As President Bush readies to leave office, well-connected lawyers are being hired to press for pardons for their convicted clients. Among the lawyers are former solicitor general Ted Olson, hired to represent former junk-bond king Milchael Milken, the Washington Post reports. Milken pleaded guilty in 1990 to securities violations following an insider trading investigation, the Post says in a blog post at Washington Post Investigations. Another lawyer representing clemency clients is former White House lawyer H. Christopher Bartolomucci, now a partner at Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D.C. Bartolomucci worked on pardons in the White House from 2001 to 2003. The Post article does not name his clients. So far, President George W. Bush has granted only 157 pardons out of 2,064 requests, and six commutations out of 7,707 requests, the story says. Pardons at the end of a term can raise fairness concerns.
http://www.abajournal.com/news/high-profile_lawyers_seek_pardons_for_well-known_white-collar_clients/
U.S. presidential inaugurations took place in March or April until 1937
http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/factsandfirsts/index.cfm
“Greening house by house is already catching on--the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) extended its Leadership in Energy and Design (LEED) rating system to residences to meet the interest in more environmentally friendly homes. But the next steps will be tougher. The sprawl of the suburbs has ensured that much of the energy we consume--and carbon we emit--comes from our dependence on cars. Until we change the layout of our neighborhoods--reversing the suburban ideal of semi-isolated homes--living green won't be easy. 'Having a green neighborhood and a green home are two different things,' says Michelle Moore, a vice president at USGBC."
http://postcarboncities.net/node/2409
From: Grant Barrett (gbarrett worldnewyork.org)
Subject: Word-of-the-Year Nominations Open
The American Dialect Society is now accepting nominations for the "word of the year" of 2008. What is the word or phrase which best characterizes the year 2008? What expression most reflects the ideas, events, and themes which have occupied the United States and its residents? Nominations should be sent to (woty at americandialect.org).
They will be considered for the American Dialect Society's 19th annual word-of-the-year vote, the longest-running vote of its kind in the world and the word-of-the-year event up to which all others lead. It will be held in San Francisco on January 9, 2009.
The best "word of the year" candidates will be:
new or newly popular in 2008
widely or prominently used in 2008
indicative or reflective of the national discourse
Multi-word compounds or phrases that act as single lexical items are welcomed, as well.
Sub-categories for "word of the year" include most useful, most creative, most unnecessary, most outrageous, most euphemistic, most likely to succeed, and least likely to succeed. Past winners can be found on the society's website.
Capitol Hill, White House, National Politics: http://www.c-span.org/
City Council banishes the mayor's wife from City Hall in Kansas City, Missouri
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122723082748846583.html
Google search examples
For specific site, type site:theweek.com
For search in government domain, type "congressional review act" and site:gov
For search in educational domain, type "congressional review act" and site:edu
For search within range of numbers, type "leather shoes" $100..$200
For currency conversion, type 1,000 U.S. dollars in euros
The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century as listed by National Public Radio
“You can also view a condensed list without descriptions or audio, the original NPR 300 -- the preliminary list of works, or you can find out in text form how we put it all together.” http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/vote/list100.html
November 25 is the birthday of the man who popularized the story of Paul Bunyan, a man named James Stevens, (books by this author) who was probably born on this day on a farm near Albia, Iowa, in 1892. He worked as a logger, and at night in the logging camps, he listened to stories about Paul Bunyan. He wrote an article about the strongman who was a legend in the timber industry, and people liked it. So he wrote a whole book of stories, which he published in 1925 as Paul Bunyan. The Writer’s Almanac
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Rules issued by presidents in their final months in office, like most issued by federal agencies, need no congressional approval, and a phrase has been coined to describe them. They became known as “midnight regulations,” after the “midnight judges” appointed by John Adams in the final hours of his Presidency. Under an obscure law passed in 1996, Congress has the power to revoke recently imposed rules. That law has been used successfully only once.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/11/24/081124taco_talk_kolbert
Congressional Research Service Report: Midnight Rulemaking: Considerations for Congress and a New Administration, November 18, 2008
"Summary: At the end of every recent presidential administration involving a change in the party controlling the White House, the level of rulemaking activity by federal agencies tends to increase. On May 9, 2008, White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten issued a memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies stating that regulations to be finalized in this Administration should be proposed no later than June 1, 2008, and final regulations should be issued no later than November 1, 2008.
Google has released a new feature, called SearchWiki, that allows users to vote search results up or down, remove them entirely, or leave notes with their thoughts. While the rankings appear to only affect the account of the user who made them for now, the notes are public and readable by anyone. http://venturebeat.com/2008/11/21/google-proves-its-search-methods-arent-set-in-stone/
THE 2008 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS WINNERS
Fiction: Peter Matthiessen, Shadow Country (Modern Library) - Interview
Nonfiction: Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (W.W. Norton & Company) -Interview
Young People's Literature: Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied (Scholastic) - Interview
Poetry: Mark Doty, Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems
(HarperCollins) - Interview
http://www.nationalbook.org/
Phrase to remember in winter: “. . . below-zero air as bracing as champagne . . .”
Robert Service (1874-1958) Canadian writer (born in England) from Yukon Gold
Archives at University of Michigan
The Longone Center for American Culinary Research consists of the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive augmented by the rich Americana holdings of the Clements Library, catalogued for their culinary content. There are thousands of menus from restaurants, private dinners and banquets, especially from the Columbian Exposition in 1893. http://www.clements.umich.edu/culinary/about.html
mythologem (mi-THOL-uh-jem) noun
A basic theme of a myth, for example, revenge, honor, betrayal, etc.
From Greek mythologema (mythical narrative), from mythologein (to tell mythical tales), from mythos (myth) + -logos (word or speech) A.Word.A.Day
On November 23, 1783, Annapolis became the U.S. capital and remained so until June 1784. http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1783/november_23_1783_43785.html
On November 23, 1889 the Jukebox made its debut at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. It was called a "nickel-in-the-slot player" and was built by the Pacific Phonograph Co. Later that year, jukeboxes were installed in other places around the city and on ferries that traveled back and forth across the bay between San Francisco and Oakland. The jukebox consisted of an electric phonograph inside a free-standing oak cabinet. The technology for amplifiers hadn't been perfected yet, so there were headphones, which looked like stethoscopes. Up to four people could listen to a song at any given time. In 1927, the Automatic Musical Instruments Company introduced the first jukebox with amplifiers. The Writer’s Almanac
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/11/24/081124taco_talk_kolbert
Congressional Research Service Report: Midnight Rulemaking: Considerations for Congress and a New Administration, November 18, 2008
"Summary: At the end of every recent presidential administration involving a change in the party controlling the White House, the level of rulemaking activity by federal agencies tends to increase. On May 9, 2008, White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten issued a memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies stating that regulations to be finalized in this Administration should be proposed no later than June 1, 2008, and final regulations should be issued no later than November 1, 2008.
Google has released a new feature, called SearchWiki, that allows users to vote search results up or down, remove them entirely, or leave notes with their thoughts. While the rankings appear to only affect the account of the user who made them for now, the notes are public and readable by anyone. http://venturebeat.com/2008/11/21/google-proves-its-search-methods-arent-set-in-stone/
THE 2008 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS WINNERS
Fiction: Peter Matthiessen, Shadow Country (Modern Library) - Interview
Nonfiction: Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (W.W. Norton & Company) -Interview
Young People's Literature: Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied (Scholastic) - Interview
Poetry: Mark Doty, Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems
(HarperCollins) - Interview
http://www.nationalbook.org/
Phrase to remember in winter: “. . . below-zero air as bracing as champagne . . .”
Robert Service (1874-1958) Canadian writer (born in England) from Yukon Gold
Archives at University of Michigan
The Longone Center for American Culinary Research consists of the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive augmented by the rich Americana holdings of the Clements Library, catalogued for their culinary content. There are thousands of menus from restaurants, private dinners and banquets, especially from the Columbian Exposition in 1893. http://www.clements.umich.edu/culinary/about.html
mythologem (mi-THOL-uh-jem) noun
A basic theme of a myth, for example, revenge, honor, betrayal, etc.
From Greek mythologema (mythical narrative), from mythologein (to tell mythical tales), from mythos (myth) + -logos (word or speech) A.Word.A.Day
On November 23, 1783, Annapolis became the U.S. capital and remained so until June 1784. http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1783/november_23_1783_43785.html
On November 23, 1889 the Jukebox made its debut at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. It was called a "nickel-in-the-slot player" and was built by the Pacific Phonograph Co. Later that year, jukeboxes were installed in other places around the city and on ferries that traveled back and forth across the bay between San Francisco and Oakland. The jukebox consisted of an electric phonograph inside a free-standing oak cabinet. The technology for amplifiers hadn't been perfected yet, so there were headphones, which looked like stethoscopes. Up to four people could listen to a song at any given time. In 1927, the Automatic Musical Instruments Company introduced the first jukebox with amplifiers. The Writer’s Almanac
Friday, November 21, 2008
Electronic Public Inspection Desk
News release "The Office of the Federal Register has created an Electronic Public Inspection Desk to provide free worldwide electronic access to public documents. For the first time in the 72-year existence of the daily Federal Register, the documents on file are available for viewing anytime, anywhere. Every Federal business day, anyone with access to a computer now can read critical documents governing Federal regulations relating to business, health, and safety as soon as the documents are placed on file. To view these documents, go to www.federalregister.gov. See "View Documents on Public Inspection" on the left hand side. This new desk grants the public access to documents that will be published in the next day's Federal Register as early at 8:45 a.m. EST. Previously, such documents could only be seen by viewing the documents physically located at the Office of the Federal Register in Washington, D.C."
NOAA Declares October Second Warmest for Global Temperatures
News release: "The combined global land and ocean surface average temperature for October 2008 was the second warmest since records began in 1880, according to a preliminary analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration̢۪s (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center. NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources."
Climate of 2008 - October in Historical Perspective , National Climatic Data Center, 18 November 2008 Related postings on climate change
EPA Action Plan: Looking Toward a More Cost Effective, Energy Efficient Future
News release: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy are helping states lead the way in an effort to promote low cost energy efficiency. More than 60 energy, environmental and state policy leaders from across the country have come together to produce the updated National Action Plan Vision for 2025: A Framework for Change. The action plan outlines strategies to help lower the growth in energy demand across the country by more than 50 percent, and shows ways to save more than $500 billion in net savings over the next 20 years. These actions may help to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 90 million vehicles."
FTC Issues 2008 Report on U.S. Ethanol Market Concentration
News release: "The Commission has issued the report, 2008 Report on Ethanol Market Concentration. This is the Commission’s fourth annual report on the state of ethanol production in the United States, as required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The report concludes that the U.S. fuel ethanol market, measured on the basis of production or capacity, remains unconcentrated."
NASA Successfully Tests First Deep Space Internet
News release: "Working as part of a NASA-wide team, engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., used software called Disruption-Tolerant Networking, or DTN, to transmit dozens of space images to and from a NASA science spacecraft located about 20 million miles from Earth. "This is the first step in creating a totally new space communications capability, an interplanetary Internet," said Adrian Hooke, team lead and manager of space-networking architecture, technology and standards at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA and Vint Cerf, a vice president at Google Inc., in Mountain View, Calif., partnered 10 years ago to develop this software protocol. The DTN sends information using a method that differs from the normal Internet's Transmission-Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or TCP/IP, communication suite, which Cerf co-designed."
