#congress avenue

[travelella]

Texas Capitol, Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas, USA

Mitchell Kmetz

[martyharrison]

[strange-messengers]

Austin Salutes Yo, Congress Avenue mural, November 5, 2022

[todaysbat]

Austin Texas has the largest urban bat population under a bridge? Just saw it on Beyond The Unknown. Can you verify it?

The Congress Avenue Bridge Bats. Yep, definitely the largest with an estimated 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats living there from mid-March to early November.

Further Reading:

-How to See the Austin Bats under Congress Bridge: https://www.austincityguide.com/listings/congress-bridge-bats

-Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_W._Richards_Congress_Avenue_Bridge

-Congress Avenue Bridge- Bat-watching Sites of Texas || Texas Parks and Wildlife: https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/bats/bat-watching-sites/congress-avenue-bridge.phtml

-Congress Avenue Bridge | Austin Bat Refuge: https://austinbatrefuge.org/congress-ave-bridge/

[eopederson]

Snowy February, Pennsylvania Avenue SE Looking toward the Library of Congress Jefferson Building, Washington, DC, 1983.

As the winter of 2022-23 draws to an end, it has been the warmest winter on record in the Washington, DC area. There was no significant snowfall, and no accumulation, so this scene from the 1980s was not repeated.

[mapsoffun]

One of the more unusual things to check out in Austin is the Congress Avenue Bridge. Per Atlas Obsucra, it’s home to a colony of about 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats, and from late spring through early fall (May to November), you can watch them come out at dusk in a huge swarm as they start to look for food. I wasn’t there in time for that, but right by the bridge is a nice little platform where you can get a good look at the bridge, and while you can’t see the bats, you can definitely hear them. It’s a little bit creepy but incredibly interesting, and I’ve been told that Arlo Grey is a great restaurant to get a good view of the bats while maintaining a good amount of distance. Unfortunately the restaurant wasn’t open during our stay, or I would have definitely encouraged us all to meet up there to check it out for ourselves.

[mrsmoose54]

Day 9 - Austin

Day 9 – Austin

[artchyoungk]

Park Avenue goes through the Grand Central Terminal, New York City.

Library of Congress.

National Gallery of Art.

Glass roof of Classical Architecture.

[gottalottarocks]

Are you an American? Frustrated by the political process? Do you feel like you have no voice in our government? Let me introduce you to the wonderful world of public comments. 

This is where federal agencies propose new regulations asking for public feedback:

Regulations.gov

Here's a step by step on how to navigate this:

Look through the proposals on the explore tab and filter by "Proposed Rule". These are the regulations that have been proposed, but not finalized. 

If you click on these, they are pretty dense, text heavy explanations of the proposed rule changes. I definitely do a lot of googling when trying to understand what I'm reading. Also there are a lot of different topics here and I definitely don't comment on everything.

This is how you make a public comment. For example, for this proposed rule:

Start a new document and write the subject and docket number. Your comment NEEDS to have the docket number for them to count it most of the time, and the correct subject some of the time.

^^ this is ambiguous, but add the docket ID and subject just to be safe, it should look like this:

Ref: Docket ID No. NSD 104

Provisions Pertaining to Preventing Access to Americans' Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and U.S. Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern

Then address to the person at the very very end of the page. 

Scroll all the way to the end:

^^this is the person you address to. 

Then introduce yourself. If you have experience related to the proposed rule, talk about that. For rules related to the environment and public health I say that I'm a geologist with a master's degree and I work in environmental remediation. Otherwise, I just say I'm a concerned citizen. 

Then I say hey I agree/ disagree with this proposed rule and here's why. Oftentimes there will be lists that the federal agency is asking for specific feedback on.

Commenting on these will have a lot of impact. 

Here's an example comment I forgot to post for a rule regarding methane emissions in the oil and gas industry:

Administrator Michael Regan The United States Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20460

