On Monday, Elizabeth Fiend will school you on why Polly Pocket might have something to do with why Sally Can’t Read. But in the meantime — say, while you’re dismantling the Chinese crib of death — cogitate on which of the Mattel CEO’s three (so far) apologies for the lead-paint debacle you believe. Your choices are: * The one from a few weeks back aimed at U.S. consumers who really need to get started on the Christmas shopping * The one proffered Friday to Chinese officials * The one he says he really meant The state-run New China News Agency […]
THIS JUST IN: Hillary Is NOT A Lesbian
THE ADVOCATE: Clinton’s pioneering ways have, of course, met with fierce resistance in the past. Her detractors are legion, and many people simply hate her for being a powerful woman. The animosity is such that as soon as her husband was inaugurated in 1993, rumors started circulating that she was a lesbian, Lattimore recalls. “Where that came from, I just could never figure out,” he says. “It was so ridiculous.” One man would call the press office repeatedly, posing as a reporter for different newspapers, seeking comment on his scoop that Clinton was gay. Lattimore eventually transferred him to the […]
FUNNY PAGES: The Great Bed Famine Of 1827
[via MARRIED TO THE SEA]
PARIS, TEXAS: The Next Jena
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: PARIS, Texas — “Some of the things that happen here would not happen if we were in Dallas or Houston,” Cherry said. “They happen because we are in this closed town. I compare it to 1930s.” There was the 19-year-old white man, convicted last July of criminally negligent homicide for killing a 54-year-old black woman and her 3-year-old grandson with his truck, who was sentenced in Paris to probation and required to send an annual Christmas card to the victims’ family. And then there is the case that most troubles Cherry and leaders of the Texas NAACP, involving […]
All Of This Happened While You Were Sleeping
DISCO RIOT: Taking A Well-Deserved Rest, Girl Talk, Starlight Ballroom, Monday [Photo by EVA LIAO]
MEAT IS MURDER: Alicia Silverstone PETA Ad
HOUSTON (AP) — An animal rights group says Alicia Silverstone appears naked in a television ad promoting vegetarianism that was to debut Wednesday in Houston. The 30-second ad was to air about two dozen times in Houston on Wednesday, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said. PETA said Houston was picked for the commercial’s launch because it is often high on lists of cities with unhealthy eating habits. Houston was named the sixth fattest city in the nation by Men’s Fitness magazine this year.
POWER APHRODISIA: Hanky Panky In Harrisburg?
BY JOHN BAER OF THE DAILY NEWS As your Legislature returns from summer break, as your governor prepares to kick off the special session on energy on Monday, Harrisburg Sen. Jeff Piccola offers, um, a diversion. Piccola, who sought and then abandoned a bid for the GOP nomination to oppose Rendell last year, is investigating lobbying by a major film company, Lionsgate, and a friend of the guv’s, Leslie Merrill McCombs, and a $75 million tax credit for film and TV companies working in the state. The credit was part of a negotiated state budget settlement in July. The problem […]
CURIOUS: Fumo’s Super-Lawyer Recuses Himself
BY JOHN SHIFFMAN INQUIRER STAFF WRITER In a surprising move, Richard A. Sprague and his firm asked today for permission to withdraw as lawyers for indicted state Sen. Vincent J. Fumo (D., Phila.). The request comes just three weeks after U.S. District Judge William Yohn ruled that Sprague and his firm, Sprague & Sprague, could represent Fumo, despite conflicts of interests alleged by prosecutors, as long as Fumo waived and acknowledged any such conflicts in court. Yohn had set such a hearing for later this month. Instead, Sprague and colleagues Mark Sheppard and Geoffrey Johnson filed a motion this morning, […]
BREAKING: O.J. A ‘Suspect’ In Armed Robbery
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Investigators questioned O.J. Simpson and named him a suspect Friday in a confrontation at a casino hotel room involving sports memorabilia. The former football star said he went to the room to retrieve property that was stolen from him but denied breaking in. Las Vegas Metro Police Capt. James Dillon said the confrontation was reported as an armed robbery. “We have reported from the victim that there were weapons involved,” Dillon said, but he added that no weapons had been recovered and stressed that the investigation was in its “infancy.” Simpson told the AP he was […]
FRINGE DWELLER: Recommended
Trad by Mark Doherty Inis Nua Theatre Company Theater, 70 minutes An Irish fable about tradition in a mad place, Trad is the hilarious tale of hundred-year old Thomas and his improbably ancient Da. When Thomas reveals that he once fathered a son in a long ago fling, the pair sets off across the Irish countryside to find the unknown child, with nothing more than a hobble and a limp to help them. Written by Mark Doherty and directed by Tom Reing, Trad continues Inis Nua’s tradition of bringing gritty contemporary work from Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales to the […]
JUSTICE: Feds Bust Go Internet For Massive Fraud
In telemarketing, it’s called “cramming” ? slipping a charge onto a monthly bill without the customer knowing it. And today, federal prosecutors charged three operators of an Old City Internet company with cramming about $75 million in bogus fees from 350,000 small businesses across the country. In a 26-count indictment, prosecutors allege that Neal D. Saferstein and two partners “picked the pockets” of small businesses, charging them each $29.95 a month for Internet services they didn’t want or know about. Telemarketers would dupe customers into receiving a “welcome package” that looked like junk mail and triggered monthly charges unless customers […]
FRINGE: Q&A With ‘The Man Without Any Will’
“Starting at City Hall at 9:00 AM, I will wander around Philadelphia for eight hours. Everything after the initial starting spot is undetermined, as I will use a Magic 8-Ball to make all my decisions during that time period. Essentially, I will give up my free will.” — Chad Wanzek, aka The Man Without Any Will * Over the course of four days Wanzek abandoned his free will and put all decisions in the hands of a Magic 8 Ball as he wandered around Philadelphia. On his first day, the ball was kind, and led Wanzek to Reading Terminal’s Little […]
NPR 4 THE DEAF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR British rocker Elvis Costello made his debut with the album My Aim is True 30 years ago. He got his start with the band The Attractions before going solo; he’s since performed, recorded or collaborated with artists as diverse as The Brodsky Quartet, jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and Burt Bacharach. An anniversary edition of My Aim is True was released this week. This interview was first broadcast on Feb. 28, 1989. Singer-songwriter Joe Henry has worked with everybody from soul great Allen Toussaint to jazz giant Ornette Coleman to Madonna (his sister-in-law, who recorded his “Don’t Tell Me” […]