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blech + us   112

six dams and six reservoirs | mammoth
On the Missouri river's engineering. "I’ve said elsewhere that I think the Army Corps is an exceptionally peculiar organization, probably the country’s most radically avant-garde landscape practice, but rarely recognized for that, as it is the scale, agency, and organizational intricacy of the Corps’ work, not its formal properties, which render it so radical."
us  infrastructure  water  missouri  armycorps  river  environment  energy  from instapaper
8 weeks ago by blech
How We'll Get Where We're Going Tomorrow | NASA
On the new US air traffic control infrastructure, imaginatively named NextGen. "Leighton Quon, project manager of NextGen Systems Analysis, Integration, and Evaluation at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., answers eight questions about what NASA is doing to help improve air transportation for all of us in the future."
us  atc  airtrafficcontrol  airport  transport  infrastructure  from instapaper
9 weeks ago by blech
The Unwelcome Mat | NYTimes.com
Mark Vanhoenacker, on the experience of arriving in the US. "Tourism promotion is common sense. But we might reconsider the wisdom of requiring travelers to subsidize it in exchange for a grilling about their sexual health and genocidal activities." "Americans may be surprised by the conclusions of a 2006 survey by the U.S. Travel Association, which found that foreign travelers were more afraid of United States immigration officials than of terrorism or crime."
us  travel  tourism  nytimes  commentary  politics  from instapaper
10 weeks ago by blech
Why 2012 Is the Republicans Last Chance | New York Magazine
"Republicans are worried this election could be their last chance to stop history. This is fear talking. But not paranoia." On demographics, politics, and a strategy that bets it all on 2012's elections.
us  politics  culture  demographics  via:@hitherto  from instapaper
11 weeks ago by blech
Smithsonian's Spacesuits: Number One On The Runway | Gizmodo
"The iconic NASA spacesuit didn't show up in astronauts' closets fully formed. Here, a small sampling of the many precursors held with reverence at the Smithsonian Museum." Images from 'Spacesuits: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Collection' by Amanda Young and Mark Avino.
gizmodo  spacesuit  exhibition  images  history  nasa  us  ilc  from instapaper
11 weeks ago by blech
Can Urban Highways Be Fixed? | The Atlantic Cities
Kaid Benfield, quoting Presidential archives: "[Eisenhower] went on to say that the matter of running Interstate routes through the congested parts of the cities was entirely against his original concept and wishes; that he never anticipated that the program would turn out this way . . . and that he was certainly not aware of any concept of using the program to build up an extensive intra-city route network as part of the program he sponsored."
infrastructure  roads  traffic  us  interstate  urbanism  via:@enf  from instapaper
11 weeks ago by blech
Andrew Cockburn · Drones, baby, drones | LRB
"After the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, predicted to take place by 2014, America’s wars will be handed over to drones." This article takes a good, hard look at what that actually means (and what may have been overpromised). Sadly, it's subscriber only.
lrb  drones  war  us  politics  pentagon  from instapaper
12 weeks ago by blech
The American bus revival | BBC News
The BBC on US coach travel: "Rising petrol prices and a new breed of British-owned discount operators, based in the densely populated north-east corridor, have made the coach a viable alternative to the car, plane or train for a growing number of travellers." "Inter-city bus travel grew by 7.1% in 2011, compared with 1.5% for air and 1.16% for rail, according to DePaul University."
us  transport  bus  coach  stagecoach  firstgroup  via:antimega 
february 2012 by blech
Poll: Americans Ambivalent on Abortion | Christianity Today
June 2011: "Most Americans said that “pro-choice” described them somewhat or very well (70 percent). At the same time, nearly the same percentage said the same about being “pro-life” (66 percent). This overlap between those who feel comfortable with pro-choice and pro-life labels exists among all major demographic groups."
us  abortion  politics  christianity  from instapaper
february 2012 by blech
Abortion saved my life | Salon.com
"My two kids at home almost lost their mother because someone decided that my life was worth less than that of a fetus that was going to die anyway."