Ref: Docket ID No. __ Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems Dear Administrator Regan, My name is __ and I am writing to you as a geologist and graduate of ___.  I currently work in ____. Thank you for your interest in reducing methane pollution, which I believe to be one of the most important aspects in reducing the harm caused by the climate crisis. Within the short term, methane is a much more powerful force of global warming than carbon dioxide. It breaks down faster than carbon dioxide— but it traps significantly more heat that should be bouncing back into space. When scientists talk about taking our foot off the gas pedal in regards to the climate crisis, methane is at the forefront of our minds. Natural gas is often proposed as a solution to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions (since it produces less carbon dioxide than coal plants), but these methane leaks are a serious threat to public health. Not only is methane hazardous, it’s ability to cause short-term superheating is contributing to the rapid increase in wildfires within the U.S. and globally, further degrading air quality. Last summer in NYC skies were orange, caused by ash from Canadian wildfires. As someone who sets up air monitoring equipment every day to ensure the surrounding community is not impacted from the disposal of hazardous waste, I have a unique opportunity to see on a day-to-day basis how air quality is degrading. I strongly support the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed waste emissions charge. For EPA’s implementation of the fee to fulfill Congress’s goals, the final regulation must continue to include key requirements including: ·       Regulatory compliance exemptions must only become available after final standards and plans are in effect in all states and that these plans are at least as strong as the EPA's 202 methane emissions proposal. Operators filing for exemption must also demonstrate full compliance across their facilities; ·       Strong and clear criteria must remain in place for operators seeking an exemption based on unreasonable permitting delays; ·       When operators seek an exemption for plugged wells, they must clearly demonstrate that their wells have been properly plugged and are no longer polluting; ·       Transparent calculations and methodologies to accurately determine an owner or operator’s net emissions; and ·       Strong verification protocols so that fee obligations accurately reflect reported emissions and that exemptions are only available once the conditions Congress set forth are met. I urge the EPA to quickly finalize this proposal with limited flaring, strengthened emissions standards for storage tanks, and a pathway for enhanced community monitoring. Thank you, ___________

And then paste your comment in or upload a document and submit! You will be asked to provide your name and address. Also the FCC will only take comments on their website, but the proposed rule will be posted on the federal regulations website I put above and they should have a link to the FCC website within that post. 

[manessha545]

Confitería del Molino, Buenos Aires, Argentina: The Confitería del Molino is an historical Art Nouveau style confitería in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in front of the Palace of the National Congress and the Congressional Plaza, on the intersection of Callao and Rivadavia avenues in the barrio of Balvanera. Wikipedia

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil women march against bill tightening abortion ban

Thousands of women protested on Saturday against a bill advancing in Brazil's conservative Congress that would equate abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy to homicide and establish sentences of six to 20 years in prison.

The demonstrators marched along Sao Paulo's main Paulista Avenue carrying banners rejecting the proposal, which they call the most repressive approach to women's reproductive rights in decades.

People of all ages, including many retirees and children, filled the streets chanting, "A child is not a mother, a rapist is not a father."

Abortion is allowed in Brazil only in cases of rape, fetal deformation or when the mother's life is in danger. If the bill backed by evangelical lawmakers becomes law, abortions by rape victims would be considered homicide after 22 weeks gestation.

Continue reading.

[ausetkmt]

Lynching victim Rubin Stacy’s story being told by his family in film screening at NSU

Anne Naves knew something bad had happened to her uncle when her male relatives came home from fishing, each wearing a pall of silence. Dad wasn’t cracking jokes like usual. Grandfather looked grave. And her uncle, Rubin Stacy, hadn’t come back. The next day, someone from the funeral home said a body had been dropped off.

Naves, 8 years old at the time, only discovered the full gruesome truth about her uncle years later. On July 19, 1935, acting on an unproven accusation from a white woman, a masked lynch mob strung up Stacy under a Fort Lauderdale tree, hanged him and shot him 17 times as spectators gawked and children laughed.

The brutality and silence of Stacy’s lynching is revisited in the new documentary, “Rubin,” which will screen on Tuesday, Oct. 3, at Nova Southeastern University. In the hourlong film, the farmhand’s death is recounted through the eyes of his surviving descendants, but mainly through Naves, who was the last living eyewitness to the trauma — and to the secrecy — that followed.

The film, the first to be made by relatives of Stacy’s family, also chronicles the history of lynchings in America, used as a tool of punishment and to foster silence.

“I think (my family) knew that, without telling us (kids) what really happened, they would save us a lot of trauma,” Naves says in the documentary. “The neighbors and our church members respected our silence, too, because they knew that if it could happen to our family, it could happen to theirs.”

For “Rubin” director Tenille Brown, who is a cousin of Rubin Stacy, the film has in recent weeks also morphed into something else: a posthumous tribute to Naves. After filming her interviews for the documentary, she died on Sept. 18 at age 96, leaving behind a strong legacy: She was a Broward County educator for 25 years, teaching at Pines Middle and other schools.

“The biggest piece of the film was Anne,” Brown says in an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Without her, there’s no story. She’s the driving force. She was ready to talk. She told me to record her. She really pushed me when I didn’t feel confident and said, ‘Record me anyway. Just go.’ ”

The rest of America witnessed the cruelty of Stacy’s lynching long before Naves did. A series of photos immortalize the moment when a white crowd gathered around Stacy’s body hanging from a tree. These images ran in newspapers nationwide, were published by the NAACP, Life magazine and National Geographic, and are now archived in the Library of Congress.

