HARRY SHEARER: As is well known by now, [Dick Cheney] uses the case of the failed Detroit underpants bomb attempt to accuse President Obama of “pretending that the United States is not at war,” thereby making us less safe. He can engage in this kind of rhetoric safe in two comforting assumptions: that the Republican base, and a certain percentage of independents, will eat this stuff up, and that the Democrats, in and out of power, will continue to not know how to respond. The latter is because they, willingly or not, allowed themselves to be co-opted into the “war […]
Taliban Suicide Bomber Kills Eight CIA Agents
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Reporting from Kabul — A bomber slipped into a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday and detonated a suicide vest, killing eight CIA officers in one of the deadliest days in the agency’s history, current and former U.S. officials said. The attack took place at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khowst province, an area near the border with Pakistan that is a hotbed of insurgent activity. An undisclosed number of civilians were wounded, the officials said. No military personnel with the U.S. or North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces were killed or injured, they said. A U.S. […]
Limbaugh Rushed To Hospital With Chest Pains
WASHINGTON POST: HONOLULU — Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh was brought by ambulance to a hospital here on Wednesday after experiencing chest pains, according to a local television station. Limbaugh has been staying a short distance from the Obamas, at the Kahala Hotel & Resort, according to local news accounts. The conservative radio host was spotted on a golf course next to his hotel earlier in the week. KITV reported that Limbaugh was taken Wednesday afternoon from the resort in serious condition and transported him to the Queens Medical Center in Honolulu. MORE BUSINESS WEEK: Rush Limbaugh, the conservative […]
CINEMA: The Best Films Of 2009
BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC The New York Times recent analysis of the 2009 box-office led them to conclude that the adult drama is dead; what audiences most wanted to see was “relatable, non-thinking comedies.” Looking down my list I can see how film critics get the reputation for championing the type of movies that are “good for you,” like bitter medicine. If this list of cinematic high points from the last twelve months is wanting in laughs perhaps these often grim perspectives on modern life stood out because they offer something other than the narcotic comfort of escape, at […]
SPORTO: On Bowl Games That Don’t Require Weed
BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY We have a few problems in this country, and one of them is the priorities of our elected officials. This month, Congress is wasting time and taxpayer money trying to force the NCAA to adopt a playoff system for Division 1 football. H.R. 390, the College Football Playoffs Act, would make it illegal to promote a postseason contest as a “National Championship” unless the teams involved arrived there via a playoff system. Forget that the bill is sponsored by a Texas Congressman trying to curry favor with UT alums (Texas was the team that got […]
Authorities Uncover Bizarre Mass Animal Sacrifice
DAILY NEWS: SPCA officials got more than they bargained for yesterday when they checked out a house on North Front Street following a report of a dog living in unsanitary conditions. Inside, they found a grisly animal graveyard with the remains of dozens of creatures that had been sacrificed in religious rituals [not pictured, above]. The discovery unfolded about 4 p.m. at a house on Front Street near Louden. “The whole house was covered in feathers from chickens that had been sacrificed,” said George Bengal, director of law enforcement of the Pennsylvania SPCA. There were also skeletons of what were […]
HELP WANTED: Join The Rebel Alliance
[via TEEFURY] RELATED: Meanwhile, Back In Iran Pretty astonishing footage: an angry crowd storms a public hanging and rescues the two condemned men at the very last minute as they dangle from nooses, only to be peppered with gunfire from the authorities. Nobody said freedom was free.
HOT DOC: Kinks Guitarist* Ditches DN For WHYY
Sent: Mon 12/28/2009 8:51 AM To: Daily News Subject: FW: Important message from [city editor] Gar Joseph Staff: Dave Davies is leaving the Daily News to return to his second family, WHYY-FM, which means I just got 50 percent stupider. Like a lot of other people around here, I used Dave as a sounding board, a memory aid and a moral compass. He has done nothing but bring credit to this newspaper since he walked in the door in 1990, about 6 city editors ago. Dave had already built a reputation as a solid reporter with WHYY and KYW and […]
RIP: Vic Chesnutt Killed By Death
EW: A statement on Constellation Records’ official site reads in full: “Surrounded by family and friends, Vic Chesnutt died in Athens Georgia this afternoon, Friday 25 December at 14:59. In the few short years that we knew him personally, Vic transformed our sense of what true character, grace and determination are all about. Our grief is inexpressible and Vic’s absence unfathomable. We will make more information available according to the wishes of Vic’s family and friends.” It’s an unspeakably tragic end to Chesnutt’s story. Left in a wheelchair by a car accident at age 18, Chesnutt went on to build […]
SEASONS GREETINGS: Merry Christmas
We’ve gone home for the holidays and we’ll be posting lightly, if at all, for the next few days. Please plan accordingly.
PW: The Phantom Plot To Blow Up The Liberty Bell
BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY In the spring of 1969, four activists from the Philadelphia chapter of the Students For A Democratic Society (SDS) were arrested for plotting to blow up the Liberty Bell after the police found bomb-making materials in the refrigerator of their West Philly apartment. According to the police, the planned destruction of the Liberty Bell was part of a larger plot hatched by a network of student radicals to destroy national landmarks across the country. The shocking news spread quickly when footage of the police search of the apartment — captured by a KYW […]
WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS: Hello Frisco!
[Video: Philadelphia Eagles V San Francisco 49ers Snowball Fight] To quote Bob Dylan: “When someone says ‘You’re in the wrong place, my friend’ you better leave.”
Judge Sentences ‘Balloon Boy’ Parents To Jail Time
ABC NEWS: Today, Larimer County, Colo., Court Judge Stephen Schapanski sentenced the couple behind one of the year’s biggest media stunts to a total of 110 days jail and eight years probation. He also prohibited the couple from making any money off the balloon boy fiasco during that time. Schapanski stated that Richard Heene must spend 30 days in jail beginning Jan. 11, 2010. The remaining 60 days of his 90-day sentence may be carried out under “work release,” meaning he can work during the day and spend nights in prison.”This will be supervised probation,” Schapanski said about that part […]