FYI

If you’ve been wondering where I disappeared to, I am in Philadelphia, reporting for the Philadelphia Daily News.

Details coming.

RIP Anastasia Baburova – dead at 25

“IT IS still not clear why Anastasia Baburova was shot in the head. Was she a target—along with Stanislav Markelov, a human-rights lawyer who was shot seconds earlier? Was she an accidental victim, in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or did she try to grab and disarm the killer after he shot her companion?

Economist Photo

Get out and push?

Best line of the week: “Sunday, February 15, 2009
I’m on a Very disabled Orange line train. Another train is going to PUSH us into Back Bay Station.”

courtesy Steve garfield

From stevegarfield.com

Check it out here

Now, with more Meta!

It’s tricky being a freelancer. I pitched a story to a major daily last week that I was sure was going to get printed today, but it seems to have…not.

C’est la vie?

What would you like to see more of on here?

I’m trying to focus my blog a little bit, and many of you have complimented it so far, but I know I can do better. What else do you want to see here? How can I better distract you during the work day?

-sj

Because sometimes we just kick.

I work for a paper called the Bay State Banner, as many of you know. I’m a pretty regular freelancer there, (as well as several other places).

This week’s issue is the bomb-diggity. Excellent awesome stuff. For the record, I’ve never actually met Talia Whyte, but she’s got a nifty piece here.

Also, my piece, an interesting discussion over whether we should end Black History month, and a piece about the Rosa Parks BEFORE Rosa Parks.

Disappointing news

Obama’s run into some trouble. Read it here.

Obey the Fairey

The Phoenix was all over the Shepard Fairey stuff this week. I’m late to the party, but take a look at a few of these articles.

Here’s an interview with the guy.

A slideshow!

And don’t forget the recap and the analysis of his arrest.

Oh yea, and this.

Obey! Obey! …just a quick follow-up on the Shepard Fairey stuff…

The Boston Phoenix has a great editorial up about Shepard Fairey’s arrest.

In particular, the writers concluded that, “There is, however, little amusing or entertaining — except to the smug, the low-brow, and the philistine — about this past week’s arrest of street artist Shepard Fairey, in town for a magnificent exhibition of his work at the Institute of Contemporary Art…”

The writers also don’t spare any punches. “The Fairey case may not be edifying, but it is illuminating. However this all plays out in the courts, Boston should thank Shepard Fairey for inadvertently provoking thought and insight about how our city works.”

Turner back at the bat

Another story of mine came out today. Take a look –

Don West photo of Chuck Turner proclaiming his innocence back on November 24

City Councilor Chuck Turner fired off the latest salvo in the dramatic effort to rescue his reputation on Monday, tying his prosecution to what he termed “the judicial atrocities of the Bush administration” and asking his supporters to petition President Barack Obama to drop the federal charges against him.

“We move beyond the first phase of my Campaign for Truth, Light and Justice by focusing national and international attention not just on my arrest and indictment but also on the eight years of corrupt practices of President Bush’s Department of Injustice,” Turner wrote in an e-mail to supporters.

In the e-mail, sent just after 8 a.m. on Monday, the District 7 city councilor called for the president and newly confirmed U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to drop the “fraudulent” charges of bribery and conspiracy that have been filed against him and to examine whether the investigation against him had racial or political motivations.

Read the rest here.