NEW YORK TIMES: “I was very proud of myself when I bought the house,” Ms. McLeod explained. “I thought I would live here till I died.” Adding to her burden, however, was about $25,000 in credit card debt she had brought from her marriage. Because her husband did not have a regular salary, all the cards were in her name. After she had been in the house for a year, a friend who was a mortgage broker suggested she consolidate her debts into a new home loan. The property had appreciated by about $30,000, and once again she put no […]
MAILBAG: Why Whitey Can’t Hope 2
DEAR PHAWKER, This post is quite old, but the stench of the bullshit contained herein just drifted toward my little corner of the world here on the Ohio/West Virginia border. Totally ignoring all of the incendiary rhetoric that will certainly do nothing to help “progressives” (is that, by the way, what you’re calling yourself?) win West Virginia in 2008, are you aware that Democratic President Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush by 13 percentage points in West Virginia as recently as 1992? He also defeated Bob Dole in 1996 by 15%. In fact, prior to 2000 West Virginia voted for Democrats […]
DEMOCRACY NEEDS YOUR HELP: Send Rove To Jail
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION Brave New Films: Send Karl Rove to Jail
THIS JUST IN: Obama Touches Down In Afghanistan
NEW YORK TIMES: KABUL, Afghanistan — Senator Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan Saturday morning, opening his first overseas trip as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to meet with American commanders there and later in Iraq to receive an on-the-ground assessment of military operations in the United States’ two major war zones. Mr. Obama touched down in Kabul about noon, according to a statement released by his aides. His trip has been cloaked in secrecy, which advisers said was due to security concerns set forth by the Secret Service. BOSTON GLOBE: Obama advocates ending the U.S. combat role in Iraq by […]
AUTOPSY: Kenneth Keith Kallenbach Killed By Death
INQUIRER: The comedian Kenneth Keith Kallenbach died of complications from cystic fibrosis, according to an autopsy report released yesterday by the Delaware County medical examiner. Kallenbach’s family has alleged that he did not receive the proper medical treatment for his condition while in the county prison and that his health deteriorated dramatically. Kallenbach, 39, was best known as a member of the “Wack Pack” on Howard Stern’s radio show. He suffered from the inherited disease and died April 24 at Riddle Memorial Hospital after being transferred from the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornbury, where he had been held […]
TONITE: Ask Your Pharmacist
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KILLADELPHIA: Two Dead, One Shot In The Ass
INQUIRER: Two episodes of gunfire within a few miles of each other today in the Northeast have left two men dead, according to police. Gunfire at noon in Wissinoming left an 18-year-old dead and a 17-year-old hospitalized. The older teen, shot multiple times in the 4800 block of Tackawanna Avenue, was taken to Frankford Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 12:30 p.m., according to Officer Tanya Little. The other victim, shot in the hips and buttocks at the same location, was in stable condition this afternoon at Frankford Torresdale, she said. Early this morning, a 26-year-old man died […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR Mad Men seems to be an easy sell. The AMC television drama just racked up an astounding 16 Emmy nominations after winning two Golden Globes. Matt Weiner is the man behind the successful program, which focuses on Madison Avenue advertising executives in the 1960s. Before creating Mad Men, Weiner wrote and produced episodes of the HBO series The Sopranos, which garnered him both a Writer’s Guild Award and an Emmy. NEW YORK TIMES: Weiner (pronounced WHY-ner) is the creator and show-runner of “Mad Men,” which means the original idea was his: he wrote the pilot; he writes every […]
99 PROBLEMS: The Rise And Fall Of Scott Storch
BILLBOARD: Just a few years ago, Scott Storch was one of the top producers in pop music, living in a $10.5 million mansion on an exclusive Miami island, driving a phalanx of luxury cars and dating the likes of Paris Hilton and Lil Kim. Nowadays, Storch, 34, is missing in action. He owes more than $500,000 in real estate taxes and had a warrant out for his arrest when he failed to show up in court in a child-support case last month. He has not had a top 10 hit in three years.He still has his waterfront marble mansion, but […]
WEEN: Learnin’ To Love
[Dir. by SCOTT COLAN] Who loves hot dogs? Fat kids, skinny kids, kids who climb on rocks, tough kids, sissy kids, even kids with chicken pox!
FORECAST: Hot In The Poor Places Tonight
INQUIRER: Highs are expected to hit the mid-90s both days, just shy of the records – 99 and 100 – for those dates. The nights will be sultry, and temperatures may not drop below 70 until at least Wednesday, forecasters said. Such conditions can be hazardous, especially to elderly people who live alone in heat-trapping brick rowhouses, and can bump up heat-related fatalities. PETA: With temperatures and humidity expected to soar in the Philadelphia area, PETA is offering lifesaving tips on caring for dogs. Please share the following vital information with area-residents: · Keep dogs inside. Unlike humans, dogs can […]
FBI Offers $10,000 Reward For $1 Million Painting
INQUIRER: On June 23, workers at the Philadelphia Park Systems at 15th and Arch Streets discovered a piece of art that had long hung on an office wall “was no longer there,” said Jerri Williams, an FBI spokeswoman. Though other art was on display, only the Water Works had gone missing. The Mona Lisa it ain’t. Politely, it could be described as a picturesque view of a group of colonaded buildings on a river. Some might discount it as a dull architectural rendering. Painted in 1842 by John A. Woodside, the canvas shows the famed Water Works before the construction […]
WORTH REPEATING: Fear & Loathing In Minneapolis
BY DAVID CARR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES Where does a junkie’s time go? Mostly in 15-minute increments, like a bug-eyed Tarzan, swinging from hit to hit. For months on end in 1988, I sat inside a house in north Minneapolis, doing coke and listening to Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” and finding my own pathetic resonance in the lyrics. “Any place is better,” she sang. “Starting from zero, got nothing to lose.” After shooting or smoking a large dose, there would be the tweaking and a vigil at the front window, pulling up the corner of the blinds to look […]