There have been four female Surgeon Generals of the USA -- Antonia Novello (March 9, 1990 – June 30, 1993; under Bush+Clinton), Joycelyn Elders (September 8, 1993 – December 31, 1994; under Clinton), Audrey F. Manley (acting Surgeon General, 1 January 1995 – 1 July 1997; under Clinton), and Regina Benjamin (November 3, 2009 – July 16, 2013; under Obama) -- one Puerto Rican and the next three African-American from the Southeastern continental USA.
I still can't figure out exactly if you have to have been in armed services before you can be Surgeon General. Wiki says (among other things):
The Surgeon General is a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, one of the seven uniformed services of the United States, and by law holds the rank of vice admiral.[2] Officers of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps are classified as non-combatants, but can be subjected to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the Geneva Conventions when designated by the Commander-in-Chief as a military force or if they are detailed or assigned to work with the armed forces. Officer members of these services wear uniforms that are similar to those worn by the United States Navy, except that the commissioning devices, buttons, and insignia are unique. Officers in the U.S. Public Health Service wear unique devices that are similar to U.S. Navy, Staff Corps Officers (e.g., Navy Medical Service Corps, Supply Corps, etc.).+++The only Surgeon General to actually hold the rank of a four-star admiral was David Satcher (born 1941, served 1998–2002). This was because he served simultaneously in the positions of Surgeon General (three-star) and Assistant Secretary for Health (which is a four-star office).[11] John Maynard Woodworth, (1837-1879, served 1871–1879), the first holder of the office as "Supervising Surgeon", is the only Surgeon General to not hold a rank.
"Oregon was founded as a racist utopia"
When Oregon was granted statehood in 1859, it was the only state in the Union admitted with a constitution that forbade black people from living, working, or owning property there. It was illegal for black people even to move to the state until 1926. Oregon’s founding is part of the forgotten history of racism in the American west.+
-the opening paragraph of Matt Novak's "Oregon Was Founded As a Racist Utopia," 21 January 2015, Gizmodo
In 2002, a ballot measure passed which removed the language of racial exclusion from the constitution, and other racial references as well. You might imagine this would be a slam-dunk, nearly unanimous vote - but 29% voted against it+
-Daniel Donner, "Oregon's not-so-pretty racist past is not yet history," 23 January 2015, Daily Kos
“Six percent of this city is black, but about a third of those shot by the police are African American,” he [Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Police Reform chair, Reverend LeRoy Haynes] said.+++
-Chris McGreal, "Portland police's problem with race: 'This city is not as liberal as it thinks it is'," 20 September 2014, The Guardian
"unmarked" American accents
Natalie Baker-Shirer, an accent coach and acting teacher at Carngie Mellon University explains:+"Standard Speech" is spoken nowhere in America, as such. It is based on RP (British Received Pronunciation) which was adopted with American alterations in the early 20th century by linguist William Tilly. These alterations, this authentic "American" sound was loosely based on the speech of North Eastern population of the US. It was spoken by the cultured, well educated, well traveled people of the time. Listen to old movies to hear it.-PBS
Despite the common perception of there being a mainstream American accent that is free of any regional features or regional influence, the General American sound system does, in fact, have traceable regional origins: namely, the Northern speech patterns of the non-coastal Eastern United States,[24] including interior Pennsylvania, upstate New York, and the adjacent Midwestern region, prior to the Northern Cities Vowel Shift of the mid-20th century.[1][25]+++The fact that a rural, broadly Midwestern dialect became the basis of what is General American English is often attributed to the mass migration of Midwestern farmers to California and the Pacific Northwest from where it spread,[citation needed] since California speech itself became prevalent in nationally syndicated films and media via the Hollywood film industry.
However, the English of the Midwest's Great Lakes region (as well as the region to its immediate west), since at least the middle of the 20th century, has begun deviating noticeably away from General American sounds, especially since that era's regionally unique Northern Cities Vowel Shift (NCVS). The regionality of one's accent often gets more distinct the farther north one goes within the Midwest, and the Midwest is even home now to at least two major dialects that definitively use pronunciations divergent from "General American": the Inland North dialect (often associated with the Great Lakes urban centers, including Chicago) and the North Central dialect (often associated with Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas). The notion that Midwesterners generally speak a "more correct and more pleasant" or otherwise "accentless variety" of American English is a matter of perception and stereotype rather than truth.[26]
Particularly important in setting standards was John Kenyon, the pronunciation editor of the second edition of Webster's New International Dictionary, who is claimed to have based his dictionary's pronunciation standard on his native Midwestern (specifically, Ohio) pronunciation.[27]
-Wiki
Charles River bridges
Anderson Memorial Bridge is the technical name of the JFK/North Harvard Street Bridge (the one with the never-ending construction...).
The current project completion date is June 17, 2016. The proposed full beneficial use date is February 15, 2016. This will include the new traffic configuration of a total of 3 lanes of traffic (2 northbound and one southbound) as well as one bicycle lane. MassDOT’s contractor will still be installing precast elements once the bridge has been reopened to full traffic. At times, temporary traffic restrictions will be necessary during the precast stone work.Construction started on May 30, 2012, so only approximately 4 years of construction...
-Mass DoT
And apparently the "Mass Ave." Bridge is the Harvard Bridge (named for the same John Harvard that the School is named for).
Wikipedia has a List of crossings of the Charles River, though most of them are just named for the actual street.
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