|
|
|
Media
It's not all bad news in Philly daily journalism.
Big ups to Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman of the People Paper for winning one of two Pulitzer Prizes for investigative reporting "for their resourceful reporting that exposed a rogue police narcotics squad, resulting in an FBI probe and the review of hundreds of criminal cases tainted by the scandal."
Read the "Tainted Justice" series in its entirety here.
They're reporting is a great example of how newspapers should cover the city. Despite Brian Tierney, the Daily News still has great hustle, an unbelievable work ethic. They accept no excuses. And because of that, theres something often a lot in the paper every day thats worth reading. The Daily News is still indispensible,
And let that be an object lesson on the dangers of multi-tasking. Fixed. Apologies. Still copious congrats.
How many DN people can post in this thread before they correct it?
Hey, it's Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman, dudes!!
 |
So I'm reading one of the most horrifying stories to come out of New Jersey/anywhere in a while, posted on Phawker (via the Associated Press), about a 7-year-old girl who was gang-raped by as many as seven men, after being sold to these men by her 15-year-old stepsister.
Sad, sad, sad world, right?
And then I look to the image (see above) that Phawker ed Jonathan Valania posted to accompany the story. Wait, what? is he likening this 15-year-old who sold her own sister away to become a sex slave as someone who should go and brush her shoulders off???
Now look, we could get into a long discussion here about how Jay-Z and every other rapper since the beginning of time has glorified pimps, and how that's not cool. But the fact is, in the context of Jay-Z's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," "pimp" is a metaphor and the phrase "ladies is pimps, too" is an empowering statement, one of solidarity. No one who commits such a heinous crime as that mentioned above should be compared to a woman who deserves to brush her shoulders off.
Which is long way of saying that, essentially, Phawker's post creeped me the fuck out. Worse yet, it isn't the first time.
As much as rappers would like you to pretend that the word "pimp" doesn not mean a pimp, the story of the public housing child gang rape involves a teen pimp who sells a little girl. Not quite so fun to blast that rap song now, is it?
Nah, I agree that glorifying pimps anywhere is bad, Cleanup. All I meant was that the discussion over rappers doing it has been had many times before, and I just didn't feel the need to reiterate it at this time. And I do think that, in a weird way, Jay-Z probably meant that specific lyric ("ladies is pimps, too") to be empowering and pro-women.
Actually, the fact that Phawker de facto celebrated a teen pimp, by likening her to a woman in a song lyric that itself glorifies pimps further is meta mindfuck.
And I suppose, in that way, Phawker could have been posting that image ironically. If that's true, I'd still argue that it's damaging to do so, because I seriously doubt many people would "get" it.In the immortal words of Charlie Brown: Good grief. Your reaction to a story about a 15-year-old pimping out her 7-year-old stepsister for a gangrape is to complain about the graphic I grabbed off of Google Images to accompany the story? That's like hearing about the Holocaust and complaining that the striped pajamas the Jews had to wear in the concentration camps made their asses look big. Also, if you keep roasting marshmallows at Joey Sweeney's bonfire of the inanities you are only going to get burned. Trust me on this. In the immortal words of Animal House's Dean Wormer: Fat, drunk and Sweeney is no way to go through life, son.
Few people have recognized the 15-year-old girl as a victim too. She's a minor, and that qualifies as statutory rape. Her role in her sister's rape may be sensational but an abused teen's actions aren't the same thing as the adult men who took sick, sick actions on both these children.
Not really buying that analogy, Jon. The image accompanying the story is a commentary on that story. And, in this case it signals a callous disregard for a tragic event. Don't think it's really what you intended, but it was a funky choice of images, to say the least. Oh, and Holly's the last person I'd accuse of being a sycophant. Trust me, son.
 |
We need jobs, dammit.
Jobs, I say, not . . . those creamers that don't require refrigeration but taste kind of funny. Jobs not . . . public radio fundraisers! Jobs, not . . . slightly more expensive pickled green tomatoes at the Reading Terminal Market! Jobs, not another season of The Office!
Jobs, not . . . hmm . . . oh! Jobs, not the soda tax!
