A 4.5-magnitude earthquake shook southern Illinois at 12:38 local time on Monday, April 21.
The quake--the 18th since a magnitude 5.2 hit the area Friday morning--was centered about six miles below ground and about 37 miles north-northwest of Evansville, Indiana, or about 131 miles east of St. Louis. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/04/21/illinois.quake/

Medical Ghostwriting Revelations Touch Off Ethics Debate
The latest insult piled onto all the injury inflicted by the Vioxx debacle is disclosed in an article published by the Journal of the American Medical Association last week: Much of the research backing up manufacturer Merck's claims about the drug was ghostwritten by writers in Merck's employ and then rubber-stamped by medical professionals who had little or not involvement in the studies but were willing to attach their names as authors nonetheless.
http://health.dailynewscentral.com/content/view/0002623/31/

Darwin's Private Papers Online
The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online: "For decades available only to scholars at Cambridge University Library, the private papers of Charles Darwin, one of the most influential scientists in history, can now be seen by anyone online and free of charge. This is the largest ever publication of Darwin papers and manuscripts, totalling about 20,000 items in nearly 90,000 electronic images. This vast and varied collection of papers includes the first draft of his theory of evolution, notes from the voyage of the Beagle and Emma Darwin's recipe book." Readers may also browse the papers here.

Violation of new European noise-at-work limits--symphony told to keep it down
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/arts/music/20noise.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007—ethics law with loopholes
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20lobby.html?ref=us

geoponic (jee-uh-PON-ik) adjective
Of or relating to agriculture.
[From Greek geoponikos, from geo- (earth) + ponein (to toil).]
Sometimes the term geoponics is used to refer to growing of plants in earth, as contrasted with hydroponics (growing in water) or aeroponics (in air).
A.Word.A.Day

April 21 birthdays
It's the birthday of humorist Josh Billings, born Henry Wheeler Shaw in Lanesboro, Massachusetts (1818). Billings said, "Don't take the bull by the horns, take him by the tail; then you can let go when you want to."
It's the birthday of writer and naturalist John Muir, (books by this author) born in Dunbar, Scotland (1838). He walked for a thousand miles, from Indianapolis to the Gulf of Mexico, and then he sailed to Cuba, Panama, and finally California, which would become his home for the rest of his life.
It's the birthday of John Clifford Mortimer, (books by this author) born in London (1923). He's best known as the author of the novels featuring the lawyer Rumpole of the Bailey. He wrote his first novel when he was in law school, and he's continued to practice law his entire life, writing plays, novels, and screenplays in his spare time.
The Writer’s Almanac

Coming to Shumaker charity sale in Toledo
Web of Evil by J.A. Jance hardbound 357 pages
suspense novel, second in Alison Reynolds series
www.jajance.com

The Rabbit Factory by Marshall Karp paperbound 574 pages—goes fast because there’s lots of white space
Lomax & Biggs mystery
If you don’t show up Sunday at the rabbit factory, don’t show up Monday.
Author and friend James Patterson gave Karp advice on his first novel. Then Patterson said: “I don’t know why I still talk to you. You’re the competition now.”
http://www.lomaxandbiggs.com/

The Oath by John Lescroart hardbound 408 pages
Medical malpractice or murder? 7th in the Dismas Hardy series
http://www.johnlescroart.com/oath.php

Hurricane by Karen Harper hardbound 389 pages
Crime and a hurricane descend on southwest Florida
www.karenharper.com

Killer Weekend by Ridley Pearson hardbound 323 pages
Quote: Why is it we’re so willing to lean back, instead of press forward?
The first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in detective fiction at Oxford, he also writes as Joyce Reardon and Wendell McCall.
www.ridleypearson.com

The Night Ferry by Michael Robotham hardbound 342 pages
Top-notch British thriller
Quotes:
Poverty is a relative state in a rich country where the wealthiest are the first to cry poor.
One of the strange things about friendship is that time together isn’t canceled out by time apart.
Desperation is the mother of bad ideas.
www.michaelrobotham.com

Paradise County by Karen Robards hardbound 369 pages
Human predator prowls the Kentucky countryside
www.karenrobards.com

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com