Past Convention Coverage

Had enough coverage of the 2012 political conventions?  Party nominating conventions have a long and colorful past in American politics--going back to 1831 and the first national convention, held by the short-lived Anti-Masonic Party.  The New York Times has put it all together in a retrospective page of highlights and slide shows from past Democratic and Republican conventions, enhanced by contemporary  articles from the Times covering 100 years of presidential nominations from 1896 to 1996.  Included are a photo essay on the tumultuous Democratic National Convention of 1968, convened amidst police-protester clashes in Chicago; accounts of Ronald Reagan's historic nomination in 1980, and vintage photos of candidates and delegates in earlier times of war, prosperity, financial crisis, and social change. 

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Politics and Predictions

So the last couple of weeks have been full of politics.  All of the hoopla aiming to affect a future event - the election in November.  Want to see the odds of a particular outcome on Nov. 6?  Or how about the odds that we will get a Category 3 hurricane this season?  Check out Intrade.com .

Intrade is a prediction market. A prediction market allows you - and everybody else -  to make predictions on the outcome of hundreds of real-world events. By using this form of crowd-sourcing, prediction markets find the probability of something happening - a predefined, uncertain future event. 

To see the details on how it works and how you can participate, see How it Works.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Lap Dancing A Tax-Exempt Art Form?

The burning legal issue of the week: Is lap dancing an art form that is exempt from New York State tax? The Court of Appeals is about to decide that very issue. Read more here.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Christian Louboutin Seeing Red - In A Good Way

Christian Louboutin’s signature “China red”-soled shoes will continue to “pop.” “On Wednesday, the United States Court of Appeals for theSecond Circuit held that Christian Louboutin had a valid and enforceable trademark for the use of red outsoles, but only when the rest of the shoe was painted in a contrasting color. Judge José A. Cabranes, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, characterized that look as having “the requisite ‘distinctiveness’ to merit protection.”
The ruling, written by Judge Cabranes states that it was “the contrast between the sole and the upper that causes the sole to ‘pop’ and to distinguish its creator.” Judges Chester J. Straub and Debra A. Livingston joined the opinion.”

Click here to read more about this red-hot issue.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

ABC News App streams election coverage to you!

Do you want more coverage of the upcoming Democratice National Convention?  Did you get everything you wanted to know about the just finished Republican National Convention?  ABC News' mobile app has extended coverage than that which is found on traditional news sources. And YouTube is getting in on the act with an Elections Hub that brings together multiple news sources.

"ABC News has upgraded its iPad app to deliver extensive elections coverage from the conventions and presidential debates leading up to the elections in November.

The app will provide a continuous news flow this week of the Democratic National Convention, including three live streams for mobile and desktop.

Politics is more interactive than ever. It’s hard to miss a beat from the campaign trail as media channels use social networks and political apps for continuous coverage. For example, YouTube launched an Elections Hub, an online one-stop-shop for elections coverage, this year. The hub features content from ABC News, Al Jazeera English, The New York Times and other media."

(Read more here at Mashable: http://on.mash.to/R5aImk)

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Labor Day

A three-day weekend is always appreciated, especially in the first hectic weeks of a new semester.  It's easy to forget that Labor Day began with a widely popular law to create a national one-day celebration of the American worker during an earlier financial crisis--the severe economic depression known as the Panic of 1893. With the growth of labor unions in the late 19th century, New York was one of several states that had been celebrating Labor Day on the state or local level for years.  In 1887 it was among the first to make it an official state holiday.  Finally, in June 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed legislation making Labor Day a national holiday to be celebrated annually on the first Monday in September. The U.S. Department of Labor's web site has some interesting Labor Day "Pieces of History," including an account of the country's first Labor Day Parade, held in Manhattan.     

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Future Trends In State Courts

Future Trends in State Courts discusses cutting-edge issues pertaining to state courts.

This year's edition of the National Center for State Courts' Future Trends in State Courts series focuses on "Courts and the Community”. It examines how courts are presenting themselves to lawmakers and to the public, and what courts are doing to confront social problems in their jurisdictions.

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Follow Legislation and Regulations With Scout

If you need to follow federal and state legislation or federal regulations, try Scout.  Scout is an notification platform from the Sunlight Foundation.  With Scout, you can get alerts by searching for a keyword or phrase describing the issue in which you are interested, then, click “Create Alert.” 

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Breaking Video News at WSJ WorldStream!

The Wall Street Journal created their Worldstream video site as a way for journalists to share their news and videos and publicized their new site on their WSJ online webpage with a Twitter hashtag "#WorldStream."

Introducing #WorldStream

WorldStream, a global video platform for videos shot by journalists from across the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones news organization. 

(Available at http://on.wsj.com/8ZTJ4i)

Visit the WSJ's global video platform here: http://stream.wsj.com/story/world-stream/SS-2-44156/?mg=inert-wsj, and explore the latest world news and reports streaming directly from the source.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Law Library Research Guides

Have a 1L exercise? A journal source gathering?   Writing a paper?  Take advantage of research guides created to aid the Law Library user with research in this law library.  The general library and research guides include "Finding Books", "Finding Articles", "Paper Writing Resources", "Recommended Treatises" and more.  There are also guides on specific legal topics such as "Federal Tax Law" that will help you with sources and strategy.

Don't re-invent the wheel.  Look to see if we have a guide.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat