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Category: In the News

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The Rugby World Cup: Regulating the Party

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

The 2011 Rugby World Cup kicked off in New Zealand on September 9th with a glittering opening ceremony followed by the first match between New Zealand and Tonga.  (Note that the New Zealand national rugby team is commonly called the “All Blacks.”)  I’ve had a couple of very busy weekends watching a number of the …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Slate Magazine’s Dahlia Lithwick to Speak at the Library of Congress Tomorrow

Posted by: Christine Sellers

The following is a guest post by Karla Walker, Special Projects Researcher for Collections, Outreach, and Services. The Law Library of Congress will host Dahlia Lithwick of Slate Magazine this Friday, September 16th at 4 p.m. Lithwick’s lecture titled, The Supreme Court and Free Speech, will explore the implications of the Supreme Court’s conflicts over …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Happy Feet Goes Home

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

When I last wrote about Happy Feet (the intrepid emperor penguin who took an extended vacation in New Zealand while recovering from a very long swim and a belly full of sand and twigs), he was being pampered at the Wellington Zoo while fans from around the world watched and waited to see what would …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Celebrating Labor

Posted by: Kurt Carroll

It’s Labor Day, the September holiday that is seen by many as the end of summer.  Many of this blog’s regular readers are probably at a cookout right now or enjoying one last visit to the beach.  These seem to be two common ways to celebrate the holiday honoring American labor.  If you have not …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Hunting and Badger Culls in England

Posted by: Clare Feikert-Ahalt

The English are, generally speaking, a fairly genteel group of people.  Hunting in England is now relatively uncommon, with fox hunting (very controversially) legislated against in 2007.  Even owning a gun is rather unusual and involves a long and highly regulated process.  I definitely noticed a huge contrast when I first moved here – during hunting season deer …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Happy Feet Not So Happy

Posted by: Kelly Buchanan

Shrek died last month.  Not green ogre Shrek – he’s still happily living in Ogre Swamp as far as I know – but Shrek the sheep.  Shrek became a celebrity in New Zealand after he was found in 2004 after six years of avoiding being shorn by hiding out in a cave in the hills …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Violence, Censorship, and the Human Centipede II

Posted by: Clare Feikert-Ahalt

In a related theme to gruesome, violent ads (commercials) being removed from programming in the UK, as described in my previous blog post, the UK has censored an entire film (movie).  The Human Centipede II has failed to get a certification (rating) from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The BBFC is an independent, non-governmental …