There. Having vaguely equated things I don't like with massive job losses, I will now go ahead and join "Save Philly Jobs. Not Taxes," the recently-formed coalition that's been a vocal opponent of the mayor's proposed sugary beverage tax.
"Philly Jobs. Not Taxes." It has a nice, caveman-ish ring to it, don't you think?
I just hope none of "Philly Jobs. Not taxes" members don't mind if nothing they say makes any sense. 'Cause I'm not sure it does.
The only remotely plausible job loss scenario Big Beverage has been able to muster in its efforts to destroy the soda tax is that Philadelphia residents working at the local Coke bottling plant could lose their livelihoods if we pass the soda tax.
Dutifully reported the Inquirer recently:
Area retailers, Teamsters, and beverage companies recently created a Web site, www.savephillyjobs.com, to press their slogan, "Philly Jobs. Not Taxes."
"If the mayor was successful in passing this new bill, I believe we will lose about 50 percent of our members in soda today, because less sales equals less volume, and less volume means loss of jobs," said Danny Grace, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 830.
About 1,500 of his members work distributing soda, he said, including those at the Coca-Cola bottling plant at 725 E. Erie Ave, the Pepsi plant on Roosevelt Boulevard, and at Canada Dry Delaware Valley in Pennsauken.
Fifty percent, huh?
Half?
Really?
No one, so far, has bothered to point out that the coke plant in question is a giant regional supplier and that you'd probably have to have a tax covering the entire northeastern United States to make much of a difference there.
(I'm not, by the way, sold on the soda tax yet myself. The science linking higher beverage prices with less consumption is sound, but the tax, as its written now, doesn't force retailers to increase the price of their sugary beverages. If they wind up distributing the cost to all of their products, it doesn't work, I think.)
But come on: if the media's going to quote such claims, let's check whether there's a shred of truth behind them.
Joe the Coke Bottler is probably a long way from having to worry about this tax. It's King Sugar (not to mention the ambitious Prince Corn Syrup) who fears it and who bellows from atop his pile of gold: "Philly Jobs! Not Taxes!"
Let us know when you finalize your opinion on the soda tax. Philadelphia cannot go on until we know.
Haha! I will, aLex, I will. Sorry to keep you waiting, Philadelphia. - I
I really don't' think the soda tax will actually help anything, it was a nice thought though ;) thanks for posting!
Check your facts....this article doesnt make sense- there will def be some impact on the people who go to work everyday. whether is a small business, restaurant or bottler.
 |
| Lawrence Kesterson, Philly.com online gallery |
Yes, Philly finally made the front page of the New York Times did we even get that for Phillies' WFCship? and it's for ... flash mobs.
Ah, well.
The Times covered this as a national story, using Philly's recent incidents as an example of the way the flash mob has mutated from its pillow-fighting, silent iPod dance party origins.
The article was pretty bland, consisting largely of canned quotes from various public officials and youth advocates: the former blaming kids and parents; the latter blaming the public officials.
But there was, I think, a buried lead:
The flash mobs have raised questions about race and class.
Most of the teenagers who have taken part in them are black and from poor neighborhoods. Most of the areas hit have been predominantly white business districts.
It's true: and it's a point the mainstream has stayed away from so far with the exception of the Daily News' Stu Bykofsky, who brought up the topic in his column yesterday.
"Flash mobs" was the topic on "Tell Me More," NPR's newest attempt at having a non-white-people-focused show (I think their word is "multi-cultural," but it totally replaced "News and Notes"), and it was introduced with a tag line something like "Some see racism in the response" to the flash mobs.
I think that race and class, and systemic poverty and the various Big Issues that plague our city do matter in this discussion.
A particularly uncomfortable experience is viewing Philly.com's online gallery of the South Street incident, which juxtaposes scenes of bedlam full of black faces with scenes of white business owners and one (white) bruised worker.
I'm posting this in the hope (remote it may be) that I don't inadvertently invite a slew of racist comments. A discussion about these incidents is immature if we don't admit that race and class figure in somewhere. But, obviously, it's a starting point - not a destination.
I see two lines of predictable response shaping up.
