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Historical monument: mosaic fresco of athletic games in Gafsa.
The oases of the Maghreb region are green islands flourishing in a constraining and harsh environment. They are home to a diversified and highly intensive and productive system, which has been developed over millennia.
Photo credit must be given: ©ASM Gafsa
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“I have striven not to laugh at human actions, not to weep at them, nor to hate them, but to understand them.”
~ Baruch Spinoza
‘The Righteous Mind,’ by Jonathan Haidt
By WILLIAM SALETAN
Published: March 23, 2012
In “The Righteous Mind,” Haidt seeks to enrich liberalism, and political discourse generally, with a deeper awareness of human nature. Like other psychologists who have ventured into political coaching, such as George Lakoff and Drew Westen, Haidt argues that people are fundamentally intuitive, not rational. If you want to persuade others, you have to appeal to their sentiments. But Haidt is looking for more than victory. He’s looking for wisdom. That’s what makes “The Righteous Mind” well worth reading. Politics isn’t just about manipulating people who disagree with you. It’s about learning from them.
To the question many people ask about politics — Why doesn’t the other side listen to reason? — Haidt replies: We were never designed to listen to reason. When you ask people moral questions, time their responses and scan their brains, their answers and brain activation patterns indicate that they reach conclusions quickly and produce reasons later only to justify what they’ve decided.
The problem isn’t that people don’t reason. They do reason. But their arguments aim to support their conclusions, not yours. Reason doesn’t work like a judge or teacher, impartially weighing evidence or guiding us to wisdom. It works more like a lawyer or press secretary, justifying our acts and judgments to others.
To explain this persistence, Haidt invokes an evolutionary hypothesis: We compete for social status, and the key advantage in this struggle is the ability to influence others. Reason, in this view, evolved to help us spin, not to help us learn. So if you want to change people’s minds, Haidt concludes, don’t appeal to their reason. Appeal to reason’s boss: the underlying moral intuitions whose conclusions reason defends.
Haidt’s account of reason is a bit too simple — his whole book, after all, is a deployment of reason to advance learning — and his advice sounds cynical. But set aside those objections for now, and go with him. If you follow Haidt through the tunnel of cynicism, you’ll find that what he’s really after is enlightenment. He wants to open your mind to the moral intuitions of other people.
In the West, we think morality is all about harm, rights, fairness and consent. Does the guy own the chicken? Is the dog already dead? Is the sister of legal age? But step outside your neighborhood or your country, and you’ll discover that your perspective is highly anomalous. Haidt has read ethnographies, traveled the world and surveyed tens of thousands of people online. He and his colleagues have compiled a catalog of six fundamental ideas that commonly undergird moral systems: care, fairness, liberty, loyalty, authority and sanctity. Alongside these principles, he has found related themes that carry moral weight: divinity, community, hierarchy, tradition, sin and degradation.
The worldviews Haidt discusses may differ from yours. They don’t start with the individual. They start with the group or the cosmic order. They exalt families, armies and communities. They assume that people should be treated differently according to social role or status — elders should be honored, subordinates should be protected. They suppress forms of self-expression that might weaken the social fabric. They assume interdependence, not autonomy. They prize order, not equality.
These moral systems aren’t ignorant or backward. Haidt argues that they’re common in history and across the globe because they fit human nature. He compares them to cuisines. We acquire morality the same way we acquire food preferences: we start with what we’re given. If it tastes good, we stick with it. If it doesn’t, we reject it. People accept God, authority and karma because these ideas suit their moral taste buds. Haidt points to research showing that people punish cheaters, accept many hierarchies and don’t support equal distribution of benefits when contributions are unequal.
You don’t have to go abroad to see these ideas. You can find them in the Republican Party. Social conservatives see welfare and feminism as threats to responsibility and family stability. The Tea Party hates redistribution because it interferes with letting people reap what they earn. Faith, patriotism, valor, chastity, law and order — these Republican themes touch all six moral foundations, whereas Democrats, in Haidt’s analysis, focus almost entirely on care and fighting oppression. This is Haidt’s startling message to the left: When it comes to morality, conservatives are more broad-minded than liberals. They serve a more varied diet.
The hardest part, Haidt finds, is getting liberals to open their minds. Anecdotally, he reports that when he talks about authority, loyalty and sanctity, many people in the audience spurn these ideas as the seeds of racism, sexism and homophobia. And in a survey of 2,000 Americans, Haidt found that self-described liberals, especially those who called themselves “very liberal,” were worse at predicting the moral judgments of moderates and conservatives than moderates and conservatives were at predicting the moral judgments of liberals. Liberals don’t understand conservative values. And they can’t recognize this failing, because they’re so convinced of their rationality, open-mindedness and enlightenment.
Haidt isn’t just scolding liberals, however. He sees the left and right as yin and yang, each contributing insights to which the other should listen. In his view, for instance, liberals can teach conservatives to recognize and constrain predation by entrenched interests. Haidt believes in the power of reason, but the reasoning has to be interactive. It has to be other people’s reason engaging yours. We’re lousy at challenging our own beliefs, but we’re good at challenging each other’s. Haidt compares us to neurons in a giant brain, capable of “producing good reasoning as an emergent property of the social system.”
Our task, then, is to organize society so that reason and intuition interact in healthy ways. Haidt’s research suggests several broad guidelines. First, we need to help citizens develop sympathetic relationships so that they seek to understand one another instead of using reason to parry opposing views. Second, we need to create time for contemplation. Research shows that two minutes of reflection on a good argument can change a person’s mind. Third, we need to break up our ideological segregation. From 1976 to 2008, the proportion of Americans living in highly partisan counties increased from 27 percent to 48 percent. The Internet exacerbates this problem by helping each user find evidence that supports his views.
Our taste for sanctity or authority, like our taste for sugar, could turn out to be a dangerous relic. But Haidt is right that we must learn what we have been, even if our nature is to transcend it.
eArt-wiki-hive - pussy-riot-wiki - talk [en]+[xx]-
talk
Pustekuchen
Mattis Manzel:
The automatic translation in the pussy-riot-wiki is amusing. Strangely enough today’s constrains of automatic translation make it generally amusing.
category automatic translation
I thought it would help me to more easily learn Russian - Pustekuchen!
The verdict against pussy riot has been a year ago. Vladimir, did Mr. Obama mention them when he recently called you up for his Snowden request?
The oases of the Maghreb region are green islands flourishing in a constraining and harsh environment. They are home to a diversified and highly intensive and productive system, which has been developed over millennia.
Dominated by the date palm, intertwined with trees and crops, these ancient systems produce a surprising variety of fruits and vegetables, cereals and forages, medicinal and aromatic plants. The palm groves offer shade and lower the ambient temperature, making it the best place to live in the Sahara and an important place of recreation.
The systems of production and irrigation and the culture of the oases vary between the different locations in correspondence to their environment. There are oases in continental, mountainous, as well as in littoral areas. With their rich diversity these oases systems constitute an agricultural and cultural heritage.
Photo credit must be given: ©INRAA.
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The Niagara Falls International Rainbow Bridge, commonly known as the Rainbow Bridge, is a steel arch bridge across the Niagara River, connecting the cities of Niagara Falls, New York, United States, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
The Rainbow Bridge was built near the site of the earlier Honeymoon Bridge, which collapsed in 1938 due to an ice jam in the Niagara Gorge.
Architect Richard (Su Min) Lee designed the bridge; a design also used for the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) downriver. The bridge's Rainbow Tower and Canadian side plaza are the work of Canadian other architect William Lyon Somerville. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, during their visit to Niagara Falls as part of their 1939 royal tour of Canada, dedicated the future construction site of the Rainbow Bridge; a monument was later erected to commemorate the occasion. Construction began in May 1940. The bridge officially opened on November 1, 1941.
The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission chose the name "Rainbow Bridge" in March 1939, because rainbows occur frequently near the falls due to water spray and mist in the air.
The New York State Department of Transportation designates the bridge as NY 955A, an unsigned reference route. Roads that adjoin the bridge include New York routes 104 and 384, and the Niagara Scenic Parkway. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation designates the bridge as part of Highway 420. The Rainbow Tower, part of the plaza complex on the Canadian side, houses a carillon, which plays several times daily.
The Rainbow Bridge does not permit commercial trucks; the nearest border crossing accessible to trucks is the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.
On November 22, 2023, a car traveling at a high rate of speed left the roadway, went airborne, crashed and exploded at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing on the American side, killing the vehicle's two occupants, and injuring a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. The crash and subsequent explosion was at first investigated as a potential terrorist attack, and was later determined to have been an accident.
The Niagara River is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York in the United States (on the east). There are differing theories as to the origin of the river's name. According to Iroquoian scholar Bruce Trigger, Niagara is derived from the name given to a branch of the locally residing native Neutral Confederacy, who are described as being called the Niagagarega people on several late-17th-century French maps of the area According to George R. Stewart, it comes from the name of an Iroquois town called Ongniaahra, meaning "point of land cut in two".
The river, which is occasionally described as a strait, is about 58 kilometres (36 mi) long and includes Niagara Falls in its course. The falls have moved approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) upstream from the Niagara Escarpment in the last 12,000 years, resulting in a gorge below the falls. Today, the diversion of the river for electrical generation has significantly reduced the rate of erosion. The total drop in elevation along the river is 99 metres (325 ft). The Niagara Gorge extends downstream from the Falls and includes the Niagara Whirlpool and another section of rapids.
Power plants on the river include the Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Power Stations (built in 1922 and 1954) on the Canadian side, and the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant (built in 1961) on the American side. Together, they generate 4.4 gigawatts of electricity. The International Control Works, built in 1954, regulates the river flow. Ships on the Great Lakes use the Welland Canal, part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, on the Canadian side of the river, to bypass Niagara Falls.
The Niagara River also features two large islands and numerous smaller islands. Grand Island and Navy Island, the two largest islands, are on the American and Canadian sides of the river, respectively. Goat Island and the tiny Luna Island split Niagara Falls into its three sections, the Horseshoe Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and American Falls. Unity Island lies further upstream, alongside the city of Buffalo.
The Niagara River and its tributaries, Tonawanda Creek and the Welland River, formed part of the last section of the Erie Canal and Welland Canal. After leaving Lockport, New York, the Erie Canal proceeds southwest until it enters Tonawanda Creek. After entering the Niagara River, watercraft then proceed southward to the final lock, where a short section of the canal allows boats to avoid the turbulent shoal water at the river intake and enter Lake Erie. The Welland Canals used the Welland River as a connection to the Niagara River south of the falls, allowing water traffic to safely re-enter the Niagara River and proceed to Lake Erie.
History
The Niagara River and trees are depicted in the painting.
Watercolour by Elizabeth Simcoe depicting the Niagara River from Queenston Heights, c. 1793
Niagara River at Queenston, Ontario, then known as Queenstown, Upper Canada, c. 1805 watercolour
The Niagara River and Falls have been known outside of North America since the late 17th century, when Father Louis Hennepin, a French explorer, first witnessed them. He wrote about his travels in A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America (1698).
The Niagara River was the site of the earliest recorded railway in America. It was an inclined wooden tramway built by John Montresor (1736–1799), a British military engineer, in 1764. Called "The Cradles" and "The Old Lewiston Incline", it featured loaded carts pulled up wooden rails by rope. It facilitated the movement of goods over the Niagara Escarpment in present-day Lewiston, New York.
In 1781, the Niagara Purchase was signed, involving a 6.5-kilometre-wide (4.0 mi) strip of land bordering the west bank of the Niagara River, connecting Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
Several battles occurred along the Niagara River, which was historically defended by Fort George (Canadian side) and Fort Niagara (American side) at the mouth of the river and Fort Erie (Canadian side) at the head of the river. These forts were important during the Seven Years' War (known as the French and Indian War in the United States) and the American Revolutionary War. The Battle of Queenston Heights took place near the river in the War of 1812.
The river was an important route to liberation before the American Civil War, as many African-Americans escaping slavery on the Underground Railroad crossed it to find freedom in Canada. The Freedom Crossing Monument stands on the bank of the river in Lewiston to commemorate the courage of the escaping slaves and the local volunteers who helped them secretly cross the river.
In the 1880s, the Niagara River became the first waterway in the world harnessed for large-scale generation of hydroelectricity.
On the Canadian side of the river the provincial agency Niagara Parks Commission maintains all of the shoreline property, including Fort Erie, except the sites of Fort George (a National Historic Site maintained federally by Parks Canada), as a public greenspace and environmental heritage.
On the American side, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation maintains several state parks adjacent to Niagara Falls and the Niagara River.
Today, the river is the namesake of Niagara Herald Extraordinary at the Canadian Heraldic Authority.
The Niagara River is listed as a Great Lakes Areas of Concern in The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada.
The Niagara River has a long history of both road and rail bridges spanning the river, both upstream and downstream of the Falls. This history includes numerous bridges that have fallen victim to the harsh conditions of the Niagara Gorge, such as landslides and icepacks.
United States Coast Guard Fort Niagara Station was once a United States Army post. There are no Canadian Coast Guard posts along the river. Fort Mississauga, Fort George and Fort Erie are former British and Canadian military forts (last used 1953, 1965 and 1923 respectively) and are now parks.
Navy Island Royal Naval Shipyard was used by the French Navy in the 18th century as a naval base and by the Royal Navy from 1763 as a small shipyard, and abandoned around 1818 after the ratification of the Rush–Bagot Treaty in 1817.
On the Canadian side the Niagara Parkway travels along the River from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie.
NY 18F lines the river on the state side from Fort Niagara to Lewiston. Niagara Scenic Parkway on the state side only travels along the River from the Falls to Lewiston. The remaining river sections (with some interruptions) are covered by the LaSalle Expressway, NY 384, NY 266 and I-190 (Niagara Thruway) / New York Thruway.
New York, sometimes called New York State, is a state in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders New Jersey and Pennsylvania to its south, New England and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec to its north, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. With almost 19.6 million residents, it is the fourth-most populous state in the United States and eighth-most densely populated as of 2023. New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state by area, with a total area of 54,556 square miles (141,300 km2).
New York has a varied geography. The southeastern part of the state, known as Downstate, encompasses New York City, the most populous city in the United States, Long Island, the most populous island in the United States, and the lower Hudson Valley. These areas are the center of the New York metropolitan area, a sprawling urban landmass, and account for approximately two-thirds of the state's population. The much larger Upstate area spreads from the Great Lakes to Lake Champlain, and includes the Adirondack Mountains and the Catskill Mountains (part of the wider Appalachian Mountains). The east–west Mohawk River Valley bisects the more mountainous regions of Upstate, and flows into the north–south Hudson River valley near the state capital of Albany. Western New York, home to the cities of Buffalo and Rochester, is part of the Great Lakes region and borders Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Central New York is anchored by the city of Syracuse; between the central and western parts of the state, New York is dominated by the Finger Lakes, a popular tourist destination. To the south, along the state border with Pennsylvania, the Southern Tier sits atop the Allegheny Plateau, representing the northernmost reaches of Appalachia.
New York was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that went on to form the United States. The area of present-day New York had been inhabited by tribes of the Algonquians and the Iroquois Confederacy Native Americans for several thousand years by the time the earliest Europeans arrived. Stemming from Henry Hudson's expedition in 1609, the Dutch established the multiethnic colony of New Netherland in 1621. England seized the colony from the Dutch in 1664, renaming it the Province of New York. During the American Revolutionary War, a group of colonists eventually succeeded in establishing independence, and the former colony was officially admitted into the United States in 1788. From the early 19th century, New York's development of its interior, beginning with the construction of the Erie Canal, gave it incomparable advantages over other regions of the United States. The state built its political, cultural, and economic ascendancy over the next century, earning it the nickname of the "Empire State." Although deindustrialization eroded a significant portion of the state's economy in the second half of the 20th century, New York in the 21st century continues to be considered as a global node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance, and environmental sustainability.
The state attracts visitors from all over the globe, with the highest count of any U.S. state in 2022. Many of its landmarks are well known, including four of the world's ten most-visited tourist attractions in 2013: Times Square, Central Park, Niagara Falls and Grand Central Terminal. New York is home to approximately 200 colleges and universities, including two Ivy League universities, Columbia University and Cornell University, and the expansive State University of New York, which is among the largest university systems in the nation. New York City is home to the headquarters of the United Nations, and it is sometimes described as the world's most important city, the cultural, financial, and media epicenter, and the capital of the world.
The history of New York begins around 10,000 B.C. when the first people arrived. By 1100 A.D. two main cultures had become dominant as the Iroquoian and Algonquian developed. European discovery of New York was led by the Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 followed by the first land claim in 1609 by the Dutch. As part of New Netherland, the colony was important in the fur trade and eventually became an agricultural resource thanks to the patroon system. In 1626, the Dutch thought they had bought the island of Manhattan from Native Americans.[1] In 1664, England renamed the colony New York, after the Duke of York and Albany, brother of King Charles II. New York City gained prominence in the 18th century as a major trading port in the Thirteen Colonies.
