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EXPLAINER: Why Hollywood Writers Strike
Shameful. Just shameful.
GAMBLOR: 18 Busted In Borgata For, Um, Gambling
TRENTON, N.J. — An illegal sports gambling ring run out of a high-stakes poker room in an Atlantic City casino was busted Wednesday and 18 people were arrested, including four with mob ties, a law enforcement official said. The four — affiliated with the Philadelphia mob — appeared to be the ringleaders, with six employees of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa also among those arrested, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the case.Five more people were being sought Wednesday. Borgata spokesman Rob Stillwell said the casino did nothing […]
CINEMA: I Was An American Girl
Runnin’ Down A Dream (Dir. Peter Bogdanovich, 4-DISC DVD, 2007) BY AMY Z. QUINN As per usual, Philly was ahead of the curve on Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. If you grew up listening to the radio around here, you know that the first two albums, the self-titled debut and You’re Gonna Get It! were common cause on the local airwaves by 1979, back when FM was the Internet of its day. Thanks to the dashboard radio in my sister Terrie’s ’72 LeMans, I feel like I was born with the words to a half-dozen of their songs on my […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Brian De Palma’s films include the horror classic Carrie, the crime epics Scarface and The Untouchables, and the first Mission: Impossible film. His latest release, Redacted, is a fictional take on a real incident — in which U.S. soldiers who raped and murdered a 14-year-old girl in Iraq. It has strong echoes of his Vietnam War drama Casualties of War. Inspired, in part, by reports he saw on the Internet about the 2006 incident, De Palma takes a raw, cinema-verite approach what’s essentially a faux documentary, telling the story with the aid of soldiers’ blogs, video diaries and […]
GAYBO: My Big Gay Double Diva Weekend
BY TOMMY ZANE GAYDAR EDITOR Platinum blonde was the color of the weekend, as Ramon and I attended concerts by two of rock’s living legends. On Saturday night, Annie Lennox, formerly one half of 80’s new wave band Eurythmics, gave an arousing, vibrant performance to a sold-out house at The Merriam Theatre, often bringing the audience to their feet. Presenting a career-spanning set ranging from “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” to the sobering, somber “Dark Road”, off her latest release, Songs of Mass Destruction. A frequently detached live performer, Lennox was playful and endearing, often joking with the packed […]
WORTH REPEATING: Crime & Punishment
“It costs $32,000 to keep somebody in jail, I am prepared to spend $10,000 to give him a job [when he gets out].” — Mayor-elect Michael Nutter on his plan to lower Philadelphia’s 76% recidivism rate, which includes a $10,000 tax credit to any city employer that will hire an ex-con [Hat tip to MalcolmXPark]
KILLADELPHIA: 16-Year-Old To Be Charged With Nine Counts Of Attempted Murder After Shootout With Cops
Philadelphia Police this morning have arrested a 16-year-old male in connection with a double shooting last night in the Frankford section that left two Philadelphia police officers wounded. The two plainclothes narcotics officers were shot as they tried to serve an arrest warrant in the 2000 block of Oxford Street at about 6:30 p.m. One officer was shot in the leg, the other was hit in the hip. They were treated at a local hospital and released. Both were recovering at home this morning, police said. The teen, who police say lived at the house at 2013A Oxford St., will […]
TODAY I SAW…
BY JEFF DEENEY TODAY I SAW a long line of people waiting to turn their cell phones in at the Criminal Justice Center. That’s the first stop on the way to criminal court; everyone stands in a line that snakes through the lobby for five minutes before handing over their phones to a white guy in jeans and a sweatshirt who stands in front of a big box with hundreds of sliding compartments. He’s usually listening to classic rock radio but today he was singing the Eagles fight song while furiously snatching phones and handing out numbered plastic chips […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
FBI SEZ: Blackwater Guards Massacred 14 Unarmed Iraqi Civilians WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 — Federal agents investigating the Sept. 16 episode in which Blackwater security personnel shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians have found that at least 14 of the shootings were unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq, according to civilian and military officials briefed on the case. The F.B.I. investigation into the shootings in Baghdad is still under way, but the findings, which indicate that the company’s employees recklessly used lethal force, are already under review by the Justice Department. Prosecutors have yet to […]
INSTA-REVIEW: 10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT JAY-Z AT THE FILLMORE LAST NIGHT
1. I can’t prove this, but I am pretty sure he doesn’t have anywhere near 99 problems. I would be surprised if he has more than four or five problems. And in all likelihood, they are of the broken shoelace variety. 2. To the best of my knowledge, he has not made a false move in his life. Even when he was dealing drugs, he played the game, the game didn’t play him. 3. Exhibit A would be the fact that he, like, gets to bang Beyonce every night. 4. No matter what happens next, he will be remembered as […]
WARNING: Paris Is Burning Coming Cumming
CLICK TO ENLARGE Paris Hilton will be in town tomorrow to pimp her new fragrance at Macy’s. To mark this auspicious occasion, we thought we’d re-run our infamous Paris Hilton Autopsy slideshow. Because it gives us that ‘peaceful, easy feelin’ we like so much. PREVIOUSLY: The Paris Hilton Autopsy [Photos by EVA LIAO]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
THIS JUST IN: Dead Horse Found In North Philly PHILADELPHIA – Officials say a North Philadelphia block filled with horse stables has at least one rotting horse carcass and many more neglected horses in deplorable conditions. Officials from the city and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals went to the block Tuesday afternoon in response to an anonymous tip. They say tons of horse manure was piled up inside the stables. The dead horse was found partly buried behind one of the buildings. One man who says he keeps horses there says he and his friends care […]