KILLADELPHIA: Cops Euthanize Gunman 85 Times

Seven police officers fired up to 85 rounds at a “deranged” man who was killed while pacing with a gun on a South Philadelphia street corner, authorities said yesterday. Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson said police shot the man, who was speaking incoherently, after he did not respond to repeated orders to drop the weapon Sunday evening and pointed it at the officers. Steven Miller, 30, of the 1600 block of South Taney Street, had a fully loaded pistol but did not fire, officials said. Two officers required treatment for friendly-fire graze wounds from ricocheting bullet fragments or debris. Johnson, […]

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WAR IS OVER: Top Gun To Get Real?

WASHINGTON — President Bush, facing a growing Republican revolt against his Iraq policy, has rejected calls to change course but will launch a campaign emphasizing his intent to draw down U.S. forces next year and move toward a more limited mission if security conditions improve, senior officials said yesterday.Top administration officials have begun talking with key Senate Republicans to walk them through his view of the next phase in the war, beyond the troop increase he announced six months ago today. Bush plans to lay out what an aide called “his vision for the post-surge” starting in Cleveland today to […]

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HOT DOCUMENT: The Hot Air Of Inevitability

TO: Interested Parties FROM: Mark J. Penn, Chief Strategist, Hillary ’08 DATE: June 9th, 2007 RE: After 6 Months In the latest Newsweek poll, which fielded after the 2nd quarter fundraising numbers were released, Hillary’s lead in the Democratic primary nearly doubled from 12 points in May to 23 points now. Hillary’s favorability has risen to 57% among all Americans, and they say overwhelmingly she has the experience to be a good president (70%). Nearly two-thirds say there is a good chance or some chance they will vote for her (62%). *** In the general election, Hillary leads top Republican […]

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OP-ED: Stop The Reefer Madness — It Is Time For A Rational Marijuana Policy, Minus The Junk Science Paranoia & Drug Enforcement Budget Munchies

Friedman and others were acting in response to a 2005 report on the budgetary implications of marijuana prohibition by Jeffrey Miron, visiting professor of economics at Harvard. By Miron’s estimate, regulating marijuana would save about $7.7 billion annually in government prohibition enforcement — $2.4 billion at the federal level and $5.3 billion at the state and local levels. That’s a lot of money for English tutors and health care for indigents. Add to that amount income taxes that would have to be paid by marijuana producers. Drug dealers don’t pay taxes, after all. Nor do they concern themselves much with rules […]

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NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

FRESH AIR Jonathan Oberlander, a political scientist with an expertise in health-care politics and policy, discusses problems with the U.S. health-care system and considers how other countries handle health care. He’ll also give us a critique of Michael Moore’s documentary Sicko. Oberlander is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. PLUS, Chu Berry, otherwise known as Leon Berry, was a tenor saxophonist who backed singers like Billie Holiday and Mildred Bailey in the 1930s, and jammed with Fletcher Henderson’s and Cab Calloway’s bands. He died at the age of 33 in a car accident. Jazz […]

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MISS NJ: I Got Yer Blackmail RIGHT HERE!

BY AMY Z. QUINN Officials from the Miss New Jersey Pageant have received a second package of photos from a blackmailer apparently trying to see 22-year-old Amy Polumbo stripped of her recently-won crown. Somebody call Sam Waterston — we’ve got the makings of a totally Jerz-tastic episode of “Law & Order” goin’ on. On Sunday, just as speculation began to heat up that maybe this wasn’t all a publicity stunt by Miss NJ herself, pageant officials said they got the second batch, planning to meet to discuss their next move at 2 p.m. Thursday. The spokesman for Miss NJ, the […]

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BREAKING: THE WAR IS OVER!

REPEAT, THE WAR IS OVER! Not with a bang, or a whimper, but an anonymous-source trial-balloon inflated by the White House and tethered to the New York Times. We are NOT making this up. They will hem and haw, and Tony Snow’s already issued the non-denial denial, but our Spidey sense tells us it is no longer a question of if we leave Iraq, but when. Bearing in mind that even running round the clock convoys, it will take almost a full year to move all U.S. military assets out of theater — how soon is now? UPDATE: Secretary Of […]

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FORT DIX 6: Judge To Put Terror Trial On The Internets

The judge handling the case — U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler — says he wants to make unprecedented use of the Internet and other technologies during the trial. The highlight of his endeavor: a public Web site on which all of the evidence would be posted as soon as it’s introduced in court. In this case, that could include video surveillance and audio wiretaps, as well as conversations secretly recorded by FBI informants. Legal and journalism experts say nothing similar has ever been attempted in the federal judiciary, and they said these moves could be the first step in bringing […]

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Governor Orders A State-Shutdown-For-Pussies

HARRISBURG – The furlough of thousands of state workers and the curtailment of many state services went into effect at 12:01 a.m. today. However, the Commonwealth Court quickly issued a preliminary injunction to keep casinos open until a hearing could be held tomorrow morning. Gov. Rendell announced the action at literally the eleventh hour — 11:20 last night — ending a day of speculation about what today would bring in Pennsylvania. While apologizing to state workers and residents for the action, the first furloughs in recent history, Rendell said he hoped that it was only a one-day situation. He said […]

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