New York played a pivotal role during the American Revolution and subsequent war. The Stamp Act Congress in 1765 brought together representatives from across the Thirteen Colonies to form a unified response to British policies. The Sons of Liberty were active in New York City to challenge British authority. After a major loss at the Battle of Long Island, the Continental Army suffered a series of additional defeats that forced a retreat from the New York City area, leaving the strategic port and harbor to the British army and navy as their North American base of operations for the rest of the war. The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the war in favor of the Americans, convincing France to formally ally with them. New York's constitution was adopted in 1777, and strongly influenced the United States Constitution. New York City was the national capital at various times between 1788 and 1790, where the Bill of Rights was drafted. Albany became the permanent state capital in 1797. In 1787, New York became the eleventh state to ratify the United States Constitution.
New York hosted significant transportation advancements in the 19th century, including the first steamboat line in 1807, the Erie Canal in 1825, and America's first regularly scheduled rail service in 1831. These advancements led to the expanded settlement of western New York and trade ties to the Midwest settlements around the Great Lakes.
Due to New York City's trade ties to the South, there were numerous southern sympathizers in the early days of the American Civil War and the mayor proposed secession. Far from any of the battles, New York ultimately sent the most soldiers and money to support the Union cause. Thereafter, the state helped create the industrial age and consequently was home to some of the first labor unions.
During the 19th century, New York City became the main entry point for European immigrants to the United States, beginning with a wave of Irish during their Great Famine. Millions came through Castle Clinton in Battery Park before Ellis Island opened in 1892 to welcome millions more, increasingly from eastern and southern Europe. The Statue of Liberty opened in 1886 and became a symbol of hope. New York boomed during the Roaring Twenties, before the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and skyscrapers expressed the energy of the city. New York City was the site of successive tallest buildings in the world from 1913 to 1974.
The buildup of defense industries for World War II turned around the state's economy from the Great Depression, as hundreds of thousands worked to defeat the Axis powers. Following the war, the state experienced significant suburbanization around all the major cities, and most central cities shrank. The Thruway system opened in 1956, signaling another era of transportation advances.
Following a period of near-bankruptcy in the late 1970s, New York City renewed its stature as a cultural center, attracted more immigration, and hosted the development of new music styles. The city developed from publishing to become a media capital over the second half of the 20th century, hosting most national news channels and broadcasts. Some of its newspapers became nationally and globally renowned. The state's manufacturing base eroded with the restructuring of industry, and the state transitioned into service industries.
The first peoples of New York are estimated to have arrived around 10,000 BC. Around AD 800, Iroquois ancestors moved into the area from the Appalachian region. The people of the Point Peninsula complex were the predecessors of the Algonquian peoples of New York. By around 1100, the distinct Iroquoian-speaking and Algonquian-speaking cultures that would eventually be encountered by Europeans had developed. The five nations of the Iroquois League developed a powerful confederacy about the 15th century that controlled territory throughout present-day New York, into Pennsylvania around the Great Lakes. For centuries, the Mohawk cultivated maize fields in the lowlands of the Mohawk River, which were later taken over by Dutch settlers at Schenectady, New York when they bought this territory. The Iroquois nations to the west also had well-cultivated areas and orchards.
The Iroquois established dominance over the fur trade throughout their territory, bargaining with European colonists. Other New York tribes were more subject to either European destruction or assimilation within the Iroquoian confederacy. Situated at major Native trade routes in the Northeast and positioned between French and English zones of settlement, the Iroquois were intensely caught up with the onrush of Europeans, which is also to say that the settlers, whether Dutch, French or English, were caught up with the Iroquois as well. Algonquian tribes were less united among their tribes; they typically lived along rivers, streams, or the Atlantic Coast. But, both groups of natives were well-established peoples with highly sophisticated cultural systems; these were little understood or appreciated by the European colonists who encountered them. The natives had "a complex and elaborate native economy that included hunting, gathering, manufacturing, and farming...[and were] a mosaic of Native American tribes, nations, languages, and political associations." The Iroquois usually met at an Onondaga in Northern New York, which changed every century or so, where they would coordinate policies on how to deal with Europeans and strengthen the bond between the Five Nations.
Tribes who have managed to call New York home have been the Iroquois, Mohawk, Mohican, Susquehannock, Petun, Chonnonton, Ontario and Nanticoke.
In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian explorer in the service of the French crown, explored the Atlantic coast of North America between the Carolinas and Newfoundland, including New York Harbor and Narragansett Bay. On April 17, 1524, Verrazzano entered New York Bay, by way of the Strait now called the Narrows. He described "a vast coastline with a deep delta in which every kind of ship could pass" and he adds: "that it extends inland for a league and opens up to form a beautiful lake. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats". He landed on the tip of Manhattan and perhaps on the furthest point of Long Island.
In 1535, Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, became the first European to describe and map the Saint Lawrence River from the Atlantic Ocean, sailing as far upriver as the site of Montreal.
On April 4, 1609, Henry Hudson, in the employ of the Dutch East India Company, departed Amsterdam in command of the ship Halve Maen (Half Moon). On September 3 he reached the estuary of the Hudson River. He sailed up the Hudson River to about Albany near the confluence of the Mohawk River and the Hudson. His voyage was used to establish Dutch claims to the region and to the fur trade that prospered there after a trading post was established at Albany in 1614.
In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Christiaensen, built Fort Nassau (now Albany) the first Dutch settlement in North America and the first European settlement in what would become New York. It was replaced by nearby Fort Orange in 1623. In 1625, Fort Amsterdam was built on the southern tip of Manhattan Island to defend the Hudson River. This settlement grew to become the city New Amsterdam.
The British conquered New Netherland in 1664; Lenient terms of surrender most likely kept local resistance to a minimum. The colony and New Amsterdam were both renamed New York (and "Beverwijck" was renamed Albany) after its new proprietor, James II later King of England, Ireland and Scotland, who was at the time Duke of York and Duke of Albany The population of New Netherland at the time of English takeover was 7,000–8,000.
Thousands of poor German farmers, chiefly from the Palatine region of Germany, migrated to upstate districts after 1700. They kept to themselves, married their own, spoke German, attended Lutheran churches, and retained their own customs and foods. They emphasized farm ownership. Some mastered English to become conversant with local legal and business opportunities. They ignored the Indians and tolerated slavery (although few were rich enough to own a slave).
Large manors were developed along the Hudson River by elite colonists during the 18th century, including Livingston, Cortlandt, Philipsburg, and Rensselaerswyck. The manors represented more than half of the colony's undeveloped land. The Province of New York thrived during this time, its economy strengthened by Long Island and Hudson Valley agriculture, in conjunction with trade and artisanal activity at the Port of New York; the colony was a breadbasket and lumberyard for the British sugar colonies in the Caribbean. New York's population grew substantially during this century: from the first colonial census (1698) to the last (1771), the province grew ninefold, from 18,067 to 168,007.
New York in the American Revolution
Further information: John Peter Zenger, Stamp Act Congress, Invasion of Canada (1775), New York and New Jersey campaign, Prisoners of war in the American Revolutionary War, and Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War
New York played a pivotal role in the Revolutionary War. The colony verged on revolt following the Stamp Act of 1765, advancing the New York City–based Sons of Liberty to the forefront of New York politics. The Act exacerbated the depression the province experienced after unsuccessfully invading Canada in 1760. Even though New York City merchants lost out on lucrative military contracts, the group sought common ground between the King and the people; however, compromise became impossible as of April 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord. In that aftermath the New York Provincial Congress on June 9, 1775, for five pounds sterling for each hundredweight of gunpowder delivered to each county's committee.
Two powerful families had for decades assembled colony-wide coalitions of supporters. With few exceptions, members long associated with the DeLancey faction went along when its leadership decided to support the crown, while members of the Livingston faction became Patriots.
New York's strategic central location and port made it key to controlling the colonies. The British assembled the century's largest fleet: at one point 30,000 British sailors and soldiers anchored off Staten Island. General George Washington barely escaped New York City with his army in November 1776; General Sir William Howe was successful in driving Washington out, but erred by expanding into New Jersey. By January 1777, he retained only a few outposts near New York City. The British held the city for the duration, using it as a base for expeditions against other targets.
In October 1777, American General Horatio Gates won the Battle of Saratoga, later regarded as the war's turning point. Had Gates not held, the rebellion might well have broken down: losing Saratoga would have cost the entire Hudson–Champlain corridor, which would have separated New England from the rest of the colonies and split the future union.
Upon war's end, New York's borders became well–defined: the counties east of Lake Champlain became Vermont and the state's western borders were settled by 1786.
Many Iroquois supported the British (typically fearing future American ambitions). Many were killed during the war; others went into exile with the British. Those remaining lived on twelve reservations; by 1826 only eight reservations remained, all of which survived into the 21st century.
The state adopted its constitution in April 1777, creating a strong executive and strict separation of powers. It strongly influenced the federal constitution a decade later. Debate over the federal constitution in 1787 led to formation of the groups known as Federalists—mainly "downstaters" (those who lived in or near New York City) who supported a strong national government—and Antifederalists—mainly upstaters (those who lived to the city's north and west) who opposed large national institutions. In 1787, Alexander Hamilton, a leading Federalist from New York and signatory to the Constitution, wrote the first essay of the Federalist Papers. He published and wrote most of the series in New York City newspapers in support of the proposed United States Constitution. Antifederalists were not swayed by the arguments, but the state ratified it in 1788.
In 1785, New York City became the national capital and continued as such on and off until 1790; George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States in front of Federal Hall in 1789. The United States Bill of Rights was drafted there, and the United States Supreme Court sat for the first time. From statehood to 1797, the Legislature frequently moved the state capital between Albany, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, and New York City. Thereafter, Albany retained that role.
In the early 19th century, New York became a center for advancement in transportation. In 1807, Robert Fulton initiated a steamboat line from New York to Albany, the first successful enterprise of its kind. By 1815, Albany was the state's turnpike center, which established the city as the hub for pioneers migrating west to Buffalo and the Michigan Territory.
In 1825 the Erie Canal opened, securing the state's economic dominance. Its impact was enormous: one source stated, "Linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes, the canal was an act of political will that joined the regions of the state, created a vast economic hinterland for New York City, and established a ready market for agricultural products from the state's interior." In that year western New York transitioned from "frontier" to settled area. By this time, all counties and most municipalities had incorporated, approximately matching the state's is organized today. In 1831, the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad started the country's first successful regularly–scheduled steam railroad service.
Advancing transportation quickly led to settlement of the fertile Mohawk and Gennessee valleys and the Niagara Frontier. Buffalo and Rochester became boomtowns. Significant migration of New England "Yankees" (mainly of English descent) to the central and western parts of the state led to minor conflicts with the more settled "Yorkers" (mainly of German, Dutch, and Scottish descent). More than 15% of the state's 1850 population had been born in New England[citation needed]. The western part of the state grew fastest at this time. By 1840, New York was home to seven of the nation's thirty largest cities.
During this period, towns established academies for education, including for girls. The western area of the state was a center of progressive causes, including support of abolitionism, temperance, and women's rights. Religious enthusiasms flourished and the Latter Day Saint movement was founded in the area by Joseph Smith and his vision. Some supporters of abolition participated in the Underground Railroad, helping fugitive slaves reach freedom in Canada or in New York.
In addition, in the early 1840s the state legislature and Governor William H. Seward expanded rights for free blacks and fugitive slaves in New York: in 1840 the legislature passed laws protecting the rights of African Americans against Southern slave-catchers. One guaranteed alleged fugitive slaves the right of a jury trial in New York to establish whether they were slaves, and another pledged the aid of the state to recover free blacks kidnapped into slavery, (as happened to Solomon Northup of Saratoga Springs in 1841, who did not regain freedom until 1853.) In 1841 Seward signed legislation to repeal a "nine-month law" that allowed slaveholders to bring their slaves into the state for a period of nine months before they were considered free. After this, slaves brought to the state were immediately considered freed, as was the case in some other free states. Seward also signed legislation to establish public education for all children, leaving it up to local jurisdictions as to how that would be supplied (some had segregated schools).
New York culture bloomed in the first half of the 19th century: in 1809 Washington Irving wrote the satirical A History of New York under the pen name Diedrich Knickerbocker, and in 1819 he based Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in Hudson Valley towns. Thomas Cole's Hudson River School was established in the 1830s by showcasing dramatic landscapes of the Hudson Valley. The first baseball teams formed in New York City in the 1840s, including the New York Knickerbockers. Professional baseball later located its Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Saratoga Race Course, an annual summer attraction in Saratoga Springs, opened in 1847.
A civil war was not in the best interest of business, because New York had strong ties to the Deep South, both through the port of New York and manufacture of cotton goods in upstate textile mills. Half of New York City's exports were related to cotton before the war. Southern businessmen so frequently traveled to the city that they established favorite hotels and restaurants. Trade was based on moving Southern goods. The city's large Democrat community feared the impact of Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860 and the mayor urged secession of New York.
By the time of the 1861 Battle of Fort Sumter, such political differences decreased and the state quickly met Lincoln's request for soldiers and supplies. More soldiers fought from New York than any other Northern state. While no battles were waged in New York, the state was not immune to Confederate conspiracies, including one to burn various New York cities and another to invade the state via Canada.
In January 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves in states that were still in rebellion against the union. In March 1863, the federal draft law was changed so that male citizens between 20 and 35 and unmarried citizens to age 45 were subject to conscription. Those who could afford to hire a substitute or pay $300 were exempt. Antiwar newspaper editors attacked the law, and many immigrants and their descendants resented being drafted in place of people who could buy their way out. Democratic Party leaders raised the specter of a deluge of freed southern blacks competing with the white working class, then dominated by ethnic Irish and immigrants. On the lottery's first day, July 11, 1863, the first lottery draw was held. On Monday, July 13, 1863, five days of large-scale riots began, which were dominated by ethnic Irish, who targeted blacks in the city, their neighborhoods, and known abolitionist sympathizers. As a result, many blacks left Manhattan permanently, moving to Brooklyn or other areas.
In the following decades, New York strengthened its dominance of the financial and banking industries. Manufacturing continued to rise: Eastman Kodak founded in 1888 in Rochester, General Electric in Schenectady, and Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company in the Triple Cities are some of the well-known companies founded during this period. Buffalo and Niagara Falls attracted numerous factories following the advent of hydroelectric power in the area. With industry blooming, workers began to unite in New York as early as the 1820s. By 1882, the Knights of Labor in New York City had 60,000 members. Trade unions used political influence to limit working hours as early as 1867. At the same time, New York's agricultural output peaked. Focus changed from crop-based to dairy-based agriculture. The cheese industry became established in the Mohawk Valley. By 1881, the state had more than 241,000 farms. In the same period, the area around New York harbor became the world's oyster capital, retaining that title into the early twentieth century.
Immigration increased throughout the latter half of the 19th century. Starting with refugees from the Great Famine of Ireland in the 1840s, New York became a prominent entry point for those seeking a new life in the United States. Between 1855 and 1890, an estimated 8 million immigrants passed through Castle Clinton at Battery Park in Manhattan. Early in this period, most immigrants came from Ireland and Germany. Ellis Island opened in 1892, and between 1880 and 1920, most immigrants were German and Eastern European Jews, Poles, and other Eastern and Southern Europeans, including many Italians. By 1925, New York City's population outnumbered that of London, making it the most populous city in the world. Arguably New York's most identifiable symbol, Liberty Enlightening the World (the Statue of Liberty), a gift from France for the American centennial, was completed in 1886. By the early 20th century, the statue was regarded as the "Mother of Exiles"—a symbol of hope to immigrants.
New York's political pattern changed little after the mid–19th century. New York City and its metropolitan area was already heavily Democrat; Upstate was aligned with the Republican Party and was a center of abolitionist activists. In the 1850s, Democratic Tammany Hall became one of the most powerful and durable political machines in United States history. Boss William Tweed brought the organization to the forefront of city and then state politics in the 1860s. Based on its command of a large population, Tammany maintained influence until at least the 1930s. Outside the city, Republicans were able to influence the redistricting process enough to constrain New York City and capture control of the Legislature in 1894. Both parties have seen national political success: in the 39 presidential elections between 1856 and 2010, Republicans won 19 times and Democrats 20 times.
By 1901, New York was the richest and most populous state. Two years prior, the five boroughs of New York City became one city. Within decades, the city's emblem had become the skyscraper: the Woolworth Building was the tallest building in the world from 1913, surpassed by 40 Wall Street in April 1930, the Chrysler Building in 1930, the Empire State Building in 1931, and the World Trade Center in 1972 before losing the title in 1974.
The state was serviced by over a dozen major railroads and at the start of the 20th century and electric Interurban rail networks began to spring up around Syracuse, Rochester and other cities in New York during this period.
In the late 1890s governor Theodore Roosevelt and fellow Republicans such as Charles Evans Hughes worked with many Democrats such as Al Smith to promote Progressivism. They battled trusts and monopolies (especially in the insurance industry), promoted efficiency, fought waste, and called for more democracy in politics. Democrats focused more on the benefits of progressivism for their own ethnic working class base and for labor unions.
