Martin Luther King’s Day, Malcolm X Shabazz High School Students’ Peace Comments & His Helper, Yolanda Renee King, Dr. King Jr.’s granddaughter
Dr. King Jr.’s Helper, Younger Generation, Yolanda Renee King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s granddaughter, speaks at the March on Washington D.C. about racial equality, environmental justice and police brutality on August 28, 2020.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s granddaughter speaks at March on Washington
Yolanda Renee King, the daughter of Martin Luther King III and granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, spoke Friday at the rally in DC.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s 10-Year-Old Granddaughter Says She Has A Dream, Too | NBC Nightly News
As his family and the nation celebrate Dr. King, Yolanda Renee King — his only grandchild — just wants the man she calls grandpa to be proud of her. » Subscribe to NBC News: http://nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC » Watch more NBC video: http://bit.ly/MoreNBCNews NBC News Digital is a collection of innovative and powerful news brands that deliver compelling, diverse and engaging news stories. NBC News Digital features NBCNews.com, MSNBC.com, TODAY.com, Nightly News, Meet the Press, Dateline, and the existing apps and digital extensions of these respective properties. We deliver the best in breaking news, live video coverage, original journalism and segments from your favorite NBC News Shows. Connect with NBC News Online! Visit NBCNews.Com: http://nbcnews.to/ReadNBC Find NBC News on Facebook: http://nbcnews.to/LikeNBC Follow NBC News on Twitter: http://nbcnews.to/FollowNBC Follow NBC News on Instagram: http://nbcnews.to/InstaNBC Martin Luther King Jr.’s 10-Year-Old Granddaughter Says She Has A Dream, Too | NBC Nightly News
On this episode of Nightly News: Kids Edition, Dr. John Torres answers viewers’ weekly questions about the coronavirus. What exactly happens on Inauguration Day? We’ll explain and tell you about the history behind it. Plus, the granddaughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. joins us and shares her inspiring message for kids. » Subscribe to NBC News: http://nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC » Watch more NBC video: http://bit.ly/MoreNBCNews NBC News is a leading source of global news and information. Here you will find clips from NBC Nightly News, Meet The Press, and original digital videos. Subscribe to our channel for news stories, technology, politics, health, entertainment, science, business, and exclusive NBC investigations. Connect with NBC News Online! Visit NBCNews.Com: http://nbcnews.to/ReadNBC Find NBC News on Facebook: http://nbcnews.to/LikeNBC Follow NBC News on Twitter: http://nbcnews.to/FollowNBC Follow NBC News on Instagram: http://nbcnews.to/InstaNBC Nightly News: Kids Edition (January 14, 2021) | NBC Nightly News
I had the above video on my previous post, blog page, and I also sent it to my five-year-old, grandson, Kai to view.
The following content comes from the post that I produced for my Blog page on January 19, 2015:
Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day and Malcolm X Shabazz High School Students’ Peace Comments
Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day
Monday, January 19, 2015
and
Malcolm X Shabazz High School Students’ Peace Comments
Ing’s Peace Project
Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Monday, January 19, 2015
I produced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have A Dream” artwork in 2010.
Thanks to Linda Leonard-Nevels , School Library Media Specialist of Malcolm X Shabazz High School, Newark, New Jersey. She came to our store. After her shopping I took advantage to explain to her about my Peace Project. Linda came back on Friday, October 1. 2014 and took six of my Peace Project posters to distribute to the teachers in her school for their students to write comments on my peace posters. She returned three of my Peace posters with student comments on Friday, December 12, 2014.
Working on artwork for Malcolm X Shabazz High School’s Students comments on “What does Peace mean to you?” I realized that this month on Monday, January 19 is Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day. I recalled that Dr. King received a Nobel Peace Prize on 1964. I am sure these students know this. I did research on Dr. King’s acceptance speech. I was impressed with his speech. Lately there is increasing conflict between the black youth and police. So I decided to do some artwork on Dr. King’s Nobel Prize Acceptance speech in the same project of the Malcolm X Shabazz High School’s Students Peace comments.
I hope that young people today realize that it takes time for human progress and it takes all generations to be aware of human rights and put effort into improving the transition for all humanity to reach equality and harmony in our world.
Ing-On Vibulbhan-Watts, Monday, January 19, 2015
Martin Luther King Jr. Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech
I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when twenty-two million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice. I accept this award in behalf of a civil rights movement which is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice.
I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even death. I am mindful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young people seeing to secure the right to vote were brutalized and murdered. And only yesterday more than 40 houses of worship in the State of Mississippi alone were bombed or burned because they offered a sunctuary to those who would not accept segregation.
I am mindful that debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts my people and chains them to the lowest rung of the economic ladder.
Therefore, I must ask why this prize is awarded to a movement which is beleaguered and committed to unrelenting struggle; to a movement which has not won the very peace and brotherhood which is the essence of the Nobel Prize.
After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that movement is profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time — the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression.
Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts. Negroes of the United States, following the people of India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation. Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood.
If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love. The tortuous road which has led from Montgomery, Alabama, to Oslo bears witness to this truth. This is a road over which millions of Negroes are travelling to find a new sense of dignity.
This same road has opened for all Americans a new ear of progress and hope. It has led to a new Civil Rights bill, and it will, I am convinced, be widened and lengthened into a superhighway of justice as Negro and white men in increasing numbers create alliances to overcome their common problems.
I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the “isness” of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts him.
I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.
I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.
I believe that even amid today’s motor bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men.
I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land.
“And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid.”
I still believe that we shall overcome.
This faith can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the city of freedom. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds and our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, we will know that we are living in the creative turmoil of a genuine civilization struggling to be born.
Today I come to Oslo as a trustee, inspired and with renewed dedication to humanity. I accept this prize on behalf of all men who love peace and brotherhood. I say I come as a trustee, for in the depths of my heart I am aware that this prize is much more than an honor to me personally.
Every time I take a flight I am always mindful of the man people who make a successful journey possible — the known pilots and the unknown ground crew.
So you honor the dedicated pilots of our struggle who have sat at the controls as the freedom movement soared into orbit. You honor, once again, Chief (Albert) Luthuli of South Africa, whose struggles with and for his people, are still met with the most brutal expression of man’s inhumanity to man.
You honor the ground crew without whose labor and sacrifices the jet flights to freedom could never have left the earth.
Most of these people will never make the headlines and their names will not appear in Who’s Who. Yet when years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvelous age in which we live — men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization — because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness’ sake.
I think Alfred Nobel would know what I mean when I say that I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners — all those to whom beauty is truth and truth beauty — and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
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On this edition for Sunday, December
8, the U.S. Navy releases names of the three sailors killed in the Pensacola
rampage, House Democrats to present their case for impeaching President Trump,
and Ukraine and Russia prepare for peace talks after nearly six years of
conflict. Hari Sreenivasan anchors from New York. Stream your PBS favorites
with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
PBS NewsHour Weekend full episode December 7, 2019
On this edition for Saturday,
December 7, a U.S. official says a Saudi officer watched mass shooting videos
before his deadly rampage at Pensacola’s naval base, and Scotland eyes an
opportunity for independence as Great Britain gets ready to head to the polls.
