All told, Adult Swim makes us feel safer than Homeland Security. Plus, their cartoons are funnier.
HOT DOC: Emancipation Proclamation Phones Home
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – A museum on Thursday unveiled a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, a document signed in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln declaring the end of slavery in the United States. The document is one of about 24 known copies to survive out of 48 that were originally printed. It was acquired on behalf of The National Constitution Center museum from an unnamed private collector. “This is one of the rarest, most valuable, most significant documents in history,” president of the non-profit museum Joseph Torsella told a news conference. “With the possible exception of the Declaration of Independence, […]
THE POLICE: Can’t Stand Losing You
LOS ANGELES — The Police 30th Anniversary reunion world tour will kick off May 28 at Vancouver’s GM Place and travel through North America until early August. The official tour announcement will be made this morning at legendary Sunset Strip club Whiskey A Go Go by singer-bassist Sting, 55, drummer Stewart Copeland, 54, and guitarist Andy Summers, 64. Ticket prices are expected to be in three ranges — approximately $225, $90 and $50. Police to hold press conference to announce tour at the Whiskey A Go Go this morning. Philly date inevitable. DEVELOPING
GRAMMYS: Free Speech Makes Comeback Of The Year
Connecting past and present, one-time folk protest queen Joan Baez introduced current freedom-of-speech fighters and five time Grammy nominees the Dixie Chicks, still “Not Ready to Make Nice” to the country conservatives and spineless radio programmers who totally abandoned them for criticizing (barely) the President’s pre-emptive war tactics. An hour later, the same tune was named Song of the Year, a recording industry affirmation that left the group’s usually outspoken Natalie Maines speechless “for the first time in my life,” she declared. But by the time the Chicks returned to take Best Country Album for “Taking the Long Way,” Maines […]
ARCHITECTURE: The Bad Poetry Of New South St. Bridge
No matter how many turrets and stainless-steel railings are pasted on this deeply flawed scheme, the current design remains a lost opportunity for Philadelphia. The engineers have dutifully outfitted the proposed span with bike lanes and a ramp connection to Schuylkill Banks park, yet there isn’t an ounce of poetry in its steel bones. After a decade of tinkering with its design, the bridge promises to be little more than a chute for efficiently moving traffic onto the most frightening of the I-76 entry ramps. If city leaders were seriously interested in branding Philadelphia as a vital modern metropolis, they […]
WEATHER: Valentine’s Day Massacre?
While an arctic front will spark snow showers across the Northeast today, mainly over the interior, and bring an end to the recent moderating temperatures tonight, the storm strengthening in the southern Plains today will have a greater impact on the region as Valentine’s Day approaches. With the front draped to the south, areas from near the Mason-Dixon line to the North Carolina border will have, from north to south, a bit of snow, a wintry mix and rain tonight. Since the southern Plains’ storm will begin heading towards the region, the precipitation will fall the heaviest over West Virginia […]
GUNCRAZY: Cops Bag 4th Dubious Trophy Kill Of The Year
A police official said yesterday that a man fatally shot by two officers Saturday night in Southwest Philadelphia – the fourth victim of deadly police force in 2007 – refused requests to drop his loaded .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol. Philadelphia Police Capt. Benjamin Naish said Raheem Pridgen, 27, caught the attention of the officers on patrol in the Elmwood neighborhood because he was sitting in his car, which was running and facing the wrong direction in the 6400 block of Dicks Avenue at 6:15 p.m. Naish said Pridgen got out of the vehicle and ran as an officer approached; the officer […]
NOW PLAYING: NEW MAGNETIC WONDER
[NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO] REVIEWED BY AMY Z. QUINN The last time Apples in Stereo released an album was in 2002, not long after being featured in a New York Times piece about the then-growing trend of indie rockers selling their music for advertising. In early 2001, when the piece ran, the Apples were still angsty over deciding they needed things like baby furniture as much as artistic cred. Half a decade later, that baby furniture is probably still serving Hilarie Sidney and Robert Schneider’s child well, so in terms of the small world of their own family, they […]
THE DUDE ABIDES: “Sometimes there’s a man — I won’t say a hee-ro, ’cause what’s a hee-ro? — sometimes there’s a man who, well, he’s the man for his time ‘n place, he fits right in there — and that’s the Dude.” –Big Lebowski
Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) — Illinois Senator Barack Obama, standing in front of the building where Abraham Lincoln gave his “House Divided” speech in 1858 opposing slavery, told Americans he will embrace a new kind of politics as he made his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination official. “We can build a more hopeful America,” Obama, 45, told supporters today in Springfield, Illinois. “And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce […]
POLL: ONLY 13% OF CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS BELIEVE IN MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING
National Journal has released a new ?Congressional Insiders Poll,? which surveyed 113 members of Congress ? 10 Senate Democrats, 48 House Democrats, 10 Senate Republicans, and 45 House Republicans ? about their positions on global warming. The results were startling. Only 13 percent of congressional Republicans say they believe that human activity is causing global warming, compared to 95 percent of congressional Democrats. Moreover, the number of Republicans who believe in human-induced global warming has actually dropped since April 2006, when the number was 23 percent. Question: Do you think it’s been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the Earth […]
HOT DOC: Inky Pulls Big Toe Out Of The Blog Pond
From: Brumfield, John Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 5:18 PM To: Inquirer Subject: From Anne Gordon Annette John-Hall and Dan Rubin to try out as Metro columnists over four weeks. The first to appear will be Dan, who will begin his column the week of Feb. 18. He will write one column a week that will appear on the Metro front. He will report directly to Tom McNamara during that time. Tom will work with Dan to craft a column that takes into account the news of the day and recognizes Dan?s strong voice. Dan will no longer write Blinq. […]
MOTHER OF INVENTION: Local Chick To Be Named FIRST WOMAN President Of Harvard In Like Ever
Drew Gilpin Faust is expected to be named Harvard?s 28th president this weekend, according to three sources familiar with the situation. The Board of Overseers, the alumni governing body that must approve the appointment, has scheduled a special meeting for Sunday, two sources said. The meeting had not been on the board?s regular schedule. If she is approved at that meeting, Faust, 59, will become the first woman to lead Harvard in the University?s 371-year history. Faust is set to succeed Lawrence H. Summers, who stepped down one year ago amid tensions with faculty. Derek C. Bok has served as […]