May 31, 2008

Inquirer: Feds Investigate CBS 3's Mendte

Federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation of CBS3 anchor Larry Mendte and searched his home to determine whether he illegally accessed the private e-mail of onetime colleague Alycia Lane, numerous sources told The Inquirer today.

Mendte's lawyer, Michael A. Schwartz, confirmed tonight that FBI agents approached his client Thursday and searched his home. Schwartz said it was related to "claims made by Alycia Lane." He added that "Larry is cooperating fully with the investigators and hopes to promptly reach a resolution of this matter." [...]

FBI agents from the Computer-Crimes Squad executed a search warrant on Mendte's Chestnut Hill home on Thursday and seized his personal computer - a rarity given his status as a journalist

Wow. And, once again, the whole Alycia Lane saga continues to not only (a) drag on, but (b) get even stranger. Who knows. But now that the feds are involved, will they release the bikini photos?

Larry Mendte probed for snooping on Alycia Lane, sources say [Inquirer]

Posted by D-Mac at 08:33 PM | Comments (11)

May 30, 2008

Action News, Poetically

Oh, I recorded this last weekend then forgot to post it. Here's Action News' Rob Jennings, reporting on tornadoes in Oklahoma.

Now that, my friends, is poetry. Is he speaking in iambic pentameter? The local news stations should totally begin all their broadcasts this way.

Posted by D-Mac at 05:04 PM | Comments (0)

Friday Afternoon Links

Hey, it's the slowest time known to man, Friday afternoon. Here are some links:

• Dave Huddleston is leaving Fox 29, as the station won't renew its contract; his last day is scheduled to be June 13, Mike Klein reports. And: "Fox29 insiders say that more shake-ups are expected; the station is considering new newscasts at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m." Oh, man, they are going to mess with everything, and I just got used to a 5 p.m. Fox newscast. [Inquirer]

• The "purse-snatching bandits in Center City" email that was going around was a hoax, reports Action News. Yes, Virginia, you can't believe in everything you read in an email forward. [6 ABC]

• An unconscious gambler was robbed at Harrah's Chester County; police are telling people to be on the lookout and not trust any strangers at casinos. And, uh, remain conscious. [CBS 3]

• Sadly, this typo isn't in the actual paper. But there's a new photo of Dorothy! [Metro]

• National League Win Shares are out! If you don't know what that means, you're with me, but I know the advanced stat guys love it. Or something. [Hardball Times]

Posted by D-Mac at 01:38 PM | Comments (3)

Millionairematch Guy Actually Homeless

Cops say he stole around $100,000 from 13 women and gambled it away down the shore. The Daily News says not only was he not a millionaire, he was homeless! "He used his only possession, a laptop, to lure women," the paper writes.

He apparently didn't even meet most of the women he scammed money from; he just got them to send him money for his new company that would be making CDs and DVDs. Yes, people are stupid, la de da.

Internet seducer nabbed in scam [Inquirer]

Posted by D-Mac at 12:06 PM | Comments (4)

Me, On The Internet

Hey, here's me on the On the DL podcast, the 2008 new media cross-promotion spectacular. If you have the stomach for it, you can listen to me ramble on about blogging and drugs -- and then say something stupid every couple of minutes! Woo-hoo.

Posted by D-Mac at 11:18 AM | Comments (2)

Daily News' Photoshop Use Under Attack

This didn't sit well with Kirsch's lawyer, Ron Greenblatt, actually released a statement on the cover:

The Daily News continues to sink to a level below tabloid journalism. The use of a doctored photo on the cover of the second largest paper in the city of Philadelphia to give a deliberately false impression is disgraceful. I understand their job is to sell papers, but they should at least be held to minimal journalistic ethical standards.

And then NBC 10 did a whole story on it, complete with person-on-the-street interviews. DN Editor Michael Days -- no stranger to answering controversy about political cartoons that are accidentally funny -- said "[i]t's just that kind of a story." Yes, that's about as good of a response as you can get.

Redlasso clip after the jump; NBC 10's site has a clip too.

Posted by D-Mac at 10:22 AM | Comments (15)

CBS 3 Somehow Makes 'Sex' Worse

I've been able to ignore it pretty much all week, but I will fight no more forever. Somehow, every news station has done an intricate report on the Sex and the City movie; last night, CBS 3 premiered its men's guide to SatC The report included this description of Samantha: "She reminds me of my best friend Cindy." Ooh, I get it now.

Redlasso clip (fight the man!) after the jump.

Posted by D-Mac at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)

Abridged Daily News Columnists

Christine Flowers: Hey, apparently "not allowing atheists and gays in your group" is "fighting back against political correctness." Flowers leaves out of this column a part about how the local Boy Scout council had to rescind their nondiscrimination policy due to the national group, but, hey, she's trying to make a point. Gotta leave out those facts that don't support the cause!

Elmer Smith: Yes, let's help the homeless, especially the ones with mental illness.

Jill Porter: The city has owned a camp in East Stroudsburg since the 1950s. Now it's closing, apparently.

Posted by D-Mac at 08:56 AM | Comments (12)

McCain Postpones Area Visit

Scary old McCain -- I saw one of his new ads on Jeopardy! I wasn't sure if it was John McCain for President, or The Happening. will visit Worth & Company in Pipersville, Bucks County.

There is obviously a backstory here: Worth & Co. is, naturally, under investigation by the state for allegedly violating the Prevailing Wage Law, cheating its employees out of $142,000 in wages. John McCain will no doubt berate the company and its employees during his visit, and then go to Sesame Place for some kick-ass water slides.

McCain to visit area firm [The Intelligencer]
Town Hall Meeting in Pipersville, PA [JohnMcCain.com]

Posted by D-Mac at 08:21 AM | Comments (1)

May 29, 2008

Freddie Mitchell Tries Out For Ravens

A league source tells PFT that the Baltimore Ravens have worked out free agent wide receiver Freddie Mitchell.

We first heard about the Mitchell workout when a reader tipped us off that Mitchell had mentioned it on his MySpace page.

Ahh, welcome back to the NFL, Fred-Ex. Or, rather, welcome back to NFL tryouts, I guess. Good luck!

Posted by D-Mac at 05:13 PM | Comments (0)

Atlantic City's Signature Attractions

That's not all that's going on in Lannick Siddy. The Borgata's new $400 million tower is set to open sometime next month. Oh, sorry, not a tower:

Borgata executives resist using the term "tower" to describe The Water Club, preferring instead to call it a "signature hotel."