There's the hard-line answer, as expressed by Mayor Nutter and Police Chief Ramsey, which goes like this: This isn't about race, class, opportunity, government, it's about bad parenting. And if you can't keep 'em home, we'll lock 'em up:
Said Nutter to the NYT: "There is no racial component to stupid behavior, and parents should not be looking to the government to provide entertainment for their children."
Said Ramsey at a press conference: "It's not the government's responsibility to raise your child. It's your responsibility. When we get involved as police, it's too late for the tears."
It strikes me as wishfully simplistic: all bark and no bite. If there's one thing the city can't enforce, it's good parenting. Nutter and Ramsey can wipe their hands of this all they want but they'll still have to answer to residents after the next incident. And unless something drastic happens, there will be another incident.
Which brings me to the second line of response: liberal denial.
This line of rhetoric emphasizes that these are just teenagers trying to have a good time, that the response has been overblown and the allegations of violence exaggerated.You want to point fingers? Point them at reduced library and pool hours, insufficient after-school programs, cuts in anti-violence programs.
I don't buy that, either. First of all, these are teenagers - not little kids. They don't want to go to a library, they want to party and be obnoxious (like a lot of us did and were). That's fine it's the violence that changes everything.
Because, despite what I hear from a surprising number of progressive-types, these incidents have been violent disturbingly, sickeningly violent. Last May, a 54-year-old man was pulled from his bicycle and critically beaten; a cab driver was assaulted. On Market Street a month ago, youths knocked over pedestrians. At least a few people seem to have been beaten in last weekend's incident on South Street. Sorry: but victims come first.
I don't think this is just about a lack of things do to: there's something deeper and much scarier at work here. I think that you have to connect these incidents to the attack at South Philadelphia High and to Greek Picnic, and to a disturbing number of cases of kids committing violence en masse.
Frankly, I suspect something terrible is building. I don't like to say it. But, on the eve of another hot Philadelphia summer we'd better be ready for it.
How? I dunno. But here's my two cents:
Have a couple police dedicated to monitoring social networking sites to look out for this stuff.
- Do what we do for adult white drunk weekend people: We know where they gather, and we post a ton of cops. Philly teens gather at predictable locations, if not at predictable times, right? How hard can it be?
- Consider closing off South Street and 40th street for a few blocks on weekends. You can hardly get through anyway, there's no parking, and the congestion of cars only makes it harder for cops to keep track of anything (especially bike cops, who are pretty effective on South Street).
- Give a serious and un-cowardly look at City Controller Alan Butkovitz' suggestion to curb students' use of city-issued SEPTA trans-passes. His suggestions are intelligent, reasonable, and unlike yelling at parents or espousing social theories immediately practical.
- Enlist SEPTA workers (insanely busy as we all know they are not giving change) to alert police to high numbers of teens getting on the system.
- Consider posting city-employed non-police security officers (a la University City) at a few corners along South Street to alert cops to developing problems. If the city won't pay, maybe South Street businesses can chip in enough to hire a couple of guards.
Enough: What do you think?
Race is indeed the giant elephant in the room that everyone wants to dance around. But there's a reason for that: Anyone who brings it up will be called a racist and then crucified by the apologists for the rioters. These are kids for whom their parents were never there, were constantly told that people who did well in school or waited there turn in line or were nice to others were suckers, that any interests outside of jewelry and baggy pants was gay, and that it was okay to assault whoever you wanted because you would never be disciplined. And I will be called a racist even though what I just said was the truth.
The businesses on South Street have been suffering for years, and many have just wholesale shut down already. I know this seems like a minor point to make when we're worried about violence, but closing off whole city blocks during summer, when those companies make their annual sales goals, is going to crush even more small businesses. There has to be a way to get at something systemic without punishing the neighborhood being affected even more. Can we look at the culture of violence in public schools, since as a city, we obviously can't enforce better parenting? What if we instituted a public service requirement for graduation, to counterbalance some sense of aimlessness? (Would that miss all the kids who skip school anyway?) What if we had decent scared-straight speakers in high school, who connected with students on racial/class grounds and were eloquent enough to make casual violence seem like a bad choice? Aren't there smaller, more cost-effective steps to avert a serious crisis? I agree that more cops in obvious places seem like a good idea, I just think these kids need to actually learn some other priorities or they will be a problem for themselves and the city as they grow into adulthood. School is, after all, where you can learn worthwhile things.
the city.... The core problem is violence, plain and simple. Whether perpetrated by bored teens, or by drunken adults, it needs to be dealt with summarily.
