GAMBLE & HUD: City Claims Feds Forced Discount Land Deal For Kenny Gamble President Bush’s housing czar pressured the Philadelphia housing agency to transfer land worth $2 million to Kenny Gamble, the music producer turned developer, and retaliated when the agency would not knuckle under, a lawsuit says. The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) says the top federal housing official, Alphonso Jackson, improperly sought to steer the land to Gamble at a big discount. In court filings, Carl Greene, PHA’s executive director, says Jackson, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, called Mayor John Street twice to lobby on Gamble’s […]
WILL FERRELL: Bud Light Superbowl Ad
Very funny, but Bud Light still sucks.
REVEALED: The Peaceful Easy Death Of Ernie Pyle
This photo provided by Richard Strasser, perhaps never before published, shows famed World War II war correspondent Ernie Pyle shortly after he was killed by a Japanese machine gun bullet on the island of Ie Shima on April 18, 1945. On the third morning, a jeep carrying Ernie Pyle and three officers came under fire from a hidden machine gun. All scrambled for cover in roadside ditches, but when Pyle raised his head, a .30 caliber bullet caught him in the left temple, killing him instantly. Roberts and two other photographers, including AP’s Grant MacDonald, were at a command post […]
FOLLOW THE MONEY: Yes Virginia, There Is More To Arlen Specter’s Patriot Acts Than Meets The Eye
ATTYTOOD: When Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter went more public last week with his increasingly strange and quixotic battle against the National Football League — supposedly over the New England “Spygate” scandal — some politically savvy wags raised an interesting point. They noted that the longtime GOP stalwart’s No. 2 source of campaign funds in recent years has been none other than employees of Comcast Corp. and their families, linked to at least $153,600 in donations going back to 1989. That’s significant because Philadelphia-based Comcast has been engaged in a protracted war with the NFL over an issue that has nothing […]
PAPERBOY EXTRA: The Audacity Of Change
BY AMY Z. QUINN OK, so you didn’t hear it here first — Dan Gross broke the news this afternoon that City Paper editor Duane Swierczynski resigned today. We heard this Friday afternoon, when the Swiercz spilled his plans for a full-time leap into noir fiction (The Blonde‘s in paperback, there’s very preliminary talk of a movie) and Marvel Comics and over noodles and tea, then promptly swore me to secrecy. Never let it be said your Paperboy doesn’t know the meaning of “off the record.” For the record. Anyway, dude certainly seemed like a guy who’d made up his […]
LAWYERED UP: Stephen A. Smith Gets Mad Even
“I put my life and all that I have into the Philadelphia Inquirer first as a reporter and then as a general columnist. I was raised to work hard and play by the rules. That is what I have done. I’ve worked hard and earned every single promotion and accolade that I received while at the Inquirer.No one did me any favors or gave me anything, nor did I expect them to. What’s fair is fair and what’s right is right. What they have done to me is malicious, intentional and vindictive. They want to ruin my reputation and all […]
FOLLOW THE MONEY: U Can Run But U Can’t Hide
http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/ This is an amazing tool for all those who like a little accountability with their democratic process. As you no doubt know, campaign law requires politicians to disclose the names of their contributors. However, there is no law that says it has to be easy to see those names, or compare them with who contributed what, etc. to other campaigns. Until now. Added bonus: All your favorite celebrities will be there! Click map to activate Internets.
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
NJ Nursing Home Aide Allegedly Beat 89-Year-Old Patient With Dirty Diaper An employee of a South Jersey retirement home was indicted this week on assault charges, accused of beating an 89-year-old Alzheimer’s patient with a dirty diaper, authorities said. Karen A. Long, 57, worked at the Woodbury Mews in Woodbury, a senior living facility that bills itself as “The Community That Treats You Like Family.” In the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 13, another employee at the home spotted Long striking a patient in the head with a soiled adult diaper, authorities said. The man was in the facility’s memory-impaired unit, […]
PAPERBOY: ‘Lawyers Guns & Money’ 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 […]
NEWS CLUES: ‘Take This Job & Love It’ Edition
MR. NUTTER GOES TO WASHINGTON: Takes Nation’s Capital By Storm WASHINGTON — Mayor Nutter’s dinner was getting cold. There were dozens of hands to shake before he could eat. Fellow mayors, business executives, nonprofit leaders and lobbyists: They lined up three deep, hoping for a moment of his time. Nutter is accustomed to that sort of attention in Philadelphia. But in Washington? “It’s a little strange when you’re out of town,” Nutter said as he finally broke free of the crowd at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors last week. Less than a month into his administration, it […]
MEDIA: How Fox News Lost Its Mind-Control Mojo
BY ERIC BOEHLERT FOR MEDIA MATTERS My guess is that Fox News guru Roger Ailes has been reaching for the Tums more often than usual early in the New Year, and there are lots of reasons for the hovering angst. Let’s take an extended multiple choice quiz. Right now, which of the following topics is likely causing the discomfort inside Ailes’ Fox News empire? A) CNN’s resurgence as the go-to cable destination for election coverage. B) The incredible shrinking candidacy of Fox News’ favored son, Rudy Giuliani. C) The still-standing candidacy of Fox News nemesis and well-funded, anti-war GOP candidate […]
WHY WE FIGHT: Afghan Senate OKs Death Sentence For Journalism Student Who Distributed Internet Materials That Ask ‘If Islam Allows Men Multiple Wives Why Doesn’t It Allow Women Multiple Husbands?’
KABUL (AFP) — Afghanistan’s senate has endorsed a death sentence handed down by a court to a reporter and journalism student accused of blasphemy, the parliament media office said Wednesday. The senate, called the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders), issued a statement Tuesday backing last week’s decision by the Balkh province primary court and criticising international pressure over the case, an official told AFP. The court sentenced Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, to death for distributing articles downloaded from the Internet that were said to question the Koran and the role of women in Islam. “The Meshrano Jirga endorses the Balkh primary […]
EARLY WORD: Pennsyltucky Indie Boys Make Good
THE SHACKELTONS GET 4/5 STARS IN A REVIEW IN THE FEBRUARY EDITION OF SPIN “Scruffy, emotional indie boys you can actually believe in. Palpable desperation is one of rock -n- rolls most valuable commodities, because it’s impossible to fake. What makes bands like Pixies, Fugazi, and Les Savy Fav so exciting — and what makes the Shackeltons, from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, similarly thrilling — is a breathlessness, a creeping sense that crouched behind the towering melodies and heard-‘em before razor guitars (think Television, in addition to the aforementioned bands), there’s complete breakdown. A half-dozen times on their debut, the Shackeltons sound […]