Is This The End of Kirk And Spock’s Gay Love Affair?

Amazon is about to make the underground world of fan fiction boring. Here’s why it matters.

It’s a lesson that must be learned and re-learned, yet it always ends up as something of a surprise: There’s nothing either so beautiful or so ugly or so weird that Corporate America can’t figure out a way, eventually, to co-opt it, “monetize” it, and sterilize it. So it is with fan fiction. Fan fiction—I’m explaining to the non-nerds in the audience—happens when amateur fans of books, TV shows, movies and more try to create their own new stories using familiar characters and settings, though often with a twist. Sometimes, fan fiction happens because there wasn’t enough of the original story: Firefly...

Tom Corbett Could Use A Binderful of Latinos

ThinkProgress catches Gov. Tom Corbett admitting he has no Latinos on his staff, during an appearance hosted by Al Dia last week at the Union League:

MODERATOR: Do you have staff members that are Latino?

 

 

CORBETT: No, we do not have any staff members in there. If you can find us one, please let me know.

 

 

MODERATOR: I am sure that there are Latinos that…

 

 

CORBETT: Do any of you want to come to Harrisburg? See?!

Watch the video, courtesy of Al Dia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&list=UUGrUeq1FtRamLqZgaCIgB3w&v=BdFH2RzblYA

If You Fake A SEPTA Injury, Seth Williams Will Hunt You Down

Be on notice: If you try to make money by faking an injury on SEPTA, D.A. Seth Williams will hunt you down. The Pennsylvania Record reports that 10 people were arrested for insurance fraud last month for making such claims, up from four in all of January and February. The latest? 46-year-old Sai Min Wang, who has been  charged with insurance fraud, attempted theft by deception, and theft by deception stemming from a 2011 incident in which she claimed to be injured in a bus-on-taxi incident—telling her attorney she'd struck her head on an iron bar in the bus during the collision. Surveillance...

Charges Likely Against Faith-Healing Parents of Dead Boy

NBC Philadelphia reports that D.A. Seth Williams is expected to announce charges against Herbert and Catherine Schaible, the faith-healing parents of an 8-year-old boy who died in April of pneumonia, dehydration, and a strep infection. They remain on probation for involuntary manslaughter in hhe 2009 death of another, 2-year-old son who was similarly subjected to his parents' faith-healing ways. "Their seven surviving children have been placed in foster care."

Chase Utley to Have MRI on Ribcage

Uh-oh:

Philadelphia Phillies star second baseman Chase Utley will have an MRI done on his rib cage tomorrow, and we can only hope that the bill of health is clean for Utley following yesterday’s injury. CSN Philly reports the news of the MRI tomorrow and believes that the MRI will occur on the team’s off day tomorrow. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. was quoted as saying that the MRI would occur either today or tomorrow, but it seems like Thursday is the most likely date.

At least his knees are still fine! Right? RIGHT?

Liberty Place Says Racist, Sexist Religious Protests Are Hurting Its Business

Courthouse News Service reports that the operators of The Shops at Liberty Place have asked a state court to bar the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge from conducting its religious protests outside the tower's Chestnut Street entrance. It claims that since November 2012 the group has met on Friday afternoons near its 16th and Chestnut Street entrance, using a loudspeaker to "take turns preaching hate toward whites, homosexuals and women." According to the complaint, the defendants' comments have included: "You hate the white man? So do I;" "The white man is the devil," "A faggot doing what he's doing to another faggot is...

WATCH: Three Philly Breweries Combine to Make One Great Beer

To celebrate the forthcoming Philly Beer Week, Troeggs Brewing Company joined with Devil's Backbone Brewing Company and The Church Brew Works joined forces to create one beer to rule them all: A Black Rye IPA. Here's the story of how that happened:

Philly Officer Arrested, Accused of Ripping Off Drug Dealers

6ABC reports that a Philly police officer has been arrested for ripping off drug dealers:

Officer Jeffrey Walker, a 24 year veteran of the force and a member of the police department narcotics squad, was arrested on Tuesday night.

 

 

Sources say Walker was allegedly stealing drugs and cash from the very drug dealers he was supposed to be arresting.

 

 

Furthermore, authorities say they have surveillance video showing the incidents.

Walker will be arraigned in federal court today.

Is New York Returning Pennsylvania’s Stolen Copy of the Bill of Rights? [Updated]

[Update 11:31 a.m.] Turns out this is a better story than I thought. The Wall Street Journal reports: For years, historians have disagreed whether the New York Public Library's original copy of the Bill of Rights is the one that went missing long ago from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, the state and the library are expected to call a truce after agreeing to share custody of the 223-year-old document for the next century, at which point the agreement must be renegotiated or extended. While no clear-cut answer has emerged as to the document's rightful owner, the pact ends five years of...