INQUIRER: The so-called designer drugs are sold in head shops, variety stores and gas stations, said the bill’s cosponsor State Rep. Bryan R. Lentz, (D-Delaware) Common brand names of the synth-pot are K2, Spice, and Gold. Lentz, who is running for Joe Sestak’s congressional seat, said manufacturers skirt legal issues by labeling it as “not for human consumption.” One of Lentz’s legislative aides ordered a package of K2 several weeks ago over the Internet. When the package arrived at Lentz’s Swarthmore office, it contained a small ziplock baggie holding about three grams of a dried green substance. The warning that […]

[viaTERM LIFE INSURANCE]

INQUIRER: Two bids have been received for The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News: one from the senior lenders of the papers’ parent company, Philadelphia Newspapers L.L.C., and another from Philadelphia businessman and philanthropist Raymond Perelman and the Carpenters Union’s pension fund. Lawrence McMichael, attorney for Philadelphia Newspapers L.L.C., said the bids came in shortly before today’s noon deadline. The auction rules required a minimum bid of $50 million for the company, which also owns the website Philly.com. The two bidders will now participate in an auction Thursday at 10 a.m. in the Center City courtroom of U.S. Chief Bankruptcy Judge […]

BY STEVE VOLK Joaquin Phoenix’s appearance on Letterman tonight will bring his strange two-year odyssey full circle—the culmination of a trip no one seems to have enjoyed overly much, except maybe Phoenix himself. Phoenix has kept everyone guessing since fall 2008, when he announced he was leaving acting behind to pursue a full-time career as a rapper. The notion that he might pursue a new vocation in rap was dismissed outright, before anyone heard him spit a syllable. But it was his infamous 2009 appearance on Letterman that proved to be a tipping point, setting the tone for his two-year, […]

BOSTON GLOBE: Senate Republicans dealt a stinging setback yesterday to efforts to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ policy for gay soldiers, defeating attempts by Democratic leaders to take up a major military bill that includes the issue. Democrats fell four votes shy of the 60 votes needed to break a GOP filibuster — which included Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts — that prevented consideration of the overall bill. MORE * THE TELEGRAPH: Sixty votes were needed for debate to begin on the bill authorising repeal of the policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell”. Just 56 senators voted […]

[Artwork by KERRY WAGHORN] NEW YORK TIMES: The chief architect of President Obama’s economic policies, Lawrence H. Summers, will leave the White House and return to his position as a professor at Harvard, the administration announced Tuesday. The departure of the outspoken Mr. Summers, who served as director of the White House National Economic Council, marks a major shakeup in Mr. Obama’s economic team, The New York Times’s Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports. In July, the budget director Peter R. Orszag stepped down and at the beginning of September, Christina D. Romer ended her stint as chairwoman of the White House […]

We are excited to announce the release of a 3-CD Special Edition and 5-CD, DVD and heavyweight vinyl Deluxe Edition of David Bowie’s hugely influential 1976’s album, Station To Station.  “The return of The Thin White Duke…”  So begins David Bowie’s 10th studio album.  In part influenced by his role in Nicolas Roeg’s film The Man Who Fell To Earth, ever the innovator, Bowie became the character The Thin White Duke; a composite, part his character from the film, alien Thomas Jerome Newton, part Buster Keaton and part European cabaret artist. Touching on his love of German electronic bands, American […]

FRESH AIR Writer David Rakoff worries a lot: about Sept. 11, about cancer, about epidemics and fame and religious devotion — not to mention sex, money, his childhood and the value of therapy. The regular contributor to This American Life even worries about writing about himself, which he does in his latest collection of essays, Half Empty. “That was the big problem for me in terms of this book,” Rakoff says. “I’ve always bridled at the term ‘memoirist’ because I always wanted to be known for the quality of my writing as opposed to the particulars of my biography — […]

BY MATTHEW HENGEVELD Twenty years after the untimely death of Trouble T Roy, hip-hop veterans Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth release a deluxe version of their classic album Mecca and the Soul Brother, completely remastered and grouped alongside 15 bonus tracks, featuring rare songs, instrumentals and acapella versions. Though I’m certain that I’ll always prefer the original gritty cut of this album; remastered versions are always exciting. Collectors, be sure to cop this fantastic set. I’m not gonna lie. I never gave C.L. Smooth the props he is owed. C.L. Smooth has the type of voice that sinks into the […]

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  Magnolia Pictures and the Green Film Company announced today a unique screening program in ten cities across the country that will allow filmgoers to choose how much they want to pay for an advance look at Freakonomics: The Movie.  The highly anticipated film version of the internationally bestselling book by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt hits theaters nationwide on October 1st. These pay-what-you-want screenings offer fans a chance to see the film on Wednesday, September 22nd, over a week before its official opening, at Landmark Theatres in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia, […]

[Photo by MATT SLOCUM/ASSOCIATED PRESS] NBC 10: Earlier this season a field jumping Phillies fan got tased making national headlines. On Monday night all it took to stop a field jumper was Braves outfielder Matt Diaz. In the bottom of the seventh inning with the Phils leading 3-1 in the critical NL East battle, Sean Hagan, dressed in a red full bodysuit reminiscent of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Green Man bolted onto the Citizens Bank Park field. Fans were speculating that he drank too much “riot punch.” The spandex-wearing fan evaded security guards, even causing one to fall flat […]

THE NATION: Over the past several years, entities closely linked to the private security firm Blackwater have provided intelligence, training and security services to US and foreign governments as well as several multinational corporations, including Monsanto, Chevron, the Walt Disney Company, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and banking giants Deutsche Bank and Barclays, according to documents obtained by The Nation. Blackwater’s work for corporations and government agencies was contracted using two companies owned by Blackwater’s owner and founder, Erik Prince: Total Intelligence Solutions and the Terrorism Research Center (TRC). Prince is listed as the chairman of both companies in internal company […]