A professor from the University of California, San Diego, who was researching Benjamin Franklin at the British Library made a discovery on the last day of his trip in 2007: copies of 47 letters by, to and about Franklin that were written in the spring and summer of 1755 and not seen since. The letters are being published in the April issue of The William and Mary Quarterly. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/24/arts/24arts-BRITISHCOPIE_BRF.html?ref=arts
Use “imply” when something is being suggested without being explicitly stated and “infer” when someone is trying to arrive at a conclusion based on evidence. http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/imply.html
Imply means "to state indirectly." Infer means "to draw a conclusion."
http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000232.htm
Infer is a more assertive word than imply. Choose simpler words if you don’t know which one to use.
A librarian at Oxford's Bodleian Library has unearthed the earliest-known book dust jacket. Dating from 1830, the jacket wrapped a silk-covered gift book, Friendship's Offering. Silk bindings were very vulnerable to wear and tear, so bookselllers would keep them in these wrappers to protect the binding underneath. When you bought the book you would take the wrapper off and put it on your shelves, which is presumably why so few of these covers have survived. Unlike today's dust jackets, wrappers of the early 19th century were used to enfold the book completely, like a parcel. Traces of sealing wax where the paper was secured can still be seen on the Bodleian's discovery, along with pointed creases at the edges where the paper had been folded, showing the shape of the book it had enclosed. The jacket had been separated from its book, and had never been catalogued individually. It remained hidden until the library was contacted by an American scholar of dust jackets looking for the earliest known example.
About a year and a half ago, Harriet Shapiro, who is the head of exhibitions at the New York Society Library, was, in the manner of modern-day researchers everywhere, randomly Googling—looking for information about Marion King, the institution’s longtime librarian, who died in 1976. To Shapiro’s surprise, a link came up to Harvard’s Theodore Roosevelt collection, in which lay a cache of nearly six hundred letters written to King by Edith Kermit Roosevelt. ... The letters spanned the period of Mrs. Roosevelt’s widowhood, beginning in 1920, the year after Theodore Roosevelt died. In them, she requested books to be sent to her home, Sagamore Hill, near Oyster Bay.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2009/04/20/090420ta_talk_mead
Latin American and South America are not synonyms. Latin America refers to parts of North and South America south of the United States where Romance languages are spoken. www.onpedia.com/dictionary/latin-america
The 10th annual American Lung Association State of the Air report, released on, April 29, 2009. includes a national air quality “report card” that assigns A-F grades to communities across the country. The State of the Air report also ranks cities and counties most affected by the three most widespread types of pollution (ozone—or smog, annual particle pollution, and 24-hour particle pollution levels) and details trends for 900 counties over the past decade.
http://www.lungusa.org/site/c.dvLUK9O0E/b.5116683/k.43EF/State_of_the_Air_2009_Media_Materials.htm
Most polluted by Short-term Particle Pollution is Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA
Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution is Bakersfield, CA
Most Ozone-Polluted City is Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA
Cleanest City for Short-term Particle Pollution is Alexandria, LA
Cleanest City for Long-term Particle Pollution is Cheyenne, WY
Cleanest City for Ozone Air Pollution is Billings, MT
See 182-page report at http://www.lungusa2.org/sota/2009/SOTA-2009-Full-Print.pdf
German proverbs
Speech is silver; silence is golden.
Never give advice unless asked.
To change and to improve are two different things.
http://www.famousquotesandauthors.com/authors/german_proverb_quotes.html
Poets & Writers, Inc., is pleased to announce that Linda Gregg is the recipient of the third annual Jackson Poetry Prize. The $50,000 prize honors an American poet of exceptional talent who has published at least one book of recognized literary merit but has not yet received major national acclaim. http://www.pw.org/about-us/linda_gregg_awarded_jackson_poetry_prize
Linda Gregg biography: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/931
The adult human body has 206 bones. An infant may have from 300-350 bones at birth. Some of these fuse together as the infant grows. When some bones fuse and become one bone (most obvious examples are in the skull, sacrum and hip bones) the number of overall bones drops to the 206 bones that most adults have. Of the 206 bones in the adult human body, more than half (106) are in the hands and feet. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_bones_are_in_the_human_body
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Four years ago, Eliot Spitzer, then the New York attorney general, asked several national banks to explain why they were disproportionately charging blacks and Hispanics high interest rates. Instead of an answer, he got a lawsuit. The banks, and the Treasury Department agency that regulates them, persuaded federal courts to bar the state attorney general from enforcing New York antidiscrimination laws. On April 28, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear New York's appeal. If the state wins, it would mark a break with decades of precedent that mostly favors the powers of the federal government and open a new era for 50 state regulators to play a bigger role. Under both Democratic and Republican administrations, the Treasury regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, has allied with the banks it supervises to set aside state laws ranging from disclosure requirements on loans to limits on surcharges at automated teller machines. The comptroller's office argues that the National Bank Act, first adopted in 1863, envisions a system where national banks operate efficiently across state lines without regard to a patchwork of local regulations and authorities.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124078827601457447.html
Searchable database of U.S. Supreme Court opinions, 1893-
http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html
U.S. Supreme Court official Web site
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
Resources of the Week: Swine Flu by Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor
On April 26, U.S. public health officials declared a public health emergency, as diagnosed cases of swine flu continued to mount. As expected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is keeping tabs on the disease, as is the World Health Organization (WHO). We thought it might be a good time to round up some reliable resources about swine flu. Pete Weiss, our contributing editor, found a blog called Effect Measure, part of the ScienceBlogs network, which he identifies as “a good aggregator of news regarding this flu outbreak.” Swine flu is a zoonotic disease (Utah State Extension; PDF, 90 KB), meaning “an infectious disease transmissible under natural conditions between vertebrate animals and human beings.” This being the case, you would expect that the veterinary profession might have useful information…and you would be correct. The American Association of Swine Veterinarians offers some fact sheets right on its home page.
The U.S. Census Bureau has submitted to Congress its proposed recovery plan to create jobs, strengthen the economy and conduct a successful 2010 Census. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Census Bureau was provided $1 billion. “The Census Bureau’s proposed investments will improve our ability to conduct an accurate census and will create thousands of good-paying jobs,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “A successful census is critical for ensuring that communities have proper representation and the resources needed for health care, law enforcement and education.” Under the proposal, the Census Bureau will invest $250 million in partnership and outreach efforts to minority communities and hard-to-reach populations. This effort is intended to promote participation in the census, which will improve accuracy and facilitate enumeration operations in 2010. The remaining $750 million will be committed to support early 2010 Census operations that will reduce operational and programmatic risks at a critical stage of the census process. More than $300 billion in federal funds are distributed every year based on census results. This funding supports vital local services like health care, schools, law enforcement, transportation and social services.
The public is getting its first uncensored look at which airports have the most problems with bird strikes. The Federal Aviation Administration had been keeping the information secret, but the Obama administration decided the public had a right to see it. Newly released records show that there have been almost 90 thousand incidents voluntarily reported since 1990. New York's J-F-K and Sacramento, California top the list. While the threat has been a problem for years, it took the spectacular emergency landing on the Hudson River in January to bring the issue to the country's attention.
http://www.cbs12.com/news/public_4717209___article.html/administration_bird.html
European Parliament votes to extend the copyright on sound recordings.
Performers and record labels currently earn royalties for 50 years. That would rise to 70 years under the new plan. The plan has to be passed by EU states in the European Council to become law. It would also include extra benefits for performers and session musicians. If passed, there would be a new fund for session musicians who signed away their rights when a recording was made. The fund would be financed by record labels, who would put aside 20% of the benefits they get from the prolonged copyright. There is also a clause to allow performers to renegotiate contracts with record labels after 50 years. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8014734.stm
A small town is a vast hell. Argentinean proverb
So begins a short story by Guillermo Martinez as translated by Alberto Manguel—read story here: http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2009/04/27/090427fi_fiction_martinez
In Russian history and culture, church bells occupy a mysteriously important position. Whereas Western European bells are tuned to produce familiar major and minor chords, a Russian bell is prized for its individual, untuned voice, producing rhythmic layered peals. Russian bells are given names like Swan, Bear, or Sheep, and are considered to be capable of suffering. Under Stalin, bell ringing was prohibited by law, and thousands of tons of bells were destroyed.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/04/27/090427fa_fact_batuman
We bought a wind bell for our granddaughter about 15 years ago, put it in the attic—and then couldn’t find it. When cleaning things out last week, we found it buried under bubble wrap in a large shopping bag. It’s now hanging in our garden sounding a major chord (like the NBC chimes). Sorry, Cammi—it’s ours now.
2009 11 Most Endangered Sites announced by National Trust for Historic Preservation
Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
Miami Marine Stadium, FL
Dorchester Academy, Midway, GA
Lāna'i City, HI
Unity Temple, Oak Park, IL
Ames Shovel Shops, Easton, MA
Memorial Bridge, Portsmouth, NH & Kittery, ME
Mount Taylor, Grants, NM
Human Services Center, Yankton, SD
Cast-Iron Architecture of Galveston, TX
The Manhattan Project's Enola Gay Hangar, UT
http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered/
It was supposed to be a photo op that captured images of an Air Force One plane with a majestic Statue of Liberty in the background. Instead, it turned into a public relations nightmare that led to recriminations from the president and mayor and prompted thousands other to ask, "What were they thinking?" Just before the workday began on April 27, an airliner and supersonic fighter jet zoomed past the lower Manhattan skyline. Within minutes, startled financial workers streamed out of their offices, fearing a nightmarish replay of Sept. 11.
For a half-hour, the Boeing 747 and F-16 jet circled the Statue of Liberty and the Financial District near the World Trade Center site. Offices evacuated. Dispatchers were inundated with calls. Witnesses thought the planes were flying dangerously low.
But the flyover was nothing but a photo op, apparently one of a series of flights to get pictures of the plane in front of national landmarks. It was carried out by the Defense Department with little warning, infuriating New York officials and putting the White House on the defense. Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn't know about it, and he later called it "insensitive" to fly so near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQCKDUYswf9K9lMjX4oxtDxHVqXQD97RB2500
Daimler AG has agreed to surrender its ownership stake in Chrysler LLC and forgive repayment of a $1.5-billion loan, while Cerberus Capital Management dropped charges that Daimler hid the depth of Chrysler's problems prior to the 2007 sale. http://www.freep.com/article/20090428/BUSINESS01/904280310
Cassini spacecraft takes amazing photos of Saturn (Thanks, Illinois muse reader.)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1172205/Saturn-close-Sensational-cosmic-images-bring-ringed-planet-life.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124078827601457447.html
Searchable database of U.S. Supreme Court opinions, 1893-
http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html
U.S. Supreme Court official Web site
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
Resources of the Week: Swine Flu by Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor
On April 26, U.S. public health officials declared a public health emergency, as diagnosed cases of swine flu continued to mount. As expected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is keeping tabs on the disease, as is the World Health Organization (WHO). We thought it might be a good time to round up some reliable resources about swine flu. Pete Weiss, our contributing editor, found a blog called Effect Measure, part of the ScienceBlogs network, which he identifies as “a good aggregator of news regarding this flu outbreak.” Swine flu is a zoonotic disease (Utah State Extension; PDF, 90 KB), meaning “an infectious disease transmissible under natural conditions between vertebrate animals and human beings.” This being the case, you would expect that the veterinary profession might have useful information…and you would be correct. The American Association of Swine Veterinarians offers some fact sheets right on its home page.
The U.S. Census Bureau has submitted to Congress its proposed recovery plan to create jobs, strengthen the economy and conduct a successful 2010 Census. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Census Bureau was provided $1 billion. “The Census Bureau’s proposed investments will improve our ability to conduct an accurate census and will create thousands of good-paying jobs,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “A successful census is critical for ensuring that communities have proper representation and the resources needed for health care, law enforcement and education.” Under the proposal, the Census Bureau will invest $250 million in partnership and outreach efforts to minority communities and hard-to-reach populations. This effort is intended to promote participation in the census, which will improve accuracy and facilitate enumeration operations in 2010. The remaining $750 million will be committed to support early 2010 Census operations that will reduce operational and programmatic risks at a critical stage of the census process. More than $300 billion in federal funds are distributed every year based on census results. This funding supports vital local services like health care, schools, law enforcement, transportation and social services.
The public is getting its first uncensored look at which airports have the most problems with bird strikes. The Federal Aviation Administration had been keeping the information secret, but the Obama administration decided the public had a right to see it. Newly released records show that there have been almost 90 thousand incidents voluntarily reported since 1990. New York's J-F-K and Sacramento, California top the list. While the threat has been a problem for years, it took the spectacular emergency landing on the Hudson River in January to bring the issue to the country's attention.
http://www.cbs12.com/news/public_4717209___article.html/administration_bird.html
European Parliament votes to extend the copyright on sound recordings.
Performers and record labels currently earn royalties for 50 years. That would rise to 70 years under the new plan. The plan has to be passed by EU states in the European Council to become law. It would also include extra benefits for performers and session musicians. If passed, there would be a new fund for session musicians who signed away their rights when a recording was made. The fund would be financed by record labels, who would put aside 20% of the benefits they get from the prolonged copyright. There is also a clause to allow performers to renegotiate contracts with record labels after 50 years. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8014734.stm
A small town is a vast hell. Argentinean proverb
So begins a short story by Guillermo Martinez as translated by Alberto Manguel—read story here: http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2009/04/27/090427fi_fiction_martinez
In Russian history and culture, church bells occupy a mysteriously important position. Whereas Western European bells are tuned to produce familiar major and minor chords, a Russian bell is prized for its individual, untuned voice, producing rhythmic layered peals. Russian bells are given names like Swan, Bear, or Sheep, and are considered to be capable of suffering. Under Stalin, bell ringing was prohibited by law, and thousands of tons of bells were destroyed.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/04/27/090427fa_fact_batuman
We bought a wind bell for our granddaughter about 15 years ago, put it in the attic—and then couldn’t find it. When cleaning things out last week, we found it buried under bubble wrap in a large shopping bag. It’s now hanging in our garden sounding a major chord (like the NBC chimes). Sorry, Cammi—it’s ours now.
2009 11 Most Endangered Sites announced by National Trust for Historic Preservation
Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
Miami Marine Stadium, FL
Dorchester Academy, Midway, GA
Lāna'i City, HI
Unity Temple, Oak Park, IL
Ames Shovel Shops, Easton, MA
Memorial Bridge, Portsmouth, NH & Kittery, ME
Mount Taylor, Grants, NM
Human Services Center, Yankton, SD
Cast-Iron Architecture of Galveston, TX
The Manhattan Project's Enola Gay Hangar, UT
http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered/
It was supposed to be a photo op that captured images of an Air Force One plane with a majestic Statue of Liberty in the background. Instead, it turned into a public relations nightmare that led to recriminations from the president and mayor and prompted thousands other to ask, "What were they thinking?" Just before the workday began on April 27, an airliner and supersonic fighter jet zoomed past the lower Manhattan skyline. Within minutes, startled financial workers streamed out of their offices, fearing a nightmarish replay of Sept. 11.
For a half-hour, the Boeing 747 and F-16 jet circled the Statue of Liberty and the Financial District near the World Trade Center site. Offices evacuated. Dispatchers were inundated with calls. Witnesses thought the planes were flying dangerously low.
But the flyover was nothing but a photo op, apparently one of a series of flights to get pictures of the plane in front of national landmarks. It was carried out by the Defense Department with little warning, infuriating New York officials and putting the White House on the defense. Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn't know about it, and he later called it "insensitive" to fly so near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQCKDUYswf9K9lMjX4oxtDxHVqXQD97RB2500
Daimler AG has agreed to surrender its ownership stake in Chrysler LLC and forgive repayment of a $1.5-billion loan, while Cerberus Capital Management dropped charges that Daimler hid the depth of Chrysler's problems prior to the 2007 sale. http://www.freep.com/article/20090428/BUSINESS01/904280310
Cassini spacecraft takes amazing photos of Saturn (Thanks, Illinois muse reader.)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1172205/Saturn-close-Sensational-cosmic-images-bring-ringed-planet-life.html
Monday, April 27, 2009
Feds routinely ask courts to order cell phone companies to provide tracking data used to locate suspects, without showing probable cause. They often get their wish. (For background, click here.) Two years ago DOJ began recommending to its prosecutors to first obtain search warrants before acquiring location information for cell phones. But the Obama DOJ appears to be continuing the Bush DOJ's position that getting data without a warrant doesn't violate the Fourth Amendment, though there are ongoing legal challenges to that notion in courts across the country.
Law-breakers in northern California's Contra Costa County, population 1 million, stand to benefit from the county's budget gap. District Attorney Robert Kochly told his county's police chiefs that beginning in May, his office will no longer prosecute a host of misdemeanors because he has to lay off 20% of his staff, or about 18 prosecutors.
Which infractions won't be prosecuted? The list includes non-DUI traffic offenses such as driving with a suspended license and reckless driving, simple assault and battery, lewd conduct, trespassing and shoplifting. Here are stories from the SFChron and ABC News.
WSJ Law Blog April 24, 2009
Through her tenacity, stubbornness and belief that women can run 26.2 miles, Kathrine Switzer scaled the male bastion of the Boston Marathon that barred women from its race and helped to open its doors to women, which it officially did in 1972.
From K. Switzer: In 1967, four miles into the race, the media flatbed truck loaded with photographers came through and we all had to get out of the way to let it pass. A bus followed the truck with the journalists and on that bus were co-race directors Will Cloney and Jock Semple. The photographers saw me first and started shouting, 'There's a girl in the race,' and then slowed up in front of us and started taking pictures. When the journalists saw me, they started teasing Jock that a girl had infiltrated his race. They looked up my number and saw K.V. Switzer and started heckling Jock some more. Their bus was still behind us. I was unaware what was going on behind me as we were waving at the photographers in front of us. He jumped off the bus and went after me. I saw him just before he pounced, and let me tell you, I was scared to death. He was out of control. I jumped away from him as he grabbed for me, but he caught me by the shoulder and spun me around, and screamed, 'Get the hell out of my race and give me that race number.' I tried to get away from him but he had me by the shirt. Tom, my 235-pound boyfriend came to the rescue and smacked Jock with a cross body block and Jock went flying through the air. At first, I thought we had killed him. I was stunned and didn't know what to do, but then Arnie just looked at me and said, 'Run like hell,' and I did as the photographers snapped away and the scribes recorded the event for posterity. My infamous run at the 1967 Boston Marathon is recorded as unofficial and does not post a time, although it was around 4:20:00. Despite that the BAA wanted nothing to do with me, the fact that I ran with a number made headlines around the world. http://www.katherineswitzer.com/life.html http://www.katherineswitzer.com/
Note: After more than 40 years, Kathrine Switzer and Jock Semple have become friends.
History of the Marathon
The marathon race commemorates the run of the soldier Pheidippides from a battlefield near Marathon, Greece, to Athens in 490 B.C., bringing news of a Greek victory over the Persians. Pheidippides collapsed and died at the end of his historic run, thereby setting a precedent for dramatic conclusions to the marathon. http://ctc.coin.org/marathon.html
A case in federal court in New Jersey pits management at a Houston's restaurant against two employees who were complaining about their workplace on an invite-only discussion group on MySpace.com. The case tests whether a supervisor who managed to log into the forum--and then fired employees who badmouthed supervisors and customers there--had the right to do so. Here's an article in WSJ's about the surrounding controversy. WSJ Law Blog April 23, 2009
Landmark Agriculture and Open Space Conservation Bill Introduced
News release: "...Congressmen Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Eric Cantor (R-VA) introduced the Conservation Easement Incentive Act, H.R. 1831. This bill will aid in the protection of millions of acres of the nation’s agricultural lands and open spaces. H.R. 1831 makes permanent an expiring incentive that allows modest-income landowners to receive significant tax deductions for donating conservation easements that permanently protect important natural or historic resources on their lands...“If current development trends continue in California, another two million acres will be paved over by 2050. It’s time we made these protections permanent. By making sure that landowners can count on these enhanced tax benefits, we’ll take a big step forward in preserving our agricultural lands and keeping our environment safe from overdevelopment.”
Daily Cognition.com illustrates what ONE TRILLION dollars looks like in dollar bills... http://www.dailycognition.com/index.php/2009/03/25/what-1-trillion-dollars-looks-like-in-dollar-bills.html
perendinate (puh-REN-di-nayt)
verb tr. : To put off until the day after tomorrow
verb intr.: To stay at a college for an extended time
From Latin perendinare (to defer until the day after tomorrow), from perendie (on the day after tomorrow), from die (day). The word procrastinate is from Latin cras (tomorrow). So when you procrastinate, literally speaking, you are putting something off till tomorrow. Mark Twain once said, "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." In other words, why procrastinate when you can perendinate? A.Word.A.Day
April 27 is the birthday of poet Cecil Day Lewis, (books by this author) born in County Laois, Ireland (1904). He was in the small group of poets that hung out with W.H. Auden in Oxford, and he helped Auden to edit Oxford Poetry 1927. He worked as a teacher and wrote poetry. Then, in 1935, the roof of his cottage started leaking, and he needed more money to pay for the repair. So he quickly wrote a detective novel, A Question of Proof (1935). It sold so well that he was able to quit teaching and write full time. He wrote 20 mystery novels in all, including Malice in Wonderland (1940), The Case of the Abominable Snowman (1941), A Penknife in My Heart (1958), and The Deadly Joker (1963). He filled his mysteries with literary allusions to Shakespeare, Keats, and A.E. Housman. The Writer’s Almanac
Law-breakers in northern California's Contra Costa County, population 1 million, stand to benefit from the county's budget gap. District Attorney Robert Kochly told his county's police chiefs that beginning in May, his office will no longer prosecute a host of misdemeanors because he has to lay off 20% of his staff, or about 18 prosecutors.
Which infractions won't be prosecuted? The list includes non-DUI traffic offenses such as driving with a suspended license and reckless driving, simple assault and battery, lewd conduct, trespassing and shoplifting. Here are stories from the SFChron and ABC News.
WSJ Law Blog April 24, 2009
Through her tenacity, stubbornness and belief that women can run 26.2 miles, Kathrine Switzer scaled the male bastion of the Boston Marathon that barred women from its race and helped to open its doors to women, which it officially did in 1972.
From K. Switzer: In 1967, four miles into the race, the media flatbed truck loaded with photographers came through and we all had to get out of the way to let it pass. A bus followed the truck with the journalists and on that bus were co-race directors Will Cloney and Jock Semple. The photographers saw me first and started shouting, 'There's a girl in the race,' and then slowed up in front of us and started taking pictures. When the journalists saw me, they started teasing Jock that a girl had infiltrated his race. They looked up my number and saw K.V. Switzer and started heckling Jock some more. Their bus was still behind us. I was unaware what was going on behind me as we were waving at the photographers in front of us. He jumped off the bus and went after me. I saw him just before he pounced, and let me tell you, I was scared to death. He was out of control. I jumped away from him as he grabbed for me, but he caught me by the shoulder and spun me around, and screamed, 'Get the hell out of my race and give me that race number.' I tried to get away from him but he had me by the shirt. Tom, my 235-pound boyfriend came to the rescue and smacked Jock with a cross body block and Jock went flying through the air. At first, I thought we had killed him. I was stunned and didn't know what to do, but then Arnie just looked at me and said, 'Run like hell,' and I did as the photographers snapped away and the scribes recorded the event for posterity. My infamous run at the 1967 Boston Marathon is recorded as unofficial and does not post a time, although it was around 4:20:00. Despite that the BAA wanted nothing to do with me, the fact that I ran with a number made headlines around the world. http://www.katherineswitzer.com/life.html http://www.katherineswitzer.com/
Note: After more than 40 years, Kathrine Switzer and Jock Semple have become friends.
History of the Marathon
The marathon race commemorates the run of the soldier Pheidippides from a battlefield near Marathon, Greece, to Athens in 490 B.C., bringing news of a Greek victory over the Persians. Pheidippides collapsed and died at the end of his historic run, thereby setting a precedent for dramatic conclusions to the marathon. http://ctc.coin.org/marathon.html
A case in federal court in New Jersey pits management at a Houston's restaurant against two employees who were complaining about their workplace on an invite-only discussion group on MySpace.com. The case tests whether a supervisor who managed to log into the forum--and then fired employees who badmouthed supervisors and customers there--had the right to do so. Here's an article in WSJ's about the surrounding controversy. WSJ Law Blog April 23, 2009
Landmark Agriculture and Open Space Conservation Bill Introduced
News release: "...Congressmen Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Eric Cantor (R-VA) introduced the Conservation Easement Incentive Act, H.R. 1831. This bill will aid in the protection of millions of acres of the nation’s agricultural lands and open spaces. H.R. 1831 makes permanent an expiring incentive that allows modest-income landowners to receive significant tax deductions for donating conservation easements that permanently protect important natural or historic resources on their lands...“If current development trends continue in California, another two million acres will be paved over by 2050. It’s time we made these protections permanent. By making sure that landowners can count on these enhanced tax benefits, we’ll take a big step forward in preserving our agricultural lands and keeping our environment safe from overdevelopment.”
Daily Cognition.com illustrates what ONE TRILLION dollars looks like in dollar bills... http://www.dailycognition.com/index.php/2009/03/25/what-1-trillion-dollars-looks-like-in-dollar-bills.html
perendinate (puh-REN-di-nayt)
verb tr. : To put off until the day after tomorrow
verb intr.: To stay at a college for an extended time
From Latin perendinare (to defer until the day after tomorrow), from perendie (on the day after tomorrow), from die (day). The word procrastinate is from Latin cras (tomorrow). So when you procrastinate, literally speaking, you are putting something off till tomorrow. Mark Twain once said, "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." In other words, why procrastinate when you can perendinate? A.Word.A.Day
April 27 is the birthday of poet Cecil Day Lewis, (books by this author) born in County Laois, Ireland (1904). He was in the small group of poets that hung out with W.H. Auden in Oxford, and he helped Auden to edit Oxford Poetry 1927. He worked as a teacher and wrote poetry. Then, in 1935, the roof of his cottage started leaking, and he needed more money to pay for the repair. So he quickly wrote a detective novel, A Question of Proof (1935). It sold so well that he was able to quit teaching and write full time. He wrote 20 mystery novels in all, including Malice in Wonderland (1940), The Case of the Abominable Snowman (1941), A Penknife in My Heart (1958), and The Deadly Joker (1963). He filled his mysteries with literary allusions to Shakespeare, Keats, and A.E. Housman. The Writer’s Almanac
Friday, April 24, 2009
The World Digital Library Has Launched
"The World Digital Library will make available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from cultures around the world, including manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural drawings, and other significant cultural materials. The objectives of the World Digital Library are to promote international and inter-cultural understanding and awareness, provide resources to educators, expand non-English and non-Western content on the Internet, and to contribute to scholarly research."
New on LLRX.com: FIT for Purpose – The New FLARE Index to Treaties
FIT for Purpose – The New FLARE Index to Treaties: Dr. Peter Clinch and Steven Whittle describes the background development, various ways in which the service can be used, and technical issues of this fully searchable database. Launched in March 2009, it indexes and lists over 1,500 of the most significant multilateral treaties concluded from 1856 onwards. It was conceived to fill a gap in the range of information finding tools available on the internet for the international lawyer.
Google Announces News Timeline
Google News Blog: Google News Timeline--a new feature on Google Labs that organizes many different types of search results on a zoomable, graphical timeline. Google News Timeline presents search results from a wide range of sources. You can search and browse results from Google News, including headlines, quotes, photos from our Hosted News partners, and YouTube partner videos. You can also search for thousands of archival newspapers and magazines from Google News Archive Search and Google Book Search.
After the United States and The Republic of Texas were unable to reach a Treaty agreement, Congress passed a Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States [3]. The Republic of Texas' Annexation Convention then submitted the Ordinance of Annexation[4] to popular vote in October 1845 and the public approved the measure. This Ordinance of Annexation was submitted and approved by the House and Senate of the United States and signed by the President on December 29, 1845 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Annexation
The Avalon Project is a collection of documents in law, history and diplomacy maintained by the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale Law School. Go to http://avalon.law.yale.edu/default.asp and type “joint resolution” texas to see another view of the joint resolution admitting Texas to the union and giving them the right to divide into four more states. The Avalon Project groups documents into ancient, medieval, and 15th through 21st centuries.
Merit Selection and Retention Elections
Long favored by the American Bar Association, the American Judicature Society and others, this process would replace direct election of state judges, but also not rely solely on appointment by a governor and confirmation by the legislature. Although only several states use merit selection for all of their judges, about two-thirds of states use variations of this system, albeit limited to only a few judgeships. Called the “Missouri Plan,” because that state adopted this system in 1940, it is a hybrid of both appointment and elections. Such a system was proposed in 2005 to replace Pennsylvania’s system of partisan elections for state judges. Backed by the Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, allied with the Justice at Stake Campaign and other legal organizations, it would establish a bi-partisan, citizen-based nominating commission appointed by the governor and legislative leaders. The commission would screen candidates and compile a list of the most qualified, from which list the governor would fill a judicial vacancy. The judges would face voters every six or ten years, depending on the level of their court, in unopposed retention elections. Voter approval has been an obstacle to amending state constitutions to establish or expand merit selection systems. Utah, in 1984, was the last state to approve such a system, which has failed to win approval in several state referenda since then. For example, in 1998, Florida’s Constitution Revision Commission won approval for a local option to extend the system of merit selection and retention currently in place for state appeals court judges and Supreme Court justices to also apply to trail judges in local circuit and country courts but voters in every one of sixty-seven counties rejected it in separate referenda in 2000 and continue to select trial judges in nonpartisan elections; the average vote for the change was only thirty-two percent. State minority and women’s bar associations campaigned against merit selection worried that the change would reverse the progress they recently made in gaining judgeships.
http://www.carnegie.org/reporter/12/elections/index5.html
American Bar Association information on judicial elections
http://www.abanet.org/judind/pdf/hod-final.pdf
http://www.abanet.org/litigation/litigationnews/top_stories/judicial-elections.html
Court addresses and structures: http://www.ncsconline.org/D_KIS/info_court_web_sites.html
The same title may be used for more than one book. Example: The Music of the Spheres (2001) by Elizabeth Redfern and Music of the Spheres (1961) by Guy Murchie
Does the First Amendment's free-speech guarantee attach to opinions doled out by credit-rating agencies? Historically, the answer has been yes. But that protection is being questioned amid allegations that the firms had conflicts that encouraged them to give unduly rosy opinions about the creditworthiness of securities backed by subprime mortgages. Click here for the story, from the WSJ's Nathan Koppel.
WSJ Law Blog April 21, 2009
moirologist (moy-ROL-uh-jist) noun: a hired mourner
While researching this word, I came across websites that offer "eulogy packs". One such site lists a "Mother's Eulogy pack" that includes "9 speeches, 3 poems, 3 free bonus". Only $25.95. Fathers go cheaper: $19.97. Let's not be too smug and look down upon those who buy these packs. When we go to the neighborhood card store to buy a greeting card or a sympathy card, we're also hiring someone to package words to help us convey our feelings. Professional mourners are not a new thing either--there's a long tradition going back to ancient Greece and beyond. As late as 1908 a New York Times article reported on a professional mourners' strike in Paris. Then there is claque, a group of people hired to applaud a performer at a show. A.Word.A.Day
April 24 is the birthday of novelist Anthony Trollope, born in London (1815). Many of his novels originated from daydreams that he had as a child. He worked for the post office, and became a postal surveyor. And every morning before breakfast, he sat down to write 1,000 words, publishing about three books every two years.
April 24 is the birthday of novelist and journalist Clare Boylan, born in Dublin (1948). She is best known for her work Emma Brown (2003), in which she set out to finish a novel that Charlotte Brontë had begun. Boylan had been fascinated with Charlotte Brontë for a long time, and she had even tried to write a play about the end of Brontë's life. Then she found an 18-page fragment of a manuscript that Charlotte Brontë had begun writing in the 1850s, shortly before her death. It was two chapters of a novel featuring a protagonist named Emma, and Clare Boylan set out to finish the novel that Brontë had started. The Writer’s Almanac
"The World Digital Library will make available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from cultures around the world, including manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural drawings, and other significant cultural materials. The objectives of the World Digital Library are to promote international and inter-cultural understanding and awareness, provide resources to educators, expand non-English and non-Western content on the Internet, and to contribute to scholarly research."
New on LLRX.com: FIT for Purpose – The New FLARE Index to Treaties
FIT for Purpose – The New FLARE Index to Treaties: Dr. Peter Clinch and Steven Whittle describes the background development, various ways in which the service can be used, and technical issues of this fully searchable database. Launched in March 2009, it indexes and lists over 1,500 of the most significant multilateral treaties concluded from 1856 onwards. It was conceived to fill a gap in the range of information finding tools available on the internet for the international lawyer.
Google Announces News Timeline
Google News Blog: Google News Timeline--a new feature on Google Labs that organizes many different types of search results on a zoomable, graphical timeline. Google News Timeline presents search results from a wide range of sources. You can search and browse results from Google News, including headlines, quotes, photos from our Hosted News partners, and YouTube partner videos. You can also search for thousands of archival newspapers and magazines from Google News Archive Search and Google Book Search.
After the United States and The Republic of Texas were unable to reach a Treaty agreement, Congress passed a Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States [3]. The Republic of Texas' Annexation Convention then submitted the Ordinance of Annexation[4] to popular vote in October 1845 and the public approved the measure. This Ordinance of Annexation was submitted and approved by the House and Senate of the United States and signed by the President on December 29, 1845 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Annexation
The Avalon Project is a collection of documents in law, history and diplomacy maintained by the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale Law School. Go to http://avalon.law.yale.edu/default.asp and type “joint resolution” texas to see another view of the joint resolution admitting Texas to the union and giving them the right to divide into four more states. The Avalon Project groups documents into ancient, medieval, and 15th through 21st centuries.
Merit Selection and Retention Elections
Long favored by the American Bar Association, the American Judicature Society and others, this process would replace direct election of state judges, but also not rely solely on appointment by a governor and confirmation by the legislature. Although only several states use merit selection for all of their judges, about two-thirds of states use variations of this system, albeit limited to only a few judgeships. Called the “Missouri Plan,” because that state adopted this system in 1940, it is a hybrid of both appointment and elections. Such a system was proposed in 2005 to replace Pennsylvania’s system of partisan elections for state judges. Backed by the Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, allied with the Justice at Stake Campaign and other legal organizations, it would establish a bi-partisan, citizen-based nominating commission appointed by the governor and legislative leaders. The commission would screen candidates and compile a list of the most qualified, from which list the governor would fill a judicial vacancy. The judges would face voters every six or ten years, depending on the level of their court, in unopposed retention elections. Voter approval has been an obstacle to amending state constitutions to establish or expand merit selection systems. Utah, in 1984, was the last state to approve such a system, which has failed to win approval in several state referenda since then. For example, in 1998, Florida’s Constitution Revision Commission won approval for a local option to extend the system of merit selection and retention currently in place for state appeals court judges and Supreme Court justices to also apply to trail judges in local circuit and country courts but voters in every one of sixty-seven counties rejected it in separate referenda in 2000 and continue to select trial judges in nonpartisan elections; the average vote for the change was only thirty-two percent. State minority and women’s bar associations campaigned against merit selection worried that the change would reverse the progress they recently made in gaining judgeships.
http://www.carnegie.org/reporter/12/elections/index5.html
American Bar Association information on judicial elections
http://www.abanet.org/judind/pdf/hod-final.pdf
http://www.abanet.org/litigation/litigationnews/top_stories/judicial-elections.html
Court addresses and structures: http://www.ncsconline.org/D_KIS/info_court_web_sites.html
The same title may be used for more than one book. Example: The Music of the Spheres (2001) by Elizabeth Redfern and Music of the Spheres (1961) by Guy Murchie
Does the First Amendment's free-speech guarantee attach to opinions doled out by credit-rating agencies? Historically, the answer has been yes. But that protection is being questioned amid allegations that the firms had conflicts that encouraged them to give unduly rosy opinions about the creditworthiness of securities backed by subprime mortgages. Click here for the story, from the WSJ's Nathan Koppel.
