Today marks the beginning of Lent — and also the Year of the Water Dragon, the New Year in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition, astrologically calculated to be right. Background: Back in 1976, leader Trungpa Rinpoche (Rinpoche meaning “precious one” in Tibetan) began to spread secular mindfulness meditation through a series of trainings, and drew a [...]

>>> Contempt, the Jean-Luc Godard classic starring Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli and, er, Pennsyltucky’s own Jack Palance, is playing for free (though you must RSVP) at International House at 7pm, and looking at everything else that’s going on tonight, there’s no reason you shouldn’t go: Even the most avowed Godard-haters (philistines, one and all) can [...]

Only two days after Ed Rendell swore he would no longer talk about the bid on the Philadelphia Media Network (following the Laura Goldman incident), he spoke to Buzz Bissinger on 1210 AM. When asked about keeping journalistic integrity (HA!) at the papers if his bid went through, Rendell said, “Our group, I’m certain, would [...]

Well, color us surprised. After plans were announced back in October, a national Occupy general assembly is officially in the works to hit the cradle of liberty on — when else — Independence Day. According to the Washington Post, a group calling themselves the 99% Declaration Working Group “will meet in Philadelphia to deliberate, draft [...]

>>>An old quote of Ricky boy’s has resurfaced online where he claims, “Satan has his sights on the United States of America! … Satan is attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity, and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has so deeply rooted [...]

Last time we reported on the state of the budget, the big picture looked grim and a little muddled. Now, we’re seeing exactly where the money cut from human services (i.e., programs that offer support to drug addicts, homeless and mentally or psychologically impaired people) is going to hurt most. According to philly.com, that seemingly [...]

Al Jazeera English, and Al Jazeera in general, has had an interesting ten years or so. They went from being seen as more or less an enemy of the state, to having the English language version of the channel win two of journalism’s top awards. Will Bunch believes it is now time for Comcast to [...]

The great people over at the William Penn Foundation aren’t done giving out money just yet: according to The Inquirer, the foundation just dropped $1.5 million on the School District of Philadelphia. The donation is going, “to help restructure the Philadelphia School District,” a much needed move. William Penn Foundation president Jeremy Nowak told the [...]