It was a tale of Jim Crow-era racism that Fort Lauderdale would’ve rather forgotten — the brother of a corrupt Broward County sheriff participated in the lynching — but city officials have made strides in recent years to acknowledge the tragedy by placing memorial markers around Fort Lauderdale. One is on Davie Boulevard and Southwest 31st Avenue, also known as Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, near where Stacy took his last breath. There’s another on the 800 block of Northwest Second Street, where he lived, and a third at Woodlawn Cemetery, his final resting place. In February 2022, a section of Davie Boulevard was renamed Rubin Stacy Memorial Boulevard.

“I’m glad they acknowledged it,” says Brown, of Pompano Beach. “These stories make some people in the state uncomfortable, but if they are based on fact, we need to tell the truth. You can’t turn your head. These are things you can’t ignore.”

For Brown, it was these memorials — and Naves’ willingness to break her silence — that motivated her to reconstruct Stacy’s story. To do so, she also interviewed Ken Cutler, Parkland commissioner and historian, and Tameka Bradley Hobbs, library regional manager of Fort Lauderdale’s African American Research Library and Cultural Center.

“My family didn’t want to talk about it out of fear for years,” Brown says. “There was shame. There’s an element of hurt, and you can hear that emotion in Anne’s voice. Now it feels freeing. This is a story that was suppressed for years and by sharing it, this is how we overcome.”

Michael Anderson, a producer for “Rubin,” says the film also tackles what too many school textbooks don’t stress enough: the history of Black lynchings.

“For Black youth to know their stories, they have to know the history of lynchings,” Anderson says. “They still don’t know how lynchings were used as a weapon to keep a community quiet. That’s exactly what it did to Rubin Stacy’s family.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Rubin”

WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3

WHERE: NSU’s Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center, 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Blvd., Davie

COST: Free, but tickets must be presented for entry

INFORMATION: 954-462-0222; MiniaciPAC.com

[jinkieswouldyoulookatthis]

"Have you and Jared ever gone driving in Baby around Austin because you miss playing Sam and Dean so much?"

"Yes. But not because we missed playing Sam and Dean. Because we're children. And we wanted to go fast in the car that we'd spent so much time in and we thought it would be great to do that. Um. Right now I will say that both the Impalas, the Hero, which.. number one that I have, and the number three, which is the back up to number one, number two was the stunt one that got beat to crap, but number three was that the back up to whatever, uh, whenever number one wouldn't start. 'Cause you gotta remember, these were just picture cars, these weren't like, you know, car show type cars. They were... there was a reason that door squeaked the way it did. It's 'cause they weren't, uh, they weren't like high functioning automobiles. Um, that being said, now that Jared and I own both of those, um, both of those cars are currently in the same shop in Texas right now, getting done to where we can put them in a car show. I will say though , I will say... leaving the squeak in the door though. And not touching the paint job. So every scratch, every dent, every nick, every paint chip that was on the car when it was on screen will remain the same. Um, we're just getting everything underneath it nice and reliable. And because we both live in Texas, we're also putting in air conditioning. And a sound system. Because what they did when Jared and I were there, is they stripped the car of anything that we could annoy the crew with. It used to have police lights on the... gone. 'Cause usually those were high beamed pointed directly into the camera lens and Brad was like, [mimes looking through a camera] "Ow!" Uh, they took the horn out, 'cause that was always fun when somebody was right over the hood, like adjusting a light and just be like HONK! They removed the horn, uh, they removed the stereo system because we kept playing music. So they had to take a lot of stuff out of the Impala just so they could get through the day... with us... 'cause again, we're children. So I'm having to put all that stuff back in now. So that it'll be street legal. But yes, I'm excited to get them back and then Jared and I can race them down South Congress Avenue. And get arrested. Thank you."

[catdotjpeg]

Around 100 Jewish American and allied activists were arrested in New York City Wednesday after they blocked President Joe Biden's motorcade route to protest U.S. complicity in Israel's genocidal war against the Palestinian people and to demand an immediate Gaza cease-fire. The group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) led the Upper East Side demonstration, during which activists sat down in the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, where the president was attending a nearby fundraiser. "As Jewish New Yorkers we want to make crystal clear that President Biden is not welcome in our city while he continues to fund and arm the Israeli government's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza," said JVP's Jay Saper.

JVP activist Maya Edery noted that this is Biden's first visit to New York since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. "Instead of answering to the majority of his base that is calling for a cease-fire, he is meeting with corporate donors behind closed doors," Edery said. Biden's staunch support for Israel—which includes asking for an additional $14.3 billion in U.S. military aid atop the nearly $4 billion the country already receives from Washington and repeatedly bypassing Congress to expedite armed assistance to the key ally—has prompted many activists to call him "Genocide Joe." The president has also come under fire for casting doubt on the number of Palestinians killed and wounded by Israeli forces.

As JVP noted:

The Israeli military has killed over 27,000 Palestinians in Gaza, over 11,000 of whom were children, in four months of bombing and military assault. Gaza has been made uninhabitable by design, with Israeli airstrikes destroying 70% of infrastructure, including hospitals, universities, and the electricity and water grids. Nearly 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes; 1.9 million are sheltering in the southern city of Rafah, where the Israeli military has lately launched airstrikes.

