Illustration (sans WHORE) by KERRY WAGHORN HUFFINGTON POST: The corporate CEOs who have made a high-profile foray into deficit negotiations have themselves been substantially responsible for the size of the deficit they now want closed. The companies represented by executives working with the Campaign To Fix The Debt have received trillions in federal war contracts, subsidies and bailouts, as well as specialized tax breaks and loopholes that virtually eliminate the companies’ tax bills. The CEOs are part of a campaign run by the Peter Peterson-backed Center for a Responsible Federal Budget, which plans to spend at least $30 million pushing […]

Photo by PIMPEXPOSURE BY JOE PAONE IGGLES CORRESPONDENT Many in the local and national media expected the crowd to cause a bad scene last night at the Linc. Some didn’t just expect it; they salivated at the thought of it. After all, that lazy column or TV report—“Awful Philly Fans Boo Man Who Looks Like Santa Claus”—practically writes itself. What they got, however, was a much more accurate sense of the state of this fan base: widespread apathy and an absolutely crushed spirit. I’ve never heard a quieter Eagles crowd—and that, incredibly, includes preseason. Many, many season ticket holders either […]

We are going to put a temporary stay on our embargo of any news that begins or ends with the words ‘John Bolaris,’ to point that this astute commenter has made what should be the definitive and final commentary on this sad affair — sad, not because somebody, perhaps even somebody underage, saw a woman’s breast, but because this kind of much ado about not much can still move heaven and Earth around here. DAILY MAIL: Yep, It’s Offically An International Incident

  NEW YORK TIMES: Someday someone will write a dark history — a farce, really — of how [Grover Norquist] managed to bring nearly all of the Republican Party to heel, compelling legislator upon legislator to lash themselves to his no-new-taxes pledge. Until then we’ll have to content ourselves with his misfortune over the last few days. No sooner had a nation digested its turkey than his goose began to be cooked. The spreading rebellion in the Republican ranks was manifest on the post-Thanksgiving Sunday talk shows. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina dissed Norquist on ABC’s “This Week,” saying […]

Photo by PETE TROSHAK He might have used up more than his allotted nine lives with his seemingly bottomless appetite for self-destruction, but on Sunday night at the Keswick Theatre Scott Weiland seemed a man reborn. He smiled, snaked and strutted his way through a career-spanning setlist to the delight of a loud and adoring audience. Dressed impeccably in a skinny sharkskin suit, the recently engaged rocker seemed hale, healthy, and resolutely sober, having requested only Gatorade and bottled water from the staff. His only apparent vice was a few mid-set puffs on a cigarette. His backing band was strong, […]

  Ordinary Time, the twinkling 2002 indie-pop gem from local-boy-made-good Bill Ricchini turns 10 this week. Back in the day, I wrote about the album for PW HERE. These days he performs and records under the name Summer Fiction, but his luminous debut still shines a light that never goes out. Rock on, Mr. Bill. PREVIOUSLY: The dot com meltdown and subsequent layoffs have created a new leisure class of young people. And while many in this jilted demographic may spend their days shuffling freshly updated resumes like a Vegas card dealer, a precious few see unemployment as a gift. […]

  THE GUARDIAN: Over the past two years, then, this group – convicted of no crime but engaged in pathbreaking journalism that produced more scoops than all other media outlets combined and received numerous journalism awards – has been effectively prevented from functioning, receiving funds, or even maintaining a presence on US internet servers. While it’s unproven what direct role the US government played in these actions, it is unquestionably clear that a top US Senator successfully pressured private corporations to cut off its finances, and more important, neither the US nor its allies have taken any steps to discover […]

Johnny Marr just told this song was the inspiration for “How Soon Is Now.” Neat song, funny video and love the Philly shoutout but I call bullshit. I still says it’s THIS.