Seth Williams In Worst Feud Ever

Seth Williams — former Inspector General of Philadelphia and permanent District Attorney of the Internet — was lambasted by DA Lynne Abraham yesterday for his “baseless” charges against City Councilman Curtis Jones. Uhm, okay.

Abraham said the info Williams passed on about Jones was “poorly done” and based on “flawed reasoning.” Oh snap! Jones took some shots at Williams as well, claiming, “You want a fair and nonsensationalized investigation.” Ooh, an even bigger shot! Erhm, okay.

Seth Williams, any response: “It’s unfortunate that the district attorney is taking a political shot at me through this vehicle. Investigating fraud and waste in Philadelphia is a full-contact sport.” Boy, this sure is a heated political feud.

[Photo via Julie19144 on Flickr]

Okay, Fine: LOLLynnecat

You all drove me to this; I hope you’re happy.

Daily News LOLcat

Movie Ads On Buses Upset Politicians

Hey, looks like Philadelphia has more in common with Wilmington than I originally thought. District Attorney Lynne Abraham and a Montgomery County lawmaker are angry at SEPTA for accepting ads for the movie Hitman on buses.

Although SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney said the ad campaign is already over, Montco State Rep. Mike Vereb heard Abraham complaining about the bus ads and decided to let us know he’s not only against guns, he’s against guns with silencers: “We got rid of the Marlboro man years ago because cigarettes are bad for you. I submit to you that guns and guns with silencers are no better for you than cigarettes.” If that’s the thinking, then why is McDonald’s allowed to advertise on the subway?

KYW 1060 reports Vereb “intends to work through the state district attorney’s association to address his concerns through legislation.” I applaud his actions. There shouldn’t be any ads on buses except “VIGILANTE LAWYER.” And Hitman, damn, that video game nearly caused a school shooting in the suburbs.

In other news, I plan on starting an online petition to force SEPTA to apologize for the ads from the 1999 Mel Gibson vehicle Payback.

SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney says the ad was part of a two-week national buy that ended last week. He says SEPTA carefully reviews all ads for sex, violence, and alcohol, and the transit agency did not deem the silhouetted figure of a man objectionable. Maloney says it reminded him of ads for one of the James Bond films, “The Man With the Golden Gun.”

Although I do see the reference, I was thinking it was more like The Jazz Singer or maybe Pennsylvania Tunnel Excavation, equally recent films.

Eagles Honor Greatest Philadelphians; What, No Milton?

Dunkin Donuts — the official coffee of the Eagles™ — released its list of the 75 Greatest Living Philadelphians. This is done in conjunction with the Philadelphia Eagles, who are celebrating their 75th year. Why the Eagles and DD are honoring great Philadelphians, I do not know, but, hey, whatevs.

As expected, the list does not include me or Ira Einhorn. It does, however, include our own bloodthirsty district attorney, Lynne Abraham! Congratulations, Lynne!

But the most deserving member on the list is most certainly RED KLOTZ. Klotz, if you didn’t know, is the coach of the New York Nationals, the team that plays (and loses to) the Harlem Globetrotters every game. Formerly, he coached the Washington Generals, the previous team to hold that honor. Red, you’re a better ambassador to Philadelphia than I or Lynne Abraham could ever hope to be. And, really, since you coach a basketball team that loses every game, you fit in with Philadelphia perfectly.

Other notable names on the list: The Dunph, Ron Jaworski, Sonny Hill, David L. Cohen, the guy who runs the Narberth Basketball League (Dan Kazanicka), Len Law (awesome name #1), William J. Marrazzo (the much-loved WHYY President), Mary Mason, Erin McCool (awesome name #2), Larry Mendte, U.S. Rep Patrick Murphy, Q102’s Diego Ramos (!), Dawn Staley and Judy Wicks. Oh, this list is getting better and better the more I read it.

Full release and list after the jump.

More »

Mayor’s Race Roundup: Milton-Free Edition

With all the Milton Street news going around, sometimes it’s easy to forget there are other candidates running for mayor. Yes! That’s right! I didn’t know either, but I looked it up, and apparently there are, like, five other Democrats running! So let’s do a little round-up in what could become a daily feature for a whole week before I forget about it.

