August: Osage County Wins Pulitzer
http://www.examiner.com/a-1325693~_August__Osage_County__Wins_Pulitzer.html?cid=sec-promo
see list of prizes at above link

Study Group Issues Report Recommending Changes in Copyright Law to Reflect Digital Technologies
"After nearly three years of intensive work, the independent Section 108 Study Group has issued its report and recommendations on exceptions to copyright law to address how libraries, archives and museums deal with copyrighted materials in fulfilling their missions in the digital environment . . . Section 108 is the section of the Copyright Act that provides limited exceptions for libraries and archives so that they may make copies to replace copyrighted works in their collections when necessary, preserve them for the long term and make them available to users."
 The Section 108 Study Group Report, An Independent Report sponsored by the United States Copyright Office and the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program of the Library of Congress, March 2008
 Executive Summary

Here’s a tale of Form-1040 intrigue that comes courtesy of the 11th Circuit, which on April 7 dealt a blow to Internal Revenue Service’s nearly 20-year quest to claim taxes allegedly owed by a now-deceased lawyer. The lawyer, Burton W. Kanter, who died in 2001 was accused by the IRS of evading taxes in the 1970s and 80s and of leading a scheme in which the Pritzker family of Chicago, which owns the Hyatt hotel chain, paid Kanter and two others millions of dollars in alleged kickbacks for helping them get a management contract for a San Francisco hotel built in 1973. The three conspirators then allegedly didn’t pay taxes on the money.
WSJ Law Blog April 7, 2008
Case is here: http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/WSJ_ballard040708.pdf

Chicago Tribune contains an article from Tennessee property rights professor Gregory Stein.
Poking fun at recent law school rankings in U.S. News & World Report, Stein, in a purported attempt to ensure the school was prepared for the release of the rankings, drafted two letters from the “Dean” — one to send out to students, alumni and faculty if the school moved up in the rankings, and another letter to send if it got bumped down.
Here’s an excerpt from the “winning” letter:
We are very happy to announce that we have moved up one place in this year’s U.S. News & World Report’s “Ultimate Guide to Law Schools.” While we all understand that rankings such as these are based on a somewhat arbitrary formula, the rankings nonetheless recognize that the foundation of this law school, its faculty, its alumni, its staff, its physical plant, and, above all, its fine students keeps getting stronger. . . .The number of our graduates employed nine months after graduation increased by 0.4 percent, and we owe thanks to our fine office of career services.
And from the “losing” letter:
I know you understand that the U.S. News formula, though it focuses on many of the important attributes of a fine law school, combines and weighs them in a manner that most lawyers and law deans find to be arbitrary. For example, did you know that the number of our law graduates employed nine months after their graduation this year was only two less than the similar number employed at the same time last year, a phenomenal accomplishment for our career services office during the beginnings of an economic slump?
WSJ Law Blog April 7, 2008
(See letters as printed in Chicago Tribune): http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0406rankingsapr06,0,3372512.story

ebullient (i-BUL-yuhnt, -BOOL-) adjective
Bubbling with enthusiasm or excitement.
[From Latin ebullire (to boil up), from bulla (bubble).]
A.Word.A.Day

Not in my lifetime
When I saw the Danube River, all brown and straightened by engineers, I asked our Vienna tour guide, if the Danube had ever been blue. He said: “Not in my lifetime.”


THEY COME AND THEY GO
by Martha Esbin

The moles are munching, marching, munching
They come, grabbing grubs and slugs, polishing them off, aerating the soil.
Trails of raised tunnels track their progress.
The mounds slip down gradually.
The moles are munching, marching, munching.
They go, to continue their good work.


Moles are from a group of mammals called Insectivores (Order Insectivora). As the name implies, moles eat insects and their larvae, including grubs and slugs, and they are a beneficial source of insect control for lawns and gardens. Moles are one of the most subterranean of mammals; they are rarely seen, spending much of their life underground. Distinctive mounds of soft earth, most common during wet weather, are pushed up as the moles make their tunnels. These mounds usually indicate the presence of moles, which in turn, usually indicates the presence of subterranean insects.
http://www.flora.org/healthyottawa/toxin-free.htm




April 8 birthdays
It's the birthday of lyricist (Edgar) Yip Harburg, born in New York City (1896). He's best known as the man who wrote the lyrics and much of the script for The Wizard of Oz (1939). He also wrote songs such as "April in Paris" and "It's Only a Paper Moon."
It's the birthday of novelist Barbara Kingsolver, (books by this author) born in Annapolis, Maryland (1955). She grew up in rural Kentucky, where she spent her childhood exploring the alfalfa fields and wooded hills surrounding her home. She started keeping a journal when she was eight years old and has continued to do so her entire life.
The Writer’s Almanac

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com