WSJ Law Blog April 21, 2009
moirologist (moy-ROL-uh-jist) noun: a hired mourner
While researching this word, I came across websites that offer "eulogy packs". One such site lists a "Mother's Eulogy pack" that includes "9 speeches, 3 poems, 3 free bonus". Only $25.95. Fathers go cheaper: $19.97. Let's not be too smug and look down upon those who buy these packs. When we go to the neighborhood card store to buy a greeting card or a sympathy card, we're also hiring someone to package words to help us convey our feelings. Professional mourners are not a new thing either--there's a long tradition going back to ancient Greece and beyond. As late as 1908 a New York Times article reported on a professional mourners' strike in Paris. Then there is claque, a group of people hired to applaud a performer at a show. A.Word.A.Day
April 24 is the birthday of novelist Anthony Trollope, born in London (1815). Many of his novels originated from daydreams that he had as a child. He worked for the post office, and became a postal surveyor. And every morning before breakfast, he sat down to write 1,000 words, publishing about three books every two years.
April 24 is the birthday of novelist and journalist Clare Boylan, born in Dublin (1948). She is best known for her work Emma Brown (2003), in which she set out to finish a novel that Charlotte Brontë had begun. Boylan had been fascinated with Charlotte Brontë for a long time, and she had even tried to write a play about the end of Brontë's life. Then she found an 18-page fragment of a manuscript that Charlotte Brontë had begun writing in the 1850s, shortly before her death. It was two chapters of a novel featuring a protagonist named Emma, and Clare Boylan set out to finish the novel that Brontë had started. The Writer’s Almanac
Thursday, April 23, 2009
With a May 5 deadline for filing objections to the Google books settlement looming, opposition to and criticism of the settlement continues to cement. By Miguel Helft
I recently wrote about concerns among copyright and antitrust scholars and others that the settlement would grant Google a monopoly over millions of so-called orphan books, which are out of print and whose rights holders are unknown or cannot be found. I later gave more details of where the opposition was coming from. Now some of the opposition is starting to jell. The Internet Archive, which is currently working to match Google’s effort to digitize millions of books from major libraries, has filed a motion to intervene in the case. The Internet Archive argues that the settlement gives Google—and Google alone—immunity from liability for copyright infringement for scanning and displaying orphan books. Without similar immunity, “the Archive would be unable to provide some of these same services due to the uncertain legal issues surrounding orphan books.” The filing notes that the parties in the suit—Google, the Authors Guild and major publishers—plan to oppose the Archive’s proposed intervention. The Internet Archive is the second group that has asked the court to intervene. The first, spearheaded by a group of lawyers that includes Charles Nesson, a professor at Harvard Law School, has published its filing here.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/opposition-to-google-books-settlement/?em
Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago, Illinois, has declared Thursday, April 23 as "Talk Like Shakespeare Day" to celebrate the 445th birthday of the man many consider the greatest playwright in the English language. While the bard's actual birth date is not known for sure, many scholars think it was April 23, 1564. It isn't as difficult as it sounds. After all, Shakespeare single-handedly contributed more than 1,700 words and phrases to the English language--everything from "foul play" to "monumental" to, of course, "all's well that ends well." But should you need some help, head over to talklikeshakespeare.org – Don't waste time saying "it." Just use the letter "t" ('tis, 'twill, I'll do't). To add weight to your opinions, try starting them with "methinks," "mayhaps," "in sooth" or "wherefore." When in doubt, add the letters "eth" to the end of verbs (he runneth, he trippeth, he falleth). For more ammunition, you can consult the random Shakespearean insult generator on the British site william-shakespeare.org.uk.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/21/talk.like.shakespeare/index.html
(Thanks, New York muse reader.)
An ugly dispute has erupted between West Publishing and two law professors who claim they were falsely identified as the authors of an annual supplement to a treatise on Pennsylvania criminal law even though they had nothing to do with writing it.
In a federal lawsuit, professors David Rudovsky of the University of Pennsylvania and Leonard Sosnov of Widener Law School claim that the December 2008 supplement, or "pocket part," to their book, "Pennsylvania Criminal Procedure -- Law, Commentary and Forms," was so poorly researched that it will harm their reputations if allowed to remain on library shelves.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202429943280
Just Released: Ready Reference: The 2009 Fortune 500 April 19th, 2009
The 2009 Fortune ranking of America’s largest corporations is now available online.
Exxon Mobil returns to the top spot this year. Wal-Mart (last years #1) moves down to #2.
Top 10 (2009)
1. Exxon Mobil
2. Wal-Mart Stores
3. Chevron
4. ConocoPhillips
5. General Electric
6. General Motors
7. Ford Motor
8. AT&T
9. Hewlett-Packard
10. Valero Energy
+ Review the Top 50 Companies
+ Direct to Complete List
NOTE: The complete list consists of 1000 corporations.
+ Browse the List by Location
+ Fortune 500 CEO List
+ Review Past Rankings (Back to 1955)
Feedback from A.Word.A.Day
From: Charles Neame (c.neame cranfield.ac.uk)
Subject: French terms used in English
I remember once hearing an announcement on the Dover-Calais ferry. First in English: "Please note that the buffet is now open." Then in French: "Veuillez noter que le snack-bar est maintenant ouvert."
From: Carolanne Reynolds (gg wordsmith.org)
Subject: borrowing
For clarification and context since this week's theme is words 'borrowed' from French, for those interested in language it should not come as a surprise that the influence of French on English goes further than simple borrowing (as the word is commonly understood). After the victory of William the Conqueror/ Guillaume le Conquerant at Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Norman Conquest, French was the language of the court (aristocracy), the government, the law, that is of the rulers. Norman French then formed the 'upper layer' (freedom and liberty; work and labour; truth and veracity) on top of Anglo-Saxon, a Germanic language (with some Scandinavian). English ended up having two words for many things other languages (like French and German) have just one for (German: haus; French: maison; English: house and mansion). Vive la difference!
A handful of U.S. Supreme Court justices have gotten serious over the so-called Shakespeare authorship question--uncovering the true identity of the writer of Hamlet, Macbeth and Titus Andronicus, which many have called the Bard's worst play. Click here for the story, from the WSJ's Jess Bravin. Justice John Paul Stevens feels strongly that the writer of the plays was not Shakespeare, but the 17th earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere. Several justices across the court's ideological spectrum say he may be right. That makes Justice Stevens a so-called “Oxfordian.” A judge ruled April 17 that former President George W. Bush will have to give a statement in the lawsuit against Southern Methodist University. If the ruling stands up, Bush would become the first current or former president forced to give testimony in a state civil case. Click here for the Dallas Morning News story. The plaintiffs in the case have alleged that SMU bullied condo owners to sell their units to the university without disclosing plans to build a presidential library there. They allege that SMU officials showed Bush plans to put the library at the University Gardens site even before they tried to buy it. WSJ Law Blog April 20, 2009
The Boston Public Library is poised to sell or even give away a handful of items from its extensive special collection, as the landmark institution culls its vast holdings.
So far, the library's collections committee has discussed parting with three items, according to minutes from meetings: a Crehore piano, the first type of piano made in the US, a series of large-scale Audubon prints, and a collection of Tichnor glass printing plates that were once used to make postcards. The library has had the Aububon prints since the mid-1800s, while the piano and glass plates were acquired in the last several years.
Featured American poet: Diane Lockward
A former high school English teacher, she now works as a poet-in-the-schools for both the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Lockward is the recipient of a 2003 Poetry Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and has received awards from North American Review, Louisiana Literature, the Newburyport Art Association, and the Akron Art Museum.
http://www.nyslittree.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/db.persondetail/PersonPK/846.cfm
See Diane Lockward’s blog at: http://dianelockward.blogspot.com/
Stimulus Watch http://www.stimuluswatch.org/ informs citizens about proposed "shovel-ready" projects in your city. These projects are not part of the stimulus bill. They are candidates for funding by federal grant programs once the bill passes. As of this writing, four states of muse readers are represented: Illinois, Ohio, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
Four corners no longer square with modern survey methods Tourists may need to stretch their arms and legs at little further to straddle Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah all at once. A report in the Deseret News claims that modern surveys put the US monument marking the geographical union of the four western states in the wrong place. The error is due to subtle effects such as imperfect bulges on the Earth's surface which were difficult to incorporate in 1868, when the US government first surveyed the site, the chief geodetic surveyor for the National Geodetic Survey told Colorado's Channel 9 news: "The 2.5 mile discrepancy that was originally reported is not accurate... At most, the difference between the location of the monument and where the actual four states should meet geographically is approximately 1,800 feet."
http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2009/04/four_corners_no_longer_square.html
U.S. News and World Report: Our New Best Grad Schools Rankings
Find out which schools stand atop each rankings list.
Search: Law | Med | Business | Education | Engineering
http://www.usnews.com/
Some have quite impressively detailed the length to which law schools game the system. Still, much to the chagrin of law school deans and faculties, the rankings matter--to students and hiring partners and judges and others--and in our opinion they'll continue to matter so long as 1) a more visible and reliable ranking fails to emerge and 2) the practice of law remains a profession that trades so heavily on status, prestige and pedigree. With all that behind us, let's bring you this year's rankings, at least through the top 35. They are: 1. Yale, 2. Harvard, 3. Stanford, 4. Columbia, 5. NYU, 6. Berkeley, 6. (tie) Chicago, 8. Penn, 9. Michigan, 10. Duke, 10. (tie) Northwestern, 10. (tie) UVA, 13. Cornell, 14. Georgetown, 15. UCLA, 15. (tie) Texas, 17. Vanderbilt, 18. USC, 19. Wash U, 20. BU, 20. (tie) Emory, 20. (tie) Minnesota, 23. Indiana, 23. (tie) Illinois, 23. (tie) Notre Dame, 26. Boston College., 26. (tie) Iowa, 28. William & Mary, 28. (tie) George Washington, 30. Fordham, 30. (tie) Alabama, 30. (tie) UNC, 30. (tie) Washington & Lee, 35. Ohio State, 35. (tie) UC Davis, 35. (tie) Georgia, 35. (tie) Wisconsin. U.S. News and World Report also ranked, for the first time, part-time programs. Of the 87 accredited law schools with part-time programs, here are the top 15: 1. Georgetown, 2. George Washington, 3. Fordham, 4. American University, 5. George Mason, 6. Maryland, 7. Temple, 7. (tie) University of San Diego, 9. University of Denver, 10. Illinois Institute of Technology, 11. New York Law School, 12. Seattle U., 13. Loyola Marymount, 13. (tie) Suffolk University, 15. Georgia State. WSJ Law Blog April 22, 2009
April 23 is the birthday of novelist Vladimir Nabokov, (books by this author) born in St Petersburg, Russia (1899). He said he grew up "a perfectly normal trilingual child in a family with a large library." They had a large town home in St. Petersburg and a country estate. His governesses taught him to read and write English before his native Russian. When the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia, Nabokov's family was forced to flee. They escaped to Germany, but had to leave behind their fortune. The Writer’s Almanac
I recently wrote about concerns among copyright and antitrust scholars and others that the settlement would grant Google a monopoly over millions of so-called orphan books, which are out of print and whose rights holders are unknown or cannot be found. I later gave more details of where the opposition was coming from. Now some of the opposition is starting to jell. The Internet Archive, which is currently working to match Google’s effort to digitize millions of books from major libraries, has filed a motion to intervene in the case. The Internet Archive argues that the settlement gives Google—and Google alone—immunity from liability for copyright infringement for scanning and displaying orphan books. Without similar immunity, “the Archive would be unable to provide some of these same services due to the uncertain legal issues surrounding orphan books.” The filing notes that the parties in the suit—Google, the Authors Guild and major publishers—plan to oppose the Archive’s proposed intervention. The Internet Archive is the second group that has asked the court to intervene. The first, spearheaded by a group of lawyers that includes Charles Nesson, a professor at Harvard Law School, has published its filing here.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/17/opposition-to-google-books-settlement/?em
Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago, Illinois, has declared Thursday, April 23 as "Talk Like Shakespeare Day" to celebrate the 445th birthday of the man many consider the greatest playwright in the English language. While the bard's actual birth date is not known for sure, many scholars think it was April 23, 1564. It isn't as difficult as it sounds. After all, Shakespeare single-handedly contributed more than 1,700 words and phrases to the English language--everything from "foul play" to "monumental" to, of course, "all's well that ends well." But should you need some help, head over to talklikeshakespeare.org – Don't waste time saying "it." Just use the letter "t" ('tis, 'twill, I'll do't). To add weight to your opinions, try starting them with "methinks," "mayhaps," "in sooth" or "wherefore." When in doubt, add the letters "eth" to the end of verbs (he runneth, he trippeth, he falleth). For more ammunition, you can consult the random Shakespearean insult generator on the British site william-shakespeare.org.uk.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/21/talk.like.shakespeare/index.html
(Thanks, New York muse reader.)
An ugly dispute has erupted between West Publishing and two law professors who claim they were falsely identified as the authors of an annual supplement to a treatise on Pennsylvania criminal law even though they had nothing to do with writing it.
In a federal lawsuit, professors David Rudovsky of the University of Pennsylvania and Leonard Sosnov of Widener Law School claim that the December 2008 supplement, or "pocket part," to their book, "Pennsylvania Criminal Procedure -- Law, Commentary and Forms," was so poorly researched that it will harm their reputations if allowed to remain on library shelves.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202429943280
Just Released: Ready Reference: The 2009 Fortune 500 April 19th, 2009
The 2009 Fortune ranking of America’s largest corporations is now available online.
Exxon Mobil returns to the top spot this year. Wal-Mart (last years #1) moves down to #2.
Top 10 (2009)
1. Exxon Mobil
2. Wal-Mart Stores
3. Chevron
4. ConocoPhillips
5. General Electric
6. General Motors
7. Ford Motor
8. AT&T
9. Hewlett-Packard
10. Valero Energy
+ Review the Top 50 Companies
+ Direct to Complete List
NOTE: The complete list consists of 1000 corporations.
+ Browse the List by Location
+ Fortune 500 CEO List
+ Review Past Rankings (Back to 1955)
Feedback from A.Word.A.Day
From: Charles Neame (c.neame cranfield.ac.uk)
Subject: French terms used in English
I remember once hearing an announcement on the Dover-Calais ferry. First in English: "Please note that the buffet is now open." Then in French: "Veuillez noter que le snack-bar est maintenant ouvert."
From: Carolanne Reynolds (gg wordsmith.org)
Subject: borrowing
For clarification and context since this week's theme is words 'borrowed' from French, for those interested in language it should not come as a surprise that the influence of French on English goes further than simple borrowing (as the word is commonly understood). After the victory of William the Conqueror/ Guillaume le Conquerant at Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Norman Conquest, French was the language of the court (aristocracy), the government, the law, that is of the rulers. Norman French then formed the 'upper layer' (freedom and liberty; work and labour; truth and veracity) on top of Anglo-Saxon, a Germanic language (with some Scandinavian). English ended up having two words for many things other languages (like French and German) have just one for (German: haus; French: maison; English: house and mansion). Vive la difference!
A handful of U.S. Supreme Court justices have gotten serious over the so-called Shakespeare authorship question--uncovering the true identity of the writer of Hamlet, Macbeth and Titus Andronicus, which many have called the Bard's worst play. Click here for the story, from the WSJ's Jess Bravin. Justice John Paul Stevens feels strongly that the writer of the plays was not Shakespeare, but the 17th earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere. Several justices across the court's ideological spectrum say he may be right. That makes Justice Stevens a so-called “Oxfordian.” A judge ruled April 17 that former President George W. Bush will have to give a statement in the lawsuit against Southern Methodist University. If the ruling stands up, Bush would become the first current or former president forced to give testimony in a state civil case. Click here for the Dallas Morning News story. The plaintiffs in the case have alleged that SMU bullied condo owners to sell their units to the university without disclosing plans to build a presidential library there. They allege that SMU officials showed Bush plans to put the library at the University Gardens site even before they tried to buy it. WSJ Law Blog April 20, 2009
The Boston Public Library is poised to sell or even give away a handful of items from its extensive special collection, as the landmark institution culls its vast holdings.
So far, the library's collections committee has discussed parting with three items, according to minutes from meetings: a Crehore piano, the first type of piano made in the US, a series of large-scale Audubon prints, and a collection of Tichnor glass printing plates that were once used to make postcards. The library has had the Aububon prints since the mid-1800s, while the piano and glass plates were acquired in the last several years.
Featured American poet: Diane Lockward
A former high school English teacher, she now works as a poet-in-the-schools for both the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Lockward is the recipient of a 2003 Poetry Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and has received awards from North American Review, Louisiana Literature, the Newburyport Art Association, and the Akron Art Museum.
http://www.nyslittree.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/db.persondetail/PersonPK/846.cfm
See Diane Lockward’s blog at: http://dianelockward.blogspot.com/
Stimulus Watch http://www.stimuluswatch.org/ informs citizens about proposed "shovel-ready" projects in your city. These projects are not part of the stimulus bill. They are candidates for funding by federal grant programs once the bill passes. As of this writing, four states of muse readers are represented: Illinois, Ohio, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
Four corners no longer square with modern survey methods Tourists may need to stretch their arms and legs at little further to straddle Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah all at once. A report in the Deseret News claims that modern surveys put the US monument marking the geographical union of the four western states in the wrong place. The error is due to subtle effects such as imperfect bulges on the Earth's surface which were difficult to incorporate in 1868, when the US government first surveyed the site, the chief geodetic surveyor for the National Geodetic Survey told Colorado's Channel 9 news: "The 2.5 mile discrepancy that was originally reported is not accurate... At most, the difference between the location of the monument and where the actual four states should meet geographically is approximately 1,800 feet."
http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2009/04/four_corners_no_longer_square.html
U.S. News and World Report: Our New Best Grad Schools Rankings
Find out which schools stand atop each rankings list.
