Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2011

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report revealing in 2011 women who "who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings of $684,about 82 percent of median earnings for male full-time wage and salary workers ($832)." The report goes on to say that in 1979, "the first year for which comparable earnings data are available,women earned 62 percent of what men earned." The report also provides detailed descriptions of the source of the data as well as an explanation of the concepts and definitions used since earnings differences can be influenced by many factors. The data is taken from the Current Population Survey (CPS) which the U.S. Census Bureau conducts monthly for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The Census Bureau surveys approximately 60,000 households each month and collects information on earnings from one-fourth of the CPS sample each month.

Compounding Pharmacies Report

On Oct. 28, 2012 Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released a comprehensive report describing more than a decade of violations and problems at compounding pharmacies throughout the nation. Markie used "media reports, publicly-available FDA and state Boards of Pharmacy documents from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and DC" to show how "FDA’s efforts to assure the safety of compounding pharmacies have been challenged at every juncture by some members of the compounding pharmacy sector." According to a press report, his document also reveals "that the state Boards of Pharmacy do not typically and consistently oversee the safety of the drugs made by compounding pharmacies and do not always provide records of their enforcement activities in an easily searchable and publicly available format."

China - the World's Largest Energy Consumer

On September 4, 2012 the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released an analysis revealing that China, the most populous country in the world, is also the largest energy consumer. The report provides a detailed discussion of China's consumption and production of oil, natural gas, coal, renewable energy, hydroelectric power, and nuclear energy. See the full analysis or an analysis brief. Use the pull down menu at the top to access other countries' briefs also.

Potential Budgetary Effects of Immediately Opening Most Federal Lands to Oil and Gas Leasing

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has analyzed a proposal to immediately open most federal lands to oil and gas leasing. Although some federally controlled lands are currently open to leasing, the proposal studies the effects of opening two categories of federal property currently closed to development: lands now statutorily prohibited such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and lands prohibited under current administrative policies such as sections of the Outer Continental Shelf. Read more at Potential Budgetary Effects of Immediately Opening Most Federal Lands to Oil and Gas Leasing.

Tidying Up: What Reorganization Can Do for Federal Agencies

Given that budget constraints are a reality, the Government Business Council underwritten by Deloitte has released a random-sample survey of 244 Federal managers from defense and civilian agencies about reorganization at the program or agency level. Tidying Up: What Reorganization Can Do for Federal Agencies indicates that Federal managers believe reorganization can be worthwhile, but that "the skills needed for reorganization are not readily available in many agencies." Consequences of past reorganization efforts were distracted employees and low morale especially from new employees fearing job loss. For successful reorganization, the report recommends the following:

• Have a vision
• Be transparent and inclusive
• Act with speed
• Monitor progress

Options for Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate Mechanism

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has analyzed three options for dealing with Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) mechanism under which Medicare's payment rates for physicians' services are scheduled to be reduced by 27 percent in 2013. The CBO has provided tables for showing increases or decreases in outlays for the period 2013-2022 for the cliff option (significant reduction in the first year after a specified update), the clawback option (additional spending for a few years to override reductions in payment rates but reductions to payment rates in subsequent years), and the replace or restructure option (replace the SGR with a one or two percent freeze in each year through 2022). For details see Medicare's Payments to Physicians: The Budgetary Impact of Alternative Policies Relative to CBO’s March 2012 Baseline.

America Invents Act (AIA) Proposed Rule and Comment Request

A proposed rule and a request for comments regarding the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) have been published in the Federal Register. According to the summary of the proposed rule, Changes To Implement the First Inventor To File Provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, the act "amends the patent laws pertaining to the conditions of patentability to convert the United States patent system from a 'first to invent' system to a 'first inventor to file' system; treats United States patents and United States patent application publications as prior art as of their earliest effective United States, foreign, or international filing date; eliminates the requirement that a prior public use or sale be ‘‘in this country’’ to be a prior art activity; and treats commonly owned or joint research agreement patents and patent application publications as being by the same inventive entity for purposes of novelty, as well as nonobviousness." See more at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-07-26/pdf/2012-18121.pdf .

The request for comments pertains to examination guidelines to implement the first-to-file provisions of the AIA. See details at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-07-26/pdf/2012-17898.pdf.

