The National Law Journal has published its annual ranking of schools based on which sent the highest percentage of graduates to first-year jobs at the country's largest firms. Forget faculty-student ratios, student satisfaction, a school's reputation or any other measure of greatness. What counts most these days is a school's ability to deliver the bacon.
Here are the Top 10 in the NLJ ranking followed by the percentage of grads who landed first-year positions at the nation's largest firms.
1. Northwestern University School of Law - 55.9 percent
2. Columbia Law School - 54.4 percent
3. Stanford Law School - 54.1 percent
4. University of Chicago Law School - 53.1 percent
5. University of Virginia School of Law - 52.8 percent
6. University of Michigan Law School - 51 percent
7. University of Pennsylvania Law School - 50.8 percent
8. New York University School of Law - 50.1
9. UC Berkeley School of Law - 50 percent
10. Duke Law School - 49.8 percent
WSJ Law Blog February 22, 2010

GPO and Cornell University Law School Open Government Initiative Project
News release: The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and Cornell University Law School are beginning a year-long pilot project to evaluate a conversion process of The Code of Federal Regulations(CFR) in XML (extensible markup language) format. The CFR is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government. The Cornell Legal Information Institute will convert various titles into XML and place them on the university’s Web site for students to research. GPO and Cornell will apply lessons learned from this pilot project and share the information with members of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) to find ways of providing the public openness to government documents...GPO recently announced the conversion of the CFR into XML and placed online at GPO’s Federal Digital System and the Government’s site for Government data. Initially the CFR’s from 2007 to present are available and those dating back to 2000 will be added over the next few months.

Google Book Search Legal Saga Continues in NY District Court
Follow up to postings on Google Book Search resources and related litigation, the latest news from The Laboratorium - GBS: Fairness Hearing Report [held February 18, 2010, U.s. District Court, Southern District of New York], with Part I here and Part II here. These report cover the arguments of settlement supporters and opponents; and the arguments made by the Department of Justice and the parties, along with a few brief comments of Law Professor James Grimmelmann.

EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
News release: "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has released an action plan to guide the Obama Administration’s historic efforts to restore the Great Lakes . The action plan, which the administrator unveiled at a Sunday meeting with governors from the Great Lakes states, lays out the most urgent threats facing the Great Lakes and sets out goals, objectives and key actions over the next five years to help restore the lakes."
• FY2010 – FY2014 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan

Q. What is the longest river in Europe?
A. The Volga [Russia] is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. Longest river in EU is Danube [Germany-Black Sea] River Volga empties into the Caspian sea. Its basin forms about one third of European Russia. It rises in the Valday Hills with an altitude of 742 ft (226m), flows eastwards. Oka, Sura, Vetluga, Kama, and Samara are its major tributaries. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_longest_river_in_Europe
John Charles Olmsted (1852-1920), the nephew and adopted son of Frederick Law Olmsted, was an American landscape architect. With his brother, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., he founded Olmsted Brothers, a landscape design firm in Brookline, Massachusetts. The firm is famous for designing many public places, including Central Park. John Olmsted's body of work from over 40 years as a landscape architect has left its mark on the American urban landscape. John Olmsted continued the park planning begun by his father. He carried his design philosophy of integrated park systems into new cities such as Portland, Maine; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Spokane, Dayton, and Charleston. In these cities, he pioneered his comprehensive planning philosophy of integrating civic buildings, roads, parks, and greenspaces into livable urban areas. Olmsted also designed individual parks in New Orleans, Watertown, New York; and Chicago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Charles_Olmsted
Recipes from Saveur, Special Issue "Los Angeles"
http://www.saveur.com/in_this_issue.jsp?issueId=201002
includes Korean Fried Chicken, Cobb Salad, Beet and Goat Cheese Napoleons, Kale and Avocado Salad, Winter Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
Find out about jackfruit in A Taste of Asia and Pizzeria Mozza where you book a table a month in advance in Mighty Fine Pie at:
http://www.saveur.com/in_this_issue.jsp?page=1&order=2&subcat=&issueId=201002

Read about Leon Salad and Marinated Octopus Salad at:
http://www.saveur.com/in_this_issue.jsp?page=1&order=3&subcat=&issueId=201002

Exotic tropical fruits
breadfruit = panapen = pana de pepita This is the plant that the H.M.S. Bounty was carrying in the South Pacific when its crew mutinied.
durian = stinky fruit The weird and smelly durian has attracted a cult-like following. It's called the King of Fruits by aficionados in Southeast Asia. The boiled seeds of the durian are called betons.
jackfruit = jakfruit = jak = nankga This is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world--it weighs up to 100 pounds. It's hard to find fresh in the United States, but Asian markets sometimes stock canned jackfruit. The yellowish pulp tastes a bit like banana. The seeds can be boiled and eaten.
Read about many more exotic fruits at: http://www.foodsubs.com/Fruittroex.html