June 28, 2007 Dear Chairman Leahy and Chairman Conyers: On June 13, 2007, the White House received two subpoenas from your Committees requesting documents relating to the replacement of United States Attorneys, calling for the documents to be produced by June 28, 2007. I write at the direction of the President to advise and inform you that the President has decided to assert Executive Privilege and therefore the White House will not be making any production in response to these subpoenas for documents. In addition, Chairman Leahy subpoenaed documents from former Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
Top Ten Most Interesting “Family Jewels” Released by the CIA to the National Security Archive, June 26, 2007 1) Journalist surveillance – operation CELOTEX I-II (pp. 26-30) 2) Covert mail opening, codenamed SRPOINTER / HTLINGUAL at JFK airport (pp. 28, 644-45) 3) Watergate burglar and former CIA operative E. Howard Hunt requests a lock picker (p. 107) 4) CIA Science and Technology Directorate Chief Carl Duckett “thinks the Director would be ill-advised to say he is acquainted with this program” (Sidney Gottlieb’s drug experiments) (p. 213) 5) MHCHAOS documents (investigating foreign support for domestic U.S. dissent) reflecting Agency employee resentment […]
JUST ANNOUNCED: Beastie Boys At Festival Pier
August 9th.
HEART OF DARKNESS: When Cheney Goes Fishing
In Oregon, a battleground state that the Bush-Cheney ticket had lost by less than half of 1 percent, drought-stricken farmers and ranchers were about to be cut off from the irrigation water that kept their cropland and pastures green. Federal biologists said the Endangered Species Act left the government no choice: The survival of two imperiled species of fish was at stake. Law and science seemed to be on the side of the fish. Then the vice president stepped in. First Cheney looked for a way around the law, aides said. Next he set in motion a process to challenge […]
TODAY I SAW…
BY JEFF DEENEY “Today I saw…” is a series of nonfiction shorts based on my experiences as a caseworker serving formerly homeless families now living in North and West Philadelphia. I decided not long after starting the job that I was seeing so many fascinating and disturbing things in the city’s poorest neighborhoods that I needed to start cataloging them. I hope this bi-weekly column serves as a record of a side of the city that many Philadelphians don’t come in contact with on a daily basis. I want to capture moments not frequently covered by the local media, which […]
WAR PIGS: Rumsfeld Shopping War Memoir
The publishing world is abuzz over the news that a former defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, may write a memoir justifying the military strategy for the war in Iraq. While a deal has not yet been struck, Mr. Rumsfeld has toured New York publishing houses with an outline of his book in an effort to gauge how much information he would have to disclose in the memoir in order to justify a large cash advance. A principal for the publicity firm Shirley & Banister, Craig Shirley, said such a book would have a better-than-fair shot of becoming a bestseller if it was […]
This Is Your Government’s Brain On 911 Mics of Terror
A man allegedly upset over a long wait for apple juice caused a flight headed to North Carolina to be diverted to Philadelphia. Officials say the man became irate and used profanity aboard a Delta flight from LaGuardia airport in New York to Greensboro, NC on Tuesday afternoon around 5pm. The flight was diverted to Philadelphia, where it was determined that the man had become upset over a lengthy wait for some apple juice he had ordered. Philadelphia police said they won’t file any local charges. Later, the FBI said it wouldn’t be filing any charges either. After a thorough […]
MELROSE SHOCKER: New Owner After 70 Years
After more than seven decades, the Melrose Diner got a new owner on Wednesday as Richard Kubach Jr. handed the keys over to Michael Petrogiannis. Derrick Rice was heading for lunch at the Melrose Diner, 15th and Snyder Avenue in South Philadelphia, when he heard the news: “I’ve been coming here since I was a little kid. It’s a shocker right now.” He says he hopes the new owner doesn’t tinker with anything — especially in the kitchen. There are some who hope to see changes, perhaps some new items on the menu and more food on the plate. KYW: […]
How Privileged White Suburban Assholes Get Made
BY MONICA YANT KINNEY INQUIRER COLUMNIST Imagine having your house ravaged by hard-drinking teenagers who doused your clothes with urine, pooped on your piano, and played catch with 10 pounds of homemade meatballs while you were away for the day. Imagine watching the kids who got caught get off without so much as an hour of community service, a mandatory essay, or an AA meeting. Not one of the 10 Haddonfield teens who struck plea deals last week apologized in court unprompted. Only after being nudged by a judge did two boys and one parent say, uh, sorry. If juvenile […]
BOOKS: The Dangerous Book For Boys
BY KAREN HELLER INQUIRER COLUMNIST Could there be a more brilliant title than The Dangerous Book for Boys? This handsome volume, authored by brothers Conn and Hal Iggulden, proffers advice on such essentials as spiders, poker, invisible ink, skinning a rabbit and making a go-cart, things every boy’s father knew as a boy. OK, let’s not kid ourselves here. Every boy’s grandfather. A phenomenon in the authors’ native England where it was published a year ago, Dangerous was named British Book of the Year, with more than half a million copies in print. Since its May debut on these shores, […]
THE EARLY WORD: Kilroy Will Be Here
Yes, it’s this guy.
TECH: 7 Things To Consider Before Buying An iPhone
BY MARIA GODY OF NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO Apple’s iPhone isn’t even for sale yet, but already, consumers are lining up to purchase the gadget. But do you really need the iPhone? Here are seven factors to consider before you buy: 1. The Cool Factor: As is true for many other Apple products, the iPhone’s biggest “I want that” factor is its sleek styling. “If you love Apple, you love their gadgets, you have an iPod, you’ll be one of the first in line,” says Kent German, senior editor for cell phones at CNET.com, a technology news and reviews site. The […]
THE AFTERLIFE: No One Here Gets Out Alive
MARTIN LUTHER: Is So Not Amused, circa 1529 BY AMY Z QUINN There’s a scene from The Sopranos a couple of seasons back when Paulie Gaultieri storms out of his pastor’s office in indignation after learning that all the cash he’d given the parish over the years wouldn’t keep him out of Hell when he died (God forbid). I’m reminded of that this week after learning that in recognition of its 200th birthday, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is offering its flock a gift — plenary indulgences, designed to shorten the time a sinner spends in Satan’s Waiting Room, aka purgatory. […]