“There’s a hole in Daddy’s arm where all the money goes/Jesus Christ died for nothing, I suppose.”

BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER Funny how the more wars change, the more they stay the same. In 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, John Prine, quintessential Americana songwriter, then fresh out of the Army and well-acquainted with the FUBAR Catch 22s of a soldier’s life, wrote “Sam Stone.” You may not recognize it from the title, but you have heard this song. Detailing the post-traumatic stress of a Vietnam vet all but abandoned by the country he nobly served, the lyric goes: “There’s a hole in Daddy’s arm where all the money goes / Jesus Christ […]

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EVA SAYS: LIVE & DIRECT FROM BONNAROO

EDITOR’S NOTE: This weekend Phawker has not just one, but two, of its best correspondents on the ground at Bonnaroo. All weekend, assistant editor EVA LIAO and her trusty sidekick, book critic MAVIS LINNEMANN, will be blogging photos and scene reports straight from the primeval muck of Bonnaroo to your mind’s eye. Hope you appreciate that these chicks are living in a stifling tent and sweating their tits off so you don’t have to. I sure do. EVA SAYS: Here we are in Manchester, Tennessee, roasting in 95 degree weather under our makeshift tent (we didn’t exactly know how to […]

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INFANTICIDE: Abortion By Commode

Sometime overnight, a 20-year-old woman squatted over a toilet, gave birth to a girl and left the infant submerged in the commode for an undetermined duration, said Lt. Philip Riehl of the homicide unit. “She gave birth to the child while seated on the toilet, but she did not immediately remove the child” from the toilet, Riehl said. The woman’s grandmother called 911 shortly after 7 a.m., and the baby was declared dead at the Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania at 7:20 a.m. The mother remained in stable condition there yesterday. DAILY NEWS: It’s Gonna Take A LOT Of […]

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RECORD REVIEW: Slaves To The Grind

BY ED KING ROCK CONNOISSEUR I’ve spent a lot of time with two would-be badass albums over the last month: Grinderman, the boys’ night out Stooge-fest by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the Heartless Bastards’ sophomore album, All This Time. Both come out of the gates looking for a rumble, which is fine by me in these days of 8-piece grad-school folkie orchestras and glossy-but-anemic 80s dance-punk replicants. “Gray” kicks off the Heartless Bastards album, throwing down a two-chord gauntlet and making full use of the throaty, 4 Non Blondes chick-like lead vocals of dynamo Erika Wennerstrom. The […]

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JUSTICE: Raping Rohypnotist To Face Extradition?

Marsalis, a former Sun Valley Co. employee, is accused in Blaine County of drugging and raping a co-worker at his Atelier condominium in Sun Valley in October 2005. Blaine County authorities plan to try to extradite Marsalis to face a rape charge here at the conclusion of court proceedings against him in Philadelphia. IDAHO MOUNTAIN EXPRESS: It’s Almost Like There Is A Pattern Here, What With The Drugging And The Raping And The Lying Over And Over And Over Again

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TOLDJA: Wouldbe Columbine Copycat Charged

Authorities in Montgomery County, Pa. have now filed charges against a former student at Upper Merion High School who they say sent threatening Internet messages to students and then showed up at the school last week (see related story). The charges against 19-year-old Thomas Musetti include making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment. Court papers reveal that Musetti sent instant messages saying he was seeking revenge against everyone and was trying to get a gun. “He was operating under a screen name, ‘Icecoldveins4u.’ He made threatening references involving other people, involving Graduation Day, and referencing some very horrifying events we are […]

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NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

FRESH AIR Josh Rushing was a Marine Corps media liaison at Central Command, or Centcom, in the early days of the Iraq war. His job was to represent the Marines to the worldwide media covering the war in Iraq, including the Arab TV network Al-Jazeera, and he was featured in the documentary Control Room. After retiring from the Marines he took a job as a correspondent with Al-Jazeera, reporting from Washington D.C. His new memoir is Mission Al Jazeera: Build a Bridge, Seek the Truth, Change the World. RADIO TIMES Hour 1 Three former peace negotiators lay out a plan […]

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CINEMA: She’s Gotta Have It

Scarlet Diva (2000, directed by Asia Argento, 91 minutes, Italy) Rape (1969, directed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 79 minutes, U.K.) Blonde Ice (1948. directed by Jack Bernhard, 74 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC Expanding the definition of what makes a “chick flick,” Andrew’s Video Vault brings to the big screen of The Rotunda a trio of women who are profane, murderous and just plain creepy. First up is Asia Argento’s directorial debut, 2000’s Scarlet Diva. A guaranteed audience divider (its Rotten Tomatoes rating currently at an even 50%) the actress/director stars in a thinly-veiled autobiographical opus […]

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Mr. Richard Smoker Meets Hammer Head

An “active user” of a homosexual phone-hookup line made a bad connection when he invited a caller to his Wallingford condominium and was beaten while performing oral sex on a new acquaintance, according to Nether Providence Township Police.”The suspect sits down and the victim provides him with oral sex, but it wasn’t completed before everything stopped when the suspect hit him,” Irey said. “The victim goes down to the ground and looks up and this guy has a hammer.” Afterward, the victim was forced to drive to two ATMs and the assailant was able to remove $200 from the victim’s […]

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