Hari Sreenivasan anchors from New York. Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS
app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
Genuine apology goes beyond remorse,
says legendary playwright Eve Ensler. In this frank, wrenching talk, she shares
how she transformed her own experience of abuse into wisdom on what wrongdoers
can do and say to truly repent — and offers a four-step roadmap to help begin
the process. (This talk contains mature content.)
This talk was presented at an
official TED conference, and was featured by our editors on the home page.
They’ve been called the “saints
of Somalia.” Doctor Hawa Abdi and her daughter Deqo Mohamed discuss their
medical clinic in Somalia, where — in the face of civil war and open
oppression of women — they’ve built a hospital, a school and a community of
peace.
This talk was presented at an
official TED conference, and was featured by our editors on the home page.
Since the 1950s, when the world was
first introduced to the flexible, durable wonder of plastic, 8.3 billion metric
tons of it has been produced. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade, so technically, all
of that tonnage is still sitting someplace on the planet. And a lot of it is in
China.
That’s because when hundreds of
countries around the world said they were “recycling” their plastic over the
past few decades, half the time what they really meant was they were exporting
it to another country. And most of the time, that meant they were exporting it
to China. Since 1992, China (and Hong Kong, which acts as an entry port into
mainland China) have imported 72 percent of all plastic waste.
But China has had enough. In 2017,
China announced it was permanently banning the import of nonindustrial plastic
waste. According to a paper published in June 2018 in the journal Science Advances, that will leave the world—mostly high-income
countries—with an additional 111 million metric tons of plastic to deal with by
2030. And right now, those countries have no good way to handle it.
As of 2016, the top five countries
exporting their plastic to China were the US, the UK, Mexico, Japan, and
Germany.
For example, that year, the US
exported 56 percent of its plastic waste to China, with another 32 percent
going to Hong Kong (of which most is then exported to China). The US exported
its remaining 12 percent to Mexico, Canada, and India. Germany, meanwhile,
exports 69 percent of its plastic to China.
But because flows of plastic are
convoluted, it’s possible these numbers don’t tell the whole story. For
example, the researchers note that the UK exports 51 percent of its plastic to
Germany, but given how much plastic Germany exports to China, it’s seems
plausible that much of the UK’s plastic ultimately ends up in China. The same
goes for Mexico, which exports 55 percent of its plastic to the US. The US, in
turn, exports most of its plastic to China. But the researchers write the
United Nations trade data on which they based their research does not monitor
flows of plastic between countries, so “we do not know whether that waste is
then processed domestically or exported to Hong Kong or China,” they write.
China has in the past tried to limit
plastic imports. In 2013, the country implemented a “Green Fence” policy of
restricting the types of plastic waste it would accept, with the goal of
reducing contamination. The policy lasted only a year, but it was enough to rattle
the waste industry. “As a result, plastic recycling industries experienced a
globally cascading effect since little infrastructure exists elsewhere to
manage the rejected waste,” the researchers write.
That’s already happening again, and
now the ban is permanent.
The rule went into effect on January
1, 2018, and plastic immediately began piling up in several European countries,
the port of Hong Kong, and the US. “My inventory is out of control,” Steve
Frank, who owns recycling plants in Oregon, which up until then had exported
most of its materials to China, told the New York Times
at the time. He hoped he’d be able to start exporting more waste to countries
like Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Malaysia—“anywhere we can”—but “they can’t make
up the difference,” he said.
At the end of the day, even the 111
million metric tons of plastic that the researchers found would be back in the
laps of countries who used to export to China is still a fraction of all the
plastic that gets produced.
“We know from our previous studies that only 9 percent of all plastic ever produced has been
recycled, and the majority of it ends up in landfills or the natural
environment,” Jenna Jambeck, an associate professor at the University of
Georgia’s college of engineering who co-authored the study, said in a statement.
”Without bold new ideas and system-wide changes, even the relatively low
current recycling rates will no longer be met, and our previously recycled
materials could now end up in landfills.”
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Five Common Misconceptions About the Electoral College
Defenders of the Electoral College
argue that it was created to combat majority tyranny and support federalism,
and that it continues to serve those purposes. This stance depends on a
profound misunderstanding of the history of the institution.
Board of Governors Professor at
Rutgers University-Camden
North Carolina Electoral College representatives sign the Certificates of Vote after they all cast their ballots for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the State Capitol building in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S., December 19, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake – RC12F8CC65F0
North Carolina Electoral College
representatives sign the Certificates of Vote after they all cast their ballots
for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the State Capitol building in Raleigh,
North Carolina, U.S., December 19, 2016.Jonathan Drake / Reuters
Two of the nation’s last three
presidents won the presidency in the Electoral College, even though they lost
the popular vote nationwide. In 2000, Al Gore outpolled George W. Bush by more
than 540,000 votes but lost in the Electoral College, 271–266. Sixteen years
later, Hillary Clinton tallied almost 3 million more votes than Donald Trump
but lost decisively in the Electoral College, 306–232. And, as a recent New York Times poll suggested, the 2020 election could very well again deliver the
presidency to the loser of the popular vote.
Despite this, defenders of the
Electoral College argue that it was created to combat majority tyranny and
support federalism, and that it continues to serve those purposes. For example,
Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas, responding to Representative Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez’s recent criticism of the Electoral College, tweeted that
“we live in a republic, which means 51% of the population doesn’t get to boss
around the other 49%,” and that the Electoral College “promotes more equal regional representation and protects the interests of sparsely populated states.”
But arguments like these are flawed,
misunderstanding the pertinent history. Below, I identify five common mistakes
made in arguing for the preservation of the Electoral College.
But as tempting as it is to read
history in the light of contemporary concerns, the debate at the convention focused on a
different issue: Should Congress choose the
president? Both the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan, the two primary
alternatives at the Convention, proposed that Congress select the president.
This was unsurprising because in most states at the time, the legislature chose
the governor. On June 1, the convention voted 8–2 that Congress should elect
the president, and the delegates would affirm that decision on three other
occasions.
The frequency with which the
delegates revisited the issue reveals not their confidence but their
dissatisfaction. Most delegates wanted the executive to check legislative
usurpations and block unjust or unwise laws, but they feared that dependence on
the legislature for election—and possible reelection—would compromise the
executive’s independence. Some delegates hoped to avoid this danger by limiting
the president to a single term, but as Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania observed,
this could deprive the nation of a highly qualified executive, eliminate the
hope of continuation in office as a spur to good behavior, and encourage the
executive to “make hay while the sun shines.” James Madison added that election
by the legislature would “agitate and divide the legislature so much that the
public interest would materially suffer” and might invite the intervention of
foreign powers seeking to influence the choice.
The difficulty lay in finding an
alternative to legislative selection, and the delegates considered and rejected
various possibilities, including popular election. Ultimately, perhaps in
desperation, they referred the issue to the Committee on Unfinished Parts. On
September 4, less than two weeks before the convention ended, the committee
proposed the Electoral College. Its proposal mirrored the states’ distribution
of power in Congress; each state had as many electoral votes as it had members
of Congress. But because the electors dispersed after voting for the president,
the Electoral College did not threaten the independence of the executive. With
only minor adjustments—most notably, the House replaced the Senate as the body
that would select the president if a majority of electors failed to agree on a
candidate—the convention endorsed the proposal.
