Crime
Charges Dropped Against Younger Brother in SEPTA Shooting
Eric Early—the younger of two brothers charged in the mid-December shooting of a Bulls fan at SEPTA’s 46th-and-Market station—has been cleared of all charges in […]
“The Mob is IBM”: Closing Arguments Start at “Uncle Joe” Ligambi Mob Trial
Closing arguments started Thursday in the racketeering trial of Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi, the reputed head of the Philadelphia Mob. “The mob is to the criminal […]
Bulletproof Book Bags, Keeping Sandy Hook Closed Aren’t Solutions
Cutting through the distortions and hype, here are facts about the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. None of the guns of the Newtown shooter were automatic […]
Philadelphia Gun Culture vs. Kansas Gun Culture
Here’s a big problem with the Second Amendment—or, at least, the way we interpret it these days: It presumes that guns are always and everywhere […]
Project Blitzkrieg Might Ruin 2013 for You
Those wily Russian hackers are at it again, this time coming after our hard-earned American dollars in the form of a massive scam that could […]
From Butt Injections to Wedding Brawls: The Best and Worst of Philly Crime in 2012
There’s a lot of journalistic grumbling about lists, and I get it: They’re sort of cheaper versions of journalism, packaged in an inane format for […]
Finally, A Reason to Feel Good About Being Glued to Your Phone
A new study out of UPenn claims that the decline in urban crime that began in the mid-90s is closely correlated to the rise in […]
Congress Okays Extraordinary Rendition of Americans
On Tuesday Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin announced that an amendment designed to protect the constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties of American citizens has […]
PHOTO: Feds Accuse This Jane Doe of Child Pornography
Today, federal authorities announced that they are looking for this woman, whom they accuse of being a child pornographer. They’ve circulated photos in hopes of […]
NRA Issues Statement (Sort of) on Sandy Hook Tragedy
After last Friday’s events in Newtown, Connecticut, the National Rifle Association took down its Facebook page and went silent on Twitter. This afternoon, the NRA […]
A Quick Timeline of the NRA’s Descent Into Madness
To many Americans—particularly those who have little interest in guns—the NRA is a shadowy monolith, a faceless network of right-leaning, pistol-toting Charlton Hestons fighting for […]
This Is the Very Simple Plan for How You and I Can Render the NRA Powerless
It is a sad testament to the depth of our national indifference that it took the massacre of 20 first-graders to finally trigger a united […]
Congress Would Rather Tackle Lawn Darts Than Guns
I started baking the Christmas cookies this weekend. I always start with the springerle, because they’re supposed to sit for a week before you eat […]
Decades After Sylvia Seegrist, Mentally Ill People Are Still Murdering Innocents
As the gun control debate rages on in light of last week’s horrific events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, another debate is […]
Gun Ownership Looks Different on an Excel Spreadsheet
Even before news broke about the horrific Newtown massacre, I’d already spent an inordinate amount of my Friday morning watching—and re-watching, and re-watching again—the video […]