abortion  health  us  salon  from instapaper
february 2012 by blech
California Dreamin' | MetaFilter
In the comments on a post about the removal of state(-level) funding for library services across California, this is a deservedly well-circulated comment about libraries and their role in providing internet access.
metafilter  libraries  internet  access  digitaldivide  politics  culture  california  us 
february 2012 by blech
United States Code: Title 36,301. National anthem | LII / Legal Information Institute
"I think US Code 36, Subtitle 1, Part A, Chapter 3, Section 301 B.1.C covers it" (http://twitter.com/arhayward/status/166556532199272448)
us  flag  law  patriotism  politics  twitter/capture  via:@arhayward 
february 2012 by blech
Mitt Romney’s misfire on the national anthem | The Washington Post
"the U.S. Flag Code says that the hand should go over the heart during the anthem."
us  flag  patriotism  law  mittromney  politics  twitter/capture 
february 2012 by blech
One Town's War on Gay Teens | Rolling Stone
"In Michele Bachmann's home district, evangelicals have created an extreme anti-gay climate. After a rash of suicides, the kids are fighting back." This is depressing.
us  rights  politics  homophobia  religion  rollingstone  from instapaper
february 2012 by blech
Romney and Gingrich Pull Songs After Complaints | NYTimes.com
‘"Strike another two songs from the Republican playlist: “Eye of the Tiger,” by Survivor, and “Wavin’ Flag,” by the Somali-born musician K’naan. “When you think about every iconic song that has emotional resonance for millions and millions of Americans, in almost every instance, Republican candidates can’t use the song because the artist is not supportive,” said Steve Schmidt.’
nytimes  music  politics  soundtrack  anthems  eyeofthetiger  republicans  us  licensing  copyright  from instapaper
february 2012 by blech
Republicans: we don't need no regulation | The Guardian
"What we saw is something unique in the history of American social movements: a mass conversion to free-market theory as a response to hard times. Before this recession, people who had been cheated by bankers almost never took that occasion to demand that bankers be freed from "red tape" and the scrutiny of the law." An extract from Pity The Billionaire by Thomas Frank.
guardian  book  excerpt  us  politics  republican  economics  regulation  business  from instapaper
january 2012 by blech
My Guantánamo Nightmare | NYTimes.com
"It was only after the United States Supreme Court ordered the government to defend its actions before a federal judge that I was finally able to clear my name and be with them again."
nytimes  us  politics  guantánamo  from instapaper
january 2012 by blech
Between the Lines | Los Angeles magazine
"That prized garage space or curbside spot you’ve been yearning for may be costing you—and the city—in ways you never realized. A journey into the world of parking, where meter maids are under siege, everybody’s on the take, and the tickets keep on coming." A great article explaining some of the reasons why city planning there has led to Los Angeles being quite so car-centric.
us  cities  parking  infrastructure  traffic  cars  article  from instapaper
january 2012 by blech
What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success | The Atlantic
Anu Partanen in the Atlantic: "while Americans love to talk about competition, Sahlberg points out that nothing makes Finns more uncomfortable. In his book Sahlberg quotes a line from Finnish writer named Samuli Puronen: "Real winners do not compete." It's hard to think of a more un-American idea, but when it comes to education, Finland's success shows that the Finnish attitude might have merits. There are no lists of best schools or teachers in Finland."
education  us  finland  competition 
january 2012 by blech
The best American wall map, by David Imus | Slate Magazine
"So what makes this map different from the Rand McNally version you can buy at a bookstore? Or from the dusty National Geographic pull-down mounted in your child’s elementary school classroom? Can one paper wall map really outshine all others—so definitively that it becomes award-worthy? I’m here to tell you it can. This is a masterful map. And the secret is in its careful attention to design."
map  cartography  design  us  tobuy?  from instapaper
january 2012 by blech
California train's travel-time mandate adds to soaring cost | latimes.com
"The ballot measure for the project required that the L.A.-to-San Francisco trip take no more than two hours, 40 minutes. Achieving that would mean building more viaducts and tunnels, which are costly."
