Civil Rights Documentation Project

Legislative history junkies and those who follow legal history and its intersection with social movements may find the Civil Rights Documentation Project to be of interest.

This project discusses the legislative process involved in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The site offers a detailed monthly time line of the bill's progress from January 1963 through the law’s enactment in August 1965. Icons indicate whether a time line date focuses upon the social context or upon the legislative process. Also, the project includes names of key politicians and citations to specific bill numbers.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

100 Years Ago Today

It is fun to read the news from 100 Years Ago Today. Some of the articles might have been taken from today's newspapers but the language used is a give away. On June 15, 1907 the wedding ceremony was celebrated on roller skates. The couple, clergyman, best man, maid of honor, and most of the guests spent the whole time on roller skates. Could happen today!

Other items such as "Germany Enacts an Anti-Snapshot Law" seem quaint.

Or, Mark Twain is in the news (June 19, 1907) and gives an account of his new daily routine:

Every morning as soon as I'm up, I smoke a cigar, and then have breakfast at 8 o'clock. After breakfast I smoke another cigar, and then go back to bed. At half past 10 I smoke another cigar and start dictating to my stenographer. If finish at 12 o'clock and dose off till 1. I smoke another cigar and eat lunch. Then I go back to bed and read what the newspapers have to say about me. I smoke more cigars until half past 6. Then three assistants dress me for dinner, evening parties &c, after which I associate with elite society till 1 o'clock in the morning. I never go to bed till my daughter turns out the lights, and then I smoke in the dark.
My constitution is improving all the time.




Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

popurls

Popurls is a webpage with headlines from the most popular sites on the Internet. Here is one page where you can go to find all the latest up-to-the-minute web buzz. Thomas Marban launched popurls in 2006 as a "single page aggregator" which offers a quick glance to what is happening on the web.

Some of the sites whose headlines are featured on popurls are: digg.com; reddit.com; del.icio.us; news.google.com; news.yahoo.com; slashdot.org; boingboing.net; wired.com; fark.com; clipmarks.com; videoaol.com and youtube.com. This listing is only about half of sites on popurls. If you want to know whats going on, check this page out once or twice a day.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

IRS Online Withholding Calculator

Need a quick way to figure out your federal tax withholding for that new Summer job? Then try the IRS's online withholding calculator. According to the Web site, "The purpose of this application is to help employees to ensure that they do not have too much or too little income tax withheld from their pay. It is not a replacement for Form W-4, but most people will find it more accurate and easier to use than the worksheets that accompany Form W-4. You may use the results of this program to help you complete a new Form W-4".



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

CongressLine by Gallerywatch.com - Checks on Power

CongressLine by Gallerywatch.com - Checks on Power is an interesting article on an Executive branch that is independent of the Legislative. The U.S., France and Russia are the 3 major democracies that have an independent Executive branch. Most democracies have some parliamentary variant where the executive is the leader of the majority party in Parliament, and senior members of the party hold Cabinet positions.

The article outlines some of the methods Congress may use to check the powers of the U.S. Executive. A good overview of the U.S. system of checks & balances.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

MAPLight.org

MAPLight.org is a public database that illuminates the connection between campaign donations and legislative votes. MAPLight is a nonprofit organization helping citizens hold their legislators accountable.

This is how MAPLight makes its connections (from the site's About page):

MAPLight.org combines three data sets:
* Bill texts and legislative voting records
* Supporting and opposing interests for each bill
* Campaign contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in State Politics

Combining this data makes visible key information that could never before be determined easily. For example:
* Contributions given by interests supporting and opposing each bill
* Average donations given to legislators voting “Yes” and “No” on each bill
* Timeline of contributions and votes for each bill, graphically identifying when legislators received large donations before or after their vote.

So far there is only information for the California Legislature and the U.S. Congress. New York will be added very soon, and hopefully other states won't be far behind.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

My Favorite Thesaurus

We felines need just the right term when we "meow". So, when I am flummoxed for just the right word, I turn to Roget's online thesaurus .



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Webopedia--Definitions For Computer-Related Terms

Are you confused about a particular computer technology-related term? Webopedia can help. Webopedia is an online dictionary and search engine for computer and Internet technology definitions. From "RAID" to "SSL" to "proxy server", it's all here; just type into the search box the term for which you are seeking a definition.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Miranda Anniversary

Forty-one years ago, on June 13, 1966, the United States Supreme Court decided Miranda v. Arizona and "Miranda warnings" became part of the American legal landscape. For an overview of the interesting facts behind the crime, the investigation, the court process, and Ernesto Miranda's life after the decision (with photos and excerpts from trial testimony), take a look at "Miranda vs. Arizona: The Crime That Changed American Justice," from the Court TV Crime Library, and "You Have the Right to Remain Silent" (American Heritage, August/September, 2006), archived at AmericanHeritage.com.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

19th Century American Law DIctionary Online

Care to take a virtual trip back in time? Interested in seeing what has and has not changed in American legal nomenclature? Then take a look at Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised Sixth Edition, 1856, by John Bouvier. Simply click a letter and browse the legal jargon of America's antebellum period.


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