways and prevent teachers and principals from getting in. But if they're not willing to do that -- if they're only willing to do that when a neighborhood library that's compensating for the school's insufficiency closes -- it's frustrating.

My understanding of the Rittenhouse branch staying open -- a point I specifically challenged Sandy Horrocks on -- is that it serves Washington Ave. Now, I don't actually believe there are throngs of people from Washington Ave. coming to Rittenhouse Square to borrow books, but if you adhere to the ALA standards, Rittenhouse has to stay open to accommodate the people in that neighborhood. The Central branch is too far from them.

Of all the closures, I think the Kingsessing branch iis the most problematic, and I'm not saying that because it's in my neighborhood. I say that because as you point out, the turnstile count and usage is quite high. But in terms of accessibility and geography, I believe Cobbs Creek technically has to be open to satisfy the ALA standards? I could be wrong about that.

I think the question that needs to be asked of Reardon is this: Must we adhere to the ALA standards? How have other cities that have made similar (and more dramatic) cuts made such determinations? With those standards? Or subjectively?

Re: A Nutter Day - philadelphia weekly online

lspikol — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:16:04 -0000

So cute! I think a big part of the problem with Nutter is that, as opposed to his smiles during the campaign, he's now got a terrible bedside manner. People can handle a lot if they feel they're part of a process, if they feel their leader cares about them and empathizes. Nutter is kind of tone deaf emotionally these days -- not like Street; no one could be like Street on that subject -- but he's unable to project a conciliatory facade. It'll be interesting to see how Obama responds to some of the same challenges: Will he be warm and encouraging or hard and defensive? Either way, he can't win either.

Re: A Nutter Day - philadelphia weekly online

lspikol — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:03:43 -0000

Hey Brendan,

I thought I'd hear from you! I too live in Southwest, about two blocks from you, so I hear what you're saying. I'm just trying to urge people to think more broadly: If a police station was shut down instead of a library, there would be riots in the streets. Isn't it true that there are no good cuts? That any cuts at all with be lambasted? As for the school libraries, I'm well aware that the schools in question don't have libraries. So where's Arlene Ackerman on all this? Why wouldn't the District comment for my article? Why aren't people standing out the school and picketing the fact that their children don't have books in SCHOOL? That's where they're supposed to be! (I apologize for the caps and the exclamation mark; it's out of character. I'm just frustrated.) If you look at the turnstile counts for the libraries, there's simply no denying that many of them--poor neighborhood or no--are the least utilized across the system. When you compare the turnstile count of 07-08 between Northeast Regional (570,467) to Durham (31,232), you can sort of understand the rationale for closing Durham, right? So when people at town hall meetings are upset that libraries in the Northeast aren't closing, isn't that erecting a strawman too? Nothing is black and white; there's plenty of blame to go around. Placing that blame primarily on one person doesn't make sense, nor is it productive.

Re: A Nutter Day - philadelphia weekly online

lspikol — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:23:55 -0000

I understand what you're saying, and it's certainly true that during recessions and other financial crises, library use goes up, precisely because of the things you articulate here. The problem is the hierarchy of cuts, I suppose, given the discretionary options: police, fire, human services, streets, recreation and library. There have been cuts made across all government entities, and there will certainly be more, but as a first round, I suspect cutting police is not the first thing the administration wanted to tackle -- and rightly so, I'd argue. Fire companies did get closed and I'm guessing human services will be compromised as well; I don't believe any department will escape this crisis. What the library administration decided (not Nutter) was that it was preferable to have superior service in most branches rather than compromised service in all. I too question the permanency of the cuts; that makes them suspect to me. But I also believe that Nutter is essentially the same person he's always been: committed to the poor and the neighborhoods, but faced with an insurmountable challenge. As for suggestions at town hall meetings, I have watched those meetings and found that many of the recommendations from the crowds were interesting but not well-informed. Getting money back from debtors sounds great; already-in-process legal battles surrounding such debts can't simply be interrupted. They mayor, like the president, has certain powers, but he doesn't control everything. His limitations are clearly frustrating citizens. Sadly, this financial crisis is, indeed, shutting down services we need--like the libraries. But we must prepare ourselves for worse, and try to work together.

Re: Pat's Pass - philadelphia weekly online

lspikol — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:31:37 -0000

I thought your firm was known for its diversity.