Democratic political machines, especially Tammany Hall in Manhattan, opposed woman suffrage because they feared that the addition of female voters would dilute the control they had established over groups of male voters. By the time of the New York State referendum on women's suffrage in 1917, however, some wives and daughters of Tammany Hall leaders were working for suffrage, leading it to take a neutral position that was crucial to the referendum's passage.
Following a sharp but short-lived Depression at the beginning of the decade, New York enjoyed a booming economy during the Roaring Twenties. New York suffered during the Great Depression, which began with the Wall Street crash on Black Tuesday in 1929. The Securities and Exchange Commission opened in 1934 to regulate the stock market. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected governor in 1928, and the state faced upwards of 25% unemployment. His Temporary Emergency Relief Agency, established in 1931, was the first work relief program in the nation and influenced the national Federal Emergency Relief Administration. Roosevelt was elected President in 1932 in part because of his promises to extend New York–style relief programs across the country via his New Deal. In 1932, Lake Placid was host to the III Olympic Winter Games.
As the largest state, New York again supplied the most resources during World War II. New York manufactured 11 percent of total United States military armaments produced during the war and suffered 31,215 casualties. The war affected the state both socially and economically. For example, to overcome discriminatory labor practices, Governor Herbert H. Lehman created the Committee on Discrimination in Employment in 1941 and Governor Thomas E. Dewey signed the Ives-Quinn Act in 1945, banning employment discrimination. The G.I. Bill of 1944, which offered returning soldiers the opportunity of affordable higher education, forced New York to create a public university system since its private universities could not handle the influx; the State University of New York was created by Governor Dewey in 1948.
World War II constituted New York's last great industrial era. At its conclusion, the defense industry shrank and the economy shifted towards producing services rather than goods. Returning soldiers disproportionately displaced female and minority workers who had entered the industrial workforce only when the war left employers no other choice. Companies moved to the south and west, seeking lower taxes and a less costly, non–union workforce. Many workers followed the jobs. The middle class expanded and created suburbs such as the one on Long Island. The automobile accelerated this decentralization; planned communities like Levittown offered affordable middle-class housing.
Larger cities stopped growing around 1950. Growth resumed only in New York City, in the 1980s. Buffalo's population fell by half between 1950 and 2000. Reduced immigration and worker migration led New York State's population to decline for the first time between 1970 and 1980. California and Texas both surpassed it in population.
New York entered its third era of massive transportation projects by building highways, notably the New York State Thruway. The project was unpopular with New York City Democrats, who referred to it as "Dewey's ditch" and the "enemy of schools", because the Thruway disproportionately benefited upstate. The highway was based on the German Autobahn and was unlike anything seen at that point in the United States. It was within 30 miles (50 km) of 90% of the population at its conception. Costing $600 million, the full 427-mile (687 km) project opened in 1956.
Nelson Rockefeller was governor from 1959 to 1973 and changed New York politics. He began as a liberal, but grew more conservative: he limited SUNY's growth, responded aggressively to the Attica Prison riot, and promulgated the uniquely severe Rockefeller Drug Laws. The World Trade Center and other profligate projects nearly drove New York City into bankruptcy in 1975. The state took substantial budgetary control, which eventually led to improved fiscal prudence.
The Executive Mansion was retaken by Democrats in 1974 and remained under Democratic control for 20 years under Hugh Carey and Mario Cuomo. Late–century Democrats became more centrist, including US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1977–2001) and New York City Mayor Ed Koch (1978–1989), while state Republicans began to align themselves with the more conservative national party. They gained power through the elections of Senator Alfonse D'Amato in 1980, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 1993, and Governor George Pataki in 1994. New York remained one of the most liberal states. In 1984, Ronald Reagan was the last Republican to carry the state, although Republican Michael Bloomberg served as New York City mayor in the early 21st century.
In the late 20th century, telecommunication and high technology industries employed many New Yorkers. New York City was especially successful at this transition. Entrepreneurs created many small companies, as industrial firms such as Polaroid withered. This success drew many young professionals into the still–dwindling cities. New York City was the exception and has continued to draw new residents. The energy of the city created attractions and new businesses. Some people believe that changes in policing created a less threatening environment; crime rates dropped, and urban development reduced urban decay.
This in turn led to a surge in culture. New York City became, once again, "the center for all things chic and trendy". Hip-hop and rap music, led by New York City, became the most popular pop genre. Immigration to both the city and state rose. New York City, with a large gay and lesbian community, suffered many deaths from AIDS beginning in the 1980s.
New York City increased its already large share of television programming, home to the network news broadcasts, as well as two of the three major cable news networks. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times became two of the three "national" newspapers, read throughout the country. New York also increased its dominance of the financial services industry centered on Wall Street, led by banking expansion, a rising stock market, innovations in investment banking, including junk bond trading and accelerated by the savings and loan crisis that decimated competitors elsewhere in New York.
Upstate did not fare as well as downstate; the major industries that began to reinvigorate New York City did not typically spread to other regions. The number of farms in the state had fallen to 30,000 by 1997. City populations continued to decline while suburbs grew in area, but did not increase proportionately in population. High-tech industry grew in cities such as Corning and Rochester. Overall New York entered the new millennium "in a position of economic strength and optimism".
In 2001, New York entered a new era following the 9/11 attacks, the worst terrorist attack ever to take place on American soil. Two of the four hijacked passenger jets crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, destroying them, and killing almost 3,000 people. One flew into the Pentagon demolishing the walls. The final one was almost taken back over by the passengers aboard and crashed into an open grassland with 296 out of the 500 people dead. Thousands of New Yorkers volunteered their time to search the ruin for survivors and remains in the following weeks.
Following the attacks, plans were announced to rebuild the World Trade Center site. 7 World Trade Center became the first World Trade Center skyscraper to be rebuilt in five years after the attacks. One World Trade Center, four more office towers, and a memorial to the casualties of the September 11 attacks are under construction as of 2011. One World Trade Center opened on November 3, 2014.
On October 29 and 30, 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused extensive destruction of the state's shorelines, ravaging portions of New York City, Long Island, and southern Westchester with record-high storm surge, with severe flooding and high winds causing power outages for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, and leading to gasoline shortages and disruption of mass transit systems. The storm and its profound effects have prompted the discussion of constructing seawalls and other coastal barriers around the shorelines of New York City and Long Island to minimize the risk from another such future event. Such risk is considered highly probable due to global warming and rising sea levels.
Better Brothers Los Angeles teamed up with the Diva Foundation at the historic Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles.
The event is sponsored by Gilead, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the generous support of businessman and activist Gerard McCallum.
The Truth Awards will benefit the DIVA Foundation and its partnership with Better Brothers LA with several initiatives aimed at affirming and strengthening the African American LGBTQ community educationally, financially, physically and socially. Proceeds will also benefit the Better Brothers LA Book Scholarship and other programming needs of the organization. For more information about the organization and its scholarship program
ABOUT BETTER BROTHERS LOS ANGELES
Better Brothers Los Angeles was created to provide spaces for Black gay men to network, socialize and be BETTER – at life, love and community. Developing a sense of community has been a challenge for some Black gay men, given the cultural and religious opposition to their sexual orientation. As those challenges have receded in mainstream society, they still present significant difficulties and constrain a sense of well-being for Black gay men within the Black community. Better Brothers Los Angeles has sponsored cultural, recreational, and social/networking events, and continues to create a community where Black gay men and women can walk with a greater sense of confidence and pride. Visit www.BetterBrothersLA.com
ABOUT THE DIVA FOUNDATION
The DIVA Foundation -- founded in 1990 by Tony-nominated actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph -- is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created as a living memorial to the many friends she lost to HIV/AIDS as an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” and because of her concern for the threat HIV/AIDS posed to women and children. Over the years, the DIVA Foundation has worked to break the silence and erase the stigma still connected to HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested in order to know their HIV status.
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"The book of Allah is the guide of it's followers towards the pleasure of Allah. Listening (carefully) to it leads to the salvation. The enlightened and conspicuous evidences and proofs of Allah can be obtained through it. And (also the knowledge) of His interpreted intentions and fear invoking constraining prohibitions. His sufficing testimonies and conspicuous arguments, and desired virtues and allowed endowments and gifts and obligatory divine laws."
— Fatimah az-Zahra (س)
The oases of the Maghreb region are green islands flourishing in a constraining and harsh environment. They are home to a diversified and highly intensive and productive system, which has been developed over millennia.
Dominated by the date palm, intertwined with trees and crops, these ancient systems produce a surprising variety of fruits and vegetables, cereals and forages, medicinal and aromatic plants. The palm groves offer shade and lower the ambient temperature, making it the best place to live in the Sahara and an important place of recreation.
The systems of production and irrigation and the culture of the oases vary between the different locations in correspondence to their environment. There are oases in continental, mountainous, as well as in littoral areas. With their rich diversity these oases systems constitute an agricultural and cultural heritage.
Photo credit must be given: Photo courtesy of GIAHS Algeria - Ghout System. Editorial use only.
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Better Brothers Los Angeles teamed up with the Diva Foundation at the historic Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles.
The event is sponsored by Gilead, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the generous support of businessman and activist Gerard McCallum.
The Truth Awards will benefit the DIVA Foundation and its partnership with Better Brothers LA with several initiatives aimed at affirming and strengthening the African American LGBTQ community educationally, financially, physically and socially. Proceeds will also benefit the Better Brothers LA Book Scholarship and other programming needs of the organization. For more information about the organization and its scholarship program
ABOUT BETTER BROTHERS LOS ANGELES
Better Brothers Los Angeles was created to provide spaces for Black gay men to network, socialize and be BETTER – at life, love and community. Developing a sense of community has been a challenge for some Black gay men, given the cultural and religious opposition to their sexual orientation. As those challenges have receded in mainstream society, they still present significant difficulties and constrain a sense of well-being for Black gay men within the Black community. Better Brothers Los Angeles has sponsored cultural, recreational, and social/networking events, and continues to create a community where Black gay men and women can walk with a greater sense of confidence and pride. Visit www.BetterBrothersLA.com
ABOUT THE DIVA FOUNDATION
The DIVA Foundation -- founded in 1990 by Tony-nominated actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph -- is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created as a living memorial to the many friends she lost to HIV/AIDS as an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” and because of her concern for the threat HIV/AIDS posed to women and children. Over the years, the DIVA Foundation has worked to break the silence and erase the stigma still connected to HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested in order to know their HIV status.
Mountain Farms Incorporated Health Services Director G. Donald Ritter speaks at the panel on Protecting U.S. Animal and Plant Health from Invasive Pests at the 2014 Agricultural Outlook Forum on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 in Arlington, VA. The panel discussed how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is protecting U.S. agricultural health from invasive pests in times of diverging stakeholder interests and constraining resources. The session focused on USDA’s collaborative work with States, industries, and international trade. USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum brings together the agricultural community to discuss policy, trade, science, rural development, and the economic outlook for the coming year. The Forum also focuses on forestry, health and nutrition issues, and the changing dynamics and face of rural America. USDA photo by Bob Nichols.
Better Brothers Los Angeles teamed up with the Diva Foundation at the historic Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles.
The event is sponsored by Gilead, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the generous support of businessman and activist Gerard McCallum.
The Truth Awards will benefit the DIVA Foundation and its partnership with Better Brothers LA with several initiatives aimed at affirming and strengthening the African American LGBTQ community educationally, financially, physically and socially. Proceeds will also benefit the Better Brothers LA Book Scholarship and other programming needs of the organization. For more information about the organization and its scholarship program
ABOUT BETTER BROTHERS LOS ANGELES
Better Brothers Los Angeles was created to provide spaces for Black gay men to network, socialize and be BETTER – at life, love and community. Developing a sense of community has been a challenge for some Black gay men, given the cultural and religious opposition to their sexual orientation. As those challenges have receded in mainstream society, they still present significant difficulties and constrain a sense of well-being for Black gay men within the Black community. Better Brothers Los Angeles has sponsored cultural, recreational, and social/networking events, and continues to create a community where Black gay men and women can walk with a greater sense of confidence and pride. Visit www.BetterBrothersLA.com
ABOUT THE DIVA FOUNDATION
The DIVA Foundation -- founded in 1990 by Tony-nominated actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph -- is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created as a living memorial to the many friends she lost to HIV/AIDS as an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” and because of her concern for the threat HIV/AIDS posed to women and children. Over the years, the DIVA Foundation has worked to break the silence and erase the stigma still connected to HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested in order to know their HIV status.
U.S. Climate Envoy and former Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Todd Stern spoke at CAP yesterday, emphasizing that “the [current] status quo is unsustainable.” He plans to take that message when he travels to China later this week to discuss bilateral global warming agreements between the U.S. and Chinese governments.
“This is a moment to reevaluate our conceptions about what is possible,” CAP President and CEO John D. Podesta said as he introduced Stern. It’s a crucial opportunity for the United States and China to move forward together on climate issues because, as Stern pointed out, any U.S. action on climate change will not be enough without China.
He hopes to “deepen the dialogue” with China and “drill down deeper” on climate issues. A bilateral agreement with China is part of the long-term goal, but he said that does not expect a “big agreement” to come out of this trip. His goal is to lay a foundation for future agreements.
Stern shied away from discussing specifics of potential agreements between the United States and China, but he did mention some key issues that will have to be on the table. For example, “I don’t think there is any question that the developed countries are going to have to provide resources to many countries in the developing world,” he said.
Emissions limits, which are currently being debated in the United States as part of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, will be another key issue for China. Many in China fear that, “putting limits on emissions would constrain economic growth, job creation, and the country’s capacity to continue its impressive rise,” Stern said. But he argued that China “must do what many in the Chinese leadership recognize, and is not to stop growing, but to grow smarter.”
China has already begun to “grow smarter” in many ways, and Stern urged listeners not to forget that. “We need to acknowledge the impressive steps the Chinese have already taken to promote low-carbon development and the new ones that will be coming off drawing boards soon,” he said.
Stern also cautioned against urging the Chinese to move forward if others remain complacent. “We need to recognize that if we aren’t careful, we may spend the next few years pushing China to do more, but will then spend all the years after that chasing them, as they hurtle profitably down the road to the low-carbon transformation,” he warned.
International climate change agreements are not as easy choice for the Chinese, according to Stern. “China can take a new path recognizing the need to make significant international commitments against the background of a robust collaboration with the United States,” he said. “While I think, in my view, the right choice is clear, you shouldn’t underestimate the dilemma for China.”
Stern is hopeful and told attendees that he does not think the two sides are that far apart on what must be done. “In terms of the overall dynamics of where we need to go, I don’t think it is a dramatically different assessment,” he said. He also said that the United States needs to “listen, not just lecture” during this week’s talks.
He expects conversations with the Chinese to be more science oriented than past talks because he is travelling with John Holden, the White House’s chief science adviser. He also said that he believes the Chinese are “in a different place with respect to where the science is,” although he did express concern about the Chinese government’s domestic emissions estimates, which show lower emissions levels than what many independent assessments have found.
Those discrepancies would need to be resolved as part of an international emissions treaty in the future, but this week’s trip will focus on setting the stage for future agreements, which have become increasingly important as Kyoto nears expiration in 2012. The United States must play a major part in reducing emissions, but global climate change is a problem too large for one country to resolve alone. As Stern told attendees, “While the critical first step must be for us to put our own house in order, the problem can only be solved globally.”
St Peter, Monks Eleigh, Suffolk
Here we are in the Brett Valley, the prettiest part of East Anglia, I think. Nearby Lavenham and Kersey attract all the tourists, but I wonder how many of them ever make it out into these deliciously lovely villages that huddle in the gentle hills between Hadleigh and Stowmarket? A mile or so from its little sister Brent Eleigh, this village has the grander church, but, perhaps, the less interesting one.It certainly has a splendid setting, for this was one of the great wool-producing villages of the Brett Valley in late medieval days, the busiest and richest part of England in the 15th century.
Up from the village high street, St Peter's powerful 15th century tower can be seen for miles around, and it is a pleasant foil to the mightily sombre St Peter and St Paul, Lavenham, a couple of miles beyond it. St Peter's tower is perhaps more typical of the churches of the nearby Stour Valley, with the stair turret climbing beyond the battlements. It certainly makes itself known - in this hilly country, every view is like a painting.
The tower sits close to the road, with a fascinating west doorway carved with little animals. There was a huge rebuilding here in the late 15th century, as you might expect. The top of the tower has deliciously decorated flushwork and a weather vane dated 1969. The graveyard constrains the building tightly to south and north, but then sprawls away to the east. Looking back, you can see that the long chancel is entirely 19th century.
You enter through the south porch. While this part of Suffolk is well-known for some deliciously atmospheric and historically significant interiors, this is something different. There was an overwhelming Victorian restoration here in the full flush of Anglican triumphalism, leaving a fairly urban and even slightly anonymous feeling, although this is obviously a well-loved and cared-for place. It would have been interesting to see this church in the 18th century, when it was full of box pews - the door of one of them survives in the south-west corner, labelled Free for Women. The elegant Early English tub font on pilasters, retaining its Perpendicular font cover, was originally at this end but has since been reset in front of the former north doorway.