Ahh, yes. Signature hotel it is. It will look so classy next to Kahunaville or whatever.

[one of these via Down the Shore with Jen]

Posted by D-Mac at 04:04 PM | Comments (0)

SEPTA Google Maps Update

The SEPTA Google Maps hack recently updated to the new API, which adds a fun little search box in the corner so you can search for a bar or whatever and then find a SEPTA stop close to it. Neat!

Not-really-related, but also cool: Giant maps of Philadelphia.

[via Livejournal, where I also found this post]

Posted by D-Mac at 02:31 PM | Comments (1)

National Spelling Bee Is On!

Thirteen year-old Hannah Schill (an eighth-grader at Penn Alexander) has spelled volute correctly and is in to Round 3 (Update: Correction, we're not sure if she's in round three yet). As usual, follow it at ALOTT5MA.

Update: OMG, sabermetrics was just a word in the bee.

Posted by D-Mac at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)

Blog-Powered TV Ad Predictably Great

I had heard a while back about ads funded by readers of some liberal blogs running against Democratic Rep. Chris Carney of Pennsylvania. I didn't know until today how awesome they were. Ha ha, Monopoly photoshops and scary voiceovers about Bush and Cheney. I think I can safely say any increased influence of the Internet on politics is going to be great.

Posted by D-Mac at 01:06 PM | Comments (0)

Fake Grammy Nom Somehow Impresses

How does that work? I have to assume every woman (at least every woman I know) would immediately look up her date's award nomination online.

Paul Krueger allegedly gambled away the money he got from the women he met on Millionairematch.com, which just looks like a very reputable site. He was arrested in Atlantic City, to boot.

Online Romeo Scams Women Out Of Thousands [AP/CBS 3]

Posted by D-Mac at 12:38 PM | Comments (1)

Only Apply If You're METAL Enough

Major local media outlet is looking for freelance music journalists who specialize in METAL.

You must be passionate about METAL and have an extensive knowledge of the local METAL scene, relevant bands, releases, and history.

Your Craigslist ad of the day, people. METAL. Thanks, Emily G.

Posted by D-Mac at 11:48 AM | Comments (1)

Mike Richards Loves German Engineering

If you've watched sports in Philadelphia for any amount of time, you might be familiar with the BMW ads from a dealership called West German. In short: They make buying a BMW from the dealership akin to achieving Nirvana.

We finally caught the famed/hated remix with the Flyers' Mike Richards remix the other night, and... I must say, this is simply the most convincing testimonial ever. Now switch to Camera 2 one more time.

Posted by D-Mac at 11:13 AM | Comments (1)

Phillies Have Yet To Melt Down

Hey, how about that local baseball nine? The Phillies scored six more runs yesterday to get Adam Eaton his first win and sweep the season series with the Rockies (5-0). Take that, NL champs! The Fightins are now 31-24 and have a three-game series this weekend against division leading Florida, who are only a half-game up right now.

After the jump, highlights

Check out more on Chase Utley from The 700 Level; Beerleaguer's readers are baffled by Phillies pitching; Bill Conlin says the Phillies had their revenge.

Posted by D-Mac at 10:37 AM | Comments (1)

Abridged Daily News Columnists

Michael Smerconish: Okay, let's bring up a bunch of times where cops hitting people on tape, and explain why they were all good. Oh, but this recent one... maybe it wasn't so okay! But he gives them some options for stories the cops can tell that will make him feel better: "Did they believe that one of the men they were apprehending was wanted for the murder of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski? Did they think the three were involved in the shooting of a civilian? Did they encounter resistance that the camera didn't pick up? Were any police injured in any way by the three men? Were racial epithets hurled by the men toward police?" What a strange column, even for Smerconish.

Stu Bykofsky: Come on, Stu, enough people know about the Tuskegee Airmen by now -- look how long their Wikipedia entry is! -- to call them "one of World War II's least-known outfits."

John Baer: Ha, ha, Bill Clinton has become a trainwreck of some sort.

Ronnie Polaneczky: Yes, how dare the Boy Scouts attempt to keep their rent-free building with a lawsuit. Come on, they're just doing the American thing!

Posted by D-Mac at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2008

Leftovers: Popeye Snuff Strips

This week's Popeye plot is "Popeye's girlfriend Olive Oyl attempts to kill herself and fails. Above is Day 3, Day 2, Day 1. What is with this girl and at Comics Curmudgeon.

• Unsurprising news alert: Rick Santorum's column about gay marriage in Sunday's Inquirer was all wrong. [Dispatches from the Culture Wars]

• Girls got naked at the Flaming Lips concert. Not safe for work, obviously. [Philebrity]

• Meanwhile, 2 cops are charged with beating up a guy they caught "spray-painting a congratulatory message to a newlywed couple on a wall." [Daily News]

Posted by D-Mac at 04:31 PM | Comments (3)

'Bonnie' Back In Town, Naturally

No, Kirsch faced accusations she stole a credit card in California; she's allowed to head home (but she can't leave it!) while waiting to make her guilty plea for all the original identity theft back here in Philly on June 5.

'Bonnie' accused of stealing credit card [Inquirer]

Posted by D-Mac at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)

Shop Selling (Gasp) Sex Toys

"I think anytime you take something like that -- something involving human sexuality and pervert it -- that's wrong," the Rev. Edward Deliman told NBC 10. The "sexologist" is unbowed, ready and willing to fight for her shop's right to sell vibrators. Redlasso video after the jump.

Posted by D-Mac at 02:12 PM | Comments (0)

Odds & Ends

• Congratulations, Internet! You got a Dunkin Donuts ad pulled because Rachel Ray's scarf was the same color as Arafat's. Democracy is doomed. [Reason]

• Hey, here's visual evidence of local celebrity ("celebrity") photographer Hugh Dillon getting pushed by Jennifer Aniston's bodyguard or whoever. Ha ha, hooray for random violence. Everyone loves random violence!

• Oh, then there's this, also taken by Hugh:

Ahh, we may never really call it anything but the Franklin Institute, but at least the PR people behind the new PR campaign for "the Franklin" put a giant question mark in the sky, no doubt confusing clueless Philadelphians into thinking it was the end of the world or something. We need to start putting more punctuation on the Cira Center, STAT. Get me an interrobang!

