Droll, ironic question: Does this picture of Jennifer Aniston in Philly (we assume for the Middlebrow & M shoot) count as distasteful paparazzi dreck? No, for many reasons, but nobody’s about to waste your time waxing all smug-like on the deep, reasoned and ultimately, understandable only to myself thought process I used to decide…DEVELOPING… I will, however, acknowledge being unsurprised at the speed with which Aniston embraced the city’s native dress code of pajama bottoms and out-of-style footwear. (Dude. Those things look new. ) All she needs is a Kathy Van Zeeland handbag and no car insurance and bam! she’s […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR In 1964, Democrat Lyndon Johnson won the presidency in a landslide victory; eight years later, Republican president Richard Nixon was reelected in an equally lopsided race. In his new book, Nixonland, historian Rick Perlstein looks at the chaotic years between those elections, a time marked by protests, social upheaval, assassinations and an unpopular war. Perlstein is a senior fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future, where he writes the blog The Big Con. He has written for The New Republic Online, Slate, the Village Voice, Newsday and The Nation. Richard Nixon: Speeches, Writings, Documents, a Nixoniana collection compiled […]
THE NOMINATION: All Over But The Shouting
TIMES ONLINE: Barack Obama is poised to reach an important milestone tonight in his nomination battle against Hillary Clinton by capturing a majority of elected delegates on offer in all the primary and caucus states, as voters go to the polls in Kentucky and Oregon. Mr Obama, who is expected to win Oregon but suffer another heavy defeat in Kentucky, heads tonight to Iowa, the scene of his first breakthrough victory in January, as a backdrop to announce that after 53 contests, he has an unassailable lead among elected delegates. Yet Mr Obama will be still be short of the […]
Kennedy Diagnosed With Malignant Brain Tumor
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has a malignant brain tumor. Doctors for the Massachusetts Democrat say tests conducted after Kennedy suffered a seizure this weekend show a tumor in his left parietal lobe. Preliminary results from a biopsy of the brain identified the cause of the seizure as a malignant glioma, they said. His treatment will be decided after more tests but the usual course includes combinations of radiation and chemotherapy. Malignant gliomas are a type of brain cancer diagnosed in about 9,000 Americans a year — and the most common type among adults. It’s a starting diagnosis: How […]
NEWS CLUES: Like The Enemies List Of The Truth
The Richest Man On Earth Endorses Senator Barack Obama FRANKFURT (AFP) – Warren Buffett, the world’s richest man, is backing Barack Obama for US president and thinks current US economic policy will push the dollar lower against other global currencies. Buffett told a press conference here Monday he had offered support to both Obama and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton but that since it appeared Obama would win the party’s nomination, “I will be very happy if he is elected president. “He is my choice,” Buffett said. Commenting on the US economy, the 77-year-old investor who is known as the “Sage […]
WORTH REPEATING: The New Enemies List OR The Fascist Plot To Take Over The United States, Right Now!
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you only read one article this year about the Fascist plot to take over the United States of America, PLEASE read this one! RADAR: Addressing the nation from the Oval Office in 2005 after the first disclosures of the NSA’s warrantless electronic surveillance became public, Bush insisted that the spying program in question was reviewed “every 45 days” as part of planning to assess threats to “the continuity of our government. “Few Americans — professional journalists included — know anything about so-called Continuity of Government (COG) programs, so it’s no surprise that the president’s passing reference received […]
TEXTING: It’s The End Of The World And IFF, LOL!
BY AMY Z. QUINN Down in D.C. today, the FCC is holding a summit on the state of the country’s emergency alert system, which many of you know as “the annoying beep that interrupts Clifford and makes your toddler cry.” And soon — remember, we’re talking government time here so “soon” means at some uncertain point in the future, if ever — 90-character emergency text messages could come through to your cell phone, alerting you to national disasters, emergency missives from the President, and Amber Alerts.That is, if the government agencies involved can stop dickering over which one will run […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR Reverend Carroll Pickett was the death-house chaplain at the Walls prison unit in Huntsville, Texas for 13 years. During his tenure, he ministered to 95 inmates executed by lethal injection. Because he was employed by the state, Pickett was unable to voice his disapproval of capitol punishment while performing his ministry. But he has become an opponent of the death penalty since leaving the prison system. Pickett co-authored a memoir with Carlton Stowers, titled Within These Walls. He is now the subject of a new documentary, At the Death House Door. RADIO TIMES Hour 1 is our country’s […]
Feds Tighten Noose Around Johnny Doc’s Neck
INQUIRER: Contractor Donald J. “Gus” Dougherty Jr. pleaded guilty today in federal court for providing $115,000 worth of free renovations on the South Philadelphia home of labor leader John Dougherty. With his plea, Gus Dougherty, a close friend but unrelated to John Dougherty, has now pleaded guilty to 99 criminal counts involving his business, Dougherty Electric Inc. He pleaded guilty to a charge of providing illegal payments to a union official. Gus Dougherty is to be sentenced Aug. 15. In the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anita Eve said Gus Dougherty “did not intend to invoice” John Dougherty for the work […]
CHANGE: Barack Obama Draws 75,000 In Portland
Sen. Barack Obama addresses the masses in Portland, Oregon, earlier today. [Photo by SYBL09] WASHINGTON POST: PORTLAND, Ore. — Sen. Barack Obama has seen his share of large crowds over the last 15 months, but his campaign said they have not approached the numbers gathered along the waterfront here right now. The campaign, citing figures from Duane Bray, battalion chief of Portland Fire & Rescue, estimated that 75,000 people are watching him speak. The scene suggests this is not an exaggeration. The sea of heads stretches for half a mile along the grassy embankment, while others watch from kayaks and […]
Bush’s Grandfather Helped Fund Nazi War Machine
THE GUARDIAN: George Bush’s grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany. The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism.His business dealings, which continued until his company’s assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the […]
ARSTY: The Audacity Of Shepard Fairey
WASHINGTON POST: LOS ANGELES — When the street artist and guerrilla marketer Shepard Fairey got word from the Obama people that they would welcome his contribution to the campaign, he knew what he wanted to create: a phenomenon. All political art is propaganda (that is the point), but most political posters are bland, forgettable, wallpaper, like Fred Thompson on an off day. Fairey wanted something more iconic — aspirational, inspirational — and cool. In other words, he wanted to make posters that the cool cats would want. The 2008 Democratic primary season equivalent of the Che poster (with all that […]
BREAKING: Ted Kennedy Airlifted To Hospital
CBS NEWS: U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy was airlifted to a Boston hospital Saturday morning after falling ill at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, Mass., the Cape Cod Times reported. He was first rushed to Cape Cod Hospital, and after being in the emergency room for two hours he was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital, according to the Times. It’s unknown what the 76-year-old senator’s medical condition is. Kennedy was first elected in 1962 to finish the final two years of the Senate term of his brother, Senator John F. Kennedy. Kennedy, who is the second most senior member of the […]