Radio: My favorite discovery of 2012 is "Radio Lab", a story telling show reminiscent of another favorite, 'This American Life', but with a much more sophisticated sound design. All episodes are available for free in the podcast section of iTunes.

Music: I fell in love with the New Orleans second line scene after Issy and I paid a visit to the crescent city this year. We saw the 'Rebirth Brass Band' live and had a great time. We also had a mini-meetup at the show with @dotdude. New Orleans music culture is like no other.

Music: Louis Cole & Genevieve Artadi: Highly unique and energetic electro-acoustic music. Hard to explain.

Music: Austin Texas band 'The Black Angels' - Dark, bluesy rock obviously influenced by the Doors. To be honest, I'm not crazy about blues rock or the Doors, but 'The Black Angels' manage to meld these influences into something I really dig.

Music: UK band, 'Metronomy'. Their sound is eclectic, hooky and heavily influenced by all the cool British 80's bands I loved as a kid. Goes down easy. Works in the background as well as the fore.

Movies: Django and Looper were the two films that captivated me from start to finish. Both films by gifted auteurs, one at the top of his game, the other on the rise. Great writing. Great Directing. Great performances.

Horror movies: The Cabin in the Woods (A clever and absurd meta-horror mashup) and the The Lady in Black (A classic, classy ghost story) both satisfied. It's nice that there were a couple of diamonds in sea of Paranormal-Activity-esque-found-footage detritus.

TV: same stuff that everyone else likes - BB, GoT, DoAb and Sherlock. I also got into Always Sunny in Philadelphia this year - very dark, very funny.

Books: Started a bunch, finished very few. Nothing to recommend. "Checklist Manifesto" is pretty interesting so far - it's about how the brain functions (or fails to function) in the information-dense present.

Games: 'Xcom' was a worthy update of the original. Loved all the detailed micro/macro strategy. 'Journey' was beautiful and fairly moving for a videogame.

A bit uncalled for, I was not indicating that He was not guilty, I am however saying that we lack context in most of these videos because we have no idea what actions were taken immediately before or after this video. We have one angle of view and no idea if what looked like a haymaker from this angle looked like a poorly aimed attempt to grab a fleeing suspect from another. What I love about alot of these videos is they only contain about a 30 second "gotcha clip" of the cop when the next ten minutes could be the same cop apologizing profusely for an accidental hit. If you think that people don't accidentally hit each other I can point you to 100+ videos on this site alone backing me up. Now my main point here is even though I can remain apprehensive until we know the full story I'm also not jumping on the cops side and saying he is automatically free of blame, because honestly I don't know, I wasn't there (and neither where you). These videos leave a bad taste because of intent. I used to support the idea of Posting police misconduct until it became a habit to spread this "Us vs Them" attitude. For the most part, unless you are a criminal, you and the police should be on the same side and most police are more interested in getting through their day and just doing their job than actively trying to hurt anyone. Implying I'm a rapist is nothing more than ad hominem because you couldn't argue against my opinion.

>> ^Kofi:

I'm not saying that @arekin is a rapist. I'm just saying that he was male at the same time as a woman was raped. >> ^arekin:
I always hate police videos because they completely lack context. The "punch" looks very awkward to me, The officer would have been in his right to detain the woman if he believed she was throwing water (or even silly string) at the officers. If he felt that she was fleeing (as she was walking away) he is permitted to use acceptable force.
I'm not saying that any of this is the case, but "gotcha" police videos always leave a bad taste in my mouth.

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The Philadelphia police officer who was captured on video punching a woman in the face will be fired.

Police Commmissioner Charles H. Ramsey said today that he had issued a direct-action dismissal, an immediate step that commissioners can take if they have evidence that an officer has violated departmental policies or the law.

Lt. Jonathan Josey, 39, is a decorated 19-year veteran of the department who has been praised by some colleagues even after the video emerged. He declined to comment. As of Thursday, he is suspended for a month with the intent to dismiss.

Ramsey had previously said he was "deeply troubled" by the now-notorious video.

"From what I saw, it's difficult to justify the actions that took place," Ramsey said Tuesday.

Josey's punch to the woman's head, which knocked her to the ground and bloodied her face, appeared to be a case of excessive force being used to make an arrest, Ramsey said.

The woman, Aida Guzman of Chester, was arrested Sunday for disorderly conduct at a celebration in North Philadelphia following the city's Puerto Rican Day parade. Police said they thought she was throwing liquid at a group of officers, which led Josey to target her.

District Attorney Seth Williams said today that charges against Guzman have been dropped.

Ramsey said police still have not been able to interview Guzman, despite several attempts. He made a public request that she speak to police in order to help move the investigation forward.



