Blinq

Archive: September, 2010

A Dream Strip-Mined

POSTED: Thursday, September 30, 2010, 8:14 AM

A column is the right size for gnawing on the leg of something, and today it's the collapse of Germantown Settlement, the 126-year-old social services agency that was founded to raise the lives of those who lived in the venerable community and over the last several years has strip-mined the dreams of its constituents.

I write about one of its employees, Francine Hailey-Ferrell, who was also one of its tenants, who found herself without a job and facing eviction because the organization's set-up protects it from righteous people like her.

This is just one woman's story.

Daniel Rubin @ 8:14 AM Permalink | Post a comment

Hey Mister!

POSTED: Thursday, September 23, 2010, 9:01 AM

Wanna buy a newspaper?

Daniel Rubin @ 9:01 AM Permalink | Post a comment

Remembering Smashy

POSTED: Friday, September 3, 2010, 10:05 AM

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Thursday's metro column began with a tribute to Ernest "Smashy" DiStephani really because when I went upstairs to the newspaper morgue to look into the clippings about this infamous Philly wreck chaser, I got transfixed by his mug.

We have a half dozen photos of Smashy, taken different times, different places. But they're all the same. Smashy sits over breakfast at a diner or the old Horn and Hardart. Before him sits a plate of poached eggs, either waiting to be devoured or already devoured. He's in a trademark t-shirt - reporters described how he wore red for everyday, black for special occasions. His look said, 'Whaddya want of me?" And his hair was perfect.

A reader was similarly moved.

Daniel Rubin @ 10:05 AM Permalink | 1 comment