E: Chris Brown‘s manager, Tina Davis [pictured, below right], who was rumored to be the woman whose text message played a role in the Feb. 8 altercation between Brown and Rihanna, has flat-out denied, via her attorney, ever having had a romantic relationship with the R&B star. “The relationship between Ms. Davis and Mr. Brown is that of manager and client,” declared attorney Marshall B. Grossman in a written statement issued Wednesday. “There has never been any other relationship. The rumors in circulation are false. There are no emails between Ms. Davis and Mr. Brown of the type which have […]
THIS JUST IN: Tom Waits Goes Gold, Goes Hollywood
[Photo by MICHAEL T. REGAN] TOM WAITS latest 3 CD set—Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards—has been certified gold by the RIAA® and will be released on vinyl by Anti- Records in the not-too-distant future. He has also collaborated with Kool Keith on N.A.S.A.’s recently released The Spirit of Apollo, which also features such diverse artists as David Byrne, Karen O and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. As for new material, Waits and his long time collaborator and wife, Kathleen Brennan, have begun writing new songs, which they plan to record this summer for an upcoming CD. (No release date at this time.) […]
ARTSY: The Course Of Empire
Two French photographers — Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre — trained their lenses on the spectacular ruins of the modern day Motor City. The must-see results are astonishing, depressing and altogether post-apocalyptic. Metaphors abound — the state of the auto industry, the economy, and the American Dream itself — none of which augur well for the future of the nation. Rome was not built in a day, but the Roman Empire sure did fall in one — the day that the public good was subsumed by the pursuit of private gain. After that, it was all over but the shouting. […]
HOT DOCUMENT: The Tenacity Of Nope
—–Original Message—– From: Hale, Ellen Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 2:03 PM To: Hale, Ellen Subject: AP and the Obama Hope Poster Wednesday, March 11, 2009 AP Staff: The Associated Press today filed a countersuit claiming misappropriation of the AP photo underlying the ubiquitous Obama Hope poster and other materials by graphic artist Shepard Fairey. The suit claims “blatant violation” of AP’s copyright of the photo and seeks damages, injunctive relief and a declaratory judgment stating that the photo was used without permission. This is an important case for us. Licensing of AP content sustains our newsgathering and other operations. […]
EXPLAINER: How We Got So F*cked
If you haven’t been following the Jon Stewart Vs. CNBC cage match, CLICK HERE and get yourself schooled. Huffington Post just unearthed this 2006 interview with the execrable Jim Cramer, now a shouting head on CNBC, bragging about all manner of unethical and illegal activity he conducted back when he was a hedge fund manager — just one more carelessly tossed stone of self-interest that has reduced the hall of mirrors that was our financial sector to the sad pile of broken glass it is today. Here is some of what he said back in 2006: -On manipulating the market: […]
LOUT RAMPAGE: Madoff, Murder & Mayhem
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: One wants him to rot in prison, another hopes he has to clean the penitentiary toilets and a few are praying Bernie Madoff meets up with jailhouse justice. Fuming victims of Madoff’s $64.8 billion Ponzi scheme said Tuesday’s news that the Wall Street scoundrel will be sent to prison for 150 years falls short of the punishment they desire. “He doesn’t have 150 years to live, but I hope his time in jail will be hell on Earth,” Joan Sinkin, 75, of Boynton Beach, Fla., said Tuesday. Madoff, 70, is expected to plead guilty Thursday to […]
GARDEN STATE: What NJ Makes, The World Takes?
INQUIRER: New Jersey’s pharmaceutical industry, its scientists and technicians and sales reps in the bright office parks and steaming lab complexes that sprawl across the state and down Route 202 into Pennsylvania, is folding in on itself. Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, outside Newark, said yesterday that it had agreed to absorb Schering-Plough, based in Kenilworth, about 25 miles west on I-78. To make the deal pay, Merck plans to shave about $3.5 billion from yearly expenses, equal to about a third of its operating costs. And Pfizer, of New York, is planning to buy Wyeth, based in suburban Madison. […]
THEATER REVIEW: Top Five Reasons To See Scorched
1. Wading into the Silence For the last five years of her life, Lebanese revolutionary and civil war survivor Nawal hasn’t uttered a word, not even to her twin children, Simone and Janine. They are exasperated and dumbfounded by their mother’s perpetual reticence. It isn’t until Janine obtains a box of cassette tapes containing 500 recorded hours of her mother’s silence that she is impelled to quest for her mother’s origins in her native land, and thus, the origins of her quietude. Simone eventually follows. Simone and Janine soon discover the horrific yet beautiful circumstances that precipitated the silence. In […]
HEMP FOR VICTORY: Twenty-Seven States Currently Considering The Legalization Of Medical Marijuana
Alabama – Alabama Legislature Considers Medical Marijuana Reform California – Tax and Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Connecticut – Connecticut Legislature Considers Medical Marijuana Reform Connecticut – Connecticut Legislature Considers Decriminalizing Marijuana Hawaii – Hawaii Legislature Considers Decriminalizing Marijuana Iowa – Iowa Legislature Considers Medical Marijuana Reform Illinois – Illinois Legislature Considers Medical Marijuana Reform Kentucky – Oppose Zero Tolerance ‘Drugged’ Driving Bill In Kentucky Maryland – Maryland Legislature Considers Medical Marijuana Task Force Maine – Maine Legislature Considers Expanding Decrim Law Minnesota – Minnesota Legislature Considers Medical Marijuana Reform Missouri – Missouri Legislature Considers Medical Marijuana Reform Montana – Montana […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
SOUND OPINIONS Van Morrison recorded and released his masterpiece Astral Weeks 41 years ago, and to celebrate he released a live version of the album. This gave Jim and Greg a perfect opportunity to look back at Astral Weeks with a Sound Opinions Classic Dissection. Astral Weeks didn’t produce huge hits, but as Jim and Greg explain, this record is unique from any other in Van Morrison’s collection, and in fact, in rock history. It melds rock, blues, folk and jazz in such a way that makes it hard to define. The jazz musicians who contributed to this sound were […]
CHANGE: Obama Lifts Federal Stem Cell Research Ban
EDITOR’S NOTE: We urge anybody that has some moral or ethical problem with stem cell research to tell it to this man. [Video: McCaskill for Missouri TV ad featuring actor Michael J. Fox talking about Claire McCaskill and stem cell research.] CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: As promised during the campaign, President Obama has lifted federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research put in place in 2001 by President Bush. In announcing the policy change Monday morning, achieved by executive order, the president also signed a memorandum aimed at shielding the federal government’s involvement in science from political influence. The dual moves […]
RELIGULOUS: Study Says U.S. Losing Its Religion
USA TODAY: When it comes to religion, the USA is now land of the freelancers. The percentage. of people who call themselves in some way Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation. The faithful have scattered out of their traditional bases: The Bible Belt is less Baptist. The Rust Belt is less Catholic. And everywhere, more people are exploring spiritual frontiers — or falling off the faith map completely. These dramatic shifts in just 18 years are detailed in the new American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), to be released today. It finds that, despite growth and immigration that […]
THIS JUST IN: Nutter Kills Trash Fee
INQUIRER: Mayor Nutter has canned a controversial but lucrative plan to charge Philadelphians for garbage service, saying there was too little time to enact the complex program before he presents his budget next week. By ditching the trash fee – which had evolved in recent weeks from a proposed $5 weekly charge to a per-bag fee – Nutter avoids alienating supporters who consider garbage removal a basic city service, and he escapes a tough fight with City Council, where many members had opposed the fee. But the decision will make it that much harder for him to close the city’s […]