Drink From The Fire Hose

Pink snow! (at Fairfax Connector bus stop at Bushman and Borge...

Wed, 01 May 2013 08:14:38 -0400

Pink snow! (at Fairfax Connector bus stop at Bushman and Borge St.)

Social Media Flowchart: Where Should You Post That Thought?

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:55:44 -0400

Social Media Flowchart: Where Should You Post That Thought?

oldtimefamilybaseball: futurejournalismproject: Jackie...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:11:59 -0400

Jackie Robinson in his Brooklyn Dodgers Uniform, 1950, Records of the U.S. Information Agency (National Archives Identifier 6802718)

General Court Martial Orders Number 130, Headquarters XXII Corps, 08/23/1944, Records of the Army Staff (National Archives Identifier 2641509)

Letter from Jackie Robinson to President Eisenhower of May 13, 1958, 05/13/1958 ARC Identifier 186627

Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Former National Baseball League player, Jackie Robinson with his son.], 08/28/1963, Records of the U.S. Information Agency (National Archives Identifier 542024)

oldtimefamilybaseball:

futurejournalismproject:

Jackie Robinson

todaysdocument:

Jackie Robinson broke the color line in Major League Baseball when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. This decision would not only integrate baseball, but would help the country work to achieve equal rights for all. Civil Rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., once commented to baseball pitcher Don Newcombe, “Don, you and Jackie will never know how easy you made my job, through what you went through on the baseball field.”

Before becoming famous, Lt. Jack R. Robinson was court-martialed at Camp Hood, Texas, because he refused to move to the back of the bus after being told to do so by a bus driver and disobeying an order from a superior officer. Robinson was acquitted of all charges and received an honorable discharge, but this was not the only experience he would have in fighting discrimination.

After retiring from baseball, Robinson turned much of his attention to civil rights issues. He wrote to several Presidents about the cause, and even attended the March on Washington.

Many of these milestone events from Robinson’s life are documented in primary sources from the National Archives.

via The Rest of 42’s Story: Jackie Robinson as Civil Rights Activist

FJP: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives,” Robinson wrote in his autobiography. “I cannot possibly believe I have it made while so many of my black brothers and sisters are hungry, inadequately housed, insufficiently clothed, denied their dignity as they live in slums or barely exist on welfare.”

There are a handful of men that you can point to and say “you have made a true, deep, and measurable difference on this Earth.” Jackie Robinson is one of those people.

newyorker: Cartoon by Roz Chast. For more from this issue:...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:12:05 -0400

newyorker:

Cartoon by Roz Chast. For more from this issue: http://nyr.kr/14ZQ9hY

ilovecharts: The whole North Korean army in one place

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:11:15 -0400

ilovecharts:

The whole North Korean army in one place

Unusual monument for the 20th Massachusetts, where it helped...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 15:30:48 -0400

Unusual monument for the 20th Massachusetts, where it helped repel Pickett’s charge.

There are a zillion memorials out here but this has to be the...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 15:01:55 -0400

There are a zillion memorials out here but this has to be the only one with a Native American warrior on it. (This is right near the CSA “high-water mark,” and thus NY unit helped repulse that attack.)

Our nation owes a huge sent to the men of the 20th Maine. Their...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 13:33:40 -0400

Our nation owes a huge sent to the men of the 20th Maine. Their heroic stand here may have saved the Union Army at Gettysburg, and had the South won here, and Lee invaded further north, the people of the North might have moved to end the war. So maybe these brave men from Maine saved not only the Army but the whole country.

Don’t remember how long it’s been since I called...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:29:49 -0400

Don’t remember how long it’s been since I called upon this old friend… Am I the last person in journalism who still even has a Rolodex?

sunfoundation: What happens if a state opts out of Medicaid, in...

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 12:57:19 -0400

sunfoundation:

What happens if a state opts out of Medicaid, in one chart

If governors opt their states out of the health law’s Medicaid expansion — as many are now threatening to do — it’s the poorest Americans who would find themselves getting the rawest deal.

When a Freedom of Information request is denied

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 21:51:24 -0400

News Cat Gif is my new favorite tumblr. This one is “When a Freedom of Information request is denied.”

Stolen Dali Painting Mailed Back To Gallery Unharmed

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 20:41:12 -0400

Stolen Dali Painting Mailed Back To Gallery Unharmed:

huffingtonpost:

Salvador Dali was an eccentric fellow to say the least, so it is no surprise that a Dali theft (and return) would be a surreal ordeal.

Kill your television (before noon, at least)

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 22:22:26 -0400

I’ve always liked Ann Curry. Unlike most of the people on morning television, she actually seems like she has, you know, a brain.

Morning television in this country is eaten up with a case of the stupids. That NBC is thinking of canning her from Today is just more proof of that.

Wise up, America. Don’t turn on the TV in the morning. Listen to NPR. You’ll be glad you did.

the20newyork: wnyc: Inside the City’s Ghost Highway System....

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:34:13 -0500

the20newyork:

wnyc:

Inside the City’s Ghost Highway System. WNYC’s Jim O’Grady explores all of NYC’s planned and abandoned subway lines. And check out the interactive map, which overlays the once-planned lines (a Brooklyn-Staten Island connector?!) with the current map. Super cool.