The point of all this is, the
Electoral College did not emerge because of opposition to popular election of
the president.
But, once again, this interpretation
of history is wrong. The convention did twice reject popular election of the
president. But the delegates who rejected it did not object to popular
elections per se—they had no problem with popular election of the House of
Representatives or state legislatures. Rather, they were skeptical of a
national popular election, primarily for reasons that are no longer relevant
today.
First, they feared that people would
lack the information to make an informed choice as to who might be an
appropriate candidate for the presidency or who might be the best choice among
candidates. Thus George Mason of Virginia claimed,
“It would be as unnatural to refer the choice of a proper candidate for chief
Magistrate to the people, as it would be to refer a trial of colours to a blind
man.”
But his reason was that “the extent
of the Country renders it impossible that the people can have the requisite
capacity to judge of the respective pretensions of the Candidates.” In such
circumstances, he thought, voters would naturally gravitate to candidates from
their own state. Delegates who favored popular election replied that “the
increasing intercourse among the people of the states would render important characters
less and less unknown,” and that “continental characters will multiply as we
more or more coalesce,” reducing state parochialism. Today, with mass
communication and interminable campaigns, lack of information is no longer a
problem.
Second, some southern delegates
feared that popular election of the president would disadvantage their states.
James Madison noted that, given less restrictive voting laws, “the right of
suffrage was much more diffusive in the Northern than the Southern states,”
which would give them an advantage in a popular election. Beyond that, a
popular vote would not count the disenfranchised enslaved population, reducing
southern influence.
The Electoral College solved both
those problems, awarding electoral votes based on a state’s population, not its
electorate, and importing the three-fifths compromise into presidential
elections. The effects were immediate and dramatic—in 1800 John Adams would
have defeated Thomas Jefferson had only free persons been counted in awarding
electoral votes. Obviously, these concerns no longer apply, although popular
election would encourage states to increase their influence by expanding their
electorate, while the Electoral College offers no such incentive.
Third, some small-state delegates
opposed popular election because they feared that larger states, with their
greater voting power, would dominate. Yet these same delegates also objected to
the Electoral College, insisting it too gave excessive power to the large
states. Their concerns were addressed by stipulating that should no candidate
receive a majority of the electoral vote, the selection would devolve on the
House of Representatives, with each state casting a single vote.
What is striking about the
convention’s debate on popular election of the president is that its opponents
did not claim it would encourage majority tyranny. Doubtless the delegates were
aware of the danger of such a tyranny—Madison first presented his famous
discussion of “majority faction” at the convention—but no delegate objected to
popular election on that basis, and Madison himself supported popular election
of the president.
Given the current debate on
presidential selection, this might seem obvious, but the deliberations at the convention were much more
fluid. James Wilson of Pennsylvania first
proposed popular election of the president, but when his motion failed, he
immediately raised the possibility of a mediated popular election: electors
chosen by the people who would select the executive. All the other leading
advocates of popular election—Morris, Madison, and Alexander Hamilton—also
supported the Electoral College, primarily as an alternative to congressional
selection. In defending the Electoral College, Madison and Hamilton emphasized
its popular character. Madison in “Federalist No. 39” noted that “the President
is indirectly derived from the choice of the people,” and Hamilton in
“Federalist No. 68” concurred: “The sense of the people should operate in the
choice of the person to whom so important a trust was to be confided,” and
reelection should depend on “the people themselves.”
The Constitution was, in James
Madison’s words, “in strictness neither a national nor a federal Constitution,
but a composition of both.” It empowered state legislatures to determine how
the presidential electors were to be chosen, and if the Electoral College failed
to select a president, the House of Representatives would, with each state
casting a single vote. However, the debates during the Constitutional
Convention make clear that the Electoral College was not intended to protect
the states or enhance the influence of state governments and state
perspectives.
The convention delegates sought to
safeguard the independence of the national executive from state governments.
They overwhelmingly rejected proposals that the executive be selected by state
legislatures or by state governors. They also rejected a proposal that the
president be removable upon request by a majority of state legislatures and did not even consider the New Jersey Plan’s
provision that the president “be recalled by
Congress when requested by the majority of executive of the states.” This was
hardly surprising. Most delegates were sharply critical of state legislatures
and wanted to ensure that the president had the independence necessary to
oppose their schemes. Madison summarized the prevailing sentiment: “The President is to act for the people, not the States.”
Although the Electoral College
allowed state legislatures to determine how electors would be chosen, it was
expected that once selected, the electors would operate independently of their
state governments. The constitutional ban on senators serving as electors and
the choice of the House to resolve deadlocks in the Electoral College ensured
that those selected by (and perhaps influenced by) state legislatures would not
play a role in selecting the president. Beyond that, the delegates expected
that the electors’ deliberations would remain secret, that they would be free
to choose the candidates they believed most qualified, and that their votes
would be tabulated and transmitted to the president of the Senate without any
indication as to who voted for which candidate, so that no political
retribution could be exacted. The Constitution’s requirement that electors vote
for two candidates, at least one of whom was not from their state, served to
reduce state parochialism and encourage a national perspective.
In sum, the Electoral College was
not designed to promote federalism—Martin Diamond,
one of the most thoughtful proponents of the Electoral College, accurately
described the design as “an anti-states-rights device, a way of keeping the
election from state politicians and giving it to the people.” The core
protections of federalism, today as in the past, are the vitality of state
governments, the division of powers between nation and state, and
representation in Congress along state lines. The replacement of the Electoral
College by a nationwide popular vote would threaten none of these. Voting procedures
would remain the same, the only difference being that votes would be tabulated
nationwide rather than state by state.
To begin with, to some extent those
expectations were unclear. For example, after the Electoral College was proposed,
some delegates claimed that in most elections—George Mason predicted “nineteen
times in twenty”—no candidate would get a majority of the electoral votes, and
so the House of Representatives would elect the president. This of course would
compromise the independence of the executive, and both Madison and Hamilton
unsuccessfully proposed that the House’s role be eliminated, with the candidate
winning a plurality of the electoral vote becoming president. Other delegates
expected that a majority of the electors would coalesce around a single
candidate. In “Federalist No. 39,” Madison presumed that “the eventual
election” would be made by the House, but this was mere speculation and quickly
disproved.
Even when the delegates’ hopes and
expectations were clear, constitutional amendments have altered the operation
of the Electoral College. The Twelfth Amendment, adopted after the contested
election of 1800, requires electors to specify for whom they are voting for
president and vice president. The Twentieth Amendment, by shifting the date
congressional terms begin to January 3, ensures that the newly elected House of
Representatives, rather than the previous House, would elect the president if no
candidate received an electoral-vote majority. And the Twenty-Third Amendment
extends the right to vote in presidential elections to U.S. citizens residing
in the District of Columbia, awarding the District three electoral votes,
though the Electoral College continues to deny American citizens living in
Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories any role in choosing the president.
Even more important have been
changes in political practice. In “Federalist No. 64,” John Jay maintained that
the Electoral College “will in general be composed of the most enlightened and
respectable citizens,” and in “Federalist No. 68,” Alexander Hamilton described the electors as “most likely to possess the information and discernment”
necessary to choose the chief executive. But by 1800 political parties had
developed, and elector discretion was replaced by elector commitment to the
parties’ candidates. Today many states do not even bother to list the electors’
names on the ballot. Interestingly, Hamilton and Madison as party leaders
played a crucial role in this transformation.
