New York Times: Googling Literature: The Debate Goes Public Related references: Google, Authors, Publishers, and Library Officials in Discussion at The New York Public Library: Panel with Library President Paul LeClerc, Google VP David Drummond, legal scholar Lawrence Lessig, Wired editor Chris Anderson, and others on Thursday, November 17. Postings on Google Print and Google… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: November 2005
Opposition to Patriot Act Reauthorization Stalls Vote
Yesterday: Patriot Act Reauthorization Encounters Strong Opposition; today news on a deadlock which will delay a vote until December. Preventing passage of any meaningful reforms to this legislation may indeed prove to be a bigger obstacle than anticipated. The work of organizations including the American Library Association, EFF, EPIC, CDT and the ACLU is in… Continue Reading
Murtha’s Speech on the War in Iraq and Tumultous Response
Rep. John P. Murtha’s statement of November 17, 2005: War in Iraq “The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. The American public is way ahead of us. The United States and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq, but it is time for… Continue Reading
Fitzgerald Files for a New Grand Jury
The investigation into the Plame leak will, despite the prognostications of a range of commentators, in fact move forward and expand, according to today’s news that Special Counsel Fitzgerald has requested a new grand jury. According to the court filing, “…The investigation will involve proceedings before a different grand jury than the grand jury which… Continue Reading
Redesigned THOMAS Launched Today
Sharing navigation and design similarities with the Library of Congress site as well as the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration site, today’s launch of the upgraded THOMAS Congressional information site offers citizens, educators and researchers additional browse and search features (including the ability to Search Multiple Congresses, from the 101 to the 109; links… Continue Reading
Patriot Act Reauthorization Encounters Strong Opposition
Following up on reports of civil liberties protections having been stripped from the draft Patriot Act reauthorization and information that the bill contains “poison pill measures,” news today that a bipartisan group of Senators (including Feingold and Sununu) is attempting to block passage of bill by the full Senate. Their statement is here. Continue Reading
Union Launches Job Tracker Database on Outsourcing and Labor Violations
Job Tracker: “Find out which companies in your area are exporting jobs, endangering workers’ health or involved in cases of violations of workers’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act. The database contains information on more than 60,000 companies nationwide.” Users may search by zip code, state, company name or by industry. Continue Reading
Google Print Morphs Into Google Book Search
From the Official Google Blog, “When we launched Google Print, our goal was to make it easier for users to discover books. Now that we’re starting to achieve that, we think a more descriptive name will help clarify what our users can do with it: namely, search the full text of books to find ones… Continue Reading
Waxman Continues to Pursue Open Congressional Investigation Into Plame Leak
Wednesday, November 16, 2005 – “In a letter to Chairman Davis, Rep. Waxman renews his request for hearings into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Wilson, citing many precedents for congressional oversight occurring concurrently with a criminal investigation.” Rep. Waxman’s Previous Letter to Chairman Davis Chairman Davis’s Previous Response Continue Reading
ALA Urges Vote Against Patriot Act Conference Report
From American Library Association Washington Office Newsline: “The House is scheduled to vote on the PATRIOT Act conference report as early as Thursday, November 17. The revised bill does not contain important civil liberties safeguards sought by ALA and other advocates…The revised bill sunsets at seven years (The Senate bill sunset was 4 years and… Continue Reading
New Open Source Legal Dictionary and Encyclopedia Launched by Cornell
“Wex is an ambitious effort to construct a collaboratively-created, public-access law dictionary and encyclopedia. It is sponsored and hosted by the Legal Information Institute at the Cornell Law School. Much of the material that appears in Wex was originally developed for the LII’s “Law about…” pages, to which Wex is the successor. Continue Reading
Searchable Database of Administration Statements on Iraq
A timely reminder on a useful resource: see Iraq on the Record. “Prepared at the direction of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Iraq on the Record is a searchable collection of 237 specific misleading statements made by Bush Administration officials about the threat posed by Iraq. It contains statements that were misleading based on what was… Continue Reading
