In Roman mythology, Veritas, meaning truth, is the goddess of truth, a daughter of Chronos, the God of Time (who has been identified with Saturn-Cronus, perhaps first by Plutarch), and the mother of Virtus.  She is also sometimes considered the daughter of Zeus, or a creation of Prometheus.  This Latin word "veritas" now appears in the mottos of many colleges and universities.  It is typically capitalized in mottoes (as "Veritas") for being an ideal (such as: Truth, Kindness and Beauty).  Veritas is the motto of Hutchesons' Grammar School, Harvard University, The University of Western Ontario, Drake University, Knox College (Illinois), Bilkent University, the University of California - Hastings College of the Law, as well as the Dominican Order of the Roman Catholic Church, and Providence College, which is run by the Dominicans.  Additionally, the word appears in mottoes that are phrases, or lists e.g. the Buckley School of the City of New York employs the phrase Honor et Veritas, the University of Indonesia's motto is "Veritas, Probitas, Iustitia", the University of Cape Coast in Ghana's motto is "Veritas Nobis Lumen", the University of Michigan's motto is: Artes, Scientia, Veritas".  Caldwell College in Caldwell, New Jersey issues a "Veritas Award" each year in honor of the Dominican Sisters who founded and administer the college.  "Veritas" is included in the motto of Indiana University and Yale University, Lux et Veritas ("Light and Truth").  It also appears on the California State University's motto Vox Veritas Vita ("Speak the Truth as a way of Life").  "Veritas vos liberabit" ("The Truth Will Set You Free") is the motto of The Johns Hopkins University.  Veritas Curat ("Truth Cures") is the motto of the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, a medical school in Puducherry, India. Howard University, in Washington, D.C., goes by the motto "Veritas et Utilitas", translated to "Truth and Service".  It also exists in the logo of Seoul National University, Korea:  "Veritas Lux Mea" meaning "Truth is my light".  Villanova University also uses Veritas in its school motto, Veritas, Unitas, Caritas ("Truth, Unity, Love").  Uppsala University in Sweden also uses Veritas in its school motto, "Gratiae veritas naturae".  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veritas

James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American conservative political activist.  He produces secretly recorded undercover audio and video encounters with figures and workers in academic, governmental and social service organizations, purporting to show abusive or allegedly illegal behavior by employees and/or representatives of those organizations.  He has been criticized for selectively editing videos to misrepresent the context of conversations and the subjects' responses, creating the false impression that people said or did things they did not.  He gained national attention for his video recordings of workers at Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) offices in 2009, his arrest and guilty plea in 2010 for entering the federal office of then-U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) under false pretenses, and the release of videos of conversations with two high-ranking, now former, NPR executives in 2011.  When his videos portraying ACORN workers seemingly aiding a couple in criminal planning hit the 24-hour cable news cycle, the U.S. Congress quickly voted to freeze funds for the non-profit.  The national controversy resulted in the non-profit also losing most of its private funding before investigations of the videos concluded no illegal activity occurred.   March 2010, ACORN was close to bankruptcy and had to close or rename most of its offices.  Shortly after, the California State Attorney General's Office and the US Government Accountability Office released their related investigative reports.  The Attorney General's Office found that O'Keefe had misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers in California and that the workers had not broken any laws   A preliminary probe by the GAO found that ACORN had managed its federal funds appropriately.  One of the fired ACORN workers sued O'Keefe for invasion of privacy; O'Keefe issued an apology and agreed to pay $100,000 in a settlement.  In 2009, Andrew Breitbart commissioned him for the option to publish new videos exclusively on BigGovernment.com.  In June 2010, O'Keefe formed a 501(c)3) organization, Project Veritas, with the stated mission to "investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud and other misconduct."  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_O%27Keefe

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

ecotopia  (EE-ko-to-pee-uh, EK-o-)  noun  An ecologically ideal place.  From Ecotopia (1975), the title of a novel by Ernest Callenbach.  In the book, the word is used to describe the Pacific coast of the US.  A blend of eco- + utopia, which itself is the title of Thomas More’s 1516 book.  Earliest documented use:  1975.

