Most estimates put the number of illegal immigrants in this country at around 5 million. Some view this fact as evidence that illegal immigration is a struggle akin to the civil rights movement of the 1950s. That may sound a bit far-fetched, but in many ways the struggle is similar. We face a public that is in many parts of the nation exceptionally hostile to any illegal immigrants, regardless of their plight. Additionally, the federal......

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......

The Inquirer has the details on yesterday's Phillies pep rally, which folks are claiming was the largest pep rally in the city's history. Today is the one year anniversary of the Amish school shooting. The Penn student who died on September 9th of meningococcal meningitis was discharged from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania only days earlier and told she had a viral infection that would soon clear up. Penn officials are still claiming......

A 21-year-old rookie Philadelphia police officer saw a motorist driving a Buick suspiciously in West Philly yesterday morning and approached the vehicle. Three teenage passengers (who turned out to be University City High School students) got out of the car. When he ordered them back to the car, the driver got on the hood of the car and shot the officer in the face with a sawed-off shotgun loaded with birdshot. The officer then chased......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. You may vaguely remember from long ago the idea for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off show called Ripper that was meant to follow the adventures of Anthony Stewart Head's character in England, along with a whole cast of new characters. Well, good news! It sounds like it's actually going to happen now, with Joss Whedon in the captain's chair, and shooting beginning......

We received some interesting top ten lists from Match.com, as a sort of response to Forbes' annual list of top cities for singles. Philly ranked on every one of them. Amongst "Cities where you will find singles hitting the gym," we took ninth place. On the "Cities committed to healthy diets" list we were at 52%, making us number eight. We hit number nine again on "Top cities for vegetarian lovers," and we just......

With unseasonable weather descending upon much of North America, schools getting ready to reconvene, and sports seasons getting exciting, it's a busy time of year for us here in the Ist-A-Verse. Luckily, even with all the things we have to do, we still managed to get together to let you know what we've all been up to. After cooling down from a hot weekend of many badass Sunset Junction Street Fair photo dispatches, LAist asked......

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take......

Comedian Paul Mecurio...

On the one hand, we can really appreciate that the Office of Homeland Security is doing their best to keep suspected terrorists as far away from us as possible. On the other hand, we worry that they may not be doing their research. Having grown up within sight of Mexico, this Phillyist can attest that a name like Rodrigo Sanchez is by no means uncommon in the country. Which probably means that there are dozens,......

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor is spending......

At the Galactic show on Thursday night, the attitude was "What smoking ban?" New friends became old friends who passed the bowl without thinking about TLA security guards trying to blend in with the crowd in their maroon t-shirts. The room, about three-quarters full, moved intently, sometimes languidly for those with grey beards and wedding rings; more jerkily for those with bare chests and new curly cues. Maybe it's the whole New Orleans thing. When......

- Thanksgiving is coming - which always means travel headaches, but Philadelphians may have more long-lasting travel woes. It has been proposed that the gas tax be raised 12.5 cents a gallon, and, naturally, there's still the ever-looming threat of raising SEPTA fares while cutting their service sometime next year. Clearly, we all need to find jobs where we walk to work. (via) - Geno's owner and champion of English-only ordering, Joey Vento, has donated......

- Merecat needs your help - how should he spend his iTunes store credit? (via) - Suburban Guerrilla reveals a basin in Des Moines that might give our own local basins a reason for endowment envy. - Local bloggers have some words for the folks in charge of Philly tourism: the long cut questions the sensibility behind the Broadway Musical style of their latest commercial, while The Illadelph wonders why the official city website is......

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Compiled and edited by Seattlest's Dan Gonsiorowski LAist tracks an award-winning TV writer who worked on Good Times to a homeless shelter and sees a Little Old Lady get a jaywalking ticket because she can't get across fast enough (in the same post!). Poets invade Metro and an LAist contributor's new book asks WWJB. Gothamist gets down with the immigration rally and their readers want to be heard. The anniversary of the Mets' 1986 World......

Local bloggers talk about yesterday's immigration demonstration in Love Park: - iFlipFlop has photos - Philebrity fields some reader mail on the matter - Metroblogging Philly has their say......

In case you thought it was just you yesterday when you were finding it really hard to catch a cab...well, it wasn't. A bunch of cabbies didn't work from 9AM to 9PM, instead taking part in a demonstration protesting tough new regulations that they say will make it even harder than it already is for them to make a living. One of the regulations, which went into effect yesterday, says that no cab may have......