[Artwork by KEN AVIDOR] INQUIRER: Criticized for scolding Rep. Michele Bachmann (R., Minn.) on a Philadelphia talk show to “act like a lady,” Sen. Arlen Specter had little to say yesterday about the incident, commenting only that he looked forward to “more frank, but less testy,” discussions on issues. Pundits and challengers, however, are taking swings. New York Times columnist Gail Collins wrote Friday that Specter had “lost it completely.” A top Republican demanded an apology. Specter’s remarks came during a special broadcast from Washington of the Giordano show to mark the first year of President Obama’s term. Specter, the […]
There’s Tea Party In His Pants & Everyone’s Invited!
THE INDEPENDENT: As voters in Massachusetts flooded polling centres yesterday to choose a successor to the late Senator Ted Kennedy, there was one image of the Republican runner, Scott Brown, that may or may not have been in their minds: half prone and naked with only a carefully placed hand hiding his most precious assets. A campaign poster this was not. Rather it was the picture of him that graced a spread inside Cosmopolitan magazine when it named him “America’s Sexiest Man” in 1982. Had it emerged sooner, the portrait could have put the brakes on the Brown insurgency. As […]
SCRAPPLE TV NEWS: The Week That Was
With your host, A.P. Ticker.
HAITI: Give Locally, Act Globally
[photo by Gerald Herbert/AP via THE BIG PICTURE] HAITIAN PROFESSIONALS OF PHILADELPHIA: Many of us are still in a state of shock but we have hope that we can assist Haiti’s relief. As an organization that prides itself in keeping the rich culture of Haiti alive in Philadelphia, the Haitian Professionals of Philadelphia (HPP) send our deepest and most sincere condolences to our Haitian family in our area and around the world. From the generous donation of Blue Star Jets, we have secured a private jumbo jet to transport medical professionals and supplies to Haiti. We are in need of DOCTORS, NURSES […]
SCRAPPLE TV NEWS: The Week That Was
With your host A. P. Ticker.
New Jersey Medical Marijuana Looks Like A Done Deal
INQUIRER: New Jersey is set become the 14th state in the nation to allow medical use of marijuana, under a bill approved yesterday by legislators. Gov. Corzine is expected to sign the bill during his last week in office. The law, which advocates have worked for years to get passed, would go into effect six months later. Last February, the state Senate approved a medical-marijuana bill with bipartisan support. But after critics raised concerns that the bill could allow marijuana to become too readily available, sponsors tightened restrictions. The Assembly voted in favor of the bill by 48-14, while the […]
DOPE: Pot Shops Outnumber Starbucks In Denver
PORTFOLIO: If you want more proof that selling legal pot is a booming business, consider this statistic: Denver has more medical-marijuana shops than Starbucks Corp. locations. Denver’s City Treasurer Steve Ellington tells ABC New affiliate Channel 7 that at least 390 pot dispensaries applied for a sales-tax license recently. That compares to 208 Starbucks in the entire state of Colorado, the station reports. Denver’s city council took a step toward regulating the marijuana stores last night, and the businesses are filing their tax applications. The Denver statistic sheds light on a business that is becoming more institutionalized as local governments […]
KABUL ROCKS: The First And Only Afghan Rock Band
BBC: This is music from Afghanistan, of a kind seldom heard before, but now produced by a trio of young men. The band, Kabul Dreams, is made up of vocalist Sulaymon Qardash, bass player Siddique Ahmad and drummer Mujtaba Habibi, who claim to be the country’s first and only rock and roll group. “One year ago in December we decided to create this band and since it was happening in Kabul, we thought Kabul Dreams is a good name,” says the 19-year-old vocalist, who bears a distinct resemblance to Liam Gallagher of the British band Oasis. “It’s a real dream […]
DOUBLE STANDARD: Outgoing D.A. Lynne ‘Tough Cookie’ Abraham Was Not So Tough On Rogue Cops
Outgoing District Attorney Lynne Abraham, who has often been accused of being soft on cop crime, declined to press criminal charges against Philadelphia Police Officer Frank Tepper who was fired this week for shooting to death William “Billy” Panas Jr. in Port Richmond on Nov. 21. The victim was unarmed. Eyewitnesses claimed an irate and intoxicated Tepper shot the unarmed Panas Jr. in the chest when the two men exchanged words after a neighborhood brawl. A grand jury is currently investigating. In her final act as D.A. Abraham also declined to press charges in the death of Lawrence Allen who died […]
DO THE MATH: One Billion In 215-Targeted Stimulus Dollars Has Created Just 3,500 Jobs In Philadelphia
[Illustration by ALEX FINE] DAILY NEWS: Federal records show that more than a billion dollars from President Obama’s $787 billion economic-stimulus program has been targeted for Philadelphia. But the typical job created here is just as likely to require a lab coat as a hard hat, as much of the money has gone for university research projects. Meanwhile, city government, which has been financially ravaged by the recession, has gotten relatively little help from the stimulus program, and then mostly in indirect ways, like payments to citizens that bump tax revenues, or money to accelerate already-planned capital projects. In the […]
GOODBYE SUPERMAJORITY: Two Top Congressional Democrats Say ‘Take This Job And Shove It’
NEW YORK TIMES: Senator Christopher J. Dodd, the embattled Connecticut Democrat who was facing an increasingly tough bid for a sixth term in the United States Senate, has decided not to seek re-election this year, Democrats familiar with his plans said Wednesday. Mr. Dodd, 65, a pivotal figure in the major debates now confronting Congress, is to announce his decision at a news conference Wednesday afternoon in Connecticut. The decision came hours after another Democratic senator, Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota, also announced that he would not seek re-election this November. The developments underscored the fragility of the Democrats’ […]
FROM THE VAULT: Clothes Make The Man
BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY There is, perhaps, no more efficient way to remind yourself that you are no longer 22 than to walk the aisles of Urban Outfitters. For the postcollegiate slackerati it is a mecca of precisely modulated urban hipster cool, a time-warp thrift store aesthetic filtered through a retrograde prism of detached irony and kitsch–proof positive of the fashion adage that everything, no matter how uncool, comes back into style eventually. This is readily apparent to anyone old enough to remember when most of these styles were cool for the first time. Rule of thumb: […]