Census Bureau - Voter Turnout Increases by 5 Million in 2008 Presidential Election
News release: "About 131 million people reported voting in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, an increase of 5 million from 2004, according to a new table package released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. The increase included about 2 million more black voters, 2 million more Hispanic voters and about 600,000 more Asian voters, while the number of non-Hispanic white voters remained statistically unchanged. Additionally, voters 18 to 24 were the only age group to show a statistically significant increase in turnout, reaching 49 percent in 2008 compared with 47 percent in 2004. Blacks had the highest turnout rate among 18- to 24-year-old voters—55 percent, an 8 percent increase from 2004. The increased turnout among certain demographic groups was offset by stagnant or decreased turnout among other groups, causing overall 2008 voter turnout to remain statistically unchanged—at 64 percent—from 2004."
The table package, Voting and Registration in the Election of 2008, examines the levels of voting and registration in the November 2008 presidential election, the demographic characteristics of citizens who reported that they were registered for or voted in the election, and the reasons why registered voters did not vote."

Silent letters
Architect, archive, numb, honest

The grandfather of President Abraham Lincoln, also named Abraham Lincoln, was a captain of Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War. http://www.ancestry.com/trees/fft/indiv.aspx?t=1&n=I1&o_iid=831&o_lid=831&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0

Characters from Greek and Roman mythology whose names live on in English
Hector/Hektor
Mentor
Narcissus
Tantalus
Vulcan
http://wordcraft.infopop.cc/eponyms.htm

Recommended by Pennsylvania reader:
Miss Zukas mysteries—11 so far in the series about a librarian sleuth
http://www.jodereske.com/
Miss Julia mysteries—9 so far in the series about a proper lady of a certain age
http://www.booksnbytes.com/authors/ross_annb.html

Two major arbitration firms are backing away from the business of resolving disputes between customers and their credit-card and cellphone companies, throwing into disarray a controversial system that prevents unhappy consumers from filing lawsuits. Click here for the WSJ story. The American Arbitration Association said on July 21 it will stop participating in consumer-debt-collection disputes until new guidelines are established. Its decision came two days after another big group, the National Arbitration Forum, said it would stop accepting new cases as of Friday.
Although arbitration long has been controversial, the current situation developed rapidly starting last week when the Minnesota attorney general's office sued the National Arbitration Forum over the way it handled disputes. Among other things, the lawsuit contended that NAF didn't disclose that it has financial ties to the debt-collection industry, violating Minnesota laws against consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices and false advertising. Click here and here for earlier blog posts.
Opening this morning's LA Times, we were greeted with news of yet another Establishment Clause challenge, this one over congressional efforts to etch the words “In God We Trust” into a $621-million visitors center which opened last year at the U.S. Capitol. According to the story, when the center opened, a number of lawmakers were surprised not to see the four words on the walls of the complex. So Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA), introduced legislation to get the words, along with the Pledge of Allegiance, etched into the complex's walls. A lawsuit followed. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based group that describes itself as a national organization of atheists and agnostics, asserts that such an action would violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.
Jackson Browne/John McCain lawsuit: We figured the dustup--in which Browne sued the McCain campaign for using his 1977 hit “Running on Empty” in a campaign advertisement without first obtaining permission--would end with a secret settlement in which handshakes and an apology were made, along with an agreement never to make mention of the suit again. The lawsuit has indeed settled. And, courtesy of the Washington Post, we have some details. Under the terms of the settlement, McCain, the Republican National Committee and the Ohio Republican Party jointly settled the lawsuit. They paid an undisclosed sum, and issued a statement Tuesday saying: “We apologize that a portion of the Jackson Browne song 'Running On Empty' was used without permission. Although Senator McCain had no knowledge of, or involvement in, the creation or distribution of the Web campaign video, Senator McCain does not support or condone any actions taken by anyone involved in his 2008 presidential election campaign that were inconsistent with artists' rights or the various legal protections afforded to intellectual property.”
WSJ Law Blog July 22, 2009