us  california  railway  latimes  engineering  politics  via:gpe 
december 2011 by blech
An HSR Country is a Centralized Country | Pedestrian Observations
An interesting read on high speed rail and the development it spurs. "What this suggests is that HSR does not create centralization so much as reinforces it when it already exists. The Shinkansen made the rest of Japan more dependent on Tokyo, and the TGV has made most of France more dependent on Paris." The author considers the US, but surely the UK would go the way of France and Japan also.
development  railways  highspeedrail  france  japan  us  polycentricity 
december 2011 by blech
Jeffrey Rosen: Interpreting The Constitution In The Digital Era | NPR
[[ These new technologies are "challenging our Constitutional categories in really dramatic ways," says George Washington University law professor Jeffrey Rosen. "And what's so striking is that none of the existing amendments give clear answers to the most basic questions we're having today." ]]
us  privacy  rights  constitution  technology  database  npr  radio  freshair 
november 2011 by blech
Death row, Herzog and the man who maintained his innocence | guardian.co.uk
"Michael Perry, the man at the centre of Herzog's new film on the death penalty, was executed in Texas for a crime he says he didn't commit. Joanna Walters interviewed him before he died."
guardian  us  politics  deathpenalty  crime  texas  from instapaper
november 2011 by blech
The diverging diamond interchange | Slate Magazine
Tom Vanderbilt on a new kind of intersection that's being used a lot for new roads in the US, where drivers apparently have a morbid fear of having to either stop, or wait for more than a single phase change. Still, it's interesting.
us  traffic  transport  road  design  infrastructure  via:iamdanw  from delicious
august 2011 by blech
Californian freeways: Carmageddon | The Economist
"For 53 hours, workers will shut a portion of “the 405”. The stretch is not long—ten miles northbound and four miles southbound—but it is strategic." "A European might ask why people don’t bicycle instead, or take a bus or train." Oh, those silly Europeans!
economist  us  california  losangeles  roads  traffic  cars  transport  from delicious
july 2011 by blech
The American suburbs are a giant Ponzi scheme | Grist
"our own history -- let alone a tour of other parts of the world -- reveals a different reality. Across cultures, over thousands of years, people have traditionally built places scaled to the individual. It is only the last two generations that we have scaled places to the automobile."
urbanism  development  cars  transport  politics  economics  us  from delicious
june 2011 by blech
Killing bin Laden: Let's call it a day | The Economist
A perceptive roundup of, and addition to, commentary about the deat of Osama bin Laden from the Economist's Democracy in America blog, pointing out that there's not so much to celebrate.
economist  osamabinladen  terrorism  us  politics  comment  from delicious
may 2011 by blech
How an invading army changes from Chinese to North Korean | LA Times
As Lee says, '"Red Dawn" remake swapped Russian invaders for China.  Then, after filming, digitally changed them to North Korea.  Try to avoid offending your new economic masters, America.'
film  china  korea  us  politics  via:lee  from delicious
march 2011 by blech
Travelling Cross-Country by Train.
As someone who has travelled long distances by train at least six times, I have some advice that perhaps you will find useful. A series of fourteen train tips follows.
us  travel  train  transport  tips  via:britta  from instapaper
february 2011 by blech
There Are Grocery Stores in Detroit | The Urbanophile
A guest post by James Griffioen pointing out that while there may not be big-box stores in Detroit, the city has plenty of places to get food (and not just junk, either).
us  detroit  cities  urbanism  food  culture  media  from delicious
january 2011 by blech
David Wojnarowicz Ruckus, as Viewed From Britain | NYTimes.com
"It has something to do with the ideal of the American Everyman. As with the military or medicine, so with museums, we are by national inclination meddlers. Europeans are not, which is why they have reacted to the Smithsonian flap with the same mildly appalled bafflement that they express toward American opposition to the health care bill. It all seems inexplicable to them." The NYT on Wojnarowicz, Sensation, Tate, the Smithsonian, and attitudes. 
