Fighting the Philadelphia heat

Some Philly guards and inmates are not receiving air conditioning (CBS) even though it's like 1200 degrees.  Dozens of people were treated for heat-related illness at the latest Philly game (CBS).  In NYC, one woman decided to deal with the heat by taking off her clothes on the subway (Gawker)  Ultimately, nine people in Philadelphia died of heat-related conditions. (CBS)

Marijuana in Philly, Marijuana in Jersey

Gov. Christie has said that he will not move forward with the implementation of New Jersey's medical marijuana program until he gets an okay from the feds that no state employee will ever be prosecuted for involvement with medical marijuana.  Those familiar with the Department of Justice say no assurances will be forthcoming, even though the feds (at least under this administration) are unlikely to do anything about it.  Advocates are reluctantly considering suing Christie so he will move his fat ass and get this program implemented and some sick people will have some relief. (ABC) Meanwhile, Philadelphia has saved two million by decriminalizing small amounts of weed. (Daily News).

And hooray!  Today Christie announced that, despite not having blanket promises from the feds, med growers can start 'em up. (CBS)

Gov. Corbett to PA schoolchildren: If you just died we'd all be better off

Mayor Nutter stated over the fourth of July weekend that public education was vital to attaining "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'  Sing it.  Yet, the recently passed state budget cuts close to a billion from public education, with over a quarter of that hitting the Philadelphia area (thenotebook).  Thank you, Gov. Corbett.  Of course the answer to the recession is to ensure that poor kids will be unqualified to do anything except perhaps manual labor in the natural gas industry which you, Tom Corbett, are a fucking pimp. But wait, there's more Corbett to hate!  You see, he blames upcoming layoffs on school districts (as opposed to his budget which has all the nuance, vis-a-vis budget cutting, of a Transformers movie) (Delcotimes)

Philadelphia: Police bed bugs. Upstate New York: Pardoned cow. Jersey: Elephant struck by lightning

It's the Philly region animal hour!

Lucy the Elephant in New Jersey (a FAKE but IMPORTANT elephant) was struck by lighting.  Damaged, not destroyed, thank the lord. 

Kayli the cow (a REAL and NOT IMPORTANT cow) escaped from a PA slaughterhouse, was pardoned by the Governor, and is now grazing in upstate New York. (WSJ.com)  Because even though it got a pardon from Gov. Corbett, like many PA residents it hates that man so fucking much it had to go somewhere where he does not govern.

Bed bugs, AKA minions of Satan, have infested three Philadelphia police stations (CBS).

Fracking in Pennsylvania: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

 As per the Sierra Club, some of Pennsylvania's fracking activities violate federal laws.  And this week's This American Life covered the issue of fracking in Pennsylvania, provided an excoriating look at how a) Fracking is going to poison us all; b) Gov. Tom Corbett is going to let us be poisoned, because he refuses to regulate this dangerous practice; and c) Drilling companies are throwing money at townships so that nobody will complain about their being poisoned.  And hazardous build-ups of methane gas (causing an explosion and forcing evacuations in places) in 35 drilling sites is attributed to faulty drilling practices. (PoconoRecord). 

Books: Mamet as right-wing loon; DFW on cynics, profit-seeking; amazing ipad app from Brit library; ZOMG YA IS SO SCARY

David Mamet has lost his fucking mind like a fucking child.  Sorry, that was my Mamet impression.  He's gone all climate change doesn't exist and big government is bad;  one would think that he's got a poster with a misspelled rant and a racist caricature of Obama on it. (Financial Times, via Metafilter)

NYRB prints a 2006 interview with David Foster Wallace entitled "A Frightening Time in America."   Lot of it has to do with what he describes as an age of extreme cynicism in the U.S. and Europe, with nations of people believing that all is a performance.  Moreover, in the U.S. the celebration of wealth and the act of acquiring it has become the dominating principle, which hey, isn't news, but Christ almighty think back a hundred years where people were talkin' about how money is the root of all evil and all that good shit. (Metafilter).

Oh God, now I really want one of those stupid fucking things:  the British Library has made 1,000 titles out of its 19th Century Collection available as an ipad app.  (Teleread)

Metafilter's Daily Alice does a nice-round up of the WSJ article that described today's YA offerings as horrifying and should therefore be pissed on and buried, I guess, and the responses from YA writers that are kind of like, "Have you ever been a teenager? 'Cause now that shit, that shit's horrifying." 

Philadelphia: assault over urine bet, condom-filled acorns, I hate Tom Corbett and his ways, vengeance rap

BREAKING NEWS:  Dude who beat up another dude over a bet regarding the presence of a bottle of urine in the dude's car. Beat-up dude was in hospital four days.  Beating dude now going to jail (ABC).

ALSO:  Judicial complaint filed against judge who brought unwrapped-condom-filled acorns to his bench and then handed them out as, I guess, sort of a romantic gesture?  No, really, that's about the grossest creepiest thing ever.  Also the link to the ABC news story has a picture of acorns with unwrapped condoms spilling out like sofa stuffing. 

Philly teachers and parents are freaking out over the 3,000 layoff notices that went out to teachers in the Philly school district.  Mayor Nutter is up in Harrisburg begging for money so that our city can educate its youth.  Yeah, I'm sure Gov. Corbett will get right on that. (CBS)

There was a big anti-Marcellus Shale-fracking rally in the state capitol -- only the activists were divided because some wanted to ban fracking on the grounds that the process will poison your water and kill you and everything you treasure, while others were in favor of taxing the companies for the privilege of poisoning the water and killing all of God's creatures (Politics PA).

PA is losing federal unemployment benefits, so the unemployed here are in desperate need of state unemployment funds.  But they're fucking around with it in the capitol, so some unemployed may face a period of zero income (Poconos Record).

Rap Master Maurice will make up a vengeance rap for ya.  It only costs seventeen bucks.  He'll then phone up the object of your ire and RAP YOUR WRATH (he'll also do a friendly rap for a few more bucks -- it's harder to rhyme the love, yo).  Here is an excerpt from his '08 anti-McCain rap:

NOW THIS JOHN MCCAIN SEE HE'S A LUNATIC
HIS DOME IS LIKE A MILKSHAKE YOU SEE HIS HEAD IS THICK
HE WANTS TO KEEP THE USA IN IRAQ
THAT'S ABOUT AS HEALTHY AS A DOUBLE BIG MAC
I'D RATHER CAST MY VOTE FOR MAYOR MCCHEESE
AT LEAST HE DOESN'T HATE THE VIETNAMESE 


Oh Rap Master Maurice, how I love thee, and thus I sing your praises, even tho I ain't sure you're in Philly. (via DailyCandy Philadelphia)