“Today the Department of Justice is experiencing a crisis of leadership perhaps unrivaled during its 137-year history,” said the Sen. Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “There’s a growing scandal swirling around the dismissal” of prosecutors, he added. Sen. Arlen Specter offered no more comfort in his opening remarks. He said the purpose of the hearing was to determine whether the committee believes that Gonzales should remain in office. “As I see it, you come to this hearing with a very heavy burden of proof,” Specter said as Gonzales listened intently, lips pursed, a few feet away. “This […]
DEPT. OF INJUSTICE: DOJ Falsely Alleged Voter Fraud In Key Battleground States To Suppress Dem Turnout
WASHINGTON – For six years, the Bush administration, aided by Justice Department political appointees, has pursued an aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates. The administration intensified its efforts last year as President Bush’s popularity and Republican support eroded heading into a midterm battle for control of Congress, which the Democrats won. Facing nationwide voter registration drives by Democratic-leaning groups, the administration alleged widespread election fraud and endorsed proposals for tougher state and federal voter identification laws. Presidential political adviser Karl Rove alluded to the strategy in April 2006 […]
THIS JUST IN: Howard Dean Campagin Architect & Current Tom Knox Political Guru JOE TRIPPI Signs On To Edwards Campaign
Obviously somebody feels his work here in Philadelphia is almost done. Here’s the complete text of Joe Trippi’s announcement: I really thought that the 2004 presidential campaign would be the last I would be involved in. I have always wanted to make a difference, but for me I thought those days were over. A few weeks ago, John and Elizabeth Edwards made their decision to continue, not just John Edwards’ campaign for President, but their work together to make a difference for their country. And that made me realize that I wasn’t done trying to make a difference either. Not […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Jimmy Wales helped create Wikipedia, the interactive online encyclopedia founded in 2001. Users write and edit Wikipedia entries themselves; the site also has a dedicated corps of editors. Often there are “edit wars” over entries — some, including the one headlined “2006 Lebanon War,” have been edited and then re-edited thousands of times — and Wikipedia’s accuracy has been questioned by some professors and colleges, who forbid students to use it. But Wikipedia, with versions in 250 languages, is one of the top 10 sites on the Internet. ALSO, for many veteran AfroPop performers, the end of the […]
As If The Pumping House Music And Bare-Chested Men Whipping Their Shirts Around Like A Lasso Wasn’t Hint Enough, New Street Signs Spell It Out…
A dedication ceremony was held Wednesday afternoon to unveil street signs to define Philadelphia’s famed “gayborhood.” Singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” a group of about 100 gathered at the corner of 13th and Locust Streets, in the Washington West neighborhood, where one of 36 discreet rainbow signs were unveiled. The sign is the same size as the Locust Street sign and fastened directly beneath it. Tami Sortman is president of the Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus: “Philadelphia four years ago started a gay-friendly campaign here to bring gay travelers into the city, and we felt that it was really important for […]
ONE SENTENCE EDITORIAL: When an angry loner massacres 32 fellow students JUST SO PEOPLE WOULD PAY ATTENTION TO HIM, you only validate his psychotic reasoning by publishing his self-styled assassin’s portrait; you have rewarded a monster with a glory he should never know and, in the process, you invariably create more just like him.
Stop it! HARRY SHEARER: What is the possible journalistic explanation for splashing Cho’s self-dramatizing poses and self-justifying bullshit over network and cable air? Did we learn anything useful during the spate of interviews of Charlie Manson years ago, except that he was one crazy motherfucker? Cho’s pathetic outpourings deserved to be put back where they came from–in a small room, with FBI guys sentenced to read/see and parse them Instead, a hundred thousand self-pitying mentally ill young men (and women?) have just been shown the road to glory one more time. A society in which it’s easier to become famous […]
TODAY I SAW…
BY JEFF DEENEY “Today I saw…” is a series of nonfiction shorts based on my experiences as a caseworker serving formerly homeless families now living in North and West Philadelphia. I decided not long after starting the job that I was seeing so many fascinating and disturbing things in the city’s poorest neighborhoods that I needed to start cataloging them. I hope this bi-weekly column serves as a record of a side of the city that many Philadelphians don’t come in contact with on a daily basis. I want to capture moments not frequently covered by the local media, which […]
EARLY WORD: My Fleeting House
Tim Buckley was an experimental vocalist and performer who incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, and avant-garde rock in a short career spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s. He often regarded his voice as an instrument, a talent most exploited on his albums Goodbye and Hello, Lorca, and Starsailor. He was the father of musician and singer Jeff Buckley, also known for his three-and-a-half octave voice, who died in 1997. Buckley released his debut album Tim Buckley on Elektra in 1966. A folk-rock album, it contained psychedelic melodies written with input from Beckett. He went on to release Goodbye and […]
VIET NOW: Today’s Death Toll In Baghdad = SIX Virginia Tech Massacres — Just Sayin’
BAGHDAD — Four large bombs exploded in mostly Shiite areas of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 178 people and wounding scores — the deadliest day in the city since the start of the U.S.-Iraqi campaign to pacify the capital two months ago. [Note: Video footage has been sanitized for the protection of your peace of mind]
KILLADELPHIA: Meet Akbar The Fireman MC — Savin’ Little Kittens In Trees, Wastin’ Pigs, Keepin’ It Real
The Fraternal Order of Police is burned up over a local firefighter’s saying he wanted to “turn pigs into bacon bits” in the lyrics of a rap song he wrote. So, in this post-Imus age, when the police union did not get the apology it was expecting yesterday, it called for the immediate firing of Rodney Jean-Jacques, 30, who moonlights as rapper Cal Akbar. Jean-Jacques remains on the payroll at Engine Company 9 in Mount Airy. The matter is under investigation, according to Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers and a spokesman for Mayor Street. Philadelphia Fire Fighters Union Local 22 […]