How do I find out where a Federal Court case was filed?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: I’ll assume you’re talking about a case introduced in a federal district court, where trial-level cases are heard, as opposed to an appellate court or the US Supreme Court. You might be able to get this information from the PACER service of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which is their system to allow electronic access to federal court records: http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/. There’s a fee for using the system, although the Duke Law Library has a login/password for the use of law students and faculty. If you had some idea of the location, you can go to the web site for that particular district: http://www.uscourts.gov/links.html. Some of the districts may have free information regarding what cases have been filed, a calendar of upcoming hearings, etc. There’s also a county look-up tool to determine which federal district a county is in, if that’s your question: http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/lookup.html Once there’s been an opinion in the case, it may or may not get published in the standard reporters (the Federal Supplement for federal cases at the district level). You may still need to contact the district court directly. I’d suggest starting in the law library for specialized help in this area.

Does the M3 Power shave closer than the M3 Turbo or the Mach 3?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Actually, the Schick company claims that their 4-bladed Quattro is the best, and I guess the industry will soon be making 5 and 6-blade razors. AP is absolutely terrified by the idea of vibrating razor blades, such as Gillette’s M3 Power, so would never try that. I also think it would be incredibly dangerous to try shaving with a powerful automobile like the M3 Turbo, or even while driving it. The Gillette Mach 3 sounds safest of your choices, and I believe provides a pretty darn close shave, but AP will stick to straight razors.

Where does the Perkins name come from and are there any decendants of the family (or have there been in say the past 4 years) at Duke?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The library was named after William R. Perkins (1875-1945), personal counsel to James B. Duke, the person who wrote up the legal terms of the Duke Endowment. He was a Trustee of the Endowment from 1924 to 1945 and President of the Endowment from 1940-1945. Also, a Trustee of Duke University and a Vice President of Duke Power. Regarding his descendants attending Duke, you’re free to ask anyone you suspect of being a relation, but such genealogy records are kept private by the registrar, for internal university use only. Perkins isn’t as nationally famous as Kenneth Starr or Jimmy Carter, so news organizations don’t pick up on where his descendents go to college.

Is it possible to determine what state The Simpsons live in? I claim yes, my friend says no. If it is, do you know where they are supposed to live?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Since the beginning of the show, this question has created endless speculation on Simpsons forums such as the newsgroup alt.tv.simpsons . There isn’t a specific location, and the writers even play with the audience’s curiosity by including contradictory clues. Although there’s a Springfield in Matt Groening’s home state of Oregon, he says he used that name since it sounds so generic (as one of the most common city names in the US) and since it’s the setting for what he claims is the Simpsons’ antithesis, Father Knows Best. (AP thinks that once you get past the superficial characteristics, there’s not as big a difference as people assume.) They’ve used these generic place names on TV shows for years, such as the Mayfield of Leave It to Beaver fame (a show in which the university was known simply as “State”). For more details, see the a.t.s FAQ item “Where IS Springfield, anyway?” http://www.snpp.com/guides/lisa-3.html#3.2.1 Be sure to follow the “Where is Springfield?” link, too, at the bottom of the essay. These people are obsessive; don’t follow in their footsteps!

Whatever happened to Dustin Diamond?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: According to the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imtb.com) “Dustin is keeping busy making guest appearances on television, movies and selling out colleges and comedy clubs around the country as a stand up comic.” They also say he likes professional wrestling and chess and has been involved with projects in both areas. AP was going to make a Gary Coleman joke, but IMDB even quotes Diamond making a reference to Coleman in his stand-up routine. Another web site points out that rumors of his death are incorrect (just as rumors of Jerry Mathers’ death were unfounded) and that he is no relation to Beastie Boy Mike Diamond.

Why were the Grateful Dead called the Grateful Dead?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Most internet music sites, such as Allmusic.com, rehash over and over that Jerry Garcia took the name “from an Egyptian prayer discovered in a dictionary.”

