BREAKING: Literally. The interweb is atwitter with reports that right wing vampire Ann Coulter has broken her jaw and doctors have wired it shut. Repeat, ANN COULTER’S JAWS HAVE BEEN WIRED SHUT. PHAWKER: This sounds too good to be true: Obama is elected president and Ann Coulter gets her jaw wired shut. If this is a dream, we never wanna wake up. DRUDGE: Bestselling author and controversialist Ann Coulter plans to crash Obama’s inauguration party with her new work, GUILTY. Set for release first week of January, the book exposes and mocks, in graphic detail, the media’s love affair with […]
WHY WE FIGHT: 10 Talibani Militants Arrested For Squirting Acid In The Faces Of Afghan Schoolgirls
ASSOCIATED PRESS: KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghan police have arrested 10 Taliban militants involved in an acid attack this month against 15 girls and teachers walking to school in southern Afghanistan, a provincial governor said Tuesday. “Several” of the arrested militants have confessed to taking part in the acid attack, said Kandahar Gov. Rahmatullah Raufi. He declined to be more precise. High-ranking Taliban fighters paid the militants a total of $2,000 to carry out the attack, Raufi said. The attackers came from Pakistan but were Afghan nationals, said Doud Doud, an Interior Ministry official. The attackers squirted the acid from water […]
SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS: Whatever Happens In Room 315 Stays In Room 315, Part 3
BY JEFF DEENEY If there’s real concern that a physical confrontation between the students and staff in room 315 might arise the behavioral health worker steps in. Mr. Thompson’s official function falls somewhere between teacher’s aid and social worker; he’s supposed to help students with their work during those rare moments when they’re actually working, try to build a therapeutic bond with them when they have structured free time and de-escalate their behavior from the brink of violence if it reaches that stage. In reality, Mr. Thompson’s function is more like a security guard; he provides the muscle necessary to […]
HENRY PAULSON: The Man Who Wasn’t There
[CBS News: Bush Vows to Safeguard Financial Systems] DAN BUSKIRK: I don’t want to start a panic or anything but is anyone paying attention to Treasury Secretary/Bail-Out Chief Henry “Hank” Paulson these days? Look at him fidgeting behind Bush “Relax, I’M on the job” announcement yesterday. He looks like he’s ready to start sobbing, or he has to pee or he’s afraid someone’s going to run up from behind and de-pants him. What ever is going on, he ain’t inspiring confidence. MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, warning that “millions of Americans cannot find affordable financing for basic credit needs,” […]
WORTH REPEATING: My Life In The Ghost Of Bush or The Best Way To Rob A Bank Is To Own One
MOE TKACIK ON HOW WE GOT HERE: For years, Wall Street has exhibited only contempt for anyone on the government payroll who did not work for the Fed. This attitude was abetted and enabled by a Republican leadership that did not trust its own party members on the Financial Services Committee. They saw this coming — when Long Term Capital Management almost exploded the markets as a direct result of the “counterparty risk” that bound us to bail out AIG, when Enron touched off a wave of 30 or so separate multi-billion-dollar accounting restatements that killed Arthur Andersen and made […]
SENTENCING: The Last Temptation Of Larry Mendte
UPDATE: Mendte gets 3 years probation, 6 months home confinement, 250 hours community service, computer monitoring plus a fine. MORE PHILLY.COM: Paul Rosen, Alycia Lane’s lawyer, said she would not speak at sentencing. In a statement, he said: “Alycia never sought publicity for her private life, and she does not intend to give a public statement today. She gave a confidential statement to the probation officer which was presented to the Court. The only public life she wanted was her news anchor career. Larry Mendte’s criminal conduct destroyed that career and made her a tabloid feeding frenzy. He then attempted […]
CONCERT REVIEW: No Tears On Prom Night
