[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’ […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR For the last three years, comedian John Oliver has been telling some serious jokes as “Senior British Correspondent” on The Daily Show With John Stewart. He won an Emmy for his work on the show in 2009, but his comedic career is not confined to the fake newsroom. Also last year, Oliver wrote and starred in his own stand-up special, John Oliver: Terrifying Times and appeared in the Mike Myer comedy flop The Love Guru. When he’s not on the screen, you can hear Oliver on the airwaves as the host of the TimesOnline weekly satirical news podcast […]
UPCOMING: Exit Interview With Dave Davies
Coming soon to a Phawker near you. Check local listings. PREVIOUSLY: Kinks Guitarist* Ditches DN For WHYY * The Kinks – Waterloo Sunset
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: […]
PLOT THICKENS: CIA Bomber Was Double Agent
ASSOCIATED PRESS: The suicide bomber who killed eight people inside a CIA base in Afghanistan was a Jordan-born terrorist double agent who was invited to the base because he claimed to have information targeting Osama bin Laden’s second-in-command, a former senior U.S. intelligence official and a foreign government official confirmed MondayThe bombing killed seven CIA employees – four officers and three contracted security guards – and a Jordanian intelligence officer, Ali bin Zaid, according to a second former U.S. intelligence official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the incident. The former senior […]
THIS JUST IN: Wilco At The Electric Factory 4/10/10
Wilco will play a run of 16 concerts in Eastern U.S. cities beginning in Miami, FL on March 22 and culminating in Pittsburgh, PA on April 11. One stop along the way will be in Philadelphia at Electric Factory on Saturday, April 10. The concerts are presented as “An Evening with Wilco” and will feature extended, varied sets exploring material from each of the accomplished Chicago sextet’s seven studio albums. Tickets for this show go on sale Saturday, January 9 at 10am and will be available at all Ticketmaster locations, Electric Factory Box Office, Ticketmaster.com and charge-by-phone at 215-336-2000 / […]
SPORTO: Death In Dallas
BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY What the fuck was that? The high-powered Eagles scoring machine put up a goose egg in Big D Sunday. I would tell you what was wrong with the Eagles’ offense, except every time I looked up Dallas had the ball. If you went to the bathroom when the Eagles got the ball, by the time you got back, Patrick Crayton would be catching an 8-yard slant (this happened to me three times). I was playing Candyland with my kids, and even though my oldest romped to Candy Castle with relative ease, our game still had […]
BUZZ BISSINGER: The Man Who Wasn’t There
VANITY FAIR: There was once, in fact, a sustained glimpse of the real Tiger Woods. In 1997, Charles Pierce, writing for GQ, got inside. Tiger was 21 at the time, on the eve of winning his first of four Masters. For somebody who at the age of two had appeared on The Mike Douglas Show (where, with a perfect swing, he miraculously hit a stunning shot into the center of a net), he seemed remarkably naïve and remarkably stupid about the ways of the media. The interview was largely a series of profane quips by Tiger, such as “What I […]
BEST OF: Our Favorite Albums Of 2009
LA ROUX — s/t The only reason I came to know of La Roux is because my disgruntled friend, Sam of Manchester, England, wouldn’t stop going on about how much he hated the album. We were going over sets for our next DJ event in Tokyo, discussing what kind of music to scrap and what to keep. “I can’t stand them,” he said of the British duo, “but Tokyoites eat it up. Throw it on, and they go nuts.” His eyebrows were furrowed, as always, forming a permanent scowl. “More proof that Japanese people have the shittiest taste in music,” […]
SEASONS GREETINGS: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
From all of us to you and yours.
Philly Clout’s Top 215 Political Stories Of The Decade
PHILLY CLOUT: Yes, we know this is a time of year for lists, but at least we’re pretty sure you won’t see this one anywhere else. This is the one and only PhillyClout Top 10 Local Political Stories of the Decade. Our thanks to Dave Davies, Bob Warner and John Baer for their help. Happy reading. 1) Fumo goes down – This is the biggie. Longtime state Sen. Vince Fumo, viewed as the most powerful politician in the city, is convicted on 137 of 137 corruption counts. He ended the decade in prison. 2) Bug found in Mayor John Street’s […]