"Biden says that he is funding and arming Israel for Jewish safety. We're here to call his bluff," said JVP's Eve Feldberg. "The president is advancing the U.S.' own military interests."

-- From "100 Jewish Cease-Fire Supporters Arrested Blocking Biden's NYC Motorcade Route" by Brett Wilkins for Common Dreams, 7 Feb 2024

[beardedmrbean]

DENVER — In what could be a national trend, racist, anti-Kamala Harris signs popped up Thursday near multiple bus stops along Colfax Avenue in Denver and in at least one other state.

“I wish I could say I were surprised, but in a year when a Black woman could become POTUS those with hate in their heart are going to coordinate these kinds of atrocious, expensive campaigns to stir division,” Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis said in a statement on X.

The first Denver sign was reported around 5 a.m. by a bus driver at a stop near the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Oneida Street, according to a news release from Denver’s Regional Transportation District.

RTD officials said the metal sign was attached to the bus stop’s pole with rivets and appears to have been installed shortly before it was reported.

Around 8:20 a.m. Thursday, one man in Denver’s Congress Park neighborhood spotted two white women putting up another sign at an RTD bus stop near the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Garfield Street.

“It was one of those things where you know something is out of place, but you don’t know what’s going on,” Congress Park resident Greg Bell said.

Bell said he passed the two women — who were carrying a white stepladder and trash bags he believes were holding the signs — as he made his way into a Sprouts on the corner of the intersection to run a quick errand. His receipt was time-stamped for 8:23 a.m.

As he left the store, Bell said he saw the pair setting up the stepladder in front of the bus stop and one woman climbing onto it while holding a white, metal sign.

When Bell saw photos posted on social media later Thursday morning, he said he immediately recognized the building behind the bus stop sign and realized what the women had been doing.

“This is appalling, illegal and hateful,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser wrote in a statement on social media Thursday. “Hate against any of us must be treated as hate against all of us.”

Photos posted by Lewis, the councilwoman, show the signs screwed into the RTD bus stop pole at Colfax Avenue and Garfield Street, outside of National Jewish Health and just west of Colorado Boulevard.

One white sign reads “Blacks must sit at the back of the bus. Kamala’s migrants sit in the front.” Another yellow caution sign on the same pole warns riders of “Kamala’s illegals,” with imagery of people running that is supposed to mimic immigrants crossing the border.

The caution sign is designed after real road signage that used to be posted in California, warning drivers near the San Diego border to watch for migrants running across the freeway. The last of the signs was removed in 2018.

“As a community, we must stand united against hate in all its forms. The recent appearance of racist signs in Denver is deeply troubling and does not reflect the values of our city,” the Denver City Council said in an emailed statement Thursday. “Denver is a place of inclusivity, diversity, and respect, and we will not tolerate messages of division or hate. We stand with all residents in condemning these acts and reaffirm our commitment to building a community where everyone feels safe, valued, and heard.”

As of 10:45 a.m., signs had been found at three RTD bus stops near the intersections of Colfax Avenue and Oneida Street, Colfax Avenue and Yosemite Street and Colfax Avenue and Garfield Street, according to RTD officials.

RTD officials said similar signs had appeared Thursday at Chicago Transit Authority bus stops and that Colorado officials are connecting with other agencies across the county to “assess the magnitude of the coordinated racist activity.”

Shortly before the Legislature ended its property tax-focused special session Thursday, two Denver lawmakers decried the signs from the state House floor, several blocks away from where one of the signs was posted. Several other Democratic lawmakers stood around them, and other legislators stood at their desks, a sign of solidarity in the chamber.

“What I think is important is that we confront our history, and note that if any of us care to say that we have moved forward, that all of us demonstrate that in standing here, undivided, on the declaration that this is hate, and that it’s unacceptable,” said Rep. Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat and the House’s assistant majority leader. “I also want to say that we don’t know who put these up. And so we don’t know who’s part of the problem. We know that we cannot continue to allow people to believe that this is acceptable or allow people to believe that they can grow power from posting signs like this.”

RTD officials are working with the Denver Department of Transportation and the Denver Police Department to remove all the reported signs and investigate each of the incidents, according to a Thursday news release.

“RTD strongly condemns the hateful, discriminatory message portrayed by the signs,” transportation officials wrote in the release. “There is no place for racism or discrimination at RTD or within the communities we serve. The signs do not reflect the organization’s adopted values or promote a welcoming transit environment for all, nor should such vile messaging be tolerated or supported by anyone.”

[mrsmoose54]

Day 8 - San Antonio, Gruene & Austin

Day 8 – San Antonio, Gruene & Austin