COLUMBIA TRIBUNE: A police SWAT team entered Whitworth’s residence around 8:30 p.m. suspecting a large amount of marijuana at the location, police spokeswoman Officer Jessie Haden said. SWAT members encountered a pit bull upon entry, held back and then fatally shot the dog, which officers said was acting in an uncontrollably aggressive manner. Whitworth was arrested, and his wife and 7-year-old son were present during the SWAT raid, Haden said. A second dog, which Whitworth’s attorney Jeff Hilbrenner described as a corgi, also was shot but was not killed. Police discovered a grinder, a pipe and a small amount of […]
TONITE: Deep Blues In The Hand Of Fatima
The Hand of Fatima dir. Augusta Palmer, US, 2009, video, 75 mins Wednesday, May 5 at 7pm Director Augusta Palmer in person The Hand of Fatima is a double portrait of a rock critic and his favorite band. Robert Palmer (1945 – 1997) was America’s pre-eminent music writer, best known for his book Deep Blues and his work for The New York Times. Morocco’s the Master Musicians of Jajouka play music older than history, and jammed with Ornette Coleman and Sonic Youth. Using Palmer’s writing about the band as her guide, his daughter Augusta set out for Morocco in […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Lyricist Hal David and composer Burt Bacharach began their collaboration together in 1957 after meeting in New York City’s legendary Brill Building — the home of dozens of music publishers, as well as songwriters such as Carole King, Neil Sedaka and Paul Simon. Only a year later, their song “The Story of My Life” hit the U.S. country music charts. Soon afterward, Perry Como recorded their song “Magic Moments,” which also climbed the charts. But it was in 1961, when Bacharach and David started their collaboration with the sultry pop star Dionne Warwick, when they had their biggest […]
DIGITAL MIGRATION: Turns Out That The Reports Of The Album’s Death Are NOT Greatly Exaggerated
TORRENT FREAK: With this shift from physical to digital, another important change hit the industry, one that may in part explain why the labels’ revenues in the U.S. continued to decline. With the introduction of paid downloads, consumers no longer had to buy a full album if they were only interested in two or three songs. This new freedom for consumers has dramatically changed the music sales landscape. According to statistics taken from the RIAA shipment database, between 2004 and 2008 the number of single tracks sold in the U.S. increased by 669 percent while the number of album sales […]
TOP 10: Reasons Why You Should Quit Facebook
DAN YODER: After some reflection, I’ve decided to delete my account on Facebook. I’d like to encourage you to do the same. This is part altruism and part selfish. The altruism part is that I think Facebook, as a company, is unethical. The selfish part is that I’d like my own social network to migrate away from Facebook so that I’m not missing anything. In any event, here’s my “Top Ten” reasons for why you should join me and many others and delete your account. MORE RELATED: As grumbling about Facebook’s ever-shifting privacy policies gets louder, a new study from […]
THE ERRORIST: A Bad Man Is Not Hard To Find
NEW YORKER: Last week, before the Times Square incident, I was talking with a former U.S. intelligence officer who worked extensively on jihadi cases during several overseas tours. He said that when a singleton of Shahzad’s profile—especially a U.S. citizen—turns up in a place like Peshawar, local jihadi groups are much more likely to assess him as a probable U.S. spy than as a genuine volunteer. At best, the jihadi groups might conclude that a particular U.S.-originated individual’s case is uncertain. They might then encourage the person to go home and carry out an attack—without giving him any training or […]
TONITE: Broad Street Bullying
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: It’s a bittersweet feeling to watch HBO’s lively and engaging new documentary on the mid-1970s Philadelphia Flyers. The “Broad Street Bullies” remain one of the most distinctively branded sports teams of modern times, an intriguing mix of wonderful hockey skill and medieval intimidation. You can’t argue with their success and this documentary doesn’t, celebrating their Stanley Cup victories in 1974 and 1975 with gleeful exuberance. Even if you hated the Flyers, which most New York hockey fans did, it’s fun to watch. At the same time, the documentary acknowledges that in some ways the Flyers did hockey […]
Blackwater’s Secret Plans For World Domination (On Behalf Of The U.S. Government, Of Course)
THE NATION: Erik Prince, the reclusive owner of the Blackwater empire, rarely gives public speeches and when he does he attempts to ban journalists from attending and forbids recording or videotaping of his remarks. On May 5, that is exactly what Prince is trying to do when he speaks at DeVos Fieldhouse as the keynote speaker for the “Tulip Time Festival” in his hometown of Holland, Michigan. He told the event’s organizers no news reporting could be done on his speech and they consented to the ban. Journalists and media associations in Michigan are protesting this attempt to bar reporting […]
SPORTO: Don’t Tase Me, Bro
Last night, a towel-waving fan ran onto the field at Citizen’s Bank and got tasered by the popo. Who doesn’t love a happy ending? DAN RUBIN: The Phillies and police met yesterday to work out some procedures for future run-ons. Here’s my vote: Sending a cop out with a Taser gun is plain idiocy. Let’s start with what could go wrong. This year, CNN investigated police use of Tasers because a California man went into cardiac arrest after an officer fired an “Electronic Control Device” three times into his chest. The man, Stephen Butler, had been drinking. Butler is now […]
BREAKING: Arrest Made In Times Square Bomb Plot
NEW YORK TIMES: Federal agents and police detectives arrested a Connecticut man, a naturalized United States citizen from Pakistan, early Tuesday in connection with the failed Times Square car bombing, according to people briefed on the investigation. The man, Faisal Shahzad, was believed to have recently bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder that was found loaded with gasoline, propane, fireworks and fertilizer in the heart of Times Square, one of the people briefed on the development said. Mr. Shahzad was taken into custody at a New York-area airport, apparently trying to flee, one of the people said. Charges against Mr. Shahzad, […]
DEENEY: When The State Orders Abortion
[Illustration by LEONARDO DA VINCI] BY JEFF DEENEY The Daily News’s most recent assault on incompetence and systemic failure at DHS deals with a touchy topic: the agency’s unusual role as abortion advocate with its pregnant juvenile clients. Regina Medina’s story details how the agency got a court to order the procedure after the client’s birth mother refused to comply with the agency’s demand for it. The pregnant teen eventually had to seek a late term abortion in New Jersey because the court proceeding and a failed first attempt to access women’s health services had dragged the process on long […]
40 YEARS AGO: 10 Soldiers And Nixon Coming
INQUIRER: On Tuesday, it will be 40 years since my son Jeff was shot and killed on the campus of his college. He and three of his classmates were murdered by the National Guard at an antiwar demonstration at Kent State. During a 13-second fusillade of rifle fire, Jeff, Allison Krause, Sandy Scheuer, and Bill Schroeder were killed and nine of their fellow students were wounded. The students who had gathered that day – all unarmed – held a large range of opinions about the seemingly endless war in Vietnam. Some, including Jeff, objected intensely to the increasing escalation of […]