GIVE ‘EM HECK, HILLARY: Clinton in Scranton, Monday, by VIC SUEDE BY JONATHAN VALANIA So, I couldn’t get anyone on the line today for our Keystoned Cell Phone Poll — all four of the guys in Pennsylvania named John Doe must have day jobs or are still sleeping off last night, and likewise with the eight guys named Mike Hunt and the two Jane Does. Man, this polling is hard work! So instead, I sat in today on one of those Hillary campaign conference calls to reporters that you have no doubt read about or heard referenced by columnists or […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Digital media — including MP3 players, peer-to-peer networks and music websites — are changing how we discover, listen to and share music. Writer Eliot Van Buskirk joins Fresh Air to discuss the new, digital landscape of music, and the resulting changes in the music industry. Van Buskirk covers digital media for Wired.com on the blog, Listening Post. Formerly a senior editor for digital music and devices at CNET.com, he is the author of two books, Burning Down the House: Ripping, Recording, Remixing, and More! and iPod and iTunes QuickSteps. ALSO, in 2002, Dan Kennedy landed what he thought […]
KILLADELPHIA: One More Since U Went To Work
INQUIRER: Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 26-year-old man in North Philadelphia early this afternoon. Authorities said the victim, whose name has not been released, was shot in the back and leg about 12:30 p.m. while in the 1500 block of North Myrtlewood Street. He was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after the shooting.
INVENTOR: Goodbye Ink-Stained Wretch
This just came in over the transom. Can’t help but think it’s like buying a fancy slipcase for your Beta player.
HEAR YE: Now Playing On Phawker Radio!
BY SARA SHERR The Breeders are my favorite band of the ’90s, back when cheerleading tomboys from Ohio roamed the Earth like alt-rock glamazons in flannel. Kim Deal’s terminal coolness is as undeniable as it is Midwestern friendly and gum-crackingly accessible. Everyone feels like they could pull it off. Together with her equally gum-crackingly cool sister Kelley and a revolving cast of band members that once included Throwing Muses/Belly’s Tanya Donnelly, their harmonies were tighter than your tightest black jeans, and their weird, wonderful guitar sounds made left-field hits that worked both as stoner jams and shimmying pop songs. The […]
BUSHCO: This Is Your Tax Dollars NOT At Work
WASHINGTON POST: After Philadelphia‘s housing director refused a demand by President Bush‘s housing secretary to transfer a piece of city property to a business friend, two top political appointees at the department exchanged e-mails discussing the pain they could cause the Philadelphia director.”Would you like me to make his life less happy? If so, how?” Orlando J. Cabrera, then-assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, wrote about Philadelphia housing director Carl R. Greene. “Take away all of his Federal dollars?” responded Kim Kendrick, an assistant secretary who oversaw accessible housing. She typed symbols for a smiley-face, […]
TONITE: Get Your Fassbinder On
VALLEY OF THE WOLVES IRAQ (2006, directed by Serder Akar, 122 minutes, Turkey) DESPAIR (1978, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 119 minutes, Germany) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC The Turkish action film Valley of the Wolves Iraq has a certain whiff of the 1980s, which is only fitting considering the decade was a prime era for stereotypical Arab movie villains (remember of robed gang in Back To The Future?). Shot like a straight-to-video gun & grunt fest, this Turkish crowd-pleaser (reportedly Turkey’s largest-budgeted film ever) makes the 80’s-style Hollywood action genre its own, turning its American soldiers into blood-crazed monsters […]
OK STATE REP. SALLY KERN: The Homosexual Threat
DALLAS MORNING NEWS: “I’m not gay-bashing. But according to God’s word that is not the right kind of lifestyle,” Rep. Sally Kern of Oklahoma City said during an appearance before a group of Republicans. Her comments were recorded and posted on the video sharing Web site YouTube on Friday by the Washington, D.C.-based Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. “Studies show no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than a few decades,” Kern says in the recorded comments. “It is not a lifestyle that is good for this nation.” MORE QUEERTY: “I find it hilarious that Salacious Sally […]
NEW CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
PROBE: Hoping To Clear The Air, Johnny Doc Campaign Only Muddies The Waters An indictment last summer against electrical contractor Donald “Gus” Dougherty, a longtime friend but no relation to the union leader, alleged that Gus Dougherty had provided sweetheart deals for John Dougherty on a Wildwood condo and on renovations to his Philadelphia rowhouse. Seeking to undercut the issue yesterday, John Dougherty’s lawyer, Henry Hockeimer, sent an e-mail to reporters stating: “I have been assured on numerous occasions by key people within the U.S. Attorney’s Office — and as recently as a few weeks ago — that John Dougherty […]
COMEUPPANCE: Spitzer Agonistes
[Illustration by ALEX FINE] “I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me,” he continued. “To every New Yorker and to all of those who believed in what I tried to stand for, I sincerely apologize. I look back on my time as governor with a sense of what might have been.” “There is much more to be done and I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people’s work,” he said, adding that in his public life he has insisted “people — regardless of their position or power — take responsibility […]
MONEY: NIN Don’t Need No Stinking Record Company
Nine Inch Nails’ 36-track instrumental opus Ghosts I-IV, released March 2 via NIN.com, has amassed a first week total of 781,917 transactions (including free and paid downloads as well as orders for physical product), resulting in a take of $1,619,420 USD. “These figures represent the most relevant and contemporary metric for measuring how Nine Inch Nails’ music is reaching its fans,” said NIN manager Jim Guerinot. NIN’s label The Null Corporation will not be releasing traditional sale figures to soundscan. As previously reported, the $300 Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition of Ghosts I-IV immediately sold out its run of 2500. The $5 […]
HOT DOCUMENT: Geraldine Ferraro Resigns From The Clinton Campaign, Citing Foot And Mouth Disease
Dear Hillary – I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign.The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you. I won’t let that happen. Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do to make this a better world for my children and grandchildren. You have my deep admiration and respect. Gerry [via POLITICO] PREVIOUSLY: In a newspaper interview last week, Ferraro said, “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. […]
ENDGAME: Fumo Acknowledges Reality
INQUIRER: State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo announced today that he was dropping out of the race for re-election, ending a more than 30-year political career. Fumo cited the ‘cloud’ of indictment as the main reason for his decision to leave office once his term ends in January. He suffered a heart attack March 2 that sent him to the hospital for a week. He was released on Sunday. Flanked by his family and Gov. Rendell, Fumo made his announcement at a 25-minute press conference at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. “I did not make the decision to retire because of health […]