Author: Sarah Burris

7 Awesome Photos Assembling The Statue of Liberty

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” the Statue of Liberty’s plaque reads.  Nothing could be more American than that.

The tablet she holds is inscribed JULY IV MDCCLXXVI – Roman numerals for July 4, 1776, Independence Day, when our founding fathers signed paperwork declaring that the King of England could suck it. Nearly three centuries before anyone had heard of “freedom fries,” the colonist rebels and the French fought side-by-side against the King’s men; years after American independence had been won,  a birthday present arrived from Paris.  Sculpted by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, she stands 151 feet high.  She’s survived terrorist threats and climate change as well as supernatural beings (Ghostbusters) floods and freeze (The Day After Tomorrow) on film. But 149 years ago we began what could be considered  the Ikea project of all time.  These are the photos:

1.  What would Freud Say?:  The face of Lady Liberty was modeled after the sculptor’s mother, Charlotte Beysser Bartholdi.

Liberty2

2. The crown was originally supposed to be a weird-looking cone modeled after the one given to emancipated slaves in ancient Rome.  Instead, Jefferson Davis  nixed it so as not to give American slaves the wild idea that the statue represented freedom and equality for everyone.  So it was changed.

Liberty1

3. Many of the workers who helped build the base of the Statue of Liberty, and assemble her, were immigrants.

PedestalConstruction

4. On December 26, 1971, 15 anti-Vietnam war veterans staged a dramatic sit-in inside the statue, flying a US flag upside-down from her crown. They left two days later to comply with a federal court order.

statue-of-liberty-paris-2

5. At the feet of the Statue lie broken shackles, representing the destruction of oppression and tyranny. They convinced Jefferson Davis it was jewelry (ha – just kidding about that last part). 

LibertyFeet

6.  There was an old legend that the concept of the birthday present came from French law professor and politician Édouard René de Laboulaye, who, in mid-1865, said over dinner with friends:  “If a monument should rise in the United States, as a memorial to their independence, I should think it only natural if it were built by united effort—a common work of both our nations.”  But the sculptor later wrote the comment wasn’t meant as the idea, but as inspiration while Bartholdi was working on her.   (Below is the initial sculpture construction in France)

FrenchConstruction

7.  The Statue of Liberty is huge, and space was hard to come by during construction in France. A well-known French engineer and architect, Gustav Eiffel – yeah, that guy – was contacted for help. He had room in his Paris shop, and he had the talent to help.  Just three years after the completion of the statue project, the Eiffel Tower went up.

French-statue-liberty

BONUS

Here’s the scene from Ghostbusters II, in which Dan Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis originally had the idea of bringing the Statue of Liberty to life as a force of evil used by Vigo. Out of respect to her, it was decided Libby would be the one to rally the city of New York, bring them together, and help the Ghostbusters save the day. Bill Murray admitted in an issue of Cinefex magazine back in 1989 that he got a little nauseous when filming it.

Facebooktwitterpinterestrssvimeotumblrinstagramflickr

The Best Use of a Drone is During the Forth of July

There are terrible ways in which our country has used drones to hurt people, but here’s a brilliant way to watch a fireworks show like you’ve never seen before:

Facebooktwitterpinterestrssvimeotumblrinstagramflickr

You’ve got to see what Stephen Colbert said about the SCOTUS Hobby Lobby case

After Monday’s ruling by five white men who don’t like women’s access to birth control,  one place we can turn to for solace is our comedians. Thankfully, we here at BNR have Lizz Winstead,  who recalls a bygone era when people were people and corporations were corporations. And then there’s a prophetic Stephen Colbert, who in 2011 told us Obamacare must be repealed so the country can “go back to the way things were – when [health] insurance only had to cover boner pills.”

Facebooktwitterpinterestrssvimeotumblrinstagramflickr

John Oliver: Paying for things you don’t like is part of being a person

Once again, John Oliver nailed it on Sunday night. He had some choice words for Hobby Lobby before Monday’s Supreme Court ruling and the idea that a corporation can have religious beliefs.  This is all you need to know:

“If you really want to be treated like a person, Corporations, then guess what? Paying for things you don’t like is what it feels like to be one.  If corporations want to be people, they should have to take the rough with the smooth.  Corporations should have the lifespan of a person.  79 years – 75 if they’re based in Mississippi.  Oh and female companies, you only get to make 83 cents on the dollar.  Sorry Wendy! I guess it’s just that Burger King must have worked harder!”

He’s making a great joke, of course, but he’s on to something.  As Lizz Winstead points out “Remember when people used to be people? #Nostalgia.”  Boy… those were the good old days, huh?  When do you suppose we can become a corporation so we can have more rights?

Facebooktwitterpinterestrssvimeotumblrinstagramflickr

Obama: I’m beginning a new effort to fix as much of our immigration system on my own

Congress isn’t going to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform.  The US Senate has, with enormous bipartisan support, but the House has stalled and republicans are freaking out because Eric Cantor lost in an election where immigration reform was an issue.  The problem is, polling after the Cantor loss shows it wasn’t immigration reform. In fact, his district wants immigration reform. So Congress being spineless for political reasons is just an excuse to hurt people.

The President has been controversial around immigration reform for his large number of deportations, but as young children have begun streaming over the boarder without their families things have become more complicated.

President Obama said today in a speech in the Rose Garden:

“There are enough Republicans and Democrats in the House to pass an immigration bill, today.  I would sign it into law today.  And Washington would solve a problem in a bipartisan way.  But for more than a year Republicans in the House have refused to allow an up or down vote or any bill that would fix our broken immigration system.  I held off on pressuring them for a long time to give Speaker Boehner the space he needed to get his fellow Republicans on board.”

According to a statement from White House, the President will direct Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to take the lead on increasing border security.

“Protecting public safety is and will remain a top priority, and we will continue to focus on removing those who have committed serious crimes from our interior,” the statement said. “But we will redirect other resources to make sure we keep doing what it takes to keep our border secure.

In a letter sent to Congress on Monday, the President called on Congress to help the Office of the President build a much more “aggressive deterrence strategy” while children are continuing to stream in over the border.

 

Facebooktwitterpinterestrssvimeotumblrinstagramflickr

Vanden Heuvel to Kristol: “If you want war, then you should enlist in the Iraqi Army”

Wow… If you missed this morning’s episode of This Week with George Stephanopoulos it was a doozy! Katrina vanden Heuvel held Bill Kristol’s feet to the fire about the recklessness of so-called “armchair warriors.” Alluding to the ease of the Beltway conservative media to talk about going back into Iraq because it sure ain’t gonna be them fighting and dying for the catastrophe that was started by the Bush Administration. That’s right, it’s going to be my generation.

So she said it flat out, “If you want war, then you should enlist in the Iraqi Army.” And his natural response was to belittled her by saying it was a “very cute line.” Classy, Bill Kristol. Classy.


ABC US News | World News

Facebooktwitterpinterestrssvimeotumblrinstagramflickr

“Rep. Frank D. Lucas is no longer alive and has been displayed by a look alike”

Timothy_Ray_MurrayJust when you think you’ve heard every reason for a teabagger to challenge the results of an election….here’s one more.

Back home, candidate Timothy Ray Murray challenged U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas (OK-03) in the GOP primary June 24th. He lost. He lost by a lot. But that’s not the end of Timothy Ray Murphy.

He’s not quitting now! Why, you may ask?

A press release (emphasis mine) on Timothy Ray Murray’s website reads:

“The election for U.S. House for Oklahoma’s 3rd District will be contested by the Candidate, Timothy Ray Murray. I will be stating that his votes are switched with Rep. Lucas votes, because it is widely known Rep. Frank D. Lucas is no longer alive and has been displayed by a look alike. Rep. Lucas’ look alike was depicted as sentenced on a white stage in southern Ukraine on or about Jan. 11, 2011.”

Here – I did a screen shot just in case it finds it’s way to being deleted.

In other news the teabagger in Mississippi is contesting the GOP election for Sen. Thad Cochran. In so doing he may also invalidate his own vote

UPDATE: in an article by the Tulsa World, Capitol Hill reporter Barbara Hoberock writes “Lucas could not immediately be reached for comment.” We can only assume this is because Rep. Lucas is no longer alive and has been displayed by a look alike. Come on Barbara, shouldn’t it read  “The being alleging to be Lucas could not immediately be reached for comment.”

 

Facebooktwitterpinterestrssvimeotumblrinstagramflickr

Historic perspective on Executive Orders shows double standard for Boehner

So it turns out that when Republicans do something, it’s ok, but when Democrats do something similar it isn’t ok. House Speaker John Boehner is suing (or at least will try to sue) President Obama and the Office of the President of the United States for signing a series of Executive Orders that he feels are illegal and excessive.

The real facts? It turns out if you compare President Obama to other presidents his number is among the lowest. Oops.
Here’s a fun meme I caught online about it

Executive-Orders

Here’s a helpful timeline of Executive Orders per day via the MaddowBlog

Maddowexecutive_order_chart

And here’s the data that proves the point:

Executive Orders: Washington – Obama via The American Presidency Project

President
 Term

Total Orders1

 

 

 Average / Year EO Number Range
George Washington Total 8 1.00 unnumbered
John Adams Total 1 0.25 unnumbered
Thomas Jefferson Total 4 0.50 unnumbered
James Madison Total 1 0.13 unnumbered
James Monroe Total
1
 0.13 unnumbered
John Quincy Adams Total 3 0.75 unnumbered
Andrew Jackson Total
12
 1.50 unnumbered
Martin van Buren Total 10 2.50 unnumbered
William Henry Harrison Total
0
 0 unnumbered
John Tyler Total 17 4.34 unnumbered
James K. Polk Total
18
 4.50 unnumbered
Zachary Taylor Total 5 3.71 unnumbered
Millard Fillmore Total 12 4.52 unnumbered
Franklin Pierce Total
35
 8.75 unnumbered
James Buchanan Total 16 4.00 unnumbered
Abraham Lincoln Total 48 11.66 unnumbered
Andrew Johnson Total
79
 20.32 unnumbered
Ulysses S. Grant Total 217 27.13 unnumbered
Rutherford B. Hayes Total
92
 23.00 unnumbered
James Garfield Total 6 11.00 unnumbered
Chester Arthur Total 96 27.77 unnumbered
Grover Cleveland – I Total 113 28.25 unnumbered
Benjamin Harrison Total
143
 35.75 unnumbered
Grover Cleveland – II Total 140 35.00 unnumbered
William McKinley Total
185
 40.83 unnumbered
Theodore Roosevelt Total 1,081 144.64
William Howard Taft Total
724
 181.00
Woodrow Wilson Total 1,803 225.38
Warren G. Harding Total
522
 216.27
Calvin Coolidge Total 1,203 215.14
Herbert Hoover Total 968 242.00 5075 – 6070
Franklin D. Roosevelt Total 3,522 290.71 6071 – 9537
Harry S. Truman Total
907
 116.57 9538 – 10431
I 504 133.40 9538 – 10029
II 403 100.75 10030 – 10431
Dwight D. Eisenhower Total 484 60.50 10432 – 10913
I 266 66.50 10432 – 10695-A
II 218 54.50 10696 – 10913
John F. Kennedy Total 214 75.40 10914 – 11127
Lyndon B. Johnson Total
325
 62.90 11128 – 11451
Richard Nixon Total 346 62.30 11452 – 11797
I 247 61.75 11452 – 11698
II 99 63.87 11699 – 11797
Gerald R. Ford Total
169
 68.92 11798 – 11966
Jimmy Carter Total 320 80.00 11967 – 12286
Ronald Reagan Total
381
 47.63 12287 – 12667
I 213 53.25 12287 – 12499
II 168 42.00 12500 – 12667
George Bush Total 166 41.50 12668 – 12833
William J. Clinton Total 364 45.50 12834 – 13197
I 200 50.00 12834 – 13033
II 164 41.00 13034 – 13197
George W. Bush Total
291
 36.38 13198 – 13488
I 173 43.25 13198 – 13370
II 118 29.50 13371 – 13488
Barack Obama Total 182 33.58 13489 – 13670…
I 147 36.75 13489 – 13635
II 35 24.65 13636 – 13670…

 

Facebooktwitterpinterestrssvimeotumblrinstagramflickr

“Because when the college and the police won’t do anything you can use it for your civil suit”

Hilarious segment on The Daily Show last night that looked at the absurd case at James Madison University where frat boys who sexually assaulted a fellow student, filmed it, and then passed the video around to others, were punished only by “expulsion after graduation.”

It was awesome Stewart took time out to talk about this specific case, but what comedian Jessica Williams did in the silly then sad skit on The Daily Show, was walk through the reality of what women have to do to protect ourselves.  The audience laughed… uncomfortably.  I watched wishing it was as absurd as it should have been. But this is the new America. Watch:

Facebooktwitterpinterestrssvimeotumblrinstagramflickr

If you didn’t know what she was, would you still think she rocks?

The best thing about The Voice (Italy in this case): People are judged on what they do, not what they look like or what background they come from. What a concept. This kick-ass rockstar jam is presented by a woman with an unlikely background. Check it out:

BeWhoYouAre

Facebooktwitterpinterestrssvimeotumblrinstagramflickr