art  culture  nytimes  newspapers  comment  uk  us  europe  from delicious
january 2011 by blech
Pass notes No 2,917: Sputnik | The Guardian
"A symbol of Chinese ambition, according to Barack Obama."
guardian  sputnik  space  history  us  china  sovietunion  from delicious
january 2011 by blech
Study: Roads are safer in urban areas | USATODAY.com
"The safest places to drive in the USA are Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts. Among the most dangerous: Montana, Wyoming, Louisiana and Mississippi. Those conclusions are based on federal data of traffic fatalities per 100,000 population and per 100 million miles driven."
us  traffic  cars  transport  safety  from delicious
january 2011 by blech
The battle over the Constitution | The New Yorker
Benjamin Franklin was sure that the document had its faults, and just as sure that the framers were fallible.
us  newyorker  politics  history  government  constitution  from instapaper
january 2011 by blech
Guernica / Detroitism
"There are three principal conventions of Detroit writing in the major media." This article looks at all of them, with the thread of the ruin photography running through the article.
us  detroit  urbanism  decay  photography  comment  from instapaper
january 2011 by blech
Gapers Block : A/C : Chicago Arts & Culture - Getting the Right Angle on Vivian Maier
"By now you may have heard about Vivian Maier"
us  chicago  photography  discovery  attribution  history  from instapaper
january 2011 by blech
Streetcars vs. Monorails | Slate
Subtitled "The future of urban transportation looks a lot like the past", this Tom Vanderbilt piece is well worth reading.
transport  publictransport  monorail  streetcar  trams  us  infrastructure  via:mondoagogo  from instapaper
january 2011 by blech
the Film | The Pruitt-Igoe Myth - a Documentary
"At the film’s historical center is an analysis of the massive impact of the national urban renewal program of the 1950s and 1960s, which prompted the process of mass suburbanization and emptied American cities of their residents, businesses, and industries. Those left behind in the city faced a destitute, rapidly de-industrializing St. Louis , parceled out to downtown interests and increasingly segregated by class and race. The residents of Pruitt-Igoe were among the hardest hit." A companion piece to Utopian London, of sorts.
film  documentary  planning  infrastructure  housing  us  via:antimega  from delicious
january 2011 by blech
My Country, My Train, My K-Hole by Hugh Ryan | The Morning News
"I don’t love trains because they teach me about America. I don’t love them because they connect me with a country I have never known. I love them because they disconnect me from everything else. When the train pulls out of the station, it’s like a plug being yanked from a socket."
travel  trains  us  connectivity  internet  attention  from instapaper
december 2010 by blech
The inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning's detention - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
"The accused leaker is subjected to detention conditions likely to create long-term psychological injuries." This made me very angry, with occasional glimmers of light from Europe's attitudes to torture and the fact Manning is a UK citizen. Unfortunately, I doubt that the British government will do anything to stand up for those rights.
us  politics  wikileaks  prison  torture  from instapaper
december 2010 by blech
U.S. World Press Freedom Day 2011 | Department of State
"The theme for next year’s commemoration will be 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers. The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals’ right to freedom of expression. At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information." Who said Americans have no sense of irony?
politics  journalism  press  unesco  us  from delicious
december 2010 by blech
Travel: Amtrak adventures | The Observer
'Some said it would be slow, boring and expensive, but spending 15 days covering 6,511 miles on an epic Amtrak journey across America's heartland was "soul calming"' - Anna Pickard on the jounrey around the US.
trains  us  writing  annapickard  transport  holiday  from delicious
november 2010 by blech
The Myth of Charter Schools by Diane Ravitch | The New York Review of Books
gnat: Fascinating NY Times piece on public education. http://j.mp/9j4Fb8
us  education  politics  school  documentary  review  culture  via:@gnat  from instapaper
november 2010 by blech
Public transport: End of the lines | The Economist
"The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transport Authority (MARTA), which runs the city’s buses and trains, is facing a $70m deficit next year, and will eliminate 40 of its 131 bus lines. It is also raising fares for weekly and monthly passes, cutting rail services by 14.2% and laying off around 300 people." This seems incredibly short-sighted, but that seems to be America for you. (The UK is threatened with 25%-40% funding cuts, but the idea of cutting 20% of bus lines seems unimaginable. But then, TfL has what would be in American terms an almost unbelievable amount of power over a region's transport.)
