Last week, Barletta was bowled over when he opened an envelope sent by Vento, owner of Geno’s Steaks in south Philadelphia. Inside was a check for $10,000, by far the largest contribution the city’s legal defense fund. “You could definitely say that’s a lot of cheesesteaks,” Barletta quipped. Lou Barletta knew Joey Vento wanted to help. But the Hazleton mayor didn’t realize just how much. Vento said he made the generous contribution because he agrees with the mayor’s effort to rid Hazleton of illegal immigrants. “I’m definitely on the same page with the mayor,” Vento said. “We could be brothers; […]
THE DONALD: Trump Points Limo Towards The Heart Of Pennsyltucky, Jokingly Threatens To ‘Fire’ Gaming Commissioners, Woos Podunk Locals, Many Eager To Give Him All Their Money As Soon As Fucking Possible
The Donald woos fans at license hearing Wednesday, November 15, 2006 BY MARY KLAUS Of The Patriot-News Marilyn Levin might not be a Donald Trump groupie, but she managed to greet the millionaire yesterday at The State Museum of Pennsylvania. Trump came to the Harrisburg museum for a state Gaming Control Board hearing on his proposed slot machine parlor in Philadelphia. […] “I’ve left a lot of money in the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City,” Levin said. “I’ve lost more than I’ve gained. I don’t gamble anymore because it can be a bad habit. But I was glad […]
REAL SPORTS: Vertical Paper Brings Bronze Home To 215 And Breaks Canada’s Stranglehold On Winner’s Circle At International Rock Paper Scissors Championship And YES It Turns Out There Actually IS Such A Thing
PHILADELPHIA, November 14, 2006 — The Pabst Blue Ribbon Philadelphia Rock Paper Scissors City League Championship Series is pleased to announce that Philadelphia player and resident Tom Smith (who competes under the name Vertical Paper, pictured in action, right) has brought the bronze medal back to Philadelphia from the 2006 RPS International World Championships, which took place in Toronto this past weekend. Vertical Paper outplayed over 500 competitors on his way to laying claim to being the 3rd best RPS player in the World. Vertical Paper competes as part of the Majestic 12, one of the largest and most feared […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
Fresh Air from WHYY to Tuesday’s show — Nov. 14, 2006 Books: Author Sees No Evidence Prayer Can Heal In his new book, Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine, Richard Sloan examines the claim that prayer and religion can heal the sick. Using the scientific method, he shows that there is no compelling evidence that religion can actually cure medical ailments. Interviews: Stemming Violence in Iraq Michael Gordon, chief military correspondent for The New York Times, was recently in Iraq. He discusses efforts to stem the violence in Baghdad, and the prospects for change in American policy. […]
FAREWELL NOTE: Plain Parade’s Long Tall Goodbye
Dear Everyone, EVERYTHING’S ENDING HERE Well, it’s finally upon us — our week-long swan song. To state the obvious: please come out and support the bands, support us and in general, have an awesome time. We’re positive this weekend is going to go down in the history books — You don’t want to miss this! Let’s give the City Paper a round of applause for naming us “Most Missed Rock Curators” in this year’s Choice Awards: So long, fair ladies of Plain Parade. Your tiny happy shows were the most lovingly booked, your tastes were impeccable. Four years of giving […]
Don’t Tell Germany: US Terror War Architect & TORTURE PROPONENT JOHN YOO Appeared On Radio Times This Morning And Spoke At Constituition Center Tonight; By The Way, Yoo Wanted Man In Germany For War Crimes
Join former presidential adviser John Yoo, author of War by Other Means: An Insider’s Account on the War on Terror, for a look at the Bush administration’s response to the 9/11 tragedy. This event is being produced in collaboration with the Federalist Society. On September 11, 2001, while America reeled from the day’s cataclysmic events and the majority of officials in Washington, D.C. — including most of the Justice Department — struggled to leave town, John Yoo and a skeletal staff of the Office of Legal Counsel of the Justice Department stayed behind. The day’s attacks called for a response […]
MAILBAG: Nothing Stuffs The Mailbox Like Another Round of Sweeney Vs. Valania; YOU PEOPLE ARE JACKALS! But Thanks For Writing Just The Same
DEAR PHAWKER, If memory serves, Sweeney was sort of shitcanned from The Weekly, too. Well, not shitcanned in a direct way. PW’s usual passive-aggressive style is to make life so miserable for you that you quit. I remember that they slashed his pay as a columnist (which couldn’t have been very much anyway) so that it wasn’t even worth his while and they killed a final column where he interviewed himself. Dude has pretty much burned his bridges for every outlet in town he’s written for, so doing the blog is really all he can do. And whatever happened to […]
RETRACTION: Let The Record Show That Joey Sweeney Was NOT Brian McManus’ Source When He Outed U-Outfitter Music Picker’s Conflict of Interest Thingee In PW & If You Don’t Know WTF We’re Talking About, We Envy You, But If You REALLY Wanna Know Ask Sweeney He Has The Screenshot And Is Apparently Sending It To His Lawyer
On 11/14/06 6:17 AM, “Jonathan Valania” wrote: CONFIRM OR DENY? Sweeney was your source for the Urban Outfitters/ Favorite Sons conflict of interest thing. I realize it’s a dick move to air private email, but hey, both you guys have MORE than earned it. Sweeney is — get this — threatening to sue me, claiming that he found out about\ it from you in PW. That I misunderstood your email, that your email was saying that it was Sweeney who pointed out the Phawker post about Urban Outfitters, not that he was the source on that. If I got that […]
ILLEBRITY: Our New 215 Hippity-Hop Column, HOLLA!