Search: Law | Med | Business | Education | Engineering
http://www.usnews.com/
Some have quite impressively detailed the length to which law schools game the system. Still, much to the chagrin of law school deans and faculties, the rankings matter--to students and hiring partners and judges and others--and in our opinion they'll continue to matter so long as 1) a more visible and reliable ranking fails to emerge and 2) the practice of law remains a profession that trades so heavily on status, prestige and pedigree. With all that behind us, let's bring you this year's rankings, at least through the top 35. They are: 1. Yale, 2. Harvard, 3. Stanford, 4. Columbia, 5. NYU, 6. Berkeley, 6. (tie) Chicago, 8. Penn, 9. Michigan, 10. Duke, 10. (tie) Northwestern, 10. (tie) UVA, 13. Cornell, 14. Georgetown, 15. UCLA, 15. (tie) Texas, 17. Vanderbilt, 18. USC, 19. Wash U, 20. BU, 20. (tie) Emory, 20. (tie) Minnesota, 23. Indiana, 23. (tie) Illinois, 23. (tie) Notre Dame, 26. Boston College., 26. (tie) Iowa, 28. William & Mary, 28. (tie) George Washington, 30. Fordham, 30. (tie) Alabama, 30. (tie) UNC, 30. (tie) Washington & Lee, 35. Ohio State, 35. (tie) UC Davis, 35. (tie) Georgia, 35. (tie) Wisconsin. U.S. News and World Report also ranked, for the first time, part-time programs. Of the 87 accredited law schools with part-time programs, here are the top 15: 1. Georgetown, 2. George Washington, 3. Fordham, 4. American University, 5. George Mason, 6. Maryland, 7. Temple, 7. (tie) University of San Diego, 9. University of Denver, 10. Illinois Institute of Technology, 11. New York Law School, 12. Seattle U., 13. Loyola Marymount, 13. (tie) Suffolk University, 15. Georgia State. WSJ Law Blog April 22, 2009
April 23 is the birthday of novelist Vladimir Nabokov, (books by this author) born in St Petersburg, Russia (1899). He said he grew up "a perfectly normal trilingual child in a family with a large library." They had a large town home in St. Petersburg and a country estate. His governesses taught him to read and write English before his native Russian. When the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia, Nabokov's family was forced to flee. They escaped to Germany, but had to leave behind their fortune. The Writer’s Almanac
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Artists Say Anthropologie Swiped Their Work
BROOKLYN (CN) - Authors of a limited-edition hand-printed art book say Anthropologie and its corporate parent, Urban Outfitters, surreptitiously photographed their work at the New York Artist Book Fair, then used their design on a rug. Purgatory Pie Press sued Anthropologie, a catalog merchant, in Federal Court.
FROM CCH
Whole ball of tax 2009
http://www.cch.com/wbot2009/018Kids.asp
Tax headlines
http://tax.cchgroup.com/news/headlines/2009/nws41609.htm
The Internal Revenue Code is complex and its sections must be read in the context of the entire code and the court decisions that interpret it. See the code plus tax regulations at: http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=98137,00.html
Spain Announces Superspeed Trains
Follow up to April 16, 2009, Vision of High-Speed Rail in America, from the WSJ: Spain's Bullet Train Changes Nation -- and Fast - "The growth of the Alta Velocidad Española, or AVE, is having a profound effect on life in Spain, where many people have been fiercely attached to their home regions and reluctant to live or even travel elsewhere. Those centuries-old habits are starting to change as Spain stitches its regions together with a €100 billion ($130 billion) system of 218-mile-an-hour bullet trains."
Spain's High-Speed Frenzy
AP Investigation: Tons of Released Drugs Taint US Water
Via NPR - Marketplace: U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water--contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation. See also: "graphic shows location of codeine-producing factories near area where a water sample taken from the Delaware River/AP."
Office of National Drug Control Policy: Proper Disposal of Prescription Drugs - Federal Guidelines: "Do not flush prescription drugs down the toilet or drain unless the label or accompanying patient information specifically instructs you to do so."
FDA: How to Dispose of Unused Medicines, Updated April 14, 2009: Guidelines for Drug Disposal / Why the Precautions? / Environmental Concerns
Roland Hedley tweets—you knew that POTUS meant President of the United States—did you know that FLOTUS is First Lady of the United States?
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2009/04/20/090420ta_talk_trudeau
Design of golf courses comes directly from a particular landscape: it was permanently shaped by the ground on which it was invented. http://madisonian.net/2009/04/16/a-small-piece-of-land-surrounded-by-legislation/
Linksland consists of dunes, ridges, hollows shaped by winds near the sea. The terrain is perfect for golf. http://books.google.com/books?id=xYU1eWI37xEC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=define+linksland&source=bl&ots=oUryVP5BLn&sig=II_4HdBYRW9-P-kKYLCxf2Xmdxg&hl=en&ei=kdvoSeO4HJDMMPfQzekF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6#PPA11,M1
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It replaced the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Fiction
A woman, interviewed by NPR on April 19, said she has read all the fiction winners, and plans to buy the 2009 winner this week.
2009 Pulitzer Prizewinners and Nominated Finalists were announced at 3 p.m. on April 20: http://www.pulitzer.org/
Review of the 2009 fiction winner, Olive Kitteridge: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2008-04-23-kitteridge_N.htm
Burmese pythons have established a breeding population in Everglades National Park. Now they're extending their range—heading toward the wildlife-rich lands to the north and south of the park. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will soon decide whether to list the python as an "injurious species," which would result in a ban on imports and interstate trade. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, has introduced a bill to impose the bans immediately. A bill in the House, co-sponsored by Reps. Alcee Hastings, D- Miramar, and Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, would require the government to evaluate all species proposed for importation, with the burden of proof on the importer to prove the species would not cause harm. The pet industry is fighting both bills, saying they're too broad to deal with problems caused by particular nonnative species and would hurt dealers, breeders and importers. But Nelson said his bill would be an important step toward protecting an ecological treasure. Dumped at the park and elsewhere by pet owners who wanted to get rid of them, the snakes—which can grow to 20 feet and more than 250 pounds—dine on wading birds, small mammals and anything else they can squeeze to death. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbpythons0306sbmar06,0,7773882.story
April 21 is the birthday of the man who invented the concept of kindergarten: Friedrich Froebel, born in a village in Germany (1782). It was a prosperous village, located in a forest that was filled with plants that provided natural herbal remedies for various ailments, and the villagers earned their living from selling those plants in the form of salves, astringents, soaps, and dyes. Friedrich studied study math and botany, worked as a land surveyor, and then became a teacher. He was devoted to early childhood education, and he thought that activity and play were an essential part of early learning. He coined the term kindergarten in 1840. He was one of the first educators to see games as a tool for learning. He said, "Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child's soul." The first kindergarten in the United States was founded in 1856 in Watertown, Wisconsin, by one of Froebel's students. The Writer’s Almanac
BROOKLYN (CN) - Authors of a limited-edition hand-printed art book say Anthropologie and its corporate parent, Urban Outfitters, surreptitiously photographed their work at the New York Artist Book Fair, then used their design on a rug. Purgatory Pie Press sued Anthropologie, a catalog merchant, in Federal Court.
FROM CCH
Whole ball of tax 2009
http://www.cch.com/wbot2009/018Kids.asp
Tax headlines
http://tax.cchgroup.com/news/headlines/2009/nws41609.htm
The Internal Revenue Code is complex and its sections must be read in the context of the entire code and the court decisions that interpret it. See the code plus tax regulations at: http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=98137,00.html
Spain Announces Superspeed Trains
Follow up to April 16, 2009, Vision of High-Speed Rail in America, from the WSJ: Spain's Bullet Train Changes Nation -- and Fast - "The growth of the Alta Velocidad Española, or AVE, is having a profound effect on life in Spain, where many people have been fiercely attached to their home regions and reluctant to live or even travel elsewhere. Those centuries-old habits are starting to change as Spain stitches its regions together with a €100 billion ($130 billion) system of 218-mile-an-hour bullet trains."
Spain's High-Speed Frenzy
AP Investigation: Tons of Released Drugs Taint US Water
Via NPR - Marketplace: U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water--contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation. See also: "graphic shows location of codeine-producing factories near area where a water sample taken from the Delaware River/AP."
Office of National Drug Control Policy: Proper Disposal of Prescription Drugs - Federal Guidelines: "Do not flush prescription drugs down the toilet or drain unless the label or accompanying patient information specifically instructs you to do so."
FDA: How to Dispose of Unused Medicines, Updated April 14, 2009: Guidelines for Drug Disposal / Why the Precautions? / Environmental Concerns
Roland Hedley tweets—you knew that POTUS meant President of the United States—did you know that FLOTUS is First Lady of the United States?
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2009/04/20/090420ta_talk_trudeau
Design of golf courses comes directly from a particular landscape: it was permanently shaped by the ground on which it was invented. http://madisonian.net/2009/04/16/a-small-piece-of-land-surrounded-by-legislation/
Linksland consists of dunes, ridges, hollows shaped by winds near the sea. The terrain is perfect for golf. http://books.google.com/books?id=xYU1eWI37xEC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=define+linksland&source=bl&ots=oUryVP5BLn&sig=II_4HdBYRW9-P-kKYLCxf2Xmdxg&hl=en&ei=kdvoSeO4HJDMMPfQzekF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6#PPA11,M1
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It replaced the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Fiction
A woman, interviewed by NPR on April 19, said she has read all the fiction winners, and plans to buy the 2009 winner this week.
2009 Pulitzer Prizewinners and Nominated Finalists were announced at 3 p.m. on April 20: http://www.pulitzer.org/
Review of the 2009 fiction winner, Olive Kitteridge: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2008-04-23-kitteridge_N.htm
Burmese pythons have established a breeding population in Everglades National Park. Now they're extending their range—heading toward the wildlife-rich lands to the north and south of the park. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will soon decide whether to list the python as an "injurious species," which would result in a ban on imports and interstate trade. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, has introduced a bill to impose the bans immediately. A bill in the House, co-sponsored by Reps. Alcee Hastings, D- Miramar, and Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, would require the government to evaluate all species proposed for importation, with the burden of proof on the importer to prove the species would not cause harm. The pet industry is fighting both bills, saying they're too broad to deal with problems caused by particular nonnative species and would hurt dealers, breeders and importers. But Nelson said his bill would be an important step toward protecting an ecological treasure. Dumped at the park and elsewhere by pet owners who wanted to get rid of them, the snakes—which can grow to 20 feet and more than 250 pounds—dine on wading birds, small mammals and anything else they can squeeze to death. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbpythons0306sbmar06,0,7773882.story
April 21 is the birthday of the man who invented the concept of kindergarten: Friedrich Froebel, born in a village in Germany (1782). It was a prosperous village, located in a forest that was filled with plants that provided natural herbal remedies for various ailments, and the villagers earned their living from selling those plants in the form of salves, astringents, soaps, and dyes. Friedrich studied study math and botany, worked as a land surveyor, and then became a teacher. He was devoted to early childhood education, and he thought that activity and play were an essential part of early learning. He coined the term kindergarten in 1840. He was one of the first educators to see games as a tool for learning. He said, "Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child's soul." The first kindergarten in the United States was founded in 1856 in Watertown, Wisconsin, by one of Froebel's students. The Writer’s Almanac
Monday, April 20, 2009
S.C. Supreme Court Will Hear Student's Suit Over Stimulus Money By DAN MCCUE
COLUMBIA, S.C. (CN) - The South Carolina Supreme Court granted a high school student's request for an expedited hearing on whether state lawmakers can force Gov. Mark Sanford to accept federal stimulus money for education. Casey Edwards, 18, says Congress wants legislatures to be able to request federal money apportioned to states in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act even if a governor does not. Sanford, viewed as a potential Republican candidate for president in 2012, has blocked about $700 million earmarked for education and police and other first responders.
Vision of High-Speed Rail in America
Federal Railroad Administration: "President Obama proposes to help address the nation's transportation challenges by launching a new and efficient high-speed passenger rail network in 100-600 mile corridors that connect communities across America. The Strategic Plan outlines the President’s vision that would transform the nation’s transportation system by rebuilding existing rail infrastructure while developing a comprehensive high-speed intercity passenger rail network through a long-term commitment at both the federal and state levels. This plan draws from the successful highway and aviation development models with a 21st century solution that focuses on clean, energy-efficient rail transportation.
High-speed rail (HSR) is a family of transportation options that address longer-distance passenger transport needs in heavily populated corridors. Implementing HSR will promote economic expansion (including new manufacturing jobs), create new choices for travelers in addition to flying or driving, reduce national dependence on oil, and foster urban and rural livable communities. With the successful completion of the original phases of the Northeast Corridor (NEC) Transportation Project offering Amtrak's 150 mph train service, known as “Acela,” between Washington, New York, and Boston, efforts have expanded beyond the NEC. A number of high-speed rail corridors are being planned by States that range from upgrades to existing rail lines to entirely new rail lines exclusively devoted to 150 to 250 mph trains.
High-Speed Rail Strategic Plan
High-Speed Rail Corridor Route Map
High-Speed Rail Fact Sheet
Announcement by President Obama
Get information on FRA and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
New GAO Reports: Maritime Security, Superfund, SBA and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Small Business Administration's Implementation of Administrative Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, GAO-09-507R, April 16, 2009
Maritime Security: Vessel Tracking Systems Provide Key Information, but the Need for Duplicate Data Should Be Reviewed, GAO-09-337, March 17, 2009
Superfund: Greater EPA Enforcement and Reporting Are Needed to Enhance Cleanup at DOD Sites, GAO-09-278, March 13, 2009
Notes on the 1948 film Easter Parade More than half of the songs performed in Easter Parade were written by Irving Berlin in the four decades prior to the film, and many of the songs were performed in various stage and film musicals. John Arnold was responsible for creating the first ever slow motion synchronization with sound. The slow motion effect, used in the "Steppin' Out with My Baby" sequence, features Astaire dancing in slow motion in front of a chorus moving and singing in real-time. Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse withdrew due to injuries, and were replaced by Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. Vincente Minnelli was removed as director to relieve pressure on his wife, Judy Garland. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=2332&category=Notes
Mockumentary blends the words mock and documentary. It is a movie or television program with fictitious and often satirical subject matter. http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561537863/mockumentary.html
Example of a mockumentary
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/'BEST+IN+SHOW'+A+CHAMPION+'MOCKUMENTARY'-a083401677
Artyom Sidorkin went for a check-up after suffering symptoms of coughing up blood and sharp, prickling pains in his chest. After having an x-ray at the Izhevsk hospital, Russia, the doctors found a shadow on his lung. Fearing the worst, Sidorkin was promply booked in for investigative surgery. When the doctors pared back his lungs they found green pine needles. Upon further inspection the surgeons were amazed to find that a 2 inch fir tree was growing and thriving there. It would seem that the patient would have inhaled the seed from a fir tree. This would have been able to grow by receiving nutrition from the blood and oxygen from the patient’s airways, allowing the tree to thrive. The fragment of lung which contained the tiny fir tree has been preserved for further study.
http://www.knx1070.com/Fir-Tree-Grows-Inside-Man-s-Lung/4222211
In Toledo
Sunday, April 26, 2:30 p.m. "Beneath The Twelve Mile Reef" (1953) Cinemascope underwater adventure starring Robert Wagner, Terry Moore and Peter Graves. Theatre organ overture at 2:30, movies at 3 p.m. Collingwood Arts Center, Info: 419-389-9334
Sunday, May 10, 3 p.m. “DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE” silent movie starring John Barrymore. Accompanied by Ann Arbor organist Stephen Warner at the 3/8 New State Theatre organ, Collingwood Arts Center, Info: 419-389-9334
Sunday, May 17, 2:30 p.m. "Mr. Moto's Last Warning" (1939) starring Peter Lorre and John Carradine in a great mystery adventure with the Orient's master of disguise, Mr. Moto! 2:30 p.m. organ overture, Collingwood Arts Center, Info: 419-389-9334
Saturday, May 30, 3 p.m. FATHER ANDREW ROGERS Theatre Organ Concert and silent comedy film at the Rivoli 4/12 Marr & Colton theatre organ at Ohio Theater, Lagrange at Central Ave. Info: 419-241-6785
Sunday, June 7, 3 p.m. SPRING SILENT COMEDY FILM FESTIVAL, 4 hand-picked silent comedy shorts accompanied by ace theatre organist BRIAN BOGDANOWITZ at the 3/8 New State Theatre Organ, Collingwood Arts Center, Info: 419-389-9334
Sunday, June 14th, 2:30 p.m. "A STAR IS BORN" (1937) The original--and best--version of this wonderful Hollywood story in OLD TECHNICOLOR. 2:30pm organ overture, Collingwood Arts Center, Info: 419-389-9334
COLUMBIA, S.C. (CN) - The South Carolina Supreme Court granted a high school student's request for an expedited hearing on whether state lawmakers can force Gov. Mark Sanford to accept federal stimulus money for education. Casey Edwards, 18, says Congress wants legislatures to be able to request federal money apportioned to states in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act even if a governor does not. Sanford, viewed as a potential Republican candidate for president in 2012, has blocked about $700 million earmarked for education and police and other first responders.
Vision of High-Speed Rail in America
Federal Railroad Administration: "President Obama proposes to help address the nation's transportation challenges by launching a new and efficient high-speed passenger rail network in 100-600 mile corridors that connect communities across America. The Strategic Plan outlines the President’s vision that would transform the nation’s transportation system by rebuilding existing rail infrastructure while developing a comprehensive high-speed intercity passenger rail network through a long-term commitment at both the federal and state levels. This plan draws from the successful highway and aviation development models with a 21st century solution that focuses on clean, energy-efficient rail transportation.
High-speed rail (HSR) is a family of transportation options that address longer-distance passenger transport needs in heavily populated corridors. Implementing HSR will promote economic expansion (including new manufacturing jobs), create new choices for travelers in addition to flying or driving, reduce national dependence on oil, and foster urban and rural livable communities. With the successful completion of the original phases of the Northeast Corridor (NEC) Transportation Project offering Amtrak's 150 mph train service, known as “Acela,” between Washington, New York, and Boston, efforts have expanded beyond the NEC. A number of high-speed rail corridors are being planned by States that range from upgrades to existing rail lines to entirely new rail lines exclusively devoted to 150 to 250 mph trains.