• Bob Brady not only picked up the endorsement of the FOP but also that of Lynne Abraham. He’s looking to complete the law-and-order trifecta by getting the crucial endorsement of ADA Jack McCoy. [Fight For Room 215; 6 ABC]

• But at least three of the other candidates were able to address the FOP in an attempt to get their endorsement. The FOP didn’t even want to hear Chaka Fattah because he failed to vote “Yes” — by, indeed, voting “No” — on a bill in the House of Representatives bashing a town in France for naming a street after Mumia Abu-Jamal. (Also he wants a new trial for the man convicted of the 1981 murder of Daniel Faulkner.) So, yes, it’s a street in France is playing a role in this year’s mayor’s race. [Metro]

• Speaking of Fattah, PW’s own Kia Gregory has a nice Chaka Fattah cover story today about how Fattah once competed in the Wing Bowl. Okay, so it’s actually about his career in politics and why he wants to be mayor and all that jazz. But I do believe if El Wingador ran for mayor, he’d win. [Philadelphia Weekly]

• And here’s Fattah’s technology plan and Michael Nutter’s emergency plan. The city currently doesn’t really have a, how you say, ” a real good plan” to deal with emergencies in the case of an attack or hurricane or whatever. [The Next Mayor]

• Oh, and Metro Anthony DiMeo beat reporter Josh Cornfeld Brian X. McCrone — the ‘X’ is for “Malcolm” — asked Sam Katz what he felt about the mayor’s race. And Sam Katz, of course, played the race card. This mayor’s race is a play, and everyone involved in it is just an actor. That has to be it. [Fight For Room 215]

Richardson Dilworth To Make Mayoral Bid

The Daily News reports today that union leader Henry Nicholas said Bob Brady called him up and asked him for his support for a mayoral run.

Brady (at right, doing… something) said he was just calling to see who Nicholas was supporting in the mayoral race and not asking for support for his own bid. Nicholas said he was certain Brady was asking him for support.

So, essentially, Brady’s in. (Not that Nicholas has been wrong before, like when he said he was going to run against Ed Rendell and didn’t, or when he said he was going to run against John Street, and didn’t.) Nicholas didn’t say he gave Brady his support, but he says he is going to play a role in the race: “I’m going to leverage somebody out at the appropriate time.” It’s good to know that the political boss is alive and well in Philadelphia.

But, anyway, who else could be in? Our kingmaker (mayormaker?) Nicholas has a suggestion:

For 2007, Nicholas said his favorite candidate would be District Attorney Lynne Abraham, who has shown no interest in the campaign.

Ooh, a mayor who will execute the city’s criminals herself! But why stop there? Come on! Everybody in to the mayoral pool! Milton Street, why aren’t you running? And Sam Katz, c’mon, try just one more time! And where’s Marty Weinberg? Hell, dig up the late Frank Rizzo, too, I bet he’d win! Richardson Dilworth, Joe Clark, William Penn! Ben Franklin! His “Benergy” campaign is sure to be a winner!

I think the question now isn’t who’s running for mayor, but who isn’t running for mayor.

‘And I turned 21 in prison, doin’ life without parole’

A report in today’s Daily News says that none other than our fair commonwealth leads the nation in juveniles serving life without parole. More than 330 juveniles are in prison for the rest of their lives. (There are about 2,225 nationwide, which puts PA roughly at 1/7 of the total.)

Why does Pennsylvania have so many inmates? Tough sentencing laws, mainly, and apparently a lot of teenagers without proper arts, athletics and porn to occupy their time.

So, celebrate! Tonight, you can sleep easy, knowing that you are safe from those 330 or so life-without-parolers. Take it from Lynne Abraham:

“I have very little sympathy for the Amnesty International position, when these little assassins come in with machine guns and submachine guns and kill people. Murder is murder.”

Thanks, Lynne!

No future [DN]

Pervs to get content from other city

Just as the government recently outlawed annoying someone on the Intenet anonymously — but not really — the city of Philadelphia has now outlawed something that some people find fairly annoying: upskirt photography.

Now by “people” I mean “women and transvestites.” Yes, the government has outlawed “upskirting,” where perveted capitalists take photos up women’s skirts without them knowing it and sell them to perveted Internet users. The crime is punishable by up to a year in prison.

Here’s how District Attorney/tough cookie Lynne Abraham describes “upskirting”:

“It’s posted for sale on the internet so sick-os around the world can tap into photos being taken.”

Tough words. Anyway, I don’t know how many upskirters read this website, but I wanted to make sure that, if any did, they’d know they gotta cool it.

Philly Goes After Upskirters [6 ABC]