The Capital Crimes series by Margaret Truman Margaret Truman
died in 2008; however, Monument to Murder, #25, was published in 2011;
Experiment in Murder, #26 was published in 2012; Undiplomatic Murder, #27 was
published in 2014; and Internship in Murder, #28 is expected to be published in
2015. https://www.goodreads.com/series/40428-capital-crimes Margaret Truman’s Capital Crimes series is now carried
on by Donald Bain, a longtime friend
of Margaret Truman who worked closely with her on her novels. http://us.macmillan.com/series/capitalcrimes
See
also http://www.donaldbain.com/
The Watergate
complex is
a group of five buildings next to the John
F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in
the Foggy Bottom neighborhood
of Washington, D.C. Covering a total of 10 acres (40,000 m2),
the buildings include: Watergate West
(2700 Virginia Avenue NW), cooperative apartments; Watergate Hotel and Office
Building (2600 Virginia Avenue NW), offices and a hotel at 2650 Virginia Avenue
NW; Watergate East (2500 Virginia Avenue NW), cooperative apartments; Watergate
South (700 New Hampshire Avenue NW), cooperative apartments; Watergate Office
Building (600 New Hampshire Avenue NW), offices. Built between 1963 and 1971, the Watergate is
considered one of Washington's most desirable living spaces, popular with
members of Congress and political appointees in the executive branch. The
complex has been sold several times since the 1980s. In the 1990s, it was split up and its
component buildings and parts of buildings were sold to various owners. In 1972, the headquarters of the Democratic
National Committee, then located on the sixth floor of the Watergate
Hotel and Office Building, were burglarized,
documents were photographed, and telephones were wiretapped. The
investigation into the burglary revealed that high officials in the Nixon administration had
ordered the break-in and then tried to cover up their involvement. Additional crimes were also uncovered. The ensuing Watergate Scandal, named for the complex, led
to Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974.
The name "Watergate" and the suffix "-gate"
have since become synonymous with political scandals in the United States and
elsewhere.
June 11, 2015 In its
first case involving crowdfunding, the Federal Trade Commission has taken
legal action against the deceptive tactics of a project creator who raised
money from consumers to produce a board game through a Kickstarter campaign,
but instead used most of the funds on himself. The defendant has agreed to a settlement
that prohibits him from deceptive representations related to any crowdfunding
campaigns in the future and
requires him to honor any stated refund policy.
Crowdfunding involves individuals and businesses funding a project or
venture by raising funds from numerous people, often via dedicated online
platforms. According to the FTC’s
complaint, Erik Chevalier, also doing business as The Forking Path Co., sought
money from consumers to produce a board game called The Doom That Came to Atlantic
City that had been created
by two prominent board game artists. “Many
consumers enjoy the opportunity to take part in the development of a product or
service through crowdfunding, and they generally know there’s some uncertainty
involved in helping start something new,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the
FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But
consumers should be able to trust their money will actually be spent on the
project they funded.” According to the
FTC’s complaint,
Chevalier represented in his Doom campaign on Kickstarter.com that if he raised $35,000, backers
would get certain rewards, such as a copy of the game or specially designed
pewter game figurines. He raised
more than $122,000 from 1,246 backers, most of whom pledged $75 or more in the
hopes of getting the highly prized figurines. He represented in a number
of updates that he was making progress on the game. But after 14 months, Chevalier announced that
he was cancelling the project and refunding his backers’ money. Despite Chevalier’s
promises he did not provide the rewards, nor did he provide refunds to his
backers. In fact, according to the FTC’s
complaint, Chevalier spent most of the money on unrelated personal expenses
such as rent, moving himself to Oregon, personal equipment, and licenses for a
different project. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/06/crowdfunding-project-creator-settles-ftc-charges-deception
Recommended by muse
reader: Novel Interiors: Living in Enchanted Rooms Inspired by
Literature by Lisa Giramonti "For those who have ever lost themselves in the
stylish worlds of novels like Sense and Sensibility, The Age of Innocence,
Wuthering Heights, The Picture of Dorian Gray and countless others, this
design book embraces the fantasy of time and place, showing you how to bring
some of those elements into your own home." With photographs by World of Interiors
photographer Ivan Terestchenko, aspirational quotes, and
tailored reading lists, Novel Interiors reveals the essence and details of
interiors mentioned in great literary works. http://www.amazon.com/Novel-Interiors-Enchanted-Inspired-Literature/dp/0385345992/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432731814&sr=1-1&keywords=novel+interior+design
Ultimate (last, final), unique (one of a kind) and perfect
(without flaw) are words that have changed to mean whatever you want them
to mean--usually good or special.