High-Speed Rail Strategic Plan
High-Speed Rail Corridor Route Map
High-Speed Rail Fact Sheet
Announcement by President Obama
Get information on FRA and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
New GAO Reports: Maritime Security, Superfund, SBA and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Small Business Administration's Implementation of Administrative Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, GAO-09-507R, April 16, 2009
Maritime Security: Vessel Tracking Systems Provide Key Information, but the Need for Duplicate Data Should Be Reviewed, GAO-09-337, March 17, 2009
Superfund: Greater EPA Enforcement and Reporting Are Needed to Enhance Cleanup at DOD Sites, GAO-09-278, March 13, 2009
Notes on the 1948 film Easter Parade More than half of the songs performed in Easter Parade were written by Irving Berlin in the four decades prior to the film, and many of the songs were performed in various stage and film musicals. John Arnold was responsible for creating the first ever slow motion synchronization with sound. The slow motion effect, used in the "Steppin' Out with My Baby" sequence, features Astaire dancing in slow motion in front of a chorus moving and singing in real-time. Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse withdrew due to injuries, and were replaced by Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. Vincente Minnelli was removed as director to relieve pressure on his wife, Judy Garland. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=2332&category=Notes
Mockumentary blends the words mock and documentary. It is a movie or television program with fictitious and often satirical subject matter. http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561537863/mockumentary.html
Example of a mockumentary
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/'BEST+IN+SHOW'+A+CHAMPION+'MOCKUMENTARY'-a083401677
Artyom Sidorkin went for a check-up after suffering symptoms of coughing up blood and sharp, prickling pains in his chest. After having an x-ray at the Izhevsk hospital, Russia, the doctors found a shadow on his lung. Fearing the worst, Sidorkin was promply booked in for investigative surgery. When the doctors pared back his lungs they found green pine needles. Upon further inspection the surgeons were amazed to find that a 2 inch fir tree was growing and thriving there. It would seem that the patient would have inhaled the seed from a fir tree. This would have been able to grow by receiving nutrition from the blood and oxygen from the patient’s airways, allowing the tree to thrive. The fragment of lung which contained the tiny fir tree has been preserved for further study.
http://www.knx1070.com/Fir-Tree-Grows-Inside-Man-s-Lung/4222211
In Toledo
Sunday, April 26, 2:30 p.m. "Beneath The Twelve Mile Reef" (1953) Cinemascope underwater adventure starring Robert Wagner, Terry Moore and Peter Graves. Theatre organ overture at 2:30, movies at 3 p.m. Collingwood Arts Center, Info: 419-389-9334
Sunday, May 10, 3 p.m. “DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE” silent movie starring John Barrymore. Accompanied by Ann Arbor organist Stephen Warner at the 3/8 New State Theatre organ, Collingwood Arts Center, Info: 419-389-9334
Sunday, May 17, 2:30 p.m. "Mr. Moto's Last Warning" (1939) starring Peter Lorre and John Carradine in a great mystery adventure with the Orient's master of disguise, Mr. Moto! 2:30 p.m. organ overture, Collingwood Arts Center, Info: 419-389-9334
Saturday, May 30, 3 p.m. FATHER ANDREW ROGERS Theatre Organ Concert and silent comedy film at the Rivoli 4/12 Marr & Colton theatre organ at Ohio Theater, Lagrange at Central Ave. Info: 419-241-6785
Sunday, June 7, 3 p.m. SPRING SILENT COMEDY FILM FESTIVAL, 4 hand-picked silent comedy shorts accompanied by ace theatre organist BRIAN BOGDANOWITZ at the 3/8 New State Theatre Organ, Collingwood Arts Center, Info: 419-389-9334
Sunday, June 14th, 2:30 p.m. "A STAR IS BORN" (1937) The original--and best--version of this wonderful Hollywood story in OLD TECHNICOLOR. 2:30pm organ overture, Collingwood Arts Center, Info: 419-389-9334
Friday, April 17, 2009
Pew Report - The Internet's Role in Campaign 2008 "Some 74% of internet users--representing 55% of the entire adult population--went online in 2008 to get involved in the political process or to get news and information about the election. This marks the first time that a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey has found that more than half of the voting-age population used the internet to get involved in the political process during an election year. Several online activities rose to prominence in 2008. In particular, Americans were eager to share their views on the race with others and to take part in the online debate on social media sites such as blogs and social networking sites."
The Internet's Role in Campaign 2008 - A majority of American adults went online in 2008 to keep informed about political developments and to get involved with the election. April 2009
Federal Reserve Beige Book, April 15, 2009
April 15, 2009 - Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District
Reports from the Federal Reserve Banks indicate that overall economic activity contracted further or remained weak. However, five of the twelve Districts noted a moderation in the pace of decline, and several saw signs that activity in some sectors was stabilizing at a low level. Manufacturing activity weakened across a broad range of industries in most Districts, with only a few exceptions. Nonfinancial service activity continued to contract across Districts. Retail spending remained sluggish, although some Districts noted a slight improvement in sales compared with the previous reporting period. Residential real estate markets continued to be weak. Home prices and construction were still falling in most areas, but better-than-expected buyer traffic led to a scattered pickup in sales in a number of Districts. Nonresidential real estate conditions continued to deteriorate. Difficulty obtaining commercial real estate financing was constraining construction and investment activity. Spending on business travel declined as corporations cut back. Reports on tourism were mixed. Bankers reported tight credit conditions, rising delinquencies, and some deterioration of loan quality."
New GAO Reports: Defined Benefit Plans, Nuclear Security
Defined Benefit Plans: Proposed Plan Buyouts by Financial Firms Pose Potential Risks and Benefits, GAO-09-207, March 16, 2009
Nuclear Security: Better Oversight Needed to Ensure That Security Improvements at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Are Fully Implemented and Sustained, GAO-09-321, March 16, 2009
Official version: Public Law 111–5, 111th Congress, 123 STAT. 115, Feb. 17, 2009 [H.R. 1] American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 . 407 pages, PDF "An Act Making supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes.
Energy Production Data (04/09/2009): "This special report examines the stages of natural gas processing from the wellhead to the pipeline network through which the raw product becomes ready for transportation and eventual consumption, and how this sequence is reflected in the data published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).” Natural Gas Residential Choice Programs (04/08/2009): "This site provides an overview of the status of natural gas industry restructuring in each state, focusing on the residential customer class. (Status by State as of December 2008)"
Quarterly Coal Report (QCR) - 4th Quarter 2008 (04/08/2009): “Provides detailed quarterly coal data for October-December 2008 and aggregated quarterly historical coal data for 2002 through 4th Quarter 2008. All data for 2007 and prior years are final. All data for 2008 are preliminary. View an on-line summary of the publication."
Market Assessment of Planned Refinery Outages (04/08/2009): "This report reviews planned U.S. refinery outages from March 2009 though June 2009 in order to identify any regions where outages might create enough supply pressure to impact prices significantly."
Green Pricing and Net Metering Programs (04/07/2009): “This report provides detailed information on the number of electric industry participants and their customers in these programs for 2007. T he number of green pricing customers in 2007 was more than 800,000 nationwide, while the number of net metering customers was nearly 50,000."
EPA Adds Nine Hazardous Waste Sites to Superfund’s National Priorities List
: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is adding nine new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the National Priorities List of Superfund sites. Also, EPA is proposing to add 13 other sites to the list. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country. To date, there have been 1,596 sites listed on the NPL. Of these sites, 332 sites have been deleted resulting in 1,264 final sites currently on the NPL. With the proposal of the 13 new sites, there are 67 proposed sites awaiting final agency action: 62 in the general Superfund section and five in the federal facilities section. There are a total of 1,331 final and proposed sites."
Federal Register notices and supporting documents for these final and proposed sites
Roman a clef (novel with a key) is a novel in which actual persons and events are disguised as fictional characters. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:roman+a+clef&ei=kY3jScKkEonpnQe04tmpCQ&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title
Roman noir (black novel) is a term coined in the 20th century to describe crime fiction. http://www.librarything.com/tag/roman+noir
Beginning May 11th, the cost of a first-class postage stamp will go from 42 cents to 44 cents. You can take advantage of “forever" stamps, costing 42 cents until May 11th. The forever stamps are honored wherever they are used, with no need for additional postage for a one-ounce letter. On May 11th, however, the price of a forever stamp will increase to 44 cents. http://www.kyw1060.com/pages/3826028.php?
The Internet's Role in Campaign 2008 - A majority of American adults went online in 2008 to keep informed about political developments and to get involved with the election. April 2009
Federal Reserve Beige Book, April 15, 2009
April 15, 2009 - Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District
Reports from the Federal Reserve Banks indicate that overall economic activity contracted further or remained weak. However, five of the twelve Districts noted a moderation in the pace of decline, and several saw signs that activity in some sectors was stabilizing at a low level. Manufacturing activity weakened across a broad range of industries in most Districts, with only a few exceptions. Nonfinancial service activity continued to contract across Districts. Retail spending remained sluggish, although some Districts noted a slight improvement in sales compared with the previous reporting period. Residential real estate markets continued to be weak. Home prices and construction were still falling in most areas, but better-than-expected buyer traffic led to a scattered pickup in sales in a number of Districts. Nonresidential real estate conditions continued to deteriorate. Difficulty obtaining commercial real estate financing was constraining construction and investment activity. Spending on business travel declined as corporations cut back. Reports on tourism were mixed. Bankers reported tight credit conditions, rising delinquencies, and some deterioration of loan quality."
New GAO Reports: Defined Benefit Plans, Nuclear Security
Defined Benefit Plans: Proposed Plan Buyouts by Financial Firms Pose Potential Risks and Benefits, GAO-09-207, March 16, 2009
Nuclear Security: Better Oversight Needed to Ensure That Security Improvements at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Are Fully Implemented and Sustained, GAO-09-321, March 16, 2009
Official version: Public Law 111–5, 111th Congress, 123 STAT. 115, Feb. 17, 2009 [H.R. 1] American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Energy Production Data
Quarterly Coal Report (QCR) - 4th Quarter 2008
Market Assessment of Planned Refinery Outages
Green Pricing and Net Metering Programs
EPA Adds Nine Hazardous Waste Sites to Superfund’s National Priorities List
Federal Register notices and supporting documents for these final and proposed sites
Roman a clef (novel with a key) is a novel in which actual persons and events are disguised as fictional characters. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:roman+a+clef&ei=kY3jScKkEonpnQe04tmpCQ&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title
Roman noir (black novel) is a term coined in the 20th century to describe crime fiction. http://www.librarything.com/tag/roman+noir
Beginning May 11th, the cost of a first-class postage stamp will go from 42 cents to 44 cents. You can take advantage of “forever" stamps, costing 42 cents until May 11th. The forever stamps are honored wherever they are used, with no need for additional postage for a one-ounce letter. On May 11th, however, the price of a forever stamp will increase to 44 cents. http://www.kyw1060.com/pages/3826028.php?
Thursday, April 16, 2009
"The Patient's Guide to HIPAA is the first comprehensive guide to medical privacy written expressly for patients with a practical eye as to how to use the law to protect privacy. It is a major privacy resource for patients, written directly and without legalese. The Patient's Guide to HIPAA is easy to navigate and digest; the guide is in the form of Frequently Asked Questions & Answers. All of the key points in HIPAA are included, from the 7 basic patient rights to how and when to get copies of health care records. Difficult situations that patients often encounter are included in the guide. The Patient's Guide to HIPAA was written by Robert Gellman, with assistance from Pam Dixon, John Fanning, and Dr. Lewis Lorton."
On April 13, 2009, the Ronald Reagan library opened 244,966 pages of records processed in response to hundreds of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. These records include the Presidential Briefing Papers collection, Office of Speechwriting research material, and approximately 13,000 pages of declassified records on numerous foreign policy topics. To date, more than ten million pages of Presidential records have been processed at the Reagan library.
On April 13, 2009, the George H. W. Bush library opened 797 pages of records that deal with Saudi Arabia. To date, more than six million pages of Presidential records have been processed at the Bush library...
Turnoff Weeks 2009: April 20th - 26th and September 20th - 26th, 2009: "Why Turn Off?: Screen Time cuts into family time and is a leading cause of obesity in both adults and children. Excessive use of screens for recreational purposes leads to a more sedentary and solitary lifestyle and that is unhealthy for all of us, both mentally and physically. In the US and other industrialized nations around the world, screen time use continue to increase every year. The average daily usage for all screens, in some countries, has reached 9 hours per day. This is for recreational use of screens and does not include work time. On average, people watch 4 hours of television and then spend another 4 plus hours with computers, games, video, iPods and cell phones. According to Nielsen, the average World of Warcraft gamer plays for 892 minutes per week! The company that owns Second Life (a virtual world) claims that its users spent over 1 million hours on line. These statistics hold true for children directed sites as well, including Webkinz and others." [via Tom Melo]
The New York Yankees have a policy of restricting spectator movement during the playing of God Bless America, and you run into two NYPD cops on “paid detail” at the game who prevent you from reaching your desired destination. That's exactly what Bradford Campeau-Laurion says happened to him on August 26, 2008. With help from the New York Civil Liberties Union, he filed suit in Manhattan federal court against the Yankees, two cops, and Ray Kelly, the NYPD's commissioner. (Click here for the lawsuit.) Campeau-Laurion says he's proud to be an American, and he's still a Yankee fan (he bought 24 regular-season home-game tickets for this season). But he “doesn't want to be forced…to participate in a patriotic or religious ritual in conjunction with the playing of 'God Bless America' at Yankee Stadium,” according to the complaint. He's asked the court for damages and to enjoin the Yankees and NYPD from enforcing the “no-movement” policy during the playing of the song. Following 9/11, Major League Baseball required all teams to play “God Bless America” during the 7th-inning stretch. The requirement ended the next season, but the Yankees continued playing the song at every home game. Click here for a 2007 NYT story on the Yankees' no-movement policy, in which the Yankees' chief operating officer says the team started the policy after fans complained about how other fans were not paying respect.
A Wisconsin rule, called the “diploma privilege,” provides that graduates of the law schools at the University of Wisconsin and Marquette University don't have to take the Wisconsin bar exam in order to practice in Wisconsin. But is that rule fair to graduates of the law schools at Harvard or UCLA or, well, Oklahoma City University? Well, one Oklahoma City University School of Law graduate doesn't think so. Christopher Wiesmueller, a lawyer in Waukesha, Wisc., has sued both the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the agency that administers the Wisconsin bar exam, alleging that the rule violates the Constitution's dormant commerce clause--which, generally speaking, prohibits one state from discriminating against residents of other states. John Shabaz, a federal district court judge in Madison, dismissed the case back in 2007, ruling that the rule did not discriminate against nonresidents, finding that there was no discrimination since all graduates (residents and nonresidents) of all law schools outside Wisconsin were required to sit for the bar exam to gain admittance to the Wisconsin bar.
But Wiesmueller, who through the course of the case switched from representing himself pro se to representing a class of plaintiffs of which he is not a part, appealed, arguing that the lower court largely misapplied the law on the dormant commerce clause. Arguments before the Seventh Circuit were held last week. According to this write-up in the Wisconsin Law Journal, the judges on the panel all expressed views that were sympathetic to Wiesmueller's case. WSJ Law Blog April 15, 2009
My first impressions? Of peace, of beauty abounding, of an old-world graciousness and elegance of line. And there was something more too: a deep-dwelling spiritual presence that seemed to emanate from the earth itself..." That's the narrator's description of Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's famed home, in the latest novel by T.C. Boyle. The words also capture how Mr. Boyle felt when he first glimpsed his house: a sprawling "summer cottage" here, designed by Mr. Wright. It was his home that inspired Mr. Boyle, author of "The Road to Wellville" and "Drop City," to pen "The Women," which chronicles the architect's notoriously tumultuous personal life. "I was constantly aware of the architect's ghost lingering in the design of this house, in which I am working," says Mr. Boyle. The book's release coincides with the completion of a meticulous renovation of the home back to its original state. Exactly 100 years ago, Mr. Wright designed the home for George C. Stewart, a Scottish accountant. Soon after the design was completed Mr. Wright left his first wife, Kitty, and their six kids and ran off with Mamah Borthwick Cheney, the wife of a client and neighbor in Oak Park, Ill. It's the event that sets off "The Women," which chronicles Ms. Cheney's 1914 murder and a series of tumultuous relationships. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123932717020007499.html
On the first Friday of Lent, a parishioner of St. Cecilia Catholic Church began unwrapping pies at the church. That's when the trouble started. A state inspector, there for an annual checkup on the church's kitchen, spied the desserts. After it was determined that the pies were home-baked, the inspector decreed they couldn't be sold. The problem is the pies are illegal in Pennsylvania. Under the state's food-safety code, facilities that provide food at four or more events in a year require at least a temporary eating and drinking license, and food has to be prepared in a state-inspected kitchen. Legislation to overturn the baked-goods ban is being discussed. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123932034907406927.html
Feedback from A.Word.A.Day
From: Terry Moran (t.moran new.oxon.org) Subject: maudlin / Magdalene
Def: 1. Overly sentimental. 2. Foolishly sentimental because of drunkenness.
Magdalene was immortalised, if that's the right word, in the infamous Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, where girls who had fallen from grace--or, in some cases, who their fathers thought might be ABOUT to fall from grace--were incarcerated and used as slave labour. Unbelievably, the last one wasn't closed down until 1996.
From: Ed Dunne (egdunne gmail.com) Subject: maudlin
Since Magdalen comes from magdala, which is Aramaic for "tower", Magdalen Tower in Oxford is "Tower Tower".
From: Steve Thomas (stype sccoast.net) Subject: Nobel families in science
Your lead-in for the words of this week, featuring the illustrious Curie family, reminded me of another notable family of Nobel laureates in science--the Thomsons. It is with only the slightest obfuscation that it can be said that J.J. Thomson won the Nobel prize in physics in 1906 for discovering the electron, a particle inside the atom. In 1937, his son, George Paget Thomson won the Nobel prize in physics for discovering it was not. Sir George's discovery? The electron is a wave, not a particle.
Mary Magdalene is sometimes referred to as a prostitute or adulteress, but she was never called one in the New Testament.[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene
Toledo’s Attic—a virtual museum of Toledo, Ohio http://www.attic.utoledo.edu/toledosattic/
Toledo’s stadiums. 1883-present
http://www.attic.utoledo.edu/toledosattic/details_item.asp?key=577&did=120
Toledo’s major league affiliates http://www.attic.utoledo.edu/toledosattic/details_item.asp?key=576&did=120
The Toledo War of 1835-1836—the war that shaped the borders of Ohio and Michigan
http://www.attic.utoledo.edu/toledosattic/details.asp?did=144
On April 13, 2009, the Ronald Reagan library opened 244,966 pages of records processed in response to hundreds of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. These records include the Presidential Briefing Papers collection, Office of Speechwriting research material, and approximately 13,000 pages of declassified records on numerous foreign policy topics. To date, more than ten million pages of Presidential records have been processed at the Reagan library.
On April 13, 2009, the George H. W. Bush library opened 797 pages of records that deal with Saudi Arabia. To date, more than six million pages of Presidential records have been processed at the Bush library...
