DEAR PHAWKER, Thought you might be interested in this story that is bubbling around underneath the mainstream media. You’ve seen that HBO documentary about how dangerously screwed-up those electronic voting machines are? Hackable Diebold machines were supplied to 80% of New Hampshire’s districts. Seems Hillary won overwhelmingly on these machines where Obama overwhelmingly won on the hand-countable machines, defying all statistical probabilities. CNN fleetingly mentioned in their exit polls had Obama ahead by 8% points, in line with all recent polling which charted a steady rise over the last few weeks for Obama and a steady waning of Clinton’s. With […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
PORNO FOR THE DEAF: They Hear It Even When You Can’t While many a hearing person has muted a porn video, it’s nice to have a choice about what you want to hear — or see — and what you don’t. Deaf Bunny (NSFW), the first deaf-owned and deaf-staffed porn company, launched in August with the mission of making porn accessible to deafies and their hearing partners in as many forms as possible.Through subtitles, sign language, cartoonish thought bubbles, full audio and blatant use of technology, anyone can understand the complex plot and tangled relationships portrayed in the company’s first […]
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Top Five Things You Really Should Know About The Wu-Tang Clan At The Troc
1.) RZA wasn’t in the house — he’s not part of Wu-Tang’s current tour — and not a single track from the Pride of Shaolin’s latest album, 8 Diagrams, was played, but nobody minded, least of all the drunk white dudes who rapped along to “Bring The Pain” like they were away at Senior Week ’94. 2.) Even without The RZA, the Clan was not lacking in personnel — GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Cappadonna, Inspectah Deck and others made appearances, passing the mic (and, uh, other things) freely and generously back and forth across the stage during a […]
OBAMA: Lady Gov Of AZ Follows Kerry Endorsement
ASSOCIATED PRESS: PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is endorsing Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president, The Associated Press has learned. The endorsement is a major gain for Obama in his race against chief rival Hillary Rodham Clinton. Napolitano, one of several female governors, is the most prominent Democrat in Arizona and her endorsement could be significant in a state now regarded as winnable by a Democrat after decades as a near-lock for Republicans. The state holds its primary Feb. 5. Napolitano was elected governor in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. She previously was U.S. attorney for Arizona during […]
AFTER INNOCENCE: Why The Caged Bird Sings
BY JEFF DEENEY Hearty and much-deserved congratulations go out today to Nick Yarris, whom the Inquirer reports received a heaping settlement in his wrongful imprisonment lawsuit against Delaware County. You might remember Yarris from the searing 2006 documentary, After Innocence, which profiled wrongfully convicted men exonerated by the nonprofit Innocence Project, a national coalition of legal clinics that advocates for the release of prisoners who can be conclusively proven innocent by DNA evidence. Yarris got tangled up with the law as a young drug addict in the early ’80s and through a series of unfortunate circumstances and bad decisions (which […]
CINEMA: The Twilight’s Last Gleaming
BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Acclaimed experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs (named by the Whitney Museum as one of the one hundred greatest artists of the twentieth century) delivers his life’s work with the nearly-fifty-years-in-the-making masterpiece Star Spangled To Death. No wonder the movie’s running time is an elephantine six hours-plus. Think of it as Picasso’s La Guernica come to life, with laughs added. Nearly fifty years in the making, Star Spangled To Death sums up everything that fascinates and distresses the filmmaker. Sifting through the cinematic junkyard of the last century to display a delirious melange of ham-fisted political propaganda, […]
MAYOR NUTTER: Rapper’s Delight
Reason #6,784 why we like Mike.
WORTH REPEATING: The Invisible Hand Of Hope
ABC NEWS: Kenyans reach out to receive food aid handed out by the Kenyan Red Cross, Tuesday, Jan.8, 2008 in the Kibera slum in Nairobi. Kenya’s president and his chief rival made key concessions to end the dispute over the country’s elections, calling off protests and agreeing to talks under pressure from the United States as the death toll from a week of violence reached nearly 500. (Riccardo Gangale/AP Photo) SWAMPLAND: One of the more extraordinary stories of the Obama campaign has been playing out behind the scenes over the past week as the candidate has been working on a […]
ARTSY: Steal This Blog
BY TIFFANY YOON We all know the old saw about Robin Hood stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Which is noble and all, but quite frankly risky — the rich HATE when you steal from them and tend to press charges — and a lot of work. Wouldn’t it be so much easier, not to mention downright Republican, to steal from the poor instead and, well, just keep it for yourself? And who is poorer than a bunch of starving artists? And get this: These starving artists actually WANT you to steal their shit. Starting today, the […]
NEWS CLUES: Dead Man Walking Edition
KILLADELPHIA: Two Men Critical After Shooting Two men are in critical condition after being shot in the Powelton section of Philadelphia late last night. A 19-year-old with multiple gunshot wounds and a 22-year-old with a gunshot wound to the chest were found in the 4200 block of Haverford Avenue shortly before 11:30 p.m., police said. Both men were taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Both were in critical condition. The names of the men have not been released. No arrests have been made and police are investigating the motive for the shootings. [via the INQUIRER] * Judge […]
GOOD GRIEF: AP Declares Britney ‘A Big Deal’
[ Source: Gawker]