INQUIRER: Police are trying to identify a woman who was found dead on a bed inside an illegal massage parlor in Center City. Officers went to 813 Sansom St. about 9:30 p.m. Sunday after Delaware County’s 911 center received a call from a phone booth in the county reporting a problem at the Philadelphia address, police said. MORE PHILLY CONFIDENTIAL: The Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to release the cause and manner of death of a woman found inside a Center City message parlor Sunday night, according to police. An anonymous caller dialed 911 from a Delaware County phone booth to […]
SPORTO: The Agony Of Defeat
[Photo by ALEX TORBAN] BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY It was interesting to see that the Eagles listed no one on their injury report prior to Week 1. One source called them “the healthiest team in the league”. And…that lasted about one quarter. Leonard Weaver: gone. Jamal Jackson: done. Stuart Bradley: shaken. Kevin Kolb: concussed. Often the best team in the NFL is the healthiest. The Eagles aren’t nearly so good that they can survive injuries to major players. If Week 1 is any indication, it’s going to be a long year.So, how did Kolb look before Clay Matthews sent […]
MUST SEE TV: I Am Iron Man
Dudes in metal suits playing “Iron Man” while getting zapped by a Tesla Coil. Seriously.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Bill Murray Turns 60
THE GUARDIAN: Funny and sad, reclusive and ubiquitous, the star of Lost In Translation and the star of Garfield: A Tail Of Two Kitties. Bill Murray has spent most of his adult life being several things at once. But soon Bill Murray will turn 60 and, to mark this important milestone, the Guardian has uncovered 60 fascinating Bill Murray facts. So hHappy birthday, Bill Murray: just don’t expect another of these when you’re 70 …1 Bill Murray was born William James Murray on 21 September 1950, which isn’t really that interesting. These get better, promise. 2 Bill Murray had originally […]
WORTH REPEATING: The Hate Noise
MICHAEL MOORE: During an economic depression or a time of war, fascists are extremely skilled at whipping up fear and hate and getting the working class to blame “the other” for their troubles. Lincoln’s enemies told poor Southern whites that he was “a Catholic.” FDR’s opponents said he was Jewish and called him “Jewsevelt.” One in five Americans now believe Obama is a Muslim and 41% of Republicans don’t believe he was born here. MORE
HEAR YE: John Legend & The Roots Wake Up!
NPR: During the past 18 months, Legend spent his spare time collaborating with ?uestlove and The Roots on covers of politically motivated soul music from the 1960s and ’70s. What started as a potential single turned into Wake Up!, 11 vintage songs which are at turns optimistic and frustrated about the times that birthed them. Younger fans of Legend’s bedroom shtick are about to get a serious history lesson. (Roots fans, not so much.) Most of these songs didn’t become timeless hits that slid easily into contemporary playlists, the lone exception being Eugene McDaniel’s protest song “Compared to What,” recorded […]
EARLY WORD: Here Comes Bubba
[Artwork by DAN BURKE] Bill Clinton will be stumping for Dem gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato (who is running against PA attorney general Tom ‘I sued to stop Health Care Reform’ Corbett) tomorrow at 11:30 AM at the corner of 52nd and Chestnut.
OH MY GOD: Near-‘Ground Zero’ Mosque Imam Has No Plans To Meet Wouldbe Koran Burner On 9/11
SALON: Thanks, News Corp., for not allowing good taste to stand in the way of your obsessive crusade against the construction of an Islamic community center in lower Manhattan near the site of the World Trade Center. Today’s Post features a beautiful two-page spread arguing that Ground Zero includes basically everything south of Canal and east of Broadway. They illustrate the argument with a grotesque map of the locations of every place in the area where firefighters found human remains following the attack of 9/11. MORE REUTERS: The imam behind a proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque near the World […]
Cop Beatdown Triggers Internal Affairs Investigation
INQUIRER: A video showing baton-wielding police officers repeatedly striking a man in West Philadelphia has prompted an Internal Affairs investigation, police said. The 21/2-minute video, posted on YouTube, captures the violent arrest of Askia Sabur, 29, outside a takeout restaurant at Lansdowne Avenue and Allison Streets around 8:30 p.m. Friday. Five men, including Sabur and a cousin, were standing outside the Lucky Garden Chinese restaurant when two officers asked them to clear the corner. Sabur refused, telling the officers he was waiting for his food. In interviews, police, Sabur, his lawyer, and several witnesses agreed on that much. What happened […]
FRINGE PREVIEW: Bang On A Can Marathon
BY DAVE ALLEN At a Philadelphia Music Project panel last year featuring David Lang, Julia Wolfe and Michael Gordon – the three composers who banded together to form the new-music collective Bang on a Can – a phrase completely removed from the world of contemporary music entered my mind: “If you can’t find a partner, use a wooden chair.” I know it comes from Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock,” and I have no idea why it popped into my head just then, but looking back, I think it captures the DIY aesthetic that the group seized on from the start, as […]
UP IN SMOKE: Cali Ballot Battle Too Close To Call
WASHINGTON POST: For those who have long argued that smoking marijuana should not be a crime, a potentially historic turning point is just weeks away. Voters in California will decide Nov. 2 whether to make their state the first to legalize the growing, selling and recreational use of marijuana. And polls here – the nation’s most populous state – suggest that residents are about evenly split on the issue. Proposition 19, as it is known, would take away criminal penalties for people 21 and older for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana. MORE WASHINGTON POST: As the Obama […]
SIDEWALKING: Greetings From Pennsyltucky!
Lenoxville, PA, 5:03 PM by JEFF FUSCO
PAYBACK IS A BITCH:Fresh Air-Censoring Executive Director Of Mississippi Public Radio Resigns Her Post
CLARION LEDGER: Judith Lewis has resigned as executive director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting. In a statement released by Mississippi Authority for Educational Television, Chairman Bob Sawyer said the board is disappointed and wishes Lewis the best, saying the board will now thoroughly review candidates to fill the position. Lewis could not be reached for comment. Lewis had not been seen at MPB offices in recent weeks. When asked about her absence, MPB officials denied she was on administrative leave. Her decision on July 8 to pull the popular national Fresh Air radio program drew criticism and national attention. It sparked […]