The Constitution authorized state
legislatures to determine how electors were to be selected, but by 1828 every
state but South Carolina chose its electors by popular vote, and today all
states do. Moreover, despite the initial expectation that electors would be
chosen in districts, by 1836 party competition had promoted a winner-take-all
allocation of electors in all the states. (Maine and Nebraska have since bucked
that trend.) This in turn has affected presidential campaigns, as more and more
candidates target their speeches, campaign appearances, and ads at “swing
states” and largely ignore states they confidently expect to carry or to lose.
Meanwhile, the proliferation of
primary elections, the nationalization of the choice of presidential
candidates, the move toward candidate-based campaigns, and the reduced
importance of state party organizations have fundamentally transformed
presidential selection, without changing how votes are awarded under the
Electoral College.
In “Federalist No. 68,” Alexander Hamilton contended that the Electoral College
would frustrate “the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in
our councils.” It would also “afford a moral certainty that the office of
President [would] seldom fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent
degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.” In addition, it would keep
from the office candidates with “talents for low intrigue, and the little arts
of popularity.” In evaluating the Electoral College today, one must judge
whether Hamilton’s hopes have been vindicated.
As we approach the end of a year of
unrest, here is a look back at some of the major news events and moments of
2019. Massive protests were staged against existing governments in Hong Kong,
Chile, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, Haiti, Algeria, Sudan, and Bolivia, while
climate-change demonstrations and strikes took place worldwide. An impeachment
inquiry into President Donald Trump was started, conflict in Syria continued,
the United States won the Women’s World Cup, Hurricane Dorian lashed the
Bahamas, and so much more. Here, we present the Top 25 news photos of 2019. Be
sure to also see these more comprehensive stories—2019: The Year in Photos, Part 1,
Part 2,
and Part 3.
Hints: View this page full screen.
Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ?/?.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hugs a mosque-goer at the Kilbirnie mosque in Wellington, New Zealand, on March 17, 2019. 50 people are confirmed dead and 36 are injured still in hospital following shooting attacks on two mosques in Christchurch on Friday, 15 March. The attack is the worst mass shooting in New Zealand’s history. (Hagen Hopkins / Getty)
Jacinda
Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand, hugs a mosque-goer at the Kilbirnie
mosque in Wellington, on March 17, 2019. Earlier that day, 51 people were
killed and another 49 were injured in shooting attacks on two mosques in
Christchurch—the worst mass shooting and terror attack in New Zealand’s
history. #
Hagen
Hopkins / Getty
The steeple of Notre-Dame Cathedral collapses as the cathedral is engulfed in flames in central Paris on April 15, 2019. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt / AFP / Getty)
The spire of
Notre-Dame collapses as the cathedral is engulfed in flames in central Paris on
April 15, 2019. Much of the roof collapsed in the fire, which ignited during
renovations. President Emmanuel Macron immediately indicated that the cathedral
would be rebuilt, but the method and form of the reconstruction became a
political battle, with one side favoring modern redesigns, and the other
advocating for an exact replica of the previous structure. #
Geoffroy Van
Der Hasselt / AFP / Getty
Spike Lee, winner of the Best Adapted Screenplay award for BlacKkKlansman, attends the 91st annual Academy Awards Governors Ball at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, California, on February 24, 2019. (Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty)
Spike Lee,
winner of the Best Adapted Screenplay award for BlacKkKlansman, attends
the 91st annual Academy Awards Governors Ball at the Hollywood & Highland
Center in Hollywood, California, on February 24, 2019. Although Lee had been
awarded an honorary Oscar in 2015, this was his first competitive Academy
Award. #
Robyn Beck /
AFP / Getty
TOPSHOT – People raise their hands during a mass opposition rally against President Nicolas Maduro in which Venezuela’s National Assembly head Juan Guaido (out of frame) declared himself the country’s “acting president”, on the anniversary of a 1958 uprising that overthrew a military dictatorship, in Caracas on January 23, 2019. – “I swear to formally assume the national executive powers as acting president of Venezuela to end the usurpation, (install) a transitional government and hold free elections,” said Guaido as thousands of supporters cheered. Moments earlier, the loyalist-dominated Supreme Court ordered a criminal investigation of the opposition-controlled legislature. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP) (Photo credit should read FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images)
People raise
their hands during a mass opposition rally against President Nicolás Maduro, in
which Venezuela’s National Assembly head, Juan Guaidó, declared himself the
country’s “acting president” on the anniversary of a 1958 uprising
that overthrew a military dictatorship, in Caracas, Venezuela, on January 23,
2019. The movement, sparked by disputed election results, led to a presidential
crisis in Venezuela that continued throughout the year. #
Federico
Parra / AFP / Getty
President Donald Trump turns to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California as he delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., as Vice President Mike Pence watches on February 5, 2019. (Doug Mills / The New York Times via AP)
President
Donald Trump turns to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California as he delivers
his State of the Union address to a Joint Session of Congress on Capitol Hill
in Washington, D.C., as Vice President Mike Pence watches, on February 5, 2019.