• Over on the Skyline, a reader sends in a photo of the ridiculous rainbow in Philadelphia over the weekend. [Phillyskyline]

• And, in non-photographic news, here is a line the Inquirer has deemed one of the greatest of the century so far: "For Greg [Luzinski] to hit an inside-the-park home run, the three outfielders would have to collide and burst into flames." No way is that better than "Who let the dogs out?" [Inquirer]

• Oh, and Pennsylvania is the choice of four out of five post-apocalyptic filmmakers. [The Plank]

Posted by D-Mac at 01:46 PM | Comments (4)

NBC 10 Eliminates Town's Fire Co.

Then for some reason earlier this month all of Colwyn's firefighers resigned at once. Cops also raided the "speakeasy" and killed seven members of the Hogan gang, as well as confiscating illegal video poker machines and alcohol.

Then last night the town council ended its relationship with the fire company. The head of the Colwyn Fire Co. was dramatic: "God, heaven forbid, someone gets hurt or really killed. Then it's really going to hit the fan." And this is also pretty much the best government plan ever:

Colwyn borough officials said the borough would have fire protection from surrounding Darby and Collingdale until they can re-open a fire company with a core of volunteer firefighters who didn't go to the firehouse bar.

So thanks to your local media, residents of Colwyn, Pa., you no longer have a fire company. Be sure to thank NBC 10 for the service.

Posted by D-Mac at 12:14 PM | Comments (8)

Speakeasy Sports Bar What You Expected

Can we sum up this new sports bar in the old Zanzibar Blue spot in one sentence? Why, yes, yes we can. Suzy on JL Sullivan's Speakeasy: "I kind of saw it as a university of sorts if McFadden's was the high school."

Excellent: Explaining the bar in just one sentence. She adds, "Not that this is a bad thing," but I think we all know how we personally feel about McFadden's.

Spreading the word about Philly's new "Speakeasy" despite their deep affection for mass produced witbiers [I'll Have Another Stout]

Posted by D-Mac at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

Boy Scouts Sue City

The Scouts' lawsuit says the city leases property to about 100 groups with membership criteria for under $2,000 a year, without any attempt to kick them out of their properties.

The lawsuit mentions the Roman Catholic Church of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which the suit says has paid a nominal rent for a church building in Pennypack Park since 1935; Zion Baptist Church, which pays $25 a year to lease three parcels of recreational land for the Clara Baldwin Home for seniors; and Women for Greater Philadelphia and the Colonial Dames of America, which have free perpetual leases for historic mansions in Fairmount Park. "This city allows numerous organizations to use city-owned property and does not necessarily refuse them based on restrictions on membership," said Center City lawyer Jason P. Gosselin, who filed the suit on behalf of the Cradle of Liberty Council.

City Solicitor Shelley R. Smith said she believes the difference between the Boy Scouts and the other groups that lease city land or buildings is that the other groups do not discriminate in the social services they provide. Smith said you cannot be a Boy Scout if you are openly gay or an atheist: "If we find that these other groups are doing that, we will take the appropriate action."

You got that, atheists? You gotta get down to the courthouse and file all your complaints against the Colonial Dames of America.

In related news, Congress is having a fundraiser for the Boy Scouts. Up to $3.5 million! Update: And Ron Paul voted for the bill. He secretly loves the federal reserve!

Boy Scouts sue city in building dispute [Inquirer]

Posted by D-Mac at 10:21 AM | Comments (4)

'Inquirer' Getting Hang Of This 'Internet'

Her point at the end of this column appears to be: "Now, we've entered into a whole new world of Facedroppers, people who will tell you they have so many more friends than you do." I really don't know anyone who cares about their number of Facebook friends; perhaps "Google Analytics Analysts" bragging about their blog's traffic would have fit better here. There's also this:

Facebook turns out to be as slow as America Onhold once was.

Now let's all add Karen Heller on Facebook now. Her and I already have eight mutual friends, after all.

Karen Heller: Beware strangers asking to be friends [Inquirer]

Posted by D-Mac at 09:41 AM | Comments (3)

Abridged Daily News Columnists

Jill Porter: Ahh, the Daily News informs us once again how easy it is in this city to steal a house and how nobody ever bothers to investigate. Maybe the city will attempt to fix this sometime in the near future? Maybe Nutter could pass some new laws and have the National House-Stealing Association challenge them in court.

Posted by D-Mac at 08:33 AM | Comments (0)

Rep. Proposes $5 Strip Club Tax

Above is Bucks County State Rep. Paul Clymer (click to enlarge for freakishly large version). The above dude wants to tax all strip club patrons $5 because he thinks they're going to go out and rape people. "These clubs bring the problems of prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse and questionable characters," said Clymer. "They have no redeeming value for communities." Whee!

Also big on questionable characters: Libraries. (Really!) The money would go to fund the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape. Unfortunately for them, my guess is their lobbyists aren't quite as good as the lobbyists for strip clubs, and so this will fail. Texas had a similar law that was struck down as unconstitutional, but Clymer says his law is better and constitutional.

Oh, yeah, and this idea is called a "pole tax." Ha ha, just a little throwback line to the time when blacks, poor people and questionable characters were prevented from voting by rich politicians.

Clymer tax would hit strip clubs [Bucks County Courier Times]

Posted by D-Mac at 08:23 AM | Comments (0)

May 27, 2008

Nutter At 'Sex' Premiere, And More

To note: This item about the mayor attending the screening of Sex and the City led off Mike Klein's Sunday column. Come on, you can make something up about one of the celebrities in town shooting a movie, nobody will care. Better yet, create a celebrity -- or pick someone from the Internet.

And, here's more: Catherine Lucey's favorite SatC character is Miranda (I'd guess). Sweeney writes about the marketing tie-ins locally, but more importantly decries tired vibrator jokes. Thank you!

Okay, that's enough, no more mentions of this movie.

