A highwater mark for presidential oratory, reasserting the cruciality of openness, transparency, and accountability, not to mention freedom of the press, to a healthy democracy. Striking, really, how contrary these seemingly bedrock American virtues have become to the powers that be.
THE TROUBLE WITH SANTORUM: Not So Much A Column But A Pat On The Back — His Own Back
You know, when you’re a politician, you can throw around this kind of self-serving hyperbole and nobody will call you on it because, frankly, everyone expects you to lie. But when you start writing a column for the newspaper, you can’t just pull shit out of your ass and state it as fact. From paragraph two of Rick Santorum’s Elephant In The Room column in the Inquirer: Along with churches and families, government has played a role in, at first, nurturing – and, more recently, weakening – this social compact. One of my greatest frustrations as a Republican leader was […]
WORTH REPEATING: A Beautiful Mind
THIS I BELIEVE BY ALBERT EINSTEIN The most beautiful thing we can experience is the Mysterious — the knowledge of the existence of something unfathomable to us, the manifestation of the most profound reason coupled with the most brilliant beauty. I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, or who has a will of the kind we experience in ourselves. I am satisfied with the mystery of life’s eternity and with the awareness of — and glimpse into — the marvelous construction of the existing world together with the steadfast determination to comprehend a […]
MEDIA: Mayor Nutter Butter Meets The Gray Lady
Michael Nutter, who takes office in January, offered plans to declare crime emergencies in Philadelphia’s most violent areas. BY IAN URBINA OF THE NEW YORK TIMES Published: November 23, 2007 PHILADELPHIA — The day after Michael Nutter won a landslide victory to become this city’s next mayor, he put on a charcoal gray suit and drove to his first public event: the funeral of a police officer shot in a brazen daytime robbery. Two nights before he announced his choice for police commissioner, two more officers were shot and wounded. When Mr. Nutter takes office on Jan. 7, he will […]
WORTH REPEATING: Squandering The Peace Dividend
BY JOHN BRUHNS We watched as legislation that had no substantial impact on ending the war was debated. There ARE anti-war resolutions still floating out there that call for a real end to the war, but the groups I worked for wouldn’t spend one dime to promote legislation considered out of the mainstream of the Democratic Party. Any genuine anti-war message was filtered through media consultants who provide politically correct “talking points” to veterans for them to carry out a phony message that is beneficial to the campaign. We threatened Republicans with “political extinction” if they didn’t change their votes […]
QUESTION EL PARKING AUTHORITY: PPA Goes CYA
DAILY NEWS: A week after the Daily News raised questions about the size of the Philadelphia Parking Authority’s auto fleet, the agency has asked 18 of its mid-level managers to give up the car keys. The Parking Authority issued a news release yesterday, saying that it expects to save $400,000 next year by limiting the number of managers permitted to take company cars home for the night, and by postponing the purchase of 18 new sedans and SUVs. The authority also projected $1 million in savings from a reduction of 10 management jobs through attrition and retirements.Last week, the Daily […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
Supreme Court Rules Against Foxwoods, Casino Construction Delayed Indefinitely Back in May, Philadelphia City Council voted to overturn a Mayor Street veto of its anti-casino bill. The bill would reverse the zoning status of the proposed Foxwoods site, delaying the beginning of construction indefinitely. In June, Foxwoods filed an emergency petition with the PA Supreme Court. In Count I of the petition, Foxwoods asked the state’s highest court to overturn the anti-casino bill on the grounds that it is somehow “unconstitutional.” Today the high court ruled against Foxwoods, calling the matter “not ripe for adjudication” and dismissed the casino’s request […]
TRENT REZNOR: Warning
For more on this, check out THE ART OF MENTAL WARFARE.
THE CASE AGAINST OBAMA: The Fallacy Of ‘Boomer Politics,’ Post- Or Otherwise, & Why Hillary Is Our Man
From Stumper, one of Newsweek’s blog-type thingees, a Q&A with Dr. Sean Wilentz: You seem to be saying that only Hillary can take us beyond Baby Boomer politics because only she’s lived through it. But Obama’s argument is that he represents a post-Baby Boomer politics, and that he’s not bogged down, like Hillary, in those old conflicts. I think the whole idea of Baby Boomer politics is the problem. That concept. I’m very disappointed in that. There’s no such thing. You cannot enter this moment and make a new departure unless you understand what you’re departing from. And that’s what […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
STUDY: Kind Bud Is Even Kinder To Cancer Patients Very interesting research from the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. It’s work that’s been going on for several years, and according to researchers there, they believe a compound called CBD — that’s cannabidiol — could be the first non-toxic agent that could show possible help in treating metastatic forms of cancer. Metastasis is when cancer starts to spread throughout the body. Now, what’s interesting about this is that CBD is an ingredient found in marijuana. However, it has no psychoactive properties. The bottom line here is that it should […]
LOWLIGHTS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT: New Police Chief Had Car Stolen; Ordered Mass Arrests At Bush 2001 Inauguration; Hogtied Detainees — Including Reporters & Tourists — For 36 Hours During IMF In 2002
D.C. Chief’s Vehicle Snatched ‘Cars Are Getting Stolen Every Day,’ Ramsey Says By Del Quentin Wilber Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, June 21, 2005 Wanted: Stolen car. Make and model: Ford Crown Victoria. Owner: D.C. police department. Reported stolen by: Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey. So goes the saga of car theft in the District, where even the police chief’s department-issued car can get swiped a block from his home. “There is not a whole lot to add to it,” Ramsey said. “The car was taken, and there was nothing of real value in it. Cars are getting stolen every […]
ABORTION OF JUSTICE: Saudi Court Sentences Gang Rape Victim To Six Months In Jail & 200 Lashes
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A Saudi court sentenced a woman who had been gang raped to six months in jail and 200 lashes — more than doubling her initial penalty for being in the car of a man who was not a relative, a newspaper reported Thursday. The decision by the Qatif General Court came in a case that had sparked rare debate about the kingdom’s justice system when it surfaced more than a year ago. In its decision Wednesday, the court also roughly doubled prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping the 19-year-old woman, the Arab News […]