Philly officer who sucker-punched woman will be fired

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I'm not saying that @arekin is a rapist. I'm just saying that he was male at the same time as a woman was raped. >> ^arekin:

I always hate police videos because they completely lack context. The "punch" looks very awkward to me, The officer would have been in his right to detain the woman if he believed she was throwing water (or even silly string) at the officers. If he felt that she was fleeing (as she was walking away) he is permitted to use acceptable force.
I'm not saying that any of this is the case, but "gotcha" police videos always leave a bad taste in my mouth.

>> ^arekin:

I always hate police videos because they completely lack context. The "punch" looks very awkward to me, The officer would have been in his right to detain the woman if he believed she was throwing water (or even silly string) at the officers. If he felt that she was fleeing (as she was walking away) he is permitted to use acceptable force.
I'm not saying that any of this is the case, but "gotcha" police videos always leave a bad taste in my mouth.


Same, same arekin, I feel your pain-

>> ^ctrlaltbleach:

Wait a minute did he just hit and arrest her for what the person in black did behind her? <img class="smiley" src="http://cdn.videosift.com/cdm/emoticon/oops.gif">


In the first second of footage she squirts some silly string from a can. Then the person in black throws the contents of a cup in the same direction. Either way it's a major over-reaction by the police imo.

"....and authorities in Philadelphia claim they believe street gangs to be behind the recent heist of several pallets of the substance from a manufacturing facility earlier this year, presumably, for their vintage sneaker collections."

haha I've been a ref since when I was in high school. I know the angles and all that, that's why I'm laughing. Even funnier is your empty threat of beating me up. I live in Philadelphia. Message me when you come to visit, I'll give you a proper ass beating tough guy. hahaha internet tough guys make me laugh more than anything. Bring it bitch. I'll have my friend record it all. It will be my first number #1. >> ^Yogi:

>> ^Stu:
haha i got way too good a laugh from this>> ^Yogi:
How is the ref a bum? Have you ever refereed? Because from that angle that certainly had to look like a foul, he called what he saw that doesn't make him a bum.
ON TOP OF THAT the referee admitted his mistake and called a drop ball instead of a penalty kick which he is absolutely within his rights to insist. This is an honest referee, who listens to the players and doesn't just act like a jerk.
If you think he's a bum for making a mistake and then copping to it, you're an asshole.


You're still an asshole and an idiot. I've reffed games and been threatened with knives, if I knew you I'd beat the living shit out of you.

Completely agree! That is the argument that is logical to make, but it will never hold up in a federal court because it is the philosophy and the freedoms that are availed to us that lead to the problems, not the money itself. And I wouldn't want to limit that type of freedom.

A poor person with a tiny income can decide what to do with their income the same way large, multinational corporations can. And by that I mean either act in a way that is decent, respectful and responsible, or they can spend it questionably.
>> ^Grimm:

While that kind of welfare is a problem...it's peanuts compared to the kind of corporate welfare that goes on.>> ^Edgeman2112:
I worked at a grocery store when I was younger outside Philadelphia in a bad section. I would watch people pay for groceries with food stamps, then pack the groceries into to their lexus suv. No joke.

While that kind of welfare is a problem...it's peanuts compared to the kind of corporate welfare that goes on.>> ^Edgeman2112:

I worked at a grocery store when I was younger outside Philadelphia in a bad section. I would watch people pay for groceries with food stamps, then pack the groceries into to their lexus suv. No joke.

Take an unbiased point of view. You must realize that is not the only money (stumulus, bailouts) in the world. People, and banks, have money that earned through their own private investments. Now, the government gives a business a million dollars, then you read later they earned a million, that is not a legitimate reason to get pissed at them. But that's what is happening.

Here is a 100% true story that servers as an analogy:

I worked at a grocery store when I was younger outside Philadelphia in a bad section. I would watch people pay for groceries with food stamps, then pack the groceries into to their lexus suv. No joke. Yes I got mad, but it wasn't illegal. The same thing happened to the banks. They need help, but they also have money to afford other things that they value. If the government stepped in, they would be powerless because the shopper spent money that was not the government's money.

And before you start replying with proposed government regulations, realize that government isn't the cause of that food stamp SUV problem. They can't fix it either. The problem was that that person was able to afford the SUV by leasing it. The problem is not that the government failed to check her income level. Now the question becomes whether it SHOULD be fixed at all. Ponder that further.

>> ^Grimm:

...he's blaming the current administration for not taking measures to help insure via the bail-outs and stimulus packages that the vast majority of the recovery isn't being funneled to the top 1%.