National and State Effects of Eliminating the American Community Survey (ACS)

The Census Project, "an informal network of scores of census stakeholder organizations that are working to ensure inclusive, comprehensive and forward-thinking early planning for Census 2020,"
released a new report documenting state and national effects of eliminating the American Community Survey (ACS). (The House of Representatives voted on May 9 to eliminate funding for the ACS. See our May 10, 2012 blog post for information about and link to the House vote.) Entitled Eliminating America's Playbook, the report compiles case studies and comments from organizations detailing how they use the ACS. The case studies and comments are "organized nationally, and, in some states by topic area" and include contact information for the reporting organizations. A wide array of organizations provided information including those working with children, women, minorities, veterans, housing, urban planning, community development, and academics projects from Harvard and Pennsylvania State.

Annotated Bibliography of Native American History

Brandon Burnette of Southeastern Oklahoma State University has published a new GODORT (Government Documents Round Table/ American Library Association) Occasional Paper (Number 7, June 2012) entitled "Annotated Bibliography of Native American History from United States Federal Documents: Print and Online Resources." The extensive list of resources should be of help to anyone conducting scholarly or genealogical research.

Other occasional papers are available on the GODORT wiki at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/GODORT_Occasional_Papers

JP Morgan Losses and Systemic Risk

Edward V. Murphy in a new Congressional Research Service report reveals that Congress will be examining JP Morgans trades involving complex financial instruments. "What Is Systemic Risk? Does It Apply to Recent JP Morgan Losses?" defines systemic risk and discusses a number of policy responses to it.

Long-Term U.S. Budget Outlook

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released The 2012 Long-Term Budget Outlook complete with a summary, supplemental data, and an infographic. The CBO predicts that the federal debt will reach approximately 70 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of 2012, "the highest percentage since shortly after World War II."  The report presents two possible scenarios (extended baseline and extended alternative fiscal scenario) about federal revenues and spending  and corresponding budgetary outcomes.

House Votes to Eliminate Funding for the American Community Survey

Starting with the 2010 Census the American Community Survey (ACS) replaced the traditional census long form. Data collected by the ACS is used to help determine the distribution of $400 billion in federal and state funds for everything from school lunch programs to new hospitals. Joan Naymark, Director of Research and Planning for Target, states on the ACS website:

The American Community Survey is vital to economic development and for wise government and business decision-making. The American Community Survey is an improvement over the census long form because it provides small-area information annually instead of once a decade.

On Wednesday, May 9, 2012 in the House of Representatives, Daniel Webster (R-FL) introduced Amendment 1077 to the FY2013 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill. The amendment sought "to prohibit the use of funds to conduct the survey, conducted by the Secretary of Commerce, commonly referred to as the 'American Community Survey." The House voted 232-190 to eliminate all funding of the ACS (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.amdt.1077:). All but 11 Republicans voted for Webster's amendment; all but four Democrats voted against eliminating ACS funding.

The Senate is expected to take up the FY2013 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill next week. To monitor progress on the bill, access The Library of Congress Thomas site: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.r.5326:

Bin Laden's Letters

The Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at West Point has released a report entitled Letters from Abbottabad: Bin Ladin Sidelined? The report studies 17 declassified letters or draft letters authored by bin Laden and other al-Qa`ida leaders obtained during the Abbottabad raid. Dated from September 2006 to April 2011, 175 pages of the letters are in original Arabic while 197 pages have been translated to English.

Launch of Manufacturing.Data.Gov

According to an April 30, 2012 news release, Manufacturing.Data.Gov is now available as a "one-stop Web portal" for anyone interested in sharing ideas and "transforming emerging technologies into commercial success stories." The site will serve "as a public resource of high-value datasets, tools, and applications that can help entrepreneurs steer the entire product development chain for a project, from invention, engineering design and prototyping, to validation and testing, manufacturing, and sales."

Interactive 1940 Census Web Page

According to a news release, the Census Bureau has launched an interactive 1940 Census website in anticipation of the April 2 release of the 1940 Census records. April 2 marks the end of the 72 year embargo period required for confidentiality of census records. The site includes questions asked on that form, a 1940 Census video, a link to the National Archives website for looking up records starting April 2, and an infographic depicting how characteristics of the U.S. population have changed between 1940 and 2010. The Census Bureau will regularly update the site with new interactive features in the days leading up to April 2.

