BY JEFF DEENEY TODAY I SAW the whitewashed statue of a saluting soldier on the corner of 61st and Grays Avenue (no, not Gray’s Ferry) in the Southwest. The statue is surrounded by protective, thigh-high black iron gating and red, white and blue-painted poles. The soldier is dressed in a World War II uniform and wearing a side cap; the statue itself is on a crumbling slab of concrete next to a tiny brown brick VFW Hall. There are a handful of obvious crack houses on tiny Glenmore Street, which runs parallel to Grays Avenue. You can tell they’re hit […]
Five Things You Should Know About THE SPICE GIRLS @ The Wachovia Center Last Night
1. The biggest difference between the Spice Girls circa ’98 and this time around is that the power dynamic has clearly shifted. Where Baby and Ginger were once clearly the most popular members of the group, last night the loudest screams came anytime Posh and Scary stepped out in front. For that you can thank David Beckham, Perez Hilton and “Dancing With The Stars.” 2. Speaking of Emma Bunton, I’m happy to report that she’s long since left behind the pigtails and baby doll-dresses matched with white knee-socks and heels. The same cannot be said of many young women in […]
CINEMA: The Ungrateful Dead
DIARY OF THE DEAD (2007, directed by George Romero, 95 minutes, U.S./Canada) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Before they can declare the New Wave of zombie films officially dead (no surprise they keep coming, they’re zombies after all) George Romero has decided to shamble in for another go around. With his fifth Dead film since his 1968 genre-sprouting classic Night of the Living Dead, Romero has scaled back his ambitions in order to maintain a control over production he hasn’t had since 1978’s Dawn of the Dead. With its limited budget, Romero has made Diary of the Dead more of […]
WISCONSIN SAID TO WASHINGTON: ‘Yes We Can’
WASHINGTON POST: Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) decisively defeated Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) in today’s Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary, scoring a ninth consecutive victory over the New York senator. Obama was also expected to win caucuses in Hawaii, the state in which he spent more than a decade of his youth. The Obama victory puts more pressure on Clinton, who now must win in Ohio and Texas on March 4 to sustain her campaign for the presidential nomination. On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) defeated former governor Mike Huckabee (Ark.) in the Wisconsin presidential primary. McCain’s convincing victory […]
PBS FOR THE BLIND: We See It Even When You’re Too Busy Watching American Idol
“Rules of Engagement” (PBS, 9 p.m.) examines the November, 2005 incident in Haditha that killed a Marine and 15 Iraqi civilians and has been called a massacre. First explained away as “insurgents” killed by an IED, further investigation revealed that the Iraqis died at the hands of U.S. forces, many in their homes. Eight Marines initially faced various criminal charges, but only four remain charged by military courts-martial, though none are facing murder charges. With the criminal trial of Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, who testified he told his team to “shoot first and ask questions later,” set to begin […]
TONITE: Here Come The Warm Spice MILFs
BY AMY Z. QUINN So here’s the thing. Ten years ago when my niece Deanna was but a sprout and the Spice Girls weren’t yet the Spice MILFs — hell, there wasn’t even a Posh n’ Becks yet — I managed to score a pair of tickets to their show at what is now the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. Suffice to say, this permanently secured my position as Coolest Aunt Ever — or so I thought. A few days before the show, Ginger Spice abruptly quit the group, sending little girls worldwide, Deanna included, into paroxysms of grief. […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR It’s one of the oldest faith questions: If there’s an all-powerful and loving God, why do human beings suffer? In his latest book, religious studies professor Bart D. Ehrman wrestles with that question — and with the implications of the often-contradictory answers he finds. In God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question — Why We Suffer, Ehrman meditates upon how the Bible explains human suffering, why he finds the explanations unconvincing, and why he gave up on being a Christian. Ehrman, author of Misquoting Jesus and more than a dozen other books, chairs […]
JUST IN: Philly Superdelegate Declares ‘Yes We Can’
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Barack Obama has picked up a third endorsement from Pennsylvania’s Democratic superdelegates. Former Philadelphia city councilwoman Carol Ann Campbell says she made up her mind Saturday after a telephone call from the Illinois senator’s wife, Michelle. Campbell says they talked for nearly 90 minutes , about the problems of the handicapped, children being raised by their grandparents and the importance of religion in their lives. Campbell, who’s previously said she was undecided, says she’s comfortable with what she heard and decided on the spot to support Obama over New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. With Campbell’s endorsement, […]
REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD: Principal Claims He Embezzled To Avenge His Abuse By Priests
BY SAM WOOD OF THE INQUIRER The former principal of Burlington County’s only Catholic high school said he embezzled from the school partly to get back at the church for sexual abuse he endured as a teenage seminary student.An attorney for Joseph Lemme raised the alleged abuse in a plea for leniency at Lemme’s sentencing in Superior Court last week. Lemme, principal at Holy Cross High School from 2002 to 2006, received a five-year prison term on Friday for stealing more than $415,000 from the school, which struggled with declining enrollment and financial problems during Lemme’s tenure. Lemme 51, of […]
EARLY WORD: If You’re Going To San Francisco
…you’re gonna miss the Spank Rock show on Friday.
ST. JOHN THE ESCALATOR: 100 Years In Baghdad
THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE: John McCain’s reputation as a maverick is no recent contrivance. The senator first captured the media spotlight in September 1983, not long after he’d been elected to his first term in the House, when he voted against President Reagan’s decision to put American troops in Lebanon as part of a multinational “peacekeeping” force. One of 27 Republicans to break with the White House, the freshman McCain made a floor speech that reads as if it might have been written yesterday — by Ron Paul: The fundamental question is: What is the United States’ interest in Lebanon IRAQ? […]
THE END OF FIDEL: After 50 Years, Castro Steps Down
HAVANA (AFP) — Fidel Castro resigned Tuesday as president and commander in chief of Cuba, the online official press said. 14 minutes ago …DEVELOPING…