Editorial The Road Home It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit. Like many Americans, we have put off that conclusion, waiting for a sign that President Bush was seriously trying to dig the United States out of the disaster he created by invading Iraq without sufficient cause, in the face of global opposition, and without a plan to stabilize the country afterward. At first, we believed that after destroying Iraq’s government, army, police and economic structures, the United States was obliged to try to […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
SHOCK OF THE NEU: Fujiya & Miyagi, Johnny Brenda’s, Last Night BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER Melody, lyrics, chord patterns — these building blocks of pop music composition are constantly being updated, re-invented or re-contextualized. Great leaps forward in rhythm, however, are fewer and farther between. The Bo Diddly beat and, say, the collected R&B works of James Brown, and for that matter, the entire genre of hip-hop, are prime examples of giant steps in rhythmic innovation. In the early ’70s a group of experimental German musicians, the so-called “Kraut-rockers,” which includes the bands Neu and Kraftwerk, moved beat […]
D’OH: Springfield, Pa. NOT Having A Cow, Man
[Fox] is searching for the Springfield with the most “Simpson spirit,” and plans to award the winner the premiere of The Simpsons Movie, due in theaters July 27. Unfortunately, there’s no need for local Springfieldians to rush out and rent tuxedos, because none of the 14 contenders is ours. Not the one in Montgomery or Bucks or Delaware County, or in Bradford, Erie, Fayette, Huntingdon, Mercer or York. D’oh! It turns out the Springfields in places like Massachusetts and Ohio outfoxed us: They asked to be considered. Donald Berger Jr., township manager of Springfield, Montgomery County, said the idea of […]
‘Help Me Obi-Wan, You Are My Only Hope’
A hologram of Al Gore addressing the Tokyo Live Earth Concert. It’s in Japanese, but best we can tell, it has something to do with the weather.
Fugitive Shooter Of NY Cult Leader Nabbed In W. Philly
BY ANDY NEWMAN OF THE NEW YORK TIMES A former fugitive wanted in the shooting of a Staten Island commune leader was ordered held without bail yesterday after she was brought back to Staten Island to face attempted murder charges. Rebekah Johnson, 44, was escorted from the 120th Precinct station house on Staten Island to a hearing Friday in State Supreme Court. At her arraignment, prosecutors said that the woman, Rebekah Johnson, had four driver’s licenses under three names and 11 license plates in her apartment when she was arrested last month in Philadelphia. Ms. Johnson, 44, is a former […]
FORECAST: Hot In The City Tonight!
With The Mooney Suzuki Tonight At The Khyber
GAMBLOR: ‘I Don’t Know Whether To Cry Or Shit Spit’
Pennsylvania state senate Republicans are raising the stakes in their standoff with Rendell administration officials who are refusing to testify about the possible closing of casinos if the budget stalemate drags on (see previous stories). Republican state senator Jane Earll chairs a committee that has issued subpoenas to two Rendell administration officials to testify about the possible casino closures. Despite the subpoenas, those officials were no-shows at a Friday morning hearing. Earll says the committee will now explore its legal options. She declined to say what those options are, but a lawyer for Senate Republicans has said the arrest of […]
THE CASE AGAINST THE VICE PRESIDENT
ImpeachCheney: Go here to sign the petition
NPR FOR THE DEF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Carol Muske-Dukes has written three novels and seven collections of poetry, been a National Book Award finalist and received a Guggenheim fellowship. Her latest novel is Channeling Mark Twain, which fellow author Mary Karr describes as “a riveting story about women in prison, with language that scorches the page and characters you won’t be able to live without.” PLUS, British singer-songwriter Bryan Ferry is probably best known as the frontman for Roxy Music, the experimental synth-pop band he founded in 1971. But over the years, in between his Roxy music, he’s recorded albums devoted to songwriters he admires. […]
CLOSE CALL: Terror Docs Made Local Inquiries
BY JOHN SHIFFMAN AND GEORGE ANASTASIA INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS Two of the seven doctors arrested in Britain after last week’s failed bomb attacks had explored the possibility of coming to the United States, making inquiries to a Philadelphia-based organization, sources said. After the Glasgow airport bombing attempt, FBI agents visited the Philadelphia headquarters of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. The nonprofit organization is a national clearinghouse that certifies the qualifications of foreign-trained doctors to work as medical residents in the United States. Agents found records there on two of the British suspects. One of them, sources said, is […]
The Tao Of Sluggo
This is so awesome we are running it again. Please pay attention this time, it will be on the test.
iMAYOR: Much Ado About Doing Nothing
Even on a superficial level — what about appearances? What about the lack of dignity of the city’s chief executive wearing workout clothes and sitting in a lawnchair near a Dumpster? Sure, Ed Rendell made himself look ridiculous on occasion. But when he was photographed in a swimsuit doing a cannonball dive, it was to publicize that his administration opened the public pools on time. When he was photographed on his hands and knees, scrubbing a bathroom floor, it was to promote the fact that his administration was literally cleaning up City Hall. It wasn’t about getting himself a new […]