Transit strike

According to an article in the Washington Post, the New York Transit Strike is over. The strike lasted for five days, comnpletely disrupting the everyday life of people working in the city. Some perks of this new contract include a 10.9 percent pay raise over the next three years, the retirement age would stay the same, at 55, and the workers would have Martin Luther King Jr. day off as a holiday. The only downfall is the employees must contribute 1.5 percent of their salaries to health care, which was free before the strike.

The first New York City Transit Strike was in 1966. This strike began on January 1, 1966. When the union would not cooperate, the TA(Transit Authority) got a judge's order to arrest 9 of the union leaders.Quill, one of the leaders being arrested told reporters:

The Judge can drop dead in his black robes. I don't care if I rot in jail. I will not call off the strike.

Then, on January 10, 15000 workers picketed City Hall. Three days later, on January 13, it was announced that the union was recommending settlement. Some of their gains from the new negotiated contract included a .96 cent pay raise, an additional paid holiday, and increased pension benefits. There wouldn't be another strike until 1980.

Where is the love?

The Washington Post recently reported that one of four men accused of a hate crime has pleaded no contest. Under the plea agreement, Jason Cazares, 25, will spend no more than six years in prison for the beating and strangulation of 17 year old transgender teen Gwen Araujo. Araujo was born a boy named Edward but grew up to believe her true identity was female.Araujo was beaten, tied up and strangled on Oct. 4, 2002, after men she had had sexual encounters with learned she was born a man. Cazares claimed he was outside the house when his friends killed Araujo and that he was only an accomplice by helping bury the body. The other men in the case were convicted of second degree murder.

A prominent hate crime in United States History was the brutal anti-gay murder of 21 year old Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. On October 7, 1998, Shepard met Aaron James McKinney and Russell Arthur Henderson in a bar. According to McKinney, Shepard asked them for a ride home. Subsequently, Shepard was robbed, severely beaten, tied to a fence and left to die. During court cases both of the defendants used varying stories to defend their actions. Most notably they used the "gay panic defense", arguing that they were driven to temporary insanity by Shepard's alleged sexual advances toward them.

Eat away, your beef is safe... or so we hope.

In the NY Times an article stated how Japan recently lifted part of a ban imposed on the import of U.S beef. This two year ban was enforced in December of 2003 after a dairy cow in Washington state was found to have mad-cow disease.

"Japan's decision, which also includes Canadian beef, only allows the resumption of imports of beef from cattle less than 21 months old. Those animals are seen as too young to catch the disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which can be fatal to humans."

The Japanese decision is believed to be quite signigicant since not only it reopened what was once a great overseas market, but also since Japan is an important ally to the United States in the "war on terror." The U.S needed to regain Japanese trust involving a major import to their country. It was quite a persistent and long struggle convincing Japanese that Americans were not offering them a nice, delicious dish of mad-cow disease, however, they were soon somewhat persuaded even through a lot of hesitation.

In American history there have been many cases of blockades and bans on trade. During the Napoleonic Wars throughout Europe, for example, both Britain and France banned the import of American goods, which was a big blow to the relatively new nation's economy. Not only did the countries ban imports, they would in addition seize American ships and impress the men. Through negotiation with President Jefferson (the best president ever!!!), France under Napoleon soon lifted its blockade on American imports, though people continued on seizing ships. Even though Britain and France did not enforce blockades because of the risk of diseases spreading, they still banned American imports, as Japan banned the import of American beef.

M&Ms

On November 25, 2005, a giant M&M balloon struck a light post in Times Square during the Macy's Day Parade. The accident injured four women, however each of the woman only received minor cuts and bruises. The 40-foot long, 30.5-foot wide, 50.5-foot tall balloon started to turn into a light post. This accident brought memories of the 1997 “Cat in the Hat” incident to light. After the 1997 incident, former Mayor Giuliani created a twelve-member panel that created guidelines for he parade balloons. This panel certified the candy balloon safe to operate early that morning and, so far, the crash only appears to have been an accident.