The National Republican National Glee Club was organized in 1872 in Columbus, Ohio, to participate in Ulysses S. Grant's presidential campaign
It subsequently took part in his inauguration and entertained at the White House. The organization carried the name of "Grant and Wilson Glee Club," names of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates. The club marched in parades and sang at political affairs. In succeeding campaigns the club adopted the names of presidential candidates and continued to sing and march and was invited to inaugurals. On July 25, 1895, the club was incorporated and chartered as: “The National Republican Glee Club", Columbus, Ohio. Tod “spelled like God” B. Galloway, a Club president in the early days of the organization, was one of the writers of The Wiffenpoof Song.
http://nationalrepublicangleeclub.org/index.htm See various names of the club, lyrics and programs at: http://nationalrepublicangleeclub.org/History.htm
Q. What author writes stories about people living on Earth (referred to as groundhogs or groundlubbers)—people who live on the Moon (referred to as colonials or loonies)—space lawyers, space music, and rolling roads?
A. Robert A. Heinlein
Selective bibliography: The Roads Must Roll, “It’s Great to be Back!”, The Green Hills of Earth, “If This Goes On—“, The Menace From Earth
On November 21, 1620 the pilgrims landed in what is now Provincetown, on Cape Cod. The 102 passengers had been onboard the Mayflower for 65 days.
November 21 is the birthday of Voltaire, (books by this author) the man who helped spark the Enlightenment in France, born François-Marie Arouet in Paris (1694). He was a well-known playwright and poet. He spent most of his late life in exile, and he wrote most of his work from England. In the last year of his life, 1778, he was allowed to return home to Paris. More than 300 people came to visit him his first day in the city, including Benjamin Franklin. Voltaire wrote "Let us read and let us dance ... two amusements that will never do any harm to the world." The Writer’s Almanac
News release
NOAA Declares October Second Warmest for Global Temperatures
News release: "The combined global land and ocean surface average temperature for October 2008 was the second warmest since records began in 1880, according to a preliminary analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration̢۪s (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center. NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources."
Climate of 2008 - October in Historical Perspective , National Climatic Data Center, 18 November 2008 Related postings on climate change
EPA Action Plan: Looking Toward a More Cost Effective, Energy Efficient Future
News release: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy are helping states lead the way in an effort to promote low cost energy efficiency. More than 60 energy, environmental and state policy leaders from across the country have come together to produce the updated National Action Plan Vision for 2025: A Framework for Change. The action plan outlines strategies to help lower the growth in energy demand across the country by more than 50 percent, and shows ways to save more than $500 billion in net savings over the next 20 years. These actions may help to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 90 million vehicles."
FTC Issues 2008 Report on U.S. Ethanol Market Concentration
News release: "The Commission has issued the report, 2008 Report on Ethanol Market Concentration. This is the Commission’s fourth annual report on the state of ethanol production in the United States, as required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The report concludes that the U.S. fuel ethanol market, measured on the basis of production or capacity, remains unconcentrated."
NASA Successfully Tests First Deep Space Internet
News release: "Working as part of a NASA-wide team, engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., used software called Disruption-Tolerant Networking, or DTN, to transmit dozens of space images to and from a NASA science spacecraft located about 20 million miles from Earth. "This is the first step in creating a totally new space communications capability, an interplanetary Internet," said Adrian Hooke, team lead and manager of space-networking architecture, technology and standards at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA and Vint Cerf, a vice president at Google Inc., in Mountain View, Calif., partnered 10 years ago to develop this software protocol. The DTN sends information using a method that differs from the normal Internet's Transmission-Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or TCP/IP, communication suite, which Cerf co-designed."
The National Republican National Glee Club was organized in 1872 in Columbus, Ohio, to participate in Ulysses S. Grant's presidential campaign
It subsequently took part in his inauguration and entertained at the White House. The organization carried the name of "Grant and Wilson Glee Club," names of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates. The club marched in parades and sang at political affairs. In succeeding campaigns the club adopted the names of presidential candidates and continued to sing and march and was invited to inaugurals. On July 25, 1895, the club was incorporated and chartered as: “The National Republican Glee Club", Columbus, Ohio. Tod “spelled like God” B. Galloway, a Club president in the early days of the organization, was one of the writers of The Wiffenpoof Song.
http://nationalrepublicangleeclub.org/index.htm See various names of the club, lyrics and programs at: http://nationalrepublicangleeclub.org/History.htm
Q. What author writes stories about people living on Earth (referred to as groundhogs or groundlubbers)—people who live on the Moon (referred to as colonials or loonies)—space lawyers, space music, and rolling roads?
A. Robert A. Heinlein
Selective bibliography: The Roads Must Roll, “It’s Great to be Back!”, The Green Hills of Earth, “If This Goes On—“, The Menace From Earth
On November 21, 1620 the pilgrims landed in what is now Provincetown, on Cape Cod. The 102 passengers had been onboard the Mayflower for 65 days.
November 21 is the birthday of Voltaire, (books by this author) the man who helped spark the Enlightenment in France, born François-Marie Arouet in Paris (1694). He was a well-known playwright and poet. He spent most of his late life in exile, and he wrote most of his work from England. In the last year of his life, 1778, he was allowed to return home to Paris. More than 300 people came to visit him his first day in the city, including Benjamin Franklin. Voltaire wrote "Let us read and let us dance ... two amusements that will never do any harm to the world." The Writer’s Almanac
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Court Orders Halt to Sale of Spyware
"Following an EPIC complaint, a federal court has ordered CyberSpy Software to stop selling malicious computer software. In March, EPIC filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging that the spyware purveyor engages in unfair and deceptive practices by: (1) promoting illegal surveillance; (2) encouraging "Trojan Horse" email attacks; and (3) failing to warn customers of the legal dangers arising from misuse of the software. The federal regulators agreed, and asked the court for a permanent injunction barring sales of CyberSpy's "stalker spyware," over the counter surveillance technology sold for individuals to spy on other individuals. The court entered a temporary restraining order on November 6, 2008. Further litigation is expected before the court rules on the government's request for a permanent ban. For more information, see EPIC's Personal Surveillance Technologies page and Domestic Violence and Privacy page."
Live Piracy Map 2008
From the ICC Commercial Crime Services (CCS) - "the anti-crime arm of the International Chamber of Commerce": Live Piracy Map 2008 - "This map shows all the piracy incidents reported by the IMB Piracy Centre in Kuala Lumpur during 2008. Please click on the pins for more details of the specific incident or zoom in for more accurate location information."
New online encyclopedia on Ohio is evolving
You can search by category, topic or click on index for a detailed approach.
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/
Floripedia is a collection of articles about Florida and Florida history
Most of the articles were written a long time ago. The original source is given at the end of each article. Notice the date when the article was written, and whether it is “promotional.” http://fcit.usf.edu/FLORIDA/docs/docs.htm
The North Carolina Encyclopedia is a work under construction
New text, additional text, and new graphics are being added as often as possible. This encyclopedia is designed to give you an overview of the people, the government, the history, and the resources of North Carolina. The information is organized into broad information categories, and most of these categories offer an opportunity to select either more specific or additional information on a particular topic. http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/NC/COVER.HTM
On November 19, 1863 Abraham Lincoln got up in front of about 15,000 people and delivered the Gettysburg Address, which begins, "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." A military band played, a local preacher offered a long prayer, and the headlining orator, Edward Everett, spoke for more than two hours. When Everett was finished, Lincoln got up and pulled his speech from his coat pocket. It consisted of 10 sentences, a total of 272 words. The audience was distracted by a photographer setting up his camera, and by the time Lincoln had finished his speech and sat down the audience didn't even realize he had spoken.
There are five known manuscripts of the Gettysburg Address. The earliest version is the copy he gave to his private secretary, John Nicolay, and it's thought to be the version he used for the oration at Gettysburg. It is two pages long—the first page is in ink on official Executive Mansion stationary, and the second is in pencil on lined paper. This version doesn't contain the words "under God" in the phrase "this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom."
Lincoln made one other copy at the time, which he gave to his other private secretary, John Hay, and then he wrote out three more copies in later years one for a benefit book and two for the historian and former statesman George Bancroft. Lincoln had to copy out two because the first one was written out incorrectly—on both sides of the paper—and so wouldn't go in Bancroft's book. The second copy for Bancroft is the only one that Lincoln signed his name to. It's the copy that has been reproduced on a widespread basis in books and photographs and leaflets, and it is considered the standard version of the speech.
November 20 is the birthday of astronomer Edward Hubble, born in Marshfield, Missouri (1889). He majored in math and astronomy in college, then went to law school and started practicing as an attorney. He got bored after just a couple of years and went to get a Ph.D. in astronomy, where he focused his research on nebulae—distant objects in the sky that couldn't be categorized as stars. He moved to California to work with the world's largest telescope, which was in Pasadena. He identified a certain kind of pulsating star, a "Cepheid" in Andromeda—then considered a not-well-defined nebula of clouds of gas. At the time, scientists believed that the galaxy that Earth was in was only about 100,000 light years across. They also believed that the Milky Way was the only galaxy in the universe. Hubble's discovery of the Andromeda Cepheid and his calculation of its distance proved that the universe was billions of times larger than scientists had thought.
On November 20, 1971 a ban was placed on the use of the popular pesticide DDT. The American public's knowledge of DDT and its environmental dangers was in large part due to Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring (1962). The Writer’s Almanac
"Following an EPIC complaint, a federal court has ordered CyberSpy Software to stop selling malicious computer software. In March, EPIC filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging that the spyware purveyor engages in unfair and deceptive practices by: (1) promoting illegal surveillance; (2) encouraging "Trojan Horse" email attacks; and (3) failing to warn customers of the legal dangers arising from misuse of the software. The federal regulators agreed, and asked the court for a permanent injunction barring sales of CyberSpy's "stalker spyware," over the counter surveillance technology sold for individuals to spy on other individuals. The court entered a temporary restraining order on November 6, 2008. Further litigation is expected before the court rules on the government's request for a permanent ban. For more information, see EPIC's Personal Surveillance Technologies page and Domestic Violence and Privacy page."
Live Piracy Map 2008
From the ICC Commercial Crime Services (CCS) - "the anti-crime arm of the International Chamber of Commerce": Live Piracy Map 2008 - "This map shows all the piracy incidents reported by the IMB Piracy Centre in Kuala Lumpur during 2008. Please click on the pins for more details of the specific incident or zoom in for more accurate location information."
New online encyclopedia on Ohio is evolving
You can search by category, topic or click on index for a detailed approach.
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/
Floripedia is a collection of articles about Florida and Florida history
Most of the articles were written a long time ago. The original source is given at the end of each article. Notice the date when the article was written, and whether it is “promotional.” http://fcit.usf.edu/FLORIDA/docs/docs.htm
The North Carolina Encyclopedia is a work under construction
New text, additional text, and new graphics are being added as often as possible. This encyclopedia is designed to give you an overview of the people, the government, the history, and the resources of North Carolina. The information is organized into broad information categories, and most of these categories offer an opportunity to select either more specific or additional information on a particular topic. http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/NC/COVER.HTM
On November 19, 1863 Abraham Lincoln got up in front of about 15,000 people and delivered the Gettysburg Address, which begins, "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." A military band played, a local preacher offered a long prayer, and the headlining orator, Edward Everett, spoke for more than two hours. When Everett was finished, Lincoln got up and pulled his speech from his coat pocket. It consisted of 10 sentences, a total of 272 words. The audience was distracted by a photographer setting up his camera, and by the time Lincoln had finished his speech and sat down the audience didn't even realize he had spoken.
There are five known manuscripts of the Gettysburg Address. The earliest version is the copy he gave to his private secretary, John Nicolay, and it's thought to be the version he used for the oration at Gettysburg. It is two pages long—the first page is in ink on official Executive Mansion stationary, and the second is in pencil on lined paper. This version doesn't contain the words "under God" in the phrase "this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom."
Lincoln made one other copy at the time, which he gave to his other private secretary, John Hay, and then he wrote out three more copies in later years one for a benefit book and two for the historian and former statesman George Bancroft. Lincoln had to copy out two because the first one was written out incorrectly—on both sides of the paper—and so wouldn't go in Bancroft's book. The second copy for Bancroft is the only one that Lincoln signed his name to. It's the copy that has been reproduced on a widespread basis in books and photographs and leaflets, and it is considered the standard version of the speech.
