Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Kevin J. Martin endured three hours of aggressive questioning from the Senate Commerce Committee, with lawmakers accusing him of rushing to help big media companies at the expense of the public. By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer December 14, 2007 WASHINGTON — Facing growing criticism of his agenda and tactics, a defiant Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, refused senators’ requests Thursday to delay a vote next week on his plan to loosen restrictions on owning a newspaper and broadcast station in the same city. Martin endured three hours […]
WHY JOHNNY CAN’T READ: Amount Of Money The Philadelphia Parking Authority Has Generated For City Schools Since 2004…
Parents United, along with other parent groups, has been leading a call for the Parking Authority to keep its 2004 promise to turn over $20 million to the public schools. Since a first check for $4 million was handed over in 2004, the Parking Authority hasn’t sent a dollar to the public schools. MORE
JUNK SCIENCE: Salt, The Silent Killer
BY ELIZABETH FIEND LIVING EDITOR Salt has long been on my hit list. I’ve said many times: “Salt — it’s the next transfat.” I’ve waited and waited for everyone else to catch on, and finally, the American Medical Association (AMA) has cornered the Food and Drug Administration to hold public hearings to determine if Americans are facing danger from an overload of sodium, and what to do about it if we are. Ah, my dream come true! Americans aren’t getting a little too much sodium, we’re eating two or three times the healthy amount. And excess of sodium kills. According […]
MEDIA: Pimping The News Is Not A Victimless Crime
NY POST: CNN isn’t very enthusiastic about one of the six “heroes” honored last week on its show, “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute.” Pablo Fajardo of Ecuador was saluted in the “Fighting for Justice” category for his lifelong effort “to force one of the world’s largest oil corporations to pay more than $6 billion to clean up toxic waste in the Amazon rain forest.” CNN never named Chevron, a big advertiser on CNN, as the oil company. While the CNN Web site has “How to Help” links for all the other “heroes,” the link to chevrontoxico.com, the Web site of […]
THIS JUST IN: Leonard Cohen Makes The Cut
Madonna and John Mellencamp will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year, alongside Leonard Cohen, the Ventures and the Dave Clark Five. Philly Soul songwriter/producer team Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff will be presented the Ahmet Ertegun Award (previously known as the non-performer category) and blues harmonica player Little Walter will be inducted in the sideman category. This is Madonna’s first year of eligibility; her debut single, “Everybody,” was released twenty-five years ago in 1982. The induction ceremony will take place on March 10th, 2008 at New York’s Waldorf Astoria. MORE
WORTH REPEATING: Hello, Goodbye
Dan Rubin — Inquirer columnist/beta-blogger and all-around friend of Phawker — knocks one out of the park today. He takes all the real, quality-of-life issues that just float around in the abstract in all the casino controversy coverage — easily lost amidst news of this lawsuit and that counter-suit — and puts a human face on it. Two faces, to be exact, as well as an address — which will soon be deserted for the suburbs. Thank you, Ed Rendell: Bob and Maureen have been experiencing the sort of revisionist view of their relationship with their city that you see […]
HOT DOC: The Last Temptation Of Lenny Dykstra
From the Mitchell Report: Lenny Dykstra played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball with two clubs, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, from 1985 to 1996. As a player with the Phillies, Dykstra played in three All-Star games and finished second in Most Valuable Player balloting in 1993. Radomski first met Dykstra when he was playing for the Mets and became “very close with Lenny.” According to Radomski, when Dykstra reported to spring training in 1989, “his increased size was noticeable.” When Radomski asked him about his increased size, Dykstra admitted to taking steroids. Radomski also recalled that […]
SPORTS: The Mitchell Report
BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY Former Senator George Mitchell has wrapped up his 21-month investigation into the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in baseball. Today at a press conference Mitchell will “name names” (reportedly 60-80 players). It should be fascinating theater. Will he just read the names, one after the other, like disaster victims? Or will there be music and highlights, with Mitchell intoning, “The next career going down in flames belongs to a small town kid…”. I can’t wait. Is today the day Alex Rodriguez loses his status as “Golden Boy/Future Rescuer of the Home Run Record”? Was Miguel […]
5 Things You Really Oughta Know Before You Go See Papertrigger At The Fire Tonight
1.) The five members of Papertrigger all live together in a house in Roxborough, “up on Ridge” as the locals say. This makes me imagine all of my nephews shacked up together, which in turn kind of makes me want to stop over with a tray of ziti and, like, fold their laundry or something. Actually, they all have day jobs and “it’s less like the Monkees crazy happy funtime house you imagine it to be and more like a really long, heavy episode of ‘Full House,’” says singer/drummer Brian Dwyer. 2.) Vital stats on Papertrigger: Guitarist/sax player Joshua Taylor, […]
HEAR YE: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Awesome in its hilarity. Hilarious in its awesome-ness. NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO!
TODAY I SAW…
BY JEFF DEENEY TODAY I SAW two 16-ft. moving trucks parked back-to-back in front of Mantua Hall, their loading ramps extended so they almost touched each other. Every day is moving day now. The building is slated to be emptied by the end of the year, and while most families have already left there are still some stragglers waiting for the Philadelphia Housing Authority to approve their new scatter-site placements. PHA is paying for the families to relocate, so the moving trucks come in pairs and when one leaves another arrives. The process is orderly, and as efficient as […]