The nave was rebuilt at the time of the tower, retaining an arcade from an earlier church, but otherwise being all of a Perpendicular piece. There is a massive set of Queen Anne royal arms above the chancel arch, almost of a size with those at Mildenhall. The chancel is wholly Victorian in construction and character, but it has some fascinating windows by the Ward & Hughes workshop, not a sentiment I hold very often. They depict scenes from the life of Christ - the summoning of the Disciples, the raising of Jairus's daughter - but if you look closely you will see that some of the figures in the scenes have 19th century faces, and are wearing 19th century clothes. These are memorial windows to the figures worked into the scenes, and the brass plaques that name them are also by Ward & Hughes. The best one is the astonishing consumptive figure of Jairus's daughter, who is represented by Winifred Frances Fisher, a 17 year old girl who was suddenly called home in 1892. Her plaque notes that she was perfected in a short time. She lies on her death bed, her silvery curls flowing across the pillow in a perfect moment of late Victorian sentiment. Rather odder is the figure of her father, in full 19th Century formal wear, who peers curiously from behind the backs of St Peter and St Andrew as they are called on the lake shore to give their lives to Christ.
St Peter, Monks Eleigh, Suffolk
Here we are in the Brett Valley, the prettiest part of East Anglia, I think. Nearby Lavenham and Kersey attract all the tourists, but I wonder how many of them ever make it out into these deliciously lovely villages that huddle in the gentle hills between Hadleigh and Stowmarket? A mile or so from its little sister Brent Eleigh, this village has the grander church, but, perhaps, the less interesting one.It certainly has a splendid setting, for this was one of the great wool-producing villages of the Brett Valley in late medieval days, the busiest and richest part of England in the 15th century.
Up from the village high street, St Peter's powerful 15th century tower can be seen for miles around, and it is a pleasant foil to the mightily sombre St Peter and St Paul, Lavenham, a couple of miles beyond it. St Peter's tower is perhaps more typical of the churches of the nearby Stour Valley, with the stair turret climbing beyond the battlements. It certainly makes itself known - in this hilly country, every view is like a painting.
The tower sits close to the road, with a fascinating west doorway carved with little animals. There was a huge rebuilding here in the late 15th century, as you might expect. The top of the tower has deliciously decorated flushwork and a weather vane dated 1969. The graveyard constrains the building tightly to south and north, but then sprawls away to the east. Looking back, you can see that the long chancel is entirely 19th century.
You enter through the south porch. While this part of Suffolk is well-known for some deliciously atmospheric and historically significant interiors, this is something different. There was an overwhelming Victorian restoration here in the full flush of Anglican triumphalism, leaving a fairly urban and even slightly anonymous feeling, although this is obviously a well-loved and cared-for place. It would have been interesting to see this church in the 18th century, when it was full of box pews - the door of one of them survives in the south-west corner, labelled Free for Women. The elegant Early English tub font on pilasters, retaining its Perpendicular font cover, was originally at this end but has since been reset in front of the former north doorway.
The nave was rebuilt at the time of the tower, retaining an arcade from an earlier church, but otherwise being all of a Perpendicular piece. There is a massive set of Queen Anne royal arms above the chancel arch, almost of a size with those at Mildenhall. The chancel is wholly Victorian in construction and character, but it has some fascinating windows by the Ward & Hughes workshop, not a sentiment I hold very often. They depict scenes from the life of Christ - the summoning of the Disciples, the raising of Jairus's daughter - but if you look closely you will see that some of the figures in the scenes have 19th century faces, and are wearing 19th century clothes. These are memorial windows to the figures worked into the scenes, and the brass plaques that name them are also by Ward & Hughes. The best one is the astonishing consumptive figure of Jairus's daughter, who is represented by Winifred Frances Fisher, a 17 year old girl who was suddenly called home in 1892. Her plaque notes that she was perfected in a short time. She lies on her death bed, her silvery curls flowing across the pillow in a perfect moment of late Victorian sentiment. Rather odder is the figure of her father, in full 19th Century formal wear, who peers curiously from behind the backs of St Peter and St Andrew as they are called on the lake shore to give their lives to Christ.
Ok, so I've decided that I am going to start posting photos out of order because one: i want to get to some photos from later on in the vacation, and two: I feel that my creativity is restricted when I constrain myself to a timeline. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for lookin' and have a magical day!
Methane emissions due to human-related activities, shown to the right of the volcano, account for approximately 70 per cent of the total emissions (Reeburgh 2007; Colwell and Ussler III 2010). Gas Hydrates are currently estimated to contribute about 5 Tg (Tg = 1012 grammes) of methane (3.5 Tg carbon) per year to the atmosphere (IPCC, 2007). Emission rates for gas hydrates are highly speculative, however, and may overestimate the atmospheric methane contribution by not fully accounting for methane consumed by microbes in the sediment and water column. Additional research will be required to constrain the methane flux from gas hydrates that reaches the atmosphere.
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This photo has been graciously provided to be used in the GRID-Arendal resources library by: GRID-Arendal
Better Brothers Los Angeles teamed up with the Diva Foundation at the historic Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles.
The event is sponsored by Gilead, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the generous support of businessman and activist Gerard McCallum.
The Truth Awards will benefit the DIVA Foundation and its partnership with Better Brothers LA with several initiatives aimed at affirming and strengthening the African American LGBTQ community educationally, financially, physically and socially. Proceeds will also benefit the Better Brothers LA Book Scholarship and other programming needs of the organization. For more information about the organization and its scholarship program
ABOUT BETTER BROTHERS LOS ANGELES
Better Brothers Los Angeles was created to provide spaces for Black gay men to network, socialize and be BETTER – at life, love and community. Developing a sense of community has been a challenge for some Black gay men, given the cultural and religious opposition to their sexual orientation. As those challenges have receded in mainstream society, they still present significant difficulties and constrain a sense of well-being for Black gay men within the Black community. Better Brothers Los Angeles has sponsored cultural, recreational, and social/networking events, and continues to create a community where Black gay men and women can walk with a greater sense of confidence and pride. Visit www.BetterBrothersLA.com
ABOUT THE DIVA FOUNDATION
The DIVA Foundation -- founded in 1990 by Tony-nominated actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph -- is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created as a living memorial to the many friends she lost to HIV/AIDS as an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” and because of her concern for the threat HIV/AIDS posed to women and children. Over the years, the DIVA Foundation has worked to break the silence and erase the stigma still connected to HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested in order to know their HIV status.
The famous 'Nationale 7' synonymous with the way to sunny vacations along the Mediterranean shores for generations of French families following the establishment of statutory summer holidays in 1936.
Long, warm days, no more time or job constrains; let's party.
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Route_nationale_7_(France_métropolitaine)
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap-d'Ail
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Route_nationale_7
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap-d'Ail
The monument is based on a French milestone: borne routière.
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borne_routière
Photo taken looking North.
View from above:
wikimapia.org/#lang=fr&lat=43.728075&lon=7.412041...
Another point of view:
Better Brothers Los Angeles teamed up with the Diva Foundation at the historic Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles.
The event is sponsored by Gilead, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the generous support of businessman and activist Gerard McCallum.
The Truth Awards will benefit the DIVA Foundation and its partnership with Better Brothers LA with several initiatives aimed at affirming and strengthening the African American LGBTQ community educationally, financially, physically and socially. Proceeds will also benefit the Better Brothers LA Book Scholarship and other programming needs of the organization. For more information about the organization and its scholarship program
ABOUT BETTER BROTHERS LOS ANGELES
Better Brothers Los Angeles was created to provide spaces for Black gay men to network, socialize and be BETTER – at life, love and community. Developing a sense of community has been a challenge for some Black gay men, given the cultural and religious opposition to their sexual orientation. As those challenges have receded in mainstream society, they still present significant difficulties and constrain a sense of well-being for Black gay men within the Black community. Better Brothers Los Angeles has sponsored cultural, recreational, and social/networking events, and continues to create a community where Black gay men and women can walk with a greater sense of confidence and pride. Visit www.BetterBrothersLA.com
ABOUT THE DIVA FOUNDATION
The DIVA Foundation -- founded in 1990 by Tony-nominated actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph -- is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created as a living memorial to the many friends she lost to HIV/AIDS as an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” and because of her concern for the threat HIV/AIDS posed to women and children. Over the years, the DIVA Foundation has worked to break the silence and erase the stigma still connected to HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested in order to know their HIV status.
Milestone Basin. Sequoia National Park. August 2, 2010. © Copyright 2010 G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.
Sierra Nevada backcountry near Milestone Basin
The back story to this photograph could end up being quite long, but I'll try to constrain it a bit. First, credit to my friend David Hoffman, whose recent effort to share a bunch of his black and white photographs has inspired me to share a few of mine that haven't been public before, and to go back to some older images that have languished in my raw file archives and do the work necessary to bring them to the light of day. This is one of those photograph, from a trip into a wonderful and remote section of the Southern Sierra that I undertook with group of friends over four years ago. The general area is one that I had long wanted to visit, since a strange college backpacking trip that had one of the lakes in the area as its objective, but which was derailed when my buddies and I realized that we were not up the rather intense trip we had embarked upon, and we ended up revising our trip in mid-stream — and we ended up many miles away from here. On this 2010 trip, many decades later, I finally got into this area that I had thought about during the intervening years.
The actual target destination on this 2010 trip was a particular alpine lake that I had been curious about since that original visit. We did go to that lake, a high barren lake above timberline, on this trip. Ironically, that destination from so many years ago did not particularly excite me when we got there — we stayed briefly and then moved on. But the place we ended up after that was very special. We looped into an area far up in the upper drainage of the Kern River, a location that is off the beaten track and clearly not visited that often. Our campsite near the location of this photograph showed virtually no signs of previous visits, a rare thing in the Sierra. This beautiful landscape of timberline lakes and meadows, perhaps my favorite sort of Sierra place, sits at the base of huge alpine canyons leading to massive and rugged summits. Fortunately, its remoteness and the difficulty of the approach is likely to sustain the solitude of the place.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
The oases of the Maghreb region are green islands flourishing in a constraining and harsh environment. They are home to a diversified and highly intensive and productive system, which has been developed over millennia.
Dominated by the date palm, intertwined with trees and crops, these ancient systems produce a surprising variety of fruits and vegetables, cereals and forages, medicinal and aromatic plants. The palm groves offer shade and lower the ambient temperature, making it the best place to live in the Sahara and an important place of recreation.
The systems of production and irrigation and the culture of the oases vary between the different locations in correspondence to their environment. There are oases in continental, mountainous, as well as in littoral areas. With their rich diversity these oases systems constitute an agricultural and cultural heritage.
(c)FAO. Photo credit must be given.
Dear Diary - Incandescent, lit brightly by the early morning fog diffused lights of the highway traffic...something mystical and beyond mortal seems to emanate from here...but this is nothing more than a testament...it is the memories, however, that are potent in their ability to constrain or motivate those who hold them...
Historical monument: Hermaïon d'El Guettar, the oldest cult "monument" discovered to date in the world.
The oases of the Maghreb region are green islands flourishing in a constraining and harsh environment. They are home to a diversified and highly intensive and productive system, which has been developed over millennia.
Photo credit must be given: ©ASM Gafsa
More information:
Any assessment of the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia depends on what is considered to be their aim.
If the aim of sanctions was to constrain Russia’s actions in Ukraine, they were effective, says Jarosław Ćwiek-Karpowicz of PISM. If not for the sanctions, Moscow would have been even more rapacious and aggressive in Ukraine. As it stands, Russia’s dire economic situation means it cannot afford to support the Donbas financially. All it can really do now is promote the region’s autonomy in order to prevent the situation in Ukraine from stabilising.
The sanctions were also successful in term of demonstrating to Russia and the world that the West can unite when it needs to. Vladimir Putin did not expect the European Union to come together and agree a set of sanctions in July 2014, and was very surprised when that happened. Since then, the official rhetoric in Russia has changed dramatically. While the narrative used to be that sanctions would not have any impact on the country, now all of Russia’s economic woes are blamed on them. Although – as Marek Menkiszak from the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) notes – much of Russia’s current inflation is in fact caused by its own embargoes.
However, Ivan Rassokhin of the Centre for Polish-Russian Business Cooperation argues that sanctions have hit the Russian people much more than the Russian elites, and in that sense they have not been successful. But not everyone agrees. Some point to Putin’s counter-crisis strategy, which is to rely on the private sector (read: oligarchs) to foot the bill, as a sign that the elites are already feeling and will continue to feel the pinch of sanctions.
The debate: Sanctions and Russia was held at PISM on 14 January 2015 at PISM, to promote the publication of the report of the same name. It was moderated by TVP Moscow correspondent Arleta Bojke.
By Maya Rostowska, Piotr Kościński
Photos by Jadwiga Winiarska
For more info go to: www.pism.pl/evnets/Were-sanctions-against-Russia-effective
This is a die-cutting form (cutter) rescued by BCD members of a Waddington 500pc cardboard jigsaw, created by change-part makers named John and Leslie in about 3 weeks. Each puzzle size (different dimensions, not piece count) requires its own form and change-parts for the presses. The economics of producing the parts constrains the choice of images used by jigsaw manufacturers.
Tom Tyler explained that initially the sizes of die-cut jigsaws were limited by the maximum force available from the presses, and so the cardboard used had to be very thin or it would break the presses or the forms. Nowadays hydraulic presses can cope with 2-3mm of cardboard (and in China they appear to be cutting thin wood this way). In the 1930s craze in the USA, the cheap and cheerful 10 cent puzzles marketed by newspapers were made of material that was little thicker than paper. The cuts used in puzzles made of Tuco wallboard were very simple because of the strength needed to push the blades of the form through them.
The design of the jigsaw cut starts with artists with a feel for what is feasible in terms of bending the razor sharp steel rules, an appreciation of the shapes that give acceptable performances on the presses as well as providing an enjoyable experience for customers. Forming the rules and embedding them to create a die may take about 400 hours for an average 500pc puzzle, according to the information found on madehow.com.
You can find videos on Youtube of modern presses manufacturing die-cut jigsaws. Mypersonalpuzzle.com includes video of a craftsman Robert Kirtley bending metal rules and creating a form.
mypersonalpuzzle.com/blog/2013/11/did-you-know-your-puzzl...
Entry in category 1. ©von Lindern Eike; See also bit.ly/snsf_comp_copy
03.12.2016, ƒ/11; 1/160s; 40mm; ISO: 200; Lighting correction: -0.333. Lens: AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-105mm ƒ/3.5-5.6G ED
„Ambivalence“ was taken during an excursion to Mt. Grosser Mythen. The photo was imported with Aperture and edited using Affinity Photo. Editing included deleting blue and cyan colors. I intended to create an ambivalent atmosphere: on the one hand to still depict the beauty of the mountain, but on the other hand to communicate a dark, gloomy impression of a shadowing threat – referring to the “montes horribiles”.
Visiting nature often means joy, fun, and relaxation. However, there are moments when even the most beautiful scenery could become life threatening. A falling rock, residual snow, slippery grass or a moment of unawareness has the power to revive the “montes horribiles”. We feel both excitement and anxiety – trying hard to convince ourselves that everything will go well. Though this feeling of ambivalence remains it becomes our most loved and hated companion.
“Ambivalence” refers to my research on human-environment transactions, and in a more subtle way to myself. Besides the apparent relationship to nature outlined above, a hidden form of ambivalence slowly manifests itself. My research concerns that the more we experience psychological interdependencies between settings where we perceive, e.g., work-related stress, and settings we use for relaxation, the less we benefit from this relaxation. Thus, I poison the restorative effect that spending time in nature would have on me just by devoting my life and time to my research. Though I still love to go there, I cannot visit nature anymore without thinking about theories, publications and work, which eventually constrains my psychological restoration. ¦ Image#1_82
Approximately a year and a half ago, there was a spattering of native prosumer grade Mac photo editors: Acorn, Iris, Pixelmator, and Gimp.
Gimp is really an Unix, GNU licensed, X11 port, so it's actually kind of well, gimpy and irrelevant to begin with, while both Iris and Acorn, while different, were not really as fully featured as Pixelmator.
Of course, that wasn't saying much. Pixelmator was actually missing a lot of basic features like Rulers, Guidelines, Workspace configs and the ability to constrain selections with the Shift key or many short-cuts at all for that matter.
Of course, much has changed since a year and a half ago.
Pixelmator now has just about every feature mentioned above, save for Workspace configs. (It does have a full screen mode, but I find it kind of useless for streamlining the work flow).
For the entry price of $60, Pixelmator is a good deal if you're looking for something with Photoshop capabilities, but without the Creative Suite price.
In fact, as a self-admitted Photoshop lover, I would go as far as to say that Pixelmator would make a good acquisition for Apple in the near future. Pared with Aperture and an Illustrator clone, Apple could give Adobe a run for its money.