November 20 is the birthday of astronomer Edward Hubble, born in Marshfield, Missouri (1889). He majored in math and astronomy in college, then went to law school and started practicing as an attorney. He got bored after just a couple of years and went to get a Ph.D. in astronomy, where he focused his research on nebulae—distant objects in the sky that couldn't be categorized as stars. He moved to California to work with the world's largest telescope, which was in Pasadena. He identified a certain kind of pulsating star, a "Cepheid" in Andromeda—then considered a not-well-defined nebula of clouds of gas. At the time, scientists believed that the galaxy that Earth was in was only about 100,000 light years across. They also believed that the Milky Way was the only galaxy in the universe. Hubble's discovery of the Andromeda Cepheid and his calculation of its distance proved that the universe was billions of times larger than scientists had thought.
On November 20, 1971 a ban was placed on the use of the popular pesticide DDT. The American public's knowledge of DDT and its environmental dangers was in large part due to Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring (1962). The Writer’s Almanac
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Supreme Court of the United States Blog
Find rulings, orders, commentary and cites to articles in the press. http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/
ScotusWiki, companion site to ScotusUSblog.com
http://www.scotuswiki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
News release: "An update of the widely-cited manufacturing “cost study” has been released by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), The Manufacturing Institute and the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI shows that U.S. manufacturing is making progress in reducing its cost disadvantage against nine major foreign competitors but that high corporate tax rates now account for more than half of the burden."
The Tide Is Turning: An Update on Structural Cost Pressures Facing U.S. Manufacturers, November 2008
Jordan's Queen Rania has received YouTube's first ever Visionary Award
The 38-year-old royal was praised for launching an interactive channel to help dismiss stereotypes and misconceptions often associated with Arabs and Muslims on the video sharing website. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7013079121
Department of Labor Final Rule on Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
FR Doc. 2008-26577, Filed 11/14/2008; Publication Date: 11/17/2008: This document provides the text of final regulations implementing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. The final regulations also address new military family leave entitlements included in amendments to the FMLA enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008, which provide additional job-protected leave rights to eligible employees of covered employers who provide care for covered service members with a serious injury or illness and because of qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that a covered military member is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation.
I love words. It's something I gave up my career in software for. Every morning when I wake up I can't wait to begin exploring words and writing about them. I've been doing that for 14 years and wouldn't want to be doing anything else. Having said that, there are times when I feel I have to be ready to feed this beast -- A.Word.A.Day -- week after week after week. It opens its hungry maw every Monday and I had better be ready with another serving of juicy, delicious words. Anu Garg A.Word.A.Day
From weekly reaction to A.Word.A.Day
Miriam (miriaml savion.cc.huji.ac.il)
My favorite blended word is "huggle". When my kids were little, I always asked them if they wanted a "huggle" -- a combination of a hug and a cuddle.
________________________________________
Susan L. West (westsl aol.com)
"Advertorial" elicited my coined word "gregacious" or "gregaciousness", stemming from "gregarious" and "gracious".
________________________________________
James Welch (gneeby gmail.com)
"Bookazine" is another example of a portmanteau. A bookazine is in the format of a monthly magazine but focused on a single topic and is expected to have a shelf life of six months. Forbes 2009 Retirement Guide is an example of a bookazine.
November 18 is the 80th birthday of Mickey Mouse, as officially celebrated by Walt Disney. Mickey Mouse was actually "born" about six months before his official birthday, debuting in a cartoon where he played pilot Charles Lindbergh, but the cartoon failed to pick up a distributor. And so did a second cartoon, "The Gallopin' Gaucho," in which Mickey rides a rhea around Argentina, smoking, drinking, challenging men to duels, and acting like an outlaw. But in his third reincarnation, released on this day in 1928, the creators of Mickey found success, in a cartoon entitled "Steamboat Willie," shown at New York's Colony Theatre
November 18 is the birthday of novelist and poet Margaret Atwood, (books by this author) born in Ottawa, Ontario (1939). Atwood's first novel, The Edible Woman, came out in 1969. It's about a woman who finds that she can no longer eat after her boyfriend proposes marriage. Atwood is best known for her novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985), about an imaginary America where religious fanatics have taken over the government. The book became an international best-seller. The Writer’s Almanac
Find rulings, orders, commentary and cites to articles in the press. http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/
ScotusWiki, companion site to ScotusUSblog.com
http://www.scotuswiki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
News release: "An update of the widely-cited manufacturing “cost study” has been released by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), The Manufacturing Institute and the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI shows that U.S. manufacturing is making progress in reducing its cost disadvantage against nine major foreign competitors but that high corporate tax rates now account for more than half of the burden."
The Tide Is Turning: An Update on Structural Cost Pressures Facing U.S. Manufacturers, November 2008
Jordan's Queen Rania has received YouTube's first ever Visionary Award
The 38-year-old royal was praised for launching an interactive channel to help dismiss stereotypes and misconceptions often associated with Arabs and Muslims on the video sharing website. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7013079121
Department of Labor Final Rule on Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
FR Doc. 2008-26577, Filed 11/14/2008; Publication Date: 11/17/2008: This document provides the text of final regulations implementing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. The final regulations also address new military family leave entitlements included in amendments to the FMLA enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008, which provide additional job-protected leave rights to eligible employees of covered employers who provide care for covered service members with a serious injury or illness and because of qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that a covered military member is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in support of a contingency operation.
I love words. It's something I gave up my career in software for. Every morning when I wake up I can't wait to begin exploring words and writing about them. I've been doing that for 14 years and wouldn't want to be doing anything else. Having said that, there are times when I feel I have to be ready to feed this beast -- A.Word.A.Day -- week after week after week. It opens its hungry maw every Monday and I had better be ready with another serving of juicy, delicious words. Anu Garg A.Word.A.Day
From weekly reaction to A.Word.A.Day
Miriam (miriaml savion.cc.huji.ac.il)
My favorite blended word is "huggle". When my kids were little, I always asked them if they wanted a "huggle" -- a combination of a hug and a cuddle.
________________________________________
Susan L. West (westsl aol.com)
"Advertorial" elicited my coined word "gregacious" or "gregaciousness", stemming from "gregarious" and "gracious".
________________________________________
James Welch (gneeby gmail.com)
"Bookazine" is another example of a portmanteau. A bookazine is in the format of a monthly magazine but focused on a single topic and is expected to have a shelf life of six months. Forbes 2009 Retirement Guide is an example of a bookazine.
November 18 is the 80th birthday of Mickey Mouse, as officially celebrated by Walt Disney. Mickey Mouse was actually "born" about six months before his official birthday, debuting in a cartoon where he played pilot Charles Lindbergh, but the cartoon failed to pick up a distributor. And so did a second cartoon, "The Gallopin' Gaucho," in which Mickey rides a rhea around Argentina, smoking, drinking, challenging men to duels, and acting like an outlaw. But in his third reincarnation, released on this day in 1928, the creators of Mickey found success, in a cartoon entitled "Steamboat Willie," shown at New York's Colony Theatre
November 18 is the birthday of novelist and poet Margaret Atwood, (books by this author) born in Ottawa, Ontario (1939). Atwood's first novel, The Edible Woman, came out in 1969. It's about a woman who finds that she can no longer eat after her boyfriend proposes marriage. Atwood is best known for her novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985), about an imaginary America where religious fanatics have taken over the government. The book became an international best-seller. The Writer’s Almanac
Monday, November 17, 2008
Second wildfire
Thousands of people were ordered out of their homes in Sylmar, California, early Saturday, November 15 as a fast-spreading wildfire burned along on the northern boundary of Los Angeles. The flames erupted late Friday in the steep terrain of the Angeles National Forest on the outskirts of Sylmar, about 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. The fire covered 1,500 acres just three hours after it was first reported, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Armando Hogan. A fire official said firefighters first learned of the blaze after it was spotted by CNN affiliate KTLA-TV's helicopter crew.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/15/california.wildfires/?iref=mpstoryview
Third fire erupted suddenly in Orange County on Saturday
The flames destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 10,000 people along the southern coast to evacuate. The third fire began in Corona, about 50 miles inland from Los Angeles, on Saturday afternoon, forcing evacuations in Corona, Yorba Linda and Anaheim. The Corona blaze, named the Freeway Complex fire, had burned more than 2,000 acres and damaged 94 homes by Saturday night.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/us/17calif.html?ref=us
Sundowner winds of Santa Barbara
Sundowners frequently occur in the late afternoon or evening hours–hence the name. Light sundowners create irregular rises in temperature downtown with gentle offshore breezes. Stronger sundowners, occurring two or three times a year, can create sharp temperature rises, local gale force winds, and significant weather-related problems. Rarely, probably about a half dozen times in a century, an “explosive” sundowner occurs.
http://www.wildfirelessons.net/documents/SUNDOWNER_WINDS_S_CA.pdf
Senate Banking Committee Hearing: Oversight of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act: Examining Financial Institution Use of Funding Under the Capital Purchase Program, November 13, 2008
Opening Statement of Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, “Oversight of the EESA: Examining Financial Institution Use of Funding Under the Capital Purchase Program” - "...five trillion dollars have been committed in several forms, including: the guarantee of all non-interest bearing deposit accounts at federally insured banks and thrifts...The Fed alone has committed up to one trillion in tax dollars so far to the recovery effort...I think I speak for many members of the Committee and the Senate in saying that we want to see more progress from our friends in the financial sector – more progress in foreclosure mitigation, in affordable lending, and in curbing excessive compensation."
Washington Post: Bailout Lacks Oversight Despite Billions Pledged "In the six weeks since lawmakers approved the Treasury's massive bailout of financial firms, the government has poured money into the country's largest banks, recruited smaller banks into the program and repeatedly widened its scope to cover yet other types of businesses, from insurers to consumer lenders...Yet for all this activity, no formal action has been taken to fill the independent oversight posts established by Congress when it approved the bailout to prevent corruption and government waste."
Treasury news release: "Today's story in the Washington Post leaves out critical steps taken by Treasury to ensure that there is strong oversight in place as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is implemented."
Reuters, Commentary: TARP and Fed facilities unravel "The twin pillars of the rescue program are the multiplicity of liquidity and lending programs being offered by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Both programs are now in deep trouble. In fact the various rescue packages risk becoming a textbook example of how poorly designed programs can fail to achieve their objectives."
Joint Letter of Concern to Secretary Paulson After His Announcement to the Change Intent of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, November 13, 2008
Related postings on financial system
On November 13, the Republican National Committee (RNC) filed lawsuits claiming that provisions in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, which was sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), are unconstitutional. In a suit filed in the District of Columbia, the RNC is challenging the law's ban on the use of soft money, or campaign contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions and advocacy groups that are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) because they are not donated to a particular candidate but for "party building" activities.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7013033366
Two groups of astronomers have taken the first pictures of what they say—and other astronomers agree—are most likely planets going around other stars. Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, British Columbia is the leader of a team that recorded three planets circling a star known as HR 8799 that is 130 light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. The other team, led by Paul Kalas of the University of California, Berkeley, found a planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut, only 25 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Piscis Austrinus. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/science/space/14planet.html?bl&ex=1226898000&en=034c0d653216eb42&ei=5087%0A
November 16 is the birthday of the "First Lady of Radio," mostly forgotten today, Mary Margaret McBride, born in Paris, Missouri (1899). She was one of the first radio interviewers to bring the techniques of newspaper journalism to the airwaves, and in the first 20 years of her syndicated program, she interviewed more than 30,000 guests from the world of politics, literature, arts, and entertainment. In the late 1940s, she had 6 million daily listeners. She never announced in advance the name of the guests who would appear on the show, so people tuned in each day not knowing whom to expect.
