Excerpt from Chapter one of Metropolis by Thea von Harbou, published six months before the silent film's release in 1927. The opening chapter does not appear in the movie. NOW THE RUMBLING of the great organ swelled to a roar, pressing, like a rising giant, against the vaulted ceiling, to burst through it. Freder bent his head backwards, his wide-open, burning eyes stared unseeingly upward. His hands formed music from the chaos of the notes; struggling with the vibration of the sound and stirring him to his innermost depths. He was never so near tears in his life and, blissfully helpless, he yielded himself up to the glowing moisture which dazzled him. Above him, the vault of heaven in lapis lazuli; hovering therein, the twelve-fold mystery, the Signs of the Zodiac in gold. Set higher above them, the seven crowned ones: the planets. High above all a silver-shining bevy of stars: the universe. Before the bedewed eyes of the organ-player, to his music, the stars of heavens began the solemn mighty dance. The breakers of the notes dissolved the room into nothing. The organ, which Freder played, stood in the middle of the sea.
It was a reef upon which the waves foamed. Carrying crests of froth, they dashed violently onward, and the seventh was always the mightiest. But high above the sea, which bellowed in the uproar of the waves, the stars of heaven danced the solemn, mighty dance. See the novel at: http://arthursclassicnovels.com/sf/metrps10.html
The film is downloadable at: http://www.archive.org/details/Metropolis_63

Penn Central Railroad History The Penn Central merger was consummated on February 1, 1968, between the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad. At the end of 1968, the New York New Haven & Hartford Railroad was merged into PC by order of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Financial problems plagued the PC during its first couple years. Even though the merger had been planned for 10 years (on and off) before its inception, many problems faced the combined companies, such as incompatible computer systems and signaling systems. Penn Central also invested in other companies, such as real estate, pipelines, and other ventures. The idea was to create a conglomerate corporation, with the railroad as one part of it. This diversification program, even 20 years later, is a point of debate over the fall of the PC, as some people say funds that were invested in other companies could have been used to run the railroad. The end came on Sunday, June 21, 1970, when the Penn Central filed for bankruptcy under Section 77 of the Bankruptcy Act. Because of the Section 77 filing, PC was protected from its creditors, and trains continued to run, while the financial losses continued to pile up. Meanwhile, the U.S. Government created the United States Railway Association to develop a way to save rail services in the East, as the Erie Lackawanna, Jersey Central, Lehigh Valley, Reading, and Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines were all in bankruptcy in addition to PC. The result was Conrail, which took over the above lines on April 1, 1976. And what happened to the Penn Central Company? When Conrail was formed, the government bought PC's rail assets from the company, so the Penn Central Company (the former holding company for the PC railroad) still existed. PC entered into other non-railroad businesses, such as real estate and insurance. Some of these businesses were some of the original diversification investments made before the bankruptcy. On March 25, 1994, Penn Central Corporation changed its name to American Premier Underwriters (APU). APU was purchased by American Financial Group (AFG) in 1995, and remains a wholly-owned subsidiary of AFG to this day. In addition to its insurance business, APU still owns Grand Central Terminal in New York City, which is currently under a 110-year lease to New York Metropolitan Transit Agency. http://www.pcrrhs.org/history.html

Education Secretary Michael Gove says that children aged 11 should be reading 50 books a year to improve literacy standards. The Independent asked three of Britain's leading children's authors and two of their in-house book experts to each pick 10 books, suitable for Year 7 students. Mr Gove made his comments after observing a school in Harlem, New York, which sets pupils a "50-book challenge" over a year. See the list at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/the-50-books-every-child-should-read-2250138.html

