REUTERS: Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71. Carlin, who had a history of heart problems, died at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. EDT) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains, spokesman Jeff Abraham told Reuters. Known for his edgy, provocative material, Carlin achieved status as an anti-Establishment icon in the 1970s with stand-up bits full of drug references and a routine about seven dirty words you could not say on television. A regulatory battle over a radio broadcast of his “Filthy Words” routine ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court. MORE
WIKIPEDIA: In the 1970s, Carlin became known for unpredictable performances. Eventually, Carlin changed both his routines and his appearance. He lost some TV bookings by dressing strangely for a comedian of the time, wearing faded jeans and sporting a beard and earrings at a time when clean-cut, well-dressed comedians were in vogue. In this period he also perfected what is perhaps his best-known routine, “Seven Words You Can Never Say on
Television“, recorded on Class Clown, a routine which offended some. Carlin was arrested on July 21, 1972 at Milwaukee’s Summerfest and charged with violating obscenity laws after performing this routine.[28] The case, which prompted Carlin to refer to the words for a time as, “The Milwaukee Seven”, was dismissed in December of that year; the judge declared the language indecent, stating that the language was indecent but cited free speech, as well as the lack of any disturbance. In 1973, a man complained to the FCC that his son had heard a later, similar routine, “Filthy Words”, from Occupation: Foole, broadcast one afternoon over WBAI, a Pacifica Foundation FM radio station in New York City. Pacifica received a citation from the FCC, which sought to fine Pacifica for allegedly violating FCC regulations which prohibited broadcasting “obscene” material. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FCC action, by a vote of 5 to 4, ruling that the routine was “indecent but not obscene”, and the FCC had authority to prohibit such broadcasts during hours when children were likely to be among the audience. F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978). Ironically, the court documents contain a complete transcript of the routine, perhaps validating what Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. said: “You cannot define obscenity without being obscene”.[29]MORE
NEW YORK TIMES: By the mid-’70s, like his comic predecessor Lenny Bruce and the fast-rising Richard Pryor, Mr. Carlin had emerged as a cultural renegade. In addition to his irreverent jests about religion and politics, he openly talked about the use of drugs, including acid and peyote, and said that he kicked cocaine not for moral or legal reasons but after he found “far more pain in the deal than pleasure.” But the edgier, more biting comedy he developed during this period, along with his candid admission of drug use, cemented his reputation as the “comic voice of the counterculture.” MORE
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KILLADELPHIA: Two More Dead Since U Went 2 Bed
A 26-year-old man was shot in the lower back and buttocks shortly after 1 a.m. on Market Street near 39th in University City, cops said.
The man, identified by police as Nathaniel Crawford, of Fitzwater Street near 21st, in South Philadelphia, was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 1:25 a.m.
The slaying stemmed from an argument, said Lt. Mark Deegan, of the Homicide Unit.
The murder weapon, a .40-caliber handgun, was also recovered, Deegan said.
A 27-year-old man was shot on Germantown Avenue near Westmoreland Street in North Philadelphia shortly before 2 a.m. yesterday, police said.
The man, identified by police as Christopher Lomax, was shot multiple times after an argument inside the nearby Rumors Bar, Deegan said.
Lomax was pronounced dead at Temple University at 2:02 a.m. MORE