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Archive: May 2011 (22 Posts)

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

May Retrospective

Posted by: Andrew Weber

In May, a lot of people learned about the actual date of Mexico’s Independence Day, in what turned out to be our most popular post of the month, Cinco de Mayo is Not Mexican Independence Day? We also celebrated with Law Day, Jewish American Heritage Month, Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, and Eritrean Independence Day this month. It must be because …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Memorial Day, 2011

Posted by: Christine Sellers

Monday, May 30, 2011, is Memorial Day. As our sister blog, In the Muse, wrote last year, Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday in May. Memorial Day was originally established as Declaration Decoration Day in 1868, three years after the Civil War ended, as a time for the nation to decorate the graves …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Tattoos and Copyright in The Hangover Part II

Posted by: Christine Sellers

You may or may not be aware that The Hangover Part II is coming out this weekend. You also may or may not be aware that there is a copyright battle heating up over one particular aspect of the movie. As in the first movie, the character played by Ed Helms wakes up to something …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

An Interview with Mike Newman, Information Technology Specialist

Posted by: Andrew Weber

This week’s interview is with Mike Newman, an Information Technology Specialist at the Library of Congress.  Mike works with Tammie in Information Technology Service of the Library.  He knows all the technical ins and outs of THOMAS.gov.  Chances are if I get a call about how THOMAS works that I can’t answer, I can ask Mike …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Eritrean Independence Day

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

Today, Eritrea, Africa’s youngest nation (at least until next month, when South Sudan is expected to declare its formal independence), celebrates its 20th Independence Day. Eritrea, like all of its African brethren, is a colonial creation.  Although Turkey, Egypt, and the local Ethiopian rulers controlled different parts of what later became Eritrea at different times, …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Souvenirs from Moscow – Pic of the Week

Posted by: Christine Sellers

The following is a guest post by Robert Newlen, the Assistant Law Librarian for Collections, Outreach and Services in the Law Library of Congress. Last month I spent a week in Russia in my favorite city in the world, Moscow.  One of my guilty pleasures while there was roaming the wonderful flea markets on the …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

The Story Behind the New Zealand Budget Process

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

Yesterday was New Zealand’s Budget Day – the day that the Minister of Finance tables various documents and makes a statement in Parliament relating to the Government’s economic policies and spending proposals for the next fiscal year, which starts on July 1.  While the proposals in the Budget are interesting and have a large impact …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

An Interview with Tammie Nelson, Information Technology Specialist

Posted by: Andrew Weber

This week’s interview is with Tammie Nelson.  Tammie is an Information Technology Specialist in ITS (which stands for Information Technology Service) here at the Library of Congress.  She is wonderful at managing projects and plays a key role in our completion of so many enhancements to THOMAS.gov. Describe your background. I grew up in New …