IT’S HALLOWEEN time again, and celebrities, like the rest of America, are playing along. Well, sort of . . . In truth, America’s celebrities celebrate Halloween all year round. How else to explain actress Renee Zellweger emerging at Elle’s Annual Women in Hollywood Celebration recently looking like some other chick? I mean, maybe she had…

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I’VE NEVER BEEN emotionally invested in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the radio journalist convicted for the murder of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in 1982. When he was jailed I was a middle school student, more concerned with the awkwardness of adolescence than issues of race and criminal justice. Still, his case continues to rile his passionate supporters.…

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THIS WEEK, Judge Nina Wright Padilla issued a restraining order to prevent the School Reform Commission from unilaterally canceling its contract with its teachers. This represented a small victory for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, which recently filed a series of legal challenges in Commonwealth Court. [blocktext align=”right”]The PFT’s legal wrangling came as no surprise…

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WHEN FELLOW Daily News columnist Jenice Armstrong appeared on my radio show to say that a “Real Housewives” spinoff was a possibility for Philadelphia, I thought it was cute. I mean, who could resist the possibility of producer Princess Ann Banton-Lofters creating “Housewives” madness right here in the cradle of liberty? We could have our…

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I OFTEN WONDER why Americans are so angry. From road rage to wife beaters, reality shows to gangsta rap, we are highly upset, and most of us don’t even know why. I’ve seen little kids hitting their parents. I’ve seen parents hitting the sauce. And on more than one occasion I’ve seen myself on the…

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FOR THE LAST month, I’ve been hosting a morning radio show. That means I get up so early that the moon doubles over with laughter while watching me grope for my keys. It’s not easy for a guy like me to get up that early, because normally I’m a night owl, and in addition to…

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ONE OF THE PARTS of office culture that you can’t seem to get around no matter how badly you want to is the team building activity. While these things vary, almost all of them include something called a “trust exercise.” Usually, it’s someone leading you around blindfolded, or someone falling backward and expecting you to catch…

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ON THE DAY THINGS CHANGED, Philadelphia public-school teachers reported to work, as they always do, in a workplace fraught with the most dangerous of all pitfalls: Hope. In the wake of budget cuts, they report to work daily with the hope that the children will be settled; that hallways will be clean; that classrooms will…

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FOR THE LAST month, I’ve been hosting a morning radio show. That means I get up so early that the moon doubles over with laughter while watching me grope for my keys. It’s not easy for a guy like me to get up that early, because normally I’m a night owl, and in addition to…

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