November 17 is the birthday of a young man who became a best-selling author as a teenager, Christopher Paolini, (books by this author) born in California (1983) and raised near Paradise Valley, Montana. He was homeschooled, and when he finished high school at age 15, he had a lot of time on his hands, so he decided to write a fantasy novel. He began Eragon, finished it a year later, at age 16. He spent a second year revising that draft, and then gave it to his parents. They loved it, and in 2002 Eragon was self-published through the family company. The Paolini family embarked on an exhausting tour to promote Christopher's book. They went to 135 promotional events that first year, dressed in red and black medieval costumes. Paolini got offers from both Random House and Scholastic, and in August of 2003—when Paolini was still 19—the book was published by a division of Random House/Knopf. The Writer’s Almanac
Thousands of people were ordered out of their homes in Sylmar, California, early Saturday, November 15 as a fast-spreading wildfire burned along on the northern boundary of Los Angeles. The flames erupted late Friday in the steep terrain of the Angeles National Forest on the outskirts of Sylmar, about 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. The fire covered 1,500 acres just three hours after it was first reported, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Armando Hogan. A fire official said firefighters first learned of the blaze after it was spotted by CNN affiliate KTLA-TV's helicopter crew.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/15/california.wildfires/?iref=mpstoryview
Third fire erupted suddenly in Orange County on Saturday
The flames destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 10,000 people along the southern coast to evacuate. The third fire began in Corona, about 50 miles inland from Los Angeles, on Saturday afternoon, forcing evacuations in Corona, Yorba Linda and Anaheim. The Corona blaze, named the Freeway Complex fire, had burned more than 2,000 acres and damaged 94 homes by Saturday night.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/us/17calif.html?ref=us
Sundowner winds of Santa Barbara
Sundowners frequently occur in the late afternoon or evening hours–hence the name. Light sundowners create irregular rises in temperature downtown with gentle offshore breezes. Stronger sundowners, occurring two or three times a year, can create sharp temperature rises, local gale force winds, and significant weather-related problems. Rarely, probably about a half dozen times in a century, an “explosive” sundowner occurs.
http://www.wildfirelessons.net/documents/SUNDOWNER_WINDS_S_CA.pdf
Senate Banking Committee Hearing: Oversight of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act: Examining Financial Institution Use of Funding Under the Capital Purchase Program, November 13, 2008
Opening Statement of Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, “Oversight of the EESA: Examining Financial Institution Use of Funding Under the Capital Purchase Program” - "...five trillion dollars have been committed in several forms, including: the guarantee of all non-interest bearing deposit accounts at federally insured banks and thrifts...The Fed alone has committed up to one trillion in tax dollars so far to the recovery effort...I think I speak for many members of the Committee and the Senate in saying that we want to see more progress from our friends in the financial sector – more progress in foreclosure mitigation, in affordable lending, and in curbing excessive compensation."
Washington Post: Bailout Lacks Oversight Despite Billions Pledged "In the six weeks since lawmakers approved the Treasury's massive bailout of financial firms, the government has poured money into the country's largest banks, recruited smaller banks into the program and repeatedly widened its scope to cover yet other types of businesses, from insurers to consumer lenders...Yet for all this activity, no formal action has been taken to fill the independent oversight posts established by Congress when it approved the bailout to prevent corruption and government waste."
Treasury news release: "Today's story in the Washington Post leaves out critical steps taken by Treasury to ensure that there is strong oversight in place as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is implemented."
Reuters, Commentary: TARP and Fed facilities unravel "The twin pillars of the rescue program are the multiplicity of liquidity and lending programs being offered by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Both programs are now in deep trouble. In fact the various rescue packages risk becoming a textbook example of how poorly designed programs can fail to achieve their objectives."
Joint Letter of Concern to Secretary Paulson After His Announcement to the Change Intent of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, November 13, 2008
Related postings on financial system
On November 13, the Republican National Committee (RNC) filed lawsuits claiming that provisions in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, which was sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), are unconstitutional. In a suit filed in the District of Columbia, the RNC is challenging the law's ban on the use of soft money, or campaign contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions and advocacy groups that are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) because they are not donated to a particular candidate but for "party building" activities.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7013033366
Two groups of astronomers have taken the first pictures of what they say—and other astronomers agree—are most likely planets going around other stars. Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, British Columbia is the leader of a team that recorded three planets circling a star known as HR 8799 that is 130 light-years away in the constellation Pegasus. The other team, led by Paul Kalas of the University of California, Berkeley, found a planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut, only 25 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Piscis Austrinus. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/science/space/14planet.html?bl&ex=1226898000&en=034c0d653216eb42&ei=5087%0A
November 16 is the birthday of the "First Lady of Radio," mostly forgotten today, Mary Margaret McBride, born in Paris, Missouri (1899). She was one of the first radio interviewers to bring the techniques of newspaper journalism to the airwaves, and in the first 20 years of her syndicated program, she interviewed more than 30,000 guests from the world of politics, literature, arts, and entertainment. In the late 1940s, she had 6 million daily listeners. She never announced in advance the name of the guests who would appear on the show, so people tuned in each day not knowing whom to expect.
November 17 is the birthday of a young man who became a best-selling author as a teenager, Christopher Paolini, (books by this author) born in California (1983) and raised near Paradise Valley, Montana. He was homeschooled, and when he finished high school at age 15, he had a lot of time on his hands, so he decided to write a fantasy novel. He began Eragon, finished it a year later, at age 16. He spent a second year revising that draft, and then gave it to his parents. They loved it, and in 2002 Eragon was self-published through the family company. The Paolini family embarked on an exhausting tour to promote Christopher's book. They went to 135 promotional events that first year, dressed in red and black medieval costumes. Paolini got offers from both Random House and Scholastic, and in August of 2003—when Paolini was still 19—the book was published by a division of Random House/Knopf. The Writer’s Almanac
Friday, November 14, 2008
Health and the Mobile Phone Source: American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Within the next 8 years, annual U.S. expenditure on health care is projected to reach $4 trillion/year, or 20% of the gross domestic product. Whether resource consumption of this order of magnitude is sustainable is an open question, but at the very least it suggests the need for population-level solutions for everything from the primary prevention of disease to improving end-of-life care. By June 2007 there were 239 million users of mobile phones in the U.S. or 79% of the population, and users are highly diverse. Mobile phones are beginning to replace landline telephones for some, and except for very young children, may ultimately reach an effective penetration of “one phone: one person” as is already the case in some countries such as Finland.
Global Census of Marine Life Releases Interim Report
News release: The 2,000-strong community of Census of Marine Life scientists from 82 nations has announced astonishing examples of recent new finds from the world’s ocean depths. As more than 700 delegates gather for the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity (Valencia, Spain Nov. 11-15), organized by the Census’s European affiliate program on Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning, the report details major progress towards the first ever marine life census, for release in October, 2010.
Full Highlights Report: "Eight years into a ten-year initiative to produce the first comprehensive assessment of life in the global ocean, the Census of Marine Life has much to report. The last two years have brought many highlights as Census participants stayed the course toward discovering diversity, charting distribution, and assessing abundance of marine life throughout the world’s seas. Although inquiring waders, swimmers, fishers, and sailors have ventured into the ocean for millennia, an estimated 95 percent of the global ocean remains unexplored...During the first eight years of discovery, Census investigators have found more than 5,300 likely new species, of which at least 110 have gone through the rigorous process needed to award the title of truly “new.”
Today in legal history
On November 14, 1881, Charles Guiteau went on trial for the assassination of President James A. Garfield. The trial of Guiteau pointed up problems with nineteenth century law's treatment of insanity; Guiteau's trial is also problematic in retrospect as Garfield's death was immediately attributable not to Guiteau, but to Garfield's doctors who--before sterilization was well understood-- probed his wound with unwashed hands while searching for an embedded bullet.
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/thisday/2006/11/guiteau-tried-for-assassinating.php
Keepers (books I would read again)
The Man with the Black Worrybeads by George N. Rumanes
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
A Year Without Time by Cate Allen and Jen Whiting
November 14 is the birthday of cartoonist and author William Steig, (books by this author) born in New York City (1907). He's best known for his children's book Shrek! (1993), about an ugly green ogre who hears the prophecy of a witch that he will marry a princess even uglier than he. It was made into an animated movie in 2002.
The Writer’s Almanac
Within the next 8 years, annual U.S. expenditure on health care is projected to reach $4 trillion/year, or 20% of the gross domestic product. Whether resource consumption of this order of magnitude is sustainable is an open question, but at the very least it suggests the need for population-level solutions for everything from the primary prevention of disease to improving end-of-life care. By June 2007 there were 239 million users of mobile phones in the U.S. or 79% of the population, and users are highly diverse. Mobile phones are beginning to replace landline telephones for some, and except for very young children, may ultimately reach an effective penetration of “one phone: one person” as is already the case in some countries such as Finland.
Global Census of Marine Life Releases Interim Report
News release: The 2,000-strong community of Census of Marine Life scientists from 82 nations has announced astonishing examples of recent new finds from the world’s ocean depths. As more than 700 delegates gather for the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity (Valencia, Spain Nov. 11-15), organized by the Census’s European affiliate program on Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning, the report details major progress towards the first ever marine life census, for release in October, 2010.
Full Highlights Report: "Eight years into a ten-year initiative to produce the first comprehensive assessment of life in the global ocean, the Census of Marine Life has much to report. The last two years have brought many highlights as Census participants stayed the course toward discovering diversity, charting distribution, and assessing abundance of marine life throughout the world’s seas. Although inquiring waders, swimmers, fishers, and sailors have ventured into the ocean for millennia, an estimated 95 percent of the global ocean remains unexplored...During the first eight years of discovery, Census investigators have found more than 5,300 likely new species, of which at least 110 have gone through the rigorous process needed to award the title of truly “new.”
Today in legal history
On November 14, 1881, Charles Guiteau went on trial for the assassination of President James A. Garfield. The trial of Guiteau pointed up problems with nineteenth century law's treatment of insanity; Guiteau's trial is also problematic in retrospect as Garfield's death was immediately attributable not to Guiteau, but to Garfield's doctors who--before sterilization was well understood-- probed his wound with unwashed hands while searching for an embedded bullet.
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/thisday/2006/11/guiteau-tried-for-assassinating.php
Keepers (books I would read again)
The Man with the Black Worrybeads by George N. Rumanes
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
A Year Without Time by Cate Allen and Jen Whiting
November 14 is the birthday of cartoonist and author William Steig, (books by this author) born in New York City (1907). He's best known for his children's book Shrek! (1993), about an ugly green ogre who hears the prophecy of a witch that he will marry a princess even uglier than he. It was made into an animated movie in 2002.
The Writer’s Almanac
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Let’s look at the Summum case. On November 12, lawyers went before the High Court to argue the big free speech case. In 1971, Pleasant Grove City, Utah, accepted a red granite monument featuring the Ten Commandments for placement in Pioneer Park. But in 2003, when the president of the Summum church asked the mayor of Pleasant Grove City to accept a monument inscribed with the religion’s Seven Aphorisms, the city said no thanks. The constitutional issue is whether, because Pleasant Grove City accepted the Ten Commandments monument, it must accept the Seven Aphorisms monument. Is the Ten Commandments monument speech made by a private group or citizen, making the city’s denial of the Seven Aphorisms display subject to strict constitutional scrutiny, or is it government speech, in which case the speaking government entity has greater freedom to pick and choose among messages? WSJ Law Blog November 12, 2008
Two U.S. internet service providers have pulled the plug on the firm McColo following an investigation by the Washington Post newspaper. Anti-spam firm Ironport has seen junk mail levels drop by 70% since McColo was taken offline on 11 November.
