Fascinating promotional clip for The City Of Brotherly Love from some time in the middle of the last century, when the statue of William Penn was still lord of all he surveyed. [h/t @ChrisWink]

[Illustration by ALEX FINE] FRESH AIR Allegations of phone hacking and bribery brought down Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid News of the World. Criminal and parliamentary investigations are now under way in the U.K., and dozens of journalists and top executives from Murdoch’s paper have been arrested. Scotland Yard has been investigating the scandal, but several police officials from that iconic institution have also been implicated; they’re accused of accepting bribes from reporters at Murdoch’s papers. Lowell Bergman is a producer and correspondent for the PBS documentary series Frontline. He is also a professor at the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. “A […]

O Captain! My Captain! How could I stay mad at you? (Actually, we still are a little mad — scratch that, a LOT mad — about all the pointless and pitiful capitulation to right wing assclowns and baldfaced quid pro quos to the financial industrial complex that bought the presidency for him. But we can discuss this after November 4th) From President Obama’s Tumblr page comes word of The Obama Poster Project, a series of re-elect campaign posters inspired by the movies. Next up, The Life Politic. I wonder if Mitt Romney has a Tumblr page, or maybe he’s just […]

The new Shy Pursuit is out May 1st, 2012 on Spintonic Recordings! The first single, “Take It” was birthed from a Harry Nilsson writing exercise and filtered through the rhythm section of Thriller-era Michael Jackson. Here, warbling analog synths conspire with chamber orchestras and collide into an explosive chorus. The video for “Take It” was directed directed by Daniel Gray Longino (Editor for Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Check it Out! With Dr. Steve Brule) and Eric Notarnicola (Editor for Awesome Show, Eagleheart, and the upcoming Eric Andre Show). Fans of Awesome Show and / or early 90’s […]

BY ZIVIT SHLANK Sometimes you listen to music and can immediately identify what you’re hearing. Other times, you’re better off trying to define it by what it’s not. For the guys of Many Arms, it’s most definitely the latter. Formed in Philadelphia in 2007, this power trio’s natural bent is constantly evolving. Admittedly, they’re influenced by so much music and combined, have worked in a myriad of settings from jazz to prog rock to punk and so on. With each new tour and recording, the main objective has always been to progress and synthesize those musical experiences into one dynamic […]

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Former Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel must spend at least 2 ½ years in prison for his role in a scheme to use public resources for campaign purposes. The 62-year-old Republican from Philadelphia also was ordered to pay $1 million in restitution. Perzel sat stone-faced as Dauphin County Judge Richard Lewis handed down his sentence of 2½ to 5 years Wednesday. Perzel was among seven Republican defendants who pleaded guilty in the case. Prosecutors say he masterminded a scheme to spend millions of dollars on computer technology and expertise to give GOP candidates an advantage in election campaigns. […]

POLITICO: Mitt Romney dominated in Illinois, beating Rick Santorum by 46.7 percent to 35 percent and reestablishing himself as the dominant front-runner and likely GOP nominee. Santorum may win Louisiana on Saturday and perhaps his home state of Pennsylvania in April but he has no path to the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination. There is not going to be a floor fight in Tampa no matter how much the pundit class would love to see it happen. The only real question is whether Romney wins fast (by picking off a “Santorum state” like Louisiana) or slowly through consistent […]

NPR: The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in a case involving the arrest of a Colorado man who was thrown in jail after telling Vice President Cheney in 2006 that the Bush Administration’s policies in Iraq were “disgusting.” Environmental consultant Steven Howards is suing the Secret Service agents who arrested him, contending that the arrest violated his First Amendment rights because it was nothing more than retaliation for the views he expressed to the vice president. The case pits the need for protecting public officials against the rights of citizens to express their views to the people elected to […]

[Illustration by ALEX FINE] UPDATE: So we put in a request for an interview with the good General and, not surprisingly, given what happened with the Rolling Stone piece, he declined. Still, we can’t help but think that these John Wayne types are big tough guys when they have 100,000 steroidal white trash jarheads to fight their battles, but get them alone with a microphone and a few simple questions and they hide behind their mother’s skirts. Warrior culture? Pffffft. Not impressed.  * GENERAL STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL Former Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan The Kimmel Center March 26, 2012 – […]