economist  us  transport  buses  atlanta  marta  from delicious
august 2010 by blech
American railways: High-speed railroading | The Economist
The eye-catching lede - "America’s system of rail freight is the world’s best. High-speed passenger trains could ruin it" - is just the first of many interesting parts of this Economist briefing. Well worth reading.
economist  us  railway  freight  transport  trains  politics  economics  via:iamdanw  from delicious
august 2010 by blech
Variety of American Grids | Discovering Urbanism
"I wanted a nerdy planning-related poster for my wall (other than the periodic table of city planning), so I made one this week. I scoured Google Earth and measured that quintessentially American grid in about fifty downtowns around the country." There's a surprising variation in block sizes across the cities.
cities  us  design  architecture  planning  urbanism  via:zimpenfish  from delicious
june 2010 by blech
USCIS Continues to Accept FY 2011 H-1B Petitions | USCIS
"USCIS has received approximately 13,500 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap." By contrast, by the same time last year, they'd received 42,000 (the cap was finally hit in December); in 2008 for FY2009, the 65,000 cap was hit in two days.
us  immigration  economy  recession  technology  from delicious
april 2010 by blech
Fortress America, London SW4 | Warren Ellis
On the proposed US Embassy in Battersea: "It's a fortress with a fucking moat". (It's worth clicking through to the Guardian for their belaboured pun headline and the either ironic or wrongheaded Glancey commentary.)
architecture  uk  london  us  culture  design  politics 
february 2010 by blech
Clive Thompson: Park the Car, Take the Bus | Magazine
"We should change our focus to the other side of the equation and curtail not the texting but the driving. This may sound a bit facetious, but I’m serious. When we worry about driving and texting, we assume that the most important thing the person is doing is piloting the car. But what if the most important thing they’re doing is texting? How do we free them up so they can text without needing to worry about driving? The answer, of course, is public transit."
sms  culture  us  europe  transport  wired  comment 
february 2010 by blech
POES Auroral Activity | NOAA
candace and I would repeatedly reload this in Iceland to figure out if it was worth going out to look at aurora. Very useful, even if it is basically just bumping along doing nothing for the moment.
aurora  astronomy  satellite  data  web  us 
november 2009 by blech
Oh yeah, there's a sugar pill for that | Slash 7
Interesting musings by Amy Hoy on placebos and advertising.
us  europe  drugs  health  advertising  science  wired  via:kellan 
august 2009 by blech
Thinking Allowed, 19/08/2009 | BBC Radio 4 Programmes
"Tom Rees has conducted research into religion and personal insecurity in 50 countries. He claims to have found evidence to show that the most religious societies are the most unequal, and concludes the inequality leads to religion." Complete with special reference to the US (and also comparing Ireland and Finland).
us  religion  politics  radio 
august 2009 by blech
Merciless | Charlie's Diary
"The subjects vary - crime and penal policy, healthcare, don't get me started on foreign policy - but there is an ideological approach in America that is distinguished by one common characteristic: words and deeds utterly lacking in the quality of mercy. There is a cancer in the collective American soul - a mercy deficit that has in recent years grown as alarmingly as the budget deficit."
us  politics  culture  crime  health  via:ohskylab 
august 2009 by blech
Government Beyond Obama? | The New York Review of Books
One of the comments on the Economist's review (whining that both parties were for "big government") prompted me to save this interesting review of Jeff Madrick's The Case for Big Government: "since the late 1950s, American government—federal, state, and local—has annually spent approximately 30 percent of GDP, and neither Democrats nor Republicans have altered that by more than a percent or two, upward or downward" (30% is far lower than the 40-50% typical in Europe, of course.) Well worth a read.
