INQUIRER: An ambitious lawsuit by the Philadelphia firm of Cozen O’Connor blaming the government of Saudi Arabia for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was dealt a sharp setback yesterday when a federal appeals court ruled that the desert kingdom could not be sued for acts of terrorism. The ruling followed years of hard-fought litigation in which lawyers for Cozen and other firms representing Sept. 11 victims traveled the globe tracking down witnesses with information about how Saudi money found its way to al Qaeda. Yet, in a stinging setback for Cozen and other plaintiffs’ lawyers, the U.S. Court of Appeals […]
HEAR YE: Monkey Journey To The West
Now playing on Phawker Radio! Why, because we love you! JOURNEY TO THE WEST, an album conceived and created by Damon Albarn (music) & Jamie Hewlett (visuals) under the guise of MONKEY, is performed by an assortment of European and Chinese musicians and singers and was produced by Albarn. Similarly, the Hewlett’s album artwork moves beyond his stunning design work on the opera MONKEY: JOURNEY TO THE WEST and exploring to the fullest its characters, storylines, themes and inspirations.
OLYMPIAD: Here Comes The Strokes
BY ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH OLYMPIC CORRESPONDENT Yesterday, I wrote about Dara Torres and the slant-eye scandal. I promised I’d write about Crocker and Lochte today, but I’m feeling sorta “ehh…” about them, so we’re going to talk about strokes instead. For the swimmers among us, this will be Remedial Swimming 101. I apologize. Everyone else, listen up. (And double apologies for the vids, which are of course as campy as I could possibly find.) There are four competitive strokes currently swum in the Olympics today – the freestyle (i.e., the crawl stroke), the backstroke, the breaststroke, and the butterfly. Of […]
LYING LIARS: Fox News Is LYING To America
[Brave New Films: When It Comes to Obama, The FOX is WRONG! • FOX ATTACKS • Season 1 – Ep.6] Really, it’s astonishing any of these people draw a paycheck from broadcasting. How do they sleep at night? Jesus Christ on a crutch, has the bar really been set this low?
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
DOG DAYS: Dr. Dog, Rittenhouse Square, Last Night [Photo by TIFFANY YOON] THE WORLD CAFE Dr. Dog David Dye welcomes Dr. Dog for a special session mixed by the celebrated producer, Steve Lillywhite, at Avatar Studios in New York. Fate, the fifth album from this Philadelphia based five-piece is already drawing stellar reviews. As the band’s national recognition continues to grow, they’ve remained true to their bouncy rock style, mixing intricate harmonies with ’60s pop beats driving each song forward. They also aren’t afraid to come back with another concept album, manifesting the theme of fate creatively throughout the record. […]
BLUE HAWAII: What, Me Worry?
BLOOMBERG NEWS: The U.S. presidential race is a tossup as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has lost what was once an eight-point lead over Republican rival John McCain, according to a new poll. The Washington-based Pew Research Center for the People and the Press said today that Obama now leads McCain 46 percent to 43 percent among registered voters, down from June when the Illinois senator enjoyed a 48 to 40 advantage. His lead narrowed to five points in July, the survey said. MORE WASHINGTON POST: An analysis of political contributions from soldiers on the battlefield has produced some unexpected […]
CENSUS BUREAU: Whites Will Be Minority By 2042
NEW YORK TIMES: Ethnic and racial minorities will comprise a majority of the nation’s population in a little more than a generation, according to new Census Bureau projections, a transformation that is occurring faster than anticipated just a few years ago. The census calculates that by 2042, Americans who identify themselves as Hispanic, black, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander will together outnumber non-Hispanic whites. Four years ago, officials had projected the shift would come in 2050. The main reason for the accelerating change is significantly higher birthrates among immigrants. Another factor is the influx of foreigners, rising […]
OLYMPIAD: Meet Dara Torres — Mom, Medalist, MILF
BY ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH OLYMPIC CORRESPONDENT Well, hopefully this is not news to you – if it is, my columns have not sparked the appropriate level of US Olympic Swimming ardor that I’m looking for from all of you. Phelps won his fourth and fifth gold medals yesterday, in the 4×200 free relay and the 200 butterfly. The relay was the fun race to watch because the US team didn’t so much as beat their opponents as they did spank them silly. USA! USA! So Phelps took the lead over the four Olympians who were tied for the most golds […]
TONITE: A Month Of Sundays
BY DAN BUSKIRK, FILM CRITIC The synopsis sounds like it could be a reality TV episode: two couples, “real people” like me and you, flirt and switch partners during a summer outing by the lake. What sets this apart from Cheaters is that it was shot in the Berlin of 1929 and the team that created would go on to make some of Hollywood’s crowning achievements. People On Sunday is a one-of-a-kind experiment made by a collective of young Berliners over a summer of Sundays in 1929. It’s a staggering list of talent, all a decade away from beginning their […]
LOWLIGHTS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT: Cops From The Last Televised Beatdown Bust Heads At Baby Shower
DAILY NEWS: The Peterson home is an inviting place. A Winnie the Pooh flag that reads “Welcome” is posted above the front door. The once- trash-strewn, abandoned lot next to their home has been turned into a garden with rows of flowers and vegetables. The fenced-in grassy lot, with its swing set and miniature basketball hoop, has always been a place for neighborhood kids to play. It seemed the perfect spot for a baby shower — or so the Petersons thought. Lorna Peterson’s daughter Lacrecia Tindley, 30, who is nine months pregnant, was just about to open her gifts when Schaffling […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
SOMEWHERE OVER IN RAINBOWS: Radiohead, Susquehanna Center, Last Night 01. 15 Step: The men of Radiohead walk onstage, waving and clapping along with the audience. They look happy to be here. Thom Yorke looks hale and healthy, and like all new dads, a little thicker around the waist than the last time you saw him. Ed O’Brien looks GQ dapper in his tailored, two-button blazer and scarf (a bold fashion choice for August in Camden). Jonny Greenwood is rocking his hoodie high and tight for that hipster monk look that’s so popular with the kids these days. Colin Greenwood still […]
REVIEW: New Dog, Old Tricks
BY ED KING ROCK SNOB On “Hang On,” from Dr. Dog’s latest album, Fate, everyone’s favorite floppy-eared psychedelphians swing Tarzan-like from bearded, cut-out bin Beach Boys to cokehead-era Band, before doing a canonball in the Beatlesque bongwater. Come on in, the water’s lovely! The Dog always seem to front load their albums with these kind of multi-faceted tracks — part homage, part theft — which is right up my alley, and even though the singer’s reedy voice has more in common with Steve Forbert than Rick Danko, I’m always excited to hear more. A bit like The Byrds in their […]
BREAKING: Bigfoot Discovered In The Other Georgia
BOING BOING: Loren Coleman of Cryptomundo writes about the Bigfoot body purported to be discovered in the woods in Northern Georgia. The guys who claim to have discovered it are holding a press conference in Palo Alto on Friday. “Is it real? It certainly looks like the real deal, and with a surprising variety of features. The hominoid (please note, not hominid) body, found in the Georgia woods, is now in a secure location, under armed guard, and set to be examined by a battery of academic scholars, skeptical scientists, Bigfoot researchers, and debunking writers.[…] The body doesn’t look exactly […]