Posted by D-Mac at 04:00 PM | Comments (3)

Odds 'N' Ends

• Crime down in SW Philly as first-time offenders learn to make better choices. Ahh, yes. Also notable: This article contains a person with the first name of Xzayvion. [Daily News]

• U.S. Airways is eliminating free snacks for its passengers come June 1. All that and more from the #1 most hated airline in the business, which controls most of the #1 most-loved airline in the business, somehow. [Phila. Business Journal]

• The dude who Christine Whitman frisked was shot and killed in Camden. The backstory: "A trooper snapped photographs as Whitman - smiling broadly - searched Rolax as he stood with his hands against a wall. Neither the police nor the governor found drugs or a gun on the teenager." Ahh, yes. Law enforcement at its finest. [AP/Philly.com]

Posted by D-Mac at 02:03 PM | Comments (1)

Finally, Vilification For Philly's Boobirds

The idea that a team's passionate fans helps a team win -- or, rather, helps a team avoid long losing streaks -- comes from superb baseball writer Joe Posnanski. While he goes over the league-leading 11 losing streaks of eight games or more by the Kansas City Royals since 2002 -- 9 since '04! -- he notes that only three franchises haven't had a losing streak of eight games or more since then: Yankees, Red Sox and (!) Phillies.

Yes, somehow the Fightins haven't lost over a week's worth of games since Terry Francona skippered eight straight defeats in late August and early September of 2000. (It wasn't a September swoon, as the Phillies weren't even above .500 all season; that team had both Ron Gant and Desi Relaford.)

I wonder if the booing fans, the angry media, the intensive talk shows, the angry Internet boards — I wonder if these things keep the players a bit more on edge. I'm not saying this can make the players BETTER over the long term — I'm not saying boos can turn a 73-win talent into an 89-win team. But we’re not talking about that — it only takes one victory to break a losing streak. And maybe in the angriest towns there is a heightened sense of awareness when the losses start to mount, a greater sense of agitation, a feeling like, "Um, we better freaking go out and win a game already or it's going to get really ugly around here."

I'm not one to take a throw-it-out-there blog post -- where the author writes, "I suspect that if someone did study it they would find there's nothing to it" -- and treat is as gospel, but... wait, yes I am. Okay, Philadelphia fans, let's all use this as an excuse to boo the players mercilessly after a single loss. After all, we wouldn't want them to go into a two-game losing streak.

Fans Who Boo Loudest Suffer Least [Joe Posnanski]

Posted by D-Mac at 12:20 PM | Comments (1)

A Marketing 'Eureka!' Moment

The above "212-degree service: the extra degree" comes from the University City Sheraton's webpage. This gave me a totally superb idea, though: A manuscript-editing service -- perhaps for bloggers who want to write books! -- where I promise to give your work the 451-degree treatment.

Thanks, Caitlin.

Posted by D-Mac at 11:37 AM | Comments (2)

OMG Did You Hear That Just Now?

A breaking report from Philadelphia Will Do breaking news correspondent RJ White (whoop whoop sirens must credit Philadelphia Will Do whoop whoop!):

RJ: You hear that just now?

D-Mac: I did!
RJ: Like some kind of fighter jet
D-Mac: Yeah.
RJ: The place is abuzz!
D-Mac: WHAT COULD IT BE???
RJ: Man, seriously -- it was creepy.
D-Mac: PWD will get to the bottom of this!
D-Mac: "Perhaps a UFO," I'll write.
RJ: MUST CREDIT PHILADELPHIA WILL DO
RJ: ...DEVELOPING...
D-Mac: Or maybe knocking down some of those buildings for the Convention Center expansion?
RJ: Nah -- it was overhead and moved from east to west
D-Mac: definitely a UFO then
RJ: IT WAS THE FLASH, RUNNING TO JLA HEADQUARTERS

Turns out Air Force Week in Philadelphia began yesterday, and it's probably just the annual Scare the Hell out of the Office Workers on Their Day Back to Work Flyover. (Air Force Day at Independence Hall started at 11 a.m., so there's your culprit.)

Posted by D-Mac at 11:13 AM | Comments (1)

Fun With 'NE Times' Letters Page

But one thing that bites at me is that all these fine men in blue were white. How is it that they are always the first to respond?

Last year I visited my old hometown (Philadelphia). I drove by six police patrol cars on the road. Four out of six had the "rap music" on so loud I don’t think they could hear a dispatcher’s call. And the other two were on cell phones with their heads bobbing left to right. Very professional.

Oh, all six were black. I’m not saying I wished the cops that were killed were black, because I am not. But it just seems so strange that all were white.

Thanks, Anthony J. Porta from Sebring, Florida, for your insightful letter. "I'm not saying anything racist, like I wish black cops were killed. I just think all the black officers on the Philadelphia police department are lazy and listen to rap 'music.' See what I did there, with the quotes around it, insinuating it's not any good?"

Why are the white cops the ones to die? [Northeast Times, 4th from bottom]

Posted by D-Mac at 11:02 AM | Comments (4)

Phillies Score 10 Safeties!

Phillyskyline's Brad Maule sends along the above photo of Mayor Nutter celebrating Chase Utley's three-run homer last night in the first inning. The Phillies fell behind by three runs early last night, but then went on a 20-2 run to obliterate the Rockies, 20-5.

The Phils scored 15 on Sunday in a 15-6 comeback win over the Astros and have improved their Pythagorean (expected) record by a ton (and their regular record by two wins also). Last night, the Phils scored 20 runs despite dealing with the menace of his-and-hers Chase Utley jerseys.

After the jump/on the permalink page, highlights courtesy of The 700 Level.

Posted by D-Mac at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)

Respected Paper Mentions Our Hamlet

Hey, Philly's in a new Onion piece, one you will be forwarding around to your local friends in just a few minutes. (Just share it on Google Reader already, people.)

It's titled "Stolen Tour Bus Leads Police On Chase Of Historic Downtown Philadelphia." Not bad, couple good references of downtown Philly -- though it needs more incorrect facts! -- ending with the ubiquitous cheesesteek reference. But, what, no Rocky? That would have really sold it.

Stolen Tour Bus Leads Police On Chase Of Historic Downtown Philadelphia [The Onion]

Posted by D-Mac at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)

Abridged Daily News Columnists

John Baer: While your Memorial Day is over, the state lawmakers are still in the middle of their two-week break. Enjoy democracy!

Fatimah Ali: Children are our future, we need to educate them, etc. The best part of this column is its exciting intro quote from Orrin Hatch.

Posted by D-Mac at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)

The Greatest Caption In Inquirer History

Skeletor hosts the Karaoke Gong Show at the Troc. Singing are Erin Evans of West Chester (hat) and Amy Sullivan of Conshohocken (horns).

