On October 27, the Hawaii Supreme Court dismissed the last claim seeking a permanent ban on the sale of lands ceded by the former monarchy. Claims were originally filed by four members of the Native Hawaiians and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) in order to prevent the sale of 1.2 million acres of land. Three of the four Native Hawaiian defendants and OHA reached a compromise [Honolulu Advertiser report] with the state that would require approval by two-thirds of both houses of the state legislature before any of the ceded lands could be sold. http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2009/10/hawaii-supreme-court-dismisses-final.php

PBS aired a film (on October 28 in Toledo) based on Michael Pollan’s “The Botany of Desire” that explores four of the most important plants in human history. The film measures their success by their ability to meet our desires for sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control. Interestingly, I had checked our public library the same day and found that all copies of the book were either checked out, in transit or missing.

How Many Energy Vampires are in your House? — Oct 26, 2009: "Energy vampires are things in your house that consume electricity all of the time, even when they are turned off or not being used. TVs, VCRs, DVD players, computers/printers, stereos, microwaves, coffee machines, washers/dryers, rechargeable power tools, and many others are the everyday secret users of vampire energy. You think you have turned them off, but they are still running."

FTC Proposes New Light Bulb Labels, Seeks Public Comments
News release: "The FTC has proposed new labeling requirements for “lamps,” commonly known as light bulbs, in response to a congressional mandate. The marketplace has been changing quickly with the emergence of newer, more energy-efficient technologies—such as compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs and light-emitting diode (LED) products—as traditional incandescent bulbs are phased out. The proposed labels provide consumers with clear, easily understandable information to help them choose among different bulb types. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking announced today seeks comment on new labels that emphasize lumens, not watts, as the measure of bulb brightness. This information, along with estimated energy cost information, would appear on the front of the light bulb package. The back of the package would display a “Lighting Facts” label modeled after the “Nutrition Facts” label for food packages. The Lighting Facts label would provide information about brightness, energy cost, the bulb’s expected life, color temperature (for example, whether the bulb provides “warm” or “cool” light), as well as wattage. The label also would require disclosures for bulbs containing mercury. The bulb’s output in lumens—and a mercury disclosure for bulbs that contain mercury—would also have to be placed on the bulb itself."

President Obama Announces $3.4 Billion for Smart Grid
News release: Speaking at Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, President Barack Obama announced the largest single energy grid modernization investment in U.S. history, funding a broad range of technologies that will spur the nation’s transition to a smarter, stronger, more efficient and reliable electric system. The end result will promote energy-saving choices for consumers, increase efficiency, and foster the growth of renewable energy sources like wind and solar. The $3.4 billion in grant awards are part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, and will be matched by industry funding for a total public-private investment worth over $8 billion. Applicants state that the projects will create tens of thousands of jobs, and consumers in 49 states will benefit from these investments in a stronger, more reliable grid. Full listings of the grant awards by category and state are available HERE and HERE. A map of the awards is available HERE.

Occupations of old
reeve manager or foreman of a manor
franklin landowner of free but not noble birth
summoner official who served summonses for an ecclesiastical court
http://www.ronaldecker.com/glossary.htm

Reeve, franklin and summoner appeared in The Canterbury Tales
Chaucer never completed The Canterbury Tales. He left behind sections of the story without clearly showing his intentions for an overall order. However, most of the tales appear in ten constant groups (called fragments). http://web.cn.edu/KWHEELER/documents/Bradshaw_Shift.pdf


MORE ABOUT GUERNSEY
Victor Hugo was one of the most famous people to have lived in Guernsey while he was exiled from his homeland. http://www.bbc.co.uk/guernsey/content/articles/2004/09/20/victor_hugo_timeline_feature.shtml
Other profiles of people who lived in Guernsey http://www.bbc.co.uk/guernsey/people/profiles/

On the trail of the potato peel pie Following the success of the book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society a group of fans won the chance to visit Guernsey in October 2009. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, first published in 2008, takes a look into the lives of Guernsey people following the German Occupation during the Second World War focusing on a series of fictional letters between a Guernsey farmer and an author in the UK.
Soon after its release the book received a very positive reaction from both readers and critics, particularly in the USA and UK. This led to Visit Guernsey contacting the publishers and organising a competition for readers to get the chance to visit Guernsey.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guernsey/content/articles/2009/10/05/potato_peel_pie_society_visitors_feature.shtml

Annie Barrows, niece of Mary Ann Shaffer, finished the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society for her ailing aunt. In the afterword to the book, she describes Mary Anne Shaffer as a woman of lustrous language and as one who “could no more endure a day without reading than she could grow feathers.” In 1980, Shaffer was in the Guernsey airport bookshop which had many writings on the occupation of the island by Germans during World War II. She left with an armload of books, and twenty years later began
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

Discovered by Ponce de Leon in 1513, the Dry Tortugas were named after the large population of sea turtles living in the island’s surrounding waters. “Tortugas” means turtles in Spanish, and Ponce de Leon himself caught over 100 sea turtles during his time on the island. The name “Dry” Tortugas was later given to the island to indicate to other mariners that the land mass lacked fresh water, which was an extremely important detail for seafarers to know. http://www.yankeefreedom.com/dry-tortugas.htm
The Dry Tortugas are a cluster of seven islands about 70 miles west of Key West, Florida. Fort Jefferson, one of the largest coastal forts ever built, is a central feature. U.S. military attention was drawn to the keys in the early 1800's due to their strategic location in the Florida Straits. Plans were made for a massive fortress and construction began in 1846, but the fort was never completed. As the military value of Fort Jefferson waned, its pristine reefs, abundant sea life and impressive numbers of birds grew in value. In 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt set aside Fort Jefferson and the surrounding waters as a national monument. The area was redesignated as Dry Tortugas National Park in 1992 to protect both the historical and natural features.
http://drytortugas.areaparks.com/

Channel Islands National Park, close to the California mainland, encompasses five remarkable islands (Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara) and their ocean environment, preserving and protecting a wealth of natural and cultural resources. The Channel Islands are home to over 2,000 terrestrial plants and animals, of which 145 are found nowhere else in the world. http://www.nps.gov/chis/index.htm

Channel Islands, just off the coast of France on the edge of the English Channel, a British Crown dependency since 1066, are fiercely independent and justifiably proud of their history and traditions. This popular tourist destination is also an attractive offshore tax haven (for many companies), and as a result, the islands have a thriving financial industry. http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/channel.htm
Flags of the four Channel Islands
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/flags/countrys/europe/channel.htm

World atlas Find current time, maps, flags, rivers, hemispheres, latitudes & longitudes, distances and more at: http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/world.htm