Asset Protection - Better Keep Up

Poet and Poem 2009 Series

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:34:06 +0000

U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan and 30 other noted poets will be featured in the 2009 season of “The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress.” The radio series is available to all public radio stations via the Public Radio Satellite System’s ContentDepot.

Highway Trust Fund Revenue Falls $3 Billion in Single Year as Americans Drove Almost 11 Billion Fewer Miles This September

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:48:47 +0000

FHWA 24-08
Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008
Contact: Doug Hecox
Tel.: (202) 366-0660

Highway Trust Fund Revenue Falls $3 Billion in Single Year as Americans Drove Almost 11 Billion Fewer Miles This September
Eleven-Month Decline in U.S. Driving Shows Need for New Way to Finance America’s Road, Bridge and Transit Projects

WASHINGTON — The Highway Trust Fund, the federal government’s primary source for financing highway, bridge and transit projects, took in $3 billion fewer in Fiscal Year 2008 as Americans drove 90 billion miles less over 11 months of the same fiscal year, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced today. The trend underscores the need to find a new way to finance transportation projects in America, she added.

“Our current approach has us encouraging Americans to change their driving habits and burn less fuel while secretly hoping they drive more so we can finance new bridges, repair interstates […]

Library of Congress, National Library of China Sign World Digital Library Agreement

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:32:49 +0000

The Library of Congress and the National Library of China have concluded an agreement to cooperate in developing the World Digital Library.

PRESIDENTIAL VISIT TO U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR HOLIDAY AVIATION ANNOUNCEMENTS

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:14:04 +0000

REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
PRESIDENTIAL VISIT TO U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
FOR HOLIDAY AVIATION ANNOUNCEMENTS
INTRODUCTION OF THE PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON, DC
NOVEMBER 18, 2008
9:55 AM

Good morning, Mr. President. It is an honor and a privilege for us to have you here today.
More so than ever before, transportation – the way we get to work, the way we travel for business or pleasure – is the topic of front page stories and dinner conversations in towns and cities across America.
Today, our roads and skies are safer; our need to reform is clearer; and our commitment to innovate is stronger than it has ever been. That is because you have made transportation a priority for this country.
Under your leadership, we have saved lives, pursued new ways to build and maintain our highways, and tackled congestion in the air and on […]

Why Wasn’t Elliot Spitzer Prosecuted for Money Laundering?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:05:00 +0000

About a year ago, former New York governor Elliot Spitzer made a series of cash withdrawals from his own bank account. The total amount he withdrew came to more than US$15,000.
Spitzer used the cash to pay a company called Emperors Club VIP to procure high-priced prostitutes. After Spitzer’s bank identified the withdrawals as “suspicious transactions,” the IRS began an investigation, culminating in Spitzer’s resignation as governor.
It’s richly ironic that the so-called “Sheriff of Wall Street’s” political career ended due to a series of liaisons with prostitutes. But the aftermath of the investigation is also worth examining.
On November 6, Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia announced that his office had no plans to prosecute Spitzer for “any offense” connected to patronizing prostitutes. Garcia claimed there was “insufficient evidence to bring changes against Spitzer for any offense related to the withdrawal of funds for, and […]

Cartography Buffs, Take Note

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:40:19 +0000

Our very own John Hessler was featured in today’s Washington Post talking about some of the mysteries behind one of the grand-daddies of all maps, the 1507 Martin Waldseeüller World Map, the document that named “America” and one of the Library’s toppest of the top treasures. (OK, we don’t categorize the treasures quite that way, but a $10 million map would be among the “toppest” in my book.)
John will be taking questions during an online chat tomorrow (Nov. 18, 2008) at the Post’s Web site starting at 11 a.m. EST. You can read the chat here after it gets underway or submit your questions in advance.

Household Food Security in the United States, 2007

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:01:00 +0000

Eighty-nine percent of American households were food secure throughout the entire year in 2007, meaning that they had access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The remaining households (11.1 percent) were food insecure at least some time during the year. About one-third of food insecure households (4.1 percent of all U.S. households) had very low food securitymeaning that the food intake of one or more adults was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food. Prevalence rates of food insecurity and very low food security were essentially unchanged from those in 2005 and 2006.

Library Merges Acquisition, Cataloging Functions

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:26:13 +0000

As result of the latest reorganization at the Library of Congress, a book acquired as a copyright deposit, purchase, gift or an exchange will go to one division instead of several for centralized processing—the ordering, cataloging, shelflisting, barcoding and other activities that enable users to find one particular book among more than 23.3 million unique titles in printed formats (plus another 8.9 million that are duplicate copies) held at the Library.

National Park Service Proposes New Limits on Snowmobile Entry into Yellowstone National Park

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:26:12 +0000

On November 13, 2008, the Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) filed comments with the National Park Service regarding its proposed rule on winter visitation and recreational snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park.

Congress Wants Your Retirement Plan to Bail Out Uncle Sam

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:43:00 +0000

Bailing out Wall Street, not to mention paying for promised benefits to Social Security and Medicare recipients isn’t cheap. Neither is fighting two wars on the other side of the globe. Nor is national health insurance, one of the cornerstones of President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign.
How can the government pay for all these promises when deficits are at an all-time high, and in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the 1930s? One pool of capital is an increasingly tempting target to congressional do-gooders: your retirement plan.
Even after the massive downward moves in markets worldwide in the last few months, Americans have more than US$10 trillion in IRAs, 401Ks, and other types of private retirement plans. That’s a lot of dough. And, Congress is already working on a plan to tap those funds, in the guise of “protecting” your retirement plan from greedy capitalists.
Last month, the House […]