Clipmarks | mickfinn's 'usa' clips

On this day, foundation of the NAACP

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:35:26 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn
clipper's remarks: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (usually abbreviated as NAACP) is one of the oldest and most influential civil rights organizations in the United States. The NAACP was founded on February 12, 1909 by a diverse group composed of W. E. B. Du Bois (African American), Ida B. Wells (African American), Archibald Grimke (African American), Henry Moskowitz (Jewish), Mary White Ovington (White), Oswald Garrison Villard (German-born White), and William English Walling (White, and son of a former slave owning family), to work on behalf of the rights of African Americans. Its name, retained in accord with tradition, is one of the last surviving uses of the term "colored people". The group is based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

In 1905, a group of 32 prominent, outspoken African Americans met to discuss the challenges facing "people of color" (a term that was used to describe those who are not white people) in the U.S. and possible strategies and solutions. Because hotels in the U.S. were segregated, the men convened, under the leadership of Harvard scholar W.E.B. Du Bois, at a hotel situated on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. As a result, the group came to be known as the Niagara Movement. A year later, three whites joined the group: journalist William E. Walling; social worker Mary White Ovington; and Jewish social worker Henry Moskowitz.

An African American drinks out of a segregated water cooler designated for "colored" patrons in 1939 at a streetcar terminal in Oklahoma City.

Locals viewing the bomb-damaged home of Arthur Shores, NAACP attorney, Birmingham, Alabama, on 5 September 1963. The bomb exploded on 4 September, the previous day, injuring Shores' wife.

Tags: civil rights, usa

'Surfin' USA'

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:25:43 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn
clipper's remarks: Surfers win fight to save Beach Boy waterfront

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Surfers have claimed a victory in their battle to protect a world famous California surf break threatened by a proposed toll road extension

Environmentalists said plans to build a highway close to Trestles Beach, immortalised in the Beach Boys' 1963 song Surfin' USA, would destroy the legendary break by blocking sediment that creates its world-class waves

Debate about the £450 million project south of Los Angeles has raged for years

but critics said that as well as damaging the beach, the road would also wipe out about a dozen endangered coastal species and ruin an ancient Indian burial ground

On Wednesday the California Coastal Commission rejected the proposals after a marathon 12-hour hearing which was attended by an estimated 3,000 local residents, surfers, environmentalists, commuters, union activists and tribal members

Jim Moriarty, head of the Surfrider Foundation, said

"a testament to the power of grassroots activism".

Toll road officials plan to lodge an appeal

Tags: culture, history, public participation

Nebraska bans Electric Chair

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 17:49:04 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn
clipper's remarks: The court held that electrocutions were unconstitutional under Nebraska’s Constitution. The provision it relied on uses the same language concerning cruel and unusual punishment as the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The electric chair is cruel and unusual punishment, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday. The decision effectively suspended executions there, as Nebraska is the only state that still relies solely on electrocution, which was once the dominant form of execution in the United States

“The evidence here shows that electrocution inflicts intense pain and agonizing suffering,” Justice William M. Connolly wrote for the majority in a 6-to-1 decision

The state’s attorney general, Jon Bruning, said he would “move to the legislative process to get a new method of execution.”

“We recognize the temptation to make the prisoner suffer, just as the prisoner made an innocent victim suffer,” Justice Connolly wrote. “But it is the hallmark of a civilized society that we punish cruelty without practicing it. Condemned prisoners must not be tortured to death, regardless of their crimes.”

The decision did not affect Mr. Mata’s death sentence.

“Nebraskans overwhelmingly support the death penalty,”

Tags: capital punishment, nebraska, usa

Monadnocks

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:23:03 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn
clipper's remarks: These examples are all in the USA. The most famous example in the world is probably Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia.
Stone Mountain - Georgia; Sugarloaf - Maryland; Pilot Mountain - N Carolina; Katahdin - Maine; Enchanted Rock - Texas; Mt Monadnock - New Hampshire

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Stone Mountain in Georgia

Detail of the mountain and carving

Close up of the carving

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Sugarloaf Mountain

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Pilot Mountain

Pilot Mountain from the south on U.S. Route 52

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Katahdin

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Enchanted Rock

Enchanted Rock, as seen from the trail leading to its summit on a busy hiking day

Geological exfoliation at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Mount Monadnock

Rocky plateau on summit of Mount Monadnock

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

A monadnock or inselberg is an isolated hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain

Monadnock is an originally Native American term for an isolated hill or a lone mountain that has risen above the surrounding area, typically by surviving erosion. The name was taken from Mount Monadnock in southwestern New Hampshire (USA), in Jaffrey. The name is thought to derive from the Abenaki language, from either menonadenak ("smooth mountain") or menadena ("isolated mountain").

inselberg

The word inselberg is German for "island mountain"

Tags: geology, mountains, nature

Phone Call into History

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:24:11 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn
clipper's remarks: President Johnson and Dr. King worked in tandem not only on the Civil Rights Act, but on the Voting Rights Act that came the next year. (NYT)

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

PRESIDENT JOHNSON

Pretty soon the fellow that didn’t do anything but drive a tractor will say, “Well, that’s not right, that’s not fair,” and then that will help us on what we going to shove through in the end.

