Results tagged “unitedstates”

I have been very vocal of my support for Senator President-Elect Obama on the Facebook, which has drawn both support and ire from fellow Facebookians. (No one can ire more than people with free time on their hands as they troll social networks while at work. I know because I am one of them.)

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:

Climate change has rapidly become part of our national discourse. As early as four or five years ago, the issue was treated by many as a paranoid conspiracy. Now, political figures from governors to presidential candidates to George W. Bush himself seem unable to avoid the fact that not only is our planet becoming warmer, but it is also losing the ability to produce key resources such as oil and clean water. Here’s a look at recent Earth-related news:

Yesterday's ran a rather long piece called "How Do You Prove You're a Jew?", and while it may seem an unconventional topic for a manners column, I'd like to expound a bit upon it. Have no fear: even if you don't have the time or the inclination to read the original Gershom Gorenberg essay, I'm only using it as a jumping-off point for this column, and I promise not to allude to anything that would only be understood if you did read it.

Perhaps Senator John McCain is feeling pressure to court the remaining Christian conservative votes he has not already pulled out from under former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who is a former evangelical pastor. Many far-right conservative voters have expressed doubts about McCain’s allegiance to their values, including notorious radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh. This may be the reason why in the past week he has been openly embracing fiery evangelical leaders.

When the United States finally gained its freedom from King George III, the Founding Fathers went down to the historic City Tavern and got wasted on Thomas Jefferson’s special ale and Ben Franklin’s “Poor Richard’s Shooters."

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 government seems to be acting in a way that it deems best for the nation, rather than taking the rampant xenophobia of constituents into account. To look at what is in store for this issue, it may help to review the candidates’—and former candidates’—stances.

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

Racoon Ticket Giveaway
12/12/07-12/14/07
Image via Racoon's MySpace page.

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. Sci Fi Wire reveals that Billy Connolly, Amanda Peet and rapper Xzibit will be in X-Files 2, while The Movie Blog tells us who won't be in it: Lance Henriksen. GameSpot has decided to release a more in-depth series of responses to the controversy surrounding their firing of Jeff Gerstmann, and Joystiq has the run-down. Meanwhile, this whole thing has gotten everybody thinking...

The fact that this morning's article about "Bonnie and Clyde" turning themselves in starts with a story about Kirsch's tits would be funny anyway, but we find it particularly amusing given the focus and title of our post on the subject yesterday. Yesterday's snow storm didn't cause too much trauma, besides a few accidents, some icy roads and sidewalks, and some school delays. The developer working on the Girard Warehouses ("the historic complex of early...

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...

, a play about the people of a village transforming into the aforementioned animals, as a statement against fascism.

Dear Satan:

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

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a picture displaying the woes of cruising in a tacky limo on the streets of San Francisco.

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

Despite the fact that Transformers is a film based on a cartoon, which itself was based on a story that a marketing company came up with to sell a line of toys, and despite the fact that it was directed by Michael Bay (a piece of news which, when it first came out, caused thousands of nerds to cry out in terror, and then become suddenly silent... before running to the internet to voice their displeasure), I was pretty excited about it. I tried to temper my excitement, though, to avoid a let-down. I tried to tell myself that I shouldn't expect something really intelligent or moving. I tried to tell myself that it would be a big, dumb summer blockbuster, and would therefore be all about action, with very little character development and probably not a lot of good dialogue, and that I should embrace that - that I should go in expecting that. Anyway, there would be tons of action, plenty of giant robots hitting each other, and lots of incredible visual effects, and that would be enough to make a really entertaining movie.

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A Quirky Column about Dog Walking Adventures in the City of Dog-Owning Love

The Humane Society of the United States has just released its Humane Index of the twenty-five most humane cities in the country. Philly comes in more or less in the middle, at #14. Twelve categories were evaluated when making the list, including the number of mentions of animals in local periodicals, the number of fur retailers, the percentage of pet stores selling puppies, the number of vegetarian restaurants, and local engagement with the Humane Society. Having worked with a few animal adoption programs in the area, we can certainly say that Philly's not animal unfriendly, by any means, but we suppose there's always room for improvement.

I haven't studied a lot of Brecht. But from what I have studied, I feel very safe in making the assertion that Brecht is either someone that people either adore and worship and elevate, or he's someone whose work people really can't stand. I lean heavily toward the former, which is why I was so excited to see The Wilma Theater's production of .

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