Over-react? Do you think the girl who got her teeth knocked out was over-reacting? How about the people who were trampled, as these bored young people ran down South? This isn't merely a bunch of youths, enjoying the freshness of Spring. While I'm glad you felt, at 5th & Bainbridge, that everything was hunky-dory, that simply isn't the case in other parts of
Let's not over-react. There is a central phenomenon of bored jerky kids annoying adults, and then there is an epi-phenomenon of thugs who use the gatherings for cover (as they do with Hip Hop festivals and Greek Picnics, ruining it for everyone). We are SO not about to descend into a maelstrom of race riots or class conflict--I just don't see that and I didn't see that from my home at 5th and Bainbridge as streams of young people walked around on the first nice day of spring. What I do see is an unnerving anachronism in media coverage--there were upwards of 2000 kids on South Street, most of whom did nothing except tweet and gather for attention. I think the appropriate analogy is the white Irish who behave no better during Mummers parades--there is a core group of revelers and a trailing tail of nasty drunken violent thugs. And yet the media never report on an angry, disenfranchised Irish mob threatening to erupt into full-scale class war and destroy the fabric of civilized life in Philadelphia. So why do it because these kids are black? Because it sends an antebellum frisson up white journalists' spines to see an all-black gathering? I would suggest that we focus on the components of the problem instead of forcing the event into a historical trope that is hardly relevant (i.e., the angry black mob). There is the core problem of bored teenagers disrupting normal business and scaring off paying visitors. This is a problem we already contend with on South Street every summer weekend night. Then there is the epi-phenomenon of nasty violent thugs. This is also a problem we contend with all year round in all parts of the city, or anywhere else there is human habitation frankly. If the police are going to make arrests during these events, the most effective arrests would be these people--not the random jerky teenager. And as for the rest of us, let's take a deep breath and give these tired old Heart-of-Darkness tropes a rest.
Let's see, we have a president telling a huge portion of the country to "bring it on." Here's a small sampling of the hate speech by our illustrious president toward the citizens in this country: Obama has taunted and disrespected Americans with his words bring it on, go for it, that typical white people, shouting about the end of the world, get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them, like the special Olympics America has this enormous, tragic history, America is no longer what it once was." I will agree that America is not what it once was. Never before has a president shown such disrespect - and we have a v.p. that's throwing the f' bomb around...with practically no one remarking about it. What kind of examples are these? The Democratic party has become a corrupt bunch of thugs...and are inciting our entire country - and infuriating us - with their ineptitude. Where can these kids find work? What hope do they have for the future? Their moms may work - or use crack - either way, they have a lack of supervision and modeling. Republicans will never give up. I love them for that. They have a strong belief that every American can have a future. Not a future that is mortgaged to the unborn. But a stable, secure future founded in a country that has some stability. America can offer nothing right now. This health care fiasco was a retarded attempt to address the Medicare/Medicaid problem. Piling trillions of dollars in this fiasco of a bill is no answer - nor is immigration reform. Your attorney general is attempting to address the over-reaching power grab by the present administration. States have the rights to checks and balances - they do it to protect our individual rights. In light of this - I ask that you call Governor and tell him that he has had his day in the sun...to accept that he is old and dying...and to shut his mouth and to fulfill the remainder of his term without interference or his own political gain. Call your Attorney General and offer full support. This is your American civic duty. Provide a model of responsibility, faith, and action to these kids. That's what they need. Bold action by ethical people. That's who we are.
Wow. I grew up on the Lower East Side when the drug trade got entrenched and it was very scary, but if you avoided where the gangs congregated you had a chance. There were safe blocks and unsafe blocks. I can't handle the possibility that a mob can just come out of nowhere and beat people up. I'm SO not visiting Philadelphia.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by LucindaLunacy, DJ Marilyn Thomas, Poliana, Yancey @YanceyG, philly news now and others. philly news now said: Phillys flash mob story goes national and everybodys talking about race but us.: Lawrence Kesterson, Philly.... http://bit.ly/9nxu4U [...]