Of course, Pixelmator copies so many layout conventions of Photoshop that I could foresee a "Look and Feel" type copyright infringement lawsuit in Apple's future were this to happen. But this whole scenario brings me to another subject: Why can't any of these developers create a new paradigm for photo editors?
Adobe's products have never had what I would call a Mac-like interface. The Acorn photo editor is the only editor to be really trying to set itself apart, but of course, that's a subject more appropriate for another entry.
If you're looking for a good Photoshop alternative, Pixelmator is a safe bet.
Related Links:
Pixelmator
Acorn
Iris
Gimp
7805 voltage regulator circuit cards piggy backed into position above the motor in the engine compartment. These constrain onboard supply for directional lights to 5 volts max enabling full brightness at slow operating speeds.
Better Brothers Los Angeles teamed up with the Diva Foundation at the historic Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles.
The event is sponsored by Gilead, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the generous support of businessman and activist Gerard McCallum.
The Truth Awards will benefit the DIVA Foundation and its partnership with Better Brothers LA with several initiatives aimed at affirming and strengthening the African American LGBTQ community educationally, financially, physically and socially. Proceeds will also benefit the Better Brothers LA Book Scholarship and other programming needs of the organization. For more information about the organization and its scholarship program
ABOUT BETTER BROTHERS LOS ANGELES
Better Brothers Los Angeles was created to provide spaces for Black gay men to network, socialize and be BETTER – at life, love and community. Developing a sense of community has been a challenge for some Black gay men, given the cultural and religious opposition to their sexual orientation. As those challenges have receded in mainstream society, they still present significant difficulties and constrain a sense of well-being for Black gay men within the Black community. Better Brothers Los Angeles has sponsored cultural, recreational, and social/networking events, and continues to create a community where Black gay men and women can walk with a greater sense of confidence and pride. Visit www.BetterBrothersLA.com
ABOUT THE DIVA FOUNDATION
The DIVA Foundation -- founded in 1990 by Tony-nominated actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph -- is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created as a living memorial to the many friends she lost to HIV/AIDS as an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” and because of her concern for the threat HIV/AIDS posed to women and children. Over the years, the DIVA Foundation has worked to break the silence and erase the stigma still connected to HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested in order to know their HIV status.
The oases of the Maghreb region are green islands flourishing in a constraining and harsh environment. They are home to a diversified and highly intensive and productive system, which has been developed over millennia.
Dominated by the date palm, intertwined with trees and crops, these ancient systems produce a surprising variety of fruits and vegetables, cereals and forages, medicinal and aromatic plants. The palm groves offer shade and lower the ambient temperature, making it the best place to live in the Sahara and an important place of recreation.
The systems of production and irrigation and the culture of the oases vary between the different locations in correspondence to their environment. There are oases in continental, mountainous, as well as in littoral areas. With their rich diversity these oases systems constitute an agricultural and cultural heritage.
Photo credit must be given: Photo courtesy of GIAHS Algeria - Ghout System. Editorial use only.
More information:
The United States has labeled the Syrian rebel group Al-Nousra Front as a terrorist organization while slapping sanctions on the group’s leaders over their alleged ties to al-Qaeda. In imposing the designations, the U.S. State Department said Al-Nousra Front has been responsible for 600 attacks since November 2011, including more than 40 suicide bombings.
The State Department said “The violent, sectarian vision of Al-Nousra is at odds with the aspirations of the Syrian people, including the overwhelming majority of the Syrian opposition, who seek a free, democratic, and inclusive Syria.”
The blacklisting prevents the U.S. government from giving material support to Al-Nousra Front, which has been one of the most ferocious groups fighting against the Syrian government. President Bashar al-Assad says terrorist groups like Al-Nousra Front are responsible for inciting the violence in his nation.
The terror organization has claimed responsibility for dozens of suicide and car bombings against government targets in Syria and says its members are “among the most effective fighters in the conflict.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says new intelligence reports indicate Syria hasn’t taken any new steps toward utilizing its arsenal of chemical weapons. “We haven't seen anything new indicating any aggressive steps to move forward in that way,” Panetta told reporters during a flight to Kuwait. Despite that good news, Panetta said the U.S. is still concerned Syria might ultimately choose to deploy the chemical weapons in their on-going civil war.
Conflict and bent toward war are engrained within the heart of man, but nations and individuals constrain themselves to not give in to these tendencies. Pray for the Syrian people, who are the innocent victims in the country’s on-going civil war? Pray, too, that other nations will help those fleeing the fighting and that a peaceful solution will be found to the Syrian conflict.
For more on this story, visit: Jerusalem Prayer Team Articles Page.
LIKE and SHARE this story to encourage others to pray for peace in Jerusalem, and leave your own PRAYERS and COMMENTS below.
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U.S. Climate Envoy and former Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Todd Stern spoke at CAP yesterday, emphasizing that “the [current] status quo is unsustainable.” He plans to take that message when he travels to China later this week to discuss bilateral global warming agreements between the U.S. and Chinese governments.
“This is a moment to reevaluate our conceptions about what is possible,” CAP President and CEO John D. Podesta said as he introduced Stern. It’s a crucial opportunity for the United States and China to move forward together on climate issues because, as Stern pointed out, any U.S. action on climate change will not be enough without China.
He hopes to “deepen the dialogue” with China and “drill down deeper” on climate issues. A bilateral agreement with China is part of the long-term goal, but he said that does not expect a “big agreement” to come out of this trip. His goal is to lay a foundation for future agreements.
Stern shied away from discussing specifics of potential agreements between the United States and China, but he did mention some key issues that will have to be on the table. For example, “I don’t think there is any question that the developed countries are going to have to provide resources to many countries in the developing world,” he said.
Emissions limits, which are currently being debated in the United States as part of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, will be another key issue for China. Many in China fear that, “putting limits on emissions would constrain economic growth, job creation, and the country’s capacity to continue its impressive rise,” Stern said. But he argued that China “must do what many in the Chinese leadership recognize, and is not to stop growing, but to grow smarter.”
China has already begun to “grow smarter” in many ways, and Stern urged listeners not to forget that. “We need to acknowledge the impressive steps the Chinese have already taken to promote low-carbon development and the new ones that will be coming off drawing boards soon,” he said.
Stern also cautioned against urging the Chinese to move forward if others remain complacent. “We need to recognize that if we aren’t careful, we may spend the next few years pushing China to do more, but will then spend all the years after that chasing them, as they hurtle profitably down the road to the low-carbon transformation,” he warned.
International climate change agreements are not as easy choice for the Chinese, according to Stern. “China can take a new path recognizing the need to make significant international commitments against the background of a robust collaboration with the United States,” he said. “While I think, in my view, the right choice is clear, you shouldn’t underestimate the dilemma for China.”
Stern is hopeful and told attendees that he does not think the two sides are that far apart on what must be done. “In terms of the overall dynamics of where we need to go, I don’t think it is a dramatically different assessment,” he said. He also said that the United States needs to “listen, not just lecture” during this week’s talks.
He expects conversations with the Chinese to be more science oriented than past talks because he is travelling with John Holden, the White House’s chief science adviser. He also said that he believes the Chinese are “in a different place with respect to where the science is,” although he did express concern about the Chinese government’s domestic emissions estimates, which show lower emissions levels than what many independent assessments have found.
Those discrepancies would need to be resolved as part of an international emissions treaty in the future, but this week’s trip will focus on setting the stage for future agreements, which have become increasingly important as Kyoto nears expiration in 2012. The United States must play a major part in reducing emissions, but global climate change is a problem too large for one country to resolve alone. As Stern told attendees, “While the critical first step must be for us to put our own house in order, the problem can only be solved globally.”
Three outstanding Flying Crew Chiefs (FCC) were awarded with Meritorious Service Medals (MSM) by NYANG Commander Brig Gen Denise M. Donnell for actions during Operation ALLIES REFUGE.
MSgt Michael S. Roe’s MSM Citation:
Master Sergeant Michael S. Roe distinguished himself by outstanding achievement while assigned to the 105th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Stewart Air National Guard Base. While assigned as a Crew Chief with a C-17 Aircrew staged in support of Operation ALLIES REFUGE, Sergeant Roe went above and beyond the realm of his normal duties. As he and his crew were waiting on the ramp at Al Udeid Air Base, a call came over the radio from an aircraft nearby experiencing multiple medical emergencies. As emergency services were heavily tasked, Sergeant Roe jumped at the opportunity to aid the medical officer assigned to his crew and accompanied him to the distressed airplane, where he learned, on the fly, to record blood pressure and pulse, identify signs of dehydration and heat stroke, and administer basic medical care to refugees with a litany of medical issues. Days later, after the crew’s medical officer was reassigned elsewhere, Sergeant Roe and his crew were tasked to evacuate over four-hundred refugees from Afghanistan. Without a medical crew member on board, Sergeant Roe stepped up, using the impromptu training he received to administer medical care to malnourished and ill refugees, issuing hydration packs and passing out his own food and candy to children. He stepped outside his role as a Crew Chief, doing what he could to improve a difficult situation, and embodied the core values of Service Before Self and Excellence In All We Do. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Roe reflect great credit upon himself, the Air National Guard, and the United States Air Force.
TSgt Craig A. Hernandez’s MSM Citation:
Technical Sergeant Craig A. Hernandez distinguished himself by outstanding achievement while assigned to the 105th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 105th Airlift Wing, Stewart Air National Guard Base, Newburgh, New York. Sergeant Hernandez was the top-choice selection to be a Flying Crew Chief during Operation ALLIES REFUGE to Kabul, Afghanistan. As part of an aircrew of nine, Sergeant Hernandez executed the maintenance and upkeep of multiple 313 million dollar Air Force C-17 aircraft, resulting in the crew evacuating 1,476 Afghan refugees. His career field expertise and exceptional work ethic resulted in the expedient repair of a Special Operations Low Level II aircraft tasked on a no-fail mission in the last critical days of the evacuation. The aircraft sustained multiple generator failures and it became imperative to return it to service for additional no-fail missions. Sergeant Hernandez led a team of four engine and electrical maintainers in a time-critical situation to perform an expedient and effective repair in austere conditions. Finally, beyond excelling at his primary job as crew chief, Sergeant Hernandez was an ambassador of goodwill, personally attending to the health and welfare of Afghan refugees, providing food, water, extensive provisions, and medical care. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Hernandez reflect great credit upon himself, the Air National Guard, and the United States Air Force.
TSgt Byron A. Catu’s MSM Citation:
Technical Sergeant Byron A. Catu distinguished himself by outstanding achievement while assigned to the 105th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 105th Airlift Wing, Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York. During this time, he was hand-selected to be a Flying Crew Chief during Operation ALLIES REFUGE to Kabul, Afghanistan. On the crew’s initial mission into Kabul, extreme airfield temperatures of over 115 degrees Fahrenheit resulted in a fuel overspill. Sergeant Catu recognized the emergency, immediately contained the situation, and directed responding emergency services. His plan of action saved the mission and ensured critical Special Operations cargo was delivered for the Afghan evacuation. Furthermore, on three separate missions into Kabul, the crew brought back hundreds of Afghan refugees. Following each mission, the aircraft was rendered unusable due to biohazard waste and the high operations temp constraining support personnel. Sergeant Catu went above and beyond his maintainer duties to ensure the aircraft was able to quickly return to their departure airfield where Sergeant Catu spearheaded the effort to expeditiously identify, fuel, and preflight another aircraft so the mission could continue. The overall mission success could not have been achieved without his outstanding professional skill and ceaseless efforts. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Catu reflect great credit upon himself, the Air National Guard, and the United State Air Force.
Historical monument: the Great Mosque of Gafsa.
The oases of the Maghreb region are green islands flourishing in a constraining and harsh environment. They are home to a diversified and highly intensive and productive system, which has been developed over millennia.
Photo credit must be given: ©ASM Gafsa
More information:
The oases of the Maghreb region are green islands flourishing in a constraining and harsh environment. They are home to a diversified and highly intensive and productive system, which has been developed over millennia.
Dominated by the date palm, intertwined with trees and crops, these ancient systems produce a surprising variety of fruits and vegetables, cereals and forages, medicinal and aromatic plants. The palm groves offer shade and lower the ambient temperature, making it the best place to live in the Sahara and an important place of recreation.
The systems of production and irrigation and the culture of the oases vary between the different locations in correspondence to their environment. There are oases in continental, mountainous, as well as in littoral areas. With their rich diversity these oases systems constitute an agricultural and cultural heritage.
(c)FAO. Photo credit must be given.
The oases of the Maghreb region are green islands flourishing in a constraining and harsh environment. They are home to a diversified and highly intensive and productive system, which has been developed over millennia.
Dominated by the date palm, intertwined with trees and crops, these ancient systems produce a surprising variety of fruits and vegetables, cereals and forages, medicinal and aromatic plants. The palm groves offer shade and lower the ambient temperature, making it the best place to live in the Sahara and an important place of recreation.
The systems of production and irrigation and the culture of the oases vary between the different locations in correspondence to their environment. There are oases in continental, mountainous, as well as in littoral areas. With their rich diversity these oases systems constitute an agricultural and cultural heritage.
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Noureddine Nasr
More information:
Better Brothers Los Angeles teamed up with the Diva Foundation at the historic Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles.
The event is sponsored by Gilead, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the generous support of businessman and activist Gerard McCallum.
The Truth Awards will benefit the DIVA Foundation and its partnership with Better Brothers LA with several initiatives aimed at affirming and strengthening the African American LGBTQ community educationally, financially, physically and socially. Proceeds will also benefit the Better Brothers LA Book Scholarship and other programming needs of the organization. For more information about the organization and its scholarship program
ABOUT BETTER BROTHERS LOS ANGELES
Better Brothers Los Angeles was created to provide spaces for Black gay men to network, socialize and be BETTER – at life, love and community. Developing a sense of community has been a challenge for some Black gay men, given the cultural and religious opposition to their sexual orientation. As those challenges have receded in mainstream society, they still present significant difficulties and constrain a sense of well-being for Black gay men within the Black community. Better Brothers Los Angeles has sponsored cultural, recreational, and social/networking events, and continues to create a community where Black gay men and women can walk with a greater sense of confidence and pride. Visit www.BetterBrothersLA.com
ABOUT THE DIVA FOUNDATION
The DIVA Foundation -- founded in 1990 by Tony-nominated actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph -- is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created as a living memorial to the many friends she lost to HIV/AIDS as an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” and because of her concern for the threat HIV/AIDS posed to women and children. Over the years, the DIVA Foundation has worked to break the silence and erase the stigma still connected to HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested in order to know their HIV status.
The deportation and exile of Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar II, starting with the first deportation in 597 BC and continuing after the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple in 587 BCE resulted in dramatic changes to Jewish culture and religion. During the 70-year exile in Babylon, Jewish houses of assembly (known in Hebrew as a "beit knesset" or in Greek as a "synagogue") and houses of prayer (Greek: προσευχαί, proseuchai; Hebrew Beit Tefilah), were the primary meeting places for prayer, and the house of study ("beit midrash") was the counterpart for the synagogue.
After the overthrow of Babylonia by the Persian Empire in 538 BCE the Persian King Cyrus the Great gave Jews permission to return to Judea.
Cyrus did not, however, allow the restoration of the Judean monarchy, which left the Judean priests as the dominant authority. Without the constraining power of the monarchy, the authority of the Temple in civic life was amplified. It was around this time the Sadducee party emerged as the party of priests and allied elites. However, the Second Temple (completed 515 BCE) had been constructed under the auspices of a foreign power, and there were lingering questions about its legitimacy. This provided the condition for the development of various sects or "schools of thought," each of which claimed exclusive authority to represent "Judaism," and which typically shunned social intercourse, especially marriage, with members of other sects. In the same period, the council of sages known as the Sanhedrin codified and canonized the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), which, following the return from Babylon was read publicly on market-days.
Factionalism between the Rabbis and the Temple Priests continued on after the return, but the temple remained at the center of Jewish life for centuries throughout the Hellenistic period and well into the time that Judea/Israel was a Roman colony. The Jews in Jerusalem continued to practice their religion but occasionally were persecuted depending on who the Hellenistic Pharoah, Roman ruler or his appointed governor was. A series of rebellions broke out in the 1 centure B.C.E and iinto the 1st century C.E.. In 69 C.E. the Emperor Vespasian sent his general Titus to Judea and in 70 C.E. Titus conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple.
Today the remains of the 2nd Temple above ground consist only of the Southern Wall shown here and the Western Wall. The al-Aqsa Mosque a very holy place to Islam, with its black dome and the Near by Dome of the Rock with its Golden Dome sit on the top of what was the Temple Mount.
These are the last of the photos taken by my daughter Courtney on her recent trip to Israel. This image, and all of the others, was shot with a Nikon Coolpix Camera. Processing by me.
Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and named after the famed Niagara Falls which they share. The city is within the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the Western New York region.
