[Photo by ROBIN ODLAND] PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY: An Occupier named Dan, waiting at the edges of the Occupy camp on Monday night for the GA to begin, says that his patience quickly wore thin—he says he camped at Dilworth for the first two weeks of Occupy Philly until homeless people made things “sketchy.” “I feel bad for people who are homeless, but nobody really wants to admit what happened,” he says. “The homeless basically ruined Occupy Philly. They took it over and brought a lot of negativity down on us, and they pushed out a lot of the original Occupy Philly […]
DAVID BOWIE/BING CROSBY: Little Drummer Boy
ROLLING STONE: When David Bowie appeared on Bing Crosby’s 42nd and final Christmas special, it was his attempt to make his arty career more mainstream, more normal. Instead, the glam-rocker’s duet with the legendary crooner Crosby resulted in one of the strangest moments of both of their careers. In September of 1977, Bowie taped his only appearance on Crosby’s family-friendly Christmas variety show; the pair sang two songs, “Little Drummer Boy” and “Peace on Earth.” They reportedly spent less than an hour rehearsing both songs – during which Bowie reportedly begged in vain to sing anything besides “Little Drummer Boy” – […]
RIP: Ken Russell, Fever-Dream Fabulist, Dead At 84
THE GUARDIAN: Ken Russell, the director behind the Oscar-winning Women in Love has died aged 84. Russell died on Sunday in his sleep, according to his friend, the arts writer Norman Lebrecht. Known for a flamboyant style that was developed during his early career in television, Russell’s films mixed high and low culture with unusual deftness and often courted controversy. The Devils … a religious drama that featured an infamous scene between Oliver Reed and Venessa Redgrave sexualising the crucifixion – was initially rejected by Warner Brothers. It will finally be released in its entirety in March next year, 42 […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: A Man For No Reasons
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY “Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The phoniest, pettiest, most hypocritical politician to ever ply the trade has proclaimed he wants to become your President.” Such is the headline that should have blazed across the front page of every newspaper and online news source in America on May 11, 2011, the day Newt Gingrich became convinced that the passage of time had obscured his true persona to the point that he just might be able to pull off a run for the highest office in the land. And, although the aforestated somewhat uncomplimentary hyperbole could probably attach to […]
SIDEWALKING: #Occupy The Campaign Trail
President holding note passed to him by #Occupy protester in New Hampshire by Charles Dharapak/AP RELATED: The Occupy movement trailed President Obama to New Hampshire today, where protestors briefly interrupted his jobs speech at a Manchester high school. Using the so-called “human microphone” method, protestors shouted Obama down just minutes into his speech, calling attention to the arrest of peaceful protestors at Occupy movements around the country. MORE
Free Parking Is The Opium Of The Masses
CHURCH PARKING FOR ATHEISTS: This site allows you download parking placards that are used by some church-goers to park in otherwise illegal No Parking or No Stopping Zones, during services or other church events. This service is provided for entertainment purposes only. Any unauthorized use of the materials contained herein is not sanctioned. This is not an endorsement of parking illegally on sundays to go to brunch or engage in any other secular activities. MORE
HOT DOC: The Survivor’s Guide To Tahrir Square
[Photo by JONATHAN RASHAD] AMR BASSIOUNY: Many people are either new or relatively inexperienced to violent protests, and considering what is happening these days, you might want to get close to the action and see what is happening or maybe even join the fighting yourself. Before doing so, it’s essential to know how to do it right. If you take it lightly, you could end up seriously injured, incapacitated or even dead. In this post I will go through how to prepare and protect yourself from attacks by the Central Security Forces (CSF) and the Military forces, as each uses […]
AP TICKER: To Protect & Serve Who?
AP weighs in on the brutalization of OWS protesters across the country by police, quoting from former Seattle police chief Neil Stamper’s piece in The Nation about the militarization of the police in the wake of the War On Terror and The War On Drugs.
PSYCLONE RANGERS: I Wanna Be Jack Kennedy
ALL MUSIC GUIDE: The Psyclone Rangers, from Allentown, PA, released a vastly underrated debut album, Feel Nice, in 1993 under the guidance of two powerful Daves: Dave Ogilvie of Skinny Puppy, who produced the Rangers’ debut, and Dave Allen of Low Pop Suicide and chief at World Domination Music Group. A The lineup includes Jonathan Valania on vocals, Scot Dantzer on guitar, P.R. Behler on bass, and Jamie Knerr on drums. Upon first listen, The Psyclone Rangers’ Feel Nice sounds a bit like The Pixies circa Doolittle, but after a few more spins, the disc reveals obvious influences hailing back […]
Egyptians End Military Rule And We Can Too
CTV: The Egyptian military has pledged to transfer power to a civilian government by July 1, 2012, The Associated Press is reporting. The move comes as tens of thousands of Egyptians joined a mass protest in Cairo’s Tahrir Square Tuesday to apply pressure on military leaders to step down and hand power to a civilian government. A military council has ruled Egypt since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak earlier this year. But many have grown impatient with the military rulers’ progress on reforms, which has prompted calls for a “second revolution” and brought thousands back into Tahrir Square […]
WORTH REPEATING: The Psychopathic 1%
[Artwork by CHUNKYBEEFPAINTING] THE GUARDIAN: In a study published by the journal Psychology, Crime and Law, Belinda Board and Katarina Fritzon tested 39 senior managers and chief executives from leading British businesses. They compared the results to the same tests on patients at Broadmoor special hospital, where people who have been convicted of serious crimes are incarcerated. On certain indicators of psychopathy, the bosses’s scores either matched or exceeded those of the patients. In fact, on these criteria, they beat even the subset of patients who had been diagnosed with psychopathic personality disorders. The psychopathic traits on which the bosses scored so […]
Reason #997 Why We Love The Roots
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Jimmy Fallon’s house band The Roots appear not to be fans of Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann. As Bachmann strode on to the stage for an appearance on Fallon’s “Late Night” early Tuesday, the show’s band played a snippet of a Fishbone song called “Lyin’ Ass Bitch.” The song begins with a distinctive “la la la la la la la la la” refrain — the only words audible before Bachmann, smiling and waving to the audience, sat down. The song itself, about a relationship gone wrong, isn’t political. MORE RELATED: ORIGIN OF SPECIES: How Michelle Bachmann Got […]