"It is an unprecedented drop but will be a temporary outage as the networks move from North America to places where there is less scrutiny," said Jason Steer, a spokesman for Ironport. The Washington Post has been gathering data on McColo for the past four months and passed the information to its internet service providers, Global Crossing and Hurricane Electric. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7725492.stm
Founded in 1999, Operation Paperback collects gently used books and sends them to American troops deployed overseas. Over 800,000 books have been shipped since 1999. Operation Paperback is a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania. As a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, your donations to our organization are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Learn More about Operation Paperback
Frequently Asked Questions http://www.operationpaperback.org/
The novel works better than academic literature to explain global problems
Now some economists are validating that notion. “Despite the regular flow of academic studies, expert reports, and policy position papers, it is arguably novelists who do as good a job–if not a better one–of representing and communicating the realities of international development,” says Dr. Dennis Rodgers from England’s Manchester University’s Brooks World Poverty Institute. Rodgers was speaking for a team of academics from Manchester University and the London School of Economics as they presented a report called “The Fiction of Development: Literary Representation as a Source of Authoritative Knowledge.”
The reason: Fiction “does not compromise on complexity, politics or readability in the way that academic literature sometimes does,” argues Dr. Rodgers. In a piece in the Telegraph last week, Rodgers goes on to cite “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, “The White Tiger” by Aravind Adiga, and “Brick Lane” by Monica Ali as books that he says have done more to educate large numbers of people about life under the Taliban in Afghanistan, social injustice in India, and global development problems everywhere than any number of academic studies.
http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2008/11/10/why-novels-are-best-at-explaining-world-problems/#more-898
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth, (1858-1944) was an English composer. In 1910 Smyth joined the Women's Social and Political Union, a militant suffrage organization, giving up music for two years to devote herself to the cause. Her "The March of the Women" became the anthem of the women's suffrage movement, though suffragists most often shouted the words, by Cicely Hamilton, rather than actually singing Smyth's tune. She served two months in Holloway Prison. When Thomas Beecham went to visit her there, he found suffragettes marching in the quadrangle and singing, as Smyth leaned out a window conducting the song with a toothbrush. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Smyth
On November 13, 1940 Disney released “Fantasia,” an animated film based on classical music favorites ranging from Bach to Stravinsky; Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra recorded the soundtrack, and in one famous scene Stokowski shakes hands with Mickey Mouse. Composers Datebook
Coming to Shumaker charity sale in Toledo
Persuader by Lee Child paperbound 465 pages
Book 7 in the Jack Reacher series
Risk by Dick Francis paperbound 271 pages
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/dick-francis/
“Amazing how deprivation makes the smallest extras marvelous.”
“I lived by the law, both by inclination and by choice.”
Eye of the Storm by Jack Higgins hardbound 320 pages
First book in the Sean Dillon series
Music from Oberlin Coming to Toledo
Collingwood Arts Center Chamber Music Series
Tzigane Trio
Sunday, November 16, 2008 3p.m.
Adults $5.00
Senior / Student / Child $4.00
Family $15.00
See program, picture and biographies at: http://www.collingwoodartscenter.org/public/oberlin.php
Two U.S. internet service providers have pulled the plug on the firm McColo following an investigation by the Washington Post newspaper. Anti-spam firm Ironport has seen junk mail levels drop by 70% since McColo was taken offline on 11 November.
"It is an unprecedented drop but will be a temporary outage as the networks move from North America to places where there is less scrutiny," said Jason Steer, a spokesman for Ironport. The Washington Post has been gathering data on McColo for the past four months and passed the information to its internet service providers, Global Crossing and Hurricane Electric. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7725492.stm
Founded in 1999, Operation Paperback collects gently used books and sends them to American troops deployed overseas. Over 800,000 books have been shipped since 1999. Operation Paperback is a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania. As a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, your donations to our organization are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Learn More about Operation Paperback
Frequently Asked Questions http://www.operationpaperback.org/
The novel works better than academic literature to explain global problems
Now some economists are validating that notion. “Despite the regular flow of academic studies, expert reports, and policy position papers, it is arguably novelists who do as good a job–if not a better one–of representing and communicating the realities of international development,” says Dr. Dennis Rodgers from England’s Manchester University’s Brooks World Poverty Institute. Rodgers was speaking for a team of academics from Manchester University and the London School of Economics as they presented a report called “The Fiction of Development: Literary Representation as a Source of Authoritative Knowledge.”
The reason: Fiction “does not compromise on complexity, politics or readability in the way that academic literature sometimes does,” argues Dr. Rodgers. In a piece in the Telegraph last week, Rodgers goes on to cite “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, “The White Tiger” by Aravind Adiga, and “Brick Lane” by Monica Ali as books that he says have done more to educate large numbers of people about life under the Taliban in Afghanistan, social injustice in India, and global development problems everywhere than any number of academic studies.
http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2008/11/10/why-novels-are-best-at-explaining-world-problems/#more-898
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth, (1858-1944) was an English composer. In 1910 Smyth joined the Women's Social and Political Union, a militant suffrage organization, giving up music for two years to devote herself to the cause. Her "The March of the Women" became the anthem of the women's suffrage movement, though suffragists most often shouted the words, by Cicely Hamilton, rather than actually singing Smyth's tune. She served two months in Holloway Prison. When Thomas Beecham went to visit her there, he found suffragettes marching in the quadrangle and singing, as Smyth leaned out a window conducting the song with a toothbrush. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Smyth
On November 13, 1940 Disney released “Fantasia,” an animated film based on classical music favorites ranging from Bach to Stravinsky; Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra recorded the soundtrack, and in one famous scene Stokowski shakes hands with Mickey Mouse. Composers Datebook
Coming to Shumaker charity sale in Toledo
Persuader by Lee Child paperbound 465 pages
Book 7 in the Jack Reacher series
Risk by Dick Francis paperbound 271 pages
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/dick-francis/
“Amazing how deprivation makes the smallest extras marvelous.”
“I lived by the law, both by inclination and by choice.”
Eye of the Storm by Jack Higgins hardbound 320 pages
First book in the Sean Dillon series
Music from Oberlin Coming to Toledo
Collingwood Arts Center Chamber Music Series
Tzigane Trio
Sunday, November 16, 2008 3p.m.
Adults $5.00
Senior / Student / Child $4.00
Family $15.00
See program, picture and biographies at: http://www.collingwoodartscenter.org/public/oberlin.php
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Change.gov - Office of the President Elect
Change.gov: source for news, events, and announcements in the transition period
Executive Orders from John Quincy Adams to George W. Bush
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/executive_orders.php
Executive Order 9066, 1942 establishing military districts and authorizing the removal and detention of individuals http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_761593259/Executive_Order_9066.html
Discussion of 2004 Classified Order allowing military to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/washington/10military.html
Founded more than 1,500 years ago on 117 different islands, Venice is linked by a series of over 150 canals, 400 bridges and many ancient pavements. The historic city centre of Venice is divided into six quarters (sestieri) - Cannaregio, Castello, Dorsoduro, San Marco, San Polo and Santa Croce. All buildings in Venice are supported on slender oak and pine piles (posts) which are driven deep into the ground to create a solid foundation. As the soil is waterlogged, with no free oxygen, the piles remain strong and do not decay. http://www.venice.world-guides.com/
Find other destinations, including population, country dialing codes and more at: http://www.world-guides.com/
A portmanteau is a blend--a word formed by combining two (or more) words. Lewis Carroll gave this name to such a word in "Through the Looking-Glass." As Humpty Dumpty explained to Alice, "You see it's like a portmanteau--there are two meanings packed up into one word." A portmanteau is a travel bag that opens into two hinged compartments. Carroll himself coined some fine portmanteaux such as chortle (chuckle + snort), and slithy (slimy + lithe). We have used this fusion technique to coin names for countries: Tanzania (Tanganyika + Zanzibar). A.Word.A.Day
November 11 is the birthday of Abigail Adams, (books by this author) wife of the second U.S. president and mother of the sixth, born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1744. She opposed slavery. She also strongly advocated women's rights, especially in the areas of education and property ownership. She expressed these views freely in letters she wrote to her husband. John Adams was the second president, and she was the first First Lady to occupy the White House, parts of which were still being constructed while they lived there. The Writer’s Almanac
Change.gov: source for news, events, and announcements in the transition period
Executive Orders from John Quincy Adams to George W. Bush
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/executive_orders.php
Executive Order 9066, 1942 establishing military districts and authorizing the removal and detention of individuals http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_761593259/Executive_Order_9066.html
Discussion of 2004 Classified Order allowing military to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/washington/10military.html
Founded more than 1,500 years ago on 117 different islands, Venice is linked by a series of over 150 canals, 400 bridges and many ancient pavements. The historic city centre of Venice is divided into six quarters (sestieri) - Cannaregio, Castello, Dorsoduro, San Marco, San Polo and Santa Croce. All buildings in Venice are supported on slender oak and pine piles (posts) which are driven deep into the ground to create a solid foundation. As the soil is waterlogged, with no free oxygen, the piles remain strong and do not decay. http://www.venice.world-guides.com/
Find other destinations, including population, country dialing codes and more at: http://www.world-guides.com/
A portmanteau is a blend--a word formed by combining two (or more) words. Lewis Carroll gave this name to such a word in "Through the Looking-Glass." As Humpty Dumpty explained to Alice, "You see it's like a portmanteau--there are two meanings packed up into one word." A portmanteau is a travel bag that opens into two hinged compartments. Carroll himself coined some fine portmanteaux such as chortle (chuckle + snort), and slithy (slimy + lithe). We have used this fusion technique to coin names for countries: Tanzania (Tanganyika + Zanzibar). A.Word.A.Day
November 11 is the birthday of Abigail Adams, (books by this author) wife of the second U.S. president and mother of the sixth, born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1744. She opposed slavery. She also strongly advocated women's rights, especially in the areas of education and property ownership. She expressed these views freely in letters she wrote to her husband. John Adams was the second president, and she was the first First Lady to occupy the White House, parts of which were still being constructed while they lived there. The Writer’s Almanac
Monday, November 10, 2008
PBGC Announces Maximum Insurance Benefit for 2009
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has announced that the maximum insurance benefit for participants in underfunded pension plans terminating in 2009 is $54,000 per year for those who retire at age 65, up from $51,750 for 2008. The amount is higher for those who retire later and lower for those who retire earlier or elect survivor benefits (see chart). If a pension plan terminates in 2009 but a participant does not begin collecting benefits until a future year, the 2009 maximum insurance limits still apply. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 provides that the maximum benefit payable is determined by the legal limits in force on the date of the plan sponsor's bankruptcy and not on the date of plan termination. See also PBGC's fact sheet, Pension Guarantees
District Court Rules in Favor of Media Group in CIA FOIA Decision
News release: Judge Gladys Kessler of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the CIA's view that it--and not journalists--has the right to determine which Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests are newsworthy. Reconsidering its earlier decision deferring to the CIA's written assurances that the agency would cease illegally denying the National Security Archive's news media status, the court ordered the CIA to treat the Archive as a representative of the news media for all of its pending and future non-commercial requests. Finding that the CIA "has twice made highly misleading representations to the Archive, as well as to [the] Court," the court explained that the CIA's position "is truly hard to take seriously" and enjoined the CIA from illegally denying the Archive's news media status."
Steve Lowes is a coral farmer
He doesn’t live on an island in the Caribbean or even within spitting distance of an ocean. Rather, his farming takes place in 100-gallon saltwater tanks in the basement of his neat and tidy house the color of a warm Sargasso Sea in upstate New York. Lowes, who grew up landlocked, developed his fascination with corals by watching Jacques Cousteau documentaries as a kid. Since 2002, he’s farmed coral in his basement. There, he propagates, nurtures, and then sells his captive-raised livestock--about 50 species of coral--to aquarium supply firms and pet stores throughout the Northeast. Lowes is one of about a dozen commercial coral farmers in the United States. Captive-raising coral helps limit the amount of coral poached from wild reefs.