You don't suppose that there is some mass mind control going on behind the scenes? If so by whom and for what objective.Could it be the New World Order stir up chaos so as to make martial law and a dictatorship look like a good idea.stay tuned.
3rd idea make sense...stop subsidizing their ability to congregate...I don't know much about how the student passes work, but seems like something they could roll out during next school-year...maybe having fewer teens as a human shield/smokescreen would reduce the likelihood of violent individuals acting up.
The thing that sticks out for me is the fact the teenage crowd is so uniformly African American. My impression of the last decade or so has been that racial divides were being bridged, especially among the young. The fact that this crowd, supposedly organized through twitter and facebook and thus in public, is so uniform freaks me out. Did no white or asian teenagers get the tweets? Or did they get them and not respond? It's depressing to think that this generation is just as segregated as previous ones, despite the fact that digital communications hold the promise of enabling post-racial society. As for solutions, I think closing South street to vehicles is a great idea. Especially since I live there and the noise from car stereos drives me nuts. I also suggest stepping up enforcement of nuisance crimes--loud radios, littering, etc. I think the kids have the right to assemble, they just need to be policed better to keep the disturbance to a minimum.
Limiting Transpasses to time out at 4pm is a idea whose time has come. Why hasn't the mayor put this in place? It's not my job as taxpayer to subsidize unsupervised teens after school going all over the city. They need to be close to home where people who know them will watch them.
There are more flash mobs being called for this weekend according to reports made earlier this week on WPVI's website. NYC did zero tolerance, and that city now has their lowest murder rate in their recorded history. Zero tolerance/broken window theory works. Our pols have to stop pandering to the cheap votes of parents who don't want to be part of their kids' lives. Kids committing crimes need to be shunted into the system where they can get the help they need.
Random violence is the main reason I always carry when I have to go into Philly. It's too bad these savages didn't run into someone who was willing to defend themselves. Over reaction?? How stupid can you get. There was a story in the paper about the young woman who was a victim of these ghetto sissies. She was set on by several of these animals and sustained severe injuries. The police need to do whatever is necessary to crush these riots including using deadly force!
The Inky did tackle the race issue in the Sunday issue. Surprisingly blunt piece: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/89343497.html @Allitia, "Antibellum frisson," that is amazing. Though still a liberal apology; albeit a well written one.
 |
Yesterday, my colleagues at Philebrity posted a Tweet, presumably from some Philly teenager, declaring that the spot this weekend wouldn't be South Street a la this past weekend's "flash mob" but 40th street.
Which reminded me of an article I wrote last summer, about a few incidents of teenage "mobs" gathering along 40th street in West Philly.
Here's what I wrote then:
So why is this happening?
Ask the high-schoolers who come out to 40th on weekends, and the answers are straightforward enough:
"Girls," says Ockbar Suvan, 17, who's been coming to the intersection since last year. "It's getting better," he added.
"It's the chill spot," affirms a friend sitting next to Suvan. "If this isn't crowded, South Street's crowded."
Interesting phenomenon, although i def think Isaiah nailed it last summer. Seems it is 99 percent traditional teenagerness, 1 percent (possibly) game changing media. Everything else I've read seems pretty panicked. I like the less hysterical approach and would also recommend- The True Believer, Thoughts on the nature of mass movements by Eric Hoffer- a book from the 50's that explains what flash mobs have in common with the Russian Revolution and what they don't.
No, you're right; just doing a simple Twitter Search would stop it dead in its tracks.
I can't help finding it funny that we'll find the kids' parents' liable for them participating in flash mobs, but not them cutting school, selling drugs, having guns, etc. Call me a sap but I wish these kids would realize from these gatherings that YES, they DO have power...but they need to use it in more productive ways. Watching these kids videos from Saturday night, I just hope these kids find something better to do..."Team Bizzarre" aint going to take them very far... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oas5A6DfNQ
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Philly City Paper and philly news now, Yancey @YanceyG. Yancey @YanceyG said: Dept. of short memories: The flash mobs go back further than this: Yesterday, my colleagues at Philebrity posted... http://bit.ly/ceHYk3 [...]
