May 02, 2007
America, Should it Continue?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6613861.stm
The US is a nation built not on ethnicity, not on religion, not even on history but on an idea.
Not only does this make America different, I would argue it also makes it ideally suited for the 21st Century. We live in a globalised world in which national boundaries are less and less relevant and the citizenship of ideas is more and more defining.
Posted by chek at 04:19 PM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2006
Mortgage Rates - Historical Charts
http://mortgage-x.com/general/historical_rates.asp
Notes: Weekly national average rates on conventional,
conforming, 30- and 15-year fixed and 1-Year CMT-indexed
adjustable rate mortgages, with loan-to-value (LTV) rates
of 80 percent or less, 1992 - present, are available.
Posted by chek at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2006
Polygamy in US
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5296196.stm
US polygamy sect leader arrested
The 10,000-strong FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) split from the Mormon Church more than a century ago after the latter renounced polygamy. The sect dominates the towns of Colorado City, in Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, less than a mile away.
Polygamy is illegal in the US, but the authorities have reportedly been reluctant to confront the FLDS for fear of sparking a tragedy similar to the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian sect in Waco, Texas, which led to the deaths of around 80 members.
Posted by chek at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2006
No more Weddings after Midnight in Vegas
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5285402.stm
Couples hoping to tie the knot at Las Vegas' late-night wedding venues on the spur of the moment face disappointment.
The Las Vegas marriage bureau, which issues licences, said that as of Monday it would no longer be open between midnight and 0800, to save money.
Officials said the closure would affect less than 4% of marriage licences issues in the city, where more than 122,000 people got hitched last year.
And it will save the city $200,000 (£106,000) a year, they say.
"All the stars come out at night," said Charlotte Richards.
"People that are high profile, when they come down to Las Vegas to get married, they don't want to come in the middle of the day when people are around. They like the privacy."
Posted by chek at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2006
Titanic in SF, Jun 10 - Jan 31
http://www.rmstitanic.net/
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition
Jun 10th 2006 - Jan 31st 2007
Metreon
101 Fourth St., San Francisco
Tickets: $14.95 to $19.95
One of the most impressive — and massive — objects on display will be a 17-by-26-foot, 30,000-pound hunk of the ship's port side from C-deck, a middle deck housing first-class passengers.
Millions of people have flocked to the exhibition in some 20 countries in the past 12 years.
On its storied maiden voyage, the reputedly unsinkable Royal Mail Steamer Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the early morning of April 15, 1912, killing 1,522 of its 2,227 passengers.
InsideBayArea article.
Posted by chek at 01:46 PM | Comments (0)
Oakley, Annie
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/oakley/peopleevents/p_oakley.html
Annie Oakley (1860-1926)
Both lucky and extremely talented, Annie Oakley used her astonishing marksmanship (with shotguns) to escape a poor childhood in Ohio and rise to become the first female superstar in what had been a male-dominated profession.
Posted by chek at 01:37 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2006
SF Quake, Apr 18, 1906
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4919966.stm
Thousands of people gathered before dawn in downtown San Francisco to commemorate the "Great Quake" that destroyed the city 100 years ago.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom laid a wreath at Lotta's Fountain, where survivors of the 1906 quake spontaneously gathered to seek loved ones after the tragedy.
Eleven centenarians who survived the devastation attended the memorial ceremony to remember one of the worst natural disasters in US history.
Sirens were sounded across the city at 0512, the time the 1906 quake struck, as people, including those in vintage dress, observed a minute's silence.
A firefighter also performed a ladder demonstration during the event.
Spectators listened to survivors' stories of the quake and subsequent fires in which about 3,000 people perished.
Posted by chek at 05:12 AM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2006
A Eulogy for King, a Scolding for Bush
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-coretta8feb08,0,6083766.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage
A day of eulogizing Coretta Scott King turned into a rare, in-person rebuke of President Bush, with a succession of civil rights and political leaders assailing White House policies as evidence that the dream of social and racial equality pursued by King and her slain husband was far from reality.
Posted by KP at 07:29 AM | Comments (0)
May 31, 2005
Deep Throat breaks cover
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4597503.stm
A former deputy chief, who was No. 2 at the FBI has reportedly admitted to being "Deep Throat", the source who leaked secrets during the Watergate scandal. The scandal forced the resignation of US President Richard Nixon in 1974.
Deep Throat helped Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the Watergate affair. The story is documented in the 1976 movie "All the President's Men", directed by Alan J. Pakula, staring Dustin Hoffman (as Carl Bernstein), and Robert Redford (as Bob Woodward).
The Washington Post confirmed this story on its Web site today. Bob Woodward, part of the journalistic team that broke the scandal, confirmed W. Mark Felt as "Deep Throat" -- ending a 30-year mystery.
Posted by Chekonim at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2005
Iraq War - 2nd anniversary
http://www.bushflash.com/y2.html
Here's the latest Eric Blumrich flash animation to mark the 2 years of this war against Iraq.
Music by Johnny Cash, the Nine Inch Nails song 'Hurt'
Posted by chek at 12:12 PM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2005
9/11 Tribute
http://web.archive.org/web/20021003094224/dir.reme
note
Posted by Chekonim at 08:33 PM | Comments (0)