ASSOCIATED PRESS: The doors to Oaksterdam University in downtown Oakland were cordoned off by yellow tape and blocked by United States marshals. Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration removed trash bags of unknown materials from the school to a waiting van. Arlette Lee, a spokeswoman for the Internal Revenue Service, told reporters that agents were serving a federal search warrant but that said she could not otherwise comment on the purpose of the raid. “What we are doing here today is under seal,” Ms. Lee said. About a dozen protesters gathered in front of the multistory building, which is adorned […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Aziz Ansari is about to hit the road. The 29-year-old comedian and star of Parks and Recreation is embarking on a multicity comedy tour, where he’ll be riffing on what he calls the “fears of adulthood.” You know, babies. Marriage. That kind of stuff. “I see a lot of my friends are kind of entering serious stages of their lives where they’re getting married and having children, and I’m getting to the age where that stuff is getting expected of me,” Ansari tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross. “And it’s all very terrifying to me. It still feels like […]
DAVID LYNCH: Crazy Clown Time
Directed by David Lynch. Need we say more? PREVIOUSLY: NOW YOU TELL US: David Lynch Was Here…Again PREVIOUSLY: I SEE A DARKNESS: Twin Peaks Turns 21 PREVIOUSLY: David Lynch To Release Crazy Clown Time PREVIOUSLY: TRANSCENDENTALISM: Eternal Bliss In Our Time PREVIOUSLY: ‘I’ve Got To Find The Flaming Nipple’ PREVIOUSLY: USELESS INFORMATION: David Lynch’s Twitter
EARLY WORD: Last Tango In Philly
[Artwork by JUAREZ MACHADO] This coming Thursday, a crowd of people will dance the tango around Swann Memorial Fountain at Race and 18th Streets. Authorities will not stop it. This bacchanalia is no flash mob. Rather, it will commemorate the day when water will once again flow through Logan Square’s fountain. Anyone will be able to join the instructors, performers, musicians and party-goers with impunity to recreate an historic, massive “municipal dance” that was held to mark the opening of the fountain back in 1924. At the time, local police were stationed to assure that dance moves would not get […]
HOT DOC: Sold! To The Rich White Men In The Back In Top Hats, Tails And An Air Of Entitlement
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CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: Sabina Killer’s Lawyers Argue The Bad Brain Defense To Save His Life
PW: After his arrest, Johnson negotiated with the commonwealth for a plea deal that spared his life; the state offered life plus 40 to 80 years. But the day he was scheduled to sign, Johnson surprised the court by firing his court-appointed attorney, hiring a private lawyer and rejecting the plea. Then, in a hearing last year, Judge Renee Cardwell-Hughes had to advise Johnson that he technically had no counsel, since his new attorney had not been paid. Now, court-appointed attorneys Lee Mandell and Gary Server are representing Johnson. Server introduced three last-minute strategies designed to save Johnson’s life. Two […]
COMMON SENSE: A Man With A Gun Does Not Cry Out For Help Right Before He Pulls The Trigger
MSNBC: The voice heard crying for help on a 911 call just before Trayvon Martin was shot to death was not that of George Zimmerman, according to two forensic voice identification experts, one of whom told MSNBC on Sunday that he believes the evidence is strong enough to use in court. “The tests concluded that it’s not the voice of Mr. Zimmerman,” Tom Owen, of Owen Forensic Services LLC and chair emeritus for the American Board of Recorded Evidence, told MSNBC. Asked if he thought such tests would be admissible in court, Owen said “yes” and noted he had recently used […]