What happened in Judge Gerber's courtroom on Day 1 of GM Bankruptcy? For the most part, it received filings. Lots of filings. Click here for the WSJ's Jeffrey McCracken on those; here for the New York Law Journal's report on the so-called “first-day hearings,” which didn't get rolling until the late afternoon. The AmLaw Daily's Julie Triedman writes that “crankiness” was the emotion of the day. According to the NYLJ: About 110 lawyers filled the benches and lined the walls in a stifling hot courtroom before Southern District Bankruptcy Judge Robert E. Gerber yesterday afternoon to get the ball rolling . . . Reporters crowded into overflow rooms. WSJ Law Blog June 2, 2009

According to “Secrecy 101,” a two-part series in the Columbus Dispatch, officials at many schools are working just as hard to keep information from the public.
Specifically, the series argues, colleges around the country are intentionally twisting the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a law passed in 1974 largely designed to keep students' grades private. According to the Dispatch stories, schools are instead using the law to hide information that could hurt the integrity of the schools and their athletic programs. (Click here for the first part of the series, which discusses Ohio State University's efforts to use FERPA as a shield. The second, here, takes more of a nationwide look at a handful of other schools.) WSJ Law Blog June 3, 2009

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (Reuters) - The Organization of American States lifted its suspension of Cuba on June 3, opening the door for the communist-run island to return to the regional group after 47 years. The 34-member hemispheric body, meeting in Honduras, unanimously scrapped a 1962 decision that suspended Cuba as Fidel Castro's revolution took the island toward communism and an alliance with the Soviet Union.
http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed1/idUSTRE5526KJ20090603

Google Inc. said it plans to launch a program that will let publishers sell digital versions of their books directly to consumers, a step that would thrust the Internet search giant into competition with e-commerce leader Amazon.com Inc. Google said it aims to build a "digital book ecosystem" to allow partner publishers to sell access to their titles, even if buyers don't have dedicated book readers such as Amazon's Kindle or Sony Corp.'s Reader. The service was expected to launch by the end of this year. Separately, Amazon said that it will launch its large-screen Kindle DX reader on June 10, earlier than initially expected. Google could prove to be a significant challenger for Amazon, which sells e-books specifically formatted to work with its proprietary Kindle. A key
difference would be that the search giant aims to let Google Book Search users
"buy access" to copyrighted books with any Web-enabled computer, e-reader or
mobile phone. Google said it would allow publishers to set their own prices, although the
company reserved the right to discount titles at its own expense. Amazon typically charges consumers $9.99 per e-book, far below hardcover prices reaching about $26. Google said it was still in talks with publishers and specific details of is project remain to be determined. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124395511580877123.html

Among the things that Bill Marler feels passionately about are Washington State University (his alma mater), food safety and negotiation. So after he heard about a dustup on campus over the cancellation of a program requiring all freshmen to read the same book—Michael Pollan’s double-fisted examination of agribusiness, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”—he stepped in to resolve it. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/books/29poll.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

The earliest recorded closure is the cork, which was created by the ancient Greeks circa 600 BC. Read the purpose, history and manufacture of closures at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closures

Doctors have issued a warning about excessive cola consumption after noticing an increase in the number of patients suffering from muscle problems, according to the June issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice. “Evidence is increasing to suggest that excessive cola consumption can also lead to hypokalaemia, in which the blood potassium levels fall, causing an adverse effect on vital muscle functions.” http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090519075420.htm

Tidbits from Encore Provence by Peter Mayle
Designed by Pierre Puget and built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, is one of Marseille’s most elegant survivors, the rosy stone mass of the Vielle Charité. There is something about architecture on the grand scale that tends to subdue human speech . . .
La Marseillaise was actually composed in Strasbourg as the battle song of the army of the Rhine. It was taken up and sung by five hundred volunteers from Marseille who were marching to Paris.
Régis had decided that we should exercise our palates—the only form of exercise he ever takes willingly . . .
France has roughly the same population as Britain, but the inhabitants are spread over three times the land area . . .
Laughter is the best background music.

The first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded on June 4, 1917. Ten facts about the prizes:
1. They're announced each year in April and then awarded at Columbia University in May, during a luncheon at the campus library.
2. Each Pulitzer Prize winner receives a $10,000 award and a certificate, except in the Public Service category, where the winner is given a gold medal. Only a newspaper, not an individual, can receive the Public Service prize for journalism.
3. There are 21 Pulitzer categories. Two-thirds of the prizes (14) revolve around journalism. There are six for letters and drama (fiction, drama, history, biography, poetry, and general nonfiction), and there is one prize given for music.
4. The Pulitzer Prize for fiction used to be called the Pulitzer Prize for the novel. The name was changed in 1948.
5. Poet Robert Frost won the Pulitzer Prize four times. Playwright Eugene O'Neill also won four Pulitzer Prizes.
6. The Pulitzer Prize is a very American award. Only U.S. citizens are eligible for the non-journalism Prizes. The exception to this is in the history category: a non-American can win the Pulitzer Prize if he or she wrote a book about the history of the United States. Foreign journalists can win Pulitzers if they write for a newspaper published in the United States.
7. The New York Times holds the all-time record for number of Pulitzer Prizes received. The paper has collectively won 101 Pulitzers.
8. Newspapers generally nominate themselves for Pulitzer Prizes. The fee for each entry is $50, and the material that the newspaper wants the prize board to consider must be accompanied by an entry form. An entry has to fit into one of the 21 categories; it can't be submitted on the grounds that it is just generally good. To be eligible, a paper must be published in the U.S. at least weekly.
9. In 2009, for the first time, online-only news organizations were eligible for the Pulitzer. Before, it was restricted to print publications.
10. Decisions about prize winners are made by the Pulitzer board in secret. Afterward, the board does not publicly discuss or defend its decisions.
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