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: This......

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......

Yesterday's New York Times 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......

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. In 2000, the Arizona......

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." OK, not really, but freedom from tyranny is a damn good reason to celebrate with a drink. That is why Cube Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar is offering complimentary "Cuba Libre" cocktails from Sunday, February 24 to Thursday, February......

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......

Tuesday is traditionally a day of stupid two-for-one deals, twice the music from awful radio bands and similar disappointments of daily proportions. Let's see if there's anything low on disappointment and high on "Thanks-for-telling-me-about-this-awesome-event!" Or something like that. PATRICK MURPHY - TAKING THE HILL: FROM PHILLY TO BAGHDAD TO THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS The North Philly native is coming to the UPenn book store tonight to discuss his autobiographical release Taking the Hill, which......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. Friends, today is International Delete Your MySpace Account Day! Woo hoo! This Phillyist just took part by deleting his account, and he's feeling free and easy. Dude. Cheeseburger in a can. (Via Jason) Harvey Weinstein wants another Rambo movie, and already has an idea for a plot wherein the character would return to the United States. Yet more G.I. Joe casting......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s (Mon, 10PM-11PM, VH1) - Time for the debut of another new VH1 countdown/clip show! This one will come in five parts; this first episode takes a look at songs 100 through 81. The next episode airs in the same timeslot on Tuesday, episode three on Wednesday, and so on. Independent Lens (Tue, 9PM-11PM, WHYY & WLVT) - This time the PBS......

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......

It's interesting: in the late 1950s, it seems that the whole world was afraid of the dangers of groupthink. Here in the United States, terrified anti-communists were producing Invasion of the Body Snatchers. And in France, a country still in many ways reeling from German occupation during the war, absurdist playwright Eugene Ionesco created Rhinoceros, a play about the people of a village transforming into the aforementioned animals, as a statement against fascism. Up until......

Prepare to be insulted! A recent survey of visitors and residents of 25 cities ranked Philadelphia as the home of the least attractive people in the United States. Apparently we're also among the least stylish, least active, least friendly, and least worldly. Well, we don't know about all of those things, but these results certainly make us feel pretty unfriendly at the moment... (Via Jen) As another new tactic in the fight against crime and......

Dear Satan: I think I may believe in you now. You see, I know what hell is now, and it is the United States Post Office branch at Broad and Sansom. I spent an hour and a half there on Tuesday. An hour and a half. The line wasn't obscenely long – but there was only one clerk at the window. And even that wouldn't have been much of a problem, except that apparently,......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Becoming Jane - English majors around the world are either cringing or jumping for joy over this historical drama about the personal life of Jane Austen, which heavily influenced her work. Normally, this Phillyist would be rolling his eyes and thinking of any and every excuse imaginable to avoid seeing this movie, but if push comes to shove, he might suffer through it. After all, Anne......

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......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. NaughtyCodes.com actually has nothing to do with porn; it's a site that lists all those coupon and promotional codes that are only supposed to be sent to select customers. But now they're available to you, for naughty deals! (Via Jill, via her Mom) Um... this is just creepy. (Via Jill) What's the hottest new solo indie release? Songs for Ice Cream......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. Now here's a holiday we can get behind: today is National French Fries Day! (Via Sarah) Local photographer Kyle Cassidy has an interesting book out called Armed America, which consists of photos of gun owners from across the United States, in their homes, displaying their collections, etc. There's no political statements being made; it's just a cultural exploration. The project is interesting, and......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Broken English - This romantic comedy by first-time writer/director Zoe Cassavetes, and starring Parker Posey and Gena Rowlands, already hit Philly a while back during the Film Festival; you can read our review right here. Trailer Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse Brooklyn Rules - The story of three life long friends set against the backdrop of mobster John Gotti's rise to power in the '80s.......

Local actress, director, and former General Manager of the Vagabond Acting Troupe Jackie Kay Knox was tragically killed in a car accident yesterday morning. Few other details are available at this time. The Friends Center at 15th and Cherry is getting a $12.5-million green renovation that will free it of its reliance on fossil fuels. The renovation includes a vegetated roof - the largest such roof in Philadelphia, and the first in Center City. We......

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......

They like us, they really like us! Our own "Philadelphia is one of only two of the top 20 cities in the United States that has shown an increase in overseas visitation from 2000 to 2005." How did we miss this? Back on Thursday, the City Council declared Philadelphia officially a "'Pro-Choice City,' which supports 'women's reproductive rights and freedom' and defends 'the right to choose a legal and safe abortion as a final but......

Please digg this story. Thanks! It is never easy to watch friends depart for dangerous lands, but it is always a bit comforting to know, at least, that they are members of the United States Marine Corps. If anyone can survive the often hellish situation on the ground in Iraq, it is the USMC. That does not mean that, when my good friend (whom I met during my first year in college, when we......

A Quirky Column about Dog Walking Adventures in the City of Dog-Owning Love Dancing Dogs?! Forget about all the hoopla surrounding Dancing with the Stars, according to PetPlace.com, dog lovers are signing up to learn how to dance with their dogs. Sound crazy? Not to a bunch of folks who want to participate in a sport called Canine Freestyle—an activity in which dog and owner move in tandem through a set of choreographed steps to......

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.......

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 The Life of Galileo. Fortunately for fans of Brecht, this production......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. First of all, and thankfully, it turns out that whole story about the Kansas Board of Education banning Pokemon was fake. The scary thing is that, even though it did seem pretty ridiculous, it also seemed possible. Harvey Weinstein is incredibly disappointed and is thinking of rereleasing Grindhouse this summer as two separate movies. Crap! That means we......

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,......