INQUIRER: In comments that stunned many who heard them, Sen. Vincent J. Fumo said yesterday that his colleagues in the General Assembly would support slavery if given the chance. The remarks came during an Appropriations Committee hearing in Harrisburg on a bill that would define marriage as between a man and a woman – a measure Fumo opposes. “What you are advocating here is that we take away the rights of a minority. And I don’t think that’s right,” Fumo told Gilbert Coleman, Jr., senior pastor of Freedom Christian Bible Fellowship in Philadelphia, during the hearing. “. . . If […]
REMINDER: Now Playing On Phawker Radio
The new album, Third. HEAR YE: Madonna Hard Candy Now playing on Phawker Radio! Why? Because we still wanna ‘do’ her, ya big dummy! HEAR YE: The Roots Rising Down Now playing on Phawker Radio! Why, because we love you! Ya big dummy!
MEOW MIX: Gay Guvs, Lesbian Islands & Wright Stuff
Will Barack Obama’s official renunciation of his former pastor neutralize GoddamnAmericaGate? In his appearance on Monday before the National Press Club, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, when asked about Obama’s distancing himself, said the candidate was just a politician doing what politicians do. Wright (who will preach in Philly on June 1st) also said he believed the U.S. government was “capable” of creating and spreading HIV to kill African-Americans and obfuscated when asked about the “chickens come home to roost” on 9/11 thing. On the surface, it seems like Wright went batshit and left Obama no choice, but certainly Wright — who’s […]
LISTEN LIKE THIEVES: Your Daily Dose Of ScarJo
DOWNLOAD: Scarlett Johansson (2008) Town With No Cheer (MP3)
NEWS CLUES: Like Blowing Smoke Out Of Your Eyes
CRUEL AND UNUSUAL: Autopsy Scheduled For Kenneth Keith Kallenbach An autopsy will be performed tomorrow on Kenneth Keith Kallenbach, a 39-year-old comedian who died Thursday after contracting pneumonia at the Delaware County jail, where he was awaiting trial. Since 2005, at least eight people have died at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, the state’s only privately run jail. Several of those deaths resulted in lawsuits by family members who say the facility did not provide adequate medical care or proper supervision for inmates. GEO Group operates prisons around the country, and its operations in Texas have been sharply criticized […]
RIP: Albert Hofmann, Father Of LSD, Dead At 102
EROWID: Albert Hofmann passed away at his home at 9am on Tuesday Apr 29, 2008 of a heart attack at the age of 102. He will be missed. Albert Hofmann was born in Baden, Switzerland in 1906. He graduated from the University of Zürich with a degree in chemistry in 1929 and went to work for Sandoz Pharmaceutical in Basel, Switzerland. With the laboratory goal of working towards isolation of the active principles of known medicinal plants, Hofmann worked with Mediterranean squill (Scilla maritima) for several years, before moving on to the study of Claviceps purpurea (ergot) and ergot alkaloids.Over […]
DEAR DOCTOR DEAN: This Is Getting Old, Fast
[Image via HUFFINGTON POST] Dear Doctor Dean, You and I go way back to Iowa 2002. Hell, I had a front row seat for The Scream, and then watched in slack-jawed horror as the media sliced you into a sound byte and fed you into the echo chamber and turned you into the Incredible Hulk. I am starting to get that bad feeling again, which is why I am writing to ask you a small favor: Make it stop. Who’s brilliant idea was it to park the campaign in PA for five weeks? That’s like parking Katrina over New Orleans […]
NPR FOR DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
RADIO TIMES Hour 1 It is being called the “silent tsunami” — rising food prices that are forcing more people around the world to go hungry. The skyrocketing prices on stables like rice, wheat, and corn have ignited riots around the globe. Experts says that this crisis could push 100 million people into poverty. Cornell University economist CHRIS BARRETT and OxFam America policy director GAWAIN KRIPKE discuss what is causing this food crisis and what can be done to stop it. Listen to this show via Real Audio | mp3 Hour 2 In her new book Relentless Pursuit: A Year […]
THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW: Westminster Ave.
[Photos by JUSTIN ROMAN] TEXT BY JEFF DEENEY The twisting network of back streets between the 5000 blocks of Westminster and Haverford Avenues in West Philly includes Hoopes, Ogden, Parrish, Funston, Reno and Farston; here you’ll find some of the city’s bleakest sights. Abandoned houses that are practically falling down and have been converted to drug establishments line each of these streets. At the heart of the neighborhood is dreary, mostly concrete park with decaying and graffiti-covered basketball courts called, “The Pit.” This is not a place to come joy riding: Last year there were three homicides, eight shootings and […]
THE ROOTS: Rising Up
Featuring Chrisett Michelle and Wale. On Letterman last night. [Hat tip to ROWDY YATES]
INSTA-REVIEW: My Morning Jacket Evil Urges
Now playing on Phawker Radio! Why? Just ‘cuz. BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT Did I miss the stunning rescue effort, in which My Morning Jacket singer Jim James was successfully lifted from a giant reverb tank? In past attempts at checking out this highly acclaimed Louisville, Kentucky band, I’ve been able to tune into the guitar interplay and loping rhythm section, but I’ve wondered what James was singing about from the depths of that reverb tank. On the band’s new album, Evil Urges, James is more or less front and center, at first goofing off in the sexy title track […]
NEW DAY RISING: Exit The Flim-Flam Men
[Illustration by ALEX FINE] INQUIRER: A week after losing his state Senate race, labor leader John J. Dougherty announced plans to step down tomorrow as chairman of the city Redevelopment Authority. His term was not slated to end until early next year. “I am resigning at this point in time because I believe I have accomplished all the goals I set for myself and have served the authority with distinction for eight productive years,” Dougherty, business manager of electricians union Local 98, wrote to Mayor Nutter in a letter he hand-delivered to City Hall early yesterday. In later interviews, Dougherty […]
THIS JUST IN: Baltimore, Rock City!
Bob Dylan, Iggy & the Stooges, Paramore, Chuck Berry, the Black Keys and Wilco have been added to third annual Virgin Mobile Festival which is set to take place on August 9th and 10th at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Here is how the main stage lineups look now: (Friday Aug 9th) Bloc Party, Cat Power, Chuck Berry and the Silver Beats, Citizen Cope, Duffy, Foo Fighters, Gogol Bordello, Jack Johnson, KT Tunstall, Lupe Fiasco, the Offspring, Paramore, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, the Swell Season and Wilco. (Sat Aug 10th) The Black Keys, Andrew […]
