YAHOO: A federal judge in New York sided with Google Inc. in a $1 billion copyright lawsuit filed by media company Viacom Inc. over YouTube videos, saying the service promptly removed illegal materials as required under federal law. Wednesday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton in the closely watched case further affirmed the protections offered to online service providers under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The 1998 law offers immunity when service providers promptly remove illegal materials submitted by users once they are notified of a violation. That safe harbor had helped persuade Google to buy YouTube for $1.76 […]
WAR IS OVER: The Drugs Have Won
JOHN STOSSEL: Two years ago, in Prince George’s County, Md., cops raided Cheye Calvo’s home — all because a box of marijuana was randomly shipped to his wife as part of a smuggling operation. Only later did the police learn that Calvo was innocent — and the mayor of that town. “When this first happened, I assumed it was just a terrible, terrible mistake,” Calvo said. “But the more I looked into it, the more I realized (it was) business as usual that brought the police through our front door. This is just what they do. We just don’t hear […]
HELLO KITTY: Good Samaritan Wanted
BRENDAN CALLING: Living in our neighborhood are a few semi-feral cats who have kittens on a frighteningly regular basis. We’ve adopted two in the past year, inviting Henry, a grey tabby mix, into the house in January 2009, and bringing Little Elvis, an orange tabby mix who fit in the palm of my hand and was practically dead, inside in October. Both have since had kittens that need homes. Baby Little Elvis is doing quite well for himself as an outdoor cat, but Baby Henry is not. He (she?) has the same eye infection Little Elvis had when we adopted […]
BREAKING: McChrystal Fired Over Rolling Stone Flap
[Illustration by ALEX FINE] FOX NEWS: Gen. Stanley McChrystal is no longer the top U.S. commander and strategist for Afghanistan, reportedly being told Wednesday by President Obama that he is out of a job following a scathing article in which McChrystal and his aides were quoted criticizing the commander-in-chief over his leadership in the Afghan war. McChrystal got his marching orders as he held a face-to-face at the White House, where he met with the president after a meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon. MORE PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: “Today, I accepted General Stanley McChrystal’s resignation.” WALL STREET […]
MEDIA: Turns Out Philadelphia Magazine Story Both Promotes And Dispels Rendell Mistress Rumors
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Governor Ed Rendell says rumors that have been circulating about an extramarital affair are not true. In an advance copy of the Philadelphia magazine article obtained by The Associated Press, the governor and the former beauty queen who works for him say in interviews that they are not romantically involved. MORE PHILLY CLOUT: The July edition of Philadelphia Magazine is hot off the presses with a story on the long-running rumors about Gov. Rendell and Dr. Kirstin Snow, the director of Commonwealth Media Services who was Miss Pennsylvania in 1994 and Mrs. Pennsylvania in 2005. It’s not quite a […]
SCRAPPLE TV NEWS: With AP Ticker
A.P. discusses Nutter in the Gulf, Christie on weed, ?uestlove’s Kanye moment, Comcast swallowing NBC and the homeless man living in center field at Citizens Bank Park.
Judge Who Struck Down White House Ban On Gulf Drilling Has Extensive Oil Industry Investments
ASSOCIATED PRESS: The Louisiana judge who struck down the Obama administration’s six-month ban on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has reported extensive investments in the oil and gas industry, according to financial disclosure reports. He’s also a new member of a secret national security court. U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman, a 1983 appointee of President Ronald Reagan, reported owning less than $15,000 in stock in 2008 in Transocean Ltd., the company that owned the sunken Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Feldman overturned the ban Tuesday, saying the government simply assumed that because one rig exploded, the others pose […]
LIFE LESSONS: With Your Life Coach, AP Ticker
AP takes on the ‘non-troversey’ surrounding the two-year-old Indonesian boy who smokes two packs a day, pointing out that when he was that age he smoke THREE packs of Lucky Strikes a day AND worked full time in the coal mines of Pennsyltucky. He had to, he had three kids, two ex-wives and a bartender to support. [rimshot]
BOOK REVIEW: Red Meat For Raw Men
[Illustration by ALEX FINE] BALTIMORE CITY PAPER: It’s 10 years since Anthony Bourdain delivered Kitchen Confidential, the “obnoxious, over-testosteroned account of my life in the restaurant business” as he told The Observer in 2006. A classic of its kind, Confidential was a pugnacious, take-no-prisoners look into the murky world of restaurant kitchens and the misfits and miscreants who inhabit them. Above all, it was brilliantly written and had the ring of truth–a memoir/rant by one of the culinary world’s foot soldiers, a battle-scarred veteran who’d done his time and lived to tell the frequently sordid and salacious tale. Cooks across […]
JUST SAY NO: Drug Test The Unemployed?
HUFFINGTON POST: Utah voters have reacted enthusiastically to Sen. Orrin Hatch’s legislation to drug test the unemployed and those receiving other forms of government cash assistance, the Utah Republican told the Huffington Post after introducing his measure last week. Hatch said the test would be paid for with money saved by not paying benefits. “Any monies left over would go to help the states with the drug testing and so forth, and if there’s any surplus it goes to pay off the deficit,” he said. The idea of drug testing those on public assistance is not a new one, though […]
CENSUS: Philadelphia Grew By 7,000 Residents Last Year, Sixth The Straight Year Of Population Growth
INQUIRER: While other northern cities saw population declines, Philadelphia’s population inched upward last year, rising by 7,000 to 1,547,297, according to 2009 U.S. Census figures released Tuesday. That was the sixth straight year of gains for the city, helping it remain the nation’s sixth most populous city, the report said. The Top 5, in decreasing order: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix, which overtook Philadelphia in 2006. Projections from early in the decade showed Philadelphia with yearly population declines, but a turnaround began in 2004. The biggest jumps took place from 2006 to 2008, with yearly increases […]
LIGHTNING BOLT: Vile House
We have been asked by the promoters of Lightning Bolt‘s Philly show not to say anything about Lightning Bolt’s Philly show. So we won’t.
UPDATE: Soon-To-Publish Philly Mag Story Rumored To Dispel Talk Of Rendell Hanky Panky, Not Confirm It
As we reported last week, the new issue of Philadelphia Magazine, which comes out tomorrow, will feature a juicy story about governor Ed Rendell’s alleged extramarital affairs, but it may not be what you think. The latest buzz is that the story will actually quash rumors of infidelity, not foment them. PREVIOUSLY: We have been hearing talk that the July issue of Philadelphia Magazine, which hits newsstands next Friday, will feature a story about the extramarital affairs of Governor Ed Rendell. We called up Philly Mag Editor Larry Platt and asked him to confirm or deny and he said the […]