Hey, we made it to the top of another good list, Philadelphia! Zagat says the citizens of our fine city are the most generous tippers in the nation. The Daily News talks to two Philadelphia area men about their experiences after being arrested and thrown into a Chinese prison. In an effort to cut costs and avoid layoffs, the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia voted last night to postpone until next August a $25-a-week......

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Stealing America: Vote by Vote This documentary takes a look at how electronic votes are tallied and how susceptible voting machines are to tampering. You can tell by the title that it doesn't come to any happy conclusions. Critical opinions on this film are split right down the middle, so we're not sure what to tell you. It could leave you better informed about what to......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. Apparently McDonalds franchisees have been complaining about having to advertise for the dollar menu, their point being that it makes little sense to pay extra to publicize something that brings in less revenue. So McDonalds is considering changing things, starting with the double cheeseburger. Specifically, they're thinking about either making it more expensive, or taking the cheese off. If they go with the......

Yesterday afternoon in LOVE Park, two homeless women got into a fight over a homeless man's affections which ended in one woman stabbing the other to death. Perhaps not surprisingly, Mayor Nutter's recent press conference in which he angrily criticized DHS left some workers upset. He spent yesterday trying to placate them in a series of closed-door meetings. "A veteran Philadelphia-area Roman Catholic priest's transfer from Florida to Bucks County has been halted after......

Your traffic restriction updates for today: the northbound I-95 ramp to Broad Street is closed from 8AM to 4PM for structural steel repairs. There will also be lane closures this week on I-95, the Vine Street Expressway, and the Schuylkill Expressway. Due to the recent loss of $1.4 million in federal funding, and accreditation problems, the Berean Institute, a North Philadelphia landmark that has provided vocational and business education to African-Americans for 109 years, could......

Former Rep. Mike Veon, the No. 2 Democrat in the state House, 10 former and current legislative aides, and one sitting lawmaker were all charged, in varying degrees, with theft and conflict of interest for running a massive political campaign machine out of government offices. According to prosecutors, they were paying staffers, with taxpayers' dollars, to work on political campaigns while on the government clock. More charges are expected. In one particular case, Michael......

Recently a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld Mumia Abu-Jamal's conviction in the killing of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, but said a new jury should decide whether he deserved life in prison or the death sentence for the crime. But Abu-Jamal is asking the federal appeals court to reconsider, and is still seeking a new trial. Despite a threat from Senator Fumo that their tax breaks......

"On the last day of the fiscal year, Gov. Rendell and legislative leaders struck a deal on a $28.2 billion state budget, averting a repeat of last year's employee furlough and partial government shutdown." The Inquirer examines what it meant (for the players and their families) for a team from Camden's Cramer Hill neighborhood to play T-ball on the White House lawn yesterday. A Daily News reporter gets a few minutes with John McCain.......

It's not Philly-related, but we were shocked to learn this morning that comedian George Carlin died Sunday evening of heart failure. He was 71. Allentown and New Galena Roads in Bucks County will close today for maintenance work. Click through for the full details. The Inquirer takes a look at some of the big success stories from the 2008 U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials, held this past weekend right here in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania hunting licenses for......

Well, we'll be damned. A group of local investors (including former mayoral candidate Tom Knox) got together and saved Philadelphia's city-wide WiFi program yesterday. They closed a deal with Earthlink to take over the existing network. The plan is to create a wired network for premium, paying customers, like hospitals, universities, companies and the city. This would be connected to the existing wireless system, which would be free to use anywhere the signal can be......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. The latest Wallace and Gromit movie is the source for this great YouTube music video for "Hocus Pocus" by Focus. (Via) Scientists are experimenting with bacteria that eat agricultural waste and excrete crude oil. Sounds too good to be true. As usual, Scott Adams puts a hilarious spin on the story. Batwoman is back and she's a lesbian!......

In other areas it might not be news that another supermarket just opened, but in West Philly it's a big deal. "In an unexpected move, federal prosecutors said last night that they would ask a judge to revoke bail today and detain Jocelyn S. Kirsch." She was scheduled to plead guilty at a hearing this afternoon, but now a detention hearing will be held instead. It seems the feds are mad about her recent Target......

"Five men were indicted in New Jersey yesterday on charges of illegally selling guns bought in Bucks County sporting goods stores to buyers in Trenton." Philadelphia Police Officers Sheldon Fitzgerald and Howard Hill III, both five-year veterans who worked in the 25th District in North Philadelphia, were charged with aggravated assault and other offenses for allegedly beating up a graffiti prankster in August 2007. Now police authorities have reopened another Internal Affairs investigation into......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. We usually try to avoid plugging our -ist brethren here, because it makes us feel dirty, but we really enjoyed this survey of how much various items cost per gallon from Chicagoist, and Gothamist's article about the crazy Telectroscope thing supposedly connecting London to New York. Flickr user tommitude spent two days in April 2006 walking the length of Philadelphia snapping a picture......

Today, from 9AM through 5PM, Media Mobilizing Project and local broadband activists are urging Philadelphians to call Mayor Michael Nutter to demand that the city step in to save the Wireless Philadelphia network. If you want to give it a shot, the numbers are (215) 686-3000 or (215) 686-2250. The Delaware River Port Authority is conducting two public meetings about its planned efforts to ease congestion on the Philadelphia side of the Ben Franklin Bridge.......

