[Photos by JUSTIN ROMAN] BY JEFF DEENEY What looks at first glance like a makeshift pyramid of stuffed animals outside an abandoned brownstone between 22nd and 21st on Dauphin Street is in fact it is one of Philly’s many street shrines for neighborhood homicide victims. The stuffed animals comprising this shrine are mostly bears of different sizes, shapes and pedigree. There’s writing in black magic marker on the bears that reveals a name: Mook. The same name is spray painted on the front window of the house next door to the abandoned brownstone. “RIP Mook” is scrawled in big, black […]
World Record-Holding Marathoner Will NOT Compete In Beijing Olympics, Citing Appalling Air Quality
THE INDEPENDENT: Haile Gebrselassie says he will not run in the marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics over fears about the high pollution levels in the city. The Ethiopian marathon world record holder, who suffers from asthma and missed the 2007 London Marathon because of the problem, will now run at the shorter distance of 10,000m in Beijing. “The pollution in China is a threat to my health and it would be difficult for me to run 42km in my current condition,” Gebrselassie said. “But I am not pulling out of the Olympic event in Beijing all together. I plan […]
THE WAR: 8 U.S. Soldiers Killed In One Day
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Insurgents killed eight US soldiers in two separate attacks in 24 hours in Iraq and nine more people died on Tuesday in clashes in the north. In one of the deadliest days for the US military in several months, the insurgents on Monday killed three US soldiers and their translator in the Iraqi province of Diyala where a massive American and Iraqi military sweep has been targeting Al-Qaeda militants. The military, which announced the Diyala incident and casualties on Tuesday, said another soldier was also wounded in the bomb attack. On Monday, five other US soldiers were […]
AMY WALKER: 21 Accents In Two Minutes
NPR: PHILADELPHIA actress Amy Walker has become an instant YouTube star with a video of herself performing 21 different accents in two and a half minutes.
SHOCKER: NY Gov. Caught In Fed Prostitution Dragnet
NEW YORK TIMES: ALBANY — Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a person briefed on the federal investigation. Governor Eliot Spitzer delivering the New York State Executive Budget address in The wiretap recording, made during an investigation of a prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP, captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a room. The person briefed on the case identified […]
DAVE CLARK FIVE: Glad All Over
RELATED: Pioneering ’60s band The Dave Clark Five will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York later today. The group’s induction comes just weeks after lead singer, Mike Smith, died in hospital from pneumonia. Smith, 64, was paralyzed from the rib cage down following a fall at his home in Spain in 2003. Madonna, Leonard Cohen, The Ventures and John Mellencamp will also be inducted into the prestigious roll of honour tonight. Justin Timberlake will induct Madonna into the Hall of Fame, while Iggy & The Stooges will perform in honour of the singer. […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Pubic Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR On February 26, Conductor Lorin Maazel led the New York Philharmonic on an unprecedented concert in Pyongyang, North Korea, at the invitation of the North Korean government. It was the first time a major American orchestra had performed in the communist country. The program opened with the national anthems of both North Korea and the United States, then moved on to music from Wagner’s Lohengrin, Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony and Gershwin’s An American in Paris; the orchestra encored with the overture from Leonard Bernstein’s Candide and with “Arirang,” a much-loved Korean folk song described by the Associated Press […]
WORTH REPEATING: Take My Wife, PLEASE
ANDREW SULLIVAN: Remembering the day-to-day psychodramas of [the ’90s] still floods my frontal cortex with waves of loathing and anxiety. The further away you are from them, the easier it is to think they’re fine. Up close they are an intolerable, endless, soul-sapping soap opera. The media are marveling at the Clintons’ several near-death political experiences in this campaign. Hasn’t it occurred to them how creepily familiar all this is? The Clintons live off psychodrama. They both love to push themselves to the brink of catastrophe and then accomplish the last-minute, nail-biting self-rescue. Before too long the entire story becomes […]
STUDY: 56 Pharmaceuticals Found In Philly Tap Water
(Welcome CNN.com readers!) ASSOCIATED PRESS: A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows. Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public “doesn’t know how to interpret the information” and might be unduly alarmed. How do the drugs get into the water? People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of […]
MONEY: Smells Like Grand Theft Identity
THE SUN: Fraudsters used dead rocker Kurt Cobain’s social security number to buy a $3.2 million house, it emerged yesterday. The Nirvana frontman’s widow Courtney Love revealed that identity thieves had also set up 188 credit cards in her name. This week Courtney, 43, met cops in Van Nuys, LA, to give them details of a probe by forensic accountants Kroll which discovered £36million missing. Cheques had been stolen and cars bought by villains. “It was fraud after fraud. But nobody believed me until now. I did a check on my deceased husband’s social security number and he has a […]
KILLADELPHIA: Stars Show Up At City Hall For Finale, Meanwhile The Wire Goes On Outside All Around You
DAILY NEWS: Omar Little visited City Hall last night — and didn’t drop a single body. “This is an honor,” said Michael Kenneth Williams, who plays stick-up boy Omar Little on the HBO hit “The Wire.” “We’re in City Hall, the mayor’s office.” Williams was one of more than a half-dozen “Wire” stars who appeared at a special screening of the series finale last night at City Hall. Mayor Nutter — a die-hard fan — dreamed up the event, which was sanctioned by HBO. “I’ve learned a great deal,” Nutter said of the show, which depicts life on the mean […]
MONICA: Johnny Doc Or Johnny Dangerously?
MONICA YANT KINNEY: Just last month, Local 98 — the powerful electricians union run with an iron hand by [State Senate candidate John “Johnny Doc”] Dougherty — sued the city’s Board of Ethics.The union’s political action committee spent $2.4 million last year — including $140,000 on “propaganda” for failed mayoral candidate Tom Knox — but is refusing to open its books as state law requires. The electricians think such snooping violates their constitutional rights. A year earlier, Dougherty — who flirted with a mayoral run — tried to get the city’s pesky new campaign-finance law tossed by the state Supreme Court. […]
BILLARY: Ed Rendell, Clinton Family Consigliere?
NEW YORK TIMES: Two of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s biggest supporters, who are also two of the Democratic Party’s most successful fund-raisers, have offered to help raise millions of dollars to stage new primaries in Florida and Michigan. Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey and Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania said Sunday that they would be willing to raise half the $30 million it would take to run new contests in those two states. Mr. Corzine and Mr. Rendell submitted their proposal to The Washington Post.The two governors argue that the Democratic National Committee, and not taxpayers in […]