FRESH AIR The team behind Step Brothers has an enviable life. Director Adam McKay and actors Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly get to hang out together, make jokes and get paid for it. The three first worked together on the film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and they enjoyed collaborating on the film so much that they thought another film was in order. Leaving behind the world of car-racing, Step Brothers centers around two grown men who never managed to leave their respective parents’ houses. Drama ensues when their single parents marry and the two adults become […]
ALPHA OBAMA: No Sleep ‘Til Jerusalem!
ASSOCIATED PRESS: AMMAN, Jordan — Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday to work for a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations “starting from the minute I’m sworn into office.” In a news conference here before departing for Israel, he said any U.S. involvement in peace talks must recognize not only Israel’s security concerns but also the economic hardships facing Palestinians. He said he would continue to regard Israel as a valued ally. “That policy is not going to change,” he said. “What I think can change is the ability of the United States government and a United States president […]
THIS JUST IN: Obama In Iraq
WASHINGTON POST: Obama landed first in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, where the Iraqi army, with support from British and U.S. troops, has recently wrested control from extremist militias. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee did not venture into the city proper, where about 30,000 Iraqi soldiers patrol the streets to keep insurgents at bay. Instead, he remained at the British military base outside town, near the airport, and met with top British, Iraqi and U.S. officials from the region. Officials said Obama–part of a congressional delegation that also includes fellow senators and Iraq war critics Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and […]
DUBIOUS ACHIEVEMENT: Hannity Paid $100 Million To Mislead Listening Public About Reality’s Liberal Bias
MEDIA WEEK: Hannity’s contract with ABC Radio Networks expired recently and rumors have been swirling every since. For Premiere, grabbing Hannity gives the radio network a blockbuster afternoon Talk block beginning with Rush Limbaugh at Noon, followed by Hannity at 3 p.m. After paying dearly for the ABC properties, Citadel has been struggling to pay down $2 billion in debt in a historically soft radio ad environment. It needed Hannity, especially since network radio is outperforming a very soft radio market. While Limbaugh reportedly got a $400 million contract over eight years with Premiere, Hannity’s was somewhat less, about $100 […]
MAILBAG: Why Whitey Can’t Hope 2
DEAR PHAWKER, This post is quite old, but the stench of the bullshit contained herein just drifted toward my little corner of the world here on the Ohio/West Virginia border. Totally ignoring all of the incendiary rhetoric that will certainly do nothing to help “progressives” (is that, by the way, what you’re calling yourself?) win West Virginia in 2008, are you aware that Democratic President Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush by 13 percentage points in West Virginia as recently as 1992? He also defeated Bob Dole in 1996 by 15%. In fact, prior to 2000 West Virginia voted for Democrats […]
DEMOCRACY NEEDS YOUR HELP: Send Rove To Jail
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION Brave New Films: Send Karl Rove to Jail
THIS JUST IN: Obama Touches Down In Afghanistan
NEW YORK TIMES: KABUL, Afghanistan — Senator Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan Saturday morning, opening his first overseas trip as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to meet with American commanders there and later in Iraq to receive an on-the-ground assessment of military operations in the United States’ two major war zones. Mr. Obama touched down in Kabul about noon, according to a statement released by his aides. His trip has been cloaked in secrecy, which advisers said was due to security concerns set forth by the Secret Service. BOSTON GLOBE: Obama advocates ending the U.S. combat role in Iraq by […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR Mad Men seems to be an easy sell. The AMC television drama just racked up an astounding 16 Emmy nominations after winning two Golden Globes. Matt Weiner is the man behind the successful program, which focuses on Madison Avenue advertising executives in the 1960s. Before creating Mad Men, Weiner wrote and produced episodes of the HBO series The Sopranos, which garnered him both a Writer’s Guild Award and an Emmy. NEW YORK TIMES: Weiner (pronounced WHY-ner) is the creator and show-runner of “Mad Men,” which means the original idea was his: he wrote the pilot; he writes every […]
HOT DOC: Ad Demands End To Spying On Americans
This ran full-page in today’s New York Times. We are proud signatories. Are you? RELATED: The American Civil Liberties Union filed a landmark lawsuit today to stop the government from conducting surveillance under a new wiretapping law that gives the Bush administration virtually unchecked power to intercept Americans’ international e-mails and telephone calls. The case was filed on behalf of a broad coalition of attorneys and human rights, labor, legal and media organizations whose ability to perform their work — which relies on confidential communications — will be greatly compromised by the new law. The FISA Amendments Act of 2008, […]
ELLIOTT SMITH: Pitseleh
[Dir. by JAMES DOOLITTLE] WIKIPEDIA: Omar Ahmed Khadr (??? ???? ???, born September 19, 1986) is the fourth child in the Canadian Khadr family. He was captured by American forces at the age of 15 following a four-hour firefight with militants in the village of Ayub Kheyl, Afghanistan.[1] He has spent six years in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps charged with war crimes and providing support to terrorism after allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier.[2] A Canadian citizen born in Toronto,[3][4] he is the youngest prisoner held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp by the United States […]
NPR FOR THE DEF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Rhett Miller ought to be a household name by now: With model-esque good looks, considerable stage presence, and an arsenal of catchy pop songs, the charismatic frontman for alt-country favorite Old 97’s doesn’t want for raw materials. Alt-country favorites the Old 97’s are as reliable as a worn pair of cowboy boots and an old flannel shirt. The band has been playing for 15 years now, and they just released the album Blame It On Gravity. Miller takes a break from their summer tour to talk about the group’s new album and the band’s career. Miller also performs […]
BREAKING: Feds Raid Wachovia
WALL STREET JOURNAL: The race is heating up among regulators and prosecutors to show the public that they’re sorting out the auction rate securities mess. Here’s the breaking news, courtesy of WSJ’s Liz Rappaport: A team of 10 state securities regulators drove to the St. Louis headquarters of Wachovia Securities yesterday to demand documents and conduct interviews about the firm’s sales and marketing of ARS. The “onsite inspection” occurred after Wachovia hadn’t fully complied with regulator requests, Missouri regulator officials said. The state investigators came from Missouri, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other states, all of which are part of […]