Frankly, this caption is way better without the photo. Also, this story features a quote from Michael Andrews, formerly known as Couzin Ed (he's on the radio in Vice City!): "When you play Rock Band at home, it's like just singing in the shower. When you play Rock Band in a bar, it is a real gig." I'm going to set up Mario Kart at a racetrack.

And, yes, Larry West is quoted in this article. If I didn't suck at games like Rock Band (and Guitar Hero, and DDR, and Simon, and any of those 'follow and/or memorize the pattern' games), who knows -- I probably would've been quoted, too.

Let's play! [Inquirer]

Posted by D-Mac at 08:24 AM | Comments (2)

May 23, 2008

Mysterious Box Closes Philly Street

A mysterious box marked "radioactive" closed traffic in the 700 block of Ritner Avenue in South Philadelphia on Thursday.

Police were called to the area about 7 p.m. No traffic was allowed through as a hazmat crew checked out the box. But police said no homes were evacuated and no one was injured.

Police said they believe the box was stolen from a construction site. They did not release information on what it contained.

Enjoy your holiday weekend, and stay away from boxes marked "radioactive."

Box Marked 'Radioactive' Closes Philadelphia Street [NBC 10]

Posted by D-Mac at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)

Friday Afternoon Chat Fun

John: What kind of outrageous crime could I commit to get Booker off the front page?

John: Right now, the only thing I can come up with is "murder Chris Booker"
Dan: Well, a plane crash got on the front page yesterday, but that's no fun.
Dan: Ooh, you could do an online survey of the top 10 something!
Dan: Even better, you could do a survey of the worst 10 American cities for [whatever] and put Philly #1!
John: Done and done.
Dan: Wait, murdering Chris Booker sounds much better. I didn't mean to discourage you. Also, what's Booker like? I only vaguely remember him from 120 Minutes. I'm pretty sure I should hate him, but I want to know why.

Please note: Philadelphia Will Do actively discourages you from murdering Chris Booker.

Posted by D-Mac at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)

Celebrity Finally Poses With Mascot

Yes, you've seen the tales of Paris Hilton turning down a guy in a groundhog suit and Ashlee Simpson turning down the Red Robin mascot.

And, now, you see, the Hatfield pig has finally gotten a celebrity to pose with a mascot in the Philadelphia area:

Okay, so it's just Greg Luzinski (aka The Bull), who spent part of his Phillies career being cheered on by colonial-era kids and another short part cheered on by a horror of Darwinian evolution. And, also, he's not as famous as Hilton or Simpson, for reasons I can't understand why. And, also, he's an employee of the Phillies (or at least has a food stand in Citizens Bank Park) and Hatfield is a sponsor of the Phils.

But, hey, a celebrity posed with a mascot. Progress!

HATFIELD'S BBQ TO KICK OFF SUMMER with special guest Greg "The Bull" Luzinski [Philly Chit Chat]

Posted by D-Mac at 02:31 PM | Comments (1)

Way Back Base Ball

I'm going to be doing an occasional feature about old-timey baseball for Walkoff Walk, one of my favorite baseball blogs. And here's the first one, about a player in the 1800s who trained with a steel baseball only to have the batters wait him out -- there were no balls and strikes back then -- and throw 300 pitches through the first three innings of a baseball game. He died at the age of 21 of natural causes, but I decided to re-write history and say his arm fell off.

Posted by D-Mac at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

Darren Daulton Talks Only Baseball, Sadly

It's still quite a fun interview, as -- unlike, say, baseball analysts like John Kruk -- Daulton appears to actually understand the game of baseball and makes some decent points. (On a semi-related note: Ditto Mitch Williams, who is quickly becoming my favorite post-game analyst.)

Darren Daulton lands on the DL in a Special Episode [On the DL Podcast]

Posted by D-Mac at 01:10 PM | Comments (1)

NYC Anchors Ask Philly PD Questions

A friendly commenter also went through and noticed, um, all the ridiculous fake names that asked questions. Even stranger, all the names were people affiliated with New York City in some way! Let's reproduce some of his comment here:

• N. Dinkins Middle initial and last name of one of the worst mayors of the City of New York ever.
• Chuck Scarborough Longtime anchorman, WNBC. [The response to his question actually mentions New York.--dmac]
• Tim Minton Reporter, WNBC.
• Jonathan Dienst Reporter, WNBC (broke Fort Dix plot story).
• Peter Mansbridge Anchor of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's flagship television news program The National. [This is my favorite one--dmac.]
• Rosanna Scotto Longtime anchor, Fox 5, also seen on the Today show for cooking segments.
• Donna Dixon Actress who has appeared in such productions as Bosom Buddies. and Spies Like Us.
• James Goldman Award winning screenwriter and playwright (deceased). Also the real name of "Jim Gardner" the worst television anchor in the known universe. [Hey! You leave Jim Gardner alone; he makes fun of Gary Papa's cancer.]
• Sue Simmons Longtime anchor, WNBC. Has co-anchored the 11 p.m. newscast with Chuck Scarborough for over 30 years... recently said the f-word on air.

Ha ha, these New York anchors and Canadians really care about Philadelphia policing. Thanks, guys!

Philadelphia Police Chat @ 6abc.com [6 ABC]
Yesterday: Police Chat on 6 ABC

Posted by D-Mac at 12:18 PM | Comments (1)

Daily News Takes Controversial Stance

Gee, thanks, guys. But, heck, we haven't started a new war in like five years! We're totally overdue for one; who doesn't want to go into Iran, or North Korea, or Burma, or Canada...

LET'S REMEMBER TO NOT START ANOTHER WAR [Daily News]

Posted by D-Mac at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

Radio Host Fired For First Time Ever

Q102 is apparently moving "to a show that's more music-intensive." Oh, and Diego Ramos will not be fired, though a bunch of other people have been axed as well. I can only imagine that Barsky will soon be the host of a new morning show somewhere.

Booker told Mike Klein he was surprised: "I've been fired before for low ratings, but never for being No. 1." On a side note, I enjoy tremendously the poll question on the front page of Philly.com: "Speak out: Did the station act hastily?" Ooh, yes, they should have waited until a full investigation was done of his show. Due process!