Turnoff Weeks 2009: April 20th - 26th and September 20th - 26th, 2009: "Why Turn Off?: Screen Time cuts into family time and is a leading cause of obesity in both adults and children. Excessive use of screens for recreational purposes leads to a more sedentary and solitary lifestyle and that is unhealthy for all of us, both mentally and physically. In the US and other industrialized nations around the world, screen time use continue to increase every year. The average daily usage for all screens, in some countries, has reached 9 hours per day. This is for recreational use of screens and does not include work time. On average, people watch 4 hours of television and then spend another 4 plus hours with computers, games, video, iPods and cell phones. According to Nielsen, the average World of Warcraft gamer plays for 892 minutes per week! The company that owns Second Life (a virtual world) claims that its users spent over 1 million hours on line. These statistics hold true for children directed sites as well, including Webkinz and others." [via Tom Melo]
The New York Yankees have a policy of restricting spectator movement during the playing of God Bless America, and you run into two NYPD cops on “paid detail” at the game who prevent you from reaching your desired destination. That's exactly what Bradford Campeau-Laurion says happened to him on August 26, 2008. With help from the New York Civil Liberties Union, he filed suit in Manhattan federal court against the Yankees, two cops, and Ray Kelly, the NYPD's commissioner. (Click here for the lawsuit.) Campeau-Laurion says he's proud to be an American, and he's still a Yankee fan (he bought 24 regular-season home-game tickets for this season). But he “doesn't want to be forced…to participate in a patriotic or religious ritual in conjunction with the playing of 'God Bless America' at Yankee Stadium,” according to the complaint. He's asked the court for damages and to enjoin the Yankees and NYPD from enforcing the “no-movement” policy during the playing of the song. Following 9/11, Major League Baseball required all teams to play “God Bless America” during the 7th-inning stretch. The requirement ended the next season, but the Yankees continued playing the song at every home game. Click here for a 2007 NYT story on the Yankees' no-movement policy, in which the Yankees' chief operating officer says the team started the policy after fans complained about how other fans were not paying respect.
A Wisconsin rule, called the “diploma privilege,” provides that graduates of the law schools at the University of Wisconsin and Marquette University don't have to take the Wisconsin bar exam in order to practice in Wisconsin. But is that rule fair to graduates of the law schools at Harvard or UCLA or, well, Oklahoma City University? Well, one Oklahoma City University School of Law graduate doesn't think so. Christopher Wiesmueller, a lawyer in Waukesha, Wisc., has sued both the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the agency that administers the Wisconsin bar exam, alleging that the rule violates the Constitution's dormant commerce clause--which, generally speaking, prohibits one state from discriminating against residents of other states. John Shabaz, a federal district court judge in Madison, dismissed the case back in 2007, ruling that the rule did not discriminate against nonresidents, finding that there was no discrimination since all graduates (residents and nonresidents) of all law schools outside Wisconsin were required to sit for the bar exam to gain admittance to the Wisconsin bar.
But Wiesmueller, who through the course of the case switched from representing himself pro se to representing a class of plaintiffs of which he is not a part, appealed, arguing that the lower court largely misapplied the law on the dormant commerce clause. Arguments before the Seventh Circuit were held last week. According to this write-up in the Wisconsin Law Journal, the judges on the panel all expressed views that were sympathetic to Wiesmueller's case. WSJ Law Blog April 15, 2009
My first impressions? Of peace, of beauty abounding, of an old-world graciousness and elegance of line. And there was something more too: a deep-dwelling spiritual presence that seemed to emanate from the earth itself..." That's the narrator's description of Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's famed home, in the latest novel by T.C. Boyle. The words also capture how Mr. Boyle felt when he first glimpsed his house: a sprawling "summer cottage" here, designed by Mr. Wright. It was his home that inspired Mr. Boyle, author of "The Road to Wellville" and "Drop City," to pen "The Women," which chronicles the architect's notoriously tumultuous personal life. "I was constantly aware of the architect's ghost lingering in the design of this house, in which I am working," says Mr. Boyle. The book's release coincides with the completion of a meticulous renovation of the home back to its original state. Exactly 100 years ago, Mr. Wright designed the home for George C. Stewart, a Scottish accountant. Soon after the design was completed Mr. Wright left his first wife, Kitty, and their six kids and ran off with Mamah Borthwick Cheney, the wife of a client and neighbor in Oak Park, Ill. It's the event that sets off "The Women," which chronicles Ms. Cheney's 1914 murder and a series of tumultuous relationships. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123932717020007499.html
On the first Friday of Lent, a parishioner of St. Cecilia Catholic Church began unwrapping pies at the church. That's when the trouble started. A state inspector, there for an annual checkup on the church's kitchen, spied the desserts. After it was determined that the pies were home-baked, the inspector decreed they couldn't be sold. The problem is the pies are illegal in Pennsylvania. Under the state's food-safety code, facilities that provide food at four or more events in a year require at least a temporary eating and drinking license, and food has to be prepared in a state-inspected kitchen. Legislation to overturn the baked-goods ban is being discussed. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123932034907406927.html
Feedback from A.Word.A.Day
From: Terry Moran (t.moran new.oxon.org) Subject: maudlin / Magdalene
Def: 1. Overly sentimental. 2. Foolishly sentimental because of drunkenness.
Magdalene was immortalised, if that's the right word, in the infamous Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, where girls who had fallen from grace--or, in some cases, who their fathers thought might be ABOUT to fall from grace--were incarcerated and used as slave labour. Unbelievably, the last one wasn't closed down until 1996.
From: Ed Dunne (egdunne gmail.com) Subject: maudlin
Since Magdalen comes from magdala, which is Aramaic for "tower", Magdalen Tower in Oxford is "Tower Tower".
From: Steve Thomas (stype sccoast.net) Subject: Nobel families in science
Your lead-in for the words of this week, featuring the illustrious Curie family, reminded me of another notable family of Nobel laureates in science--the Thomsons. It is with only the slightest obfuscation that it can be said that J.J. Thomson won the Nobel prize in physics in 1906 for discovering the electron, a particle inside the atom. In 1937, his son, George Paget Thomson won the Nobel prize in physics for discovering it was not. Sir George's discovery? The electron is a wave, not a particle.
Mary Magdalene is sometimes referred to as a prostitute or adulteress, but she was never called one in the New Testament.[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene
Toledo’s Attic—a virtual museum of Toledo, Ohio http://www.attic.utoledo.edu/toledosattic/
Toledo’s stadiums. 1883-present
http://www.attic.utoledo.edu/toledosattic/details_item.asp?key=577&did=120
Toledo’s major league affiliates http://www.attic.utoledo.edu/toledosattic/details_item.asp?key=576&did=120
The Toledo War of 1835-1836—the war that shaped the borders of Ohio and Michigan
http://www.attic.utoledo.edu/toledosattic/details.asp?did=144
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) is a result of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), requiring all travelers to present a passport or other document that denotes identity and citizenship when entering the U.S. Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean region fall under WHTI.
See June 1, 2009 requirements for entering the U.S. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html
Frequently asked questions on passports: http://www.travel.state.gov/passport/fri/faq/faq_1741.html
General passport information: http://www.travel.state.gov/
Just for Fun: USA.gov Word Cloud April 9th, 2009
From the Web Site: …75 most popular words on USA.gov, with the most frequently used words given greater prominence (larger font). The image was generated by Wordle after applying it to all the link titles on USA.gov. Below the image we show the same content as a list of the words in order of their frequency.
Source: USA.gov See Also: Create Your Own Word Clouds Using Wordlev
Cadmean victory (kad-MEE-uhn VIK-tuh-ree) noun
a victory won at as great a cost to the victor as to the vanquished
After Cadmus, a Phoenician prince in Greek mythology who introduced writing to the Greeks and founded the city of Thebes. Near the site where Cadmus was to build Thebes he encountered a dragon. Even though he managed to kill the dragon, only five of his comrades survived, with whom he founded the city. Other words coined after him are calamine (a pink powder used in skin lotions), from Latin calamina, from Greek kadmeia ge (Cadmean earth) and the name of the chemical element cadmium.
A similar eponym is Pyrrhic victory. A.Word.A.Day
Toledo’s banking disaster in 1931
“By the mid-1920s, Toledo had enjoyed three decades of booming growth. In the 1890s it was one of the only cities in the Midwest whose economy grew throughout the depression of 1893–1898. Buoyed by a welltimed oil strike in the region, a Gay-Nineties bicycle craze that set its wheel and metal shops humming with activity, and the relocation to the city of large eastern glass works, Toledo outpaced most other midsized cities in
industrial and population growth as the nineteenth century drew to a close…From 1930 through 1932, the largest single year’s loss of deposits for any of the twelve Federal Reserve districts was that which occurred in 1931 in the Fourth District, the area encompassing all of Ohio, the western half of Pennsylvania, and the eastern half of Kentucky, when over 11.3 percent of the total deposits in the region were lost. The Fourth District’s distinction as the worst-affected district in the country that year was due
largely to the contribution of Toledo, which alone accounted for three-quarters
of the district’s losses. Toledo’s banking disaster would have been significant had only one and not five of its banks gone belly up. During the whole of the Great Depression,
only nine banks with assets exceeding $50 million failed. One of these was the
Ohio Bank located in Toledo.”
http://www.ohiostatepress.org/books/Book%20PDFs/Messer-Kruse%20Banksters.pdf
Keepers (books I would read again)
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
http://www.italianstudies.org/comedy/index.htm
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mays—more about food than house restoration—within the book finds two sections of recipes, one for winter and one for summer.
maudlin (MAWD-lin) adjective
overly sentimental
After Mary Magdalene, a Biblical character who was a follower of Jesus. In medieval art she was depicted as a penitent weeping for her sins (she washed the feet of Jesus with her tears) and her name became synonymous with tearful sentimentality. The name Magdalene means "of Magdala" in Greek and is derived after a town on the Sea of Galilee. The name Magdala, in turn, means tower in Aramaic. So here we have a word coined after a person, who was named after a place, which was named after a thing.
In an allusion to her earlier life, Mary Magdalene's name has sprouted another eponym, magdalene, meaning a reformed prostitute. A.Word.A.Day
Why are there two dates for Easter? They have existed for centuries, since the Great Schism of 1054 when a Roman legate and the patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other. The two churches developed separate traditions, with Orthodox Christians following the Julian calendar to calculate when to celebrate Easter, and Roman Catholics (and Protestants) adhering to the newer Gregorian calendar to do the same. The Julian calendar predates by centuries the more commonly used Gregorian calendar of today. http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/04/13/faith/z7669c2b6e5fcf5578825759000575202.txt
On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. It was the first presidential assassination in American history.
Shortly before midnight on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The ship was on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. More than 1,500 people drowned in the 30-degree water.
On April 14, 1939 John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath was published. (Books by this author.) He wrote the novel in five months, writing about 2,000 words a day. It became an immediate sensation, and was the best-selling book of 1939. The next year, it won the Pulitzer Prize. The Writer’s Almanac
See June 1, 2009 requirements for entering the U.S. http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html
Frequently asked questions on passports: http://www.travel.state.gov/passport/fri/faq/faq_1741.html
General passport information: http://www.travel.state.gov/
Just for Fun: USA.gov Word Cloud April 9th, 2009
From the Web Site: …75 most popular words on USA.gov, with the most frequently used words given greater prominence (larger font). The image was generated by Wordle after applying it to all the link titles on USA.gov. Below the image we show the same content as a list of the words in order of their frequency.
Source: USA.gov See Also: Create Your Own Word Clouds Using Wordlev
Cadmean victory (kad-MEE-uhn VIK-tuh-ree) noun
a victory won at as great a cost to the victor as to the vanquished
After Cadmus, a Phoenician prince in Greek mythology who introduced writing to the Greeks and founded the city of Thebes. Near the site where Cadmus was to build Thebes he encountered a dragon. Even though he managed to kill the dragon, only five of his comrades survived, with whom he founded the city. Other words coined after him are calamine (a pink powder used in skin lotions), from Latin calamina, from Greek kadmeia ge (Cadmean earth) and the name of the chemical element cadmium.
A similar eponym is Pyrrhic victory. A.Word.A.Day
Toledo’s banking disaster in 1931
“By the mid-1920s, Toledo had enjoyed three decades of booming growth. In the 1890s it was one of the only cities in the Midwest whose economy grew throughout the depression of 1893–1898. Buoyed by a welltimed oil strike in the region, a Gay-Nineties bicycle craze that set its wheel and metal shops humming with activity, and the relocation to the city of large eastern glass works, Toledo outpaced most other midsized cities in
industrial and population growth as the nineteenth century drew to a close…From 1930 through 1932, the largest single year’s loss of deposits for any of the twelve Federal Reserve districts was that which occurred in 1931 in the Fourth District, the area encompassing all of Ohio, the western half of Pennsylvania, and the eastern half of Kentucky, when over 11.3 percent of the total deposits in the region were lost. The Fourth District’s distinction as the worst-affected district in the country that year was due
largely to the contribution of Toledo, which alone accounted for three-quarters
of the district’s losses. Toledo’s banking disaster would have been significant had only one and not five of its banks gone belly up. During the whole of the Great Depression,
only nine banks with assets exceeding $50 million failed. One of these was the
Ohio Bank located in Toledo.”
http://www.ohiostatepress.org/books/Book%20PDFs/Messer-Kruse%20Banksters.pdf
Keepers (books I would read again)
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
http://www.italianstudies.org/comedy/index.htm
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mays—more about food than house restoration—within the book finds two sections of recipes, one for winter and one for summer.
maudlin (MAWD-lin) adjective
overly sentimental
After Mary Magdalene, a Biblical character who was a follower of Jesus. In medieval art she was depicted as a penitent weeping for her sins (she washed the feet of Jesus with her tears) and her name became synonymous with tearful sentimentality. The name Magdalene means "of Magdala" in Greek and is derived after a town on the Sea of Galilee. The name Magdala, in turn, means tower in Aramaic. So here we have a word coined after a person, who was named after a place, which was named after a thing.
In an allusion to her earlier life, Mary Magdalene's name has sprouted another eponym, magdalene, meaning a reformed prostitute. A.Word.A.Day
Why are there two dates for Easter? They have existed for centuries, since the Great Schism of 1054 when a Roman legate and the patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other. The two churches developed separate traditions, with Orthodox Christians following the Julian calendar to calculate when to celebrate Easter, and Roman Catholics (and Protestants) adhering to the newer Gregorian calendar to do the same. The Julian calendar predates by centuries the more commonly used Gregorian calendar of today. http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/04/13/faith/z7669c2b6e5fcf5578825759000575202.txt
On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. It was the first presidential assassination in American history.
Shortly before midnight on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The ship was on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. More than 1,500 people drowned in the 30-degree water.
On April 14, 1939 John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath was published. (Books by this author.) He wrote the novel in five months, writing about 2,000 words a day. It became an immediate sensation, and was the best-selling book of 1939. The next year, it won the Pulitzer Prize. The Writer’s Almanac
Monday, April 13, 2009
According to this story a magistrate judge in Los Lunas, N.M., sent a 6-year-old to a modified version of traffic school after the boy's mother received a traffic ticket for refusing to restrain the child. Before you send off angry letters to the magistrate judge, John “Buddy” Sanchez, consider a few things: First, the mother reportedly asked for the punishment. The boy always took his seat belt off despite her pleas, the mother said, and asked Sanchez to help her discipline the child. “He took off his seat belt, I pulled over again and put it on and he took it off right in front of the cop,” said Jessica who did not release her full name to reporter Maria Medina at KQRE.com. Jessica agreed to take her son to a seat-belt safety class, which is expected to start in a month. They'll attend together and also learn other traffic safety measures. WSJ Law Blog April 10, 2009
Interior & FERC Sign Agreement to Spur Renewable Energy on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf
News release: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff has signed an agreement that clarifies their agencies’ jurisdictional responsibilities for leasing and licensing renewable energy projects on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. The Memorandum of Understanding clears the way for developing wind, solar, wave, tidal and ocean current energy sources.
CEA Notes on Refinancing Activity and Mortgage Rates
Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) Notes on Refinancing Activity and Mortgage Rates: "The Administration’s homeownership plan, along with actions taken by the Federal Reserve, has had a notable impact on mortgage rates and refinancing activity. This fact sheet summarizes mortgage rate and refinancing activity since the plan was announced on February 18." Related postings on financial system
Michael Crichton, the best-selling author of technological thrillers like “The Andromeda Strain” and “Jurassic Park” who died of cancer in November, left behind at least one finished novel and about one-third of a second. Both will be released over the next year and a half, his publisher said. HarperCollins, Mr. Crichton’s publisher for his previous three books, will release “Pirate Latitudes,” an adventure story set in Jamaica in the 17th century, on Nov. 24. The company also plans to publish a technological thriller in the fall of 2010, a novel that Mr. Crichton was working on when he died. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/books/06crichton.html?hpw
The verb hobnob originally meant “to drink together” and occurred as a varying phrase, hob or nob, hob-a-nob, or hob and nob, the first of which is recorded in 1763. Used in the drinking phrase, hob or nob probably meant “give or take”; from a drinking situation hob nob spread to other forms of chumminess. http://www.bartleby.com/61/84/H0228400.html
April 13 is the birthday of writer Eudora Welty, (books by this author) born in Jackson, Mississippi (1909). She wrote several novels, including The Optimist's Daughter (1972), but she's best known for her short stories. She wrote and rewrote, revising her stories by cutting them apart with scissors at the dining-room table and reassembling them with straight pins. The Writer’s Almanac
Favorite local bookstores suggested by law librarians (Thanks, Julie.)
