The Notable Books List evolved from an activity sponsored by the Lending Round Table of the American Library Association (ALA) in 1944. See the 2010 list "of 25 very good, very readable, and at times very important fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books for the adult reader" here: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/awards/notablebooks/lists/2010/2010notable.cfm

"Hypercriticality" or harsh, even withering, criticism within a group is discussed in the July 2010 issue of Communications of the ACM. In the context of proposal reviewing, Ed Lazowska coined the phrase "circling the wagons and shooting inwards," and John L. King, in a recent CCC blog, referred to such verbal assaults as "Fratricide." Jeff Naughton, referring to conference paper reviewing, said in a recent invited talk that "bad reviewing" is "sucking the air out of our community." http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2010/7/95070-hypercriticality/fulltext

WSJ: Historic Finance Bill Includes Major New Rules Affecting Nearly Every Corner of Investing World Follow up to Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - HR 11-517 and Senate passage of the bill by a 60-39 vote on July 15, 2010, via WSJ: "Buried in the bill's 800-odd pages are the most sweeping regulatory changes for ordinary investors in decades, affecting everything from mutual funds and retirement plans to single-stock investments and other holdings. The legislation has the potential to make brokers more accountable to their clients, shine light on hedge funds and improve the transparency of the complex derivatives on which many mutual funds and pension plans rely to hedge their risks."

Ever wonder why no matter where you go in Atlanta, you always seem to be driving on Peachtree? There are more than 55 streets with the word Peachtree. Peachtree Street is not named for a peach tree of any sort. Many of Atlanta's corridors follow the paths created by the Creek and Cherokee Indian nations who inhabited the area until the early 19th Century A large Creek settlement was called Standing Pitch Tree after a tall lone tree. Over time, the "pitch tree" became "peach tree." The Eastern Continental Divide, a continental divide in the U.S. that separates the Gulf of Mexico drainage from the watersheds that flow directly into the Atlantic Ocean, runs right through downtown Atlanta and then east and through Decatur. Rainwater that falls on the south and east side of the divide runs eventually into the Atlantic Ocean while rainwater on the north and west side of the divide runs into the Gulf of Mexico. http://www.atlanta.net/visitors/folklore.html

1624: NEW YORK CITY is born. The town of New Amsterdam was established on lower
Manhattan. At this time, what is now Greenwich Village is an Indian village known to Native Americans as (var.) Sapponckanican-- "tobacco fields," or "land where the tobacco grows." (Var. spellings: "Sapokanikan," according to Stokes, "The Iconography of Manhattan Island 1498-1909," "Sopokanikan," according to a map in Homberger, "Historical Atlas of New York City.") The Dutch continued the tradition; in the 17th century, tobacco farms lined both sides of what is now Christopher Street. http://grace4life.com/History_of_Tobacco-by_Gene_Borio.pdf

Q: Remember when even a teardrop of oil spilled, or when seasonal gas formulas changed, the price of gasoline would rise? Now we have oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Why hasn't the price of gasoline gone up?
A: It's a matter of markets trumping the environment. Oil and gasoline supplies in the U.S. are well above normal and demand remains weak. The nationwide average retail gasoline price is lower than when the spill began. When the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sunk (in late April), oil prices were falling over worries that the European debt crisis was going to thwart demand. Those lower prices meant cheaper gasoline prices. Analysts had been saying for weeks that crude prices had moved too far too fast. Soon after the spill began, there were worries that it would keep tankers from bringing imported oil to Gulf ports and taking refined product out, but that did not happen. Typically, spills don't have an influence on retail gasoline prices, said Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service. After the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989, prices did go up briefly on the mistaken assumption that the trans-Alaska pipeline would be shut down, he said. Seasonal increases in gasoline prices still occur, however. Refineries produce more expensive blends of gasoline in the spring and summer to reduce pollution in warmer weather. Also, gasoline prices tend to rise in the spring on presumption that demand will pick up. Prices then drop in the fall and winter. -- Mark Williams, AP, Columbus.
Q: Is the actor who played Col. Potter on the series "M*A*S*H" still alive?
A: Harry Morgan is 95 years old. His long acting career included movies and the original "Dragnet." http://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2010/Jul/JU/ar_JU_071910.asp?d=071910,2010,Jul,19&c=c_13