Giant Penis In Tree Apparently Banal

A Gchat conversation:

Friend: my camera is dead but there is a penis with a parachute at 18th and arch hanging out of a tree

me: sadly, i’m working from home now
Friend: supposedly they do it fairly often but this is the first time i saw it

Smile, You’re On Candid Camera (Maybe)

Hey, kiddies! You like being on television? Well, you’re going to get a lot more chances soon, since apparently the entire City of Philadelphia will eventually be blanketed with 24/7/365 coverage.

Fortunately for the city’s more paranoid residents, there’s a good chance they won’t work at all. So, really, that sort of means the city is going to put up lots of non-functioning cameras, which is even better.

Philadelphia police say a pilot program that has located cameras as various locations in the city is having an impact on crime and police say they eventually hope to have the ability to place cameras anywhere around the city. [...]

“We want to establish a city-wide wireless network that will give us the ability to put a camera virtually anywhere in the city we need to; whether it’s for major events, homeland security, crime issues, or quality of life issues.”

Experts predict the city-wide wireless network to be finished in time a few weeks before the city-wide Wi-Fi network is complete, i.e. 2034.

Police Crime Cameras to be Used Across Phila. [KYW 1060]
March 26: Get Ready For More Of This In The Coming Weeks

Quickies: Immaculate reception

• A flight attendant is suing the city, alleging she was slapped by a Philadelphia police officer during a flight last year. And the flight where this happened was the final flight of her career. Oh, Philadelphia. [Inky]

• Daily News “Tattle” columnist Howard Gensler says to Britney, hey girl, you take some parenting lessons! Oh snap! [DN]

• Lynn Swann, who has yet to declare any of his stances on the issues, is now only three percentage points behind Ed Rendell. This is what is officially known in politics as the “post-team-you-played-for-wins-the-Super Bowl bounce.” [DN]

• And the city might install cameras to keep crime down. And to totally bust you when you buy that eighth on the corner. [Inky]