Results tagged “congress”

Happy Birthday Funkmaster Flex!

Many neo-conservatives both in the Bush White House and Congress have argued that in a post-9/11 world torture is a necessary and viable method of obtaining information from detained enemy combatants. Others have argued that torture discredits the U.S. abroad, breeds anti-American sentiment, places our soldiers at risk, and contradicts most of mankind’s reasonable standards as to what is and is not moral. Here’s an overview of the United States’ recent relationship with torture:

Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama exchanged blows in Ohio Tuesday leading up to next week’s primary in that state. 161 delegates are at stake. The exchange of criticism focused largely on Clinton’s position on the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. On free trade, there appears to be little difference in the candidates’ rhetoric and voting records. Clinton, however, faces a challenge on the issue that Obama does not.

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week.

I’m filling in for Ross this week with Asshole of the Week, and the honorable fossilized simpleton from Pennsylvania, Arlen Specter, is my selection for this prestigious award. This camera-ready attention whore, who is so desperate for air time that he calls up 610-WIP every Monday morning and eagerly reveals how little he knows about Philadelphia sports while the majority of the hosts' mics are turned off in order to stifle their stupefied laughter, spent this past Wednesday meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell getting down and dirty about why Goodell destroyed the illegal tapes seized from noted cheater and sore loser, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. The meeting came on the heels of the delusional Specter stating that the destruction of these tapes was reminiscent of the CIA’s destruction of tapes depicting torturous Al Qaeda suspect interrogations. The guy who invented the Single Bullet theory out of the recesses of his furtive imagination now sees it as his job to question other people's reasoning abilities, raving about how all the Commissioner had to do was lock up the tapes to keep them from being distributed, which Goodell states is his main reason for banishing the videos to the trash compacter (make no mistake about it, Goodell’s excuse is probably bullshit, but who cares?). Utilizing the folksy, common-man charm that has allowed the Pennsylvania senior senator to be reelected five times, Specter waxed poetic about the American citizens’ right to “honest football games.”

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week.

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets.

The Inquirer has an article about the Philadelphia Community Cats Council, a group of folks trying to manage and reduce the city's huge feral cat population, estimated to be at least 250,000. They do this by trapping feral cats, neutering them, and then returning them where they were found. Both the Daily News and the Inquirer have articles about Sharon Hill native John Patrick Foley and his elevation this weekend to the status of Cardinal...

Edward Pettit wrote an enlightening cover story for this week's edition of the City Paper, proposing the relocation of Edgar Allan Poe's grave site to our fine city.

If you, like Phillyist, depend on XPN's live stream to entertain you during the long work day, you're in for what might be a sign of things to come today. XPN, along with other radio stations that simulcast their broadcasts and many webcasters, is participating in the Internet Radio Day of Silence. Why would they do such a thing? Do they want to torture us? No. But the Copyright Royalty Board does. A recent ruling mandating rate increase along with retroactive royalty payments to July 2006 will lead to a virtual shutdown of online streams. Why? The rate increase will simply price most noncommercial and independent webcasters out of the market; XPN has said that they simply won't be able to offer unfettered access to their streams, as the new rates will cost them over $100,000 annually. The bite in the ass is that many independent artists are none too pleased with the decision, considering the independent and niche nature of many webcasts (find a terrestrial radio station that offers the playlist of the Polka Jammer Network. We dare you) helps them gain needed exposure.

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you.

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you.

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend.

With all that went down this week, we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs.

We don't know about you, but it's friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that's just us. Either way, we're freezing.

There is a Congressman who has gained no small notoriety in the past year. The NRA has given his voting record an A+, NARAL an F. The left-leaning Committee for Reform and Ethics in Washington called him “one of the most unethical members in Congress.” Perhaps that’s why he raised more money from lobbyists than almost any other candidate for the House of Representatives; why he consistently opposes lobbying reform and disclosure requirements; why he...

Last night was obviously good for Pennsylvania Democrats, but precisely how good remains to be seen. They can claim already Rick Santorum's Senate seat, at least three--and maybe four--Congressional seats, and five state House seats. Locally, Democrat Patrick Murphy seems likely to pick up Pennsylvania's Eighth District with a razor-thin lead over Mike Fitzpatrick, but Fitzpatrick has yet to concede. In the Seventh District, Curt Weldon lost as expected to Vice Adm. Joe Sestak, putting an end to the career of a man listed in Rolling Stone as one of the worst members of Congress. Rep. Jim Gerlach looks to hold onto the Sixth District, although Phillyist notes that his lead has shrunk consistently since first being elected in 2002. We can only assume that a stiff breeze will suffice to knock him out of Congress in 2008.

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets.

As fall settles in and another calendar page gets turned, thoughts turn from bbq's and vacations to holidays and the realization that '06 is coming to an end. With all that going on, with change in the air, we wonder what is it the -ists ponder?

As we feared would happen, Philadelphia-based Comcast's proposed merger with Adelphia Communications won approval Thursday from the Federal Communications Commission without forcing Comcast to make CN8 and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia channels available to customers of satellite TV and non-Comcast cable systems.

by Jonathan Tannenwald