While the city was formerly inhabited by Native Americans, Europeans who migrated to the Niagara Falls in the mid-17th century began to open businesses and develop infrastructure. Later in the 18th and 19th centuries, scientists and businessmen began harnessing the power of the Niagara River for electricity and the city began to attract manufacturers and other businesses drawn by the promise of inexpensive hydroelectric power. After the 1960s, however, the city and region witnessed an economic decline, following an attempt at urban renewal under then Mayor Lackey. Consistent with the rest of the Rust Belt as industries left the city, old line affluent families relocated to nearby suburbs and out of town.
Despite the decline in heavy industry, Niagara Falls State Park and the downtown area closest to the falls continue to thrive as a result of tourism. The population, however, has continued to decline from a peak of 102,394 in the 1960s due to the loss of manufacturing jobs in the area.
Before Europeans entered the area, it was dominated by the Neutral Nation of Native Americans. European migration into the area began in the 17th century. The first recorded European to visit the area was Frenchman Robert de la Salle, who built Fort Conti at the mouth of the Niagara River early in 1679, with permission from the Iroquois, as a base for boatbuilding; his ship Le Griffon was built on the upper Niagara River at or near Cayuga Creek in the same year. He was accompanied by Belgian priest Louis Hennepin, who was the first known European to see the falls. The influx of newcomers may have been a catalyst for already hostile native tribes to turn to open warfare in competition for the fur trade.
The City of Niagara Falls was incorporated on March 17, 1892, from the villages of Manchester and Suspension Bridge, which were parts of the Town of Niagara. Thomas Vincent Welch, a member of the charter committee and a New York state assemblyman and a second-generation Irish American, persuaded Governor Roswell P. Flower to sign the bill on St. Patrick's Day. George W. Wright was elected the first mayor of Niagara Falls.
By the end of the 19th century, the city was heavily industrialized, due in part to the power potential offered by the Niagara River. Tourism was considered a secondary niche, while manufacturing of petrochemicals, abrasives, metallurgical products and other materials was the main producer of jobs and attracted a large number of workers, many of whom were immigrants.
Industry and tourism grew steadily throughout the first half of the 20th century due to a high demand for industrial products and the increased mobility of people to travel. Paper, rubber, plastics, petrochemicals, carbon insulators and abrasives were among the city's major industries. This prosperity would end by the late 1960s as aging industrial plants moved to less expensive locations. In addition, the falls were incompatible with modern shipping technology.[further explanation needed]
In 1956, the Schoellkopf Power Plant on the lower river just downstream of the American Falls was critically damaged by the collapse of the Niagara Gorge wall above it. This prompted the planning and construction of one of the largest hydroelectric plants to be built in North America to that time, generating a large influx of workers and families to the area. New York City urban planner Robert Moses built the new power plant in nearby Lewiston, New York. Much of the power generated there fueled growing demands for power in downstate New York and New York City.
The neighborhood of Love Canal gained national media attention in 1978 when toxic waste contamination from a chemical landfill beneath it forced United States President Jimmy Carter to declare a state of emergency, the first such presidential declaration made for a non-natural disaster. Hundreds of residents were evacuated from the area, many of whom were ill because of exposure to chemical waste.
After the Love Canal disaster, the city—which had already been declining in population for nearly two decades—experienced accelerated economic and political difficulties. The costs of manufacturing elsewhere had become less expensive, which led to the closure of several factories. The city's population eventually dropped by more than half of its peak, as workers fled the city in search of jobs elsewhere. Then, much like the nearby city of Buffalo, the city's economy plummeted when a failed urban renewal project destroyed Falls Street and the tourist district.
In 2001, the leadership of Laborers Local 91 was found guilty of extortion, racketeering and other crimes following an exposé by Mike Hudson of the Niagara Falls Reporter. Union boss Michael "Butch" Quarcini died before trial, while the rest of the union leadership was sentenced to prison.
In early 2010, former Niagara Falls Mayor Vincenzo Anello was indicted on federal charges of corruption, alleging the mayor accepted $40,000 in loans from a businessman who was later awarded a no-bid lease on city property. The charges were dropped as part of a plea deal after Anello pleaded guilty to unrelated charges of pension fraud, regarding a pension from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, of which he is a member. He was sentenced to 10 to 16 months in prison.
The city's decline received national exposure from Bloomberg Businessweek in 2010.
On November 30, 2010, the New York State Attorney General entered into an agreement with the city and its police department to create new policies to govern police practices in response to claims of excessive force and police misconduct. The city committed to create policies and procedures to prevent and respond to allegations of excessive force, and to ensure police are properly trained and complaints are properly investigated. Prior claims filed by residents will be evaluated by an independent panel.
In 2020, a public square named Cataract Commons opened on Old Falls Street. It is a public space for outdoor events and activities.
The city has multiple properties on the National Register of Historic Places. It also has three national historic districts, including Chilton Avenue-Orchard Parkway Historic District, Deveaux School Historic District and the Park Place Historic District.
Niagara Falls is at the international boundary between the United States and Canada. The city is within the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area and is approximately 16 miles (26 km) from Buffalo, New York.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 16.8 square miles (44 km2), of which 14.1 square miles (37 km2) is land and 2.8 square miles (7.3 km2) (16.37%) is water. The city is built along the Niagara Falls and the Niagara Gorge, which is next to the Niagara River.
Niagara Falls has a humid continental climate (Dfa). The city experiences cold, snowy winters and hot, humid summers. Precipitation is moderate and consistent in all seasons, falling equally or more as snow during the winter. The city has snowier than average winters compared to most cities in the US, however less than many other cities in Upstate New York including nearby Buffalo and Rochester. Thaw cycles with temperatures above 32 °F (0 °C) are a common occurrence. The hottest and coldest temperatures recorded in the decade through 2015 were 97 °F (36 °C) in 2005 and −13 °F (−25 °C) in 2003, respectively. 38% of warm season precipitation falls in the form of a thunderstorm.
Buffalo Avenue – runs along the south end along the Niagara River once home to a vast number of old families with architecturally significant mansions; further east (past John Daly Boulevard) the street is surrounded by a number of industrial sites to 56th Street before returning to a residential area and ending at the Love Canal area at 102nd Street.
Central District
Deveaux – Located in the northwestern corner (west of the North End) along the Niagara River is residential area built in the 1920s to 1940s. Named for Judge Samuel DeVeaux who left his estate to be established as the Deveaux College for Orphans and Destitute Children in 1853 (closed 1971), now the site of DeVeaux Woods State Park and DeVeaux School Historical District.
Downtown – Area around the Falls and home to hotels including Seneca Niagara Resort Casino, Niagara Falls State Park, Niagara Falls Culinary Institute (formerly Rainbow Centre Factory Outlet)
East Side – the area bounded by the gorge on the west, Niagara Street on the south, Ontario Avenue on the North and Main Street (NY Rt 104) on the east.
Hyde Park – Located near the namesake Hyde Park next to Little Italy as well as home to Hyde Park Municipal Golf Course.
LaSalle – Bounded by 80th Street, Niagara Falls Boulevard, Cayuga Drive and LaSalle Expressway was built up in the 1940s to 1960s. Cayuga Island is linked to neighborhood. The actual neighborhood where the Love Canal was to be built.
Little Italy – home to a once predominately Italian community that runs along Pine Avenue from Main Street to Hyde Park Boulevard
Love Canal – Established in the 1950s on land acquired from Hooker Chemical Company. Most of the neighborhood was evacuated in the 1980s after toxic waste was discovered underground. Resettlement began in 1990.[24]
Niagara Street – residential area east of Downtown along Niagara Street (distinct from Niagara Ave.) once home to a predominately German and Polish community.
North End – runs along Highland Avenue in the north end of the city before it merges with Hyde Park Boulevard.
As of the census of 2010, there were 50,193 people, 22,603 households, and 12,495 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,987.7 people per square mile (1,153.5 per square km). There were 26,220 housing units at an average density of 1,560.7 per square mile (602.6/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 70.5% White, 21.6% African American, 1.9% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 0.8% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.0% of the population.
There were 22,603 households, out of which 23.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.8% were married couples living together, 19.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.7% were non-families. 38.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 4.02.
In the city, 22% of the population was under the age of 18, 10.1% aged from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,800, and the median income for a family was $34,377. Males had a median income of $31,672 versus $22,124 for females. 23% of the population was below the poverty line.
Niagara Falls has a number of places of worship, including the Salvation Army, First Assembly of God Church, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Niagara, St. Peter's Episcopal Church, First Presbyterian Church, St. Theresa Roman Catholic Church in Deveaux, and the Reform Jewish Temple Beth El. The Conservative Jewish Temple Beth Israel closed in 2012.
Niagara Falls has struggled with high rates of violent and property crime; FBI crime data indicate that the city has among the highest crime rates in New York state. In response to gun violence, volunteer groups such as Operation SNUG mobilized to promote positive community involvement in the troubled areas of the city.
Comptroller reported that Niagara Falls has "struggled through decades of population losses, rising crime and repeated attempts to reinvent itself from a manufacturing town with some tourism to a major tourist destination." The city became a boomtown with the opening of the New York State Power Authority's hydroelectric Niagara Power Plant in the 1960s; the cheap electricity produced by the plant generated power for a burgeoning manufacturing industry. Along with the rest of Western New York, Niagara Falls suffered a significant economic decline from a decline in industry by the 1970s. Today, the city struggles to compete with Niagara Falls, Ontario; the Canadian side has a greater average annual income, a higher average home price, and lower levels of vacant buildings and blight, as well as a more vibrant economy and better tourism infrastructure. The population of Niagara Falls, New York fell by half from the 1960s to 2012. In contrast, the population of Niagara Falls, Ontario more than tripled. In 2000, the city's median household income was 36% below the national average. In 2012, the city's unemployment rate was significantly higher than the statewide unemployment rate.
Significant sources of economic activity in the region includes the Niagara Falls International Airport, which was renovated in 2009; the Seneca Gaming Corporation's Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel, which opened in the 2000s respectively; and the nearby Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.
In late 2001, the State of New York established the USA Niagara Development Corporation, a subsidiary to the State's economic development agency, to focus specifically on facilitating development in the downtown area. However, the organization has been criticized for making little progress and doing little to improve the city's economy.
From 1973 to 2002, the city had a Convention and Civic Center on 4th street. In 2002 the venue was converted into the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel. In 2004, a new Niagara Falls Convention Center (NFCC) opened on Old Falls Street. The Old Falls Street venue has 116,000 square feet for exhibitions and meetings, and a 32,200-square-foot event/exhibit hall.
The city is home to the Niagara Falls State Park. The park has several attractions, including Cave of the Winds behind the Bridal Veil Falls, Maid of the Mist, a popular boat tour which operates at the foot of the Rainbow Bridge, Prospect Point and its observation tower, Niagara Discovery Center, Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center, and the Aquarium of Niagara.
Several other attractions also near the river, including Whirlpool State Park, De Veaux Woods State Park, Earl W. Brydges Artpark State Park in nearby Lewiston (town), New York, and Fort Niagara State Park in Youngstown, New York.
Attractions in the downtown include the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel and Pine Avenue which was historically home to a large Italian American population and is now known as Little Italy for its abundance of shops and quality restaurants.
The Niagara Power of the New York Collegiate Baseball League play at Sal Maglie Stadium. The team is owned by Niagara University. The Cataract City Wolverines of the Gridiron Developmental Football League are a minor league football team based in Niagara Falls. The team played their inaugural season in 2021.
In 2017, the Tier III junior North American 3 Hockey League team, the Lockport Express, relocated to Niagara Falls as the Niagara Falls PowerHawks.
Former sports teams based in Niagara Falls include the Class-A Niagara Falls Sox, the Class-A Niagara Falls Rapids, the Niagara Falls Lancers of the Midwest Football League, and the Western New York Thundersnow of the Premier Basketball League and American Basketball Association.
The City of Niagara Falls functions under a strong mayor-council form of government. The government consists of a mayor, a professional city administrator, and a city council. The current mayor is Robert Restaino.
The city council serves four-year, staggered terms, except in the case of a special election. It is headed by a chairperson, who votes in all items for council action.
On a state level, Niagara Falls is part of the 145th Assembly District of New York State, represented by Republican Angelo Morinello. Niagara Falls is also part of the 62nd Senate District of New York State, represented by Republican Robert Ortt.
On a national level, the city is part of New York's 26th congressional district and is represented by Congressman Brian Higgins. In the United States Senate, the city and the state are represented by senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Founded in 1892 Niagara Falls Police Department provide local law enforcement in the city with 155 sworn officers. This force is not to be mistaken for the Town of Niagara, New York which has a smaller force founded in 1954.
Residents are zoned to the Niagara Falls City School District. Niagara University and Niagara County Community College are the two colleges in Niagara County.
Since Niagara Falls is within the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, the city's media is predominantly served by the city of Buffalo.
The city has two local newspapers, the Niagara Gazette, which is published daily except Tuesday and The Messenger Of Niagara Falls, NY which is published quarterly. The Messenger Of Niagara Falls, NY, which is officially Niagara Falls, New York's, first black-owned and operated news publication, founded October 2018. The Messenger Of Niagara Falls, NY published its inaugural issue April 2019. The Buffalo News is the closest major newspaper in the area. The city also is the home to a weekly tabloid known as the Niagara Falls Reporter.
Three radio stations are licensed to the city of Niagara Falls, including WHLD AM 1270, WEBR AM 1440, and WTOR AM 770.
Niagara Falls is primarily served by the Buffalo Niagara International Airport for regional and domestic flights within the United States. The recently expanded Niagara Falls International Airport serves the city, and many cross border travellers with flights to Myrtle Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Punta Gorda. Toronto's Pearson International Airport on the Canadian side is the closest airport offering long-haul international flights for the Niagara region.
The city is served by Amtrak's Maple Leaf and Empire train services, with regular stops at the Niagara Falls Station and Customhouse Interpretive Center at 825 Depot Ave West.
Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority is the public transit provider in the Buffalo metro area, with hubs at the Portage Road and Niagara Falls transportation centers.
Six New York State highways, one three-digit Interstate Highway, one expressway, one U.S. Highway, and one parkways pass through the city of Niagara Falls. New York State Route 31, New York State Route 104, and New York State Route 182 are east–west state roadways within the city, while New York State Route 61, New York State Route 265, and New York State Route 384 are north–south state roadways within the city. The LaSalle Expressway is an east–west highway which terminates near the eastern edge of Niagara Falls and begins in the nearby town of Wheatfield, New York. The Niagara Scenic Parkway is a north–south parkway that formerly ran through the city along the northern edge of the Niagara River. It remains in sections and terminates in Youngstown, New York.
Interstate 190, also referred to as the Niagara Expressway, is a north–south highway and a spur of Interstate 90 which borders the eastern end of the city. The highway enters the city from the town of Niagara and exits at the North Grand Island Bridge. U.S. Route 62, known as Niagara Falls Boulevard, Walnut Avenue, and Ferry Avenue, is signed as a north–south highway. U.S. Route 62 has an east–west orientation, and is partially split between two one-way streets within Niagara Falls. Walnut Avenue carries U.S. Route 62 west to its northern terminus at NY 104, and Ferry Avenue carries U.S. Route 62 east from downtown Niagara Falls. U.S. Route 62 Business, locally known as Pine Avenue, is an east–west route which parallels U.S. Route 62 to the south. Its western terminus is at NY 104, and its eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 62.
Two international bridges connect the city to Niagara Falls, Ontario. The Rainbow Bridge connects the two cities with passenger and pedestrian traffic and overlooks the Niagara Falls, while the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, which formerly carried the Canadian National Railway, now serves local traffic and Amtrak's Maple Leaf service.
New York, sometimes called New York State, is a state in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders New Jersey and Pennsylvania to its south, New England and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec to its north, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. With almost 19.6 million residents, it is the fourth-most populous state in the United States and eighth-most densely populated as of 2023. New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state by area, with a total area of 54,556 square miles (141,300 km2).
New York has a varied geography. The southeastern part of the state, known as Downstate, encompasses New York City, the most populous city in the United States, Long Island, the most populous island in the United States, and the lower Hudson Valley. These areas are the center of the New York metropolitan area, a sprawling urban landmass, and account for approximately two-thirds of the state's population. The much larger Upstate area spreads from the Great Lakes to Lake Champlain, and includes the Adirondack Mountains and the Catskill Mountains (part of the wider Appalachian Mountains). The east–west Mohawk River Valley bisects the more mountainous regions of Upstate, and flows into the north–south Hudson River valley near the state capital of Albany. Western New York, home to the cities of Buffalo and Rochester, is part of the Great Lakes region and borders Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Central New York is anchored by the city of Syracuse; between the central and western parts of the state, New York is dominated by the Finger Lakes, a popular tourist destination. To the south, along the state border with Pennsylvania, the Southern Tier sits atop the Allegheny Plateau, representing the northernmost reaches of Appalachia.