The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924 by the department stores’ employees who desired to celebrate the American holiday with traditional European feasts. The parade begins at the American Museum of Natural History and heads south along Central Park. At Columbus Circle, the balloons turn onto Broadway, where the balloons are allowed to fly at their maximum height. The show continues through Times Square and takes two rights, first onto 34th Street and then onto 7th Ave, where the balloons are finally disassembled.

watch out mariaaa

(I realized I chose the same article as Dom after I wrote this.) This week's Sunday New York Times featured an article entitled A Little Sleuthing Unmasks Writer of Wikipedia Prank. A man in Nashville admitted on Friday to being the jokester who edited information on Wikipedia. Thirty-eight year old Brian Chase told John Seigenthaler Sr. he was the one that edited his biography on the online encyclopedia. The material Chase wrote about the former editor of The Tennessean suggested he was involved in the Kennedy assasinations. Seigenthaler claims he will not take Mr. Chase to court and as a longtime supporter of free speech he said "I still believe in free expression, what I want is accountability." Chase did this to play a joke on one of his colleagues, but this had a terrible effect on the credibility of Wikipedia. It shows that the seemingly insignificant actions of one person can affect the credibility of an entire company.

This reminds me of the intense anti-Communist movement that existed in America from 1950 to about 1956. This period, commonly referred to as the Red Scare, was coined McCarthyism named after a man Joseph Raymond McCarthy. He served as senator of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1957. During this time as senator he accused many people in the media, government, military, and in the public eye of having Communist ties. As a result many of these people had their reputations tarnished by the accusations of one man. This example shows how just like a company, the actions of one person can affect the credibility of an entire group of people.

Who does something like edits Wikipedia...

The New York Times on Sunday reports the story of Brian Chase, a former operations manager at a small delivery company in Nashville. Brian Chase was involved in an internet scandal, as he posted false information about John Seigenthaler Sr., a former editor of The Tennessean in Nashville, saying that he was involved in the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy. Chase said that the post was just a joke, and he also stated that he thought Wikipedia was a "gag" website. For a while Seigenthaler searched for the person responsible for the post and did not get very far, but when Daniel Brandt, frequent critic of the website, did search he traced the post to the the company where Chase worked. Chase came forward Thursday and stated that he was truly sorry, even quitting his job to eliminate the risk of any harm to the company.


Well I wanted to relate it to some sort of a scandal that was caused by stupidity or ignorance but I couldn't really find anything. Can I have a little help with this one?

Terrorist or No?

The New York Times reported that on Tuesday December 6, a Florida jury failed to return any guilty verdicts on 51 counts against a former professor and three co-defendants. The men were accused of operating a North American front for Palestinian terror group, The Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The former professor, Sami Al-Arian was known for his passionate calling for Palestinian Independence and his anti-Israeli stances.

This was a political prosecution from the start, and I think the jury realized that," Linda Moreno, one of Mr. Arian's defense lawyers, said in a telephone interview. "They looked over at Sami al-Arian; they saw a man who had taken unpopular positions on issues thousands of miles away, but they realized he wasn't a terrorist. The truth is a powerful thing.

The great question was if Al-Arian's support for Palestinian independence had crossed the lines of freedom of speech and had become illegal support for terrorists. Prosecutors that had been collecting evidence against Al-Arian for ten years claimed that he had financed terrorist attacks in Israel, the Gaza Strip and the west bank. He was found not guilty on criminal counts associated with aiding terrorists, perjury, immigration violations and conspiring to kill people overseas. It was a result of the Patriot Act.

This is similar to McCarthyism in the nineteen forties. In 1940, the Alien Registration Act was passed. Its main goal was to undermine the American Communist Party and other left wing parties. Many people were blacklisted in Hollywood until they faced the House of Un-American Activities Committee. There were over three hundred and twenty names on that list. This is similar because under the patriot act people who are suspected terrorists are being detained. The nation believed that there was a great threat to the nation from communism in the nineteen forties as is believed now that there is a great national threat from terrorism.

"Happy Birthday Mr. President..."

