Six Finalists for The Best of the National Book Awards Fiction were selected by 140 writers from across the country. Between September 21th and October 21st the public will vote on the Foundation’s web site (one vote per email address). Each unique email address will be entered into a sweepstakes for two free tickets to the National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner on November 18 and two nights in the Marriott Hotel near Wall Street. Click on one of the circles at: http://www.nationalbook.org/nbafictionpoll.html and then click on the submit button.


The Stories of John Cheever

Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

The Collected Stories of William Faulkner

The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor

Gravity's Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon

The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty


A Toledo muse reader has recently returned from Philadelphia where she enjoyed a 70-minute ride on an amphibious vehicle around historic sites on land and on the Delaware River. Read about it at: http://www.phillyducks.com/tour-boarding-locations/

The Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS) in Adelaide, Australia says it is worrying that two girls lost in a stormwater drain raised the alert on a social networking site rather than calling for emergency help. The 10- and 12-year-old girls updated a Facebook status to say they were lost in a drain on Honeypot Road at Hackham in Adelaide's southern suburbs on September 6. Professor of Media and Communications at the Queensland University of Technology, Terry Flew, says public education campaigns are facing an ongoing struggle to compete with social media. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/07/2678945.htm

When engaging in social media at work err on the side of caution and read company guidelines to avoid being slapped with a lawsuit. Employers should:
1. Make clear what’s acceptable in the office.
2. If you’re encouraging staffers to tweet, blog, etc. as part of their jobs, have specific guidelines.
3. Understand privacy issues.
4. Don’t be an open book.
5. Make sure that what your company puts out there is ready for public consumption.
6. Protect yourself from defamation or defamation claims, the most common risks of using social media.
7. Realize that you don’t have total control.
8. Understand the consequences.
For more information, see: http://www.portfolio.com/resources/2009/08/20/legal-pifalls-to-avoid-in-social-media/

Some of the winners in The Week magazine’s contest asking readers to invent a new word describing a common multitasking activity.
Crashing: Driving while texting
Droning: Driving while phoning
Teleshirking: doing anything other than working from home while working from home.
Brakefasting: driving while eating cereal

The AcousticEcology.org News Digest contains the latest information on the full range of sound issues and research. Here you'll find issues updates and recent news items, drawn from a wide range of sources, including both science and general interest press from around the world, as well as alerts from environmental organizations. http://www.acousticecology.org/news.html

On July 3, 1979, U.S. President Carter signed a presidential finding authorizing funding for anticommunist guerrillas in Afghanistan.[3] After the Soviet invasion in December 1979, Carter announced what became known as the Carter Doctrine: that the U.S. would not allow any other outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf. He terminated the Russian Wheat Deal, which was intended to establish trade with USSR and lessen Cold War tensions. The grain exports had been beneficial to people employed in agriculture, and the Carter embargo marked the beginning of hardship for American farmers. He also prohibited Americans from participating in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and reinstated registration for the draft for young males. The Soviet troops completely pulled out of Afghanistan on February 15, 1989. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone
In his February 6, 1985, State of the Union message, President Ronald Reagan called for support of anti-Communist forces "from Afghanistan to Nicaragua" and proclaimed that "support for freedom fighters is self-defense." Seizing on this passage, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer announced what came to be known as "the Reagan Doctrine." In Krauthammer's words, this was a policy of "democratic militance" that "proclaims overt and unabashed support for anti-Communist revolution." But Reagan pursued this doctrine selectively. Apart from Afghanistan, which was a bipartisan affair, Reagan tried to roll back Communism only in Nicaragua, and to a limited degree in Angola, where Cuban troops were trying to impose Marxist rule. Apart from these examples, Reagan usually followed State Department guidance in dealing with most world trouble spots and continued policies that were already in place. The unpopular war in Afghanistan was a bleeding sore, and the Soviets privately told the United States that they intended to remove their troops from Afghanistan before the end of Reagan's term. http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/reagan/essays/biography/5
Texas representative Wilson and the war:
November-December 1982: Rep. Charlie Wilson Pushes for Expansion of US Support for Anti-Soviet Forces in Afghanistan
1983: Rep. Charlie Wilson Brokers Weapons Sale Between Pakistan and Israel for Use in Afghan War
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=western_support_for_islamic_militancy_2054#western_support_for_islamic_militancy_2054

Iowa Pork Chops Supreme
6 pork chops
1 cup catsup
6 tbsp. honey
1 large lemon, sliced
Wipe chops with damp paper towel. Blend catsup and honey and pour over each chop. Top with lemon slices. Bake uncovered at 325 degrees one hour or until done.
Note: Chicken, veal, or turkey may be substituted for pork.
Lime or orange slices may be substituted for lemon.

On September 23, 1905, negotiations on the Karlstad Treaty ended with an agreement to split the union of Sweden and Norway. The accord was then approved by Norway's parliament on October 9 and by Sweden's on October 13. http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/thisday/
On September 23, 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (books by this author) returned to St. Louis from their westward expedition to the Pacific Coast. They carried with them the first tentative maps of the American West and the most detailed journals ever kept of an exploratory expedition, with notes on the events of every single day of their journey. Their report of what they discovered filled Americans with excitement about the West and launched a flood of expansion across the newly purchased Louisiana Territory.
September 23 is the birthday of Ray Charles, born Ray Charles Robinson in Albany, Georgia (1930). They called him the "Father of Soul." The Writer’s Almanac