us  politics  government  economics  spending  via:philgyford 
august 2009 by blech
American conservatism: Overdoing it | The Economist
A review of Sam Tanenhaus' The Death of Conservatism. "American conservatives have transformed themselves into latter-day Jacobins—slogan-spouting ideologues who want to destroy government rather than reform it." Let down by the conclusion, but worth a look.
us  politics  economist  review  book 
august 2009 by blech
On systems, and what they do | Speedbird
Adam Greenfield on American politics (with special regard to the healthcare debate), Chile's Cybersyn experiment (with lots of welcome jumping off points), and discursive democracy.
us  politics  healthy  cybersyn  chile 
august 2009 by blech
The decline of the landline: Unwired | The Economist
"Despite some of the flakiest mobile-network coverage in the developed world, one in four households has now gone mobile-only." An Economist leader on the consequences of the switch from landline to cellular telephony in the US.
economist  us  broadband  mobile  regulation 
august 2009 by blech
Ghostbusters - Full Movie | YouTube
This might be nice if it weren't for our old friend, "This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions."
video  us  copyright  ghostbusters  sigh  via:jzawodn 
august 2009 by blech
Sex laws: Unjust and ineffective | The Economist
If you wanted to come up with an example of how democracy and "transparency" could work together to end up with something utterly dystopian, you'd have to work hard to try harder than the US system of sex offender registries, detailed in this depressing, but good, Economist article. (Of course, the UK is rapidly following it. Sigh.)
economist  us  transparency  democracy  politics  sexuality  law 
august 2009 by blech
America’s Place In The World | Stephen Fry
A transcript of Stephen Fry's speech to the Royal Geographical Society in April. I haven't read it yet, but I'd like to remember to do so. (Maybe it's time to look into Instapaper.)
culture  us  lecture  toread  geography  via:zimpenfish 
july 2009 by blech
Should Dome Cover Houston? | KPRC Houston
Today's "idea from science fiction" in the news - cover downtown Houston in a dome to keep the temperature down. (Well, actually, this was posted a couple of weeks ago, not today, but it's the first I've seen of it.)
us  engineering  climate  dome  sciencefiction  via:adrianhon 
june 2009 by blech
The bees are back in town | The Economist
"The economic crisis has contributed to a glut of bees in California. That raises questions about whether a supposed global pollination crisis is real" The Economist on bees, almonds, supply and demand. Possibly too anecdotal? Not really qualified to judge.
environment  economist  science  biology  agriculture  bees  california  us 
march 2009 by blech
Finding the Charm of Cross-Country Rail Travel | NYTimes.com
"it’s still possible to travel 3,585 miles across the United States without being the target of billboards, golden arches or absurdly large twine balls. The rails offer a view onto Unbranded America — the land as it was"
railway  transport  us  trains  holiday  via:zimpenfish 
march 2009 by blech
Bus Tracker | Chicago Transit Authority
Reminiscent of OnABus (RIP), but with the added bonus of having actual buses on it. (Well, not really, because it's a web page. It has representations of buses. Still.)
maps  bus  transport  chicago  us  via:zimpenfish 
february 2009 by blech
Better Buses Through Psychology | Fast Company
"Portland installed a system that lets users track bus arrivals by cellphone; afterwards, people thought that service had improved, with more buses, and more of them on-time. But outside the tracking system, nothing had changed."
us  portland  bus  transport  perception  urban  sms  ibus  via:zimpenfish 
january 2009 by blech
London Fog Tea Latte has been "hacked" | Starbucks Gossip
It's milky, foamy, sugary Earl Grey, and it sells for $4 in the US. Further digging on the internet implies it's an under the counter special, which just makes it even funnier, really. Also: "Tea Misto": you crazy Americans!
london  us  tea  starbucks  earlgrey  via:quantumcandace 
january 2009 by blech
Pluck a flamingo | The Economist
Recipes from the Roman empire to Jamie Oliver. "If Beeton’s recipes were not wholly novel, though, the way in which she presented them certainly was." I was reminded of this overhearing Aaron and Chris talking at Papercamp, so I thought I'd better send this.
uk  us  culture  history  books  food  economist 
january 2009 by blech
Cablevision and the infinite TiVo | johnaugust.com
On a proposed (infinite?) TV archive via a cable provider. "The Supreme Court should rule that copyright holders (the studios, in this case) retain the right to profit from the distribution of their work for a given period of time."
tv  us  archive  economics  business  via:pauldwaite 
january 2009 by blech
Homeland "Security" | Nick Taylor
"So I have to give up significant amounts of personal data, and have no ‘expectation of privacy’. Makes me think twice about whether going to the US is even worth it."
us  travel  visa  security  via:thegareth 
january 2009 by blech
Welcome | ESTA
Since the BBC don't link to the ESTA site, needed to get a visa waiver for travel to (or through) the US at least 72 hours before your flight, allow me. Let me also warn you about the huge alert that pops up, the lack of an http to https redirect, and the awful session tracking in URLs. (My pleasure.) (I'll also need this myself, sooner or later.)
us  travel  visa  website 
january 2009 by blech
Warning over new US travel rules | BBC News
Apply for a visa waiver at least 72 hours before travel, online, or you're not getting US entry. "Esta is free but [Frances Tuke, from Abta] warned that searches for Esta online brought up numerous websites offering to process the application in return for personal details and a fee." So BBC News have it as a Related Link? No, of course they don't.
us  travel  airport  visa  tourism  bbc  news 
january 2009 by blech
World famous- within your own borders | BBC News
Clive James gives a point of view: "Everyone knows that Mexicans are Mexicans but few of us can tell a Canadian from an American unless the Canadian is speaking French."
bbc  news  comment  culture  film  society  canada  australia  uk  us 
december 2008 by blech
S.F. considers congestion tolls on cars | SFGate
"The $3 toll would be collected on weekdays between 6 and 9 a.m. and 4 and 7 p.m. - meaning the average car commuter would pay $6 a day in congestion tolls." "Residents of the toll zone would pay half."
sanfrancisco  sfgate  congestion  transport  politics  us 
november 2008 by blech
Helvetica and the NYC Subway | Voice
In full: "The (Mostly) True Story of Helvetica and the New York City Subway from the AIGA Journal of Design". Also touches on Helvetica at Heathrow, and the British Rail identity.
design  newyork  us  uk  branding  helvetica  history  typography  signage  transport 
november 2008 by blech
Europeans Perceive Stake in U.S. Election | Gallup
"A median of 65% in 14 European countries interviewed between March and July of this year say who wins November's presidential election in the United States makes a difference to their country." Which means 27% don't, which amazes me. (Slightly old data.)
politics  europe  us  election  poll 
october 2008 by blech
Do Americans Have a Right to TV? | Popular Mechanics
"98.2 percent of American households have a television. By some measures, that even beats the penetration rate of basic adult literacy skills, which was last pegged in 2003 at 86 percent"
television  technology  culture  us  digital  politics  via:jerakeen 
may 2008 by blech
Google Transit Gets Smarter | Autopia from Wired.com
So US-centric it hurts. Boggle at "Google Transit may well become the world's best way to run a railroad" (no, the best way to do that is good frequency and reliability) and the fact this is on their car blog, then point out TfL doing this better, sooner.
wired  transport  information  google  us  via:cityofsound 
april 2008 by blech
London City to take a bite of the Big Apple | LCA PR
Insane. British Airways plan to launch a twice-daily business-class only direct service from London City Airport to New York, using Airbus A318s. They must be pushing the edge of the range, and it's bound to be horribly expensive.
transport  travel  britishairways  flight  uk  us  london  newyork  pressrelease 
february 2008 by blech
Election Guide 2008 | New York Times
Probably the best overview of past and upcoming US primary results I've found. I wonder how the NY Times and AP delegate counting techniques differ, given the disparity.
nytimes  politics  us  primaries  democrats  republicans  results  infographics 
february 2008 by blech
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