Numbers War Official military records compiled in 1866 counted 40,275 North Carolina soldiers who died in uniform. Though known to be faulty, those records have gone largely unchallenged. With most of his research done, Mr. Howard has confirmed only about 31,000 deaths. "It's a number we can defend with real documents," he says. He expects to confirm a few thousand more by the time he finishes this summer, but the final tally will most certainly fall short of the original count, he says. Across the state border in Virginia, traditionally believed to have the fourth-highest number of war deaths in the Confederacy, librarian Edwin Ray has identified about 31,000 Virginia soldiers who died in the war—more than double the Old Dominion's once-accepted number of 14,794. And he still has more to add. "It's going to be close," says Mr. Ray, a 55-year-old Air Force veteran who works at the Library of Virginia. "Josh and I are sure of that. It's going to come down to a very small number." History books maintain that about 620,000 soldiers died in the war, when giant armies clashed in battles on a scale never seen before or since on the North American continent. Yet the 1866 counts, compiled by the federal government, were based on scattered and inconsistent Union and Confederate records. The new counts aren't likely to unseat the Civil War as this nation's most devastating conflict. The second-highest toll of American military losses came in World War II, with more than 405,000 deaths, according to a congressional research report. Still, historians say, the overall Civil War death toll could change by tens of thousands if every state were to conduct a count. It could also revise historians' understanding of which states suffered the heaviest losses.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704662604576202823930087328.html

Pallett makers war On one side, the wooden-pallet industry. On the other, plastic-pallet makers. The two camps—part of a $10 billion-plus industry for makers of portable platforms that are used to transport products from warehouse to store—are feuding over which is greener. Intelligent Global Pooling Systems Inc., a plastic-pallet company in Orlando, Fla., is suing the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association in federal court in Dallas. Intelligent Global Pooling alleges the "attack dog" trade group mounted an unsuccessful "conspiracy" to link plastic pallets to a contaminated stick of butter found in Texas last year. The lawsuit, referring to the butter, alleges a "malicious smear campaign." The trade group denies wrongdoing. It argues that it is the one that has been taken to the woodshed. It points to press releases from its plastic rivals calling wooden pallets bacteria-infested, nail-ridden fire hazards that kill trees. "They are bullies," says Bruce Scholnick, president of the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association, in Alexandria, Va. "There is no question in my mind they started it." The wood people "fired the first shot," counters Bob Moore, chief executive officer of Intelligent Global Pooling Systems. "What they've done to us—they are absolute corporate bullies," he says. Roughly 65% of the pallets in the U.S. are wooden, but "plastic pallets have gained market share fairly rapidly, and the wood people want to stem that," he says. Adding to the tension, "green is a huge selling point" and both sides claim to be greener.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704050204576218530894883832.html?mod=WSJ_topics_obama

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From: Michael Poole Subject: Bailiwick
The meaning "A person's area of expertise or interest" certainly is familiar, but I have actually lived in a royal bailiwick, Hemel Hempstead in the English county of Hertfordshire. The town was first given a charter by Henry VIII, but since he had a country house there, the town was actually his property, so the mayor was also his bailiff. Until the 1970s local government reorganisation, the mayor's formal title was "Mayor and Bailiff". The islands of Guernsey and Jersey remain royal bailiwicks to this day.
From: Benjamin Hayes Subject: usufruct
This word brings back memories from my childhood. When I was young, my grandmother sold a plot of land she owned. My father was concerned because the land contained his favorite apple tree. The sale of the land went through with a clause on the deed giving members of my family open access to harvest apples from the tree. Years later, relations between our families soured when the new land owner piled objects of his near the tree limiting our usufruct.
From: Jon Aalborg Subject: usufruct
This seems similar in substance (not etymology or terminology) to the Scandinavian legal concept "allemannsrett", "every man's right". The concept of "allemannsrett" has variations, but basically says that land which is not cultivated or within a set distance from inhabited buildings (in Norway, 150 metres or in direct line of sight) is by definition open to the public and is open for personal use to anyone. This is the case both for privately owned land and for public (state) land. E.g., one is allowed to camp for up to two nights on land filling those conditions, provided the plot is left as it was on arrival and open fire is not used in the summer season. Picking berries, hiking, and other non-intrusive and non-damaging use of land and vegetation for personal use is included, as is non-profit fishing with personal tackle (subject to regulations).