Booker is fired from Q102 [Inquirer]

Posted by D-Mac at 11:21 AM | Comments (18)

U.D. Police Now Taking Down Fliers

And then, NBC 10 tells us, he decided the police should take down speech he didn't like. He had his officers remove 268 of these stupid fliers originally put up by the Keystone State Skinheads. There were even different posters this time that said "North Philly coming to your town" up along with the other ones that said "Guns don't kill people -- dangerous minorities do."

Uh, yes: The police took down speech the police chief didn't like. Even though it was put up by annoying racist fucks who apparently think parodies on Family Guy are meant to be taken literally... really? If I put up anti-war on drugs posters in Upper Darby, will Mike Chitwood send the cops out to take them all down?

But enough of that near-seriousness. The NBC 10 report also contains perhaps my favorite sentence in a news report, ever:

The NBC 10 Investigators have been trying to contact the Keystone State Skin Heads to find out why they are posting the flyers.

Gee! What could the skinheads be possibly putting up racist fliers for?

Police: Racist Flyers Blanket Suburban Neighborhood [NBC 10]

Posted by D-Mac at 09:57 AM | Comments (6)

Abridged Daily News Columnists

Christine Flowers: OH. MY. GOD.

This is from Christine Flowers, today:

Let's be clear: No one defends police brutality. The days when stick-wielding predators could march into a neighborhood and bash heads with impunity are, if they ever truly existed, over.

This is from Christine Flowers, exactly two weeks ago:

My suggestion: Let's ignore the unfortunates who got slapped around a bit because they were up to no good.

Yeah, no one but Christine Flowers! Oh. My. God. From now on, I'm going on the assumptions that (1) the Daily News has no editorial page editors and (2) Christine Flowers is the worst person ever. Oh, wait, I was already doing that.

(By the way, the "if it ever existed" part is freaking hilarious. One could say it's a defense of police brutality itself. Please, never stop writing, Christine Flowers.)

Elmer Smith: Wow, who knew Elmer Smith was in such a big fan of Texas authorities taking kids away from their parents -- despicable as they may be -- and "rooting" on the people who did it? But wait, now he's not sure about it!

Jill Porter: The best part of this column is when Porter writes that she wanted to talk to the two people involved, but couldn't find their phone numbers.

Posted by D-Mac at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2008

Leftovers: McNabb Tickles The Ivory

• These photos of Donovan McNabb are hilarious. [Bounty Bowl]

• This Phillymag profile on the Phillies' silent owners isn't bad, but on the first page the following things are referenced: Mumia Abu-Jamal and Donald Trump. Gah! [Phillymag]

• Here's what Professional Writer Marcus Hayes wrote after Ryan Howard homered twice in a Phillies' 12-2 win over the Nationals: "If Howard wants to cash like A-Rod, Manny and Jeter, then he'd better start producing like them. He needs to start winning games, sometimes by himself. You know. Like he did last night." Ahh. [Daily News]

• A small plane crashed near the Northeast Philly Airport, killing two. [KYW 1060]

• Need a cute animal story? CBS 3 has you covered, with a story headlined Severely Neglected Chihuahua On Road To Recovery. Unfortunately, the dog is named Tinkerbell. [CBS 3]

• Eric Snow is drawing attention as a possible head coach or assistant to Larry Brown. Although he will retire due to injuries at the end of the season, Snow is slated to be paid $7.3 million next year. Yeesh. [The 700 Level]

• The cops are seeking robbers who break into ATMs with torches. Now that's the kind of clever robbery that shows initiative! [KYW 1060]

• Look what the most obscure Simpsons guest star ever, Terry Gross, allows her subjects to do: "Before we start taping, I tell my guests that if they figure out what they really mean to say in the middle of saying it -- that is, if they figure out a clearer, more concise way of making their point -- they can go back to an earlier part of the answer and do it over. This sounds like sacrilege, I know -- it risks giving an interviewee an opportunity not only to rephrase a point but possibly retract it." [Romenesko]

Posted by D-Mac at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)

Wildwood #1 Beach In Worthless Online Poll

Wildwood actually bested not only both Wildwood Crest and North Wildwood, despite the former having the advantage of fewer annoying people and the latter having the advantage of no curfew for people under 18, though the beach is closed by then anyway.

The tourism board was angry that some shore resorts jumped the gun on announcing their top-10 status; somehow, Wildwood was first, the Crest second, Ocean City third and North Wildwood fourth. Guh?

Also, Asbury Park was sixth, which I can no doubt say is 100 percent the result of Bruce Springsteen. And, yes, it's now shore season, which is really all this poll was designed to remind you of anyway.

Voters picks for top-10 beaches [AP/Philly.com]

Posted by D-Mac at 03:50 PM | Comments (1)

KYW Apparently Pushing Jail For Fliers

This latest story talks to Mayor Nutter and is headlined "Nutter Acknowledges Difficulty of Prosecuting Those Who Distributed Race-Baiting Fliers," making me wonder if Nutter just wishes he could actually prosecute those who put up the fliers.

Fortunately, Mix Master Mike says nothing of the sort! "Much as we don't like some things, we can't always chase after people legally for things we don't like," he says, which sounds fine to me, I guess. And it certainly sounds better than notifying the authorities when you've been offended.

Sigh. Isn't there somebody at KYW or the Human Rights Commission we can lock up for saying this stupid shit? Erhm.

Nutter Acknowledges Difficulty of Prosecuting Those Who Distributed Race-Baiting Fliers [KYW 1060]
Earlier today: It's Apparently Legal To Be Offensive

Posted by D-Mac at 02:44 PM | Comments (0)

Today on DrugRoar.com

Yes, I'm still blogging daily about drugs over at Drug Roar. Today I even did a few whole posts! One was about New Jersey's medical marijuana bill and another was a Redlasso (fight the man!) clip of a surprisingly long (and well done, to boot) report about low dose naltrexone and its possibility in treating a variety of diseases, including Chron's and Parkinson's.

Posted by D-Mac at 01:12 PM | Comments (0)

Police Chat On 6 ABC

Action News is having its first online chat with the police department brass since the fallout from the firing of four police officers involved in the kicking and such of shooting suspects. The over-under on the number of questions submitted that boil down to "Why aren't the police allowed to just beat up suspects?" is roughly 72.

I have no doubt this will be extremely interesting, though not as interesting as a chat with the guys who post on Domelights.