#
Doug Mills /
The New York Times via AP
People are evacuated by a member of security forces at the scene of a terror attack at the Dusit Hotel compound in Nairobi, Kenya, on January 15, 2019. (Baz Ratner / Reuters)
People are
evacuated by a member of security forces at the scene of a terror attack at the
Dusit Hotel compound in Nairobi, Kenya, on January 15, 2019. The attack,
carried out by members of the jihadist militant group Al-Shabaab, left 21
civilians dead. #
Baz Ratner /
Reuters
TOPSHOT – EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / A wounded Syrian girl awaits rescue from under the rubble next to the body of her sister (hands seen-R) who did not survive regime bombardment in Khan Sheikhun in the southern countryside of the rebel-held Idlib province, on February 26, 2019. – Regime bombardment near Khan Sheikhun, in Idlib province, killed two civilians on Tuesday, raising the civilian death toll to 42 since February 9, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. (Photo by Anas AL-DYAB / AFP) (Photo by ANAS AL-DYAB/AFP via Getty Images)
A wounded Syrian girl awaits rescue from under the rubble
next to the body of her sister (hands visible at right), who did not survive a
regime bombardment in Khan Sheikhun in the southern countryside of the
rebel-held Idlib province, on February 26, 2019. Five months after this photo,
the Syrian photographer who took it, Anas Al-Dyab, was killed in an air strike
in Khan Sheikhun. Al-Dyab was also a member of the “White Helmets,” a
group of volunteers carrying out search-and-rescue efforts in Syria. #
Anas Al-Dyab / AFP / Getty
Dogs pull a sled on water-covered sea ice near Qaanaaq, Greenland, on June 13, 2019. An abundance of water from a rapid summer melt had pooled on top of a wide swath of solid sea ice. (Steffen Olsen / Danish Meteorological Institute via Reuters)
Dogs pull a
sled on water-covered sea ice near Qaanaaq, Greenland, on June 13, 2019. The
dogs were forced to wade after an abundance of water from a rapid summer melt
had pooled on top of a wide swath of solid sea ice. #
Steffen
Olsen / Danish Meteorological Institute via Reuters
TOPSHOT – A boy walks out of the sea while removing oil spilled on Itapuama beach located in the city of Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Pernambuco state, Brazil, on October 21, 2019. – Large blobs of oil staining more than 130 beaches in northeastern Brazil began appearing in early September and have now turned up along a 2,000km stretch of the Atlantic coastline. The source of the patches remain a mystery despite President Jair Bolsonaro’s assertions they came from outside the country and were possibly the work of criminals. (Photo by LEO MALAFAIA / AFP) (Photo by LEO MALAFAIA/AFP via Getty Images)
A boy walks
out of the sea while removing oil spilled on Itapuama beach, located in the
city of Cabo de Santo Agostinho in Pernambuco state, Brazil, on October 21,
2019. Large blobs of oil staining more than 130 beaches in northeastern Brazil
began appearing in early September and have now turned up along a
2,000-kilometer stretch of the Atlantic coastline. The source of the patches
remains a mystery despite President Jair Bolsonaro’s assertions they came from
outside the country and were possibly the work of criminals. #
Leo Malafaia
/ AFP / Getty
HONG KONG – AUGUST 18: Thousands of anti-government protesters march on a street after leaving a rally in Victoria Park on August 18, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Pro-democracy protesters have continued rallies on the streets of Hong Kong against a controversial extradition bill since 9 June as the city plunged into crisis after waves of demonstrations and several violent clashes. Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam apologized for introducing the bill and declared it “dead”, however protesters have continued to draw large crowds with demands for Lam’s resignation and completely withdraw the bill. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Thousands of
pro-democracy protesters march on a street after leaving a rally in Victoria
Park on August 18, 2019, in Hong Kong. Demonstrations have taken place on the
streets of Hong Kong since June 9, beginning as a reaction to a controversial
extradition bill, and evolving into broader demands for democracy and
investigations into police brutality, challenging Beijing’s authority. #
Chris McGrath
/ Getty
Police detain pro-democracy demonstrators during a demonstration in Hong Kong on September 29, 2019. (Kin Cheung / AP)
Police
detain pro-democracy demonstrators during a demonstration in Hong Kong on
September 29, 2019. #
Kin Cheung /
AP
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they meet at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019. KCNA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SOUTH KOREA. – RC1849E5AB80
U.S. President
Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they meet at
the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, on
June 30, 2019, in this image provided by North Korea’s Korean Central News
Agency (KCNA). During the meeting, Trump became the first sitting U.S.
president to cross the border and enter North Korea. #
KCNA via
Reuters
Students take part in a march for the environment and the climate in Brussels, Belgium, on February 21, 2019. (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP / Getty)
Students
take part in a march for the environment and the climate in Brussels, Belgium,
on February 21, 2019. Environmental protests and strikes, most led by students,
took place around the world multiple times throughout the year. #
Emmanuel
Dunand / AFP / Getty
Guatemalan migrant Lety Perez embraces her son Anthony while praying to ask a member of the Mexican National Guard to let them cross into the United States, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, July 22, 2019. Lety Perez fell to her haunches, a clenched hand covering her face as she wept, an arm clutching her small 6-year old son, who glared defiantly at the Mexican National Guard soldier blocking them from crossing into the United States. The plight of this mother and son who had traveled some 1,500 miles (2,410 km) from their home country of Guatemala to the border city of Ciudad Juarez, only to be stopped mere feet from the United States, was captured by Reuters photographer Jose Luis Gonzalez as twilight approached on Monday. “The woman begged and pleaded with the National Guard to let them cross … she wanted to cross to give a better future” to her young son Anthony Diaz, Gonzalez said. The soldier, dressed in desert fatigues, an assault rifle slung over his shoulder, said he was only following orders, according to Gonzalez. The soldier did not disclose his name. (Jose Luis Gonzalez / Reuters)
Lety Perez,
a Guatemalan migrant, embraces her son Anthony while praying to ask a member of
the Mexican National Guard to let them cross into the United States, as seen
from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on July 22, 2019. Perez and her 6-year-old son had
traveled some 1,500 miles from their home country, only to be stopped mere feet
from the United States. #
Jose Luis
Gonzalez / Reuters
A long-exposure photograph shows a tree burning during the Kincade fire off Highway 128, east of Healdsburg, California, on October 29, 2019. (Philip Pacheco / AFP / Getty)
A
long-exposure photograph shows a tree burning during the Kincade fire off
Highway 128, east of Healdsburg, California, on October 29, 2019. This year’s fire
season in California, which lasts through December, has seen more than 6,400
reported fires, including the largest, the Kincade fire, which burned more than
77,000 acres alone. #
Philip
Pacheco / AFP / Getty
United States’ forward Megan Rapinoe celebrates scoring her team’s first goal during the France 2019 Women’s World Cup quarter-final football match between France and United States, on June 28, 2019, at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
The United
States forward Megan Rapinoe celebrates scoring her team’s first goal during
the Women’s World Cup France 2019 quarter-final soccer match between France and
the United States, on June 28, 2019, at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris.
The U.S. advanced to the final and won the championship on July 7 in a match
against the Netherlands. #
Franck Fife
/ AFP / Getty
An aerial view of damage caused by Hurricane Dorian is seen in Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island on September 4, 2019, in Great Abaco, Bahamas. (Scott Olson / Getty)
An aerial
view of damage caused by Hurricane Dorian is seen in Marsh Harbour on Great
Abaco Island on September 4, 2019, in Great Abaco, Bahamas. Dorian struck the
islands as a Category 5 storm, and was responsible for at least 60 deaths and
more than $3 billion in damages—the worst natural disaster to ever hit the
Bahamas. #
Scott Olson
/ Getty
A young Rohingya is seen during a rainstorm at the Nayapara refugee camp on August 21, 2019, in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Rohingya refugees said on August 21 that they did not want to return to Myanmar without their rights and citizenship, with repatriation set to start on August 22. August 25 marked the second anniversary of the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh after Myanmar’s military crackdown on the ethnic Muslim minority forced over 700,000 to flee to Bangladesh from violence and torture. The United Nations has stated that it was a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. (Allison Joyce / Getty)
A young
Rohingya refugee is seen during a rainstorm at the Nayapara refugee camp in
Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on August 21, 2019. Rohingya refugees said on August
21 that they did not want to return to Myanmar (also called Burma) without
their rights and citizenship, with repatriation set to start on August 22. August
25 marked the second anniversary of the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh after
Myanmar’s military crackdown on the ethnic Muslim minority forced more than
700,000 to flee to Bangladesh from violence and torture. The United Nations has
stated that it was a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. #
Allison
Joyce / Getty
A huge plume of ash rises from Raikoke Volcano on the Kuril Islands, as viewed from the International Space Station on June 22, 2019. The small, oval-shaped island most recently exploded in 1924, and before that in 1778. Astronauts shot this photograph of the eruption as the column of ash spread out in a part of the plume known as the umbrella region—the area where the density of the plume and the surrounding air equalize and the plume stops rising. The ring of clouds at the base of the column appears to be water vapor. (NASA Earth Observatory)
