Click to enlarge BY WILLIAM C. HENRY This just in: Realizing that their Presidential candidate in fact championed government mandated health insurance during a previous incarnation, and recognizing that they have no worthwhile ideas of their own regarding national healthcare policy, the Republican party has decided to declare a moratorium on illness. In fact, so sure are they of the long term benefits and effectiveness of such a moratorium, they are now setting their sites on dismantling all vestiges of ObamaCare and anything else for that matter that smacks of non-preferential access to healthcare. Too cynical? Too sarcastic? I think […]

Artwork by ROBERT LADUKE INQUIRER: Amtrak’s updated plan for high-speed train travel on the East Coast envisions 37-minute trips between Philadelphia and New York, after a $151 billion redevelopment of the entire Northeast Corridor. Faster service would be phased in gradually, as Amtrak improves existing tracks, signals, bridges, and power lines and then builds a separate high-speed corridor between Washington and Boston to accommodate trains traveling at 220 m.p.h. In a report released Monday, Amtrak revised its projections for costs, ridership, and the alignment of its proposed new 438-mile high-speed corridor. The high-speed segment between New York and Washington would […]

Employing the same Buckeye ingenuity that keeps the Goodyear blimp afloat, Robert Pollard can polish a turd with Budweiser until it shines with 24-carat radiance, transmuting a tossed-off, six-pack idea into a classic rock artifact or at the very least a beguiling no-fi curio. As captain of the drunken boat that is Guided By Voices, Pollard built a cottage industry by churning out cheap, miniature melodic masterpieces with all the fidelity of a ham radio broadcast. He does it with volume  — by which I mean quantity not loudness. As such, the discography remains daunting if only for its sheer […]

  FRESH AIR When LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy attended live concerts, he says he always felt like there was something missing. “I’d start to see bands prioritize things wrong in my mind,” he tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross. “[They weren’t] prioritizing the momentness of a show or the physical experience of a show. Instead, they [were] prioritizing making sure they didn’t make mistakes or prioritiz[ing] trying to faithfully represent a prerecorded piece of material.” When Murphy hit his early 30s, he says he decided that he would stop complaining and instead make his argument for better live music by […]

ASSOCIATED PRESS: The baby thefts set Argentina’s military regime apart from all the other juntas that ruled in Latin America at the time. Videla and other military and police officials were determined to remove any trace of the armed leftist guerrilla movement they said threatened the country’s future. Many pregnant women detained as dissidents were “disappeared” shortly after giving birth in clandestine maternity wards, and their babies were handed over to families trusted by military officials. […] Witnesses during the trial included former U.S. diplomat Elliot Abrams. He was called to testify after a long-classified memo describing his secret meeting […]

  Ali will receive the medal in a public ceremony on Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall in Historic Philadelphia. Ali has long served as an icon of constitutional ideals and the realization of the American dream – all the while challenging and expanding the very definition of “We the People.” The Olympic gold medalist and boxing legend has been an outspoken fighter for religious and civil rights; a conscientious objector who took his battle to the Supreme Court and won; an ambassador for peace and justice worldwide; and a tireless […]