Posted by D-Mac at 12:33 PM | Comments (2)

Shocker: Voters Are Stupid

And, of course, they all think Obama is a Muslim, even though his Christian pastor's comments about how America throws a ton of black people in prison for fun were all over the news a month or so ago. Let's just quote the best parts:

For instance, here's Dorita, opining about Obama: "I'm a little concerned. I don't know enough about his Muslim background and their beliefs and how he views everything. I'm a little concerned. I need to check his background."

Here's Josh on Obama: "He's representing a minority in more than one case. He is African American and he is Muslim. And in light of that...it does feel like we're being judged or pounded down on because we want to carry a gun or we want to wear the American flag pin."

Here's Melinda, clearly the GOP's dream voter: "I just really feel like he's...not a people pleaser as in the Americans, but the other people who don't necessarily need to be pleased, the other, the enemies if you will, I don't know. I'm just not real positive on that."

The comments then explode with people who love to read blogs they hate (for reasons I can't understand, but whatever) attacking Polman for making fun of people who think Obama is a Muslim.

But, uh, this isn't really surprising. Let's generalize for a moment: Most people don't really seem to care much about the truth; they care more about what they want to believe. If you want to believe Barack Obama is a Muslim, then you can probably find evidence that Obama is an evil Muslim who's going to destroy America -- whether it's in a chain email or a Daniel Pipes column.

And if you need any evidence that people are stupid, then there are nearly 8,000 posts on this website that seem to confirm that. And then there's me, who has written nearly a billion words on this stupidity, sometimes coming off rather stupid myself. In a word: Duh.

Equal time for the willfully ignorant [American Debate]

Posted by D-Mac at 12:17 PM | Comments (7)

Main Liner Shockingly Annoyed

Gawd, how bad is it that a kid wants to get out and get some exercise and attempt to better himself at something he clearly enjoys doing! The nerve of that stupid little punk.

The real question is, of course: How close could houses in a "lawned and leafy, neo-bucolic suburb of Philadelphia" be? And how loud could a basketball being dribbled be, especially when it's at 3:30 in the afternoon? And how could you live that close to Narberth and be annoyed by basketball?

Anyway, if you're an adult with a kid who loves basketball and plays a lot, I suggest you start teaching him some new skills: Like shotput throwing, drumming or possibly screaming contests.

He dribbles! He shoots! He drives me insane! [Salon]
Thanks, Emily G.

Posted by D-Mac at 11:30 AM | Comments (2)

It's Apparently Legal To Be Offensive

Anyway, the HRC did some looking into it and found -- in a shocker -- speech is apparently legal in this country. Oh, and if you see somebody putting up stupid fliers, you're apparently not supposed to confront them.

Nick Taliaferro, the Commission's executive director, says if someone is posting or passing out offensive material, call police if need be, but usually don't start a confrontation yourself: "But if you just see them on the street, the best thing to do, most times, is to go to an agency that has an organized instruction manner of confronting them and dealing with them and addressing them and then to talk to people who share your concerns and to find ways to positively counter-act what you're seeing in their literature."

Yes, call police if need be if you see someone passing out offensive material. How dare someone do something offensive here in America. And after you call the cops, be sure to go to the appropriate agency to report your offense.

HR Commission Says Race-Baiting Flyers Were Legal
Tuesday: Speech Police Investigate Posters
May 12: Family Guy-Quoting Racists!

Posted by D-Mac at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)

Cataldi's Predictions As Right As Ever

From his Kerri-Lee TV American Idol blog, posted a few hours before last night's show:

I really don’t need to see the final show to know who has won. How it came about during the intense last round of competition was fascinating, though. By all appearances, David Cook tanked the final night. He handed the title to David Archuleta[.]

As you may have heard somewhere possibly maybe, David Cook won American Idol in a rout.

Posted by D-Mac at 10:17 AM | Comments (1)

Broad Street To Be Closed For 8 Days

Starting tomorrow at 5 a.m., Broad will be closed off from JFK Boulevard to Race Street northbound and from Race Street to Arch Street southbound. SEPTA's buses will have a bunch of detours (see the map from KYW 1060 at right).

The closing is taking place because of the demolishing of a building at Broad and Cherry streets; the Convention Center expansion project director says: "It's kind of an extraordinary circumstance. And the measures taken for public safety reasons are also extraordinary." Oh, well it's all okay if it's an extraordinary situation, then. I thought it was more inconvenient, but now I understand.

Convention Center Work Will Close North Broad St. for Eight Days [KYW 1060]

Posted by D-Mac at 09:29 AM | Comments (1)

Abridged Daily News Columnists

Stu Bykofsky: Today, Stu quotes an old Chris Rock bit about how not to get beat up by police. Then he adds some of his own riffs! Oh, boy.

Ronnie Polaneczky: Yes, yes, people like animals more than they like humans. We all know this. Anyway, some state senator is really insensitive either way.

Michael Smerconish: Oh, noes, hockey is too violent, says Smerconish! Nevermind that hockey is way less violent now than it was, say, 35 years ago.

Posted by D-Mac at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)

Ryan Howard's Long Bomb

Ryan Howard hit a pair of homers last night as the Phillies cruised to a 12-2 win over the Nationals. Yes, the Fightins could have used some of those runs in the first two games of the series -- when they scored only 1 -- but, hey, what are you going to do?

Above, Howard's first homer, an absolute bomb to right-center field. It was the first homer to go into the upper deck at Washington's new baseball park (aka the video game stadium). Hit Tracker says the homer went 441 feet.

Posted by D-Mac at 08:31 AM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2008

People Continuing To Be Too Serious

Every week, Johnny Goodtimes posts a question of the week on his website; he then asks it at all of his quizzos that week. It's a way to get people to go to his website and remember about quizzo (or something like that).

Anyway, this week somebody edited the Wikipedia entry for the question of the week's subject (Mark Linn-Baker, for some reason) in an attempt to have people look up the wrong answer.

Now that's fairly clever. And also fairly pathetic, but some people really, really, really take quizzo seriously.

Quizzo Sabotage!!! [JGT]

Posted by D-Mac at 03:41 PM | Comments (3)

More Random Phillies Notes

Thought Tom Gordon pitching in 45 different stadiums was impressive? Puh-leeze. Rob Iracane provides us with an update about two more Phillies pitchers who have pitched in 45+ ballparks.

