CBS: PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) — A threatening letter containing a suspicious powder forced evacuations at a Barack Obama campaign office in South Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon. According to police, a letter with a suspicious powder was sent to an Obama-Biden field office in the 1500 block of Christian Street. The letter was apparently opened by a volunteer at the office.”The letter was somewhat threatening in nature and it contained a substance that we believe to be a hazmat,” Captain Mike Gillespie said shortly after the incident. Police, fire and hazmat crews responded to the scene shortly after a 911 call was […]
FAILOUT: The Masque Of The In-The-Red Death
TECH CRUNCH: The collapse of so many major financial institutions in the past year, and over the past few days especially, is hard to fathom in its enormity. Sometimes you need a good visual to put things in perspective. The New York Times has an interactive graphic up on its site that pretty much says it all. It shows that $4 trillion has been wiped off the total market capitalization of the U.S. stock market since last October. Of that, nearly $1 trillion is from the decline in the financial sector alone. MORE EDGAR ALLAN POE: THE “Red Death” had […]
EARLY WORD: The Milkmen Died For Your Grins
Psst! Hey, Bub. The Dead Milkmen are playing a ‘secret’ show at Johnny Brenda’s on October 25th, the day before their official reunion show for R5 Productions, under the name ‘Les Enfants Du Prague.’ Don’t tell nobody! THE DEAD MILKMEN: Punk Rock Girl If you don’t got Mojo Nixon, then your store could use some fixin’!
BRADLEY EFFECT IN REVERSE: Crackers Crackin’ Up
“Keep The N*gger Out Of Office” Cops: Man threatened voter officials over tardy registration card OCTOBER 8–Angered by a delay in the receipt of his voter registration card, a Louisiana man today threatened election officials, claiming that he urgently needed to cast a ballot to “keep the n*gger out of office,” according to police. Wade Williams, 75, was arrested this morning on a felony terrorizing charge after allegedly calling the Registrar of Voters and warning that he would come to the state office and empty his shotgun unless he got his registration card. Using profanity and racial slurs, Williams told […]
YES WE CAN: Winning The Battle For Pennsyltucky
HOPE IN THE RUINS: Obama in West Philly, Saturday ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION: Democratic Sen. Barack Obama has nearly closed the deal in Pennsylvania, as anxiety over the economy overcomes lingering concerns about his inexperience and qualms about his race, according to more than three dozen political operatives, pollsters and analysts across the state. A surge in Democratic voter registration is also helping. Some Republicans in the state say privately it is all but impossible for Republican Sen. John McCain to win Pennsylvania. Others are hopeful but nervous. Still many remain optimistic, noting that the race has been marked by wild […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the National Security Agency stepped up its efforts to collect intelligence domestically by filtering millions of phone conversations and e-mail messages. In his new book, The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA From 9/11 To The Eavesdropping On America, journalist James Bamford reveals that the ultra-secret agency has half a million people on its watch lists. Bamford has been writing about the inner workings of the NSA since his first book, The Shadow Factory: A Report On America’s Most Secret Agency, was published in 1982. He is also the author of Body […]
CAPTURED: The Face Of Murderous Road Rage
INQUIRER: A South Philadelphia man is charged with attempted murder for allegedly critically injuring another driver on the Schuylkill Expressway earlier this month. Christian Squillaciotti, 33, of the 400 block of West Shunk Street, is charged with two counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault and related offenses, Deputy Commissioner Kevin Bethel announced during a morning press conference at Police Headquarters. Squillaciotti, a competitive martial artist and ex-Marine, surrendered about 6 p.m. yesterday while family members consoled him after police alerted him that they were on their way to avoid a potential confrontation. When police searched Squillaciotti’s home yesterday evening, they […]
USSA: This Bank Is Your Bank, This Bank Is My Bank
NEW YORK TIMES: Describing the government’s financial bailout plan as “extensive, powerful and transformative,” Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said on Tuesday that the injection of $250 billion into the nation’s banks was needed to restore confidence and avoid a collapse of the financial system. Speaking shortly after President Bush used similar terms to describe the proposal, Mr. Paulson said the Treasury would make $250 billion available to banks to help recapitalize those banks and to get them lending again, among themselves and to businesses and consumers. “The needs of our economy require that our financial institutions not take […]
GAYDAR EXTRA: The Horror! The Horror!
“Last House on the Right” is the Dumpsta Players’ Halloween homage to the horrors of the Bush dynasty, currently dying on the West Lawn of the White House like a stinky old fish nobody bothers to throw back in the water. FYI, The Dumpsta Players are a wild trash-glitz drag troupe who flaunt not only their facility for choreographed pandemonium, but their talent for serious, on-edge skits fraught with social commentary and good old fashioned grab-your-pitchfork American outrage. This time out, the cast of misbegotten characters includes: Cuntaleeza Rice, Siouxsie Sioux, Rev. Allawaysus Wright, Dr. Mendrakis, and, my personal favorite, […]
UP ON THE SUN: Where It Never Rains Or Snows
BOSTON GLOBE: The Sun is now in the quietest phase of its 11-year activity cycle, the solar minimum — in fact, it has been unusually quiet this year — with over 200 days so far with no observed sunspots. The solar wind has also dropped to its lowest levels in 50 years. Scientists are unsure of the significance of this unusual calm, but are continually monitoring our closest star with an array of telescopes and satellites. Seen below are some recent images of the Sun in more active times. MORE EDITOR’S NOTE: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FACTS: The Sun is about 4.5 […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR His starring role as George W. Bush in the new Oliver Stone film W. is the latest in a series of high-profile jobs for Josh Brolin — including the Oscar-winner No Country for Old Men. He was also seen recently in American Gangster and In The Valley of Elah. ALSO, Curtis Sittenfeld‘s new novel American Wife is about a kind, bookish, young woman who marries a wealthy charismatic young man who eventually becomes president. It’s based on the life of Laura Bush. One reviewer calls it “a compassionate, illuminating, and beautifully rendered portrait.” PREVIOUSLY: A Comedy Of Terrors
MESSAGE TO INQUIRER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR: Even A Broken Watch Is Right Twice A Day
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Convicted felon Tony Rezko. Unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers. And the race-baiting Rev. Jeremiah Wright. It is hard to think of any presidential candidate before Barack Obama sporting associations with three more execrable characters. Yet, let the McCain campaign raise the issue, and the mainstream media begin fulminating about dirty campaigning tinged with racism and McCarthyite guilt by association. But associations are important. They provide a significant insight into character. They are particularly relevant in relation to a potential president as new, unknown, opaque and self-contained as Obama. With the economy overshadowing everything, it may be too late politically […]
KILLADELPHIA: Death On The 14th Hole
INQUIRER: The body of a woman was found this morning on a Philadelphia city golf course, police said. A golfer discovered the corpse about 10:30 a.m. near the 14th hole of the Juniata Golf Course near Fisher’s Lane and Ramona Avenue, said Lt. Frank Vanore, spokesman for the Philadelphia police. Investigators have not determined the cause or manner of death, Vanore said. * RELATED: A triple shooting in North Philadelphia overnight critically injured a 12-year-old boy, police said. Two male teenagers were also wounded after gunfire erupted shortly after 1 a.m. on the 1400 block of North Broad Street. The […]