Tag: Open Thread
May 04 2010
Open Bar
May 04 2010
On This Day in History: May 4
On this day in 1970, At Kent State University, 100 National Guardsmen fire their rifles into a group of students, killing four and wounding 11. This incident occurred in the aftermath of President Richard Nixon’s April 30 announcement that U.S. and South Vietnamese forces had been ordered to execute an “incursion” into Cambodia to destroy North Vietnamese bases there. In protest, a wave of demonstrations and disturbances erupted on college campuses across the country.
There were no warnings when the Guardsmen opened fire. 60 rounds were fire into the crowd of demonstrators. After an investigation, all the charges were dropped against the National Guard in 1974.
New audio from the day of the shootings has been released on a website dubbed KentState1970.org. The site also features images of the historic day’s tragic events.
May 04 2010
Photos of Tonight’s Sunset
There was a very nice warm sunset tonight in the Bronx.
If you would like to see sixteen more in order of appearance, then enjoy the view below the fold.
May 04 2010
Afternoon Edition
Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Better weather spurs hope over US oil spill
by Mira Oberman, AFP
Mon May 3, 11:16 am ET
| VENICE, Louisiana (AFP) – Kinder weather Monday encouraged response teams to step up efforts to counter a massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico, but a wind shift also put the tourist beaches of Florida more at risk.
And the day after President Barack Obama visited the disaster zone on the southern coast of Louisiana and put the blame squarely at the firm’s door, BP accepted full responsibility and accepted to pay the cost. “BP takes responsibility for responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. We will clean it up,” the British energy giant said, vowing to consider all compensation claims “promptly” and pay them quickly if justified. |
May 03 2010
On This Day in History: May 3
On this day in 1919, Pete Seeger, folk singer, activist, environmentalist was born in NYC.
On July 26, 1956, the House of Representatives voted 373 to 9 to cite Pete Seeger and seven others (including playwright Arthur Miller) for contempt, as they failed to cooperate with House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in their attempts to investigate alleged subversives and communists. Pete Seeger testified before the HUAC in 1955.
In one of Pete’s darkest moments, when his personal freedom, his career, and his safety were in jeopardy, a flash of inspiration ignited this song. The song was stirred by a passage from Mikhail Sholokhov’s novel “And Quie Flows the Don”. Around the world the song traveled and in 1962 at a UNICEF concert in Germany, Marlene Dietrich, Academy Award-nominated German-born American actress, first performed the song in French, as “Qui peut dire ou vont les fleurs?” Shortly after she sang it in German. The song’s impact in Germany just after WWII was shattering. It’s universal message, “let there be peace in the world” did not get lost in its translation. To the contrary, the combination of the language, the setting, and the great lyrics has had a profound effect on people all around the world. May it have the same effect today and bring renewed awareness to all that hear it.
June 19 & 20
Croton Point Park
Croton-on-Hudson, NY
May 03 2010
Weekend News Digest
Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Oil slick closes on U.S. coast, BP pressed to act
By Matthew Bigg, Reuters
1 hr 20 mins ago
| VENICE, Louisiana (Reuters) – A huge wind-driven oil slick bore down on the U.S. Gulf coast on Sunday, threatening an environmental catastrophe, and the Obama administration heaped pressure on BP Plc to halt the uncontrolled spill from its ruptured Gulf of Mexico well.
Since the explosion and sinking last week of the Deepwater Horizon rig, a disaster scenario has emerged with hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil spewing unchecked into the Gulf and moving inexorably northward to the coast. The spreading black tide threatens wildlife, beaches and one of the world’s most fertile fishing grounds in an area stretching across four states, from Louisiana to Florida. |
May 02 2010
On This Day in History: May2
On this day in 1933, Loch Ness Monster sighted Although legend of a monster living in the Loch Ness had existed for over 1500 years, the earliest account from 500 A.D., it was a news report in the Inverness Courier that sparked the modern day legend. The Loch is the largest body of fresh water in Great Britain that has a depth of 800 ft and is 23 miles long. In 1933, a new road had been built around the lake with great views. The story of a couple who had observed “an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface”, that was fueled by the Courier using the word “monster” and a reward of 20,000 pound sterling, sparked a media darling. In 1934, a photograph of a creature with a long neck surfaced, again, increasing speculation that this creature was a survivor of long extinct aquatic plesiosaurs. The photo was revealed to be a hoax in 1994.
Since then there have been both amateur and professional sightings and studies. The have been inconclusive yet tantalizing reports of large unidentifiable objects moving on the bottom of the lake. Using sonar and photography in 19, the Boston’s Academy of Applied Science produced a photo that ‘appeared to show the giant flipper of a plesiosaur-like creature”.
May 02 2010
Weekend News Digest
Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Disaster looms as oil slick reaches US coast
by Erica Berenstein, AFP
Sat May 1, 8:56 am ET
| VENICE, Louisiana (AFP) – Oil from a giant Gulf of Mexico slick washed onto Louisiana shores Saturday, threatening an environmental calamity, as two more neighboring states declared a state of emergency.
President Barack Obama, meanwhile, planned to visit the spill area over the weekend to assess the situation first hand, a White House official said. With up to 200,000 gallons of oil a day spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from a ruptured well, the accident stemming from a sunken offshore rig may soon rival the Exxon Valdez disaster as the worst oil spill in US history. |
May 01 2010
This Week in Health and Fitness
Welcome to this week’s Health and Fitness. This is an Open Thread.
Charlize Theron: She could be your mother, your sister, your daughter.
Maj. Gen. Patrick Cammaert: It is perhaps more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in armed conflict.
Nicole Kidman: Those responsible for sexual violence must be held accountable.
Leymah Gbowee: Wars and being fought on the bodies of women and children.
Dr. Denis Mukwege: Sexual violence is the monstrosity of our century
Theron: Go to stoprapenow.org to learn more and to take action
Learn More go to Stop Rape Now.org
As is now custom, I’ll try to include the more interesting and pertinent articles that will help the community awareness of their health and bodies. This essay will not be posted anywhere else due to constraints on my time. Please feel free to make suggestions for improvement and ask questions, I’ll answer as best I can.