While browsing the New York Times website, I came across, in my opinion, a rather bazaar photo. The small clip of the photo showed President Bush shaking hands with Tina Turner. I opened the link to find an article on a special awards ceremony held at the White House for Kennedy Center Honors, or in other words, a lifetime achievement in the performing arts. Actor Robert Redford, singer Tony Bennett, the actress Julie Harris and the ballerina Suzanne Farrell were also being awarded along with Turner. This is the 28th year that this award ceremony had been held. It has also taken place at the State Department and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The opening link to the article was a small picture of just Tina Turner and President Bush, which somehow made me think of another famous woman and president. The famous duo that came to mind was John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. Known for their somewhat secret, love affair, the two both had very secret lives. It was determined that they engaged in a sexual affair no earlier than October 1961. Another unclear topic was Monroe’s apparent suicide on August 5, 1962 in Los Angeles. It was said she overdosed on sleeping pills and later found by her housekeeper. However, further reports show no trace of an overdose. Some people question if it had anything to do with the president’s affair and his very secret life. Maybe the actress Marilyn Monroe knew too much?

The White Hooouse.

A man from Arkansas scaled the fence surrounding the White House Sunday according to an article in the Washington Post. The jumper, identified as Shawn A. Cox, was immediately captured by Secret Service officers. President Bush was inside the White House at the time. Cox's motives for why he wanted to enter the White House grounds are still trying to be determined by officials. He did not have a weapon or any harmful paraphenialia on him. Cox was being charged with unlawful entry and was expected to appear in U.S. District Court today. He has previously come to the attention of the Secret Service, but they would not provide details. His capture, however, probably will ensure the safety of the White House and the President from his other possible attempts at future "jumpings".

The White House has often been the target of disgruntled citizens, terrorists, etc. During the War of 1812, the original White House came under attack by the British. Backed by reinforcements from Europe, the British General Robert Ross defeated the American forces at the Battle of Bladensburg. The British then turned their sights on Washington in an attempt to intimidate President Madison and gain territory. Enemy troops marched to Washington and burned the major government buildings, including the White House and Capitol on August 25, 1814.

corporate america at its finest

For the past few months Guidant, a company that manufactures implantable hearts, has been working out agreements with Johnson & Johnson, to sell their shares and all the rights to the company for a measley $25.4 billion dollars. As of today however, Johnson & Johnson may have been beat out by fellow competetors in the growing medical field, Boston Scientific, who offered to pay 3 billion more for the company than Johnson & Johnson. Though a tempting offer, Guidant realizes their concequences. Because of previous promises and the beginning stages of the sale to Johnson & Johnson have already begun, if they affept the offer from Boston Scientific, the company will be left to pay $650 million for the breakup fee.

When all is said and done, this merger will be similar to the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motorcar Company to create American Motors. At the time the two companies were two of the beggest independent american automotive makers. The field was booming, similarly to the current medical field, and showed no signs of slowing down. during the time, auto superpoweres were swallowing up the weaker smaller companies and merging 3 or 4 companies into one. American Motors lasted 30 years. Buisness was booming in the mis 70's, however began slowly declining, add poor financial planners and lack of techological advances, and they were soon bankrupt.

IT'S ABOUT TIMEEEEEEEE!

An article from the Washington Post today talked about the Ku Klux Klan. On Christmas Day in 1951, Harry and Harriette Moore's house was blown up. The Moore's lived right outside Orlando. At this time, there was a Florida Klan, the four suspects had all been part of it. The four suspects all had experience with dynamite as well. Harry was the leader of the Brevard County Branch of the NAACP in Florida. He died on the night of the explosion, and his wife Harriette died nine days later. As of now, there have been investigators excavating their home, trying to uncover what truly happened over fifty years ago.


In May 1886, the first branch of the Ku Klux Klan was started in Tennessee. Several of the leaders had been members of the Confederate Army. Their traditional garb included white cardboard hats and white sheets, which they had draped over them. The Klan was reformed in 1915 by a preacher named William J. Simmons. Coincidentally, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was the Klan's most significant opponent. Harry Moore happened to establish one in Florida.