NPR FOR THE DEF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

FRESH AIR ON WHYY Religion scholars Elaine Pagels and Karen King’s new book, Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas [pictured, circa 1973 A.D.], interprets and translates the recently discovered gnostic gospel of Judas. Pagels’ previous books include, Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas and The Gnostic Gospels. King’s previous book is The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle. RADIO TIMES with MARTY MOSS-COANE Hour 1 On March 3, after a series of public meetings and forums organized by Penn Praxis, 500 people attended a conference where a group of leading architects presented their concepts […]

The Military-Industrial Complex Started As A Hobby

The City of Philadelphia’s photo archive contains over 2 million images that date back as far as the late 1800s, i.e. the last time a Republican won in this town. In all seriousness, this is an INCREDIBLE visual record of the city’s evolution and a relatively new web site, PhillyHistory.org, is making it available for online consumption and purchase. To date, some 22,000 images have been digitally scanned, at a rate of roughly 2,000 images a month. So, if you’ve been wondering why the line at Kinko’s is so goddamned SLOW, well, now you know. Phawker will be showcasing images […]

Man Explodes To Death At Friendly’s

A serviceman working on the air compressor system at a restaurant in Northeast Philadelphia was killed yesterday when a pressurized tank exploded, officials said. The man, a South Jersey resident whose name was not immediately released, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was working on the air compressor system at the Friendly’s Restaurant on Roosevelt Boulevard and Red Lion Road about 2:30 p.m. when the explosion [NOT pictured, right] occurred, officials said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. No other injuries were reported. The cause of the blast was under investigation. INQUIRER: Tick, Tick, BOOM

GUNCRAZY: SEPTA Rider Shot In The Head, Twice

It all started when a 45-year-old man chased desperately after a Route 33 SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia shortly before 5 p.m., hoping to catch his ride. Watching the running man intently from inside the bus, police say, was a man in his late 50s or early 60s. The younger man must have thought he was in luck – the Route 33 bus stopped, allowing him to hop on board. Police say he paid his fare and was immediately confronted by the man who’d been watching him. The older man “began grabbing or shaking him, and asked him, ‘Where’s my […]

Bicycle Thief Steals 18K Painting, Pops Wheelie

Police are looking for an art thief who in a daring – but decidedly low-tech – daylight heist stole an $18,000 Keith Haring work from a Center City gallery, making his getaway on a bicycle in the snow. When last seen after the snatch-and-run robbery last Wednesday at the I. Brewster gallery on the 1600 block of Walnut Street, the silkscreen shoplifter was pedaling south on 16th Street, store employees in pursuit. “We were all running after him,” gallery owner Nicky Brewster said. He said the thief walked into the store about 3 p.m. on the day of the last […]

DOPEY BALBOA: Stallone Busted For Steroids

AS TATTLE RAN to press last night, TMZ.com and the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Sylvester Stallone (aka Rocky) had been charged in a Sydney courtroom with illegally importing steroids.According to Aussie authorities, Stallone, who did not appear in court, was caught at Sydney Airport on a promotional tour for “Rocky Balboa” last month, with several vials of human growth hormone. When customs officials raided Stallone’s hotel room, the number of HGH vials reached 48. Stallone, 60, will enter a plea in Sydney on April 24. If found guilty, he’s not going to jail, but he could be forced to […]

NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

FRESH AIR   Law professor/NY Times contributor Jeffrey Rosen was recently invited to visit Gitmo on a special VIP trip arranged by the Defense Department. As he writes in a recent New Republic cover story, his experience was curiously different than that of his brother-in-law, a pro-bono lawyer representing one of Gitmo’s most famous inmates. From the New Republic: Last spring, my brother-in-law, Neal Katyal, represented Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s driver, in his successful Supreme Court challenge to the constitutionality of the original Bush military tribunals. The case was challenging, logistically as well as legally. In order to see […]

HIZZONER ’07: Rivals Move To Crunch Brady’s Bunch

BY DAVE DAVIES Six voters associated with Democratic mayoral candidate Tom Knox filed a legal challenge to rival candidate U.S. Rep. Bob Brady late yesterday, charging that Brady failed to disclose his city pension and other financial interests when he filed to run. Another rival, state Rep. Dwight Evans, said last night he’ll file his own challenge to Brady’s candidacy today, noting that Brady’s failure to disclose his city pension is exactly the kind of omission that’s been used to strike other candidates from the ballot in past elections. “Brady is running for the highest office in Philadelphia,” Evans said […]

MEDIA: Viacom Sues YouTube For One BILLION

It’s been brewing for months, and now Reuters reports that the kettle has officially blown: Yesterday, media juggernaut Viacom filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Google Inc. and its recently-acquired YouTube over unauthorized use of Viacom’s copyrighted materials. According to Reuters, the suit accuses both defendants of “‘massive intentional copyright infringement’ of Viacom’s entertainment assets” and seeks an injunction against further violations, claiming that nearly 160,000 unauthorized clips of its programming have been uploaded onto YouTube and viewed more than 1.5 billion times. The suit marks the final step in Viacom’s quest to push YouTube out of the video distribution […]