[Photos by VIC SUEDE & TIFFANY YOON & JONATHAN VALANIA/CLICK TO ENLARGE]
HOT DOC: Open Letter To The Drive-By Media
[via ATTYOOD] Dear Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, It’s hard to know where to begin with this, less than an hour after you signed off from your Democratic presidential debate here in my hometown of Philadelphia, a televised train wreck that my friend and colleague Greg Mitchell has already called, quite accurately, “a shameful night for the U.S. media.” It’s hard because — like many other Americans — I am still angry at what I just witnessed, so angry that it’s hard to even type accurately because my hands are shaking. Look, I know that “media criticism” — especially when […]
CONTEST: Do You Cebu?
How does a shot and beer with big Bob Brady sound? We have just been given 10 tickets to giveaway to Phawker readers. Hit us back at FEED@PHAWKER.COM and we will duly deputize you as a member of the pajama-clad media. PROGRAMMING NOTE: We will be live-blogging from inside the belly of the beast tonight. JONATHAN VALANIA will be inside the press room, translating the candidates comments into something closer to the truth and providing an update on the size of Howard Fineman’s ass. He’s bringing his calipers. TIFFANY YOON will be shooting the pageantry and street theater of the […]
EX-CELEB SCIENTOLOGIST: ‘Destructive & A Rip-Off’
FOX NEWS: Ruggedly handsome actor Jason Beghe was best man at the wedding of “X-Files” star David Duchovny (his childhood pal) and actress Tea Leoni. In 1998, he starred as Demi Moore’s love interest in “G.I. Jane.” He’s been featured in numerous TV dramas such as “Criminal Minds,” “Numb3rs” and “CSI.” In 2005, Beghe appeared in promotional spots for the Church of Scientology. But now, Beghe has escaped the church after taking courses since 1994. He’s made a video that’s up on YouTube. This is what he has to say: “Scientology is destructive and a rip-off.” He also says: “It’s […]
TONITE: Sing The Body Electric
[Click image to activate Internets] WIKIPEDIA: Who Is Walt Whitman?
WORTH REPEATING: Goddamn Right We’re Bitter!
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
PAPERBOY: ‘The Jazz Hound Edition’ Edition
BY AMY Z. QUINN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and […]
CHINESE DEMOCRACY: Just Twitter It
LIKE WHERE’S WALDO? WITH TEXTING: Latest Twitters from Team Tibet, currently doing the protest slalom with the Olympic Torch out in San Francisco.
BILAL IS FREE: Iraqi Judge Dismisses Terror Charges
BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi judicial committee has dismissed terrorism-related allegations against Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein and ordered him freed after nearly two years in U.S. military custody. The decision by a four-judge panel says Hussein’s case falls under a new amnesty law and orders Iraqi courts to “cease legal proceedings.” The ruling says that Hussein should be “immediately” released if no other charges are pending. The ruling is dated Monday but AP’s lawyers were not able to thoroughly review it until Wednesday. AP President Tom Curley is hailing the decision and demands that officials “finally do the right […]
SCUM BAGGED: Mom Fends Off Baby-Beating Muggers
DAILY NEWS: She was born with the last name of Peace, but anything but that befell the young mother Monday night as she was walking to catch a SEPTA trolley at the 69th Street Terminal. Samara Peace, 18, of Sharon Hill [pictured below, with Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood], was carrying her 7-month-old daughter, Samya, close to her chest when, about 11 p.m., a young man later identified by police as Carlos C. Boothe, 19, of Upper Darby, approached her on Lennox Road near Penncock Avenue and asked for her phone number, she said. At the same time, a […]