We have a pair of tickets to see the always-excellent Andrew Bird at The Grand Opera House in Wilmington this Saturday! The first Phawker reader to email us at FEED@PHAWKER.COM with the correct answer to the following Andrew Bird trivia questions wins them: What is the name of the swing band Andrew Bird was a member of back in the 90s? Put BIRD in the subject line and include a mobile number for confirmation. Good luck and godspeed!
THE HERMINATOR: How Cain Killed Hillary Care
WASHINGTON MONTHLY: In a surprising swing in the Republican presidential field, Herman Cain has rocketed to second place, just behind Mitt Romney. Like all the other candidates, he has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and even claimed (falsely) that he would have died from his liver cancer under Obamacare. Cain actually got his start in politics helping to defeat the 90’s health care reform plan. MORE NEWSWEEK: The Clintons would later blame “Harry and Louise,” the fictional couple in the ads aired by the insurance industry, for undermining health reform. But the real saboteurs are named Herman and […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: Die Hard And Fast
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY No long term care of the elderly and infirm (Medicare doesn’t cover it), but TRILLION$ for the butchery and burial of our bravest. God forbid we should sacrifice a weapons system or two, or a war here or there, to provide security and peace of mind to our senior citizens. Once again the Obama administration is left searching for veracity and missing vertebrae. Apparently the fact that the CLASS (Community Living Assistance Services and Supports) program was predicted to become non-self-sustaining after its tenth year was sufficient cause for the Obama administration to fold its tent and signal a semi-provisional surrender. […]
DING DONG: Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi Is Dead
NEW YORK TIMES: The head of the Libyan military council said that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi was killed Thursday as fighters battling the vestiges of his fallen regime wrested control of his hometown of Surt after a prolonged struggle. Al-Jazeera television showed what it said was Colonel Qaddafi’s corpse as Libyans rejoiced. Abdul Hakim Belhaj, the leader of the Tripoli military council, said on Al Jazeera that the former leader had been killed and that anti-Qaddafi forces had his body.The report of Colonel Qaddafi’s death by the highest ranking military officer in Libya’s interim government appeared to put an end to […]
INFOGRAPHIC: Gas, Grass Or Ass
Nobody rides for free.
CONCERT REVIEW: Little Dragon At Union Transfer
BY PELLE GUNTHER Little Dragon are such a tease. They come into the room, bursting with 80’s synth pop-giggles, tossing their R&B hair, running their beautiful electronic textures down my cheek, and winking their incredibly gifted vocalist, before standing up and walking away into another room full of overused-effects, bland instrumentation and immature composition. After a night of walking miles through Philly (long story) and trying to convince the Union Transfer’s WILL CALL people that YES I AM ON THE GUEST LIST, DAMMIT (turns out I wasn’t, but that’s another long story), I was hoping to be blown off my […]
EARLY WORD: #OccupyJamesO’Keefe
Fake ACORN-baiting pimp/fake Congressional office telephone repairman/fake human being and convicted criminal James O’Keefe will be debating partisanship and journalism with Chase Whiteside tonight, as part of the Banjos At Dawn debate series, from 6-8 PM at Temple Gallery, Tyler School of Art, 2001 North 13th Street, Philadelphia. Even though we’re pretty sure it will be as productive as discussing race relations with the Klan, we can hardly wait. Previous instances of O’Keefe’s toxic, cartoonish, and deeply dishonest right-wing-douchebaggery-masquerading-as-legit-journalism documented on Phawker after the jump…
JAZZER: Joshua Abrams’ Natural Information Society
BY ZIVIT SHLANK JAZZ CORRESPONDENT Bassist and composer Joshua Abrams is truly mad musical scientist. His hypnotic brand of sonic invention, has been hailed by critics and designated by fans as occupying the forefront of the “post-everything” musical era. His explorations draw from many musical sources from indie rock and electronic, to modern jazz and hip-hop idioms, while infusing eclectic and indigenous world styles. Originally from Philadelphia, he’s been in Chicago for over 15 years and is quite ubiquitous on Chi-town’s improvised music scene. His countless collaborations as well as his own groups Town & Country and Natural Information Society, […]
MUST SEE TV: “I’m From 5th & Washington!”
Apparently this has been around for a while, but we just caught it last night on Tosh 2.0 and it cracked us the fuck up. Not sure what prompted the fisticuffs, but dude taking his shirt off and getting all up in the other guy’s grill proved to be a fatal strategic error. Hollering “I’m from 5th and Washington!” was apparently another because it seemed to have given the guy in the designer jeans and pointy shoes superhuman strength. Not that we approve of this kind of thing, but it looks to us like shirtless dude got what he had […]
INCONVENIENT TRUTH: NAACP Sues City And Clear Channel For Refusing To Run Fact-Based Airport Ad
NAACP: The NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit today against the City of Philadelphia for violating the First Amendment, after Philadelphia International Airport refused to accept an advertisement promoting criminal justice reform. The advertisement highlights America’s high incarceration rate. The city claimed that the ad had been rejected because it does not accept “issue” or “advocacy” advertisements at the airport. However, the airport has accepted numerous other ads relating to political and social issues. The lawsuit is also against Clear Channel Outdoor, which handles advertising for Philadelphia’s airport, because […]
Don’t You Remember You Told Me You Loved Me Baby
SALON: I didn’t react well to the news that Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, king and queen of the indie-rock scene, were getting divorced after 27 years of marriage. How could New York’s “underground power couple” call it quits? As if they were mere mortals? It came up on my Twitter feed Friday, which made the news seem all the worse — a bit of factual flotsam on my phone. It wasn’t some cocktail party rumor. I felt sick and off-balance, searching for confirmation, vision blurred with tears. I thought, I feel like I’m reading an obituary. “Are you fucking […]
PRICELESS: Romney & Perry Almost Come To Blows
SALON: Thus did Perry turn to Romney on Tuesday night and say: “You hired illegals in your home, and you knew about it for a year. And the idea that you stand here before us and you talk about that you’re strong on immigration is on its face the heighth (sic) of hypocrisy.” Whether Romney handled this ably or terribly is a matter of interpretation. […] Perry clearly got under his skin in a way that no other candidate has this year, and it showed, particularly when Perry tried to interject during Romney’s answer and Romney responded by stepping toward […]
CRADLE OF DEMOCRACY: Occupy Wall Street Movement To Stage National Convention In Philly
OCCUPY WALL STREET: The Action Plan is ambitious and calls for the election of a National General Assembly to convene on July 4, 2012 in Philadelphia. This National General Assembly will consist of 870 Delegates elected from the 435 Congressional districts. Each Congressional district shall elect one woman and one man by direct ballot voting. These Delegates will attend the National General Assembly in July where a final Petition for the Redress of Grievances will be voted upon and delivered to all three branches of the federal government before the 2012 election. If the final Petition for the Redress of […]