FRESH AIR Writer and director Judd Apatow first became known for the cult TV series Freaks and Geeks, which gained a cult following when it aired on NBC from 1999 to 2000. Since then, the former stand-up comic has turned his attention to the big screen, directing Knocked Up and The 40-Year Old Virgin. Apatow’s latest film, Funny People, stars his former roommate Adam Sandler as a stand-up comedian with an incurable blood disorder. With one foot in the grave, Sandler’s character decides to mentor and befriend an amateur comic and deli employee played by Seth Rogen — a relationship […]
WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS: Meet Dick Scott, Health Care Reform’s Public Enemy Number One
BY JONATHAN VALANIA While recent polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans favor health care reform that included a so-called public option that would provide coverage for the estimated 45 millions Americans with no health insurance, one man is doing everything in his power to make sure this does not happen, going so far as to spend $5 million of his own money to bankroll TV ads designed to scare American public off the path of health care reform with visions of a socialized medicine hell where the right to choose is forcibly surrendered to Big Brother, government bureaucrats dictate […]
GOP: Gang Of Obstructionist Pricks
HUFFINGTON POST: A private memo distributed by the Republican National Committee calls for like-minded advocates to help defeat President Barack Obama’s health care proposals by delaying its consideration. The memo, which was obtained by the Huffington Post from a Democratic source, provides the clearest illustration to date of the political playbook being used to stop Democratic attempts at a health care overhaul. Much of the material mirrors the speeches and presentations made by conservatives both inside and out of elected office to date. Obama’s plan for health care is deemed an “experiment” and a “risk” that could bankrupt the country […]
Black Officer’s Association Sues The Philadelphia Police Department Over ‘Blatantly Racist’ Web Site
INQUIRER: An association of black police officers has sued the Philadelphia Police Department in federal court for allowing its officers to post “blatantly racist . . . and offensive” content on a popular Web site devoted to law enforcement topics. The suit, filed Wednesday, says Domelights.com, which bills itself as “the voice of the good guys,” was founded by a Philadelphia police sergeant who uses the screen name “McQ” and “encourages the racially offensive conduct.” The Guardian Civic League also sued McQ and the 10-year-old Web site, a forum where officers discuss crime news, police gossip, current events and other […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR The New Republic senior editor Jonathan Cohn discusses power players of health care reform, including the insurance lobby, the pharmaceutical lobby, the American Medical Association and Congress. Cohn is the author of Sick: The Untold Story of America’s Health Care Crisis — and the People Who Pay the Price, in which he makes a case for universal health care coverage through a government-regulated, single-payer system. He writes about health care for The New Republic’s blog The Treatment. RADIO TIMES Hour One A behind the scenes look at how the case against Former State Senator Vince Fumo was built […]
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]
THE RELUCTANT COMMUNIST: The Amazing Tragic Life Of A G.I. Imprisoned In North Korea For 40 Years
LOS ANGELES TIMES: In 1965, Jenkins was a U.S. Army sergeant assigned to the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean peninsula, a skinny 24-year-old who was terrified of being sent to what he considered a sure death in Vietnam. One night, after guzzling 10 beers for courage, he abandoned his sense of duty and freedom as he knew it to stumble across the border into North Korea, a desperate midnight maneuver that led to four lost decades in communist captivity. Jenkins quickly became the Pyongyang government’s most prized Cold War pawn. He starred in propaganda movies and memorized the inflated […]
STRANGER THAN FICTION: Jane Roe — Of Roe V. Wade Fame — Arrested At Sotomayor Hearing
WASHINGTON POST: The woman at the center of the Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 abortion rights ruling was arrested today at the confirmation hearing for Sonia Sotomayor, among a wave of anti-abortion protestors who lined the sidewalks outside the Senate office buildings and several of whom made it into the hearing room in an attempt to disrupt the proceedings. Norma McCorvey, 61, of Texas, better known as “Jane Roe” in the famous Roe v. Wade case from January 1973, was arrested after she and another protester started began during the opening statement of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), according to Capitol Police. […]
NEWS CLUES: Like A Private Swim Club Of The Truth
DEATH ON THE PIAZZA: Alleged Mastermind To Surrender “The man authorities say planned a drug-linked robbery that turned into a double homicide at a posh Northern Liberties apartment complex last month intends to surrender to police today. James “Pooh” Wilson, 40, who has been the target of an intense law enforcement manhunt for two weeks, will turn himself in at the Police Administration Building this afternoon, said Christopher Warren, a prominent defense lawyer who said Wilson had retained him.” [via the INQUIRER] REVERSED DISCRIMINATION: Swim Club Wants Minority Kids Back “The Montgomery County swim club that sparked a racial furor […]
PHOTOSHOP SLANDER: Obama Ain’t A Dawg
Meredith Walusek: G.M.A. President Obama Butt Glance???
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Sarah Palin’s abrupt resignation from her position as Governor of Alaska has sparked widespread speculation. Michael Carey, former editorial page editor and current columnist for the Anchorage Daily News, discusses popular reaction in the state to Palin’s announcement. RELATED: [ABC’s] Snow also asked Palin whether, if she runs for president, she could avoid the “political blood sport” she cited as among the reasons she wanted to leave office. “I don’t think it will be the day after day after day of ethics violation charges that are frivolous, that are ridiculous. I think on a national level your department […]
FOG OF WAR: Robert McNamara Is No More
REUTERS: Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara died on Monday aged 93. He will be remembered most as the leading architect of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. McNamara also forged brilliant careers in industry and international finance, but his painful legacy remains Vietnam. More than anyone else except possibly President Lyndon Johnson, McNamara became to anti-war critics the symbol of a failed policy that left more than 58,000 U.S. troops dead and the nation bogged down in a seemingly endless disaster in Southeast Asia. Pundits came to call the conflict “McNamara’s War.” With his slicked-back hair and rimless glasses, he […]
BRENDAN CALLING: Is That A Super-Majority In Your Pants Or Are You Just Too Much Of A Pussy To Use It?
[by THUNDERLOAF] BRENDAN SKWIRE: One would think that the Democrats, who now control both houses of Congress and the White House, would be taking the bull by the horns and ramming their agenda through despite the objections of the defeated and humiliated Republican Party. […] So you’d think the Democrats would be eager to reverse all that. You’d also think the Democrats would be eager to fulfill some of their own promises, like that universal health care thing we’ve heard so much about, or making it easier for unions to organize. Instead, we get bullshit like Chaka Fattah selling out […]