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EssayWorks

Missed connections with Jesus, from a Girard Avenue strip club to the King of Prussia Mall

April 16, 2013
- Carrie Hagen

I first visited Kensington during the winter of 1992. I didn't want to be there. I remember stepping out of a white van with at least three other girls near the intersection of Frankford and Girard. Our driver said he would be back in two hours, and then he drove the white van away, leaving us — a group of suburban teenage girls — to evangelize random people on the street.

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EssayWorks

A cheesesteak by another name may bring a new crowd to an old place

April 15, 2013
- Joy Manning

When it was announced that Chink's would change its name to Joe's Steak Soda Shop, I was delighted: Finally, I would taste what is thought of as one of the finest steaks in Philly and decide where it fit into the cheesesteak pantheon. A gap in my food knowledge would, at last, be filled.

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EssayWorks

Letter: Systemic failure of family courts in New Jersey

April 10, 2013
- John Waldorf

Our 21st-century family courts in the state of New Jersey are systemically dysfunctional and can no longer be trusted to mete out fair and unbiased judgments. I have no confidence in our court system as it is currently operating. The judges use neither statute law nor case law in handing down their judgments.

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That's History

The real madness of 'March Madness'

April 9, 2013
- Jonathan Zimmerman

I’m a crazed basketball fan, so I love it when the NCAA tournament rolls around. But I’m also an educator, and I hate myself for watching.

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EssayWorks

AVI tax hikes show that good citizenship is for suckers

April 9, 2013
- L.T. Woody

When I received my new property assessment as part of the city's AVI initiative, I could not help feeling like the perfect fool for having behaved responsibly when I was getting married and buying my home in a nice, but struggling, Germantown neighborhood five short years ago.

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EssayWorks

National film fest lets young storytellers shine [video]

April 5, 2013
- Henry Cohn-Geltner and Sydney Bynum

"You will be making a video. And you have only two days in which to finish." This was the message delivered to the 21 teenagers participating in the American Graduate Flash Festival held at WHYY on March 9th and 10th.

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EssayWorks

Roger Ebert judged films, not filmmakers [Carrie Rickey's appreciation]

April 5, 2013
- Carrie Rickey @CarrieRickey

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert weren't a comedy team, but they played one on TV. The Laurel and Hardy of movie criticism worked something like this: Ebert, the big one, would construct an eloquent argument on behalf of a new release only to watch Siskel, the skinny one, destroy it with a flick of the thumb.

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Philly coffee shop named top in the nation [photos]

April 4, 2013
- Kimberly Paynter, @Kpaynter

TheDailyMeal, a blog that highlights notable food and beverage trends from around the world, has named South Philadelphia's own Ultimo Coffee best in America. The blog asked coffee experts to nominate their favorite shops, then a panel voted and the site published the top 33.

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List

9 better ideas to replace Jay Leno

April 4, 2013
- Eric Walter, @ericaceous

Yesterday NBC announced that Jay Leno would bequeath his "Tonight Show" desk to network "Late Night" colleague Jimmy Fallon in 2014. We have some better ideas.

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EssayWorks

We should build up vital Social Security programs, not disparage their recipients

April 3, 2013
- Rebecca Vallas

A recent "This American Life" story and NPR serieson the growth in the number of people receiving Social Security disability benefits has generated a lot of buzz. But as a slew of economists and Social Security experts have pointed out, it also got a lot wrong.

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