OpenCongress, a joint project of the Sunlight Foundation and the Participatory Politics Foundation, brings together official government information with news and blog coverage to give you the "real" story behind what’s happening in Congress. Together with bills and committee reports, you can now read all the gossip about who snubbed who in the hallway, which congressional page is primed to be the next Monica L., and all the rest of the juicy and gory details behind the scenes.  According to OpenCongress, small groups of political insiders and lobbyists know what’s really going on in Congress — but now everyone can be an insider!  OpenCongress is free, and its mission is "to help make Congress more transparent and to encourage civic engagement." 

Continue reading →

Abovethelaw.com, a blog that labels itself "a legal tabloid," is having a contest for "Hottest Law Librarian."  They previously had "beauty contests for America’s hottest ERISA lawyers, law school deans, and 3l students at NYU Law…It’s not as strange as it might seem. Librarians get a bad rap; they’re regarded as frumpy and, well, bookish. But we know there are lots of hot legal librarians out there just waiting to be discovered."  In all modesty and humility, we in the law librarian profession are grateful for the belated recognition of our hotness. Abovethelaw.com, we salute you!

For a month now, Iraq’s National Library Director, Dr. Saad Eskander, has posted diary entries on the Web site of the British Library (bl.uk/iraqdiary.html), and they detail the daily hurdles of keeping Iraq’s central library open, preserving the surviving archives and books and, oh yes, staying alive. (quoting from the New York Times article)

National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) highlights consumer protection and education efforts around the country. A new booklet – Read Up and Reach Out: Be an Informed Consumer – encourages people across the nation to take advantage of the wealth of information that can enhance confidence in the marketplace. Consumer information can help people recognize a rip-off, smell a scam, or find a fraud.

The National Intelligence Estimate released a report today that calls on all Iraqis — Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds — to make significant concessions to stabilize the country. A nine-page declassified summary version of the 90-page report (available here) makes no determination as to whether Iraq is amid a civil war.  It states that in "the coming 12-18 months, we assess that the overall security situation will continue to deteriorate at rates comparable to the latter part of 2006," if conditions between the religious sects do not improve.

Those interested in the proffered evidence in the trial of Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, for obstruction of justice may view it here.  You can check out the DOJ trial exhibits at the DOJ website.