FTC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on changes to existing labeling requirements for light bulbs
"In accordance with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-140) (“EISA”), the Commission has considered the effectiveness of current requirements and alternative approaches for labeling lamps, commonly referred to as light bulbs. After reviewing public comments and conducting consumer research, the Commission now proposes amendments to the Appliance Labeling Rule (16 CFR Part 305) that would require light bulb packages to display brightness and energy cost information on the front panel and a detailed “Lighting Facts” label on the side or rear. The proposed amendments also would require certain disclosures on the bulbs. These new labeling requirements should help consumers choose energy efficient bulbs that meet their lighting needs. The Commission seeks comments on these proposed changes."

House Report 111-330, to accompany H. Res. 903 RH - The rule providing for consideration of H.R. 3962, Affordable Health Care for America Act, contains a summary of the amendment, the Common Sense Health Care Reform and Affordability Act.

U.S. EPA Makes Available Data on Compliance with Hazardous Waste, Air Regulations News release: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new information on EPA and state enforcement of hazardous waste and air regulations. In addition, the EPA posted data that allows the public, for the first time, to compare toxic releases with compliance data from facilities.
More information on RCRA data
More information on CAA data

Website Provides Data on Cellular Reception Throughout U.S. "GotReception was created in response to a major issue plaguing millions of cellular consumers, unsatisfactory service. This issue is compounded by the fact that the cellular industry ranks lowest in terms of customer satisfaction...With GotReception, anyone can search to see which carrier has the best ratings in their area. People can also share their experiences with others by posting their own rating for their carrier" [AT&T, Sprint, Nextel, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless]. Map data includes: Consumer reviews, Cell towers, Buildings, Dealers.

List of all magazines now available in Google Books
Jeffrey Peng, Software Engineer, Google Books, a software engineer on Google Books: "One of my main projects is adding magazine content and features to the site. In September we were excited to announce the availability of over 1,860 issues of the iconic LIFE magazine on Google Books. One of the feature requests that I got from friends and family was to add a way to browse all the magazines available...I'm happy to announce that last week I coded up a page on Google Books that lets you browse the available magazine titles. You can view the page here."

The Rock-Bottom Remainders is a rock and roll band consisting of published writers, most of them both amateur musicians and popular English-language book, magazine, and newspaper authors. The band took its self-mocking name from the publishing term remaindered book, a work for which the unsold remainder of the publisher's stock of copies is sold at a reduced price. The band members include Dave Barry, Stephen King, Amy Tan, Maya Angelou, Cynthia Heimel, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Sam Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Joel Selvin, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Barbara Kingsolver, Robert Fulghum, Matt Groening, Tad Bartimus, Greg Iles, as well as ringers Josh Kelly on drums, and Erasmo Paulo on saxophone. The original band members collaborated on a book about the band, Mid-Life Confidential. Musical zelig and published author Al Kooper also was a member for some time. The Remainders were founded by Kathi Kamen Goldmark in the early 1990s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Bottom_Remainders

Veni, vidi, vici. I came, I saw, I conquered. Julius Caesar 47 B.C.
advent noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin adventus, from Latin adventus, past participle of advenire to arrive, from ad- + venire to come 12th century
ad•ven•ture noun
Etymology: Middle English aventure, chance, risk, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *adventura, from Latin adventus, past participle of advenire to arrive, from ad- + venire to come 14th century
event noun
Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin eventus, from evenire to happen, from e- + venire to come 1549

Macy’s history, part 3 Fred Lazarus, the retailing legend and president of F&R Lazarus, became concerned in 1939 upon realizing that Thanksgiving would fall on the last day of November. This meant fewer shopping days in the coveted holiday shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a circumstance that could push many retailers from the black to the red. Mr. Fred, as he came to be called, proposed a brazen solution when he suggested to President Roosevelt that in the future, Thanksgiving be anchored to the fourth Thursday in November. The President supported this proposition, and within two years it passed through Congress into law. http://www.macysinc.com/pressroom/history/
Note that companies and special interest groups influence our government as illustrated by Thanksgiving being set on the fourth Thursday with the prodding of Fred Lazarus.

On November 11, 1620, 41 Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, creating a civil government for Plymouth Colony.
On November 11, 1918 at 11:00 AM, the Allied Powers signed an armistice with Germany, ending World War I. Armistice Day is marked every year in Europe on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" by two minutes of silence.
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/thisday/
On November 12, 1954 Ellis Island officially closed. More than 12 million immigrants had passed through the island since it opened in 1892. Today, about 40 percent of Americans can trace their roots back to Ellis Island.
November 12 is the birthday of writer Tracy Kidder, (books by this author) born in New York in 1945. He served as a lieutenant in the Vietnam War, and when he came home, all he wanted to do was write. So he started writing nonfiction, and he's the author of The Soul of a New Machine (1981), Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003), and many more books. His most recent is Strength in What Remains, which came out earlier this year, the story of Deo, a young Tutsi medical student who survived the genocide in Burundi and Rwanda and moved to New York. He said, "You can write about anything, and if you write well enough, even the reader with no intrinsic interest in the subject will become involved." The Writer’s Almanac