DEAR AMY Amazing performance at the Mercury Prize show this past week, girl. You looked great — junky-skinny, but beautiful in your way, and hey, NOT covered in blood and scratches for a change. And yo, it was nice to see you in something other than those nizzasty jeans and ballet slippers. Your voice had me sobbing (or maybe it’s that song), and you looked genuinely happy to be doing something positive after the rough few weeks you’ve had. Congratulations. You proved it’s possible to be a functioning addict. Now go to rehab, and think about how much more amazing […]
RAW TAPE: Osama Bin Laden
EDITORIAL: Setting aside for a moment his pre-Age Of Reason worldview and psychopathic capacity to kill-without-feeling anyone that contradicts it, it must be said that Osama Bin Laden is a razor-sharp observer of world affairs, and as such his comments are no more or less credible than the average Fox News talking head. To wit: he says that despite the U.S. being the mightiest military power on Earth, 19 men flying planes into buildings were able to entirely change America’s compass. Who does not agree with that? And who, in hindsight, does not agree that the over-reaction to 9/11 was […]
MEDIA: Columbus Dispatch Runs Nazi-Esque Cartoon
The thought that apparently DID NOT occur to the Columbus Dispatch‘s Op-Ed page editor when he/she green-lighted this frickin’ piece of work would have sounded something like this: Hmmm…Comparing an entire nation of people to cockroaches scurrying out of a drain is a little too close for comfort to the Nazis depicting Jews as scurrying vermin in The Eternal Jew. And the whole thing is made doubly offensive given Ahmadinejad’s disgraceful Jew-baiting and Holocaust revisionism. Hmmm…maybe this is a bad idea. [image via CROOKS & LIARS] * LOCAL ANGLE: “There is only one way forward that might possibly build on […]
AUTHOR, AUTHOR: Rick Moody Q&A
BY MAVIS LINNEMANN BOOK CRITIC Rick Moody tackles the hallucinatory pathologies of American paranoia in Right Livelihoods, a collection of three thematically-connected novellas. Each story centers on a paranoid protagonist who serves as unreliable narrator and as a result, the reader spends an awful lot of time wondering just what the hell is going on — which only adds to the ultra-vivid realism and disconcerting familiarity of it all. Add to the mix varying degrees of alcoholism and a drug that helps you recover memories, thwarted obsession and intra -office subterfuge, and a bomb that flattens Manhattan from The Hudson […]
HOT DOCUMENT: Bastille Day At WHYY
September 1, 2007 An open letter to William J. Marrazzo, CEO and President, WHYY Dear Mr. Marrazzo, We are a group of WHYY employees with an accumulation of 109 years of service. Many of us have worked for a number of CEOs over the years, but never has someone with your title and responsibilities impacted the company in such an adverse way. You have displayed a serious lack of understanding when it comes to creating an environment that is conducive to a healthy work place. This letter is to inform you of the growing negative climate created during your ten […]
UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES: Federal Judge Strikes Down The Patriot Act, Calls It “An Ominous Free Pass To The Hijacking Of Constitutional Values”
BY DAN EGGEN OF THE WASHINGTON POST A federal judge today struck down portions of the USA Patriot Act as unconstitutional, ordering the FBI to stop issuing “national security letters” that secretly demand customer information from Internet service providers and other businesses. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in New York ruled that the landmark anti-terrorism law violates the First Amendment and the Constitution’s separation of powers provisions because it effectively prohibits recipients of the FBI letters (NSLs) from revealing their existence and does not provide adequate judicial oversight of the process. Marrero wrote in his 106-page ruling that Patriot Act […]
FRINGE REVIEW: Flamingo Winnebago
Hey Jonathan, Yeah, wasn’t able to make the Flamingo Winnebago [pictured, below] or after-party at the Starlight… Before you throw your hands up in exasperation let me explain. By the time the show (Painted Bride) came around was beer buzzed and sort of “ripe”. ie, hadn’t showered in about a week. Don’t think it would have been good to show up in that kind of condition. (Not necessarily “drunk”, far from it, but *way* too stale/body odor smelling. We can work out the cash advance return payment at a later date.) Did see the “8-ball” guy on Sat. for about […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
YOU’RE LIVING ALL OVER ME: Dinosaur Jr., Trocadero, Last Night [SLIDESHOW] BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER Perhaps the first sign you are ‘getting on’ is the startling realization that, despite your heretofore vehement protestations to the contrary, you are quite simply not immune to nostalgia. While the nostalgia of preceding generations may have been sepia-toned, Rockwellian tableaus or the Brylcreem’d cheeseburgers in paradise of American Graffiti, these days nostalgia looks like a long-haired dude in a ski cap and a droopy metal tee worn semi-ironically, a la Seattle 1991. Such is the vibe of Dinosaur Jr.’s comeback album and […]
KILLADELPHIA: Reader Writes
DEAR PHAWKER, Gregory Paige was my little cousin. He just turned 18 years old a month ago. He was with 2 friends that he trusted and treated very well. They shot him to death that night..for what you ask ? they took his life for a chain.. a chain that he wore tht they were jelous of.. a chain that they wanted and that they thought was more important then my cousons life.. my cousin had a good heart.. always with a smile on his face.. loved his family and friends..but just got together with some really bad people.. some […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Executive producer and actor Jeff Garlin and actress Susie Essman discuss the upcoming season of the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm. Garlin plays Larry David’s affable best friend and agent. Essman plays Garlin’s wife and as such is known for her vitriol, no-nonsense attitude and foul mouth. PLUS, The evangelist minister D. James Kennedy and broadcaster played a critical role in the rise of conservative Christianity. Kennedy founded the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida, which now has 10,000 members. His radio and TV shows were broadcast around the world. Kennedy stated that one of his goals […]
GARDEN STATE GRAFT: Feds Bust 11 NJ Officials
TRENTON — FBI agents swooped down on 11 New Jersey public officials this morning — including two state assemblymen — in a dragnet involving alleged bribery, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. “Eleven public officials from south and north New Jersey were arrested this morning as part of a corruption investigation,” said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, in an e-mail. He promised more details later Thursday. The probe reportedly involved contracts awarded by the Pleasantville school board in Atlantic County, on the mainland just outside Atlantic City. Among the arrested were state Assemblymen Mims Hackett Jr. and […]
STUDY: Suicide Up 8%, Anti-Depressant Use Down 16%
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) — The suicide rate for children and young adults rose 8% in 2004, marking the largest annual increase in more than 15 years, the government said Thursday. The rise comes after a cumulative decline of more than 28% in the suicide rate from 1990 to 2003, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report comes from an analysis of annual data from the CDC’s National Vital Statistics System, which contains data from birth, death, marriage and divorce records in the U.S. Overall, suicide accounted for 4,599 deaths among people aged 10 […]