HUFFINGTON POST: In a television appearance that outraged Democrats are already describing as Joseph McCarthy politics, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann claimed on Friday that Barack Obama and his wife Michelle held anti-American views and couldn’t be trusted in the White House. She even called for the major newspapers of the country to investigate other members of Congress to “find out if they are pro-America or anti-America.” MORE [The Young Turks: Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on MSNBC’s Hardball, October 17, 2008] HUFFPO: What makes the incident even more bizarre is that Bachmann is in a close congressional race and just this […]
SITAR HERO: Phawker Tawks With Anoushka Shankar
WIKIPEDIA: Anoushka Shankar (Hindi: ??????? ????), b. June 9, 1981, is a sitar player and composer in the United Kingdom. She is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player, and Sukanya Shankar. Through her father, she is the half-sister of Grammy Award winner Norah Jones. Anoushka was born in London. When she was eight years old, her father began training her in the sitar. She gave a public performance at the age of thirteen; since then she has become a world famous sitar artist. The Indian Television Academy, Asmi, and India Times chose her as one of four Women […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
BY DAVE ALLEN A two-night stand is a rare thing, and a preview yesterday of this mini-Warped Tour lineup, with left-wing ragers Rise Against headlining, wouldn’t have done any good — Night One was sold out. So here’s the top five reasons to check out Night Two tonight at the E-Factory. 1) Any moment iron-throated Rise Against singer Tim McIlrath roams the stage without a guitar. It’s been said that mics are for singing, not for swinging, but McIlrath makes a strong case for their non-vocal use. With him stationed behind the mike stand with a guitar, they’re just another […]
NOT READY FOR PRIMETIME: Palin To Guest On SNL
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is set to appear on this week’s broadcast of “Saturday Night Live,” the entertainment show that has featured a popular parody of the Alaska governor by former cast member Tina Fey. Palin will appear Saturday on the show hosted by actor Josh Brolin, who plays President Bush in director Oliver Stone’s new movie, “W.” A John McCain campaign spokeswoman, Jill Hazelbaker, on Friday confirmed Palin’s appearance but offered no details about what the Alaska governor will say or do. MORE WASHINGTON POST: GREENSBORO, N.C. — No wonder GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah […]
BONNIE & CLYDE: ‘Bonnie’ Gets Five Years
INQUIRER: Jocelyn S. Kirsch, the former Drexel University student who pleaded guilty to engaging in a bold identity-fraud scam, was sentenced this morning to five years in prison. “This sentence properly punishes the defendant, provides full restitution and protects the public,” said U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno at the close of a two-hour hearing this morning. The judge said the crimes were serious. “There’s no apparent object to these acts other than greed and a desire to fuel a lavish lifestyle,” said Robreno. “A message must be sent out from this sentence that credit card fraud will not pay.” […]
CINEMA: How To Lose Friends & Fuck Up A Nation
W. (2008, directed by Oliver Stone, 129 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Oliver Stone’s celebrity has eclipsed his own work in recent years, but with his latest, the biopic about our sitting President entitled W., Stone has succeeded in capturing the public imagination in a manner that he hasn’t since 1991’s J.F.K. As his popularity hovers towards record lows, much of America seems to be salivating for The Decider to get his comeuppance. With what is perhaps the most controlled and entertaining film of his career, Stone surprises by delivering a film that is not a partisan smear; […]
HEAR YE: The Spinto Band Moonwink
Now playing on Phawker Radio! The Spinto Band play First Unitarian Tonite!
THE EARLY WORD: Boyd Rice Is A Very Bad Boy
EXCLUSIVE EAST COAST BOOK SIGNING SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 7PM GERM BOOKS BOYD RICE STANDING IN TWO CIRCLES THE COLLECTED WORKS OF BOYD RICE STANDING IN TWO CIRCLES is the first definitive and comprehensive compendium of the works of BOYD RICE, one of the most provocative and controversial underground figures of the post-punk era. A pioneering noise musician and countercultural maven, from the late 1970s to the present Rice has worked in an array of capacities, playing the roles of: musician, performer, artist, photographer, essayist, interviewer, editor, occult researcher, filmmaker, actor, orator, deejay, gallery curator and tiki bar designer, among others. […]
CALLING ALL COMMIES: Beware Of Drunk Bikers
[via PENNSYLVANIA FOR JOHN MCCAIN] McCain-Palin Motorycle Rally, Philadelphia Free Beer, plus bikers is unbeatable. Please sign up with Chris Hill at: chillfactor1068@yahoo.com I need a favor from each of you. On Sunday 26 October at 1400hrs, I am leading a motorcycle caravan around the city to get at the communists making all manner of noise. We’re going to ride from the Chinatown McCain campaign office at 1008 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA. We’ll bash around Center City, through South Philly out to the Northeast and then back, with flags a flying and pipes roaring. If you ride and want to […]
THE BEATLES: The End
And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make. [Dir. by SCOTT COLAN] DANA MILBANK, WASHINGTON POST: I have to say the Secret Service is in dangerous territory here. In cooperation with the Palin campaign, they’ve started preventing reporters from leaving the press section to interview people in the crowd. This is a serious violation of their duty — protecting the protectee — and gets into assisting with the political aspirations of the candidate. It also often makes it impossible for reporters to get into the crowd to question the people who say vulgar […]
OBAMA: Serve The Servants
NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY MAGAZINE: For a guy who just four years ago was running his first statewide campaign, Barack Obama has made startlingly few missteps as a presidential candidate. But the moment Obama would most like to take back now, if he could, was the one last April when, speaking to a small gathering of Bay Area contributors, he said that small-town voters in Pennsylvania and other states had grown “bitter” over lost jobs, which caused them to “cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them.” That comment, subsequently posted by a blogger for […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR The New Yorker‘s chief political correspondent, Ryan Lizza, explains Joe Biden’s relationship with Barack Obama — and why taking on less often means doing more as vice president. Lizza’s article “Biden’s Brief,” about the Democratic vice presidential candidate, appears in the Oct. 16 issue of The New Yorker. ALSO, Emmy-winning director and producer Larry Charles has a penchant for the ridiculous — witness his credits, which include Borat, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Now, Charles wants to turn his latest film, Religulous, into an HBO series. RADIO TIMES Hour 1 Analysis of last night’s third and final presidential […]
PLUMBER CRACKED: Joe The Plumber Ain’t All That
WASHINGTON POST: Joe the Plumber is not exactly a plumber and he’s “not even close” to making the kind of money that would result in higher taxes from Democrat Barack Obama’s proposals. Such is the whirlwind of information that has come out about Joe Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, since Republican John McCain made him famous in last night’s debate. McCain mentioned him more than 20 times to use him as a symbol of hard-working Americans who would be hurt by Obama’s tax policies. Obama and Wurzelbacher met earlier in the week in Toledo, where Wurzelbacher said Obama’s plans to raise […]