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During Hitler's reign, Germany became IBM's premier foreign customer. What role did the company play in automating the Nazi death machine? "IBM and the Nazis jointly designed, and IBM exclusively produced, technological solutions that enabled Hitler to accelerate and in many ways automate key aspects of his persecution of Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and others the Nazis considered enemies," Edwin Black reports in The Village Voice. "Custom-designed, IBM-produced punch cards, sorted by IBM machines leased to the Nazis, helped organize and manage the initial identification and social expulsion of Jews and others, the confiscation of their property, their ghettoization, their deportation, and, ultimately, even their extermination."

Continue ReadingHow IBM Helped Create the Hitler Death Machine

A new fortnightly arts and entertainment paper, the Wave, is ready to cross swords with the already warring San Francisco Bay Guardian and SF Weekly, Dan Fost of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Both Bay Guardian Editor/Publisher Bruce Brugmann and SF Weekly Editor John Mecklin are dubious about the Wave's chances, Fost says. Also, Featurewell syndicate signs Mother Jones.

Continue ReadingNew Paper Enters Crowded SF Market

Four Utah news organizations, including Salt Lake City Weekly, have sued Gov. Mike Leavitt alleging he is illegally destroying official e-mails. The governor routinely destroys his e-mails after three days. City Weekly Managing Editor Christopher Smart tells E&P the demand that Leavitt save official records is "common sense and reasonable. ... It's clear we don't seek to know about his personal communications."

Continue ReadingSalt Lake City Weekly Joins E-Mail Lawsuit
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Wounded Phoenix police officer Franklin Brown Jr. received his department's Medal of Valor and was selected as one of the nation's "Top Cops" by the National Association of Police Organizations. But when the awards were handed out last October, Brown was conspicuous by his absence. His own department had asked that the award be put on hold, while it investigated whether Brown had faked an attack by “unknown assailants” and actually shot himself. Today, the police department isn't saying much about Brown, but in an exclusive interview with Paul Rubin, staff writer for Phoenix New Times, Brown is saying plenty. The result: a fascinating look at a mystery in the Arizona desert.

Continue Reading“A Shot in the Dark:” Wounded Cop’s Story Questioned

The Minneapolis Star Tribune profiles brothers Tom and Mark Bartel, now operating competing publications, AAN-member City Pages (Twin Cities) and a new monthly, the Rake. Mark Bartel, publisher of City Pages, now seems secure out from the shadow of his older brother, reports Jon Tevlin. Tom Bartel and his wife and partner Kris Henning, are in their element spinning a new publication into existence.

Continue ReadingBattle of Brothers in the Twin Cities

The Portland Tribune reports that the three novelists who judged Willamette Week's annual short story contest are hopping mad. The Trib's Phil Stanford says WW's Arts & Culture Editor Caryn B. Brooks disregarded the judges' decision and picked the story she preferred. The African-American author of "Floozy," the short story the judges picked, tells Stanford it's "cultural preference."

Continue ReadingJudges Ticked at Writing Contest Results

The benefit compilation "Wish You Were Here: Love Songs For New York" was produced in the aftermath of Sept. 11. As the Voice's promo puts it, the paper "put out an emergency call begging punks, ravers, rappers, no-wavers, new agers, headbangers, reggae toasters, rai rebels, riot grrrls, emo eggheads, urban hillbillies, suburban folkies, and soulquarians for love songs devoted to New York City." Robert Christgau reviews the results and warns you to watch what you say when you talk about his paper.

Continue Reading“Love Songs For New York:” Village Voice Benefit CD
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A major international espionage saga is unfolding across the United States. It's been hush-hush so far, largely because the implications could be a major embarrassment for the government. The spy story is even more touchy because it isn't Saddam, Fidel, Osama or even what passes nowadays for the KGB spying on America -- but our "friend" in the war against "evil," Israel. Creative Loafing last week obtained a copy of the 60-page Drug Enforcement Agency report that provides the basis of the allegations, and CL's John Sugg writes the story in his Fishwrapper column.

Continue ReadingThe Spy Who Came in from the Art Sale