KING Yes, you’re exactly right about that.

THE PROTESTER Martin Luther King Jr. talking to President Johnson after the Selma march.
THE POLITICIAN President Johnson two months before the Voting Rights Act passed.

Tags: usa, civil rights, 1960s, king, johnson

Meet Helvetica at MoMA

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 02:29:34 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn
clipper's remarks: Sorry folks but typefaces are my passion.

Clip Source: www.moma.org

50 Years of Helvetica

April 6, 2007–March 31, 2008

The Leonard Dobbs Architecture and Design Gallery

2007 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Max Miedinger and Edouard Hoffmann's design Helvetica, the most ubiquitous of all typefaces. Widely considered the official typeface of the twentieth century, Helvetica communicates with simple, well-proportioned letterforms that convey an aesthetic clarity that is at once universal, neutral, and undeniably modern. In honor of the first typeface acquired for MoMA's collection, the installation presents posters, signage, and other graphic material demonstrating the variety of uses and enduring beauty of this design classic. As a special feature in the exhibition, an excerpt of Gary Hustwit's documentary Helvetica reveals the typeface as we experience it in an everyday context.

Film still from Helvetica. 2007. USA. Directed by Gary Hustwit. Image courtesy of Gary Hustwit

Tags: helvetica, typefaces

Those Polite Americans

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:28:56 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn
clipper's remarks: ''Generally, Americans are civil and conscientious''

Clip Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

The Americans have far better manners than we do. So at least it always seems to me when I am lucky enough to visit that great eighteenth-century republic

My visit began with a wait of several hours outside a sports hall in Jersey City, and the patient civility with which ordinary Americans queued round the block to hear Obama was itself a lesson in good manners

I suppose there must be yobbish Americans somewhere, but their civilisation is far less marred than ours by loutishness

Britain is divided into two nations: one which still takes manners seriously, and one which is wilfully abusive

The rudest people I have come across in London are members of the middle class

they are unbelievably unpleasant to anyone who refuses to do as they say

I am not, by the way, an admirer of every aspect of America. But the old-fashioned courtesy Americans display in their social life, and the respect they extend to people they have only just met, are things which should command our admiration.

Tags: civility, politeness, usa

Martin Luther King, hero

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 03:37:45 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn
clipper's remarks: Still so much to do.

Clip Source: www.thepeoplesvoice.org

“And when this happens, When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Tags: civil rights, usa

Print is dead: long live print

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:05:36 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn
clipper's remarks: Curling up with a good website just doesn't have the same attraction as with a book . . .

Clip Source: technology.timesonline.co.uk

We all know by now that the future of media is online, and I'd be the last person to deny the significance of the changes wrought by the Internet. But I think one of the most interesting things to emerge in the media business this year will be a comeback of sorts for print

Print, of course, hasn't exactly gone away – magazines and newspapers still account for more then a third of worldwide ad revenues – but the chatter in the industry suggests its death is just around the corner

In the U.S. especially, the newspaper business appears to be in a free-fall, with many big papers reporting year-over-year revenue and circulation declines of ten per cent or more - shocking numbers indeed for century-old businesses

Yet the story in the field

is quite different from what the media news websites would lead you to believe. If you want publicity in Anytown, USA, the best way to get it, still, is a story in the local newspaper

Tags: media

The Awakening

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 15:34:56 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

"The Awakening" is a 100-foot statue of a giant embedded in the earth, struggling to free himself. It was created by J. Seward Johnson, Jr. and installed at

the International Sculpture Conference Exhibition. It proved so popular, however, that 27 years after the event it still remains, even though the National Park Service admits that the "temporary permit" has long since expired

The statue consists of five separate pieces buried in the ground, giving the impression of a panicked giant trying to pull himself to the surface. The left hand and right foot barely protrude, while the bent left leg and knee jut into the air. The 17-foot right arm and hand climb above the observer while the bearded face, with the mouth in mid-scream, struggles to emerge from the surrounding earth

At times, the Potomac River floods the statue, adding to the eeriness as the giant tries to escape the drowning waters

the artist, Johnson, has veto authority over the statue's final location

Tags: art, sculpture, usa

Starbucks has a dirty little secret

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 23:43:29 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn

