SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Burma’s military junta charged pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi today with breaching the terms of her house arrest over an incident in which an American swam across a lake and entered her home. The 63-year-old opposition leader faces trial on Monday in what critics said was an excuse for Burma’s generals to extend the latest period of her detention, which was due to expire in less than two weeks. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and her two maids appeared in court at the notorious Insein Prison near Rangoon, hours after police whisked her away from the […]
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: New Ceremony For Old Skin
I’M YOUR FAN: Leonard Cohen on bended knee, Academy of Music, last night [Photo by MICHAEL T. REGAN] BY JONATHAN VALANIA The Great Man glides onstage in black pinstripes and a fedora like a gangster cantor, double-breasted and tie-less, his crisp creamy blue shirt buttoned-up to the neck David Lynch-style. He seems to walk on air. He was born like this, he had no choice, he was born with the gift of a golden voice. Now his friends are gone and his hair is grey, he aches in the places he used to play. After all these years, he’s still […]
THE DEGRADATION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED: Obama Reverses Decision On Abu Ghraib Pix Release
WASHINGTON POST: President Obama will oppose the release of several dozen photos depicting abuse of detainees held in U.S. military custody abroad, reversing his previous position on the grounds that the pictures could inflame anti-American sentiment and endanger U.S. troops. In announcing the shift today, the White House said in a statement that Obama “strongly believes that the release of these photos, particularly at this time, would only serve the purpose of inflaming the theaters of war, jeopardizing US forces, and making our job more difficult in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.” Justice Department officials told a federal judge late […]
TAKIN’ IT TO THE STREETS: Craigslist Will End ‘Adult Services’ Ads As Per Law Enforcement Request
REUTERS: Online classified site Craigslist will replace its “erotic services” ads with a new adult category “to bar flagrant prostitution and porn,” the Connecticut attorney general’s office said on Wednesday. Craigslist’s sex-service listings have faced intense scrutiny following the April 14 murder of 25-year-old masseuse Julissa Brisman, who advertised on Craigslist in Boston. Philip Markoff, a 23-year-old Boston University medical student, was charged with killing Brisman and with attacks on two other women he met through Craigslist. The “erotic services” section will end within seven days and be replaced with a new section called “adult services” where every advertisement will […]
Losing My Religion: Miss Cali Made Me An Atheist
The Donald, who we have long suspected is the Devil Himself, has decided to let Carrie I HATE FAGS Prejean keep her Miss California crown. Seeing as how beauty pageants are the lawn jockeys of NOW, and that Prejean is the living, breathing real-life version of Ricky Bobby’s wife in Talladega Nights, we can’t help but think that Carrie Prejean and Donald Trump deserve each other like mosquitos deserve malaria. Coming on the heels of telling Matt Lauer that her opposition to same-sex marriage is the ‘Biblically correct’ stance to take, Miss California further cheapens the Jesus Brand in this […]
TONITE: First We Take Manhattan
Leonard Cohen plays the Academy of Music tonight! Look for a full report tomorrow, including a MICHAEL T. REGAN slideshow. You lucky ducks! ROCK SNOB ENCYCLOPEDIA: Cohen, Leonard — Patron saint of life’s beautiful losers. With a lyrical acuity far beyond those of mortal men and a baritone that sinks lower than the submarine in Das Boot, Leonard Cohen has forged a craggy reputation as the quintessential singer/songwriter’s singer/songwriter–not bad for a guy who, technically speaking, can’t even sing. […] Having established himself in the literary world, Cohen began seeking entree into the music scene. The timing could not have […]
Tax & Spend Liberalism Ain’t What It Used To Be
WALL STREET JOURNAL: The Obama administration provided more details on the scope of its tax proposals, showing the impact of rate increases on higher earners would hit couples with about $235,000 of “taxable income,” or income after deductions and exemptions. The administration also revealed new details of its initiatives to shut down offshore tax shelters used by some investors and businesses, and to raise taxes on the overseas earnings of many U.S. multinationals. MORE
GEEKS HAVE MORE FUN: Did We Mention The New Star Trek TOTALLY Rocks & We Saw It Twice Already?
DAILY TELEGRAPH: It is probably the most famous greeting in the universe. But the simple Vulcan salute left makers of the new Star Trek film with a galactic-sized headache – because Mr Spock just couldn’t do it. After much head-scratching, experts on the $150 million blockbuster – which boasts stunning high-tech effects – hit upon a low-tech but logical solution – gluing actor Zachary Quinto’s fingers together, The Mail on Sunday newspaper in the UK reports. Quinto, 31, admitted he found it impossible to form his fingers into the distinctive V-shaped gesture, saying: “It’s much harder than it looks. Seriously.” […]
HECKUVA JOB TIERNEY: Why Is THIS Man Bloviating About Supreme Court Replacements In The Inquirer?
[Illustration by KENT BARRET] JOHN YOO IN THE INQUIRER: Obama’s nominee will keep the liberal pack intact. But liberals want more. They want a progressive thinker who can challenge Scalia and Thomas and their revolutionary ideas for modern constitutional law. While a witty man and elegant writer, Souter did not pen any landmark opinions that will be remembered in the decades to come. The liberal wing of the court has yet to produce a worthy heir to the mantle of Chief Justice Earl Warren or Justice William Brennan. Obama promises something different. In 2007, candidate Obama declared that his judges […]
WEEK IN REVIEW: The Good News Flower Hour
The Good News Flower Hour #20 This week: The last pig in Afghanistan, shit blowing up in Pakistan, anal torture in the UAE, face transplants in the USA, and Joe the Plumber is an assclown. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll come as you are. Promise.
TONITE: Give Up The Ghost
BY DAVE ALLEN Tonight, Philadelphia is privileged to host a tour date by Ghost, a Japanese band making its return from a self-imposed American exile. They vowed not to return until after George W. Bush was no longer in office, and, true to its name, Ghost disappeared. We have indeed been deprived of something elegantly nutso. Though polystylistic in the extreme, Ghost’s music has an overall scuzzy and metallic vibe, with head-spinning reverb and lingering, hard-bitten distortion. Many tracks feature tightly coiled repetitions, like some of the finest moments of Tool and Radiohead, but tempered by a broken-down and dusty […]
CINEMA: Beam Me Up, Hottie
STAR TREK, (2009, directed by J.J. Abrams, 126 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC No doubt about it, audiences are going to be purring like Tribbles as they step aboard this refitted Enterprise to go boldly back to the future to witness the formation of Captain Kirk’s legendary crew. Blessed with that rarest of qualities, CGI effects that actually dazzle, Star Trek‘s rebooted new voyage zips around with the giddy energy you wish had enlivened the last Star Wars trilogy. Amid all this energy (and surprisingly, scads of slapstick shtick) one can’t help but mourn the passing of the […]
FORECAST: Terrible Blog-Reading Weather
1. Turn off Internets. 2. Go outside. 3. Learn how to be human again. 4. Rinse and repeat as necessary. 5. Come back in and watch The Good News Flower Hour. Laugh. Cry. Come as you are.