BY JOHN BAER OF THE DAILY NEWS As a native-born, small-town Pennsylvanian, a son of native-born, small-town Pennsylvania parents — one from the coal region, one from Lancaster County — let me assure you that the so-called offensive, condescending things Barack Obama said about the people I come from are basically right on target. “Bitter” perhaps best describes my late mother, an angry Irish Catholic who absolutely clung to her religion. Dad, also a journalist, wasn’t really bitter as far as I know, but he sure liked to hunt. So, despite carping from Hillary Clinton and annoying yapping from her […]
I, POLLSTER: Phawker’s Hilariously Un-Scientific Pennsyltucky Primary Keystoned Cell Phone Poll
BY JONATHAN VALANIA A long time ago, in a Clinton campaign far, far away, James Carville famously declared that Pennsylvania is Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and Alabama in between. Aw, yeah: Pennsyltucky. We know thee well. It’s sort of like watching the Dukes Of Hazzard after smoking too much kielbasa. Like sweat socks with a Sunday suit. Like the Deer Hunter costumed by Wal-Mart. It’s the long dark Chicken Dance of the national soul. Lord help us all. Anyway, with the national press are already converging on the Keystone state to get some local color on their laptops, we feel an […]
UP AGAINST THE WALL: Cops Begin Stop n’ Frisk
INQUIRER: The Police Department began preparing officers last week to respond to Mayor Nutter’s promise to step up stop-and-frisk tactics to help rid the streets of illegal weapons. Department officials insist there is really nothing new to stop-and-frisk — the courts have long-established rules that set limits on pat-downs to protect the public from unreasonable searches. But Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey wants officers to increase the number of legal searches they conduct as part of a strategy the department calls “aggressive but intelligent policing.” “We’re not asking you to do anything illegal or unconstitutional in any way,” Lt. Francis […]
KILLADELPHIA: 2 More Dead Since U Went 2 Bed
INQUIRER: Philadelphia police last night were investigating two homicides in different sections of the city. A 19-year-old man was shot in the abdomen after getting into a fight with three men at Chew Street and Chelten Avenue in East Germantown yesterday afternoon. The victim, who was not identified, was pronounced dead at 1:05 p.m. Police said they were looking for three suspects. A man in his mid-20s died at 6:41 p.m. at Temple University Hospital after being shot in the chest in the 2600 block of Silver Street in North Philadelphia. He was with a 26-year-old man who was shot […]
MONICA: What Is Johnny Doc Hiding?
BY MONICA YANT KINNEY OF THE INQUIRER Say you’re a powerful union boss who chairs the city’s Redevelopment Authority, serves as a Delaware River Port Authority commissioner, presides over a South Philadelphia waterfront neighborhood group, and dreams of being mayor or, for now, state senator. It’s 2005. You earn $175,000 that year and decide to renovate your home. Do you (a) rent a place for the duration of the messy six-month project or (b) live for free at a luxury waterfront apartment building owned by a prominent developer? John Dougherty chose b. Personally, if I wore as many hats as […]
SIGNED ‘BITTER IN PENNSYLTUCKY’: An Open Letter To America From The Mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania
To Whom It May Concern: We live in small towns and rural areas throughout Pennsylvania and we support Barack Obama for President. A few days ago, Sen. Obama made some comments that his opponents are now using to make him appear as if he is something he is not. Instead of speaking to us honestly about how they intend to solve the problems we are facing, they are playing the same old Washington games that accomplish nothing. What Sen. Obama said is that over the last 25-30 years, working class people in places like Pennsylvania have been falling behind, and […]
BOB DYLAN: Forever Young
About a month ago, a friend of Phawker forwarded a series of public service announcement YouTubes made by her uncle imploring the president to restore the cuts he has made to cancer research (SEE BELOW). The spots were made by an ad exec named Jerry Hunnicut (aka Uncle Jerry) and his son Matthew, who also works in advertising (if you have seen a Coke ad in the last few years, you have seen his work). Don’t know all the details, but Uncle Jerry was diagnosed with terminal cancer and told he had a year to live. More recently, Uncle Jerry’s […]
SONGS MEAN ALOT, VOL. 1 Matt Pond PA, “Last Light,” from the album Last Light
BY JOE WARMINSKY A confession: Although I’m a fellow Keystone Stater, I ignored Matt Pond PA until a few months ago, and I’m not even sure why I decided to listen to Last Light, the long-running band’s 2007 disc. Guilt? Housecleaning? Doesn’t matter. Bingo, voila, whoo, it’s front-loaded with a majestic title track that shoves aside alt-rock’s amorphous, self-conscious present and instead intelligently honors the ancient “120 Minutes” aesthetic: The production is proudly slick; the drums have some of that big ’80s sound; the guitar riffs are firm, but also classically shoegazerish; and the vocals are pushed frontward. And there […]
MEDIA: How Chris Matthews Is Hurting America
We are at a loss to explain to exactly what, besides halitosis and hot air, Chris Matthews and David Shuster bring to the table in ANY discussion, let alone one about politics. It beggars disbelief that these two are paid good money — Matthews reportedly makes $5 million a year to spew this drivel! — to handicap a presidential election, but then again, the last eight years simply could not have happened without these mice among men. And just for the above exchange, which is about as inane as it gets, these two get to share ASSHAT OF THE WEEK […]
THRILLS, CHILLS, SPILLS: Amazing Car Chase
Apparently this went down in the Great Northeast back in October, but totally eluded our radar. Won’t be the first time nor the last. Be that as it may, this a helluva car chase, if you like that kind of thing. Apparently the guy had just robbed a bank, and he sure drives like it. Hats off to the Philadelphia police department. Barring the officer with his boot grinding perp’s face into the street while the cops cuff him (which, although we ordinarily frown on such extra-judicial justice, an argument COULD be made that dude fucking had it coming, and […]
All Of This Happened While You Were Sleeping
WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT: Hot Chip, Starlight Ballroom + Barbary, Last Night [photos by JUSTIN ROMAN & TIFFANY YOON] CLICK TO ENLARGE
KILLADELPHIA: Nutter Declares Independence
INQUIRER: Mayor Nutter likened himself and City Council members yesterday to the band of rebels who formed this country as he signed five new gun-control laws that defy the state legislature and legal precedent. “Almost 232 years ago, a group of concerned Americans took matters in their own hands and did what they needed to do by declaring that the time had come for a change,” Nutter said as he signed the bills in front of a table of confiscated weapons outside the police evidence room in City Hall. “We are going to make ourselves independent of the violence that’s […]