The second presidential debate, from Belmont University in Nashville, starts at 9 p.m. ET October 7. Unlike the other two debates, audience members will determine the topics. Candidates will have 2 minutes each to answer, followed by a minute of discussion for each question. The audience will include 80 to 120 undecided voters identified by the Gallup Organization from more than 1.5 million people in the Nashville area. Moderator Tom Brokaw of NBC News will select the people who will ask the questions.

The three parties involved in the Wachovia litigation—Wachovia, Citigroup and Wells Fargo—have agreed to halt all litigation activity until noon Wednesday, October 8. Lawyers are waging a three-front battle.
New York State Court: On Saturday, Judge Charles Ramos granted Citi’s request to extend the “exclusivity agreement” between Citi and Wachovia, an order which was later shot down by the appellate division. In an order dated Sunday, Judge Ramos issued an order essentially stating that, regardless of the appellate court’s decision, the hearing would go forward. For now, it’s scheduled for Friday Oct. 10 at 11 a.m.
In the meantime, the complaint filed against Wachovia and Wells Fargo reached the public’s hands earlier Monday. Citi seeks some $60 billion in damages from the two companies and their directors. Click here for the WSJ story; here for the NYT story.
New York Federal Court: On Saturday afternoon, Wachovia filed its own suit against Citi in New York federal court asking for a preliminary injunction to keep Citi from getting in the way of the Wachovia/Wells Fargo deal. They rely, in part, on section 126(c) of the newly passed Bailout Bill, which, Wachovia argues, undoes some of the force of the exclusivity agreement. Judge Lewis Kaplan, of KPMG fame, has the case. He’s scheduled a hearing for Tuesday at 2 p.m. in his lower-Manhattan courtroom.
Mecklenberg County, North Carolina: Further complicating matters is a ruling made Sunday night by a judge in Mecklenberg County, N.C. Wachovia shareholders filed a putative class action against Citi, asking judge Robert Johnston to enjoin Citi from enforcing the exclusivity agreement. On Sunday, Judge Johnston granted the motion. Here’s the story from the Charlotte News & Observer.
WSJ Law Blog October 6, 2008

100 Incredibly Useful and Interesting Web sites according to PCWorld
http://www.pcworld.com/article/151769/100_web_sitesthe_alphabetical_list.html

Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades: The Second Biennial Review, 2008, Committee on Independent Scientific Review of Everglades Restoration Progress, National Research Council
The Committee on Independent Scientific Review of Everglades Restoration Progress (CISRERP) was established in 2004 in response to a request from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), with support from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), based on Congress’s mandate in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (WRDA 2000). The committee is charged to submit biennial reports that review the CERP’s progress in restoring the natural system. In periods of restricted funding and limited capability to move forward on many fronts, the ability to set priorities and implement them is critical. Much good science has been developed to support the restoration efforts, and the foundations of adaptive management have been established to support the CERP. To avert further declines, CERP planners should address major project planning and authorization hurdles and move forward expeditiously with projects that have the most potential for contributing to natural system restoration progress in the South Florida ecosystem.

Medical mystery
An Australian woman whose eyes clamp shut for three days at a time--then open up for the next three--has baffled specialists. Natalie Adler, 21, has been locked in the extraordinary routine for four years. Doctors believe she may be the only person in the world with her condition. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24413990-2,00.html

“The cities that Libbey built” Toledo and Ojai
Edward Drummond Libbey was largely responsible for transforming Toledo, Ohio into the glass-manufacturing capital of the world. He was also a major force in the creation of The Toledo Museum of Art, served as its first president, and bequeathed his collection of Dutch and English art to it.
Libbey spent winters in Ojai (O-hi) California before moving there permanently in 1917. He helped design, finance and build a new downtown there, and these buildings still stand. He built a park and gave it to the people of Ojai, and Libbey Park is home to the oldest continuously held tennis tournament in the world. Ojai citizens proposed a celebration to take place March 2 each year as a way of thanking Libbey for his gifts. He declined their offer to call it “Libbey Day” and suggested “Ojai Day” instead. The celebration now takes place in October, much of it around the Libbey Bowl amphitheater.
In Toledo Magazine October 2008

The Ojai tennis tournament is played on over 100 courts at over 30 locations throughout western Ventura County in California. 2008 is the 109th tournament.
http://www.ojaitourney.org/locations.shtml