Book Corner (Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia)
311 North 20th St., Philadelphia, PA http://www.libraryfriends.info/book-corner
submitted by Janet Moore, Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP
The Book Store
Christopher Street & Houston, New York, NY
submitted by Anthony Burgalassi, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, New York, NY
Joseph Fox Bookshop
1724 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA http://www.foxbookshop.com
submitted by Robyn Beyer, Pepper Hamilton LLP
John K. King Used & Rare Books
901 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit, MI http://www.rarebooklink.com/cgibin/
kingbooks/index.html
submitted by Mark Heinrich, Dickinson Wright PLLC, Detroit, MI
Penn Books
New York, NY (Penn Station) http://www.pennbooksny.com
submitted by Joe Lanz, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Posman's
9 Grand Central Terminal, New York, NY http://www.posmanbooks.com
submitted by Joe Lanz, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Real Eyes Bookstore
3306 N. Davidson Street Suite A, Charlotte, NC http://www.realeyesbookstore.com
submitted by Stephanie Dooley, K&L Gates
Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers New York, NY http://www.shakeandco.com
submitted by Greg Weyant, Obermayer Redmann Maxwell
& Hippel LLP, Philadelphia, PA Six locations
St. Marks Books
31 3rd Ave. New York, NY http://www.stmarksbookshop.com
submitted by Joe Lanz, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Strand
828 Broadway (at 12th St.), New York, NY http://www.strandbooks.com
submitted by Karen Provost, Proskauer Rose LLP, New
York, NY
submitted by Greg Weyant, Obermayer Redmann Maxwell
& Hippel LLP, Philadelphia, PA
Three Lives Booksellers
154 West 10th St., New York, NY http://www.threelives.com
submitted by Karen Provost, Proskauer Rose LLP, New York, NY
http://www.aallnet.org/sis/pllsis/newslett/Spring09.pdf
Interior & FERC Sign Agreement to Spur Renewable Energy on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf
News release: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff has signed an agreement that clarifies their agencies’ jurisdictional responsibilities for leasing and licensing renewable energy projects on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. The Memorandum of Understanding clears the way for developing wind, solar, wave, tidal and ocean current energy sources.
CEA Notes on Refinancing Activity and Mortgage Rates
Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) Notes on Refinancing Activity and Mortgage Rates: "The Administration’s homeownership plan, along with actions taken by the Federal Reserve, has had a notable impact on mortgage rates and refinancing activity. This fact sheet summarizes mortgage rate and refinancing activity since the plan was announced on February 18." Related postings on financial system
Michael Crichton, the best-selling author of technological thrillers like “The Andromeda Strain” and “Jurassic Park” who died of cancer in November, left behind at least one finished novel and about one-third of a second. Both will be released over the next year and a half, his publisher said. HarperCollins, Mr. Crichton’s publisher for his previous three books, will release “Pirate Latitudes,” an adventure story set in Jamaica in the 17th century, on Nov. 24. The company also plans to publish a technological thriller in the fall of 2010, a novel that Mr. Crichton was working on when he died. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/books/06crichton.html?hpw
The verb hobnob originally meant “to drink together” and occurred as a varying phrase, hob or nob, hob-a-nob, or hob and nob, the first of which is recorded in 1763. Used in the drinking phrase, hob or nob probably meant “give or take”; from a drinking situation hob nob spread to other forms of chumminess. http://www.bartleby.com/61/84/H0228400.html
April 13 is the birthday of writer Eudora Welty, (books by this author) born in Jackson, Mississippi (1909). She wrote several novels, including The Optimist's Daughter (1972), but she's best known for her short stories. She wrote and rewrote, revising her stories by cutting them apart with scissors at the dining-room table and reassembling them with straight pins. The Writer’s Almanac
Favorite local bookstores suggested by law librarians (Thanks, Julie.)
Book Corner (Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia)
311 North 20th St., Philadelphia, PA http://www.libraryfriends.info/book-corner
submitted by Janet Moore, Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP
The Book Store
Christopher Street & Houston, New York, NY
submitted by Anthony Burgalassi, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, New York, NY
Joseph Fox Bookshop
1724 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA http://www.foxbookshop.com
submitted by Robyn Beyer, Pepper Hamilton LLP
John K. King Used & Rare Books
901 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit, MI http://www.rarebooklink.com/cgibin/
kingbooks/index.html
submitted by Mark Heinrich, Dickinson Wright PLLC, Detroit, MI
Penn Books
New York, NY (Penn Station) http://www.pennbooksny.com
submitted by Joe Lanz, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Posman's
9 Grand Central Terminal, New York, NY http://www.posmanbooks.com
submitted by Joe Lanz, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Real Eyes Bookstore
3306 N. Davidson Street Suite A, Charlotte, NC http://www.realeyesbookstore.com
submitted by Stephanie Dooley, K&L Gates
Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers New York, NY http://www.shakeandco.com
submitted by Greg Weyant, Obermayer Redmann Maxwell
& Hippel LLP, Philadelphia, PA Six locations
St. Marks Books
31 3rd Ave. New York, NY http://www.stmarksbookshop.com
submitted by Joe Lanz, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Strand
828 Broadway (at 12th St.), New York, NY http://www.strandbooks.com
submitted by Karen Provost, Proskauer Rose LLP, New
York, NY
submitted by Greg Weyant, Obermayer Redmann Maxwell
& Hippel LLP, Philadelphia, PA
Three Lives Booksellers
154 West 10th St., New York, NY http://www.threelives.com
submitted by Karen Provost, Proskauer Rose LLP, New York, NY
http://www.aallnet.org/sis/pllsis/newslett/Spring09.pdf
Friday, April 10, 2009
World Book and Copyright Day April 23: a symbolic date for world literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K. Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity. The idea for this celebration originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, Saint George's Day, a rose is traditionally given as a gift for each book sold.
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=5125&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
The issue of reader expectations is one with which writers of crime or mystery fiction have long been familiar. The poet W.H. Auden is among many critics who have commented on how novels in this genre follow a classic pattern: First there is peace, then this peace is shattered by the occurrence of a crime, usually a murder. This leads to a search for the wrongdoer, his apprehension and punishment, and finally a return to peace. We need to see the moral balance restored, said Auden--a view also expressed by P.D. James, one of the greatest crime writers of our times. According to James, the traditional detective novel reassures us that we live in a moral universe, one in which the detective is the agent of justice. In this respect, she suggests, the detective novel is really doing the work of the old-fashioned morality play. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123880307592488761.html
Perched on a hillside overlooking a ravine, a five-floor, 18,000-square-foot house-cum-concert hall looks like an accordion in motion, with undulating walls of wood and floor-to-ceiling glass. A series of wooden "fins," staggered at irregular intervals, frame panoramic vistas of the ravine. As visitors descend into the house, the fins disappear and the views widen. On the first floor, push a button and a 24-foot wall of glass windows vanishes into the floor, opening the pool area to the outside. Curves are everywhere, down to the custom door handles and light fixtures. The architects are even working with Steinway to create a coordinating piano. The home's owner is equally eccentric. Jim Stewart, who will only say he is in his 60s, is a top-shelf classical violinist who earned his millions writing calculus textbooks. The math professor named the building "Integral House", after the calculus sign.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123872378357585295.html
Friday-face A dismal countenance. Before, and even long after the Reformation, Friday was a day of abstinence. http://www.fromoldbooks.org/Grose-VulgarTongue/f/friday-face.html
The Netherlands is about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. The country lies on a low river delta with about 27% of the country below sea level. The average elevation is 37 feet above sea level. Holland means “land in a hollow.”
The Rhine (Rivers of the World series)
A popular phrase that was often associated with Faro was “Bucking the Tiger,” which is thought to have come from early card backs that featured a drawing of a Bengal Tiger. Another phrase that referred to playing Faro, was “twisting the tiger’s tail.” Places that sported a number of gambling halls, including alleys, streets and districts, were often called “tiger town” or “tiger alley.” Faro originated in France in the late 17th century. First known as Pharaon, it became extremely popular in Europe in the 18th century. With its name shortened to Pharo or Faro, it soon spread to America. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-Faro.html
A reader has baked the chocolate cake from a Christian Science Monitor recipe appearing in a recent muse. “The cake was a hit with everyone.” I have enjoyed two recipes clipped from the Toledo paper: Brennan’s Bananas Foster and Bill Clinton’s Pound Cake. I confess I once made the bananas recipe four nights in a row.
“My art will keep you warm”—the quilts of Bernice Enyeart
http://www.indiana.edu/~tradarts/docs/enyeart_catalog_reduced.pdf
Hannah’s Socks: warm feet, warm hearts "We put socks on the feet of those who have none" Over 30,000 pairs collected so far in 2009—see stories and articles at http://www.hannahssocks.org/
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=5125&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
The issue of reader expectations is one with which writers of crime or mystery fiction have long been familiar. The poet W.H. Auden is among many critics who have commented on how novels in this genre follow a classic pattern: First there is peace, then this peace is shattered by the occurrence of a crime, usually a murder. This leads to a search for the wrongdoer, his apprehension and punishment, and finally a return to peace. We need to see the moral balance restored, said Auden--a view also expressed by P.D. James, one of the greatest crime writers of our times. According to James, the traditional detective novel reassures us that we live in a moral universe, one in which the detective is the agent of justice. In this respect, she suggests, the detective novel is really doing the work of the old-fashioned morality play. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123880307592488761.html
Perched on a hillside overlooking a ravine, a five-floor, 18,000-square-foot house-cum-concert hall looks like an accordion in motion, with undulating walls of wood and floor-to-ceiling glass. A series of wooden "fins," staggered at irregular intervals, frame panoramic vistas of the ravine. As visitors descend into the house, the fins disappear and the views widen. On the first floor, push a button and a 24-foot wall of glass windows vanishes into the floor, opening the pool area to the outside. Curves are everywhere, down to the custom door handles and light fixtures. The architects are even working with Steinway to create a coordinating piano. The home's owner is equally eccentric. Jim Stewart, who will only say he is in his 60s, is a top-shelf classical violinist who earned his millions writing calculus textbooks. The math professor named the building "Integral House", after the calculus sign.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123872378357585295.html
Friday-face A dismal countenance. Before, and even long after the Reformation, Friday was a day of abstinence. http://www.fromoldbooks.org/Grose-VulgarTongue/f/friday-face.html
The Netherlands is about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. The country lies on a low river delta with about 27% of the country below sea level. The average elevation is 37 feet above sea level. Holland means “land in a hollow.”
The Rhine (Rivers of the World series)
A popular phrase that was often associated with Faro was “Bucking the Tiger,” which is thought to have come from early card backs that featured a drawing of a Bengal Tiger. Another phrase that referred to playing Faro, was “twisting the tiger’s tail.” Places that sported a number of gambling halls, including alleys, streets and districts, were often called “tiger town” or “tiger alley.” Faro originated in France in the late 17th century. First known as Pharaon, it became extremely popular in Europe in the 18th century. With its name shortened to Pharo or Faro, it soon spread to America. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-Faro.html
A reader has baked the chocolate cake from a Christian Science Monitor recipe appearing in a recent muse. “The cake was a hit with everyone.” I have enjoyed two recipes clipped from the Toledo paper: Brennan’s Bananas Foster and Bill Clinton’s Pound Cake. I confess I once made the bananas recipe four nights in a row.
“My art will keep you warm”—the quilts of Bernice Enyeart
http://www.indiana.edu/~tradarts/docs/enyeart_catalog_reduced.pdf
Hannah’s Socks: warm feet, warm hearts "We put socks on the feet of those who have none" Over 30,000 pairs collected so far in 2009—see stories and articles at http://www.hannahssocks.org/
Thursday, April 9, 2009
EPA Launches National Cell Phone Recycling Week: April 6-12
News release: “As part of its efforts to celebrate Earth Day during the entire month of April, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency has launched National Cell Phone Recycling Week, April 6 through April 12. This joint effort between EPA’s Plug-In To eCycling program and leading cell phone manufacturers, retailers and service providers increases national awareness about the importance of cell phone recycling."
Related postings on recycling and e-waste
The Federal Communications Commission is working on a national broadband plan, with the goal of ensuring that all consumers have access to services that are fast and affordable. The plan is due to Congress by Feb. 17, 2010. The public will be able to submit comments to the FCC for 60 days, with another 30 days for reply comments. The agency will take them into consideration as it crafts the USA's first national broadband plan. Currently, broadband costs $40 to $60 a month on average, putting it out of reach for many low-income consumers.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-04-07-fcc-broadband-internet-service_N.htm
TRAC Report: Large Financial Service Corporations Dominate the Corporate World “In the just-ended fiscal year, more than three quarters of the tax returns filed by the nation's largest corporations came from financial service organizations—banks, insurance companies, investment advisors, brokerage houses, securities services and the like. And the same group of businesses is credited with controlling 72% of all large-corporation assets, with earning 46% of the net income of all large corporations and reporting 33% of the taxes in this area. Despite the overwhelming place of the financial services sector in the broader corporate world, however, documents and data obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) show that in FY 2008 the IRS allocated only 15% of its overall corporate revenue agents to the agency group that has the lead authority for auditing this complex and now troubled segment of the nation's economy." Related postings on financial system
Two perspectives on shared experience by brothers
Frank and Malachy McCourt http://www.newburyportnews.com/pulife/local_story_073002144.html
Geoffrey and Tobias Wolff
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/05/magazine/the-brothers-wolff.html
Matthew and Michael Dickman http://www.seattlepi.com/books/398420_dickmans03.html
Four versions of a murder by witnesses
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_I/instance_of_the_fingerpost1.asp
A Space Odyssey revisited
Films were set in 2002, 2010, 2061 and 3001. Read summaries and learn of discrepancies at: http://www.scifidimensions.com/Dec00/2001books.htm
NAMES FROM NAMES
Zardoz A resident of 23rd-century Earth becomes involved in a revolution after discovering the hidden truth about society's rulers in the sci-fi film Zardoz. The main character, Zed, played by Sean Connery, understands the origin of the name Zardoz—Wizard of Oz—bringing him to a true awareness of Zardoz as a skilfull manipulation rather than an actual deity. http://www.answers.com/topic/zardoz
Dan Teal Benjamin Galvin changes his name to Dan Teal after Dante Alighieri, and tries to stop people from discrediting Dante in this whodunit set in 1865 Boston.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/The_Dante_Club
REAL NAMES
Francois-Marie Arouet (Voltaire) (1694-1778) French playwright and poet
Friederich von Hardenberg (Novalis) (1772-1801) German poet
Jean Baptiste Poquelin (Molière) (1622-1673) French actor and playwright
Quotes
Though an angel should write, still 'tis devils must print.
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
Thomas Moore (1779-1852) Irish musician and songwriter
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/thomas_moore.html
A printer's devil was an apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. A number of famous men served as printer's devils in their youth, including Ambrose Bierce, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Fuller, Thomas Jefferson, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Warren Harding, John Kellogg, Lyndon Johnson, Joseph Lyons, and Lázaro Cárdenas. The origin of printer's devil is not definitively known. Various competing theories of the phrase's origin follow. Printer's devil has been ascribed to the fact that printer's apprentices would inevitably have parts of their skin stained black by the ink used in printing. As black was associated with the “black arts," the apprentice came to be called a devil. Another origin is linked to the fanciful belief among printers that a special devil haunted every print shop, performing mischief such as inverting type, misspelling words or removing entire lines of completed type. The apprentice became a substitute source of blame and came to be called a printer's devil by association. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer's_devil
News release: “As part of its efforts to celebrate Earth Day during the entire month of April, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency has launched National Cell Phone Recycling Week, April 6 through April 12. This joint effort between EPA’s Plug-In To eCycling program and leading cell phone manufacturers, retailers and service providers increases national awareness about the importance of cell phone recycling."
Related postings on recycling and e-waste
The Federal Communications Commission is working on a national broadband plan, with the goal of ensuring that all consumers have access to services that are fast and affordable. The plan is due to Congress by Feb. 17, 2010. The public will be able to submit comments to the FCC for 60 days, with another 30 days for reply comments. The agency will take them into consideration as it crafts the USA's first national broadband plan. Currently, broadband costs $40 to $60 a month on average, putting it out of reach for many low-income consumers.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-04-07-fcc-broadband-internet-service_N.htm
TRAC Report: Large Financial Service Corporations Dominate the Corporate World “In the just-ended fiscal year, more than three quarters of the tax returns filed by the nation's largest corporations came from financial service organizations—banks, insurance companies, investment advisors, brokerage houses, securities services and the like. And the same group of businesses is credited with controlling 72% of all large-corporation assets, with earning 46% of the net income of all large corporations and reporting 33% of the taxes in this area. Despite the overwhelming place of the financial services sector in the broader corporate world, however, documents and data obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) show that in FY 2008 the IRS allocated only 15% of its overall corporate revenue agents to the agency group that has the lead authority for auditing this complex and now troubled segment of the nation's economy." Related postings on financial system
Two perspectives on shared experience by brothers
Frank and Malachy McCourt http://www.newburyportnews.com/pulife/local_story_073002144.html
Geoffrey and Tobias Wolff
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/05/magazine/the-brothers-wolff.html
Matthew and Michael Dickman http://www.seattlepi.com/books/398420_dickmans03.html
Four versions of a murder by witnesses
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_I/instance_of_the_fingerpost1.asp
A Space Odyssey revisited
Films were set in 2002, 2010, 2061 and 3001. Read summaries and learn of discrepancies at: http://www.scifidimensions.com/Dec00/2001books.htm
NAMES FROM NAMES
Zardoz A resident of 23rd-century Earth becomes involved in a revolution after discovering the hidden truth about society's rulers in the sci-fi film Zardoz. The main character, Zed, played by Sean Connery, understands the origin of the name Zardoz—Wizard of Oz—bringing him to a true awareness of Zardoz as a skilfull manipulation rather than an actual deity. http://www.answers.com/topic/zardoz
Dan Teal Benjamin Galvin changes his name to Dan Teal after Dante Alighieri, and tries to stop people from discrediting Dante in this whodunit set in 1865 Boston.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/The_Dante_Club
REAL NAMES
Francois-Marie Arouet (Voltaire) (1694-1778) French playwright and poet
Friederich von Hardenberg (Novalis) (1772-1801) German poet
Jean Baptiste Poquelin (Molière) (1622-1673) French actor and playwright
Quotes
Though an angel should write, still 'tis devils must print.
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
Thomas Moore (1779-1852) Irish musician and songwriter
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/thomas_moore.html
A printer's devil was an apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. A number of famous men served as printer's devils in their youth, including Ambrose Bierce, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Fuller, Thomas Jefferson, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Warren Harding, John Kellogg, Lyndon Johnson, Joseph Lyons, and Lázaro Cárdenas. The origin of printer's devil is not definitively known. Various competing theories of the phrase's origin follow. Printer's devil has been ascribed to the fact that printer's apprentices would inevitably have parts of their skin stained black by the ink used in printing. As black was associated with the “black arts," the apprentice came to be called a devil. Another origin is linked to the fanciful belief among printers that a special devil haunted every print shop, performing mischief such as inverting type, misspelling words or removing entire lines of completed type. The apprentice became a substitute source of blame and came to be called a printer's devil by association. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer's_devil
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
In an opinion penned by Judge Pierre Leval, a three-judge panel in the Second Circuit ruled that Google must face a trademark infringement lawsuit for selling keywords that trigger ads. Click here for the Recorder story. The panel reversed a lower court's dismissal of a case brought by a computer-repair company called Rescuecom. Google had recommended that a Rescuecom competitor use Rescuecom's trademark as a keyword that would bring a link to the competitor's Web site. Rescuecom objected to Google's use of the Rescuecom trademark for these purposes and sued, alleging trademark violation.
