OK, we’re gonna make this real easy, i.e. Google-able, and hyper-local: What Cass McCombs album contains the song “City Of Brotherly Love”? First Phawker reader to email us at FEED@PHAWKER.COM with the correct answer wins two tix to see Cass McCombs at Johnny Brendas on Sunday July 17th. Put CASS in the subject line and include a cell phone number for confirmation. Good luck and godspeed. PITCHFORK: Over the course of his previous four albums, McCombs fashioned himself an enigmatic vagabond in the classic Dylan mold, yet it wasn’t until 2009’s Catacombs that his enigma started to feel more like […]
Murdoch Used Tabloid Harrassment To Punish Politicians Like A Shock Collar On A Disobedient Dog
NEW YORK TIMES: However much they might deplore tabloid methods and articles — the photographers lurking in the bushes; the reporters in disguise entrapping subjects into sexual indiscretion or financial malfeasance; the editors paying tens of thousands of dollars for exclusive access to the mistresses of politicians and sports stars; the hidden taping devices; the constant stream of stories about illicit sex romps — politicians have often been afraid to say so publicly, for fear of losing the papers’ support or finding themselves the target of their wrath. If showering politicians with political rewards for cultivating his support has been […]
WORTH REPEATING: The Star Of David
JAY ROSEN: I saw the movie Page One tonight. I think I’m too familiar with the subject to be a good judge. But I do have one observation to share. Page One shows off David Carr’s incredible feel for the American idiom. No character David Simon has come up with is better than Carr. MORE TELLY DAVIDSON: Page One tells the story of the 2009-10 production year at the Times, focusing on several reporters (young bucks like Andrew Ross Sorkin and Tim Arango make appearances), but the main characters are embattled editor Bill Keller, and gruff, lovably no-nonsense media writer David Carr. It also gives us a look inside […]
PHYSICIAN HEAL THYSELF: Michelle Bachmann’s Husband Runs ‘Gay Cure’ Clinic With Taxpayer Funds
THE NATION: As Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann has surged in the polls, the spotlight has turned on her husband and main political adviser, Marcus Bachmann, who has a PhD in clinical psychology and owns two Christian counseling centers in Minnesota. There has been a great deal of speculation that his clinics, which have received $161,000 in state and federal funding, try to cure homosexuality—and the chatter has only grown louder since his comments likening gays to “barbarians” who “need to be educated” and “disciplined” surfaced in the blogosphere last week. Marcus Bachmann has denied these allegations. “That’s a false […]
HOPELESS: DEA Re-Affirms Classification Of Marijuana As Dangerous Drug With No Redeeming Social Or Medical Value, Just Like Heroin
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Marijuana has been approved by California, many other states and the nation’s capital to treat a range of illnesses, but in a decision announced Friday the federal government ruled that it has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as a highly dangerous drug like heroin. The decision comes almost nine years after medical marijuana supporters asked the government to reclassify cannabis to take into account a growing body of worldwide research that shows its effectiveness in treating certain diseases, such as glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. Advocates for the medical use of the drug criticized the […]
SIDEWALKING: The Only Way To Live Is In Cars
Upstate New York, 2 PM by JEFF FUSCO
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Louis CK on dating post-divorce: “You sort of feel like you just got out of prison. And they give you the suit you were convicted in. And they give you a paper bag with a watch and a wallet in it. And they give you eight bucks and a bus ticket and the cars are going way too fast and you can’t cross the street — and you’re considering going into a motel and hanging yourself after carving your initials. And you know … there’s not a lot of women my age who’re single. If they’re single it’s […]
Lynne Abraham Still Crazy About The War On Drugs
DAILY NEWS: Lynne Abraham doesn’t get it. She didn’t get it when she was Philadelphia’s district attorney from 1991 until last year. And she’ll probably never get it, no matter how many statistics and reports show that America’s 40-year-old “war on drugs” has been a hugely expensive and crime-inducing failure. “My view remains unchanged with regard to drug abuse,” Abraham, 70, said from her office at the Archer & Greiner law firm, where the bulldoggish ex-prosecutor is now a partner. Her view is that people who smoke marijuana – by far the most widely used illicit drug in the United […]
One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap For Drexel
BY MEREDITH KLEIBER If you read the news on a regular basis, you’ve no doubt heard that the NASA Space Shuttle program will cease to exist after today’s scheduled launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. What you may not know is that Philadelphia is playing a significant role in this auspicious occasion. First of all, the commander of the Atlantis on its final flight is none other than Drexel alum Chris Ferguson (class of 1984). Secondly, Ferguson asked the graphic design department to design the mission patches for the flight. Mission patches are a big deal in astronaut circles and […]
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMON SENSE: Summer Beer On Ice? That’s Nice — Deal With It!
JOE SIXPACK: The ice can’t help but melt, which waters down the flavor of your favorite. But beer gets watered down all the time – and I’m not just talking about light beer. In most brews, the initial beer wort is diluted with additional water to adjust the density and flavor of the finished product. Adding a little more water doesn’t necessarily ruin the beer – it just changes it. Could it actually improve the flavor? You won’t know till you try. Which, in the spirit of journalistic curiosity, I did during a recent hot spell. Appropriately enough, the test […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: Power, Corruption And Lies
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY Given the fact that rampant, persistent corruption is one of the sparks that has been igniting bonfires throughout the world recently, e.g., Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iran, Ivory Coast, etc. — and given America’s all-too-prevalent propensity for disparaging such turpitude and the very populations subject to it, I decided to take a closer look our own none-to-exemplary track record when it comes to corrupt high-ranking public officials. Turns out that when it comes to corruption of public officials our much ballyhooed ‘American Exceptionalism’ is but a mirage, mostly fostered by people with something to hide With no intention of writing a […]
Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid Cuts On The Table
NEW YORK TIMES: Mr. Obama, appearing at the White House after meeting with Speaker John A. Boehner and other Republican and Democratic leaders, said both sides had pledged to come to an agreement before Aug. 2, when the Treasury Department says the government will reach a debt ceiling that will make further borrowing impossible. “Nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to,” Mr. Obama said of the substance of the talks, which are ranging across entitlement programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, as well as tax-related measures like the closing of loopholes and tax breaks for the wealthy […]
MEDIA: Rupert Murdoch Pulls The Plug On News Of The World As Phone-Hacking Scandal Goes Defcon 1
NEW YORK TIMES: The media titan Rupert Murdoch abandoned his defiance of popular and Parliamentary pressure on Thursday, sacrificing the mass-circulation British tabloid News of the World in a bid to protect his News Corporation empire from fallout as the phone hacking scandal turned yet more disturbing on suggestions that targets included not only a 13-year-old murder victim but also relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The announcement came from Mr. Murdoch’s son and likely heir apparent, James, in a broad and apologetic statement delivered so suddenly that The News of the World was still advertising a subscription […]