the ballot in six South Jersey counties. (It passed in five.) The CFSJ published “newspapers” trumpeting its cause and even had an honest-to-God campaign song. Ultimately, new GOP governor Tom Kean showed South Jerseyans some love, and the movement lost steam.

Could a Committee to Free Southeast Pennsylvania have at least symbolic power? Part of the answer lies in settling the age-old question of who needs whom most: Does Philly siphon off more in state funds than it contributes? “Philadelphia itself might get more from the state than it sends in taxes, but the five-county region certainly does not,” says Marc Stier, of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. Region-wide secession presupposes that Philly’s neighboring counties also feel underrepresented — not a given. But if they do, our newBy David Wharton | 6 years ago

Ascension

Earlier this year, Bill McGoldrick, Syfy’s executive vice president of original programming, made the bold claim that the network was headed in a new direction, and that they wanted top notch scripted programming that could compete with well-respected cable entities such as AMC and HBO. Ascension was one of the first projects announced that suggested Syfy might really be trying to reform after years of cheesy TV movies, paranormal “reality” shows, and inexplicable wrestling.

A six-hour space opera “event series,” Ascension imagines an alternate history where, in the heat of the 1960s space race, the U.S. launched the titular starship on a top secret mission of colonization. Fifty years later, the vessel is still en route to its distant destination, loaded with hundreds