Lowes stands before a 125-gallon saltwater tank--his display aquarium--that holds a glorious array of coral, anemones, and colorful fish. “These are all Indo-Pacific corals--it’s illegal to take corals from American waters,” says Lowes. Lowes does not collect his own coral--that requires a license--but all the coral farmers he knows trade with one another for different species to keep stock varied. Lowes points to the top of the display tank. “Look at how that green coral is right up against the pink coral,” said Lowes. “It will eventually grow over the pink one in an effort to grab all the light.”
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/10/31/a-coral-farmer%e2%80%99s-harvest-of-%e2%80%98living-stones%e2%80%99/
Quote You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.
Mario Matthew Cuomo (born 1932), governor of New York from 1982 to 1994
She raised the status of chamber music, founded the Berkshire String Quartet and started the Berkshire Music Festival: Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge.
The most lasting memorial to Coolidge's patronage of music are the compositions which she commissioned from practically every leading composer of the early 20th century. The Shaker song, Simple Gifts, which spread quickly across the United States, was played in Appalachian Spring—one of her commissioned pieces.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Sprague_Coolidge
November 8 is the birthday of Indian novelist Raja Rao, (books by this author) born in Hassan, in southern India (1909). His native language was Kanarese, but he wrote all of his books in English. At the time, India was still under British colonial rule, and Rao was one of the first Indian writers to try to capture the rhythm of Indian life in English. He said: "The tempo of Indian life must be infused into our English expression, even as the tempo of American or Irish life has gone into the making of theirs. We, in India, think quickly, we talk quickly, and when we move we move quickly. We have neither punctuation nor the treacherous 'ats' and 'ons' to bother us — we tell one interminable tale. Episode follows episode, and when our thoughts stop our breath stops, and we move on to another thought. This was and still is the ordinary style of our storytelling."
The Writer’s Almanac
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has announced that the maximum insurance benefit for participants in underfunded pension plans terminating in 2009 is $54,000 per year for those who retire at age 65, up from $51,750 for 2008. The amount is higher for those who retire later and lower for those who retire earlier or elect survivor benefits (see chart). If a pension plan terminates in 2009 but a participant does not begin collecting benefits until a future year, the 2009 maximum insurance limits still apply. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 provides that the maximum benefit payable is determined by the legal limits in force on the date of the plan sponsor's bankruptcy and not on the date of plan termination. See also PBGC's fact sheet, Pension Guarantees
District Court Rules in Favor of Media Group in CIA FOIA Decision
News release: Judge Gladys Kessler of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the CIA's view that it--and not journalists--has the right to determine which Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests are newsworthy. Reconsidering its earlier decision deferring to the CIA's written assurances that the agency would cease illegally denying the National Security Archive's news media status, the court ordered the CIA to treat the Archive as a representative of the news media for all of its pending and future non-commercial requests. Finding that the CIA "has twice made highly misleading representations to the Archive, as well as to [the] Court," the court explained that the CIA's position "is truly hard to take seriously" and enjoined the CIA from illegally denying the Archive's news media status."
Steve Lowes is a coral farmer
He doesn’t live on an island in the Caribbean or even within spitting distance of an ocean. Rather, his farming takes place in 100-gallon saltwater tanks in the basement of his neat and tidy house the color of a warm Sargasso Sea in upstate New York. Lowes, who grew up landlocked, developed his fascination with corals by watching Jacques Cousteau documentaries as a kid. Since 2002, he’s farmed coral in his basement. There, he propagates, nurtures, and then sells his captive-raised livestock--about 50 species of coral--to aquarium supply firms and pet stores throughout the Northeast. Lowes is one of about a dozen commercial coral farmers in the United States. Captive-raising coral helps limit the amount of coral poached from wild reefs.
Lowes stands before a 125-gallon saltwater tank--his display aquarium--that holds a glorious array of coral, anemones, and colorful fish. “These are all Indo-Pacific corals--it’s illegal to take corals from American waters,” says Lowes. Lowes does not collect his own coral--that requires a license--but all the coral farmers he knows trade with one another for different species to keep stock varied. Lowes points to the top of the display tank. “Look at how that green coral is right up against the pink coral,” said Lowes. “It will eventually grow over the pink one in an effort to grab all the light.”
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/10/31/a-coral-farmer%e2%80%99s-harvest-of-%e2%80%98living-stones%e2%80%99/
Quote You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.
Mario Matthew Cuomo (born 1932), governor of New York from 1982 to 1994
She raised the status of chamber music, founded the Berkshire String Quartet and started the Berkshire Music Festival: Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge.
The most lasting memorial to Coolidge's patronage of music are the compositions which she commissioned from practically every leading composer of the early 20th century. The Shaker song, Simple Gifts, which spread quickly across the United States, was played in Appalachian Spring—one of her commissioned pieces.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Sprague_Coolidge
November 8 is the birthday of Indian novelist Raja Rao, (books by this author) born in Hassan, in southern India (1909). His native language was Kanarese, but he wrote all of his books in English. At the time, India was still under British colonial rule, and Rao was one of the first Indian writers to try to capture the rhythm of Indian life in English. He said: "The tempo of Indian life must be infused into our English expression, even as the tempo of American or Irish life has gone into the making of theirs. We, in India, think quickly, we talk quickly, and when we move we move quickly. We have neither punctuation nor the treacherous 'ats' and 'ons' to bother us — we tell one interminable tale. Episode follows episode, and when our thoughts stop our breath stops, and we move on to another thought. This was and still is the ordinary style of our storytelling."
The Writer’s Almanac
Friday, November 7, 2008
Barack Obama: The U.S.'s 44th President (and 25th Lawyer-President)
Obama’s Harvard law degree puts him in the company of our 19th president, Rutherford Hayes (Kenyon College, Harvard law), the only other president— believe it or not— to hold a JD from the Law School. Below is a complete list of our lawyer-presidents.
#2 — John Adams (Harvard, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#3 — Thomas Jefferson (College of William & Mary, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#4 — James Madison (College of New Jersey — now Princeton — then read law)
#6 — John Quincy Adams (Harvard, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#7 — Andrew Jackson (self-taught lawyer)
#8 — Martin Van Buren (Kinderhook Academy, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#10 — John Tyler (College of William & Mary, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#11 — James Polk (University of North Carolina, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#13 — Millard Fillmore (clerked for and studied under New York Judge Walter Wood)
#14 — Franklin Pierce (Bowdoin College, then studied law)
#15 — James Buchanan (Dickinson College, then studied law)
#16 — Abraham Lincoln (No formal education, a self-taught lawyer)
#19 — Rutherford Hayes (Kenyon College, Harvard law)
#21 — Chester Arthur (Union College, then studied law)
#22 — Grover Cleveland (apprenticed as a lawyer)
#23 — Benjamin Harrison (Miami University in Ohio, then studied law)
#25 — William McKinley (Allegheny College, Albany law)
#27 — William Howard Taft (Yale, Cincinnati law)
#28 — Woodrow Wilson (College of New Jersey — now Princeton — then UVA law)
#30 — Calvin Coolidge (Amherst, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#32 — Franklin Roosevelt (Harvard, Columbia law)
#37 — Richard Nixon (Whittier College, Duke law)
#38 — Gerald Ford (University of Michigan, Yale law)
#42 — Bill Clinton (Georgetown University, Yale law)
#44 — Barack Obama (Columbia, Harvard law)
NOTE: Our 33rd president, Harry Truman, was the only president who served after 1897 not to earn a college degree. However he did study law for two years at the Kansas City Law School, now the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.
WSJ Law Blog November 5, 2008
Congressional Research Service Report - Presidential Transitions: Issues Involving Outgoing and Incoming Administrations, October 23, 2008.
"The smooth and orderly transfer of power can be a notable feature of presidential transitions, and a testament to the legitimacy and durability of the electoral and democratic processes. Yet, at the same time, a variety of events, decisions, and activities contribute to what some may characterize as the unfolding drama of a presidential transition. Interparty transitions in particular might be contentious. Using the various powers available, a sitting President might use the transition period to attempt to secure his legacy or effect policy changes. Some observers have suggested that, if the incumbent has lost the election, he might try to enact policies in the waning months of his presidency that would “tie his successor’s hands.” On the other hand, a President-elect, eager to establish his policy agenda and populate his Administration with his appointees, will be involved in a host of decisions and activities, some of which might modify or overturn the previous Administration’s actions or decisions."
Stock Market Fluctuations and Retiree Incomes: An Update - by Gary Burtless, The Brookings Institution
Social Security was created in the middle of the Great Depression. The recent dive in stock prices and home values offers a painful reminder of why government-guaranteed pensions seemed like a good idea in the 1930s. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed creation of the Social Security program in 1935, a bit more than five years after the stock market crash of October 1929. The collapse of stock prices and the bankruptcy of thousands of farms, businesses, and banks wiped out the lifetime savings of millions of retirees and aging workers. Many industrial and trade union pension plans became insolvent, leaving former pensioners with no dependable source of income in old age. In view of the precariousness of private savings, it is not surprising that the President, Congress, and most American voters thought a public pension plan, backed by the taxing power of the federal government, was preferable to sole reliance on private retirement savings...If Congress does not raise the contribution rate or trim benefits in the next three decades, the reserves of the system will be depleted shortly after 2040. At that point Social Security pensions will have to be cut or contributions into the system increased. If all of the adjustment takes the form of a benefit cut, monthly pensions will have to be trimmed about 25% around the time the Social Security reserve fund is exhausted."
Federal Reserve: Commercial Paper Rates and Outstanding
Data as of November 3, 2008 - Commercial Paper Rates and Outstanding Derived from data supplied by The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation
"Commercial paper consists of short-term, promissary notes issued primarily by corporations. Maturities range up to 270 days but average about 30 days. Many companies use commercial paper to raise cash needed for current transactions, and many find it to be a lower-cost alternative to bank loans. The Federal Reserve Board disseminates information on commercial paper (CP) primarily through its World Wide Web site. In addition, the Board publishes one-, two-, and three-month rates on AA nonfinancial and AA financial CP weekly in its H.15 Statistical Release and monthly in its G.13 Statistical Release. It also publishes some data on CP outstandings in the monthly Federal Reserve Bulletin."
Related postings on financial system
From a new blog: I walk home from work a lot, camera in hand. It presents a new way of looking at things: slowly, deliberately. And I notice little pieces of everyday magic. Two recent findings: someone suspended autumn leaves with twigs and copper wire, in a halo around a tree trunk. Another is a mossy staircase leading to a wrought iron gate, covered in leaves. It looked like a portal. Art is a portal. http://blog.paperrosedesigns.com/
Obama’s Harvard law degree puts him in the company of our 19th president, Rutherford Hayes (Kenyon College, Harvard law), the only other president— believe it or not— to hold a JD from the Law School. Below is a complete list of our lawyer-presidents.
