Building America's Future - 2009 Update

Last year, I found it fascinating how a mayor from NYC and two governors from different coasts of the US could come together and form a coalition to help better the United States' infrastructure by increasing smart and responsible spending. With a newly-elected president, this time they were welcomed to the White House with a description that the three were one of the most "innovative elected officials in the country." NYC Mayor Bloomberg said that the meeting went well and that it was great having President Obama, someone with the 'intellect' that could help improve the state of the nation.

>>>Governors Lobby For Infrastructure Investment
>>>Building America's Future (Official Website)

Published Post Number:119/125
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Lost My Obama Button

Hi everyone,

I lost my MoveOn.org Obama button on the E train a while back, if anyone's seen it or is willing to donate their extra one to me, let me know? (It means a lot to me)

Thanks.

Published Post Number:118/124
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Earth Hour 2009-Results

Over 4,000 cities in 88 countries with millions of people participated! I look forward to Earth Hour 2010!

>>>Earth Hour Media Centre

I turned off nearly all the lights in my house-except the dining room one, because of dinner...Beginning at 8:30 PM, I heard on my local news radio station (1010 Wins) report about the Earth Hour event at least 5 times in the next hour. It made sure people in NYC would not be "scared" in wondering why major buildings such as the Empire State, Rockefeller Center, the United Nations, as well as decorative lights on East River bridges had their lights off or dimmed.

Published Post Number:117/123
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Earth Hour 2009

Earth Hour is back! The worldwide event, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, promotes energy conservation as well as global warming awareness. It's Saturday, March 28th from 8:30 - 9:30 PM Local time. I participated last year and I hope to continue it this year, along with millions of participants around the world! For more info, visit http://www.earthhour.org/home/



Published Post Number:116/122
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U.S. to Sign Gay Rights Decree

Bravo. The United States will sign a decree that former President George Bush refused to recognize, from the United Nations that will call "for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality." It is about time that we recognize that homosexuality is not something to be discriminated against.

U.S. to sign U.N. gay rights declaration

Published Post Number:115/121
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Movie Time!

Yahoo! released its "Most-Anticipated Movies" for Spring 2009, and here are my picks for which movies I would like to see, if I ever get the time to do so:

• Duplicity (Julia Roberts, Clive Owen) - looks like a Ocean's 11-type comedy?
  
• Knowing (Nicholas Cage) - Knowing how Nicholas Cage thrilled us with his National Treasure movies, this seems like another great adventure flick
  
• Observe and Report (Seth Rogen, Anna Faris) - both funny actors, will wait and see how the reviews turn out
• The Soloist (Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr.) - two great actors (Ray, IronMan) in a comedic drama
  

Published Post Number:114/120
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Vanguard: Naked China, Out of Control

This exclusive undercover investigation of China's wild animal markets helps make the case for China to toughen their health rules and laws. The video is provided by Current TV.

Vanguard: Naked China, Out of Control

Published Post Number:113/119
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2 Innovations for the NYC Subway

(1) On Tuesday February 24th, a new era rolled onto the tracks on New York City's subway. The L train, from Brooklyn to Manhattan, was the first to have its trains running automatically. The computer-driven trains will still have someone to monitor the train's operation, as well as a conductor (if only the transit union didn't win in their court battle against the MTA a few years back when the MTA tried to go conductor-less on the G train.) Right now, the trains will run with this technology during the morning rush hour as well as during off-peak hours. The technology, developed in-house from their Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC)
and new signaling technology.

(2) Secondly, I just wanted to point out that there exists a better New York City subway map. KICK Design came out with KICKMap, a revitalized version of NYC's subway map. It shows each line as its own separate entity, with stops (day, night, etc.) and transfers with symbols at each station. These two features allow for a more coherent distinction between which and when trains stop at which stations, instead of the MTA's current map, which often throws all of the information at you in one block. Its "combination of both diagrammatic and topographic features," make it just so much more easy to read. As my own encounter with a mother and daughter from London (October '08?) showed, tourists often have a hard time attempting to understand the map. (Admittedly, sometimes I do too, especially for lesser-traveled lines.) Unfortunately, the MTA decided against adopting this design, even ridiculing it, when its creators presented it to the agency.

Published Post Number:112/118
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