A more detailed discussion can be found in the essay “The Ripple Effect” by Joseph Holt in *Perspectives on the Grateful Dead: Critical Writings* Robert G. Weiner, ed. Westport, Conn: Greenwood, c1999. The author states that in 1965 “the band at that time was calling itself the Warlocks, but later discovered that this name was already in use by another rock band. So they all met at Phil Lesh’s house to discuss new names. Nothing seemed to work, and then they turned to the dictionary.” It was Funk and Wagnell’s *New Practical Standard Dictionary of the English Language*, 1955 ed. “Jerry Garcia opened it at random and the first entry he saw in the dictionary was ‘Grateful Dead.’ It turns out ‘Grateful Dead’ is the name folklorists have given to a genre of European folktales that all have a common motif. Someone is charitable to the widow or orphan of a person who has recently died, or perhaps just helps to pay for the funeral. At a later time and in an unexpected way, this person is assisted out of a crisis by the ghost of the ‘grateful dead,’ who has come back from death to repay the favor. At first no one in the band much liked it, but the name was so compelling, so haunting, that it stuck (Shenk and Silberman 120).” This cite is: Shenk, David, and Steve Silberman. *Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads*. New York: Main Street Books, 1994.

AP is attracted to this more detailed story rather than the Egyptian prayer story, although there’s perhaps some connection between the folktales and spirituality of Egypt and of Europe. The Rev. Dr. Holt, an Episcopal minister, incorporated “sacramental reflections on the Grateful Dead” into his Ph.D. dissertation, according to the abstract.

Is Will Ferrell fun to hang out with? I know you don’t hang out with him, AP, but what do you think?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: I didn’t think I’d ever hang out with Will, either, but imagine my surprise a few months ago when I was chilling out with my buddy George W. in Crawford … it actually turned out to be Will Ferrell, who had infiltrated the ranch! None of W’s advisors or Secret Service agents (or AP) had noticed the difference. Once the secret was out he was hustled away, so we didn’t get to chat much, but entertainment types frequently do strike me as being somewhat superficial (or maybe just too busy) and probably not much fun to hang out with. And it might be annoying if he starts to impersonate you.

How are transit tunnels made, like the one on I-95 North between Washington and Baltimore? Are they dropped into the water the tunnel passes through or do engineer’s dig under the water?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: There are several different tunneling methods. The 1985 Fort McHenry tunnel (the I-95 tunnel under Baltimore Harbor) and the 1957 Harbor Tunnel (I-895) use the “immersed tube” method, in which a tube is floated to location and sunk to the bottom of the body of water, into a trench that has been dredged in preparation. It’s then covered by various fill and protective materials. Here’s a website about the 1985 tunnel: http://www.roadstothefuture.com/Fort_McHenry_Tunnel.html

Shallow tunnels on land commonly use the comparable cut & cover (or open cut, or covered excavation) method of tunneling, in which an open cut is made and then covered over. This is common on subway lines that are just below street level. Deeper tunnels require excavation with a ferocious-looking tunnel boring machine (TBM), usually with some sort of shield to keep the hole from caving in after being drilled, until the tunnel lining can be installed. Older nineteenth century railroad tunnels used more manual excavation techniques, not up to current OSHA standards.

Here’s one of many online article about tunnels, with links to tunneling shields, boring machines, and what-not: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel
AP has always regretted not pursuing an engineering career!

This one might be a tough one AP, but I believe that if anyone can help me it will be you. Where can I find information about the “article 5 hearings” that happened during/after the first gulf war? Specifically, I am trying to find out if these trials were recorded in any way. Thanks, bd

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Thanks for your faith in AP, but I’m unfortunately unable to engage in lengthy research projects! As I’m sure you did, I found references to the existence of the 1991 hearings (named after Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention), but no evidence that anything had ever been published or released to the public. (See, for instance, http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/636/sc3.htm or http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/pow-bck.htm ) My experience is that this sort of information is kept classified or at least unpublished, but I do suspect that some record of the hearings were kept. Once declassified, some government records are eventually filmed by commercial microfilm companies, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. I didn’t see any collections relating to the 1991 Persian Gulf War in the catalogs of several major micropublishers. If the records are no longer deemed sensitive for national security reasons, you may be able to retrieve them through the US Department of Defense Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Program http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/foi/

Hey,

Could you enlighten me on whether or not government employees have to pay taxes on their wages? I worked for the government last summer, and didn’t receive a w-2 form, so I assume I’m not supposed to pay anything. If not, do I even have to bother filling out a 1040?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Just like the librarians who work in Public Documents and Maps, Answer Person cannot give tax advice. However, federal employees do pay income tax, and if you didn’t a W-2 see “What to Do If You Haven’t Received a Form W-2” (http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=106470,00.html) and “What do I do if an employer has not provided me a W-2 form?” (http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq1-15.html).

And, please, please, check with the IRS if you have questions. Citing Answer Person at your audit won’t carry any weight.