#2 — John Adams (Harvard, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#3 — Thomas Jefferson (College of William & Mary, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#4 — James Madison (College of New Jersey — now Princeton — then read law)
#6 — John Quincy Adams (Harvard, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#7 — Andrew Jackson (self-taught lawyer)
#8 — Martin Van Buren (Kinderhook Academy, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#10 — John Tyler (College of William & Mary, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#11 — James Polk (University of North Carolina, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#13 — Millard Fillmore (clerked for and studied under New York Judge Walter Wood)
#14 — Franklin Pierce (Bowdoin College, then studied law)
#15 — James Buchanan (Dickinson College, then studied law)
#16 — Abraham Lincoln (No formal education, a self-taught lawyer)
#19 — Rutherford Hayes (Kenyon College, Harvard law)
#21 — Chester Arthur (Union College, then studied law)
#22 — Grover Cleveland (apprenticed as a lawyer)
#23 — Benjamin Harrison (Miami University in Ohio, then studied law)
#25 — William McKinley (Allegheny College, Albany law)
#27 — William Howard Taft (Yale, Cincinnati law)
#28 — Woodrow Wilson (College of New Jersey — now Princeton — then UVA law)
#30 — Calvin Coolidge (Amherst, then apprenticed as a lawyer)
#32 — Franklin Roosevelt (Harvard, Columbia law)
#37 — Richard Nixon (Whittier College, Duke law)
#38 — Gerald Ford (University of Michigan, Yale law)
#42 — Bill Clinton (Georgetown University, Yale law)
#44 — Barack Obama (Columbia, Harvard law)
NOTE: Our 33rd president, Harry Truman, was the only president who served after 1897 not to earn a college degree. However he did study law for two years at the Kansas City Law School, now the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.
WSJ Law Blog November 5, 2008
Congressional Research Service Report - Presidential Transitions: Issues Involving Outgoing and Incoming Administrations, October 23, 2008.
"The smooth and orderly transfer of power can be a notable feature of presidential transitions, and a testament to the legitimacy and durability of the electoral and democratic processes. Yet, at the same time, a variety of events, decisions, and activities contribute to what some may characterize as the unfolding drama of a presidential transition. Interparty transitions in particular might be contentious. Using the various powers available, a sitting President might use the transition period to attempt to secure his legacy or effect policy changes. Some observers have suggested that, if the incumbent has lost the election, he might try to enact policies in the waning months of his presidency that would “tie his successor’s hands.” On the other hand, a President-elect, eager to establish his policy agenda and populate his Administration with his appointees, will be involved in a host of decisions and activities, some of which might modify or overturn the previous Administration’s actions or decisions."
Stock Market Fluctuations and Retiree Incomes: An Update - by Gary Burtless, The Brookings Institution
Social Security was created in the middle of the Great Depression. The recent dive in stock prices and home values offers a painful reminder of why government-guaranteed pensions seemed like a good idea in the 1930s. President Franklin Roosevelt proposed creation of the Social Security program in 1935, a bit more than five years after the stock market crash of October 1929. The collapse of stock prices and the bankruptcy of thousands of farms, businesses, and banks wiped out the lifetime savings of millions of retirees and aging workers. Many industrial and trade union pension plans became insolvent, leaving former pensioners with no dependable source of income in old age. In view of the precariousness of private savings, it is not surprising that the President, Congress, and most American voters thought a public pension plan, backed by the taxing power of the federal government, was preferable to sole reliance on private retirement savings...If Congress does not raise the contribution rate or trim benefits in the next three decades, the reserves of the system will be depleted shortly after 2040. At that point Social Security pensions will have to be cut or contributions into the system increased. If all of the adjustment takes the form of a benefit cut, monthly pensions will have to be trimmed about 25% around the time the Social Security reserve fund is exhausted."
Federal Reserve: Commercial Paper Rates and Outstanding
Data as of November 3, 2008 - Commercial Paper Rates and Outstanding Derived from data supplied by The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation
"Commercial paper consists of short-term, promissary notes issued primarily by corporations. Maturities range up to 270 days but average about 30 days. Many companies use commercial paper to raise cash needed for current transactions, and many find it to be a lower-cost alternative to bank loans. The Federal Reserve Board disseminates information on commercial paper (CP) primarily through its World Wide Web site. In addition, the Board publishes one-, two-, and three-month rates on AA nonfinancial and AA financial CP weekly in its H.15 Statistical Release and monthly in its G.13 Statistical Release. It also publishes some data on CP outstandings in the monthly Federal Reserve Bulletin."
Related postings on financial system
From a new blog: I walk home from work a lot, camera in hand. It presents a new way of looking at things: slowly, deliberately. And I notice little pieces of everyday magic. Two recent findings: someone suspended autumn leaves with twigs and copper wire, in a halo around a tree trunk. Another is a mossy staircase leading to a wrought iron gate, covered in leaves. It looked like a portal. Art is a portal. http://blog.paperrosedesigns.com/
Thursday, November 6, 2008
2008 General Election Returns: Includes updated data on Presidential, Senate, House, Governors and Initiatives
What is NaNoWriMo? “Celebrating Ten Years of Literary Abandon”
National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano
Harvard Opts Out of Google Book Scanning for In-Copyright Works
Follow up to October 28, 2008 posting, Authors, Publishers, and Google Reach Landmark Settlement, from the Harvard Crimson: “Harvard University Library will not take part in Google’s book scanning project for in-copyright works after finding the terms of its landmark $125 million settlement regarding copyrighted materials unsatisfactory, University officials said yesterday."
Congressional Research Service: Perchlorate Contamination of Drinking Water: Regulatory Issues and Legislative Actions
Follow up to previous postings on perchlorate and drinking water contamination, this recent CRS report: Perchlorate Contamination of Drinking Water: Regulatory Issues and Legislative Actions, October 16, 2008
Perchlorate is the explosive component of solid rocket fuel, fireworks, road flares, and other products. Used heavily by the Department of Defense (DOD) and related industries, perchlorate also occurs naturally and is present in some organic fertilizer. This soluble, persistent compound has been detected in drinking water supplies, especially in California. It also has been found in milk and many foods. Because of this widespread occurrence, concern over the potential health risks of perchlorate exposure has increased, and some states, water utilities, and Members of Congress have urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set a federal drinking water standard for this chemical. On October 3, 2008, EPA made a preliminary determination not to regulate perchlorate; a final decision is expected in late 2008. This report reviews perchlorate contamination issues and related actions.
Court Orders Government to Submit Warrantless Surveillance Legal Opinions for Judicial Review
In EPIC v. DOJ, EPIC, the ACLU, and the National Security Archive are seeking government documents regarding the President's warrantless wiretapping program. A federal court has ordered the Department of Justice to provide for inspection copies of legal memos authored by government lawyers. The opinions, prepared by the Office of Legal Counsel, provided the legal basis for the President to wiretap US citizens in the United States without court approval. EPIC began the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in December 2005, after the New York Times first reported the details of the wiretap program. For more information, see EPIC's EPIC v. DOJ page. (Oct. 31).
Related postings on domestic surveillance program
Quote Examine what is said, not the person who speaks. Arab proverb (paraphrase)
November 6, 1717—J.S. Bach was temporarily imprisoned by his employer, Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Weimar, who was upset that Bach had taken another post (with Prince Leopold of Coethen) without first securing the Duke's permission to do so.
Composer’s Datebook
On November 6, 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected to his first term as president of the United States. Lincoln's only experience in national politics had been a single term as a congressional representative and two unsuccessful runs for senator. He had only one year of formal schooling and no administrative experience. Newspapers called him a "third-rate Western lawyer." The Writer’s Almanac
TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART LIBRARY'S ANNUAL BOOK SALE
Stock your shelves with reasonably priced new and used art books, posters, art and travel magazines, cook books, exhibition catalogues, and colorful book covers you’ll find at the Art Reference Library’s annual book sale. Sale hours are Friday, November 7 from 1 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, November 8, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Library League members enjoy a preview on Friday from noon to 1 p.m.--join for as little as $10. The Library is located in The University of Toledo Center for the Visual Arts, 620 Grove Place, adjacent to the Museum’s east wing.
What is NaNoWriMo? “Celebrating Ten Years of Literary Abandon”
National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano
Harvard Opts Out of Google Book Scanning for In-Copyright Works
Follow up to October 28, 2008 posting, Authors, Publishers, and Google Reach Landmark Settlement, from the Harvard Crimson: “Harvard University Library will not take part in Google’s book scanning project for in-copyright works after finding the terms of its landmark $125 million settlement regarding copyrighted materials unsatisfactory, University officials said yesterday."
Congressional Research Service: Perchlorate Contamination of Drinking Water: Regulatory Issues and Legislative Actions
Follow up to previous postings on perchlorate and drinking water contamination, this recent CRS report: Perchlorate Contamination of Drinking Water: Regulatory Issues and Legislative Actions, October 16, 2008
Perchlorate is the explosive component of solid rocket fuel, fireworks, road flares, and other products. Used heavily by the Department of Defense (DOD) and related industries, perchlorate also occurs naturally and is present in some organic fertilizer. This soluble, persistent compound has been detected in drinking water supplies, especially in California. It also has been found in milk and many foods. Because of this widespread occurrence, concern over the potential health risks of perchlorate exposure has increased, and some states, water utilities, and Members of Congress have urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set a federal drinking water standard for this chemical. On October 3, 2008, EPA made a preliminary determination not to regulate perchlorate; a final decision is expected in late 2008. This report reviews perchlorate contamination issues and related actions.
Court Orders Government to Submit Warrantless Surveillance Legal Opinions for Judicial Review
In EPIC v. DOJ, EPIC, the ACLU, and the National Security Archive are seeking government documents regarding the President's warrantless wiretapping program. A federal court has ordered the Department of Justice to provide for inspection copies of legal memos authored by government lawyers. The opinions, prepared by the Office of Legal Counsel, provided the legal basis for the President to wiretap US citizens in the United States without court approval. EPIC began the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in December 2005, after the New York Times first reported the details of the wiretap program. For more information, see EPIC's EPIC v. DOJ page. (Oct. 31).
Related postings on domestic surveillance program
Quote Examine what is said, not the person who speaks. Arab proverb (paraphrase)
November 6, 1717—J.S. Bach was temporarily imprisoned by his employer, Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Weimar, who was upset that Bach had taken another post (with Prince Leopold of Coethen) without first securing the Duke's permission to do so.
Composer’s Datebook
On November 6, 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected to his first term as president of the United States. Lincoln's only experience in national politics had been a single term as a congressional representative and two unsuccessful runs for senator. He had only one year of formal schooling and no administrative experience. Newspapers called him a "third-rate Western lawyer." The Writer’s Almanac
TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART LIBRARY'S ANNUAL BOOK SALE
Stock your shelves with reasonably priced new and used art books, posters, art and travel magazines, cook books, exhibition catalogues, and colorful book covers you’ll find at the Art Reference Library’s annual book sale. Sale hours are Friday, November 7 from 1 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, November 8, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Library League members enjoy a preview on Friday from noon to 1 p.m.--join for as little as $10. The Library is located in The University of Toledo Center for the Visual Arts, 620 Grove Place, adjacent to the Museum’s east wing.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Voter 101: What You Need to Know on Election Day
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=6166407
Taxpayers pay millions of dollars every month to educate tens of thousands of high school students who rarely or never show up for class, part of a growing trend of high absenteeism at privately operated schools These special charter schools are supposed to rescue students who were failing in traditional public high schools, but a Scripps Howard News Service investigation found that many students are not attending class and few are graduating. Some of these institutions have become ghost schools with thousands of students who are enrolled but never attend. For-profit companies operate schools in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Most of these schools are paid based on the number of students enrolled--not those who actually attend--so the schools get paid even if the desks are empty. The dropout-recovery school movement began in 1998 in Ohio, and in recent years has been averaging about $30 million a year in state payments for absent students. Taxpayers have paid more than $100 million in the last five years through this system.
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=GHOST-SCHOOLS-10-31-08
New Guidelines Encourage Responsible Recycling of Electronics
"Electronics recyclers have a new guide on how to run safe and environmentally protective recycling operations. EPA, as part of a group of recycling stakeholders, developed the Responsible Recycling (R2) Practices for Use in Accredited Certification Programs for Electronics Recyclers to promote better environmental, worker safety, and public health practices for electronics recyclers...The R2 guide lists 13 principles to help electronics recyclers ensure their material is handled safely and legally in the U.S. and foreign countries. It calls on recyclers to establish a management system for environmental and worker safety; develop a policy that promotes reuse and material recovery over landfill or incineration; and use practices that reduce exposures or emissions during recycling operations. The principles also call for recyclers to use diligence to assure appropriate management of materials throughout the recycling chain, including materials that are exported to foreign countries."