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From:  Tony Seton  Subject:  ecotopia  Callenbach wrote a prequel called Ecotopia Emerging maybe in the early 80s.  I sat down and read it in 24 hours.  Great story.  Thank you for reminding me.

Fruit fool is a classic English dessert.  Traditionally, fools are made by folding a stewed fruit (the classic one is gooseberries) into a creamy, sweet custard.  Sometimes the fruit is folded in until the dish is relatively homogenous, and sometimes it's more layered, so that you end up with swirls of concentrated fruit compote within the cream.  Modern takes on a classic fruit fool incorporate any and all kinds of fruit, and the recipes usually skip the custard step and simply fold the fruit into whipped cream.  http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/07/variations-on-classic-fruit-fool-custard-dessert.html  See also http://www.howtocookeverything.com/recipes/raspberry-fool

Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing, a surreal and poetic novel about a struggling family in Mississippi, on November 15, 2017 won the National Book Award for fiction.  It was the second time Ward received the fiction prize:  She won in 2011 for Salvage the Bones.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2017/11/15/jesmyn-ward-wins-national-book-award-sing-unburied-sing/868269001/  See also http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2017-finalist-fic-ward-sing-unburied-sing.html#.Whq6MFWnGUk

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Library & Archives is open to visitors by appointment only.  Please contact at least 24 hours in advance.  Research and class visits are available by advance appointment,  Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  library@rockhall.org  (216) 515-1956  2809 Woodland Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio  http://library.rockhall.com/c.php?g=87190&p=561780

The Genetic Divide Between NYC's Uptown And Downtown Rats   Matthew Combs and other researchers spent two years going around the city and trapping rats.  After extracting and analyzing their DNA, he determined that the rats that live in uptown, north of 59th Street, are distinct from those living in downtown, south of 14th Street. The Midtown area is more sparsely populated—by rats, anyway—presenting a barrier to genetic mixing.  Link to article by Matthew Combs and Jason Munshi-South titled Spatial population genomics of the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) in New York City at https://www.npr.org/2017/11/30/567572989/the-genetic-divide-between-nycs-uptown-and-downtown-rats

Sounds of the Season is a holiday concert series sponsored by the Library Legacy Foundation.  All Sounds of the Season programs are held in Toledo-Lucas County Library's Main Library’s Wintergarden.  Hector Mendoza (classical guitar) | Dec. 6 | 12:30 p.m.  Rabbi Evan Rubin, Congregation Etz Chayim | Dec. 7 | 12:30 p.m.  Toledo School for the Arts | Dec. 8 | 12:30 p.m.  Anthony Wayne High School Band | Dec. 13 | 12:30 p.m.  Jazz Music | Dec. 14 | 7 p.m.  Susan Hedler & Cecilia Johnson (harp & violin) | Dec. 15 | 12:30 p.m.  Find listings for family, teen, adult, chidren, and drop-in programs at http://www.toledolibrary.org/blog/spend-the-holidays-at-the-library

On December 1, 1956, “Candide,” a new Broadway musical based on a picaresque novella by the 18th century French writer Voltaire, opened in New York City.  The libretto was fashioned by the successful playwright Lillian Hellman. The song lyrics were crafted by Richard Wilbur, one of America’s finest poets.  The stage direction was by Sir Tyrone Guthrie, a legendary name in British theater.  The musical score was by Leonard Bernstein.  Maybe it was a case of “too much of a good thing,” but “Candide” closed after just two months on Broadway.  Composers Datebook

December’s birthstones are tanzanite, zircon and turquoise, all of them  best known for beautiful shades of blue.  These gems range from the oldest on earth (zircon), to one of the first mined and used in jewelry (turquoise), to one of the most recently discovered (tanzanite).  https://www.americangemsociety.org/page/decemberbirthstones

                                    

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1806  December 1, 2017  On this date in 1709, Franz Xaver Richter, Czech singer-songwriter, violinist, and conductor, was born.  On this date in 1988, Zoë Kravitz, American actress, singer, and model, was born.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_1