ABC NEWS: Kenyans reach out to receive food aid handed out by the Kenyan Red Cross, Tuesday, Jan.8, 2008 in the Kibera slum in Nairobi. Kenya’s president and his chief rival made key concessions to end the dispute over the country’s elections, calling off protests and agreeing to talks under pressure from the United States as the death toll from a week of violence reached nearly 500. (Riccardo Gangale/AP Photo) SWAMPLAND: One of the more extraordinary stories of the Obama campaign has been playing out behind the scenes over the past week as the candidate has been working on a […]
ARTSY: Steal This Blog
BY TIFFANY YOON We all know the old saw about Robin Hood stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Which is noble and all, but quite frankly risky — the rich HATE when you steal from them and tend to press charges — and a lot of work. Wouldn’t it be so much easier, not to mention downright Republican, to steal from the poor instead and, well, just keep it for yourself? And who is poorer than a bunch of starving artists? And get this: These starving artists actually WANT you to steal their shit. Starting today, the […]
NEWS CLUES: Dead Man Walking Edition
KILLADELPHIA: Two Men Critical After Shooting Two men are in critical condition after being shot in the Powelton section of Philadelphia late last night. A 19-year-old with multiple gunshot wounds and a 22-year-old with a gunshot wound to the chest were found in the 4200 block of Haverford Avenue shortly before 11:30 p.m., police said. Both men were taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Both were in critical condition. The names of the men have not been released. No arrests have been made and police are investigating the motive for the shootings. [via the INQUIRER] * Judge […]
GOOD GRIEF: AP Declares Britney ‘A Big Deal’
[ Source: Gawker]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Historian Drew Gilpin Faust writes that Civil War deaths — both their number and their manner — transformed America. Her new book is This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War. The Civil War death rate was six times that of World War II, when adjusted against the size of the American population, Faust points out. “For those Americans who lived in and through the Civil War, the texture of the experience … was the presence of death,” she writes. “At war’s end this shared suffering would override persisting differences about the meanings of race, citizenship, […]
HOT DOC: Governor’s Proclamation
GREETINGS: It is my distinct pleasure to welcome everyone gathered tonight at the Keswick Theatre to honor the late gospel musician, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and to pay tribute to this musical legend that influenced an entire generation with her song and spirit. I would also like to give a special thank you to those performing in the benefit concert—The Dixie Hummingbirds, Willa Ward with The Johnny Thompson Singers, Marie Knight, The Huff Singers, and Odetta. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a pioneering gospel singer, songwriter, and recording artist. She took gospel music into the mainstream with her unique mixture of spiritual lyrics […]
BREAKING: Santa Claus Radiohead Is Comin’ To Town
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RADIOHEAD CONFIRMS NORTH AMERICAN TOUR MARKETS With In Rainbows having debuted today at #1 on the U.S. charts, RADIOHEAD has confirmed the cities to be visited on the band’s upcoming North American tour. The cities IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER are: Atlanta Boston Charlotte Chicago Cleveland Dallas Houston Indianapolis Los Angeles Miami Montreal New York Philadelphia San Diego San Francisco Santa Barbara Seattle St Louis Tampa Toronto Vancouver Washington DC Exact dates and venues will be announced at a later date.
THAT’S COMCASTIC: Cable Monolith Facing $1.77 Trillion In FCC Fines For Internet Interference
As 2007 came to a close, we learned what we suspected for years: that Comcast has been inhibiting their users’ ability to use popular file sharing protocols, like BitTorrent. Treading in the waters of non-network neutrality is a major faux pas amongst the geek elite, but it may turn out to be a costly violation by the standards of the FCC. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin announced today that a coalition of consumer groups and legal scholars had asked the agency in November to stop Comcast from discriminating against certain types of data. The two groups also asked the FCC to […]
O’JAYS: For The Love Of Money
INQUIRER: In a suit filed Friday, the O’Jays, who scored massive R&B hits in the mid-1970s with “For the Love of Money,” “Used to Be My Girl,” and “Love Train,” accuse Philadelphia International Records, producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and others of theft, larceny, and misappropriation of royalties. The suit demands $3 million for back payments and punitive damages.
NO MORE TEARS: The Empire Strikes Back
[SOURCE: CNN]
TONITE: Meet The Real Mr. Burns
WIKIPEDIA: Charles Burns (born September 27, 1955 in Washington, D.C.) is an award-winning U.S. cartoonist and illustrator. He is renowned for his meticulous, high-contrast and creepy artwork and stories. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, painter Susan Moore, and their two young daughters. His father was an oceanographer for the government. They moved around a lot, including Boulder, Colorado, Maryland and Missouri before settling in Seattle when Burns was in grade five. Charles Burns’ earliest prominent works include illustrations for the Sub Pop fanzine and contributions to Art Spiegelman‘s comic magazine RAW. Most of his short stories, published in […]
PBS FOR THE BLIND: We See It Even When You Can’t
BY AMY Z. QUINN When does a little boy’s childish behavior cross the line into alarming behavior? When does a little girl’s sweet-but-violent flights of imagination become dangerously grandiose ideation? When does a garden-variety tantrum escalate into an “explosive rage”? Until few years ago, those questions might have led a parent to wonder if their child had ADHD, OCD, ODD or any of the other now-familiar childhood neurological and psychiatric disorders. In the last few years, that very question has evolved into, “Is my child bipolar?” Tonight’s episode of PBS’s “Frontline,” The Medicated Child (9 p.m., PBS), asks all the […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR James Hansen, a leading NASA climate scientist, says the Bush administration has tried to silence his warnings about global warming. Writer and scientist Mark Bowen wrote the book on the affair: Censoring Science: Inside the Political Attack on Dr. James Hansen and the Truth of Global Warming. ALSO, In Paul Thomas Anderson‘s new film There Will Be Blood, the young actor Paul Dano plays a rural preacher at odds with the oilman (Daniel Day-Lewis) at the center of the story. Dano previously appeared in Little Miss Sunshine, playing the teen who was an elective mute. RADIO TIMES Hour […]