Related postings on e-waste and recylcing
EPA Proposes to Reduce Air Toxics from Petroleum Refineries by 2,250 tons per year
News release: "EPA is seeking comment on additional options for reducing emissions of air toxic pollutants from petroleum refineries based on information received since a 2007 proposal. Included in this proposal are options for controlling air toxics emissions from storage tanks located at petroleum refineries and revisions to the maximum achievable control technology work practice standards for cooling towers. In addition to reducing 2,250 tons of air toxics each year, EPA proposes to slash 14,600 tons of volatile organic compounds with a $3.8 million savings nationwide."
Amendments to Air Toxics Standards for Petroleum Refineries - Supplemental Proposal – Fact Sheet
Petroleum Refineries: Amendments to Air Toxics Standards 10-30-08,Supplemental Proposal
LC and Google Collaborate on Digitizing Congressional Hearings
"The Law Library of Congress contains approximately 75,000 volumes of printed Congressional Hearings. Committees hold hearings for a variety of purposes. Testimony is received from members of congress, officials of the executive branch, policy experts, interest groups and sometimes the general public on legislative proposals, the functioning of government programs, subjects of controversy, and matters under investigation. As part of the Law Library̢۪s transition to the digital future, a collaborative pilot project was undertaken with Google, Inc. to digitize the entire collection and make it freely available to Congress and the world. Three collections have been selectively compiled to provide users with a test experience: Census: U.S. / Freedom of Information/Privacy / Immigration." [Scout Report]
November 4 is Election Day. It's the 56th presidential election of the United States, and is the first time in more than 50 years that neither the sitting president nor the sitting vice president is a candidate on his party's ticket in the new presidential election. It's also the very first time in history that the two main candidates for president are both sitting senators. The last sitting senator to be elected U.S. president was JFK in 1960. Both Barack Obama (books by this author) and John McCain (books by this author) are best-selling authors. John McCain was on book tour for his memoir Faith of My Fathers (1999) at the same time that he was on the campaign trail in the 2000 election, and McCain wrote his second memoir, Worth the Fighting For in 2002. Barack Obama wrote his first memoir, Dreams of My Father, in 1995, after he became president of the Harvard Law Review but before he began his political career. His second book was The Audacity of Hope (2006). The Writer’s Almanac
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=6166407
Taxpayers pay millions of dollars every month to educate tens of thousands of high school students who rarely or never show up for class, part of a growing trend of high absenteeism at privately operated schools These special charter schools are supposed to rescue students who were failing in traditional public high schools, but a Scripps Howard News Service investigation found that many students are not attending class and few are graduating. Some of these institutions have become ghost schools with thousands of students who are enrolled but never attend. For-profit companies operate schools in 30 states and the District of Columbia. Most of these schools are paid based on the number of students enrolled--not those who actually attend--so the schools get paid even if the desks are empty. The dropout-recovery school movement began in 1998 in Ohio, and in recent years has been averaging about $30 million a year in state payments for absent students. Taxpayers have paid more than $100 million in the last five years through this system.
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=GHOST-SCHOOLS-10-31-08
New Guidelines Encourage Responsible Recycling of Electronics
"Electronics recyclers have a new guide on how to run safe and environmentally protective recycling operations. EPA, as part of a group of recycling stakeholders, developed the Responsible Recycling (R2) Practices for Use in Accredited Certification Programs for Electronics Recyclers to promote better environmental, worker safety, and public health practices for electronics recyclers...The R2 guide lists 13 principles to help electronics recyclers ensure their material is handled safely and legally in the U.S. and foreign countries. It calls on recyclers to establish a management system for environmental and worker safety; develop a policy that promotes reuse and material recovery over landfill or incineration; and use practices that reduce exposures or emissions during recycling operations. The principles also call for recyclers to use diligence to assure appropriate management of materials throughout the recycling chain, including materials that are exported to foreign countries."
Related postings on e-waste and recylcing
EPA Proposes to Reduce Air Toxics from Petroleum Refineries by 2,250 tons per year
News release: "EPA is seeking comment on additional options for reducing emissions of air toxic pollutants from petroleum refineries based on information received since a 2007 proposal. Included in this proposal are options for controlling air toxics emissions from storage tanks located at petroleum refineries and revisions to the maximum achievable control technology work practice standards for cooling towers. In addition to reducing 2,250 tons of air toxics each year, EPA proposes to slash 14,600 tons of volatile organic compounds with a $3.8 million savings nationwide."
Amendments to Air Toxics Standards for Petroleum Refineries - Supplemental Proposal – Fact Sheet
Petroleum Refineries: Amendments to Air Toxics Standards 10-30-08,Supplemental Proposal
LC and Google Collaborate on Digitizing Congressional Hearings
"The Law Library of Congress contains approximately 75,000 volumes of printed Congressional Hearings. Committees hold hearings for a variety of purposes. Testimony is received from members of congress, officials of the executive branch, policy experts, interest groups and sometimes the general public on legislative proposals, the functioning of government programs, subjects of controversy, and matters under investigation. As part of the Law Library̢۪s transition to the digital future, a collaborative pilot project was undertaken with Google, Inc. to digitize the entire collection and make it freely available to Congress and the world. Three collections have been selectively compiled to provide users with a test experience: Census: U.S. / Freedom of Information/Privacy / Immigration." [Scout Report]
November 4 is Election Day. It's the 56th presidential election of the United States, and is the first time in more than 50 years that neither the sitting president nor the sitting vice president is a candidate on his party's ticket in the new presidential election. It's also the very first time in history that the two main candidates for president are both sitting senators. The last sitting senator to be elected U.S. president was JFK in 1960. Both Barack Obama (books by this author) and John McCain (books by this author) are best-selling authors. John McCain was on book tour for his memoir Faith of My Fathers (1999) at the same time that he was on the campaign trail in the 2000 election, and McCain wrote his second memoir, Worth the Fighting For in 2002. Barack Obama wrote his first memoir, Dreams of My Father, in 1995, after he became president of the Harvard Law Review but before he began his political career. His second book was The Audacity of Hope (2006). The Writer’s Almanac
Monday, November 3, 2008
IRS: Stimulus Payments: What You Need to Know
"If you missed the Oct. 15 deadline for filing an income tax return for a economic stimulus payment, don't worry. You can receive a payment in 2009 by filing an income tax return when the filing season opens in January. The IRS will have more information shortly. Also, if you filed a tax return for an economic stimulus payment in 2008 and have not yet received a payment, check out Where's My Stimulus Payment?"
New on LLRX - Leadership & The Role Of Information: Making The Creatively Informed Questioner Leadership & The Role Of Information: Making The Creatively Informed Questioner - Stuart Basefsky supports the concept that the quintessential leader is an informed leader. However, effectively communicating and leveraging the power of information, in leadership roles, is subject to a range of interpretations that he discusses in this forward thinking series.
New on LLRX - E-Discovery Update: Pushing Back Against Hardcopy ESI Productions E-Discovery Update: Pushing Back Against Hardcopy ESI Productions - Conrad J. Jacoby addresses how critical technology issues related to document authenticity and document-associated metadata have left fewer lawyers willing to accept e-mail messages and other electronic documents in print format. He argues that litigants choosing to produce electronically stored information in hardcopy format should be prepared to provide more complete electronic copies of their production, even when it isn̢۪t initially requested by opposing counsel.
New on LLRX - CongressLine: Congress and Money
CongressLine: Congress and Money - Paul Jenks examines how the appropriations process this year has provided a multitude of interesting examples of the wide variety of tools available to Congress and the federal government for appropriating money, beyond just the ordinary appropriations bills in Congress.
On November 1, 1993 the European Union was established. The EU began with six member countries and now has 27 members.
On November 2, 1755 Marie Antoinette, was born in Vienna, Austria, child number 15 out of 16 born to the Empress Maria Theresa and the Emperor Francis I. To preserve the alliance between Austria and France, Marie was married to the future king of France, Louis the 16th, when she was 14 years old. The French Revolution began in 1789. Marie and Louis were stripped of power, put on trial, and both sentenced to death. Marie Antoinette was executed at the guillotine in October of 1793. Marie Antoinette is one of the most famously misquoted people in history. It was actually an earlier princess, Maria Theresa of Spain, who is quoted as saying, "If there is no bread, let them cake."
On November 2, 1734 frontiersman Daniel Boone, was born near Reading, Pennsylvania. When he was young, his family moved to North Carolina, where Daniel loved to hunt in the forest. He educated himself by taking books with him on his hunting trips. Even during his lifetime, Boone was a figure of legend. He was captured by Indians, and he lived with them as an adopted son before he escaped. Daniel Boone was a man of few words, so his biographers took free rein and invented long, eloquent speeches. Around the same time, James Fenimore Cooper wrote his Leatherstocking Tales, including The Last of the Mohicans (1826), and Cooper used Daniel Boone as a model for his frontier hero, Natty Bumppo. The Writer’s Almanac
"If you missed the Oct. 15 deadline for filing an income tax return for a economic stimulus payment, don't worry. You can receive a payment in 2009 by filing an income tax return when the filing season opens in January. The IRS will have more information shortly. Also, if you filed a tax return for an economic stimulus payment in 2008 and have not yet received a payment, check out Where's My Stimulus Payment?"
New on LLRX - Leadership & The Role Of Information: Making The Creatively Informed Questioner Leadership & The Role Of Information: Making The Creatively Informed Questioner - Stuart Basefsky supports the concept that the quintessential leader is an informed leader. However, effectively communicating and leveraging the power of information, in leadership roles, is subject to a range of interpretations that he discusses in this forward thinking series.
New on LLRX - E-Discovery Update: Pushing Back Against Hardcopy ESI Productions E-Discovery Update: Pushing Back Against Hardcopy ESI Productions - Conrad J. Jacoby addresses how critical technology issues related to document authenticity and document-associated metadata have left fewer lawyers willing to accept e-mail messages and other electronic documents in print format. He argues that litigants choosing to produce electronically stored information in hardcopy format should be prepared to provide more complete electronic copies of their production, even when it isn̢۪t initially requested by opposing counsel.
New on LLRX - CongressLine: Congress and Money
CongressLine: Congress and Money - Paul Jenks examines how the appropriations process this year has provided a multitude of interesting examples of the wide variety of tools available to Congress and the federal government for appropriating money, beyond just the ordinary appropriations bills in Congress.
On November 1, 1993 the European Union was established. The EU began with six member countries and now has 27 members.
On November 2, 1755 Marie Antoinette, was born in Vienna, Austria, child number 15 out of 16 born to the Empress Maria Theresa and the Emperor Francis I. To preserve the alliance between Austria and France, Marie was married to the future king of France, Louis the 16th, when she was 14 years old. The French Revolution began in 1789. Marie and Louis were stripped of power, put on trial, and both sentenced to death. Marie Antoinette was executed at the guillotine in October of 1793. Marie Antoinette is one of the most famously misquoted people in history. It was actually an earlier princess, Maria Theresa of Spain, who is quoted as saying, "If there is no bread, let them cake."
On November 2, 1734 frontiersman Daniel Boone, was born near Reading, Pennsylvania. When he was young, his family moved to North Carolina, where Daniel loved to hunt in the forest. He educated himself by taking books with him on his hunting trips. Even during his lifetime, Boone was a figure of legend. He was captured by Indians, and he lived with them as an adopted son before he escaped. Daniel Boone was a man of few words, so his biographers took free rein and invented long, eloquent speeches. Around the same time, James Fenimore Cooper wrote his Leatherstocking Tales, including The Last of the Mohicans (1826), and Cooper used Daniel Boone as a model for his frontier hero, Natty Bumppo. The Writer’s Almanac
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