ASSOCIATED PRESS: Two maritime security contractors say Somali pirates hijacked a freighter in the Gulf of Aden overnight. They say the M.V. Irene E.M. is the latest target of pirates who appear undeterred by U.S. and French navy attacks that killed seven bandits in the past week to free four hostages. That includes the weekend’s dramatic rescue of the American captain of a U.S. freighter. The contractors did not know the ship’s owner or where it is licensed. They spoke on condition of anonymity on Tuesday because it is a sensitive security issue. The Irene is at least the third […]
VERDICT: Phil Spector Guilty Of Murder
NEW YORK TIMES: Phil Spector, the rock music impresario behind hits like “Da Doo Ron Ron,” and “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling,” was convicted Monday of murdering a struggling actress at his mansion in 2003 after a night of drinking. Music producer Phil Spector, center, surrounded by his defense team during closing arguments at the retrial murder case in Los Angeles in March. Mr. Spector, 68, faces at least 18 years in prison. The jury, ending a five-month trial, reached its decision after 27 hours of deliberating whether he shot the woman in a fit of anger or, as his […]
RIP: Harry Kalas, Voice Of The Phillies, Dead At 73
[Photo by jasonford] INQUIRER: Harry Kalas, the Phillies’ Hall of Fame announcer, died at 1:20 p.m. today, the Phillies announced. Mr. Kalas collapsed in the press box at Nationals Stadium in Washington at about 12:30 p.m. and was rushed to George Washington University Medial Center. The cause of the death was not announced. Today’s game against the Nationals will be played, but the team will not visit the White House tomorrow. MORE PREVIOUSLY: Legendary Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas has been taken by ambulance to a Washington area hospital after he was found passed out in the press box at Nationals […]
Bankrupt Phila. Newspapers Denies That Paying Out $1.4 Million In Exec. Bonuses Was Mismanagement
INQUIRER: The filing by Philadelphia Newspapers called the senior lenders’ ire over a $350,000 bonus paid to chief executive Brian P. Tierney a “red herring,” designed to capitalize on public outcry over bonuses at AIG and other companies funded by taxpayer money. The filing said Tierney’s bonus was paid out of a pre-established bonus pool of $1.5 million, of which $1.34 million was paid at the end of 2008 to 45 employees. The filing also said the pre-petition lenders had previously offered Tierney a management-incentive plan that would have paid him more to work for them and institute their plans. […]
O BRUTHA: Obama’s U-Turn On Habeas Corpus
SALON: So [candidate] Barack Obama — the one trying to convince Democrats to make him their nominee and then their President — said that abducting people and imprisoning them without charges was (a) un-American; (b) tyrannical; (c) unnecessary to fight Terrorism; (d) a potent means for stoking anti-Americanism and fueling Terrorism; (e) a means of endangering captured American troops, Americans traveling abroad and Americans generally; and (f) a violent betrayal of core, centuries-old Western principles of justice. But today’s Barack Obama, safely ensconced in the White House, fights tooth and nail to preserve his power to do exactly that.I’m not searching for ways to criticize Obama. I […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Neko Case At The Keswick
BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER A tomboyish siren with a thick red mane and lungs of fine Corinthian leather, Neko Case is equal parts gender warrior and indie aesthete, a potent hybrid aptly evoked by the Joan-of-Arc-in-a-muscle-car tableau on the cover her new album, Middle Cyclone. Case is also in possession of what is arguably the greatest voice of her generation — clarion in tone; trans-national in its reach; and bottomless in its capacity to transmute wryly-observed public fictions into inescapable private truths that all more or less boil down to: I am woman, hear me ruminate. That voice […]
RIP: Delfonic Randy Cain Dead At 63
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Randy Cain [pictured, above right], a founding member of the soul group the Delfonics, which had such hits as “La La Means I Love You,” has died. He was 63. Cain’s death Thursday at his home in Maple Shade, N.J., was confirmed by investigator Rob O’Neal of the Burlington County medical examiner’s office, who declined to release other details. MORE WIKIPEDIA: The Delfonics are a Philadelphia soul singing group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their most notable hits include “La-La (Means I Love You)“, “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” “Break Your Promise,” […]
I, GAMER: Big Wheel Keeps On Turnin’
And Yet It Moves Teaser from mml on Vimeo. BY ADAM BONANNI I don’t subscribe to the notion that every game released needs to be fed into the pretty little hype machine. In the magical world inside my head where Amber Tamblyn is my girlfriend, I’ve longed for the day when a game can stand on its quality, and doesn’t need McDonalds toys or a Mountain Dew tie-in to sell. Developer Broken Rules might also have a similar vision, since, in lieu of big marketing and large-scale hype, they went ahead and quietly released And yet it moves; a title […]
WEEK IN REVIEW: The Good News Flower Hour
The Good News Flower Hour #16 It’s back! The week that was in just five minutes, read by a stoned daisy with the obligatory voice of gawd. Even better than the real thing.
BOOKS: Everybody’s Got Something To Hide
BY JONATHAN VALANIA Joe Shuster was paid the princely sum of $130 by DC Comics (then called National Comics) for all rights and ownership of Superman — which he invented in his bedroom in Cleveland with the help of Jerry Siegel, his high school buddy from down the street. Even back in 1938, that wasn’t a lot of money, but Shuster was just glad somebody had finally bought into the concept of the Man of Steel after years of knocking on the doors of publishers, to no avail. Shuster and Siegel were tasked with creating future episodes of Superman, which, […]
EARLY WORD: Meet Your Paperboy
Yep, Phawker music writer and PAPERBOY columnist Dave Allen will be your Quizzo host at Local 44 on Sunday. Deep down, you know this is only right and natural. Admit it.
PANETTA: CIA Getting Out Of The Secret Dungeon Biz
[Image courtesy of NYPL DIGITAL LIBRARY] WASHINGTON POST: The CIA no longer operates any secret overseas prisons, Director Leon Panetta said yesterday, and has not detained anyone since he became chief in February. Panetta’s statement, contained in a message to the CIA workforce, also said the agency will no longer use contractors to conduct interrogations or to provide security for remaining detention sites. Referring to “black sites,” as the secret prisons were known, Panetta said the agency has a plan “to decommission the remaining sites,” an apparent reference to facilities still in existence but no longer operational. He said that […]