BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Hunkered down in their war rooms hundreds of miles from mass protests, the aging, hard-line generals in Myanmar are known as a suspicious lot who view the West with disdain and depend on browbeaten advisers and astrologers to guide them. The demonstrations are the stiffest challenge to the ruling junta in two decades, a crisis that began Aug. 19 with protests over a fuel price hike then expanded dramatically about two weeks ago when Buddhist monks joined the protests.Since Wednesday, soldiers and riot police have clubbed, shot and detained demonstrators in Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, […]
GAYBO EXTRA: And Iran So Far Away
Adam Andy Samberg, with Adam Levine, on SNL.
FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK, WE SALUTE YOU!
PHILADELPHIA – Believe it, Philly. The Fightin’ Phils are going to the playoffs. Considered all-but-out of contention just 2 1/2 weeks ago, the Philadelphia Phillies overcame a huge deficit in the standings, caught the Mets and won their first NL East title since 1993 on the final day. [via ASSOCIATED PRESS]
WHY NET NEUTRALITY MATTERS: Verizon Will Not Now Allow Pro-Choice Texting
BY ADAM LIPTAK OF THE NEW YORK TIMES: Saying it had the right to block “controversial or unsavory” text messages, Verizon Wireless has rejected a request from Naral Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights group, to make Verizon’s mobile network available for a text-message program. The other leading wireless carriers have accepted the program, which allows people to sign up for text messages from Naral by sending a message to a five-digit number known as a short code. Text messaging is a growing political tool in the United States and a dominant one abroad, and such sign-up programs are used by […]
My Motorcycle Diary: Tea And Sympathy For The Devil
Keith Richards and Andrew Loog Oldham at the Blue Boar Motorway Cafe, along the M1 between London and Birmingham, 1963. By Philip Townsend; never before published. BY JONATHAN VALANIA SOUTH AMERICA CORRESPONDENT BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — Today I saw Andrew Loog Oldham standing in his kitchen making me a lovely cup of tea, high above the streets of Bogota’s ritzy financial district in his tastefully upscale bi-level condominium, where he has lived on and off since 1975. If you have to ask who Andrew Loog Oldham is, you’ll never know — unless you click here, go on, we’ll wait. Psych! OK, […]
CINEMA: A Madman Lurks Inside Every Rock Star
BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC YOU’RE GONNA MISS ME (2005, directed by Kevin McAlester, 91 minutes, U.S.) A MILLION YEARS OF KENN KWEDER (2007, directed by John Henderson, 119 minutes, U.S.) Its title, taken from the sole hit of the Texas psych-rock outfit The Thirteenth Floor Elevators, is sadly untrue — the world had forgotten the brightly-blazing talent of their lead singer, Roky Erickson. A glaring injustice, that, because Erickson was the Real Deal, a man with hell hounds on his trail who had a naturally blood-curdling howl to rival Van Morrison’s raw vocals with his early band Them. Mental […]
GAYBO EXTRA! This One’s for You, Mahmoud
Yes, you were supposed to get this yesterday, but believe me, it’s worth the wait. Not exactly SFW, unless your workplace is cool with the word “faggoty.” If you aren’t currently gay you very well may be by the end of this. Also, does anyone else think it’s time for an openly gay boy band? Maybe with Perez Hilton as the impresario, like Lou Pearlman but without the Ponzi scheme. RELATED: Trudy Rubin: Dining With The Enemy RELATED: In Iran, Nobody Here But Us Breeders
PAPERBOY: On-Time Delivery Is Not Guaranteed
BY AMY Z. QUINN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right — these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. Hey, we know how it is — so many words to read, so little time to surf for free porn. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you, freeing up […]
Send Me An Angel To Kill The Earworm
Fault lies squarely with Dirty On Purpose, who rocked a crack-a-lackin’ version of this at JBs the other night. Umm, thanks?
Retro: The New Frontier is BYOB
Call it a lesson learned from Katrina or dirty-bomb fearmongering, but officials in Huntsville, Alabama are re-examining and implementing emergency disaster shelter plans in which bomb shelters, university housing and an abandoned mine play starring roles. HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Sept. 27) – In an age of al-Qaida, sleeper cells and the threat of nuclear terrorism, Huntsville is dusting off its Cold War manual to create the nation’s most ambitious fallout-shelter plan, featuring an abandoned mine big enough for 20,000 people to take cover underground. Others would hunker down in college dorms, churches, libraries and research halls that planners hope will bring […]
Not-Exactly-Liveblogging The Liberty Medal Ceremony
BY AMY Z. QUINN I’m not sure what time this occurred to me, but it’s worth pointing out: Accepting the Liberty Medal with Bono was Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, formerly both finance and foreign minister for Nigeria and a member of DATA’s policy advisory board. She’s the third woman in the Liberty Medal’s 19 years to have it placed around her neck. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (who had to dodge falling set pieces) and in 1995, Sadako Ogata was the first. 4:45 p.m. Will Bunch just emailed a link to his brush with Bono, which happened earlier […]