New York was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that went on to form the United States. The area of present-day New York had been inhabited by tribes of the Algonquians and the Iroquois Confederacy Native Americans for several thousand years by the time the earliest Europeans arrived. Stemming from Henry Hudson's expedition in 1609, the Dutch established the multiethnic colony of New Netherland in 1621. England seized the colony from the Dutch in 1664, renaming it the Province of New York. During the American Revolutionary War, a group of colonists eventually succeeded in establishing independence, and the former colony was officially admitted into the United States in 1788. From the early 19th century, New York's development of its interior, beginning with the construction of the Erie Canal, gave it incomparable advantages over other regions of the United States. The state built its political, cultural, and economic ascendancy over the next century, earning it the nickname of the "Empire State." Although deindustrialization eroded a significant portion of the state's economy in the second half of the 20th century, New York in the 21st century continues to be considered as a global node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance, and environmental sustainability.
The state attracts visitors from all over the globe, with the highest count of any U.S. state in 2022. Many of its landmarks are well known, including four of the world's ten most-visited tourist attractions in 2013: Times Square, Central Park, Niagara Falls and Grand Central Terminal. New York is home to approximately 200 colleges and universities, including two Ivy League universities, Columbia University and Cornell University, and the expansive State University of New York, which is among the largest university systems in the nation. New York City is home to the headquarters of the United Nations, and it is sometimes described as the world's most important city, the cultural, financial, and media epicenter, and the capital of the world.
The history of New York begins around 10,000 B.C. when the first people arrived. By 1100 A.D. two main cultures had become dominant as the Iroquoian and Algonquian developed. European discovery of New York was led by the Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 followed by the first land claim in 1609 by the Dutch. As part of New Netherland, the colony was important in the fur trade and eventually became an agricultural resource thanks to the patroon system. In 1626, the Dutch thought they had bought the island of Manhattan from Native Americans.[1] In 1664, England renamed the colony New York, after the Duke of York and Albany, brother of King Charles II. New York City gained prominence in the 18th century as a major trading port in the Thirteen Colonies.
New York played a pivotal role during the American Revolution and subsequent war. The Stamp Act Congress in 1765 brought together representatives from across the Thirteen Colonies to form a unified response to British policies. The Sons of Liberty were active in New York City to challenge British authority. After a major loss at the Battle of Long Island, the Continental Army suffered a series of additional defeats that forced a retreat from the New York City area, leaving the strategic port and harbor to the British army and navy as their North American base of operations for the rest of the war. The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the war in favor of the Americans, convincing France to formally ally with them. New York's constitution was adopted in 1777, and strongly influenced the United States Constitution. New York City was the national capital at various times between 1788 and 1790, where the Bill of Rights was drafted. Albany became the permanent state capital in 1797. In 1787, New York became the eleventh state to ratify the United States Constitution.
New York hosted significant transportation advancements in the 19th century, including the first steamboat line in 1807, the Erie Canal in 1825, and America's first regularly scheduled rail service in 1831. These advancements led to the expanded settlement of western New York and trade ties to the Midwest settlements around the Great Lakes.
Due to New York City's trade ties to the South, there were numerous southern sympathizers in the early days of the American Civil War and the mayor proposed secession. Far from any of the battles, New York ultimately sent the most soldiers and money to support the Union cause. Thereafter, the state helped create the industrial age and consequently was home to some of the first labor unions.
During the 19th century, New York City became the main entry point for European immigrants to the United States, beginning with a wave of Irish during their Great Famine. Millions came through Castle Clinton in Battery Park before Ellis Island opened in 1892 to welcome millions more, increasingly from eastern and southern Europe. The Statue of Liberty opened in 1886 and became a symbol of hope. New York boomed during the Roaring Twenties, before the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and skyscrapers expressed the energy of the city. New York City was the site of successive tallest buildings in the world from 1913 to 1974.
The buildup of defense industries for World War II turned around the state's economy from the Great Depression, as hundreds of thousands worked to defeat the Axis powers. Following the war, the state experienced significant suburbanization around all the major cities, and most central cities shrank. The Thruway system opened in 1956, signaling another era of transportation advances.
Following a period of near-bankruptcy in the late 1970s, New York City renewed its stature as a cultural center, attracted more immigration, and hosted the development of new music styles. The city developed from publishing to become a media capital over the second half of the 20th century, hosting most national news channels and broadcasts. Some of its newspapers became nationally and globally renowned. The state's manufacturing base eroded with the restructuring of industry, and the state transitioned into service industries.
The first peoples of New York are estimated to have arrived around 10,000 BC. Around AD 800, Iroquois ancestors moved into the area from the Appalachian region. The people of the Point Peninsula complex were the predecessors of the Algonquian peoples of New York. By around 1100, the distinct Iroquoian-speaking and Algonquian-speaking cultures that would eventually be encountered by Europeans had developed. The five nations of the Iroquois League developed a powerful confederacy about the 15th century that controlled territory throughout present-day New York, into Pennsylvania around the Great Lakes. For centuries, the Mohawk cultivated maize fields in the lowlands of the Mohawk River, which were later taken over by Dutch settlers at Schenectady, New York when they bought this territory. The Iroquois nations to the west also had well-cultivated areas and orchards.
The Iroquois established dominance over the fur trade throughout their territory, bargaining with European colonists. Other New York tribes were more subject to either European destruction or assimilation within the Iroquoian confederacy. Situated at major Native trade routes in the Northeast and positioned between French and English zones of settlement, the Iroquois were intensely caught up with the onrush of Europeans, which is also to say that the settlers, whether Dutch, French or English, were caught up with the Iroquois as well. Algonquian tribes were less united among their tribes; they typically lived along rivers, streams, or the Atlantic Coast. But, both groups of natives were well-established peoples with highly sophisticated cultural systems; these were little understood or appreciated by the European colonists who encountered them. The natives had "a complex and elaborate native economy that included hunting, gathering, manufacturing, and farming...[and were] a mosaic of Native American tribes, nations, languages, and political associations." The Iroquois usually met at an Onondaga in Northern New York, which changed every century or so, where they would coordinate policies on how to deal with Europeans and strengthen the bond between the Five Nations.
Tribes who have managed to call New York home have been the Iroquois, Mohawk, Mohican, Susquehannock, Petun, Chonnonton, Ontario and Nanticoke.
In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian explorer in the service of the French crown, explored the Atlantic coast of North America between the Carolinas and Newfoundland, including New York Harbor and Narragansett Bay. On April 17, 1524, Verrazzano entered New York Bay, by way of the Strait now called the Narrows. He described "a vast coastline with a deep delta in which every kind of ship could pass" and he adds: "that it extends inland for a league and opens up to form a beautiful lake. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats". He landed on the tip of Manhattan and perhaps on the furthest point of Long Island.
In 1535, Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, became the first European to describe and map the Saint Lawrence River from the Atlantic Ocean, sailing as far upriver as the site of Montreal.
On April 4, 1609, Henry Hudson, in the employ of the Dutch East India Company, departed Amsterdam in command of the ship Halve Maen (Half Moon). On September 3 he reached the estuary of the Hudson River. He sailed up the Hudson River to about Albany near the confluence of the Mohawk River and the Hudson. His voyage was used to establish Dutch claims to the region and to the fur trade that prospered there after a trading post was established at Albany in 1614.
In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Christiaensen, built Fort Nassau (now Albany) the first Dutch settlement in North America and the first European settlement in what would become New York. It was replaced by nearby Fort Orange in 1623. In 1625, Fort Amsterdam was built on the southern tip of Manhattan Island to defend the Hudson River. This settlement grew to become the city New Amsterdam.
The British conquered New Netherland in 1664; Lenient terms of surrender most likely kept local resistance to a minimum. The colony and New Amsterdam were both renamed New York (and "Beverwijck" was renamed Albany) after its new proprietor, James II later King of England, Ireland and Scotland, who was at the time Duke of York and Duke of Albany The population of New Netherland at the time of English takeover was 7,000–8,000.
Thousands of poor German farmers, chiefly from the Palatine region of Germany, migrated to upstate districts after 1700. They kept to themselves, married their own, spoke German, attended Lutheran churches, and retained their own customs and foods. They emphasized farm ownership. Some mastered English to become conversant with local legal and business opportunities. They ignored the Indians and tolerated slavery (although few were rich enough to own a slave).
Large manors were developed along the Hudson River by elite colonists during the 18th century, including Livingston, Cortlandt, Philipsburg, and Rensselaerswyck. The manors represented more than half of the colony's undeveloped land. The Province of New York thrived during this time, its economy strengthened by Long Island and Hudson Valley agriculture, in conjunction with trade and artisanal activity at the Port of New York; the colony was a breadbasket and lumberyard for the British sugar colonies in the Caribbean. New York's population grew substantially during this century: from the first colonial census (1698) to the last (1771), the province grew ninefold, from 18,067 to 168,007.
New York in the American Revolution
Further information: John Peter Zenger, Stamp Act Congress, Invasion of Canada (1775), New York and New Jersey campaign, Prisoners of war in the American Revolutionary War, and Intelligence in the American Revolutionary War
New York played a pivotal role in the Revolutionary War. The colony verged on revolt following the Stamp Act of 1765, advancing the New York City–based Sons of Liberty to the forefront of New York politics. The Act exacerbated the depression the province experienced after unsuccessfully invading Canada in 1760. Even though New York City merchants lost out on lucrative military contracts, the group sought common ground between the King and the people; however, compromise became impossible as of April 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord. In that aftermath the New York Provincial Congress on June 9, 1775, for five pounds sterling for each hundredweight of gunpowder delivered to each county's committee.
Two powerful families had for decades assembled colony-wide coalitions of supporters. With few exceptions, members long associated with the DeLancey faction went along when its leadership decided to support the crown, while members of the Livingston faction became Patriots.
New York's strategic central location and port made it key to controlling the colonies. The British assembled the century's largest fleet: at one point 30,000 British sailors and soldiers anchored off Staten Island. General George Washington barely escaped New York City with his army in November 1776; General Sir William Howe was successful in driving Washington out, but erred by expanding into New Jersey. By January 1777, he retained only a few outposts near New York City. The British held the city for the duration, using it as a base for expeditions against other targets.
In October 1777, American General Horatio Gates won the Battle of Saratoga, later regarded as the war's turning point. Had Gates not held, the rebellion might well have broken down: losing Saratoga would have cost the entire Hudson–Champlain corridor, which would have separated New England from the rest of the colonies and split the future union.
Upon war's end, New York's borders became well–defined: the counties east of Lake Champlain became Vermont and the state's western borders were settled by 1786.
Many Iroquois supported the British (typically fearing future American ambitions). Many were killed during the war; others went into exile with the British. Those remaining lived on twelve reservations; by 1826 only eight reservations remained, all of which survived into the 21st century.
The state adopted its constitution in April 1777, creating a strong executive and strict separation of powers. It strongly influenced the federal constitution a decade later. Debate over the federal constitution in 1787 led to formation of the groups known as Federalists—mainly "downstaters" (those who lived in or near New York City) who supported a strong national government—and Antifederalists—mainly upstaters (those who lived to the city's north and west) who opposed large national institutions. In 1787, Alexander Hamilton, a leading Federalist from New York and signatory to the Constitution, wrote the first essay of the Federalist Papers. He published and wrote most of the series in New York City newspapers in support of the proposed United States Constitution. Antifederalists were not swayed by the arguments, but the state ratified it in 1788.
In 1785, New York City became the national capital and continued as such on and off until 1790; George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States in front of Federal Hall in 1789. The United States Bill of Rights was drafted there, and the United States Supreme Court sat for the first time. From statehood to 1797, the Legislature frequently moved the state capital between Albany, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, and New York City. Thereafter, Albany retained that role.
In the early 19th century, New York became a center for advancement in transportation. In 1807, Robert Fulton initiated a steamboat line from New York to Albany, the first successful enterprise of its kind. By 1815, Albany was the state's turnpike center, which established the city as the hub for pioneers migrating west to Buffalo and the Michigan Territory.
In 1825 the Erie Canal opened, securing the state's economic dominance. Its impact was enormous: one source stated, "Linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes, the canal was an act of political will that joined the regions of the state, created a vast economic hinterland for New York City, and established a ready market for agricultural products from the state's interior." In that year western New York transitioned from "frontier" to settled area. By this time, all counties and most municipalities had incorporated, approximately matching the state's is organized today. In 1831, the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad started the country's first successful regularly–scheduled steam railroad service.
Advancing transportation quickly led to settlement of the fertile Mohawk and Gennessee valleys and the Niagara Frontier. Buffalo and Rochester became boomtowns. Significant migration of New England "Yankees" (mainly of English descent) to the central and western parts of the state led to minor conflicts with the more settled "Yorkers" (mainly of German, Dutch, and Scottish descent). More than 15% of the state's 1850 population had been born in New England[citation needed]. The western part of the state grew fastest at this time. By 1840, New York was home to seven of the nation's thirty largest cities.
During this period, towns established academies for education, including for girls. The western area of the state was a center of progressive causes, including support of abolitionism, temperance, and women's rights. Religious enthusiasms flourished and the Latter Day Saint movement was founded in the area by Joseph Smith and his vision. Some supporters of abolition participated in the Underground Railroad, helping fugitive slaves reach freedom in Canada or in New York.
In addition, in the early 1840s the state legislature and Governor William H. Seward expanded rights for free blacks and fugitive slaves in New York: in 1840 the legislature passed laws protecting the rights of African Americans against Southern slave-catchers. One guaranteed alleged fugitive slaves the right of a jury trial in New York to establish whether they were slaves, and another pledged the aid of the state to recover free blacks kidnapped into slavery, (as happened to Solomon Northup of Saratoga Springs in 1841, who did not regain freedom until 1853.) In 1841 Seward signed legislation to repeal a "nine-month law" that allowed slaveholders to bring their slaves into the state for a period of nine months before they were considered free. After this, slaves brought to the state were immediately considered freed, as was the case in some other free states. Seward also signed legislation to establish public education for all children, leaving it up to local jurisdictions as to how that would be supplied (some had segregated schools).
New York culture bloomed in the first half of the 19th century: in 1809 Washington Irving wrote the satirical A History of New York under the pen name Diedrich Knickerbocker, and in 1819 he based Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in Hudson Valley towns. Thomas Cole's Hudson River School was established in the 1830s by showcasing dramatic landscapes of the Hudson Valley. The first baseball teams formed in New York City in the 1840s, including the New York Knickerbockers. Professional baseball later located its Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Saratoga Race Course, an annual summer attraction in Saratoga Springs, opened in 1847.
A civil war was not in the best interest of business, because New York had strong ties to the Deep South, both through the port of New York and manufacture of cotton goods in upstate textile mills. Half of New York City's exports were related to cotton before the war. Southern businessmen so frequently traveled to the city that they established favorite hotels and restaurants. Trade was based on moving Southern goods. The city's large Democrat community feared the impact of Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860 and the mayor urged secession of New York.
By the time of the 1861 Battle of Fort Sumter, such political differences decreased and the state quickly met Lincoln's request for soldiers and supplies. More soldiers fought from New York than any other Northern state. While no battles were waged in New York, the state was not immune to Confederate conspiracies, including one to burn various New York cities and another to invade the state via Canada.
In January 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves in states that were still in rebellion against the union. In March 1863, the federal draft law was changed so that male citizens between 20 and 35 and unmarried citizens to age 45 were subject to conscription. Those who could afford to hire a substitute or pay $300 were exempt. Antiwar newspaper editors attacked the law, and many immigrants and their descendants resented being drafted in place of people who could buy their way out. Democratic Party leaders raised the specter of a deluge of freed southern blacks competing with the white working class, then dominated by ethnic Irish and immigrants. On the lottery's first day, July 11, 1863, the first lottery draw was held. On Monday, July 13, 1863, five days of large-scale riots began, which were dominated by ethnic Irish, who targeted blacks in the city, their neighborhoods, and known abolitionist sympathizers. As a result, many blacks left Manhattan permanently, moving to Brooklyn or other areas.
In the following decades, New York strengthened its dominance of the financial and banking industries. Manufacturing continued to rise: Eastman Kodak founded in 1888 in Rochester, General Electric in Schenectady, and Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company in the Triple Cities are some of the well-known companies founded during this period. Buffalo and Niagara Falls attracted numerous factories following the advent of hydroelectric power in the area. With industry blooming, workers began to unite in New York as early as the 1820s. By 1882, the Knights of Labor in New York City had 60,000 members. Trade unions used political influence to limit working hours as early as 1867. At the same time, New York's agricultural output peaked. Focus changed from crop-based to dairy-based agriculture. The cheese industry became established in the Mohawk Valley. By 1881, the state had more than 241,000 farms. In the same period, the area around New York harbor became the world's oyster capital, retaining that title into the early twentieth century.
Immigration increased throughout the latter half of the 19th century. Starting with refugees from the Great Famine of Ireland in the 1840s, New York became a prominent entry point for those seeking a new life in the United States. Between 1855 and 1890, an estimated 8 million immigrants passed through Castle Clinton at Battery Park in Manhattan. Early in this period, most immigrants came from Ireland and Germany. Ellis Island opened in 1892, and between 1880 and 1920, most immigrants were German and Eastern European Jews, Poles, and other Eastern and Southern Europeans, including many Italians. By 1925, New York City's population outnumbered that of London, making it the most populous city in the world. Arguably New York's most identifiable symbol, Liberty Enlightening the World (the Statue of Liberty), a gift from France for the American centennial, was completed in 1886. By the early 20th century, the statue was regarded as the "Mother of Exiles"—a symbol of hope to immigrants.
