John McCain campaign ad: “Advice” TIME: When politicians interject race into a campaign, they seldom do it directly. Consider McCain’s new ad, which the campaign says it will be airing nationally. This is hardly subtle: Sinister images of two black men, followed by one of a vulnerable-looking elderly white woman. Let me stipulate: Obama’s Fannie Mae connections are completely fair game. But this ad doesn’t even mention a far more significant tie — that of Jim Johnson, the former Fannie Mae chairman who had to resign as head of Obama’s vice presidential search team after it was revealed he got […]
CINEMA: This Won’t Hurt A Bit
GHOST TOWN (2008, directed by David Koepp, 102 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Have you ever had a classical musician dazzle you with their instrumental brilliance, then knock out a jaunty version of something like “Three Blind Mice” for a tongue-in-cheek encore? The Office creator Ricky Gervais’ first Hollywood star vehicle plays out something like that — a comic genius breathing life into the most shop-worn of premises. With Extras, Gervais’ follow-up to his instantly classic The Office, the potato-faced comic showed he was no fluke, milking unpredictable hilarity out of his frequently humiliated, put-upon persona. Even though […]
JUNK SCI: Nutraceuticals, It’s What’s For Dinner
BY ELIZABETH FIEND LIVING EDITOR Orange juice laced with anchovies, fish genes in ice cream, cheese that kills intestinal parasites, laboratory extracted elements of green tea in your ginger ale, bacteria from yogurt hidden in salsa. Welcome to the supermarket of the 21st century. Not the 21st century to come, I mean today, this is your food store now. Fortified foods aka functional foods are the newest adventure in eating. The fancy name for fortified foods is nutraceuticals. Say that out loud, it’s kind of nauseating. A combo of nutrition and pharmaceutical, this name is trying to convince us that […]
All Of This Happened While You Were Working
PEOPLE GET READY: Rock The Vote, Philadelphia Community College, Yesterday Yesterday, Rock The Vote stopped at the Community College of Philadelphia on its tour encouraging those over the age of 18 to register and to vote in this year’s presidential election. Students were treated with live musical performances by Talib Kweli, Solange, The James Gang and Ken Swift of the Rock Steady Crew. There were also appearances made by Joe Pantoliano (Bad Boys II), Max Kennedy (Bobby Kennedy’s son) and ?uest Love (The Roots) made a special guest appearance. All artists encouraged students to get involved in this year’s presidential […]
SHIVER ME TIMBERS: It’s ‘Talk Like A Pirate’ Day!
TALK LIKE A PIRATE.COM: Why do we need an International Talk Like a Pirate Day? Make no mistake. We do. But it’s a little hard to articulate why, especially when you’ve made the mistake of referring to your wife as a scurvy bilge rat and tried to order her back into the galley. Talking like a pirate is fun. It’s really that simple. It gives your conversation a swagger, an elán, denied to landlocked lubbers. Before we go any further, there’s something we need to be clear about. Pirates were and are bad people. Really reprehensible. Even the most casual […]
GOODBYE INVISIBLE HAND, HELLO NANNY STATE: Federales Plan To Nationalize Junk Mortgage Crisis
WALL STREET JOURNAL: The federal government is working on a sweeping series of programs that would represent perhaps the biggest intervention in financial markets since the 1930s, embracing the need for a comprehensive approach to the financial crisis after a series of ad hoc rescues. At the center of the potential plan is a mechanism that would take bad assets off the balance sheets of financial companies, said people familiar with the matter, a device that echoes similar moves taken in past financial crises. The size of the entity could reach hundreds of billions of dollars, one person said. Another […]
ABOVE THE LAW: Todd Palin Refuses To Testify
ASSOCIATED PRESS: ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s husband has refused to testify in the investigation of his wife’s alleged abuse of power, and key lawmakers said Thursday that uncooperative witnesses are effectively sidetracking the probe until after Election Day. Todd Palin, who participates in state business in person or by e-mail, was among 13 people subpoenaed by the Alaska Legislature. Palin’s lawyer sent a letter to the lead investigator saying Palin objected to the probe and would not appear to testify on Friday. “The objections boil down to the fact that the Legislative Council investigation is no longer […]
OBAMA/BIDEN: Back In The Saddle
CNN: Sen. Barack Obama has widened his lead over Sen. John McCain, according to CNN’s latest “poll of polls.” Sen. Barack Obama leads Sen. John McCain by 3 percentage points, according to CNN’s “poll of polls.” The senator from Illinois is ahead of McCain in national polls by 3 percentage points, 47 percent to 44 percent. Obama was up by 2 points in the poll of polls released earlier Thursday. McCain led in national polls last week, but by the weekend, the candidates were tied. Obama recaptured the lead for the first time in 10 days Wednesday. The latest poll […]
THE GIRL WHO CRIED WOLF: Goode Aide Calls Fox29 ‘Racist’ For Filming Her Goofing Off On City Time
CLOUT: City Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr. came to work today with an attention-grabbing piece of legislation that could change the way some of his colleagues get elected. But he quickly was overshadowed in Council’s chambers by his chief legislative aide, Latrice Bryant, who held up a series of handmade signs that said “Fox29 in racist” and “K.K.K.” Fox29 reporter Jeff Cole has been following Goode and Bryant, filming their comings and goings. And Bryant is not at all happy about it. Cole confronted Goode after Council’s session wrapped up, asking if he thought Fox29’s reporting was racist. Goode didn’t […]
BOOK: Gorby Approved Pope Assassination
NEW AMERICAN: His vociferous support for Russia’s heavy aerial bombardment and invasion of Georgia notwithstanding, Mikhail S. Gorbachev is scheduled to be presented the Liberty Medal on September 18 by former President George H. W. Bush. The medal, ostensibly to honor men and women “who have strived to secure the blessings of liberty to people the world over,” is awarded annually by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. “Awarding the Liberty Medal should not be construed as an endorsement by the Center of President Gorbachev’s views on the Russia-Georgia conflict,” the center’s president, Joseph Torsella said in a report that […]
PAPERBOY: Fall Guys And Crazy Cabbies Edition
BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]
WAR GAMES: How Sarah Palin Got Hacked
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Hackers broke into the Yahoo! e-mail account that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used for official business as Alaska’s governor, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate. The Secret Service contacted The Associated Press on Wednesday and asked for copies of the leaked e-mails, which circulated widely on the Internet. The AP did not comply. The disclosure Wednesday raises new questions about the propriety of the Palin administration’s use of nongovernment e-mail accounts to conduct state business. The practice was revealed months ago _ […]