A huge plume
of ash rises from Raikoke volcano in the Kuril Islands, as viewed from the
International Space Station on June 22, 2019. The small, oval-shaped island
most recently exploded in 1924, and before that in 1778. Astronauts shot this
photograph of the eruption as the column of ash spread out in a part of the
plume known as the umbrella region—the area where the density of the plume and
the surrounding air equalize and the plume stops rising. The ring of clouds at
the base of the column appears to be water vapor. #
NASA Earth
Observatory
TOPSHOT – A demonstrator wearing Guy Fawkes mask gestures during a protest against the government, in Santiago on November 18, 2019. – President Sebastian Pinera condemned on Sunday for the first time what he called abuses committed by police in dealing with four weeks of violent unrest that have rocked Chile and which has left 22 people dead and more than 2,000 injured. Chileans have been protesting social and economic inequality, and against an entrenched political elite that comes from a small number of the wealthiest families in the country, among other issues. (Photo by CLAUDIO REYES / AFP) (Photo by CLAUDIO REYES/AFP via Getty Images)
A
demonstrator wearing a Guy Fawkes mask gestures in front of others shining
green lasers, during a protest against the government in Santiago, Chile, on
November 18, 2019. Weeks of violent unrest have rocked Chile, leaving at least
22 people dead and more than 2,000 injured. Chileans are protesting social and
economic inequality, and against an entrenched political elite. #
Claudio
Reyes / AFP / Getty
ATTENTION EDITORS – SENSITIVE MATERIAL. THIS IMAGE MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB A riot police officer on fire reacts during a protest against Chile’s government in Santiago, Chile November 4, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY – RC13D207B4A0
A
riot-police officer reacts after a Molotov cocktail landed nearby, splashing
fire onto several officers during a protest against Chile’s government in
Santiago, Chile, on November 4, 2019. #
Jorge Silva
/ Reuters
22-year-old Alaa Salah stands on a car leading chants during a protest demanding that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir step down in Khartoum, Sudan, on April 8, 2019, in this still image taken from a social-media video obtained on April 9. (Lana H. Haroun via Reuters)
Alaa Salah,
22, stands on a car leading chants during a protest demanding that Sudanese
President Omar al-Bashir step down, in Khartoum, Sudan, on April 8, 2019, in
this still image taken from a social-media video obtained on April 9. Months of
demonstrations and civil disobedience led up to the Sudanese Armed Forces
staging a coup on April 11, removing the dictator Bashir from power after 30
years. #
Lana H.
Haroun / Social Media
TOPSHOT – A Syrian boy on his bicycle looks at a convoy of US armoured vehicles patrolling fields near the northeastern town of Qahtaniyah at the border with Turkey, on October 31, 2019. – US forces accompanied by Kurdish fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) patrolled part of Syria’s border with Turkey, in the first such move since Washington withdrew troops from the area earlier this month, an AFP correspondent reported. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
A Syrian boy
on his bicycle looks at a convoy of U.S. armored vehicles patrolling fields
near the northeastern town of Qahtaniyah at the border with Turkey, on October
31, 2019. U.S. forces accompanied by Kurdish fighters of the Syrian Democratic
Forces (SDF) patrolled part of Syria’s border with Turkey, in the first such
move since Washington withdrew troops from the area earlier in October, an AFP
correspondent reported. #
Delil
Souleiman / AFP / Getty
Democratic Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Adam Schiff awaits charge d’Affaires at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine Bill Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia George Kent to testify before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on the impeachment inquiry into President Donald J. Trump, on Capitol Hill, on November 13, 2019. (Jim Lo Scalzo / Pool via Reuters)
Democratic
Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff awaits Bill Taylor,
charge d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, and George Kent, the deputy
assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, to testify during a
hearing on the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, on Capitol
Hill, November 13, 2019. #
Jim Lo
Scalzo / Pool via Reuters
An Iraqi demonstrator takes part in ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad on November 1, 2019. (Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters)
An Iraqi
demonstrator takes part in ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad on
November 1, 2019. Beginning in October, frustrated Iraqis took to the streets
to voice their anger at years of government corruption, high rates of
unemployment, poor services, and economic stagnation. The response from Iraqi
authorities was particularly violent, resulting in more than 400 deaths. The
demonstrations continue, despite the announced resignation of Prime Minister
Adil Abdul-Mahdi. #
Tattoo artist Makkala Rose creates dramatic botanical designs on
her clients’ skin, incorporating richly toned flower blossoms, unctuous fruits,
and life-like animal portraits. One recent commission involved completely
covering a client’s back with a chiaroscuro “painting” featuring three burning
candles, reflective glass and crystals, piles of ripe fruit, and a hanging bat
on an inky black background.
Rose’s first love was painting, the
artist tells Colossal. “One of my first memories was smearing bright purple
paint from the pot onto a fresh sheet of paper stuck to an easel, and my love
and fascination with art and creating has never ended.” Now that Rose spends
most of her time tattooing, her background as a painter has come into dialogue
with her ink work. “The feel and the mood brought through by my color palette
and my style of tattooing is influenced by the way I like to paint and now vice
versa as I spend a lot more time tattooing, they lend interestingly to each
other,” says Rose.
The artist also has a strong
personal connection to flowers and gardens (Rose tells Colossal that floristry
would be her backup career), and she seeks to imbue her tattoo work with the
joy that blossoms bring her. She spends time perusing different bouquet
designs, photographing flowers in public gardens, and researching new plants
and flowers to expand her repertoire, though peonies and blackberries are
perennial favorites.
To create her most recent backpiece,
shown above, Rose explains that she personally collected all the materials for
the composition, from individual flowers to pitchers and crystals. She then
arranged everything in a composition (minus the bat) and worked with a friend
to take documentation photos in preparation for the tattoo design.
Rose hails from New Zealand, and
travels frequently for her tattoo work, most often across the U.S., U.K., and
New Zealand. See more of her designs on Instagram.
Rose is usually booked several months out, but you can find out where she’ll be
next on her website.
If you enjoy Rose’s designs, also check out Esther Garcia’s inkwork.
Organize by Linda Leonard-Nevels (School
Library Media Specialist), Malcolm X Shabazz High School, and Ms. Bongiovanni
(English IV, 2014-2015) Newark, New Jersey, December 2014
Finished artwork, after the
written comments by Ing-On Vibulbhan-Watts on Friday, January 30, 2015
Link to Finished artwork of
Malcolm X Shabazz High School’s Students’ comments, poster 2, on “What does
Peace mean to you?” page:
PBS News: November 26 – December 1, 2019, How innovation and small steps can
help us solve The Plastic Problem, and Largest slave revolt in U.S. history
lives on in reenactment,
On this edition for Sunday, December
1, severe weather disrupts holiday travel across the U.S., and on World AIDS
Day, how inequality impacts those living with HIV. Also, how Mac DeMarco is
harnessing the internet to thrive as an indie artist. Alison Stewart anchors
from New York. Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG
Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
PBS NewsHour Weekend full episode November 30, 2019
On this edition for Saturday,
November 30, the latest on the London Bridge attack, Illinois schools placed
thousands of children in isolation rooms, and New York’s Mohawk tribe and their
fight to restore their endangered language. Alison Stewart anchors from New
York. Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
Thursday on the NewsHour, President
Trump made a Thanksgiving trip to Afghanistan, where he served troops a holiday
dinner and met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Plus: The history of
impeachment in America, how to reduce food waste, a crackdown on protests in
Iran, the outlook for long-haul truckers and former students of viral sensation
Flossie Lewis express their thanks to her. WATCH TODAY’S SEGMENTS: In
Afghanistan, Trump says Taliban talks have restarted https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv2j-… News Wrap: Dozens more protesters killed in Iraqi violence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjwrr… A look back at presidential impeachment in U.S. history https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2pRV… How Americans can change their mindset about wasting food https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxl0u… Behind the protests and brutal government crackdown in Iran
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOhYJ… Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
On Wednesday night, PBS will air a
one-hour special report, “The Plastic Problem,” that examines how our global
dependence on plastic has created one of the biggest environmental threats to
our planet. Amna Nawaz hosts the program, and she joins Judy Woodruff to
discuss how we consume and discard plastic, where it is ending up and what
corporations and consumers are doing to address the problem. Stream your PBS
favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
From left to right: Adelene, Frankie, Josephat, Brenda, and
Candido in the 2007 Toyota Sienna that they lived in for close to a year
November
26, 2019
3 kids. 2 paychecks. No home.
