AltWeeklies Wire
Insiders Accuse Orange County School Board of Trying to Cover Up Fraudnew
It seems logical that if Orange County Public Schools discovered that a contractor was bilking them for thousands of dollars, maybe more, they'd do something about it immediately. But that apparently didn't happen.
Orlando Weekly |
Deanna Morey |
07-31-2008 |
Crime & Justice
DNA Has All but Cleared Bill Dillon of a 27-Year-Old Murder; The State Doesn't Seem to Carenew
Add the recent DNA exoneration to all the problems associated with his farce of a trial nearly three decades ago, and one has to wonder why Bill Dillon still sits in state prison.
Orlando Weekly |
Deanna Morey |
07-31-2008 |
Crime & Justice
White Denial: Obama, Race and America's Selective Memorynew

Obama's election would be a stunning step forward. John McCain's election would be a stunning step backward, at a time when America can ill afford another false step. What's wrong with Obama? Not much that I can see, not compared to what's wrong with you if you think his election is a threatening proposition.
INDY Week |
Hal Crowther |
07-31-2008 |
Commentary
Blisternew
Tonight, everything is in glossy shades of black and white, with only tasteful clots of red and glassy green peppered throughout to give the social illusion of healing or growing or anything, really, that can offset this fashionable, binary severity of being.
Orlando Weekly |
Billy Manes |
07-31-2008 |
Comedy
Tags: humor & satire
The Orlando Police Beatnew
This week marks a special edition of Police Beat. Worry not, dear readers. We'll soon be back to spilling ink on copper thievery and aborted home invasions. But this week, we're going to venture off the beaten path just a little.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman |
07-31-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Tags: crime & justice
Happytown Deals With Local Politiciansnew
You know what’s fun? Having your head dipped in a chocolate fountain with strawberries up your nose. You know what isn’t? National politics played out by local politicians in a law-office boardroom with no chocolate or strawberries in sight.
Orlando Weekly |
Billy Manes | Deanna Morey | Bob Whitby |
07-31-2008 |
Media
Tags: media
How Renters Work the System to Live for Free in a Very Expensive Citynew
Depending on the vigilance of the landlord, a seasoned serial evictee like John Getzow can get away with a minimum of 45 days and sometimes up to a year of free rent. The actual number of serial evictees operating in San Francisco is difficult to track, but some attorneys who specialize in representing landlords estimate there are between 20 and 100.
SF Weekly |
John Geluardi |
07-31-2008 |
Housing & Development
Insiders at San Fran's Daily Paper Hate the Ex-Mayor's New Columnnew
People in and around the San Francisco Chronicle newsroom -- which still includes news scribes dedicated to the pursuit of truth -- are sickened by the new Willie Brown deal. "Real journalists in the room were appalled by it," said one insider familiar with the mood at the paper.
Where are the Girls in Stoner Flicks?new
Other than Greg Araki's Smiley Face (featuring the totally underrated Anna Faris), which Rickey mentions, I can't think of any female stoner taking point in a movie.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Molly Eichel |
07-31-2008 |
Movies
Battered Woman Becomes American Refugee in Amsterdamnew

A wanted fugitive and kidnapper in the United States, Holly Collins was granted refugee status in the Netherlands in 1997. She fled the US to keep her husband -- who beat her -- from taking custody of their kids.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Beth Walton |
07-31-2008 |
Children & Families
Tricky (Philip K.) Dicknew
Published last spring, the first Philip K. Dick volume in the Library of America series caught this wave at its peak. This second offering might not be so fortunate.
Boston Phoenix |
Peter Keough |
07-31-2008 |
Fiction
Extreme Animals Recreates Itself with Old Soundsnew
Extreme Animals acts like the kids we were warned we might become from playing too much Galaga, but that's not entirely why it's embraced making new music with old MIDI technology.
INDY Week |
Chris Toenes |
07-31-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Extreme Animals, MIDI technology
Victim, Not Vixennew
Evelyn Nesbit biographer Paula Uruburu makes a convincing case that sexual naïveté plus parental abandonment aggravated by an unearned notoriety based on looks alone added up to certain doom for the most beautiful woman in the world.
Boston Phoenix |
Clif Garboden |
07-31-2008 |
Nonfiction
The Rise of the Minisodenew
I spent 25 minutes with the Minisode Network on YouTube, and realized: The minisode is its own thing, a kind of minimal, calligraphic rendition of the original story, rather illuminating in the spareness of its strokes.
Boston Phoenix |
James Parker |
07-31-2008 |
TV
Political Humor is No Longer Welcome in Academianew
For close to two decades, academia has been in the grips of a political-correctness fury that has strangled the sense of humor that was once the campus's best-known calling card. So if you're wondering why Barack Obama had such a surprisingly negative reaction to that New Yorker cover, consider the Harvard Factor.
Boston Phoenix |
Harvey Silverglate |
07-31-2008 |
Civil Liberties