INQUIRER: The body of a man was found in a car in West Oak Lane last night, police said. About 9:20 p.m., police discovered Steeve Charles, 24, behind the driver’s seat of a Nissan Maxima near his residence in the 7500 block of Thouron Street. He had been shot at least twice, and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 10 p.m. Police are investigating to determine suspects and motives.
TODAY I SAW: The Untouchables III
[Photos by MICHAEL S. WIRTZ/INQUIRER] BY JEFF DEENEY You might be asking yourself, as I initially did, why the Inky’s last installment in their three part series titled, “Homelessness in Philadelphia” focuses almost exclusively on New York. I’m not entirely sure, and while your conjecture is as good as mine, I’ll take a stab at formulating some theories. I imagine that this article was meant to act as a sort of demonstration piece about housing first, which is still relatively infantile in its deployment in Philly compared to other cities. When critics harsh on housing first in Philly, they make […]
STUDY: The Drugs Don’t Work Anymore
THE INDEPENDENT: They are among the biggest-selling drugs of all time, the “happiness pills” that supposedly lift the moods of those who suffer depression and are taken by millions of people in the UK every year. But one of the largest studies of modern antidepressant drugs has found that they have no clinically significant effect. In other words, they don’t work. The finding will send shock waves through the medical profession and patients and raises serious questions about the regulation of the multinational pharmaceutical industry, which was accused yesterday of withholding data on the drugs. The publication in 1994 of […]
NOW HIRING: Party Hacks, Spin Merchants, Fixers, Bagmen, Glad Handers, Knee-Breakers & Hatchet Men
BY DAVE DAVIES OF THE DAILY NEWS When Philadelphia Building Trades leader Pat Gillespie’s home phone rang late Thursday night, he wasn’t prepared for what he heard.”Hello, Pat? This is Barack Obama,” a voice said. “Who the hell is this?” Gillespie responded. But it really was the presidential candidate, phoning the influential labor leader in anticipation of a Building Trades Council endorsement meeting the next day. Obama’s 15-minute chat with Gillespie is just one measure of the fact that the smoldering Pennsylvania campaign efforts of Obama and Hillary Clinton are about to flare to life. Both campaigns will open offices in […]
ARTSY: Losing My Religion
This curious illustration has been indelibly etched on our hard-drive ever since we first saw it on the back of an REM tour program in 1984 (Tower Theater, DBs opened if memory serves). Ostensibly, it’s an old-timey ad for a bicycle maker, but what is that monkey doing with that parrot? And what the hell were they doing up on that mountaintop? Back in 1984, when we were convinced that Michael Stipe was some kind of latter-day Delphic oracle in thrift-store rags, we were sure there was some mystical significance encrypted in this surrealistic tableau. Ah, teenagers.
JIMMY KIMMEL: I’m F*cking Ben Affleck
Though we wouldn’t have thought it possible, this even funnier than “I’m F*cking Matt Damon.”
MANCHURIAN CANDIDATES: Drudge Runs Dueling Photo Ops Of Clinton & Obama In ‘Islamofascist’ Garb
THE NATION: Barack Obama has had to spend hours on the campaign trail debunking the lie that he is Muslim. This story first circulated via a right-wing email smear campaign, as my colleague Chris Hayes documented, but has since taken on a life of its own, spawning more and more fantastic conspiracies about Obama. Today the story took an even more bizarre turn, when Drudge posted a picture of Obama dressed as a traditional Somali elder on a trip back to Kenya in 2006. The photo of Obama, in a white sash and white turban, was clearly meant to stoke […]
TODAY I SAW: The Untouchables II
BY JEFF DEENEY If you caught yesterday’s comments on the Inky’s big three part series, “Homelessness in Philadelphia,” you know that I felt it wasn’t looking so strong out of the gate. It was another collection of phoned in quotes from the usual suspects who contributed to the paper’s last ten articles on homelessness, some nominal street reporting that read like it was done in a single afternoon and a sensational accompanying photo of a ramshackle shelter, the sight of which anyone who’s ever worked a day in center city already knows all too well, that didn’t provide any extra […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
WHEN ANCHORBABES ATTACK: Alycia Lane Set Free “I just want to say I’m so glad this is over,” said former CBS anchor Alycia Lane, as she left a New York City courthouse this morning. “And I want to thank all of those who supported me and believed in me. And I just look forward to moving on with my life now.” At the hearing (and as we reported would happen) Lane’s attorney David Smith and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Michael Greenman agreed to an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, or ACD. It’s essentially a six-month-long slow dismissal of her case. […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
A GHOST IS BORN: Jeff Tweedy & Wilco, Tower Theater, Saturday Night BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER Saturday night at the Tower theater, Wilco was merely great. The qualifying “merely” is hard to explain, because on the face of it Saturday night had all the makings of a bragging rights concert experience. Totally jazzed, way sold out crowd? Check. Storied, acoustically-friendly venue? Check. Legendary opening act, one John Doe, tragically ignored by most in favor of the beer line? Check. Must-see headliners with a live rep for fireworks ready to throw down? Check. Perhaps the only thing missing was […]
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN: Nader To Fuck It All Up
[Artwork by MILA JOHNSON] POLITICO: Ralph Nader, 74, announced on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he’ll run as a third-party, anti-corporate candidate for president this fall, which would be likely to drain votes from the Democratic nominee and provide a huge boon to Republicans. Democrats say they will work behind the scenes — and use court challenges, if necessary — to try to thwart his access to ballots. The longtime consumer activist said on “Meet the Press” that Washington has become “corporate occupied territory” and that none of the current presidential candidates are sufficiently addressing corporate crime, labor rights or […]
All Of This Happened While You Were Sleeping
WILCODELPHIA: Last night Wilco was selling these posters for $25 and all proceeds went to the Anti-Violence Project of Philadelphia. Good on ’em.