BY DAVE ALLEN Only minutes into Ingrid Michaelson‘s set at the TLA on Sunday, there was already talk of wardrobe malfunctions. Michaelson took the stage in a satiny blue ballroom gown with, as she soon discovered, a large slit up the middle. Why the elaborate get-up? Inspired by theTLA’s red curtains and chandeliers during her last Philly appearance in June, Michaelson declared that her next show there would be a ballroom dance. Thus Ballroom Madness was born, drawing a sold-out crowd last night, only some of whom seemed to have got the dress-up memo. Michaelson’s music, though perhaps better suited […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Actor James Franco stars alongside Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant’s new film Milk, which opens Nov. 26 in some cities. He plays Scott Smith, the boyfriend of title character Harvey Milk, a pioneering gay activist and San Francisco politician who was murdered in 1978.Initially known for his role on the short-lived but critically acclaimed TV series Freaks and Geeks, Franco entered the popular film scene in earnest when he played Harry Osborne in the Spider-Man movies alongside his close friend Tobey Maguire. RADIO TIMES Hour 1 In his new book, American Lion, JON MEACHAM explores the presidency […]
OBAMA HAS A POSSE: Announces Econ Triage Team
HUFFPO: Obama made his comments as he unveiled the top members of his economic team, beginning with New York Federal Reserve President Tim Geithner to be his treasury secretary. Geithner, 47, is a veteran of financial crises at home and overseas and has worked closely with the Bush administration in recent months. Obama chose Lawrence Summers as director of his National Economic Council. Summers was treasury secretary under former President Bill Clinton. Obama said his newly minted economic team offered “sound judgment and fresh thinking” at a time of economic peril. He expressed confidence the nation would weather the crisis […]
THIS JUST IN: Santa Claus Run Out Of Town AGAIN!
[Photo by PHILADELPHIA MARATHON] ASSOCIATED PRESS: Two Ukrainians outran the Americans for a double victory at the Philadelphia Marathon on a chilly Sunday. Andriy Toptun won in 2 hours, 19 minutes, 58 seconds over the 26.2-mile course that bypassed Independence Hall, the Betsy Ross House and the Liberty Bell. Fred Kieser, of Cleveland, was second in 2:22.45. Vera Ovcharuk won in her marathon debut, clocking 2:44.03 in cold, windy conditions. Abby Dean, of Philadelphia, trailed in 2:48.52. MORE ESPN: Those famously churlish Philly fans can’t hide behind the urban legends. The truth is out there: They simply booed Santa Claus. […]
WEEKEND UPDATE: The Good News Flower Hour
The Good News Flower Hour #2 Folks, here’s the second installment of The Good News Flower Hour, wherein I provide the voice for a flower that reads the news. The debut is HERE. We are still tweaking the concept and streamlining the production schedule on these — it takes a LONG-ass time to make these little three-minute suckers — but we hope to make this a weekly feature in the very near future. Enjoy.
REALITY CHECK: This Ain’t The Great Depression
SLATE: “By the afternoon of March 3, scarcely a bank in the country was open to do business,” FDR said in his March 12, 1933, fireside chat (now available on a very cool podcast at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s Web site). In 1933, some 4,000 commercial banks failed, causing depositors to take huge losses. (There was no FDIC back then.) The recession that started in August 1929 lasted for a grinding 43 months, during which unemployment soared to 25 percent and national income was cut in half. By contrast, through mid-November 2008, only 19 banks had failed. The Federal […]
CHINESE DEMOCRACY: Raising The Titanic
NEW YORK TIMES: “Chinese Democracy” (Geffen) is the Titanic of rock albums: the ship, not the movie, although like the film it’s a monumental studio production. It’s outsize, lavish, obsessive, technologically advanced and, all too clearly, the end of an era. It’s also a shipwreck, capsized by pretensions and top-heavy production. In its 14 songs there are glimpses of heartfelt ferocity and despair, along with bursts of remarkable musicianship. But they are overwhelmed by countless layers of studio diddling and a tone of curdled self-pity. The album concludes with five bombastic power ballads in a row. “Chinese Democracy” sounds like […]