What a scoop.
Please aLex - There's no need to lavish praise on me. For the proverbial record, this wasn't intended as any kind of told-you-so - just a connection I found kind of interesting. By the way, (and a nod to Philebrity here), anybody notice the big press announcement today that the city was going to deploy strike forces and undercover detectives to stop flash mobs? Seems to me one detective, doing what Philebrity did - that is, just trolling the web and looking for stuff posted by Philly teenagers - would go a lot farther. Any thoughts, anyone? Perhaps aLex has a drop of insight left that wasn't squeezed out in his last post? - Isaiah
 |
| Photo | Isaiah Thompson |
| Luu's grandmother asked the District to clear the student's name |
The Inquirer reports this morning that the School District has cleared the name of Hao Luu, the student implicated by District officials in having played a role in provoking the Dec. 3 attacks on Asian students at South Philadelphia High School, and whose story City Paper broke Wednesday (in our cover story, Luu is referred to as "Guy").
The District had suspended and then attempted to transfer out Luu, citing a single report taken from individuals who Luu says had confronted him, and not vice-versa. Later, officials accused Luu of being in a gang.
Reports the Inquirer:
City school district officials formally acknowledged yesterday that 17-year-old Hao Luu was not connected to a street gang - an allegation that was used to ban him from South Philadelphia High.
Evelyn Sample-Oates, the district's vice president for communications, said a letter had been placed in Luu's file to acknowledge his innocence and clear his name of the charge.
"If there's any wrongdoing on the school district's part," she said, promising a full review, "we certainly will apologize to him and his family."
...
The district, at the request of the School Reform Commission, will examine the actions and decisions that led to Luu's suspension and ban from the school, which was convulsed by racial violence Dec. 3.
Good news to Luu and his family, no doubt and, frankly, to us here at City Paper, as well.
But ... did I just read that the District's handling of this is being examined by ... the District?
[...] Even in the face of overwhelming evidence that this never happened and a discipline hearing which confirmed that this did not happen… the district stuck to this narrative of a ‘gangsta’ Asian boy starting it all on December 2nd. (Update: On March 19th following an investigative report on the district’s railroading of this student – the school district cleared the name of this wrongly accused student.) [...]
Wow - what a bunch of racist district administrators. Can someone forward this to the White House, this needs national attention or else it'll be swept under the rug. Kudos to the Citypaper for being frank and honest.
Thanks for your great work on this story. I have no doubt that the strength of the story had a lot to do with pushing the District to take action after months of stalling this deeply wronged family.
 |
| Isaiah thompson |
| Suong Nguyen wants Hao's name cleared. |
At Wednesday's School Reform Commission meeting, Suong Nguyen, the grandmother of Hao Luu or "Guy," as you might know him from this week's cover story testified before the Commission that her grandson had been unfairly accused of being a gang member and aggressor in the events culminating in the Dec. 3 attacks on Asian students, and was pushed out of the school after complaining that he himself was attacked the day before.
You can read the details of Hao Luu's case in this week's cover storty, "It's Your Fault." In a nutshell: Shortly after the Dec 3 attacks on more than twenty Asian student by mostly black students, District officials began casting the whole thing as "retaliation" for a prior incident, in which a disabled black student was allegedly beaten up by an Asian student. They also announced that four Asian students had been suspended, giving further credence to the idea of a two-way conflict. Superintendent Arlene Ackerman also said that gang influences may have been involved.
But the bulk of this alternative version of events rests on the disciplinary action taken against one Vietnamese student, Hao Luu, who reported that he himself was attacked after school, by mostly black students, the day before. The day his grandmother reported the attack to school officials, Luu was suspended on the basis of an incident report based, in turn, on the testimony of two students who were detained by police after, Luu says, confronting him in the hallway earlier that day.
When his suspension ended, the school attempted to transfer Luu to a disciplinary school - on the same charges. When Luu's family appeared for a transfer hearing, District officials did not, and the transfer was overturned - only to be replaced by another transfer request, which the school later dropped. Hao's family finally enrolled him in a private school.
Nguyen asked the board yesterday that "Hao's reputation be restored."