Perle Reid Mesta born Pearl Skirvin in Sturgis, Michigan (1889–1975)
was an American socialite, political hostess, and U.S.
Ambassador to Luxembourg (1949–1953). Mesta
was known as the "hostess with the mostest" for her lavish parties
featuring the brightest stars of Washington, D.C., society, including artists,
entertainers and many top-level national political figures. She was the inspiration for Irving Berlin's musical Call Me Madam, which starred Ethel Merman as the character based on Mesta in
both the Broadway play and the movie.
Mesta has also been considered a model for the character Dolly Harrison
in Allen Drury's 1959 novel Advise and Consent,
in a 2009 essay. She was active in the National
Woman's Party and was an early supporter of an Equal
Rights Amendment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perle_Mesta
Magna Carta at 800 “In 1215, Magna Carta was a failure.” Such was the startling judgment of Sir James
Holt in his classic study of the document, published in 1965, a judgment shared
by virtually all specialists in the history of the period. Today, Magna Carta is revered as the basis of
representative government, even of democracy.
It began, however, as a problematic peace treaty hammered out by an
inept king and angry barons in a futile attempt to end a civil war. Since baronial families were the ones with
the money, the kings targeted them. For
instance, rulers customarily had a say in the marriage of the heiresses and
widows of dead barons, since in this sexist society husbands controlled their
wives’ lands and the king demanded loyal husbands. Kings often exploited such rights to sell the
marriage of widows and heiresses to the highest bidder. Such tactics were politically dangerous and
John’s shortcomings made the situation far worse. John’s father, Henry II, and his brother, the
warrior Richard the Lionhearted, controlled far more of France than the king of
France did. Within five years of
becoming king, John had lost most of these lands. His efforts to recover them and to
simultaneously reinforce his overlordship over Wales, Ireland and Scotland
meant that he had to tighten the financial screws far more than his
predecessors had done. In 1215 a large
number of barons revolted and forced John into negotiations at Runnymede in
June of that year. There they created
Magna Carta, which was designed to bring two sides, divided by deep distrust,
into agreement. Among other terms was an
agreement that if John failed to carry out his end of the deal, a committee of
25 barons was allowed to move forcibly against him. This worked about as well as one might
imagine, and by September the two sides were at war again. The barons, having given up on Magna Carta,
offered the crown to the son and heir of the king of France, who soon captured
much English territory. Magna Carta only
survived because, after John greatly improved royalist chances by dying in
1216, the regents of his young son, Henry III, proclaimed a new and far less
radical version of it to win support.
Today only three clauses and parts of a fourth are officially part of
English law. Modern readers who read the
text in English translation still find themselves confronted with a plethora of
strange, untranslatable terms: scutage,
novel disseisin, amercement. Some
aspects of Magna Carta will even seem repugnant to modern audiences. Most notably, the document perpetuated the
class structure of the time. Indeed, a
century ago, some historians dismissed Magna Carta as a reactionary document of
little benefit to anyone but barons. The
views of most historians today are more nuanced, but there is no doubt that
barons benefitted most and made sure that others did not benefit too much at
their expense. Hugh Thomas See pictures, including English Liberties, or, The Free-Born
Subject's Inheritance Containing Magna Carta, printed by James Franklin
(Benjamin Franklin's older brother) in Boston in 1721. http://www.toledoblade.com/World/2015/06/13/The-great-charter-that-grew-in-greatness.html Part 2:
http://www.toledoblade.com/Nation/2015/06/14/A-historic-document-helps-shape-America.html Part 3:
http://www.toledoblade.com/British-Royalty/2015/06/15/Charter-of-liberty-powered-by-ideals.html
http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com Issue 1310
June 15, 2015 On this date in 1215, King John of England put his seal to
the Magna Carta.
On this date in 1502, Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Martinique on
his fourth voyage.
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