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Thank Mahalia Jackson for King's "I have a dream."
"On August 28, 1963, under a nearly cloudless sky, more than 250,000 people, a fifth of them white, gathered near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to rally for 'jobs and freedom.'... Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had originally prepared a short and somewhat formal recitation of the sufferings of African Americans attempting to realize their freedom in a society chained by discrimination. He was about to sit down when gospel singer
Mahalia Jackson called out, 'Tell them about your dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!' Encouraged by shouts from the audience, King drew upon some of his past talks, and the result became the landmark statement of civil rights in America--a dream of all people, of all races and colors and backgrounds, sharing in an America marked by freedom and democracy."
posted to MetaFilter by Carol Anne
at 9:14 AM on January 21, 2002
(16 comments)
"The New P.C." Post 9/11 Political Correctness:
"In the new p.c., anyone who says anything critical about the president or his administration is branded an anti-American akin to the Marin County Taliban," writes Frank Rich in the New York Times. The old p.c. died when Bill Maher's
"Politically Incorrect" was nearly cancelled. Where will the new p.c. take us in the 21st century? (more inside)
posted to MetaFilter by Carol Anne
at 5:38 AM on January 5, 2002
(62 comments)
Maryland Rescuers Find a Kitten and Look for Justice
"In an act of cruelty that recalls last year's road-rage death of a California pooch named Leo, a driver in Poolesville dropped a 10-week-old kitten into the middle of busy Route 107 on Christmas and then took off. Somehow, the animal was not hit by traffic. But in its fright, it darted toward the curb and into a storm drain. And there it likely would have died if not for the lengthy effort of several do-gooders -- one of whom crawled 30 feet through a storm pipe to grab the two-pound bundle of fur. That's an unquestionably happy ending. For chief rescuer Ellie Truman[e], though, the ending won't be complete until the man who abandoned the kitten so egregiously is identified and charged." (Even the Washington Post loves kitten stories!)
posted to MetaFilter by Carol Anne
at 8:48 AM on December 29, 2001
(7 comments)
"Jingle Bells" is the first Christmas song we learn.
It's the Christmas song no one ever forgets. But when "Jingle Bells" was written in the 1850s by Boston native James Lord Pierpont, it was not a Christmas song. It had nothing to do with the holidays. "Jingle Bells" was what you might call pre-Civil War rock 'n' roll. In its seldom-heard original form, it's about having a flashy vehicle, driving it too fast and using it to pick up girls. (by Larry Katz, Boston Herald--via Fark.com)
posted to MetaFilter by Carol Anne
at 2:08 PM on December 24, 2001
(3 comments)
Farm Subsidy Web Site Sows Discord:
"Suppose you could go to a Web site, type in the names of co-workers--or maybe your boss--and find out how much money they make. Be honest--you would. And farmers, it seems, are no less curious than the rest of us. Since its public debut on Nov. 6, a new
Internet-accessible database that ranks farmers by name according to the amount of federal subsidies they receive has recorded 10.1 million searches. The payments often constitute the bulk of farmers' income, and many of the hits have been by farmers eager to know how they compare with the guy growing corn or soybeans down the road."
(Washington Post story, which C-SPAN pointed me to.)
posted to MetaFilter by Carol Anne
at 6:31 AM on December 19, 2001
(20 comments)
"Found Magazine Celebrates the Mystery of Castoff Notes."
The Washington Post calls Found
"...an amazing new magazine that prints odd items found in streets, schools, prisons, Kinko's shops and laundromats across America. It's a treasury of trash, a wonderfully weird collection of screeds, snapshots, to-do lists, leaflets, drawings, diaries and love letters. Taken together, they provide a fascinating glimpse into the wackier depths of America's collective subconscious." What wonderfully weird stuff have you found?
posted to MetaFilter by Carol Anne
at 6:44 AM on December 4, 2001
(32 comments)
Payout for TV trauma of Trade Centre relatives.
"British families who watched their relatives die during live television coverage of the World Trade Centre atrocity are to be compensated for the trauma they suffered, The Telegraph has learned." We're all aware of Road Rage and Airport Anxiety; now there's a new diagnosis: Televised Trauma. Whatever happened to British stiff upper lips?
posted to MetaFilter by Carol Anne
at 8:33 AM on November 18, 2001
(26 comments)
Ask the ombudsman.
Are newspapers revealing too much information? too little? A news ombudsman receives and investigates complaints from newspaper readers or listeners or viewers of radio and television stations about accuracy, fairness, balance and good taste in news coverage. He or she recommends appropriate remedies or responses to correct or clarify news reports.
Michael Getler: Internal Critic with Big Audience: how the Washington Post's Ombudsman does his job.
An ombudsman is someone who handles complaints and attempts to find mutually satisfactory solutions. Ombudsmen can be found in government, corporations, hospitals, universities and other institutions. The first ombudsman was appointed in 1809 in Sweden to handle citizens' complaints about the government. It is pronounced "om-BUDS-man" and is Scandinavian in origin.
posted to MetaFilter by Carol Anne
at 6:38 AM on October 30, 2001
(2 comments)
Calling All Pod People: there's a car for you!
"This concept car explores the potential for communication between people and their vehicle," Toyota said in preview information released on Thursday.
I don't want to communicate with machines (using machines to communicate with other people is more my style). What is it about Japanese culture that produces all these machine-human "relationships"? Tamagotchi, Aibo, NeCoRo, ad nauseam.
posted to MetaFilter by Carol Anne
at 7:01 AM on October 18, 2001
(22 comments)
George Rap Bush?
Turn him over. Turn him over. Turn his cohorts over. Turn any hostage they hold over. Destroy all the terrorist camps. There's no need to negotiate. There's no discussion. I told them exactly what they need to do. And there's no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he's guilty. Turn him over.
posted to MetaFilter by Carol Anne
at 4:48 PM on October 14, 2001
(24 comments)
The Columbus Day Threat
"Let the whole world know that we shall never accept that the tragedy of Andalusia be repeated in Palestine," Osama bin Laden said in his taped cave-side address. "We cannot accept that Palestine will become Jewish."
Reuven Koret's Israel Insider column
may explain the FBI's alert to terrorist activity: "Columbus Day, October 12, commemorates the founding of America in 1492, and 1492 represents the year in which Islam was driven out by Christianity. In bin Laden's mind, these two events are inextricably linked."
posted to MetaFilter by Carol Anne
at 7:04 AM on October 12, 2001
(10 comments)
Herblock coined "McCarthyism."
Longtime Washington Post cartoonist Herbert Block dies at 91. Wielding independence through his sketches, the artist who gave President Richard Nixon five o'clock shadow won three Pulitzer prizes and the admiration of loyal readers. Don't miss "Five Decades of Herblock" cartoons and essays.
posted to MetaFilter by Carol Anne
at 5:27 AM on October 8, 2001
(5 comments)
