WASHINGTON POST: Sen. Larry E. Craig, the Idaho Republican caught in a police crackdown on sexual solicitation in an airport men’s room, today announced his resignation from the Senate, effective Sept. 30, succumbing to an erosion of support in his home state and from members of his own party. In a brief public statement in Boise, Craig issued a general apology but did not refer to any specific actions or admit wrongdoing. “To Idahoans I represent, to my staff, my Senate colleagues, but most importantly to my wife and my family, I apologize for what I have caused,” Craig said. […]
CINEMA: Whirling Hall Of Knives
THEM (2006, directed by Xavier Palud & David Moreau, 77 minutes, France) HALLOWEEN (2007, directed by Rob Zombie, 109 minutes, U.S.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC In my gloriously misspent youth, I lived for a time in a tent and worked in a fish cannery in Petersburg, Alaska. One night a woman from our camp was cleaning the fish gutting machine when her hand became clamped in the conveyor belt and like a particularly nasty Chaplin gag she was dragged kicking and screaming across the slippery gutty floor all the way down the line towards “the header,” a blurry pair […]
SMELL YA LATER: Today Is Karl Rove’s Last Day
[illustration by STEVE BRODNER]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR Director, screenwriter, musician and actor Christopher Guest co-wrote the rock parody This Is Spinal Tap, as well as the mockumentaries Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. Actor, comedian, composer and musician Michael McKean is best known for co-starring in the spoofs This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. He got his start playing Lenny in the 1970s sitcom Laverne and Shirley. Vocal coach Melissa Cross is known as the “Scream Queen” for her work teaching metal, punk and hardcore performers how to use their voice without ruining their vocal chords. She teaches them […]
SUDS: Supreme Court Re-Considers Six-Pack Sales
INQUIRER: The state Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Pennsylvanians will be able to walk into their local grocery or corner store and pick up a six-pack of beer along with toilet paper and a carton of milk. The case grew out of a central Pennsylvania chain’s long-running attempt to capitalize on the state’s arcane liquor laws and sell six-packs at one of its convenience stores. A victory for Sheetz Inc. could produce new profits for such chains and supermarkets. It could also mean major competition for the hundreds of traditional beer distributors. They worry that customers will stop […]
REAL ESTATE: A Skycraper Grows In West Philly
The University of Pennsylvania and Brandywine Realty Trust will announce plans today for a dramatic residential, commercial and hotel project on 30th Street. The 14-acre Cira Centre South project, which includes a 40- to 50-story office tower on Walnut Street and a 25- to 30-story residential tower on Chestnut Street, will be developed by a partnership of the university and Brandywine, which is based in Radnor. Penn president Amy Gutmann said in an interview yesterday that the project would help unite University City with Center City and provide a gleaming “Gateway to the University.” The post office conversion and construction […]
ENERGY: Major Solar Plant Breaks Ground In Bucks
KYW: Ground will be broken in November for the 16?-acre plant at the base of Waste Management’s GROWS landfill in Falls Township.Tim Brown is a spokesman for Exelon, which is partnering with the German firm Epuron and SunTechnics Energy Systems. “We’re gonna have 17,000 solar panels, which is gonna result in the fourth largest solar project in the country.” Governor Rendell is hoping it will spur the legislature to pass his proposed energy independence initiative. “The impact of this for the environment is obvious.The impact for helping us free our dependence on foreign natural gas and oil is dramatic and […]
UNEXPLAINED: Millions Of Spiders Spin Massive Web
WILLS POINT, Tex., Aug. 29 — Most spiders are solitary creatures. So the discovery of a vast web crawling with millions of spiders that is spreading across several acres of a North Texas park is causing a stir among scientists, and park visitors. Sheets of web have encased several mature oak trees and are thick enough in places to block out the sun along a nature trail at Lake Tawakoni State Park, near this town about 50 miles east of Dallas. The gossamer strands, slowly overtaking a lakefront peninsula, emit a fetid odor, perhaps from the dead insects entwined in […]
HOT GOSSIP: The Stars Are Insane
MSNBC: A source close to Owen Wilson revealed to “Access” that Wilson did not overdose as other outlets have reported. While Owen did slit his wrists, his stomach was never pumped at the hospital. There were no drugs in his system, the source claims, other than the antidepressants he was taking at the time. DAILY MAIL: Courtney Love, 43, who had an affair with Steve Coogan after he moved to the U.S. three years ago, said: “Under normal circumstances I would not comment but I care too much about Owen. I went through it with Steve. I was just out […]
ELLIOTT SMITH: Needle In The Hay
PEOPLE: But Extra reports that Wilson attempted suicide over the weekend after being depressed for several months, and that it was his brother Luke Andrew who found him.
FBI FILES: Hoover’s G-Men Spied On MLK’s Widow Long After His Assassination; White House & Pentagon Feared Her Involvement In The Anti-War Movement
After more than a year’s work, KHOU-TV in Houston and its investigative unit, 11 News Defenders, have obtained a world-exclusive first look at the FBI’s file on Coretta Scott King. Comprised of nearly 500 pages, with some of those documents partially or totally censored, the intelligence file paints a disturbing picture: The FBI very closely spied and did surveillance on Scott King for years, keeping close track of her public appearances, speeches and especially anytime she traveled. Why would a federal agency go to such trouble? For most of his life FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover ruled the Bureau with […]
THE BREAKDOWN: The Clash Of Civilizations
BY M. EMANUEL For the sake of hip hop, on Sept. 11, make tracks to your local music spot, your iTunes, your friendly neighborhood Target store, or wherever you legally buy music and purchase two copies of Kanye West’s eagerly anticipated Graduation. Why two? Well, the extra copy will go a long way in assuring that Kanye wins round one of his faux-WWE Smackdown-esque showdown with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. The infamous date and ensuing hype surrounding the respective releases is to be expected, as West and 50 are considered in most circles as the two biggest rap stars in […]
BREAKING: Justice Dept. Investigating Attorney General Gonzales For Lying To Congress Under Oath
WASHINGTON POST: The Justice Department is investigating whether departing Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales gave false or misleading testimony to Congress on a broad range of issues, including the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program and the removal of nine U.S. attorneys last year, the lead investigator said today. The disclosure by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine shows that internal investigations that began with the prosecutor firings have widened substantially to include a focus on Gonzales’s actions and statements.