-Jody, BL Show-

this is awesome.

poisonville: The evolution of riot gear. (NYT)

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 11:44:27 -0500

poisonville:

The evolution of riot gear. (NYT)

europe1850-1930: “German fleet surrendering to the English [….]...

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 11:44:03 -0500

europe1850-1930:

“German fleet surrendering to the English [….] London, England, 1918.” (Nationaal Archief)

criminalwisdom: Via Linkmachinego

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 22:28:10 -0500

criminalwisdom:

Via Linkmachinego

deadpresidents: •This is an Historically Accurate...

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 22:23:00 -0500

deadpresidents:

•This is an Historically Accurate Transcription•

CHURCHILL: We’ve got to end this thing…it’s gone on too long.
FDR: I agree. I’m exhausted. Look at me, I look like I’m 125 years old.
STALIN: Twenty million of my people have been killed!
CHURCHILL: Yes, this war is terrible.
STALIN: War? Oh, you guys were talking about the war? I actually meant that I had twenty million of my people killed. I was bragging, not complaining.
FDR: Twenty million? What did they do? Espionage? Treason?
STALIN: They didn’t name all of their pets and crops after me, so they went bye-bye in a box. Well, twenty million boxes. Well, actually, just a bunch of mass graves.
CHURCHILL: That’s horrible. How does one kill twenty million people?
STALIN: Well, you start off by finding forty million people who are REALLY supportive of your plans and then you give them guns and…
FDR: I believe that was a rhetorical question.
STALIN: I believe that I could win a foot race between you and I.
FDR: Oh yes…here we go again…let’s make fun of the crippled guy. Easy target, right?
CHURCHILL: Don’t piss him off, Frank. He’ll kill you as quickly as polio killed your legs.
FDR: I’m getting it from both sides now? I saved your ass, Churchill. Remember that whole Lend-Lease Act? You better recognize. Without me, you’d be speaking German already.
STALIN: (Mumbling) Or Russian.
CHURCHILL: You’re right, Franklin. I should thank you now before you crumble into dust. I know the Presidency ages its occupants, but you look terrible! Do you drink nicotine milkshakes for breakfast? Have they just gone ahead and started embalming you already?
FDR: I’ve been elected to four terms as President. You wouldn’t know what it is like to have to save the world, Winston. Last time I checked, you and your wussy empire were the save-ees not the save-ers. And don’t even start criticizing how people look: everytime I see you I think, “Wow, that is the tallest, oldest baby I have ever seen.”
STALIN: What about me? What do you guys think when you see me?
CHURCHILL: Marshal Stalin, I think it’s safe to say that when we see you our first thought is, “This Russian guy is either going to kill us with a hammer or molest us with his mustache”. You look like every family’s creepy uncle who drinks too much and then tickles the kids for an inappropriately long amount of time.
FDR: Although, I will say that I enjoyed your appearance on “To Catch A Predator”, Stalin. Is Chris Hansen tall in real life?
STALIN: What do you carry in those bags under your eyes besides dashed dreams about competing in a triathlon?
CHURCHILL: Oooh…BURN.
FDR: Shut up, Churchill. I may not be able to walk, but at least I don’t waddle. You look like a penguin in chemotherapy.
CHURCHILL: Listen…let’s stop for a second. We have to stay united. We’ve got Hitler on the ropes and once we’re finished with that, we can turn our attention to Japan.
STALIN: No. I’ll be occupying countries within my sphere of influence and setting up decades of potential problems. Thanks for the invite, though.
FDR: Don’t worry about Japan, Winston. Remember what I told you?
CHURCHILL: I’m constantly drunk. I hardly remember to walk to the toilet before urinating.
FDR: I don’t want to say it right now.
CHURCHILL: Come on…
FDR: No…remember…the atomicay ombbay that I don’t want alinStay to know about?
CHURCHILL: Oh yeah…we definitely don’t want that crazy fucker getting his hands on the bomb you developed which harnesses the energy which powers the universe to completely obliterate cities with one blast…
FDR: Dude…
STALIN: What? Tell me everything!
CHURCHILL: (Leaving) Gotta go!
FDR: …
STALIN: …
FDR: He’s just fucking with you. We don’t have one of those.

Voice-operated apps still a far-off hope for those of us with strong regional accents

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:51:02 -0500

Siri is not going to take my call anytime soon.

There’s been a lot of press given lately to Siri and other voice-operated apps. But they don’t work for me, probably because I have a pretty pronounced Southern accent.

I still can’t use Siri’s predecessors on my Android phone, including Vlingo, Voice Dialer and Voice Search. Out of 10 various phrases I threw at those programs this morning, they got only one right: Voice Search threw up a Google Map of a major American city for me.

But they would not call my grandmother, or my boss, or open the Android Market, among other requests.

todaysdocument: On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted to...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:56:40 -0500

todaysdocument:

On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted to censure Senator Joseph McCarthy, who had led the fight in Congress to root out suspected Communists from the Federal Government. The censure described his behavior as “contrary to senatorial traditions.” This copy of the resolution catches the debate on November 9 as the Senate refined the wording of its resolution. The substance of the first count, charging McCarthy with failure to cooperate with a Senate subcommittee, remained unchanged in the final resolution. The second count was dropped for a condemnation of McCarthy’s attacks on the very members of the committee that considered his censure.

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