Interestingly, the accusation that Hao Luu might be involved with gangs seems to have come (based on my own reporting) primarily from one school official, Community Coordinator Wali Smith, who also advised District officials that Luu would not be "safe" at SPHS.
Smith declined to talk to me at the SRC meeting a week ago, but gave the Daily News an interesting quote yesterday:
"[Luu] is playing this part that he's an innocent guy," he said.
"Everybody knows if he went in there tomorrow, they would go after him."
But what does that mean? In one sentence, he seems to question Luu's "innocence" even though no evidence has been produced linking Luu to any attack, let alone the alleged attack on a "disabled" black student (Several SPHS kids told me outside the school that the attack had occured, but that it had taken place on the subway platform. There are no accounts of Hao Luu's having anything to do with any incident in the subway).
In the next sentence, though, he suggests that "they," black students? "would go after him."
Maybe it's just one of those funny quotes, but it almost seems as if Smith is saying, "Maybe he's guilty, or maybe he's a walking target, but either way, he doesn't belong at SPHS."
An odd way of looking at things for a school community liason, no?
 |
| Isaiah Thompson |
| Asian-American Community Advocates comfort a tearful Suong Nguyen |
Asians...fight violence w/ violence. It's the only language that they understand...trustme...I know!
 |
Will Philly Mag's new blog, The Philly Post, just die a slow death like its old one did? Hard to tell so far, but the new blog is pretty (in a conventional, white-picket-fence kinda way which I guess is perfect), and it is hilarious that Larry Mendte will be writing twice-weekly columns for it.
One question, though: What's with the vague, bro-y "Yeah. That's What We're Talking About" motto?
 |
| casinosmack.com |
Philadelphia, meet Steve Wynn, the new prospective financier of the former, flailing Foxwoods casino.
He's charming; he's funny; he's unnaturally tan; and he's just absolutely, totally thrilled at how close his new casino venture is to "every conceivable stripe of ethnic group that likes to shoot craps and gamble," notably: Jews, Italians, and Vietnamese.
So he remarked in a conference call yesterday, in which he assured stockholders and financial experts that his casino will make money. Wynn seemed to place special emphasis on the proximity (four blocks!) of his casino to a Vietnamese neighborhood.
That might not sit so well with activists for Philadelphia's Asian-American communities, who have highlighted problem and pathological gambling as a particularly serious problem, and who accuse the gambling industry of engaging in the predatory luring of gamblers, especially gamblers of Asian descent.
But hey as a Jew myself, I say it's nice to be in the spotlight or is cross-hairs a better word?
Full quote:
"On the other side of the bridge is Cherry Hill, New Jersey, all full of good ol' ... my old friends Italians and Jews and every conceivable stripe of ethnic group that love to shoot crap and gamble. And they're ten minutes away in their cars or in a bus from my casino on the Delaware river. I love the proximity to these people. I love the proximity to the Vietnamese neighborhood. And I'm gonna put in a beautiful Vietnamese restaurant for them. I'm going to build a very pretty place ... that is perfectly responsive to that market."
I just noticed in an article on Wynn that his profit was only 20.6 million on $3 billion in sales. That is small enough to be an accounting error (i.e., "cooked books). His company is obviously hurting and is looking for a quick fix in Philadelphia. He is not looking to build an enduring facility. What a sham. If the regulators let this one pass, they deserve to be impeached.
i find these remarks to be very insulting and i'm even MORE against steve wynn's casino than foxwoods for this reason and also because of matt dejulio enlightening remarks.
CasinoFreePhila is going to Harrisburg to protest this man and his plans tomorrow. Join if you can! Philadelphia, please don't let yourself become the next Detroit.
[...] billionaire Steve Wynn says he's excited to come to South Philly, because he "love[s] being only two blocks away from a [...]
 |
In addition to crowning Meal Ticket's Felicia D'Ambrosio the brainiest beer drinker in Philly, Philadelphia Weekly gave a shout-out to three of City Paper's contributors in their "Better Than Best" issue: Brian James Kirk, Christopher Wink and Sean Blanda, aka the dudes behind Technically Philly. Sez PW, which named them the "Best Self-Promoters on the New Media Scene" (a euphemism, perhaps, for "Biggest Twitter Sluts"):
The guysSean Blanda, Brian James Kirk and Chris Winkare certainly good at getting their names out there: The trio appeared last spring at BarCamp Philly, a gathering of veteran journalists, to explain the virtues of their approach. And if that approach appears to be a combination of web links, brief stories and occasional interviews that skim the surface of the local scenewell, whos to say that isnt the future of media?
