[Dir. by SCOTT COLAN]
Jesse Helms, Racist Culture Warrior, Is Dead At 86
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Former Sen. Jesse Helms, who served 30 years in Congress, died on the Fourth of July, the Jesse Helms research center says. He was 86. The center, based at Wingate University in North Carolina, said Friday that he died at 1:15 a.m. Jimmy Broughton, Helms’ former chief of staff, says the former senator died of natural causes in Raleigh. Helms built a career along the fault lines of racial politics and battled liberals, Communists and the occasional fellow Republican during his decades in Congress. MORE WIKIPEDIA: Helms was particularly vitriolic when speaking of gays and lesbians, blaming them […]
INDIE DAY: Excess In The Defense Of Liberty Is No Vice
(Details after the jump) WHAT’S GOIN’ ON: From the city to the Shore, weather could be a mixed bag on Saturday and Sunday. A chance of thunderstorms threatens to rain on Independence Day parades. Forecasters say it’s still too early to tell if fireworks might be washed out. Keep your fingers crossed. Watch out for traffic gridlock. The Benjamin Franklin Parkway is playing host to the region’s biggest events this weekend, so if you’re planning to be anywhere near the Art Museum and on four-wheels, make sure it’s a skateboard. Capice? That goes for Thursday, too, when the Parkway is […]
VIVA LA NPR: A Public Radio Revolution Since 2006
FRESH AIR Before the Cuban Revolution, Havana was a playground for American gangsters, mafiosi and the debauched tourists who frequented their casinos. T.J. English’s new book Havana Nocturne provides a vision of the darker side of the city, focusing on gangland imperialism and the dirty dealings that happened in jazz clubs. In addition to Havana Nocturne, English has written a number of other true-crime works. His book Paddy Whacked concerns the Irish mob, and Born to Kill focuses on Vietnamese organized crime. English has also written episodes for the television dramas Homicide: Life on the Streets and NYPD Blue. He […]
FUNNY PAPERS: Dick Cheney’s Great Grandfather
[via MARRIED TO THE SEA]
KILLADELPHIA: One More Dead Since U Went To Bed
INQUIRER: A man allegedly shot at a woman and then killed himself in Frankford early this morning, police said. The man, who was not identified, was pronounced dead by medics at 12:32 a.m. in the 5000 block of Saul Street. The woman, who also was not identified, reportedly suffered a graze wound to the head and was transported to Albert Einstein Medical Center.
DAILY DOS: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
The Colbert Report after the jump. Enjoy!
OBAMELOT: I Am Trying To Wake Your Heart
PITCHFORK: Matching the Arcade Fire and one-upping all the other people who have supported Senator Barack Obama‘s presidential candidacy, Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy is scheduled to play his second Obama benefit.Technically billed as “Jeff Tweedy & Friends,” the Chicago singer/songwriter will take the stage at his hometown’s Park West venue alongside Otis Clay on July 11 for a night of music benefiting the Obama Victory Fund. The Illinois senator will make an appearance as well, so if you’ve got a couple hundo to spare, head here to purchase a little piece of the future (and a ticket to a benefit concert). […]
STUDY: Bush Stimulus Package Stimulates Porn Biz
PR NEWSWIRE: NEW YORK, July 2 — An unforeseen and surprising beneficiary of the Economic Stimulus Plan, a plan that George Bush contends will “boost our economy and encourage job creation,” has surfaced this week. An independent market-research firm, AIMRCo (Adult Internet Market Research Company), has discovered that many websites focused on adult or erotic material have experienced an upswing in sales in the recent weeks since checks have appeared in millions of Americans’ mailboxes across the country. According to Kirk Mishkin, Head Research Consultant for AIMRCo, “Many of the sites we surveyed have reported 20-30% growth in membership rates […]
BREAKING: Ingrid Betancourt Is Free!
BLOOMBERG NEWS: Colombian troops freed French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. citizens held by the country’s biggest guerrilla group, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said. ”They are healthy and free,” Santos told reporters in Bogota today. ”This is unprecedented, and will pass into history.” Troops freed a total of 15 hostages, some held for more than 10 years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, after infiltrating the group’s leadership, Santos said. Colombian agents convinced leaders of the FARC, as the rebel group is known, to put all the hostages in a single location, where they were retaken from […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Avant-garde composer and cabaret singer Theo Bleckmann has been a mainstay on the New York music scene for 15 years. This summer, he will be touring the United States and Europe in support of his new album Berlin: Songs Of Love & War, Peace & Exile. The album is a tribute to Bleckmann’s native Germany and contains a collection of Bertolt Brecht songs, reimagined. Pianist Fumio Yasuda arranged the work, and Philip Glass’ muse Wendy Sutter plays the cello on the album. Bleckmann has collaborated with John Zorn, Meredith Monk, Laurie Anderson and Anthony Braxton. He is on […]