Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, or locally Metro, is the common name of Metrorail, the rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which operates the Metrobus service under the Metro name. Opened in 1976, the network now includes six lines, 91 stations, 117 miles of route. Metro serves the District of Columbia, as well as several jurisdictions in the states of Maryland and Virginia. In Maryland, Metro provides service to Prince George's counties. Combined with its ridership in the independent Virginia cities of Falls Church and Fairfax, the Metro service area is coextensive with the inner ring of the Washington metropolitan area; the system is being expanded to reach Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County, Virginia. It operates as a deep-level subway in more densely populated parts of the D. C. metropolitan area, while most of the suburban tracks elevated. The longest single-tier escalator in the Western Hemisphere, spanning 230 feet, is located at Metro's deep-level Wheaton station.
Metro is the third-busiest rapid transit system in the United States in number of passenger trips, after the New York City Subway and Chicago "L". There were 179.7 million trips on Metro in fiscal year 2016. In June 2008, Metro set 798,456 per weekday. Fares vary based on the distance traveled, the time of day, the type of card used by the passenger. Riders enter and exit the system using a proximity card called SmarTrip. During the 1960s plans were laid for a massive freeway system in Washington. Harland Bartholomew, who chaired the National Capital Planning Commission, thought that a rail transit system would never be self-sufficient because of low density land uses and general transit ridership decline, but the plan met fierce opposition, was altered to include a Capital Beltway system plus rail line radials. The Beltway received full funding. In 1960 the federal government created the National Capital Transportation Agency to develop a rapid rail system. In 1966, a bill creating WMATA was passed by the federal government, the District of Columbia and Maryland, with planning power for the system being transferred to it from the NCTA.
WMATA approved plans for a 97.2-mile regional system on March 1, 1968. The plan consisted of a "core" regional system, which included the original five Metro lines, as well as several "future extensions", many of which were not constructed; the first experimental Metro station was built above ground in May 1968 for a cost of $69,000. It was 64x30x17 feet and meant to test construction techniques and acoustics prior to full-scale construction efforts. Construction began after a groundbreaking ceremony on December 9, 1969, when Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe, District Mayor Walter Washington, Maryland Governor Marvin Mandel tossed the first spade of dirt at Judiciary Square; the first portion of the system opened March 27, 1976, with 4.6 miles available on the Red Line with five stations from Rhode Island Avenue to Farragut North, all in the District of Columbia. Arlington County, Virginia was linked to the system on July 1, 1977. Underground stations were built with cathedral-like arches of concrete, highlighted by soft, indirect lighting.
The name Metro was suggested by Massimo Vignelli, who designed the subway maps for the New York City Subway. The 103-mile, 83-station system was completed with the opening of the Green Line segment to Branch Avenue on January 13, 2001; this did not mean the end of the growth of the system: a 3.22-mile extension of the Blue Line to Largo Town Center and Morgan Boulevard opened on December 18, 2004. The first infill station, NoMa–Gallaudet U on the Red Line between Union Station and Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood, opened November 20, 2004. Construction began in March 2009 for an extension to Dulles Airport to be built in two phases; the first phase, five stations connecting East Falls Church to Tysons Corner and Wiehle Avenue in Reston, opened on July 26, 2014. Metro construction required billions of federal dollars provided by Congress under the authority of the National Capital Transportation Act of 1969; the cost was paid with 33 % local money. This act was amended on January 3, 1980 by the National Capital Transportation Amendment of 1979, which authorized additional funding of $1.7 billion to permit the completion of 89.5 miles of the system as provided under the terms of a full funding grant agreement executed with WMATA in July 1986, which required 20% to be paid from local funds.
On November 15, 1990, the National Capital Transportation Amendments of 1990 authorized an additional $1.3 billion in federal funds for construction of the remaining 13.5 miles of the 103-mile system, completed via the execution of full funding grant agreements, with a 63% federal/37% local matching ratio. In February 2006 Metro officials chose Randi Miller, a car dealership employee from Woodbridge, Virginia, to record new "doors opening", "doors closing", "please stand clear of the doors, thank you" announcements aft
National Police Memorial (Australia)
Australia's National Police Memorial is in the national capital, Canberra, in King's Park on the northern shore of Lake Burley Griffin adjacent to the National Carillon on Aspen Island. It commemorates Australian police; the two key elements of the design are: a bronze commemorative wall with'touchstone plaques' carrying the name and rank, date of death, place of death, of police officers who have died whilst on active duty. The surface of the touchstone wall is clad in cast bronze panels with a slight textural feel and a dark patina; the surface of the cladding is smooth enough to allow the patina to have a gloss wax finish. The touchstones are cast bronze but have a golden polished patina, that will change over time with the degree to which each stone is touched. There are 1200 touchstones, meant to symbolise the ongoing danger for police on duty. The'terrain' tilts to direct visitors to the wall, with undulations, intended to create "an uncertainty in experience and reflects the uncertain path that police tread in the performance of their duty."
The design incorporates elements acknowledging Saint Michael, the patron saint of policing. Access roads have been constructed from King's Avenue. A competition for the design was sponsored by the Australasian Police Ministers' Council, launched on 2 March 2005 by Senator Christopher Ellison, the Federal Minister for Justice and Customs. 77 entries were submitted by its close on 29 April 2005. The memorial cost A$2.4 million. The winning entry was by Fairweather Proberts Architects; the Australian Federal Police Recognition and Ceremonial Team were given the honour in managing the Dedication Project. The Memorial was dedicated by Hon. John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia, on 29 September 2006, National Police Remembrance Day; the Master of Ceremonies was Ita Buttrose. More than 700 police from all states and the Australian Federal Police were gathered for the official opening, the first time since the opening of Old Parliament House in 1927 that there had been such a mass gathering of Australian police in Canberra.
The first policeman to die on duty was Constable Joseph Luker, aged 38, who died on 26 August 1803, after being bludgeoned to death when Sydney was only 15 years old. NSW Police Force members have suffered the largest losses of all Australian Police Forces, to that end the last Australian Police Officer to die on duty before the official dedication was New South Wales Police Force Sergeant Colin McKenzie, aged 50, who died on 28 September 2006, the eve of the official opening, after falling ill at the Dedication rehearsal session at the National Police Memorial in Canberra; this 30-year veteran New South Wales Police Force policeman complained to colleagues of feeling ill collapsed and died. In memory of the Sergeant, Sergeant McKenzie's cap was carried by a NSW Police Force Sergeant on a cushion, leading the NSW Police Force Contingent in the march from Old Parliament House to the NPM in Kings Park, Canberra in a moving tribute. List of Australian Federal Police killed in the line of duty National Police Memorial UK National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial National Workers Memorial HMAS Canberra National Capital Authority memorial site - winning design Australian Federal Police memorial site and Memorial Honour Roll
National Building Museum
The National Building Museum is located at 401 F Street NW in Washington, D. C. United States, it is a museum of "architecture, engineering and urban planning". It was created by an act of Congress in 1980, is a private non-profit institution; the museum hosts various temporary exhibits in galleries around the spacious Great Hall. The building, completed in 1887, served as the Pension Building, housing the United States Pension Bureau, hosted several presidential inaugural balls, it is an important early large-scale example of Renaissance Revival architecture, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985. The National Building Museum is housed in the former Pension Bureau building, a brick structure completed in 1887 and designed by Montgomery C. Meigs, the U. S. Army quartermaster general, it is notable for several architectural features, including the spectacular interior columns and a frieze, sculpted by Caspar Buberl, stretching around the exterior of the building and depicting Civil War soldiers in scenes somewhat reminiscent of those on Trajan's Column as well as the Horsemen Frieze of the Parthenon.
The vast interior, measuring 316 × 116 feet, has been used to hold inauguration balls. After the Civil War, the United States Congress passed legislation that extended the scope of pension coverage for veterans and their survivors and dependents, notably their widows and orphans; the number of staff needed to implement and administer the new benefits system ballooned to over 1,500, required a new building from which to run it all. Meigs was chosen to construct the new building, he departed from the established Greco-Roman models, the basis of government buildings in Washington, D. C. until and which continued after the Pension Building's completion. Meigs based his design on Italian Renaissance precedents, notably Rome's Palazzo Farnese and the Palazzo della Cancelleria. Included in his design was a frieze sculpted by Caspar Buberl; because a sculpture of that size was well out of Meigs's budget, he had Buberl create 28 different scenes, totaling 69 feet in length, which were mixed and modified to create the continuous 1,200-foot parade of over 1,300 figures.
Because of the 28 sections' modification and mixture, it is only in careful examination that the frieze is seen to be the same figures repeated several times. The sculpture includes infantry, artillery and medical components, as well as a good deal of the supply and quartermaster functions, for it was in that capacity that Meigs had served during the Civil War. Meigs's correspondence with Buberl reveals that Meigs insisted that a black teamster, who "must be a negro, a plantation slave, freed by war", be included in the quartermaster panel; this figure was to assume a central position, over the building's west entrance. Built before modern artificial ventilation, the building was designed to maximize air circulation: all offices not only had exterior windows, but opened onto the court, designed to admit cool air at ground level and exhaust hot air at the roof. Made of brick and tile, the stairs were designed for the limitations of disabled and aging veterans, having a gradual ascent with low steps.
In addition, each step slanted from back to front to allow easy drainage: a flight could be washed by pouring water from the top. When Philip Sheridan was asked to comment on the building, his biting reply echoed the negative sentiment of much of the Washington establishment of the day: "Too bad the damn thing is fireproof." A similar quote is attributed to William Tecumseh Sherman casting doubt on the truth of the Sheridan tale. The completed building, sometimes called "Meigs Old Red Barn", required more than 15 million bricks, according to the wit of the day, were each counted by the parsimonious Meigs; the building was used for federal government offices until the 1960s when it had fallen into a state of disrepair and was considered for demolition. After pressure from conservationists, the government commissioned a report by architect Chloethiel Woodard Smith of possible other uses for the building, her 1967 report suggested a museum dedicated to the building arts. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.
In 1980, Congress created the National Building Museum as a non-profit institution. The building itself was formally renamed the National Building Museum in 1997; every year, the annual Christmas in Washington program was filmed at the museum, with the President and First Lady until the show's cancellation in 2015. The National Building Museum Shop was honored in 2007 as the "Best Museum Store" in the country by Niche magazine, "Best All-Around Museum Shop" in the region by The Washington Post, a "Top Shop" by the Washingtonian, named best museum shop in D. C. by National Geographic Traveler's blog, Intelligent Travel, in July 2009. In 2010, The Huffington Post included the National Building Museum in a story, "Museums with Amazing Gift Shops"; the Museum Shop sells books about the built environment and an array of housewares, educational toys and items for an office, all with an emphasis on design. On June 7, 2008, Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination with a farewell rally inside the museum.
Several of Clinton's most recognized quotes and sayings were first spoken on this date to several hundreds of supporters, including "If we can blast fifty women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House." The National Building Museum presen
Albert Einstein Memorial
The Albert Einstein Memorial is a monumental bronze statue depicting Albert Einstein seated with manuscript papers in hand by sculptor Robert Berks. It is located in central Washington, D. C. United States, in a grove of trees at the southwest corner of the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences at 2101 Constitution Avenue N. W. near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The memorial, situated in an elm and holly grove in the southwest corner of the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences, was unveiled at the Academy's annual meeting, April 22, 1979, in honor of the centennial of Einstein's birth. At the dedication ceremony, physicist John Archibald Wheeler described the statue as "a monument to the man who united space and time into space-time...a remembrance of the man who taught us...that the universe does not go on from everlasting to everlasting, but begins with a bang." The memorial is a popular spot for tourists visiting the national mall to pose for pictures. The statue depicts Einstein seated in casual repose on a three-step bench of Mount Airy white granite.
The bronze figure weighs 4 tons and is 12 feet in height. The monument is supported by three caissons, totaling 135 tons, sunk in bedrock to a depth of 23 to 25 feet, it was cast at Modern Art Foundry, Astoria Queens, NY. The sculptor, Robert Berks, known for his portrait busts and statues, based the work on a bust of Einstein he sculpted from life in 1953 at Einstein's Princeton home. Landscape architect James A. Van Sweden designed the monument landscaping. Einstein was elected a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences in 1922, the year after he won the Nobel Prize in physics, became a member of the Academy in 1942, two years after he became a naturalized American citizen. Berks created two replicas of his 1979 monument. One of the replicas can presently be viewed in the academy garden of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities; the statue and bench are at one side of a circular dais, 28 feet in diameter, made from emerald-pearl granite from Larvik, Norway. Embedded in the dais are more than 2,700 metal studs representing the location of astronomical objects, including the sun, planets, 4 asteroids, 5 galaxies, 10 quasars, many stars at noon on April 22, 1979, when the memorial was dedicated.
The studs are different sizes to denote the apparent magnitude of the relevant object, different studs denote binary stars, spectroscopic binaries, globular clusters, open clusters, quasars. The celestial objects were positioned by astronomers at the U. S. Naval Observatory. Familiar constellations are marked on the map for easy identification. To a visitor standing at the center of the dais, Einstein appears to be making direct eye contact, any spoken words are notably amplified. Engraved as though written on the papers held in the statue's left hand are three equations, summarizing three of Einstein's most important scientific advances: R μ ν − 1 2 g μ ν R = κ T μ ν e V = h ν − A E = m c 2 Along the back of the bench, behind the statue, three famous quotations from the scientist are inscribed, they were selected to reflect Einstein's sense of wonder, scientific integrity, concern for social justice. They are: "As long as I have any choice in the matter, I shall live only in a country where civil liberty and equality of all citizens before the law prevail."
"Joy and amazement at the beauty and grandeur of this world of which man can just form a faint notion..." "The right to search for truth implies a duty. The statue was filmed and subsequently used in the opening title sequence of Sesame Street during the show's 20th season. A copy of the Albert Einstein Memorial made of 100% dark and white chocolate was once on display in the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. In July 2012, the sculpture was yarn bombed by the Polish-born artist Olek, who enclosed the entire statue in a colorful crocheted wrap of pinks and teal. List of public art in Washington, D. C. Ward 2 Einstein, Albert: Statue at the Nat'l Academy of Sciences in Washington, D. C. DCmemorials.com Albert Einstein, Save Outdoor Sculpture survey, Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution Research Information System
Lion
The lion is a species in the family Felidae. The lion is sexually dimorphic. Male lions have a prominent mane, the most recognisable feature of the species. A lion pride consists of related females and cubs. Groups of female lions hunt together, preying on large ungulates; the species is an keystone predator, although they scavenge when opportunities occur. Some lions have been known to hunt humans, although the species does not; the lion inhabits grasslands and savannas but is absent in dense forests. It is more diurnal than other big cats, but when persecuted it adapts to being active at night and at twilight. In the Pleistocene, the lion ranged throughout Eurasia and North America but today it has been reduced to fragmented populations in Sub-Saharan Africa and one critically endangered population in western India, it has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996 because populations in African countries have declined by about 43% since the early 1990s. Lion populations are untenable outside designated protected areas.
Although the cause of the decline is not understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes for concern. One of the most recognised animal symbols in human culture, the lion has been extensively depicted in sculptures and paintings, on national flags, in contemporary films and literature. Lions have been kept in menageries since the time of the Roman Empire and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoological gardens across the world since the late 18th century. Cultural depictions of lions were prominent in the Upper Paleolithic period; the lion's name, similar in many Romance languages, is derived from Latin: leo and Ancient Greek: λέων. The word lavi may be related. Felis leo was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, who described the lion in his work Systema Naturae; the genus name Panthera was coined by German naturalist Lorenz Oken in 1816. Between the mid-18th and mid-20th centuries, 26 lion specimens were described and proposed as subspecies, of which 11 were recognised as valid in 2005.
They were distinguished on the basis of appearance and colour of mane. Because these characteristics show much variation between individuals, most of these forms were not true subspecies because they were based upon museum material with "striking, but abnormal" morphological characteristics. Based on the morphology of 58 lion skulls in three European museums, the subspecies krugeri, nubica and senegalensis were assessed distinct but bleyenberghi overlapped with senegalensis and krugeri; the Asiatic lion persica was the most distinctive and the Cape lion had characteristics allying it more with persica than the other sub-Saharan lions. The lion's closest relatives are the other species of the genus Panthera. Results of phylogenetic studies published in 2006 and 2009 indicate that the jaguar and the lion belong to one sister group that diverged about 2.06 million years ago. Results of studies published in 2010 and 2011 indicate that the leopard and the lion belong to the same sister group, which diverged between 1.95 and 3.10 million years ago.
Hybridisation between lion and snow leopard ancestors, may have continued until about 2.1 million years ago. In the 19th and 20th centuries, several lion type specimens were described and proposed as subspecies, with about a dozen recognised as valid taxa until 2017. Between 2008 and 2016, IUCN Red List assessors used only two subspecific names: P. l. leo for African lion populations and P. l. persica for the Asiatic lion population. In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group revised lion taxonomy, recognises two subspecies based on results of several phylogeographic studies on lion evolution, namely: P. l. leo − the nominate lion subspecies includes the Asiatic lion, the regionally extinct Barbary lion, lion populations in West and northern parts of Central Africa. Synonyms include P. l. persica, P. l. senegalensis, P. l. kamptzi, P. l. azandica. Some authors referred to it as'Northern lion' and'northern subspecies'. P. l. melanochaita − includes the extinct Cape lion and lion populations in East and Southern African regions.
Synonyms include P. l. somaliensis, P. l. massaica, P. l. sabakiensis, P. l. bleyenberghi, P. l. roosevelti, P. l. nyanzae, P. l. hollisteri, P. l. krugeri, P. l. vernayi, P. l. webbiensis. It has been referred to as'southern subspecies'. Early phylogenetic research was focused on East and Southern African lions, showed they can be divided in two main clades. Lions in eastern Kenya are genetically much closer to lions in Southern Africa than to lions in Aberdare National Park in western Kenya. In a subsequent study and bone samples of 32 lion specimens in museums were used. Results indicated lions form
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The Department of the Interior in the United States is responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources; the Secretary serves on and appoints the private citizens on the National Park Foundation board. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet; the U. S. Department of the Interior should not be confused with the Ministries of the Interior as used in many other countries. Ministries of the Interior in these other countries correspond to the Department of Homeland Security in the U. S. Cabinet and secondarily to the Department of Justice; because the policies and activities of the Department of the Interior and many of its agencies have a substantial impact in the Western United States, the Secretary of the Interior has come from a western state. The current Interior Secretary is David Bernhardt, who held the office in an acting capacity until April 2019.
He succeeded Ryan Zinke who resigned on January 2, 2019. The line of succession for the Secretary of Interior is as follows: Deputy Secretary of the Interior Solicitor of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Policy and Budget Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Assistant Secretary for Fish and Parks Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Director, Security and Law Enforcement, Bureau of Reclamation Central Region Director, US Geological Survey Intermountain Regional Director, National Park Service Region 6 Director, US Fish and Wildlife Service Colorado State Director, Bureau of Land Management Regional Solicitor, Rocky Mountain Region As of April 2019, eight former Secretaries of the Interior are alive, the oldest being Manuel Lujan Jr.. The most recent to die was Cecil D. Andrus, on August 23, 2017; the most serving Secretary to die was William P. Clark Jr. on August 10, 2013. Official website List of Secretaries of the Interior The Department of Everything Else: Highlights of Interior History
International Association of Women Police
The International Association of Women Police is a global organization for women in criminal justice professions. Its mission is to "strengthen and raise the profile of women in criminal justice internationally." According to the IAWP website, its mission, as stated in Article III, is to “strengthen and raise the profile of women in criminal justice internationally”. Its vision is to ensure that “women’s lives free from discrimination, valued for their contribution, treated with respect and dignity. To contribute by being an example of excellence in securing a safe, harmonious workplace and society as partners in safety in the criminal justice system”; these core beliefs and objectives encompass the main message of the International Association of Women Police, focus on standing up for the equal treatment that each woman on the police force deserves. The International Policewomen's Association was founded in 1915. Alice Stebbins Wells, the first policewoman in the United States, was appointed the association's first president.
Its charter was adopted in 1916 in Washington, D. C. From 1919–1932, the president of the association was Mina Van Winkle. After her death, the association dwindled, it was not until 1956 that the association was revived at a meeting of the Women Peace Officers of California, where it was renamed the International Association of Women Police. Lois Higgins, a veteran of the Chicago Police Department, was elected the association's president, under her leadership the IAWP grew in strength and numbers; the organization fought discrimination against women in the police force and opposed separate women’s bureaus within police departments. The Records of the International Association of Women Police are housed in the Lloyd Sealy Library Special Collections, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; as Stated in its Mission and Vision Statements, The International Association of Women Police came to be in order to fight against the discrimination of women on police forces across the world. Fighting against cases of sexual harassment, limited job opportunities, discriminatory treatment from male colleagues have all been key reasons for catalyzing the formation of an organization that promotes the equal treatment of women on the police force.
The IAWP works to ensure that women are satisfied with their careers on the force, to make sure they do not feel powerless or unappreciated in their line of work. Overall, the IAWP was formed in order to promote equality among the sexes in the police force and to ensure the equal treatment, equal pay, equal protection of women who chose a career in the criminal justice system; the IAWP promotes the idea that female officers should not live in fear of harassment, should be treated with respect and fairness from each of their coworkers. The members of this organization work to deconstruct the social stigmas that follow women on to the police force. Sanda K. Wells and Betty L. Alt discuss the many forms of harassment in their book “Police Women: Life With a Badge, they discuss. Sexual harassment and a hostile environment are most dealt with. Wells and Alt go on the define the forms of harassment. A hostile environment involves any act that unwanted and may have a negative effect on the person being acted against and their job performance.
This may be in the form of offensive or rude remarks about a person's gender. According to their book, anyone is capable of harassment. Other forms of harassment involve inappropriate touching, remarks about one’s body, offensive remarks that degrade the individual. According to Women and Policing News Wire, 80 percent of women on the police force have encountered or been a victim of harassment on the job. Wells and Alt go on to say that few women feel the need to report the colleagues that harass them and let the harassment slide, due to the fact that many women who report their harassment end up being accused of various crimes such as drug abuse, child abuse, receive death threats, fail to receive backup when they call for it. ” One of the main goals that the IAWP prides itself on is the abolishment of discrimination of women on the police force. One of the main forms of discrimination, as discussed in Well’s and Alt’s book “Police Women: Life With a Badge” is gender harassment. For example, not being provided a separate place from men in order to change into the work uniform is defined as a form of discrimination.
One case mentioned encompasses a women officer who, on the force for years was not given a locker or changing space, yet a rookie male cop who had just joined the force was given a locker as soon as he entered the police force. This is means for investigation on the discrimination. “Police Women: Life With a Badge” goes on to talk about women police officers that become pregnant during their time on the force. Not being given lighter duties due to pregnancy is an issue that some policewomen must face. Pregnancy may hinder movement and other physical activity on the job, not being given enough time to recuperate after having a child may result in a decrease in job performance; because of this, some employees see this as grounds to discriminate against pregnant coworkers, some agencies fail to provide basic rights such as maternity uniforms or leave benefits for these police women. The IAWP prides itself on equality, ensuring that women are presented equal opportunities in their career is one of its many focusses.
An issue discussed in “Police Women: Life With a Badge” are the limit