The Daily News points out that while the Philadelphia School District is looking for ways to balance its budget, the organization might want to consider cutting the abnormally high salaries of its legal counsel. "Jury selection is expected to begin today in the 19-year-old murder of a North Philadelphia black man in what has been labeled a 'racial killing.'" "The Esherick House, a rare private residence designed by revered 20th-century architect Louis Kahn and tucked......

The fourth annual commuter competition sponsored by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia started this morning at 8AM. Three commuters race from 45th and Spruce to City Hall, one on a bike, one in a car, and one in a bus. The BCGP is obviously expecting the cyclist to win, thus proving that two wheels are better than four. Philly's own Bonnie and Clyde are the "poster children for identity theft," according to Federal authorities.......

We previously posted about SEPTA's celebration this past weekend of the 100th anniversary of service for 69th Street Terminal and the Route 100 Norristown High Speed Line. What we didn't realize is that SEPTA was more than a year late with its celebration. Fresh news on the Bonnie and Clyde front! We know you're excited. Looks like Jocelyn Kirsch is nearing a federal plea deal. Prison time is still likely, however, given the scope of......

Figures released yesterday revealed that $613 million of the money gamblers have been pumping into slot machines in Pennsylvania will go to property-tax relief for most homeowners and to lower the wage tax in Philadelphia. It's all thanks to Act 1, passed in 2006, which gave the state a portion of the gaming revenues from slots to use for tax relief. The Inquirer points out that finding the lowest gas prices in the area......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. It's finally official: Guillermo del Toro will indeed be directing the movies based on The Hobbit. Hoorah! (Via Ross) America, prepare to be stimulated even earlier than you expected! Btw, we hear the government is considering following up the free money with some free bread and circuses. (Via Sarah) Warren Ellis has the normal collection of weird, interesting, and mind-blowing stories today. We......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. Amazon is holding a cool Harry Potter-themed writing contest, and the prize is to get some (almost) alone time with one of the only seven existing copies of J.K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which she personally hand-wrote and illustrated. (Via Sarah) Want to know what a Whopper looks like with 15 extra orders of bacon on it? Those annoyed by......

Ask anyone in an even slightly serious relationship: real change is impossible without good communication. You've got to UNDERSTAND each other; take your little concessions and feel free to make your points; get at that deep seated shit and work it OUT, man. You got to be PROACTIVE, knowwhatImean, be willing to GIVE and TAKE and talk and cry and all that good shit. It’s hard but it’s NECESSARY, youknowwhatImsayin? It’s deep man… hard. But......

Around 2:46PM yesterday afternoon, in the underground SEPTA concourse at 13th and Market streets near the City Hall station, four teens shouted at a 36-year-old Starbucks employee named Sean Patrick Conroy, then surrounded him and attacked him as he crouched defensively. The victim lost consciousness on the concourse and was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:09PM. There appeared to be no prior connection between Conroy and his......

Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross are getting married! We're freaking out!! (Via Sarah) The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Building at 16th and Callowhill Streets was evacuated yesterday morning when a white, powdery substance was found in a third-floor office. The substance turned out to be foot powder. D'oh. (Via Sarah) An accident on the westbound Pennsylvania Turnpike between the Mid-County and Valley Forge interchanges led to the death of the driver of a FedEx......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. Bad news: star of the third Mummy movie, Maria Bello, says that not only will there absolutely be a Mummy 4, but she's signed on for three more sequels. Argh! In other news about sequels to bad movies, Bryan Singer has said yes, he is still planning to direct a sequel to Superman Returns. He and the writers are back in......

An Associated Press investigation has shown that "a vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans." That includes the drinking water supplies here in Philly, where testing uncovered "56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. Check out this sweet poster for Takashi Miike's latest project, Sukiyaki Western Django. Here's hoping they manage to get a copy of this one for the Philadelphia Film Festival... We think we've already said this before, but each successive trailer for Iron Man makes us exponentially more excited about seeing the film, and the latest one is no exception. Hot damn, this movie......

SEPTA will announce its "Go Green Go SEPTA" initiative this afternoon at Market East Station. (We've already seen the ads up there; they're posters with real moss or grass glued to them.) The idea is to increase ridership to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming, and they've timed it for the Philadelphia Flower Show, which runs March 2-9 at the Convention Center and is typically a time of increased ridership. General manager Joseph......

Our very own state could actually be of key importance in the Democratic presidential primary, so the campaigns for both Clinton and Obama will be opening offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in the coming days, and expanding their staff by recruiting local pros. The Inquirer takes a look at the battle going on over a proposed state-wide ban on smoking in Pennsylvania. A woman leaped from her third-floor apartment window on South Street near 2nd......

The president and board chairman of the city-funded nonprofit Philadelphia Safe and Sound testified yesterday that they were forced by Mayor Street and his senior aides to spend an extra $21 million that they knew did not exist in the city budget. It's those expenditures that have forced Safe and Sound to cancel dozens of programs in recent weeks. You can find copies of Safe and Sound's testimony online here and here. Insiders say......