New York's political pattern changed little after the mid–19th century. New York City and its metropolitan area was already heavily Democrat; Upstate was aligned with the Republican Party and was a center of abolitionist activists. In the 1850s, Democratic Tammany Hall became one of the most powerful and durable political machines in United States history. Boss William Tweed brought the organization to the forefront of city and then state politics in the 1860s. Based on its command of a large population, Tammany maintained influence until at least the 1930s. Outside the city, Republicans were able to influence the redistricting process enough to constrain New York City and capture control of the Legislature in 1894. Both parties have seen national political success: in the 39 presidential elections between 1856 and 2010, Republicans won 19 times and Democrats 20 times.
By 1901, New York was the richest and most populous state. Two years prior, the five boroughs of New York City became one city. Within decades, the city's emblem had become the skyscraper: the Woolworth Building was the tallest building in the world from 1913, surpassed by 40 Wall Street in April 1930, the Chrysler Building in 1930, the Empire State Building in 1931, and the World Trade Center in 1972 before losing the title in 1974.
The state was serviced by over a dozen major railroads and at the start of the 20th century and electric Interurban rail networks began to spring up around Syracuse, Rochester and other cities in New York during this period.
In the late 1890s governor Theodore Roosevelt and fellow Republicans such as Charles Evans Hughes worked with many Democrats such as Al Smith to promote Progressivism. They battled trusts and monopolies (especially in the insurance industry), promoted efficiency, fought waste, and called for more democracy in politics. Democrats focused more on the benefits of progressivism for their own ethnic working class base and for labor unions.
Democratic political machines, especially Tammany Hall in Manhattan, opposed woman suffrage because they feared that the addition of female voters would dilute the control they had established over groups of male voters. By the time of the New York State referendum on women's suffrage in 1917, however, some wives and daughters of Tammany Hall leaders were working for suffrage, leading it to take a neutral position that was crucial to the referendum's passage.
Following a sharp but short-lived Depression at the beginning of the decade, New York enjoyed a booming economy during the Roaring Twenties. New York suffered during the Great Depression, which began with the Wall Street crash on Black Tuesday in 1929. The Securities and Exchange Commission opened in 1934 to regulate the stock market. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected governor in 1928, and the state faced upwards of 25% unemployment. His Temporary Emergency Relief Agency, established in 1931, was the first work relief program in the nation and influenced the national Federal Emergency Relief Administration. Roosevelt was elected President in 1932 in part because of his promises to extend New York–style relief programs across the country via his New Deal. In 1932, Lake Placid was host to the III Olympic Winter Games.
As the largest state, New York again supplied the most resources during World War II. New York manufactured 11 percent of total United States military armaments produced during the war and suffered 31,215 casualties. The war affected the state both socially and economically. For example, to overcome discriminatory labor practices, Governor Herbert H. Lehman created the Committee on Discrimination in Employment in 1941 and Governor Thomas E. Dewey signed the Ives-Quinn Act in 1945, banning employment discrimination. The G.I. Bill of 1944, which offered returning soldiers the opportunity of affordable higher education, forced New York to create a public university system since its private universities could not handle the influx; the State University of New York was created by Governor Dewey in 1948.
World War II constituted New York's last great industrial era. At its conclusion, the defense industry shrank and the economy shifted towards producing services rather than goods. Returning soldiers disproportionately displaced female and minority workers who had entered the industrial workforce only when the war left employers no other choice. Companies moved to the south and west, seeking lower taxes and a less costly, non–union workforce. Many workers followed the jobs. The middle class expanded and created suburbs such as the one on Long Island. The automobile accelerated this decentralization; planned communities like Levittown offered affordable middle-class housing.
Larger cities stopped growing around 1950. Growth resumed only in New York City, in the 1980s. Buffalo's population fell by half between 1950 and 2000. Reduced immigration and worker migration led New York State's population to decline for the first time between 1970 and 1980. California and Texas both surpassed it in population.
New York entered its third era of massive transportation projects by building highways, notably the New York State Thruway. The project was unpopular with New York City Democrats, who referred to it as "Dewey's ditch" and the "enemy of schools", because the Thruway disproportionately benefited upstate. The highway was based on the German Autobahn and was unlike anything seen at that point in the United States. It was within 30 miles (50 km) of 90% of the population at its conception. Costing $600 million, the full 427-mile (687 km) project opened in 1956.
Nelson Rockefeller was governor from 1959 to 1973 and changed New York politics. He began as a liberal, but grew more conservative: he limited SUNY's growth, responded aggressively to the Attica Prison riot, and promulgated the uniquely severe Rockefeller Drug Laws. The World Trade Center and other profligate projects nearly drove New York City into bankruptcy in 1975. The state took substantial budgetary control, which eventually led to improved fiscal prudence.
The Executive Mansion was retaken by Democrats in 1974 and remained under Democratic control for 20 years under Hugh Carey and Mario Cuomo. Late–century Democrats became more centrist, including US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1977–2001) and New York City Mayor Ed Koch (1978–1989), while state Republicans began to align themselves with the more conservative national party. They gained power through the elections of Senator Alfonse D'Amato in 1980, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 1993, and Governor George Pataki in 1994. New York remained one of the most liberal states. In 1984, Ronald Reagan was the last Republican to carry the state, although Republican Michael Bloomberg served as New York City mayor in the early 21st century.
In the late 20th century, telecommunication and high technology industries employed many New Yorkers. New York City was especially successful at this transition. Entrepreneurs created many small companies, as industrial firms such as Polaroid withered. This success drew many young professionals into the still–dwindling cities. New York City was the exception and has continued to draw new residents. The energy of the city created attractions and new businesses. Some people believe that changes in policing created a less threatening environment; crime rates dropped, and urban development reduced urban decay.
This in turn led to a surge in culture. New York City became, once again, "the center for all things chic and trendy". Hip-hop and rap music, led by New York City, became the most popular pop genre. Immigration to both the city and state rose. New York City, with a large gay and lesbian community, suffered many deaths from AIDS beginning in the 1980s.
New York City increased its already large share of television programming, home to the network news broadcasts, as well as two of the three major cable news networks. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times became two of the three "national" newspapers, read throughout the country. New York also increased its dominance of the financial services industry centered on Wall Street, led by banking expansion, a rising stock market, innovations in investment banking, including junk bond trading and accelerated by the savings and loan crisis that decimated competitors elsewhere in New York.
Upstate did not fare as well as downstate; the major industries that began to reinvigorate New York City did not typically spread to other regions. The number of farms in the state had fallen to 30,000 by 1997. City populations continued to decline while suburbs grew in area, but did not increase proportionately in population. High-tech industry grew in cities such as Corning and Rochester. Overall New York entered the new millennium "in a position of economic strength and optimism".
In 2001, New York entered a new era following the 9/11 attacks, the worst terrorist attack ever to take place on American soil. Two of the four hijacked passenger jets crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, destroying them, and killing almost 3,000 people. One flew into the Pentagon demolishing the walls. The final one was almost taken back over by the passengers aboard and crashed into an open grassland with 296 out of the 500 people dead. Thousands of New Yorkers volunteered their time to search the ruin for survivors and remains in the following weeks.
Following the attacks, plans were announced to rebuild the World Trade Center site. 7 World Trade Center became the first World Trade Center skyscraper to be rebuilt in five years after the attacks. One World Trade Center, four more office towers, and a memorial to the casualties of the September 11 attacks are under construction as of 2011. One World Trade Center opened on November 3, 2014.
On October 29 and 30, 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused extensive destruction of the state's shorelines, ravaging portions of New York City, Long Island, and southern Westchester with record-high storm surge, with severe flooding and high winds causing power outages for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, and leading to gasoline shortages and disruption of mass transit systems. The storm and its profound effects have prompted the discussion of constructing seawalls and other coastal barriers around the shorelines of New York City and Long Island to minimize the risk from another such future event. Such risk is considered highly probable due to global warming and rising sea levels.
Better Brothers Los Angeles teamed up with the Diva Foundation at the historic Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles.
The event is sponsored by Gilead, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the generous support of businessman and activist Gerard McCallum.
The Truth Awards will benefit the DIVA Foundation and its partnership with Better Brothers LA with several initiatives aimed at affirming and strengthening the African American LGBTQ community educationally, financially, physically and socially. Proceeds will also benefit the Better Brothers LA Book Scholarship and other programming needs of the organization. For more information about the organization and its scholarship program
ABOUT BETTER BROTHERS LOS ANGELES
Better Brothers Los Angeles was created to provide spaces for Black gay men to network, socialize and be BETTER – at life, love and community. Developing a sense of community has been a challenge for some Black gay men, given the cultural and religious opposition to their sexual orientation. As those challenges have receded in mainstream society, they still present significant difficulties and constrain a sense of well-being for Black gay men within the Black community. Better Brothers Los Angeles has sponsored cultural, recreational, and social/networking events, and continues to create a community where Black gay men and women can walk with a greater sense of confidence and pride. Visit www.BetterBrothersLA.com
ABOUT THE DIVA FOUNDATION
The DIVA Foundation -- founded in 1990 by Tony-nominated actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph -- is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created as a living memorial to the many friends she lost to HIV/AIDS as an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” and because of her concern for the threat HIV/AIDS posed to women and children. Over the years, the DIVA Foundation has worked to break the silence and erase the stigma still connected to HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested in order to know their HIV status.
Better Brothers Los Angeles teamed up with the Diva Foundation at the historic Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles.
The event is sponsored by Gilead, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the generous support of businessman and activist Gerard McCallum.
The Truth Awards will benefit the DIVA Foundation and its partnership with Better Brothers LA with several initiatives aimed at affirming and strengthening the African American LGBTQ community educationally, financially, physically and socially. Proceeds will also benefit the Better Brothers LA Book Scholarship and other programming needs of the organization. For more information about the organization and its scholarship program
ABOUT BETTER BROTHERS LOS ANGELES
Better Brothers Los Angeles was created to provide spaces for Black gay men to network, socialize and be BETTER – at life, love and community. Developing a sense of community has been a challenge for some Black gay men, given the cultural and religious opposition to their sexual orientation. As those challenges have receded in mainstream society, they still present significant difficulties and constrain a sense of well-being for Black gay men within the Black community. Better Brothers Los Angeles has sponsored cultural, recreational, and social/networking events, and continues to create a community where Black gay men and women can walk with a greater sense of confidence and pride. Visit www.BetterBrothersLA.com
ABOUT THE DIVA FOUNDATION
The DIVA Foundation -- founded in 1990 by Tony-nominated actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph -- is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created as a living memorial to the many friends she lost to HIV/AIDS as an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” and because of her concern for the threat HIV/AIDS posed to women and children. Over the years, the DIVA Foundation has worked to break the silence and erase the stigma still connected to HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested in order to know their HIV status.
A Stifling Elegance
The afternoon sun shimmered over the tranquil lake, a gentle breeze rustling through the towering pines. It should have been a perfect day—peaceful, quiet, and free. But for Clara and Sophia, there was no such thing as freedom, not with the weight of their uniforms constraining them like invisible chains.
Clara stood before her easel, her brush gliding over the canvas as she carefully painted Sophia’s likeness. The pleated gray skirt felt heavy against her legs, and her crisp white blouse, buttoned all the way to the neck, felt like a noose. She resisted the urge to tug at the collar, to loosen even the tiniest button. That was forbidden. Everything had to be proper.
Sophia sat poised on the wooden chair, her hands delicately folded in her lap. Her navy-blue dress was just as suffocating as Clara’s, cinched at the waist with a precision that made deep breaths a luxury. The long sleeves of her blouse clung to her arms, trapping heat beneath the fabric. She wanted to roll them up, to feel the sun against her skin, but that, too, was against the rules.
And then there were the heels.
The glossy black stilettos were the worst part of all. They dug into their feet, making each step a careful calculation. Sophia’s calves burned from hours of holding perfect posture, and the ache in her arches was unbearable. Clara wasn’t faring much better—standing for so long made it feel as if needles were being driven into her soles. Every movement sent a fresh jolt of pain up her legs.
"This is ridiculous," Sophia muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.
Clara smirked without looking up from her painting. "You think?"
Sophia shifted slightly, wincing as her heels scraped against the wooden floor beneath her. "Who decided that we should suffer like this? The collars, the skirts, and these awful shoes—" she exhaled sharply, trying to ignore the throbbing in her feet.
Clara dipped her brush in paint and added a deeper hue to Sophia’s beret. "They think it looks elegant. Refined. Sophisticated."
Sophia scoffed. "I think it's torture."
Clara stole a glance at her, sharing the same frustration in her eyes. "Maybe one day we can walk barefoot by the lake, in soft dresses, with our hair loose and free," she murmured.
Sophia sighed wistfully, knowing that day was far away. For now, they had to endure the rigid collars, the aching feet, the unforgiving dress code. They had to play the part, locked in a world that valued appearance over comfort, discipline over happiness.
And yet, beneath the layers of stiff fabric and blistered heels, they carried a silent rebellion—a longing for the day they could finally break free.
1st Fair of Gafsa's dates (Jan 2007).
Food products (jam, Robb) based on the dates of the Gafsa oasis and traditional Gafsa oil.
The oases of the Maghreb region are green islands flourishing in a constraining and harsh environment. They are home to a diversified and highly intensive and productive system, which has been developed over millennia.
Photo credit must be given: ©ASM Gafsa
More information:
The oases of the Maghreb region are green islands flourishing in a constraining and harsh environment. They are home to a diversified and highly intensive and productive system, which has been developed over millennia.
Dominated by the date palm, intertwined with trees and crops, these ancient systems produce a surprising variety of fruits and vegetables, cereals and forages, medicinal and aromatic plants. The palm groves offer shade and lower the ambient temperature, making it the best place to live in the Sahara and an important place of recreation.
The systems of production and irrigation and the culture of the oases vary between the different locations in correspondence to their environment. There are oases in continental, mountainous, as well as in littoral areas. With their rich diversity these oases systems constitute an agricultural and cultural heritage.
Photo credit must be given: ©INRAA.
More information:
Better Brothers Los Angeles teamed up with the Diva Foundation at the historic Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles.
The event is sponsored by Gilead, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the generous support of businessman and activist Gerard McCallum.
The Truth Awards will benefit the DIVA Foundation and its partnership with Better Brothers LA with several initiatives aimed at affirming and strengthening the African American LGBTQ community educationally, financially, physically and socially. Proceeds will also benefit the Better Brothers LA Book Scholarship and other programming needs of the organization. For more information about the organization and its scholarship program
ABOUT BETTER BROTHERS LOS ANGELES
Better Brothers Los Angeles was created to provide spaces for Black gay men to network, socialize and be BETTER – at life, love and community. Developing a sense of community has been a challenge for some Black gay men, given the cultural and religious opposition to their sexual orientation. As those challenges have receded in mainstream society, they still present significant difficulties and constrain a sense of well-being for Black gay men within the Black community. Better Brothers Los Angeles has sponsored cultural, recreational, and social/networking events, and continues to create a community where Black gay men and women can walk with a greater sense of confidence and pride. Visit www.BetterBrothersLA.com
ABOUT THE DIVA FOUNDATION
The DIVA Foundation -- founded in 1990 by Tony-nominated actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph -- is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created as a living memorial to the many friends she lost to HIV/AIDS as an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” and because of her concern for the threat HIV/AIDS posed to women and children. Over the years, the DIVA Foundation has worked to break the silence and erase the stigma still connected to HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested in order to know their HIV status.
Better Brothers Los Angeles teamed up with the Diva Foundation at the historic Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles.
The event is sponsored by Gilead, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the generous support of businessman and activist Gerard McCallum.
The Truth Awards will benefit the DIVA Foundation and its partnership with Better Brothers LA with several initiatives aimed at affirming and strengthening the African American LGBTQ community educationally, financially, physically and socially. Proceeds will also benefit the Better Brothers LA Book Scholarship and other programming needs of the organization. For more information about the organization and its scholarship program
ABOUT BETTER BROTHERS LOS ANGELES
Better Brothers Los Angeles was created to provide spaces for Black gay men to network, socialize and be BETTER – at life, love and community. Developing a sense of community has been a challenge for some Black gay men, given the cultural and religious opposition to their sexual orientation. As those challenges have receded in mainstream society, they still present significant difficulties and constrain a sense of well-being for Black gay men within the Black community. Better Brothers Los Angeles has sponsored cultural, recreational, and social/networking events, and continues to create a community where Black gay men and women can walk with a greater sense of confidence and pride. Visit www.BetterBrothersLA.com
ABOUT THE DIVA FOUNDATION
The DIVA Foundation -- founded in 1990 by Tony-nominated actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph -- is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created as a living memorial to the many friends she lost to HIV/AIDS as an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” and because of her concern for the threat HIV/AIDS posed to women and children. Over the years, the DIVA Foundation has worked to break the silence and erase the stigma still connected to HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested in order to know their HIV status.