Technically Philly, coincidentally, is celebrating its first b-day at 7:30 p.m. tonight, at the University of the Arts (211 S. Broad St., Terra Building, Room 1107). It's free, but you need to RSVP.
- ActiVman
- adventures
- Arts
- Ask A Man-About-Town
- Award Tour
- Awards
- Bad Idea Factory
- Beer
- Below the Curve
- Bikes
- Booze
- Brian Hickey
- BRT
- Budget
- Budget Fuss
- Business
- Casinos
- City Council
- City Hall
- CouncilMANIC
- CP Abroad
- CP in the Community
- Criminal Justice System
- Day Tripper
- Death and Taxes
- Delaware River
- Design
- DROP
- Drugs
- Dubious Distinction
- Elections
- End of Days
- Environment
- Fashion
- Film Fest
- Financial Meltdown
- FrackTrack
- Free Library
- Gambling
- Gay Stuff
- Get Lit
- Greenstorming
- guns
- Hall Monitor
- Health
- Health Care
- Hello, Kitty
- Holidays
- Ice Cubes
- Iggles
- Immigration
- In Memoriam
- Labor
- Lawsuits
- Letters
- LGBTQ
- Maps
- Marcellus Shale
- Media
- MMA
- Mummers
- Music
- MUST READ
- Mysterious Mysteries
- Nation
- News
- Non Sequitur
- Opinion
- PA politics 2010
- Parking Wars
- Parks and Recreation
- People Send Us This Stuff
- Philadelphia Police
- Philadelphia Union
- Philaphemera
- Philly From Scratch
- philly madness
- Photos
- Poverty
- PPA
- President Obama
- Print Edition
- Prisons
- Protest
- Readers Write
- Real Estate
- Rock Bottom
- Schools
- Science
- Screwing Philly
- SEPTA
- snow
- So Lush
- Soccer
- Sporting Life
- Sports Complex
- State Politicians
- State Politics
- Street Art
- Strike
- Stuff We Like
- Taxes
- Taxi Drivers
- Tech Fetish
- television
- The Budget Crisis
- The City Paper
- The CLOG
- The Human Condition
- The Mayor
- The Phightin Phils
- The World
- Things that make you go hm
- Tinfoil Hats Off
- Under the Table
- Under the Tables
- Urban Development
- Urban Planning
- urban wildlife
- Video Poker
- We Call Shenanigans
- Weather
- Web Junk
- Weekend Omnibus
- White House
- What We've Found
- Women's Issues
- Flyered Up!
- How 'Bout That Weather?
- it's always sunny in philadelphia
- Stu!
- Shopping
- get out
- 10-track mind
- ArtsFlash
- Bloggity
- Bruce Being Bruce
- Colleges
- Comedy
- Gigantic Surprises
- Hello Canary
- Hello Puppy
- errata
- get lost
- Inside The Fishbowl
- Library Closings
- Local Support
- Movies
- Murder
- Night Moves
- Recycling
- radio
- Scientology
- Sex
- Sixers
- Skeeze Police
- State Politicians Screwing Philly
- That's a cool stencil!
- Theater
- Things We See
- This Week
- This Week in Oates
- University City
- WIN
- What we don't heart
- trailer!
- what we heart
- Feeling Guilty
- Askadelphia.
- Broke in Philly
- Contest
- Dance
- Dear Paper Doll
- Do A Good Thing
- Education
- Film Fest Schism
- G20-20 Vision
- Goodbye
- Gossip
- Great American Heroes
- PATCO
- Pearl Jam Week
- Puppy
- Stars of the Photostream
- sustainability
- Lower Merion Webcam-Gate
- The Cycle
- Equality Forum
- Bureaucrat of the Week
- Animals
- ElectionEar
- Photostream
