Quaker organization posts English translation of U.S.-Iraq military agreement
Source: American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), an international peace and social justice organization, has posted the first public English translation of the latest status of forces agreement between the U.S and Iraqi administrations on its web site. If ratified in Iraq, the agreement would permit U.S. troops to remain the country once the United Nations mandate ends this year and may begin the process of establishing permanent U.S. military bases there. Full Document (PDF; 182 KB)

New GAO Report (PDFs)
Source: Government Accountability Office
1. Federal Energy Management: Agencies Are Acquiring Alternative Fuel Vehicles but Face Challenges in Meeting Other Fleet Objectives
Highlights ||| Full Report

A draft 'Applicant Guidebook' for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), is now available for review and comment at http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-comments-en.htm. The draft Guidebook provides information for those interested in applying for new generic top-level domains. "Since ICANN was founded 10 years ago, one of the foundational principles has been to support competition and consumer choice in generic top-level domains. That competition is meant to promote innovation and enhance user choice and satisfaction" said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN's President and Chief Executive Officer.

Every year, public libraries and schools across the country field hundreds of requests from parents, public officials and activists pressing for the removal of books they deem inappropriate. That includes literary classics, human sexuality manuals and, occasionally, even the dictionary, according to the American Library Association. ALA has logged more than 9,600 requests to remove books from library shelves, summer reading lists and school classrooms since 1990. A sortable list of challenged books, 2003–2008 is at the following link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-10-22-challengedbooks_N.htm

barrack (BAR-uhk, the first syllable is the same as in barrel)
verb tr., intr.: 1. To shout in support: to cheer 2. To shout against: to jeer
noun: A building used to house soldiers.
The verb sense of the word is perhaps from Northern Ireland dialectal barrack (to brag).
The noun sense is from French baraque, from Italian baracca or Spanish barraca (hut, tent). A.Word.A.Day

According to Tarot historian Tom Tadfor Little, traditional playing cards were first seen in Europe in 1375, having been brought over from the Islamic societies where they had been used for centuries before that. It appears that the first Tarot decks were created as a game. There were four suits with cards numbered one through ten and also court cards that included a queen, king, knight and page. The deck also included 22 symbolic picture cards that did not belong to any suit. The decks were used to play a game called triumph that was similar to bridge. In triumph, 21 of the 22 special picture cards were permanent trump cards. The game spread quickly to all parts of Europe. People began referring to as tarocchi, which is an Italian version of the French word tarot, around 1530. In 1781, in France and England, followers of the occult discovered Tarot cards. They saw the symbolic pictures of the cards as having more meaning than the simple trump cards they were used for at the time. They used the cards as a divination tool, and occult writers wrote about "the Tarot." http://science.howstuffworks.com/tarot-card6.htm

The Erie Canal opened on October 26, 1825. It was built to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes. The canal was 360 miles long, 40 feet wide, and four feet deep—just deep enough to float barges carrying 30 tons of freight. When the canal was finished, cannons were lined up along the towpath just barely in earshot of each other. They fired one after another from Lake Erie to New York City, finishing the relay in 81 minutes. The Writer’s Almanac