South of San Francisco, in a fertile corner of California
that feeds much of the country, working families are sleeping in shelters
and parking lots.
By
Brian Goldstone
Photographs by Alessandra Sanguinetti
Frankie’s morning started before the sun came up, as the
steadily increasing volume of his parents’ phone alarm, coming from somewhere
near the dashboard, jolted the 8-year-old awake. His dad, Candido, and
6-year-old brother, Josephat, had begun to stir in the cramped rear of the
minivan, emerging from a tangle of blankets, towels, pillows, and stuffed
animals. His mom, Brenda, was in the driver’s seat, which was reclined as far
back as it could go; his baby sister, Adelene, who was 3, was splayed out
awkwardly on the seat beside her. As for Frankie, he was in his usual spot:
nestled on the floorboard between the front seats and middle row, his skinny
4-foot frame hidden in a furry green-and-brown sleeping bag meant to look like
a grizzly bear.
For almost nine months, the family had been living out of
their Toyota Sienna in various fields and parking lots throughout Salinas, the
industrial and economic center of Monterey County. In this part of the country,
there was nothing especially dramatic or exceptional about their plight, or the
circumstances that led them to be without a roof over their heads. Frankie’s
parents were well aware of the worsening housing crisis that had dragged tens
of thousands of Californians into a similar fate. But still, Candido said, it
sometimes felt as though they were the only ones out there.
Finding a place to park the van was harder than expected. At
first, the family tried the parking lot of a Food 4 Less grocery store. But the
following morning, an employee warned them not to return; a neighborhood gang,
he explained, controlled the area and had been threatening homeless people. He
said they’d recently slashed someone’s tires. The family drove to a nearby
strawberry farm, which proved more hospitable. In exchange for doing chores
around the property, such as cleaning the bathrooms and emptying the trash, the
farm’s owner would fill up their gas tank. But eventually other families, in
their own cars and SUVs, began showing up, and it became too much. They’d have
to go somewhere else, the owner said.
Now they were in the parking lot of Natividad Medical
Center, just outside the emergency room. The lot was well lit, and there were
bathrooms in the ER waiting room, open 24 hours. The hospital staff was mostly
welcoming. At night, however, after everyone fell asleep, Candido had been
noticing the tiny flicker of a lighter in a nearby pickup truck and the profile
of an older man. Candido kept the van’s dome light on and made sure its doors
were locked.
As parents, Candido and Brenda believed the most important
thing was to project confidence; their kids needed to see that they had a plan.
The couple tried to avoid worrying about how long they’d be in the van, or
where they might go next, but it was impossible to think about anything else.
There were bouts of cursing and storming off and feeling that one more minute
in the vehicle, packed with the entirety of their possessions, would drive them
all insane. There were weekend excursions to Target for little toys and treats,
bought with money they couldn’t spare. When temperatures dropped, it was a
terrible calculus: bundle up as best they could, the kids shivering and
complaining, or run the van’s heat all night and use up precious gas. Or, if
there were any rooms available, they could spend up to a couple hundred dollars
a night at the Best 5 Motel or Good Nite Inn?—?making it that much less likely
that they’d save enough to get out of the van entirely.
Mornings were the hardest. Everyone was achy, tired from a
bad night’s sleep, and on this morning, too, it was all they could do to keep
to their routine. Brenda and Candido insisted on maintaining a semblance of
order. “We’re not like some people,” Candido would tell the kids. “We wash our
clothes. We don’t pee outside. We keep ourselves clean.” In the hospital
bathroom, while Candido got ready to go to work and Brenda stayed behind with
Adelene, Frankie helped wash and dress Josephat, brushing his brother’s teeth,
then his own. Breakfast was whatever Pop-Tarts or granola bars were left over
from the food bank. Finally, they straightened up the van, pulled the seats
back into position, and put on their seat belts, Adelene in her car seat,
Frankie and Josephat in their boosters. They drove the 15 or so minutes into
town, fusing with the early traffic, indistinguishable from all the other
families starting their day.
When the van stopped, the boys hopped out. They went around
to the trunk, grabbed their backpacks off the built-in clothing hooks, hugged
their parents, and walked through the front gate of their
elementary school.
For more information please visit
the following link:
TED
Talks: Cathy Mulzer – The incredible
chemistry powering your smart phone
Ever wondered how your smartphone
works? Take a journey down to the atomic level with scientist Cathy Mulzer, who
reveals how almost every component of our high-powered devices exists thanks to
chemists — and not the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs that come to most people’s
minds. As she puts it: “Chemistry is the hero of electronic
communications.”
This talk was presented at a TED Institute
event given in partnership with DuPont. TED editors featured it among our
selections on the home page. Read more about the TED Institute.
Every year, TED works with a group
of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors,
connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has
prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each
partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk
development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event
produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable
TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.
TED Talks: Kim Preshoff – What’s a
smartphone madeof#t-286167
As of 2018, there are around 2.5
billion smartphone users in the world. If we broke open all the newest phones
and split them into their component parts, that would produce around 85,000 kg
of gold, 875,000 of silver, and 40,000,000 of copper. How did this precious
cache get into our phones–and can we reclaim it? Kim Preshoff investigates the
sustainability of phone production. [TED-Ed Animation by Compote Collective].
Meet the educator
Kim Preshoff · Educator
About TED-Ed
TED-Ed Original lessons feature the
words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators.
500 + Fish Identification Documentary by Pano4life
A few years ago I was stung by the
“Diving” virus. I quickly became an instructor and over time I was
able to accumulate more than 6000 dives mainly in Thailand, Indonesia,
Philippines and Malaysia. During these dives, I noticed how fragile the
ecosystems are. I came up with the idea of ??filming everything I could for
fear of not seeing it again one day. Of course, I could not take my camera for
each of these dives but I do it whenever I have the opportunity. Today we were
able to identify and filmed in full HD 500 different underwater species. This
documentary of 60 minutes retraces these different species with the scientific
description and the Latin name of each species. Our goal is to show the world
how precious the oceans are and full of life that unfortunately the humanity is
likely to endanger … We sometimes forget that the oceans provide us with more
than 60% of the oxygen we we need to live. Half of the photosynthesis and
removal of carbon dioxide takes place in the oceans. Marine species play a key
role in this regulation. It is therefore important to identify and protect
them. Unfortunately for humans, this protection is not a priority. On the
contrary, the human pressures on the oceans are increasing every day, the
impact is irreversible! Through this documentary, we hope to be able to arouse
interest on the various underwater species and their protection. We also say to
ourself that if our future generations also want to be able to contemplate the
beauty of our planet, we have to act quickly! If we continue like this, our
grandchildren will not even see a quarter of what you see in this documentary.
I would especially like to thank my partner and dive Buddy Lily Romero who
filmed and helped me editing this amazing video. As well as laurent Minsart for
some macro shots in Lembeh, Indonesia. Special Big Up to all those who
participated by loan or by far at this documentary, Dive Guide Local Boat
Captain. More Info or collab Lily Romero & Pierre Bijloos
www.lilyromero.com IG: LILYRYOGA IG: PANO4LIFE
The most common question I get asked
by my workshop students is ‘how do you get such sharp images?’. It’s actually
really simple. Basically, avoid movement of any kind while the shutter is open,
focus well and choose the right aperture for your creative vision. Mostly it’s
just plain old common sense with a couple of technical elements thrown in, so
if you want to learn how to get super sharp landscape photography images,
here’s my list of top tips.
Top
tips for sharper landscape photography
1
– Use a good tripod with a sturdy ball head and make sure everything is TIGHT
Seems obvious, but time and time
again I see students using decent tripods and they often don’t have everything clamped down tightly.
For example, the attachment that is screwed to the underside of your camera
should be as tight as you can get it, eventually it’ll work its way loose. Make
sure that ball head is completely locked down once you’ve composed your shot.
2
– While taking the shot, don’t place your hands on your tripod
The vibrations of your hands will
blur the shot. When that shutter opens, your hands should be nowhere near the
camera.
3
– Use the 2 second timer or a remote shutter release
This insures that the shutter won’t
open until you are completely hands free.
4
– Cheap lenses will defocus while you rotate your circular polarizer
This is another one that seems
obvious but I’ve seen it happen a lot. Let’s say you’ve achieved perfect focus
on your landscape composition and now you’d like to rotate the polarizer
which is attached to your perfectly focused lens. Guess what, as you rotate that filter, the lens is now
losing its focus because of the movement and pressure you’re exerting on the
filter. This rarely happens with high end lenses but I’ve seen it happen a lot
with cheaper kit lenses that are poorly engineered. When this happens simply
remember to refocus before hitting the shutter.
5
– Enable the mirror lock-up if you have a DLSR
Using mirror lock-up ensures that the mechanical shock induced by the cameras
mirror mechanism has dissipated by the time the shutter opens.
6
– Remove your camera strap
In windy situations it will act like
a sail and induce vibration.
7
– Add some weight to your tripod’s central column
If the conditions are windy, it will
also help reduce vibration.
8
– Place a small but heavy bean bag on your camera and lens
Do this just before taking the shot
to further eliminate movement from shutter shock.
9
– Choose a Mid-range to Narrow Aperture
This one should be an article in
itself but for now it’s important to understand that if you want corner to
corner focus in your landscape images you’ll need to select
an aperture that gives you a wide depth of
field. Using f/2.8 is pointless, so pick an aperture like f/11 or f/16
depending on how close you are to your foreground subjects. Be aware however
that the narrower the aperture (larger number like f/22) the less sharp your
image will be due to light diffraction so experiment with your lenses to
discover their sweet spot for wide depth of field.
Side Note: Shallow depth of field in landscapes can be beautiful when
done well, in which case you’ll need a wide aperture like f/2.8 and ideally a
lens that delivers beautiful bokeh – most super wide angle lenses don’t do
bokeh well.
10
– Focus In the Distance
Don’t focus on the object closest to
you. Pick an object in the middle distance that has a clear contrasting line
and focus on that. You could focus to infinity but beware that most of the wide
angle lenses I’ve used actually focus beyond infinity so I often have to focus
to infinity and then carefully rotate the focus wheel back so that it’s just
slightly before the ‘infinity’ mark.
11
– Put Your Glasses On
If you need glasses in order to see
clearly and focus on things, it should go without saying that you might need to
put on your stylish and expensive bifocals in order to achieve clear focus in
your photography. Besides, everyone knows that glasses make you look cool and
more intelligent, so why not put them on?
12
– Use Live View or EVF magnification
If you have a DLSR with an optical
viewfinder I highly recommend that you use your cameras ‘Live View’ mode
and then magnify it to your point of interest and use your manual focus ring to
achieve sharp focus If your camera has an EVF (Electronic View Finder)
you can do the same thing while looking in the EVF. I actually prefer
this because you don’t get distracted by glare on the LCD or external light sources.
Either way, remember to disable auto focus if you decide to focus manually with
Live View.
I use every single one of these
techniques in my Vancouver Island photo workshops and I teach them to all of my
students. If you follow these tips every time you shoot landscapes, you’ll be
sure to get much sharper images. If you’ve got some of your own tricks and tips
for getting super sharp landscape images please leave a comment below and share
your knowledge.
Gavin Hardcastle is a fine art photographer, writer and instructor from BC, Canada. Become a better photographer today with his free photography guides and photography tutorials. You can learn from Gavin directly at his global photography workshops in some of the worlds most spectacular locations. Upgrade your post processing skills with his online video tutorials for Photoshop and Lightroom.
On November 9, 1989,
German officials decided to allow residents of Communist East Germany to cross over
and visit the Western, democratic half of the divided country. Though the
complex process of physically and ideologically reunifying the country took
about a year in total, November 9th is considered a landmark day. To celebrate
30 years since the Berlin Wall began to break down, artist Patrick
Shearn (previously) was commissioned to create a
large-scale installation that integrated the reflections and hopes of 30,000
people.
Visions in Motion was on view November 4th through 10th in front of Berlin’s
Brandenburg Gate, a location that had previously been a demarcation of
division. A statement from Poetic Kinetics explained, “the artwork’s
rectangular shape conjures the form of the wall; but instead of a heavy,
impenetrable border, the form takes flight.” The massive installation spanned
20,000 square feet and was comprised of 120,000 fabric streamers, a quarter of
which featured hand-written messages that were collected in the months leading
up to the display.
Shearn is a resident of Los Angeles,
Berlin’s sister city, and is renowned for his large-scale kinetic
installations, which he calls “Skynets”. Tying the German installation to its
sister city, the Los Angeles-area Wende Museum, which houses
Cold War artifacts, invited Los Angelenos to contribute messages to Visions
in Motion as well.
Shearn and his team at Poetic
Kinetics are prolific creators. You can explore much more of their archive on
the Poetic Kinetics website, and follow them on Instagram to keep up with their latest projects
around the world.
Shadow of Peace and La
Asociación de Barranquiteños de NJ Inc., Puerto Rican Festival in Newark on
August 11, 2012, organized by Carlos Maldonado Pastrana, President of La
Asociación de Barranquiteños de NJ. Finished artwork, after the
written comments by Ing-On Vibulbhan-Watts
Link to 6th Annual Art and
Music Fair Elwood Park Page: