100 Years Ago Today

The 14 Worst Corporate Evildoers | International Labor Rights Forum Corporations carry out some of the most horrific human rights abuses of modern times, but it is increasingly difficult to hold them to account. Economic globalization and the rise of transnational corporate power have created a favorable climate for corporate human rights abusers, which are governed principally by the codes of supply and demand and show genuine loyalty only to their stockholders. Several of the companies below are being sued under the Alien Tort Claims Act, a law that allows citizens of any nationality to sue in US federal courts for violations of international rights or treaties. When corporations act like criminals, we have the right and the power to stop them, holding leaders and multinational corporations alike to the accords they have signed. Caterpillar For years, the Caterpillar Company has provided Israel with the bulldozers used to destroy Palestinian homes. Peace activist Rachel Corrie was killed by a Caterpillar D-9, military bulldozer in 2003. Chevron DynCorp

Census records | 1841 - 1911 census records | Findmypast.co.uk As with any family history records, original census returns are not free from mistakes; you should therefore keep an open mind when using the data and not believe everything you read. Some common errors that can be found in census returns are as follows: Errors in recording census data As illiteracy was quite high in the 19th century, many people may have asked their friends, neighbours or even the enumerators to help fill out the forms. In institutions or on vessels it was the person in charge of the prison or ship who completed the details on behalf of everyone in the institution or on the ship. Typical mistakes were made when spelling peoples’ names, or noting their occupations, or even when recording their ages. Age discrepancies Whilst enumerators and the officials at institutions made mistakes when recording information, individuals who completed the forms themselves also made some errors. Name changing Occupations Nicknames If you can’t track down James, he may be a Jim.

Immigration Timeline - The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island By the 1880's, steam power had shortened the journey to America dramatically. Immigrants poured in from around the world: from the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Southern and Eastern Europe, and down from Canada. The door was wide open for Europeans. In the 1880s alone, 9% of the total population of Norway emigrated to America. After 1892, nearly all immigrants came in through the newly opened Ellis Island. One immigrant recalled arriving at Ellis Island: "The boat anchored at mid-bay and then they tendered us on the ship to Ellis Island…We got off the boat…you got your bag in your hand and went right into the building. Families often immigrated together during this era, although young men frequently came first to find work. The experience for Asian immigrants in this period was quite different. The 1907 "Gentlemen's Agreement" with Japan extended the government's hostility towards Asian workers and families. And for millions of immigrants, New York provided opportunity.

Parable of the Polygons - a playable post on the shape of society This is a story of how harmless choices can make a harmful world. These little cuties are 50% Triangles, 50% Squares, and 100% slightly shapist. But only slightly! In fact, every polygon prefers being in a diverse crowd: You can only move them if they're unhappy with their immediate neighborhood. “I wanna move if less than 1/3 of my neighbors are like me.” Harmless, right? drag & drop unhappy polygons until nobody is unhappy: (just move them to random empty spots. don't think too much about it.) And... our shape society becomes super segregated. Sometimes a neighborhood just becomes square, and it's not their fault if no triangles wanna stick around. In this next bit, unhappy shapes automatically move to random empty spots. run this simulation a few times. what happens? What's up with that? Small individual bias can lead to large collective bias. Equality is an unstable equilibrium. use the slider to adjust the shapes' individual bias: So yeah, just turn everyone's bias down to zero, right?

The American Presidency Project This Week in Sociology: Unintended Consequences: The Social Context of 9/11 by Mike King, University of California, Santa Cruz, September 11, 2001 is a world historic moment, a historical signpost – “9/11”. More than a deadly attack, it stands as a moment that truly changed history, and its existence--not only in memory but in remembrance—can help us understand both the past and the present. Last week marked the tenth anniversary of this moment. Of the myriad memorials, documentaries, and assorted tributes, however, few addressed the root causes of the event or the complex and contradictory context of its impact afterwards. What does 9/11 really tell us about the politics of our past and our contemporary memories? Sociology can inform our understanding, not just of events themselves, but also why and how they happened, and the broader effects they have over time. For example, Al Qaeda is more of an ideology and a very loose network than it is an organization with clear command structures or cohesiveness. Mike King is a PhD student at UC, Santa Cruz mking@ucsc.edu

Burial records, cremation records, grave maps, genealogy and ancestry at Deceased Online Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 The Undocumented Internet History Sourcebooks Project