Clip Source: mindset.tumblr.com

Ok, when I say “dirty little secret,” I don’t mean…

slave labour

grossly massive profit margins

crap employee benefits

some of their drinks are worse for you than a Big Mac

paying landlords extra money to kick out local coffee shops so Starbucks can set up shop

Turns out there’s a secret size of cappuccino the menu doesn’t mention

Short

It’s the cheapest sugar-induced coma (erm, coffee) Starbucks offers. It also has the lowest profit margin, in fact, Starbucks makes almost no money from this drink

A button for this secret drink is on the cash register, just not on the overhead menus. But why, you ask? It’s kind of like how grocery stores “coincidentally” place their no-name brands lower down on shelves than they do with recognizable brand names. This way, people with more money simply grab the first item they see, whereas people with less money search around for the cheapest item

To order it, simply ask.

Buying short cappuccinos pisses the managers

[Source: BBC News]

Tags: if you ever want to find a cop in the usa, go to starbucks

Travelling to the USA

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:33:57 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

If you've ever travelled to the United States, you'll be aware of the strict passport controls.

If you're travelling on a British or Irish passport you usually don't need a visa, but instead fill in a "visa waiver application form".

For the sake of this week's important joint visit by our First and Deputy First Ministers to New York and Washington, I really hope they've read the form.

Under the section headed "Do any of the following apply to you?" there are seven key questions.

If you have to answer "yes" to any, you don't get in unless you've sorted a visa separately.

Question C: Have you ever been

involved in

terrorist activities

Martin McGuinness would be obliged to tick "yes" to that one

Question F: Have you ever been denied a US visa

cancelled?

Ian Paisley had a US visa cancelled in 1981

I'm sure the jovial couple could try and sweet-talk their way through customs but this arm of American bureaucracy isn't renowned for its flexibility.

Tags: usa, visa

Happy Brits hit the shops in the US

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 02:43:20 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn
clipper's remarks: Doing mine at Christmas, lol

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Listen to the hubbub of excited shoppers in New York's famous Macy's department store and one thing is striking.

An awful lot of the voices - and particularly those coming from the people clutching the biggest number of bulging bags - seem to be British.

Stop by other large retailers - Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue or any Gap store - and the same experience is repeated, with the odd French or other European accent thrown in.

While Americans are feeling the pinch of a credit crunch, housing slump and rising fuel prices, it seems their European cousins are ready to make the most of a dollar which has slid to near record lows.

As the Brits happily point out, an exchange rate of over $2 to £1 makes clothes, cosmetics and electronic goods so much cheaper that it seems worth paying for a flight and hotel.

Tour operators are telling people 'don't even pack, just go with one little carry-on bag, buy luggage over there and fill it up with what you buy

Mary McCormick
Shop America Alliance

Tags: shopping, in, new york, usa

Very clever pictures of $ and Washington DC

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 07:06:17 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn

Clip Source: dcist.com

Flickr user musely gets a gold star today for both effort and execution, for this clever series of shots lining up currency with the D.C. buildings depicted on them. We suspect this is one of those things that seems simple, but in practice is a lot more difficult than it looks to get everything in focus and lined up perfectly. The nice thing about our city? You can tour all those landmarks and plenty more without ever having to take any of that $85 out of your pocket.

Tags: buildings, dc, pics, usa

The World's most beautiful libraries (part)

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 16:29:14 GMT

clipped by: mickfinn
clipper's remarks: ''Oh sorry, my book appears to be overdue''

Clip Source: www.boredstop.com

Strahov Theological Hall - Original Baroque Cabinets

Strahov Theological Hall; Statue of John the Evangelist Holding a Book

Strahov Philosophical Hall

Abbey Library St. Gallen, Switzerland

Bernadotte Library, Stockholm Sweden

Biblioteca Angelica, Rome, Italy

Biblioteca do Palacio e Convento de Mafra I, Lisbon Coast, Portugal

Biblioteca Geral University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

Biblioteca Palafoxiana, Puebla, Mexico

Bibliotecha de la Real Academia De La Lengua, Madrid, Spain

Bibliotheque Alencon, Normandy, France

Bodlein Library, Oxford University, England

Boston Copley Public Library, Boston, USA

British Reading Room, British Museum, London, England

Cathedral Library, Kalocsa, Hungary

Chethems Library, Manchester, UK

Dutch Royal Archives Library, Netherlands

El Escorial Library, San Lorenzo, Spain

Frederick Ferris Thompson Memorial Library, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA

George Peabody Library, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Tags: books, cities, libraries, towns