Is it possible that a company can be too aggressive in protecting its trademarks?
That was an implicit question raised in Saturday's WSJ front pager by Steve Stecklow involving the company Monster Cable Products. The California-based maker of high-end cables has taken an exceptionally aggressive stance throughout the years in protecting the word monster, on which it holds more than 70 trademarks. David Tognotti, Monster Cable's general manager and an attorney, says the company considers “Monster” a famous mark--on a par with Barbie dolls or Camel cigarettes. “We're protecting our mark as if it's a famous mark,” he said in an interview in Monster Cable's headquarters, where the walls are lined with framed copies of the company's trademarks and patents.
Tognotti cited a chapter on famous marks in the law book “McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition” by J. Thomas McCarthy, a noted expert in the field. But in an interview, McCarthy expressed doubt that Monster Cable possesses a famous mark. He said such determinations are made by courts. Mr. Tognotti acknowledges Monster Cable hasn't obtained such a court ruling.
Are social networking sites private rooms in which one can pen his or her internal thoughts without fear of others misappropriating such thoughts? Or are such sites really just bulletin boards for the world? An appellate court in California weighed in on the issue on Friday, and basically sided with the bulletin-board position. Click here for today's story, from the Recorder's Mike McKee. The backstory: Judging from the description on its Web site, Coalinga, Calif., sounds pleasant enough: “Coalinga has an excellent school system, a medical center, parks and recreation district, a 2-year community college, and enjoys a low level of crime through law-abiding citizenry.”
But the appeal of a 2-year community college and a law-abiding citizenry wasn't enough for a woman named Cynthia Moreno, who, while a student up the road at UC Berkeley, penned an online rant on her MySpace page about how much she hated Coalinga, the town in which she grew up. But the message--originally intended just for a small handful of friends--got picked up by the Coalinga newspaper, which reprinted the rant.
WSJ Law Blog April 6, 2009
Program Perspectives on Retirement Benefits: Defined-contribution plans more common than defined-benefit plans (PDF; 71 KB) Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Most workers had only one type of retirement plan in March 2008, but some had two.
Forty-three percent of private-industry workers had a defined-contribution plan and 20 percent had a defined-benefit plan. Among occupational groups, the rate of participation in retirement plans was highest among management, business, and financial employees—77 percent. The lowest rate of participation was that of service workers—25 percent.
Large Decline in Reporters Covering State Government Issues
"American Journalism Review’s latest survey of the nation’s state capitols finds a dramatic decrease in the number of newspaper reporters covering state government full time. A handful of digital news outlets are springing up to fill the breach. When will these efforts be enough to compensate for the loss of the newspaper watchdogs? [Peggy Garvin]
Related postings on newspaper closings and shift to online news
The inhabitants of Mayotte, an Indian Ocean island, voted on March 29 to become the 101st French department, and the fifth DOM (overseas department) alongside Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Reunion. Mayotte has been a French protectorate since 1843. The change will be completed in 2011, and traditional practices of polygamy will have to be abolished. The Week magazine April 10, 2009
http://galliawatch.blogspot.com/2009/03/mayotte-becomes-french.html
It was 400 years ago in 1609 when Galileo first turned a small, simple telescope toward the heavens and was the first person to discover the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn. Contrary to popular belief, Galileo was not the inventor of the telescope. Hans Lipershey, a German-born Dutchman, moved to the Netherlands and went into the trade of making eyeglasses. As the story goes, his two daughters were playing with some discarded lenses and held one in front of the other and excitedly saw that this made the church steeple about a mile away looked much closer. In 1608, Lipershey inserted the lenses in a tube and therefore came the invention of the telescope. Lipershey took his invention to the reigning monarch of the Netherlands and he quickly saw how the military could use such an invention and wanted to keep it a secret. Lipershey applied for a patent for his invention, but was denied because his telescope was too simple to make to grant a patent. http://www.newsleader.com/article/20090405/LIFESTYLE/904050301
The Wall Street Journal Survey of CEO Compensation April 2, 2009
http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/php/CEOPAY09.html
Pages for readers to digest: story of the 10th Annual Edible Books Show and Tea
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/books/1500566,SHO-Sunday-Edible29.article
How digital assets are handled after death is such a new concern that hardly any laws are on the books addressing it. Companies such as Yahoo (which also owns photo-sharing site Flickr), Google and Facebook have the authority to delete e-mail accounts and Web sites after a user dies. New York attorney Ramon Fichman, who advises technology startups, said users' right to privacy dies with them.
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/03/23/0323plugged.html
Boat made of plastic bottles to make ocean voyage
David de Rothschild is trying to make a point, taking thousands of empty plastic bottles, lashing them together to make a boat and sailing the thing from California to Australia, a journey of 11,000 miles. De Rothschild hopes his one-of-a-kind vessel, now being built on a San Francisco pier, will boost recycling of plastic bottles, which he says are a symbol of global waste. Except for the masts, which are metal, everything on the 60-foot catamaran is made from recycled plastic. De Rothschild's vessel, scheduled to set sail from San Francisco in April, is called the Plastiki. http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/09/plastic.bottle.boat/
Is it possible that a company can be too aggressive in protecting its trademarks?
That was an implicit question raised in Saturday's WSJ front pager by Steve Stecklow involving the company Monster Cable Products. The California-based maker of high-end cables has taken an exceptionally aggressive stance throughout the years in protecting the word monster, on which it holds more than 70 trademarks. David Tognotti, Monster Cable's general manager and an attorney, says the company considers “Monster” a famous mark--on a par with Barbie dolls or Camel cigarettes. “We're protecting our mark as if it's a famous mark,” he said in an interview in Monster Cable's headquarters, where the walls are lined with framed copies of the company's trademarks and patents.
Tognotti cited a chapter on famous marks in the law book “McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition” by J. Thomas McCarthy, a noted expert in the field. But in an interview, McCarthy expressed doubt that Monster Cable possesses a famous mark. He said such determinations are made by courts. Mr. Tognotti acknowledges Monster Cable hasn't obtained such a court ruling.
Are social networking sites private rooms in which one can pen his or her internal thoughts without fear of others misappropriating such thoughts? Or are such sites really just bulletin boards for the world? An appellate court in California weighed in on the issue on Friday, and basically sided with the bulletin-board position. Click here for today's story, from the Recorder's Mike McKee. The backstory: Judging from the description on its Web site, Coalinga, Calif., sounds pleasant enough: “Coalinga has an excellent school system, a medical center, parks and recreation district, a 2-year community college, and enjoys a low level of crime through law-abiding citizenry.”
But the appeal of a 2-year community college and a law-abiding citizenry wasn't enough for a woman named Cynthia Moreno, who, while a student up the road at UC Berkeley, penned an online rant on her MySpace page about how much she hated Coalinga, the town in which she grew up. But the message--originally intended just for a small handful of friends--got picked up by the Coalinga newspaper, which reprinted the rant.
WSJ Law Blog April 6, 2009
Program Perspectives on Retirement Benefits: Defined-contribution plans more common than defined-benefit plans (PDF; 71 KB) Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Most workers had only one type of retirement plan in March 2008, but some had two.
Forty-three percent of private-industry workers had a defined-contribution plan and 20 percent had a defined-benefit plan. Among occupational groups, the rate of participation in retirement plans was highest among management, business, and financial employees—77 percent. The lowest rate of participation was that of service workers—25 percent.
Large Decline in Reporters Covering State Government Issues
"American Journalism Review’s latest survey of the nation’s state capitols finds a dramatic decrease in the number of newspaper reporters covering state government full time. A handful of digital news outlets are springing up to fill the breach. When will these efforts be enough to compensate for the loss of the newspaper watchdogs? [Peggy Garvin]
Related postings on newspaper closings and shift to online news
The inhabitants of Mayotte, an Indian Ocean island, voted on March 29 to become the 101st French department, and the fifth DOM (overseas department) alongside Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Reunion. Mayotte has been a French protectorate since 1843. The change will be completed in 2011, and traditional practices of polygamy will have to be abolished. The Week magazine April 10, 2009
http://galliawatch.blogspot.com/2009/03/mayotte-becomes-french.html
It was 400 years ago in 1609 when Galileo first turned a small, simple telescope toward the heavens and was the first person to discover the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn. Contrary to popular belief, Galileo was not the inventor of the telescope. Hans Lipershey, a German-born Dutchman, moved to the Netherlands and went into the trade of making eyeglasses. As the story goes, his two daughters were playing with some discarded lenses and held one in front of the other and excitedly saw that this made the church steeple about a mile away looked much closer. In 1608, Lipershey inserted the lenses in a tube and therefore came the invention of the telescope. Lipershey took his invention to the reigning monarch of the Netherlands and he quickly saw how the military could use such an invention and wanted to keep it a secret. Lipershey applied for a patent for his invention, but was denied because his telescope was too simple to make to grant a patent. http://www.newsleader.com/article/20090405/LIFESTYLE/904050301
The Wall Street Journal Survey of CEO Compensation April 2, 2009
http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/php/CEOPAY09.html
Pages for readers to digest: story of the 10th Annual Edible Books Show and Tea
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/books/1500566,SHO-Sunday-Edible29.article
How digital assets are handled after death is such a new concern that hardly any laws are on the books addressing it. Companies such as Yahoo (which also owns photo-sharing site Flickr), Google and Facebook have the authority to delete e-mail accounts and Web sites after a user dies. New York attorney Ramon Fichman, who advises technology startups, said users' right to privacy dies with them.
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/03/23/0323plugged.html
Boat made of plastic bottles to make ocean voyage
David de Rothschild is trying to make a point, taking thousands of empty plastic bottles, lashing them together to make a boat and sailing the thing from California to Australia, a journey of 11,000 miles. De Rothschild hopes his one-of-a-kind vessel, now being built on a San Francisco pier, will boost recycling of plastic bottles, which he says are a symbol of global waste. Except for the masts, which are metal, everything on the 60-foot catamaran is made from recycled plastic. De Rothschild's vessel, scheduled to set sail from San Francisco in April, is called the Plastiki. http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/09/plastic.bottle.boat/
Monday, April 6, 2009
FTC Offers 'Red Flags' Web Site To Help Creditors and Financial Institutions Design ID Prevention Programs
"The Federal Trade Commission has launched a Web site to help entities covered by the Red Flags Rule design and implement identity theft prevention programs. The Rule requires “creditors” and “financial institutions” to develop written programs to identify the warning signs of ID theft, spot them when they occur, and take appropriate steps to respond to those warning “red flags.”
Fighting Fraud with the Red Flags Rule: A How-To Guide for Business
Petroleum Marketing Monthly, Alternatives to Traditional Transportation Fuels
April 2009 Petroleum Marketing Monthly With Data for January 2009 (04/01/2009): Monthly price and volume statistics on crude oil and petroleum products at a national, regional and state level."
Alternatives to Traditional Transportation Fuels 2007 (Part II-User and Fuel Data) (04/01/2009): "This report (Part II) contains data on the use of alternative fueled vehicles and the amount of fuel they consume."
Alternatives to Traditional Transportation Fuels 2007 (Part I-Supplier Data) (04/01/2009): "This report (Part I) contains data on the number of onroad alternative fuel vehicles and hybrid vehicles made available by both the original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket vehicle conversion facilities."
Petroleum Supply Monthly (04/01/2009): "Supply and disposition of crude oil and petroleum products on a national and regional level. The data series describe production, imports and exports, movements and inventories."
Annual Energy Outlook 2009 with Projections to 2030: "The Annual Energy Outlook 2009 (AEO2009) presents projections and analysis of US energy supply, demand, and prices through 2030. The projections are based on results from the Energy Information Administration's National Energy Modeling System. The AEO2009 includes the reference case, additional cases examining energy markets, and complete documentation."
Dante, a nickname for Durante Alighiere (1265-1321), was an Italian poet, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He was very interested in politics, often to his disadvantage. He supported the political faction known as Bianchi Guelfi (supporters of the emperor) over the Neri Guelfi (supporters of the Pope). The Neri Guelfi triumphed and Dante was exiled from his beloved city of Florence. Much of his writing defends his actions and tries to appease the Pope but to no avail--he was never allowed to return to his beloved Florence. He is best known for the epic poem "La Divina Commedia" (The Divine Comedy), originally called "The Comedy." http://knowledgerush.com/kr/biography/313/Durante_Dante_Alighiere/
Quotes
If I rest, I rust. Placido Domingo (b. 1941) Spanish tenor
Let us read and let us dance—two amusements that will never do any harm to the world.
Voltaire (1694-1778) born Francois-Marie Arouet French playwright and poet
What happened on what day?
History of Today (brief entries) http://history-of-today.com/
On This Day (birthdays, history, musical events) http://www.on-this-day.com/
Panama hats are made exclusively in Ecuador and are woven by hand from a plant called the toquilla. The Panama hat has been worn for centuries with its origins being traced back as far as the 16th Century when the Incas were the first to use the toquilla plant to produce hats. The hat in fact only became known as the Panama when over a century ago the workers involved in the construction of the Panama Canal used the elegant fibre hats as protection against the burning sun. http://www.thehatsite.com/panama.html
The Avenue of Volcanoes in Ecuador refers to the parallel ranges that comprise some of the highest volcano peaks in the world. The entire land of Ecuador and Galapagos island is dotted with several volcanoes many of which are still active. “Avenue Of Volcanoes” was coined by Alexander Van Humbolt in 1802. Nine of the highest volcano peaks of Ecuador are inclusive of the Avenue of Volcanoes. http://www.mapsofworld.com/ecuador/sightseeing/avenue-of-volcanoes.html
ciceronian (sis-uh-RO-nee-uhn) adjective
In the style of Cicero, marked by ornate language, expansive flow, forcefulness of expression. After Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman, orator, and writer (106-43 B.C.E.). Another eponym derived from Cicero's name is cicerone (a tour guide).
A.Word.A.Day
On April 6, 1896, the first modern Olympic games opened in Athens. They were the first Olympics since A.D. 393. Fourteen nations sent 241 athletes. Last summer in Beijing, almost every nation in the world sent participants—about 11,000 athletes in total. The Writer’s Almanac
"The Federal Trade Commission has launched a Web site to help entities covered by the Red Flags Rule design and implement identity theft prevention programs. The Rule requires “creditors” and “financial institutions” to develop written programs to identify the warning signs of ID theft, spot them when they occur, and take appropriate steps to respond to those warning “red flags.”
Fighting Fraud with the Red Flags Rule: A How-To Guide for Business
Petroleum Marketing Monthly, Alternatives to Traditional Transportation Fuels
April 2009 Petroleum Marketing Monthly With Data for January 2009 (04/01/2009): Monthly price and volume statistics on crude oil and petroleum products at a national, regional and state level."
Alternatives to Traditional Transportation Fuels 2007 (Part II-User and Fuel Data) (04/01/2009): "This report (Part II) contains data on the use of alternative fueled vehicles and the amount of fuel they consume."
Alternatives to Traditional Transportation Fuels 2007 (Part I-Supplier Data) (04/01/2009): "This report (Part I) contains data on the number of onroad alternative fuel vehicles and hybrid vehicles made available by both the original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket vehicle conversion facilities."
Petroleum Supply Monthly (04/01/2009): "Supply and disposition of crude oil and petroleum products on a national and regional level. The data series describe production, imports and exports, movements and inventories."
Annual Energy Outlook 2009 with Projections to 2030: "The Annual Energy Outlook 2009 (AEO2009) presents projections and analysis of US energy supply, demand, and prices through 2030. The projections are based on results from the Energy Information Administration's National Energy Modeling System. The AEO2009 includes the reference case, additional cases examining energy markets, and complete documentation."
Dante, a nickname for Durante Alighiere (1265-1321), was an Italian poet, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He was very interested in politics, often to his disadvantage. He supported the political faction known as Bianchi Guelfi (supporters of the emperor) over the Neri Guelfi (supporters of the Pope). The Neri Guelfi triumphed and Dante was exiled from his beloved city of Florence. Much of his writing defends his actions and tries to appease the Pope but to no avail--he was never allowed to return to his beloved Florence. He is best known for the epic poem "La Divina Commedia" (The Divine Comedy), originally called "The Comedy." http://knowledgerush.com/kr/biography/313/Durante_Dante_Alighiere/
Quotes
If I rest, I rust. Placido Domingo (b. 1941) Spanish tenor
Let us read and let us dance—two amusements that will never do any harm to the world.
Voltaire (1694-1778) born Francois-Marie Arouet French playwright and poet
What happened on what day?
History of Today (brief entries) http://history-of-today.com/
On This Day (birthdays, history, musical events) http://www.on-this-day.com/
Panama hats are made exclusively in Ecuador and are woven by hand from a plant called the toquilla. The Panama hat has been worn for centuries with its origins being traced back as far as the 16th Century when the Incas were the first to use the toquilla plant to produce hats. The hat in fact only became known as the Panama when over a century ago the workers involved in the construction of the Panama Canal used the elegant fibre hats as protection against the burning sun. http://www.thehatsite.com/panama.html
The Avenue of Volcanoes in Ecuador refers to the parallel ranges that comprise some of the highest volcano peaks in the world. The entire land of Ecuador and Galapagos island is dotted with several volcanoes many of which are still active. “Avenue Of Volcanoes” was coined by Alexander Van Humbolt in 1802. Nine of the highest volcano peaks of Ecuador are inclusive of the Avenue of Volcanoes. http://www.mapsofworld.com/ecuador/sightseeing/avenue-of-volcanoes.html
ciceronian (sis-uh-RO-nee-uhn) adjective
In the style of Cicero, marked by ornate language, expansive flow, forcefulness of expression. After Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman, orator, and writer (106-43 B.C.E.). Another eponym derived from Cicero's name is cicerone (a tour guide).
A.Word.A.Day
On April 6, 1896, the first modern Olympic games opened in Athens. They were the first Olympics since A.D. 393. Fourteen nations sent 241 athletes. Last summer in Beijing, almost every nation in the world sent participants—about 11,000 athletes in total. The Writer’s Almanac
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