Jamie Moyer makes it 46 tonight when he starts against the Washington Nationals in DC, and Rudy Seanez has pitched in 46 different stadiums already -- and will reach 47 if he comes in tonight. Yes, the Phillies pitchers are really, really old.

Elsewhere, Patrick Berkery shares his favorite Phillies fan taunt ever (which he originally wrote for a piece in PW).

Posted by D-Mac at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)

Your Weekly RPS Post

I've mentioned all of that before, but it bears repeating due to the events of last night at Dirty Frank's. Last night was one of my more dramatic failures in recent memory. I managed to win the first round on my opponents' four fouls and had match point twice -- once in the second set, and again in the third. Despite this, I managed to lose the match. And, yes, despite how absolutely pathetic I am in competitive RPS -- Gossip Girlfriend, who has played at three events, has more wins than I do -- I will continue to attend matches and probably continue to lose.

Over two years of play in the RPS city league, my record is something like 7-25. And yet I finished in the top 8 last year thanks to two wins in the City League Championships. And, currently, I am in first in the Street RPS competition after winning it last night. Nevermind that I'm only up by a dollar and have virtually no shot of winning the total competition: For now, this loser is in first. What a great game.

Philadelphia Will Do sponsors the timeouts of the Philadelphia Rock Paper Scissors City League. Events at Mondays at the Khyber (except for next week), Tuesdays at Dirty Frank's, Wednesdays at Skinner's (next week) and Thursdays at The Dive. All events "start" at 9:30 p.m.

Posted by D-Mac at 02:05 PM | Comments (1)

TV Networks Threaten Redlasso

Once again, a superbly awesome thing on the Internet has been ruined by giant corporations. While Redlasso has more bugs than [insert awesome joke here], it still indexes live television and allows things like my Final Jeopardy blog.

And, now, naturally, Redlasso is being threatened by NBC, Fox and CBS. Much like when YouTube started removing sports videos when the NFL complained, our fun has been ruined.

At least they waited until after the season finale of Gossip Girl, though.

Posted by D-Mac at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)

Eagles' Draft Pick Can Fly

Les Bowen has an incredibly detailed profile of Eagles second-round draft pick DeSean Jackson in today's Daily News. The article includes the above photo, which is apparently real and not a Photoshop. Guh-wha?

The best part of the profile, as noted by Iggles Blog, is Jackson's father.

"His coach at Cal said we were too involved in his life,'' said Bill Jackson, 63, who is retired from FedEx. Moments earlier, he had concluded a phone conversation with DeSean in Philadelphia... "I ask coach Tedford, 'Why not be involved with your children?'... I've heard Andy Reid doesn't want me anywhere near his facility. I'm like, 'Damn, what did I do?' ''

It's a weird age we're living in when parents have to be barred from sports practices. It's even weirder when these kids are professional athletes.

Eagles - Eagles draft pick DeSean Jackson sets record straight [Daily News]

Posted by D-Mac at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)

PHL Airport #1, PHL Airline Last

But, wait! says airport chief Charles Isdell: "We have been trying for several years now to turn the corner in terms of people's perception of the airport. And a lot of their perception quite frankly has to do with the performance of US Airways. The performance of US Airways has gone up in the past year."

Uh, this is a consumer perception survey from J.D. Power. If people's perception is that the airport service sucks -- I've never actually had a bad experience there, but I never fly anywhere -- how, exactly, did the airport win this contest?

In related news, the University of Michigan ranked U.S. Airways the worst airline in America, based on consumer surveys. Argh, how the hell does all of this work again?

PHL Airport Gets #1 Ranking in Satisfaction Survey [KYW 1060]
Travelers pan service at U.S. Airways [Bizjournals.com]

Posted by D-Mac at 11:41 AM | Comments (3)

Levittown Priest Sends Awesome Letter

Why? Well, the Tullytown police chief was inconvenienced the last time they had fireworks, in 1995. "I was stuck with my patrol car on Levittown Parkway for three hours," Police Chief Pat Priore actually told the newspaper.

St. Mike's pastor Michael DiIorio isn't happy with the decision. And he sent Tullytown an awesome/hilarious letter!

DiIorio said he didn't believe the fireworks would draw 30,000 people. He called the number “arbitrary and grossly exaggerated.”

“Presently there are approximately 32,000 people in Levittown. I firmly doubt that every man, woman and child will attend the St. Michael's Fair on one evening,” he wrote.

Tullytown has its own fireworks display every September. “If our fireworks are "unsafe' then so are those of the borough,” DiIorio wrote. “Therefore, September fireworks for the borough should be cancelled at once.”

Ha ha, because he can't have his fireworks he doesn't want anyone to have them. Also, the annual Tullytown fireworks show is invitation only. Jerks!

¹ Levittown is only a post office and a census-designated place; the area that is Levittown actually spreads over five different townships/boroughs/whatever in Bucks County. When I was an intern at the Bucks County Courier Times, my bosses were very insistent that we never refer to anyone as "from Levittown," as they were actually from Bristol Borough or whatever.

St. Mike's Fair fireworks deemed 'too dangerous' [Bucks County Courier Times]

Posted by D-Mac at 11:16 AM | Comments (5)

Phillies Batting Stances Through The Ages

This is oddly extremely watchable and hilarious.

In other news, Phillies reliever Tom Gordon has now pitched in 45 (!) different ballparks in his career. Oh, and Brett Myers is not the worst Opening Day starter of all time, but he's up there.

[via The 700 Level]

Posted by D-Mac at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)

NBC 10 Says Bye To Sen. Kennedy

"It's a terminal illness with no cure, unfortunately," [Dr. David] Andrews said. "It'll be a victory if he can function independently and get through the day." Andrews said the prognosis for a person suffering from this type of cancer is grim.

"I don't think he could ever return to the Senate, not with a tumor like this," he said. "It's too debilitating."

Geeze, quite a buzzkill. Though I do hope one day I am famous enough to get an article saying I will die soon.

Local Brain Surgeon Gives Kennedy Grim Prognosis [NBC 10]

Posted by D-Mac at 10:32 AM | Comments (3)

Abridged Daily News Columnists

John Baer: The League of Women Voters is suing the state, alleging a deal between the judiciary and the legislature that traded a pay raise for upholding the state's gambling law. Oh, Pennsylvania. (Also: What a lame trade.)

Jill Porter: Jill Porter really likes the word "thugs."

Posted by D-Mac at