THE WOOK REPORTS: There’s nothing more talked up in the 19147 than the fact that after the news cycle moves beyond ’06’s murder rate come January, the tale of woe that is the city’s condo market glut is gonna blow up bigger than J-Hova‘s eagerly anticipated long-player. For the record, the Mayor‘s hit squad best get on this potential crimp — our city’s status as an up-and-comer with the seriously well-invested may just be on the line, my people’s people!!! Now not that I’m qualified to be the Mayor’s chief of staff or nothing, but if I was one Joyce Wilkerson, […]
GUNCRAZY: Philly Popo To Get FRISKY?
Theresa Collins doesn’t own a gun; never fired one. Still, the 54-year-old widow is familiar with the pop of gunfire. Since January, 20 people have been shot to death within a half-mile of her house. A few doors down, her block captain, Lorraine Armstrong, thinks one answer to gun violence in her West Philadelphia neighborhood is for police to stop and frisk suspects. “I don’t know if there is a quick fix, because it didn’t develop overnight. But if you set up a gun-checking point on that corner, Ray Charles could see [the troublemakers] aren’t going to go down that […]
ATTYTOOD SAYS: Just Because Murtha Doesn’t Have Iraqi Blood On His Hands Doesn’t Mean They Are Clean
All of this is a prelude to our saying that if the Democrats make Murtha the majority leader — and there’s a good chance they will — they will be making their first big mistake of their leadership, before it even officially starts in January. Murtha would get our vote for the bravest House member, and we’d like to see him play a key role in resolving the endless debate on Iraq. But the position that the Pennsylvania seeks is a political post, and as a career politician, Jack Murtha has been more than just a disappointment. In fact, the […]
There Ain’t No Starving Artists In The Afterlife: JEFF SELLS EAKINS PAINTING TO WAL-MART FOR $68 MILLION CLAMS; Natives Grow Restless And Unimpressed, Say Deal Shoulda Been Done With Legal Tender, Not Shellfish
At least twice in the 1970s and 1980s, deep-pocketed buyers came knocking on the doors of Thomas Jefferson University seeking to purchase Thomas Eakins’ The Gross Clinic. On both occasions, administrators consulted the alumni organization – which gave the world-renowned painting to the medical school in 1878 – about what to do. And in both cases, the alumni said no to millions of dollars, according to several members of the university community. Absolutely not. No sale. The painting, a monumental portrayal of renowned Jefferson surgeon Samuel D. Gross demonstrating a bloody leg operation, is considered inextricably bound to the university […]
MAILBAG: Reader Rejoices That Phawker Freed Killed PW Column From The Dustbin Of History; Also, Well-Earned Shit-Talk About The Sweenster
DEAR PHAWKER, “As the head big-shot in charge of asking for cash at XPN, thank you so much!” –DEB ASHMORE, WXPN No worries, just doin’ our job, stickin’ it to The Man –Ed. HEY PHAWKER, So, did you like, make [Sweeney] bleed from his anus when you left? This shit is like one of those psychotic ex-girlfriends who spray-paints your car and tells all your friends you have a micropenis. Whatta l’il bitchface. UNSIGNED IN SOUTH PHILLY Sure feels like it. Tho, let the record show that we never had sex, as neither of us is gay like that. –Ed. […]