AltWeeklies Wire
Happytown: The Sad Hobo Dance of Baked Beansnew
In an email issued on July 16, the Orlando Police Department has some tips for making sure that you do not become a victim of poor people's sticky fingers. Best among them is that you should call 911 if anybody is acting suspiciously in your line of vision, because "you, the resident, know what activity is normal for your area." There are people outside! And they are dancing!
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman and Billy Manes |
07-24-2009 |
Commentary
Gogol Bordello: Just Gypsies Passing Throughnew
The great danger of Gogol Bordello's music is that it resonates with rootless Americans, searching for identity and fairly blasé about grammar ourselves. Amidst the good-time atmosphere of their songs, listeners find themselves drawn into a message they might otherwise have dismissed as hippie BS.
Orlando Weekly |
T.I. Fraser |
07-24-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Orlando Police Beatnew
July 9, 8:24 am: Officer Gibson responded to a "residential burglary overwith," whatever that means, and tells us, "Unknown suspect(s) entered unlocked service door to the garage and removed a purple suitcase and three cases of Coca-Cola."
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman |
07-24-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Lies & Videotape: The Case Against an Allegedly Abusive Orlando Cop Heads to Trialnew
On April 12, 2007, while working off-duty as a security guard at the now-defunct Club Paris nightclub, Orlando cop Fernando Trinidad pushed a woman down a flight of stairs.
Orlando Weekly |
Jeffrey C. Billman |
07-24-2009 |
Crime & Justice
Matthew Falconer Shows How to Run a Campaign and Alienate Peoplenew
Developer, politician, everyman: Falconer bases his run for Orlando mayor on being in touch with the regular folk.
Orlando Weekly |
Billy Manes |
07-24-2009 |
Politics
Gay Director Todd Holland's Advice to Play it Straightnew
Holland, a 47-year-old gay man who has become a success with critically acclaimed TV shows such as The Larry Sanders Show and Malcolm in the Middle, is an informal mentor to young, gay male actors. They seek his advice, he told an Outfest audience, and he routinely tells them to stay in the closet.
L.A. Weekly |
Patrick Range McDonald |
07-24-2009 |
LGBT
Municipal Workers Are Copping a Comfy Retirement ... But At What Cost?new
Workers across the country -- particularly police and fire groups -- have been so good at politicking for increased pay and benefits that observers are starting to worry whether those successes could leave cities vulnerable to financial straits.
Fort Worth Weekly |
Jeff Prince |
07-24-2009 |
Politics
Cannabizness: New Mexico's Medical Marijuana Industry is About to Bloomnew
Want to break into the marijuana business? You too can learn how to grow it, cook it, distribute it and, best of all, it's 100 percent legal. If Canntechs were to advertise on late-night television, that might be the pitch.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Dave Maass |
07-24-2009 |
Drugs
Slicing the Pie: Our Strange Politics of Rich and Poornew
It's pretty darned clear that our current political leadership has taken the lessons of Niccolo Machiavelli to heart. But just now, because of the great economic collapse of the end of the Bush-Madoff era, change is being thrust upon us. And the toughest change is always going to be about money -- who gets it, and who gets to keep it.
Artvoice |
Bruce Fisher |
07-24-2009 |
Commentary
How LAPD's 'Closers' Nabbed A Serial Killer Known as The Westside Rapistnew
In a long-shot quest to find one prominent serial killer, police instead found another. Through tantalizing coincidences and teamwork that tapped the memories of long-retired cops, LAPD found the The Westside Rapist, a man who had slipped away from the cops in 1957 and went on to terrorize elderly women in Southern California for a generation.
L.A. Weekly |
Christine Pelisek |
07-24-2009 |
Crime & Justice
In 'The Ugly Truth,' Even the Vibrating Underpants Are on Autopilotnew
In this formulaic battle of the sexes, no one will be mistaking Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler for Hepburn and Tracy.
Austin Chronicle |
Marjorie Baumgarten |
07-23-2009 |
Reviews
'(500) Days of Summer': A Modern Romancenew
This romantic comedy is a deeply funny, seductive, and surprisingly honest dramatization of the ways we snooker ourselves into incompatible love.
Austin Chronicle |
Kimberley Jones |
07-23-2009 |
Reviews
'Breadline USA' Examines the Reality of Hunger in Americanew
America's No. 1 health problem, the media relentlessly tell us, is obesity. Americans eat too much and we're the fattest people in the world. Except that, according to Sasha Abramsky, many Americans go hungry on a regular basis. And even many of those who aren’t hungry today suffer from what experts have taken to calling "food insecurity."
Sacramento News & Review |
Kel Munger |
07-23-2009 |
Nonfiction
Social Networking is Ruining Your Summernew
Warm weather is supposed to be about perching on a saggy lawn chair during a backyard barbecue, swatting at mosquitoes and waiting for a turn at the beer-pong table. Unfortunately, I find myself struggling to balance my beer between my knees and my overstocked paper plate on my thigh as I furiously poke at my BlackBerry.
Boston Phoenix |
Sara Faith Alterman |
07-23-2009 |
Tech
Colorado's Grim State Budget Leaves Little for Higher Ednew
Community colleges got a potential leg-up last week from Obama. But back in Colorado, a state budget hole could sink any benefit, putting state funding for higher education into serious doubt.
Colorado Springs Independent |
Anthony Lane |
07-23-2009 |
Education