Surging Seas Report and Website

According to a new report, Surging Seas, released by Climate Central, by 2030 many coastal locations are likely to sea waters rise at least 4 feet above the local high-tide level and by 2050 rise above the 5 feet level due to global warming. The report generates "local and national estimates of the land, housing and population in vulnerable low-lying areas, and associate(s) this information with flood risk timelines." Its accompanying Surging Seas website "includes a searchable, interactive online map that zooms down to neighborhood level, and shows risk zones and statistics for 3,000 coastal towns, cities, counties and states affected up to 10 feet above the high tide line."

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (Wise) Images

A March 14, 2012 news release states, "NASA unveiled a new atlas and catalog of the entire infrared sky today showing more than a half billion stars, galaxies and other objects captured by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission." Many of the stars and galaxies captured in the more than 18,000 images have never been seen before.

More information about WISE is available from http://www.nasa.gov/wise . An introduction and quick guide is available from http://wise2.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/release/allsky/ . The collection of WISE images released to date is available from http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu/gallery_images.html .

Macondo Well-Deepwater Horizon Blowout Lessons

The National Academies have made available for free online the 196 page book, Macondo Well-Deepwater Horizon Blowout: Lessons for Offshore Drilling Safety.  After examining the causes of the blowout, the report makes recommendations for the oil and gas industry and government regulators and advises taking a "system safety" approach  "anticipating and managing possible dangers at every level of operation."

A paperback version is also available for purchase from the National Academies website.

U.S. Budget Goes Mobile

The Government Printing Office (GPO) has developed a mobile version of the FY 2013 Budget of the U.S. Government that is supported on iOS 4.3 and above, Android 2.2 and above, and Blackberry OS v. 6.0 and above. To access the app on your mobile phone, go to http://m.gpo.gov/budget . 

The mobile app allows users to access the text and images of the main FY 2013 Budget. Links at the bottom also allow users to purchase a copy of the Budget from the GPO Online Bookstore or to access digital versions of previous Budget volumes through GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys).

For more information see the featured article on FDLP Connection.

American Community Survey Bill

If you use census information, you might be interested in a proposed bill to make responding to the American Community Survey (ACS) voluntary except for some limited questions. The American Community Survey replaced the long form of the census with annual updates and multi-year estimates of the characteristics of population and housing.The Census Bureau randomly selects about 3 million people each year to participate in this confidential survey, and the information gathered from all the questions on the ACS helps the federal government determine how to spend federal funds for infrastructure and services.

View the official text of the bill at The Library of Congress Thomas site: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.112hr931

GovTrack also provides information about the status of the bill and the legislative process: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-931 . Under Primary Source it includes a link to the official Thomas site.

Priorities for NASA Space Technology

A new report from the National Academies, NASA Space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities: Restoring NASA's Technological Edge and Paving the Way for a New Era in Space, recommends that NASA's technology development efforts should focus on 16 high priority technologies during the next five years. The priorities "align with three main facets of NASA's overall mission: extending and sustaining human activities beyond low Earth orbit; exploring the evolution of the solar system and the potential for life elsewhere; and expanding our understanding of Earth and the universe."  See more information in the Feb. 1, 2012 news release.

"Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense" has been released by the White House and the Pentagon to identify strategic interests and defense priorities in order to cut military spending in a "responsible and balanced manner." For more information, see the press release.

President Nixon's Grand Jury Tapes Released

According to a National Archive's press release, on November 10, 2011 the first batch of grand jury records from the Presidency of Richard M. Nixon was released from the National Archives and from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. The National Archives site is starting with transcripts of President Nixon's grand jury testimony of June 23-24, 1975, and associated material. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is making available textual materials and sound recordings of segments of five transcripts of White House taped conversations from 1971 and 1973 and approximately 3,000 pages of formerly classified national security materials including transcripts of  Henry Kissinger's telephone conversations.

Digital Goods and Copyright

In copyright law the first sale doctrine gives someone who purchases a copyrighted work the right to sell or dispose of it without getting permission from the copyright holder.  However, according to law professor Annemarie Bridy, regarding digital products " it will increasingly be the case that consumers do not own the information goods they buy (or, rather, think they've bought)." In The Digital Death of Copyright's First Sale Doctrine she reveals that on October 3 the Supreme Court refused to review Vernor v Autodesk, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision about whether the first sale doctrine applied to transactions involving software and other digital information goods. She concludes:

Under the court's decision in Vernor, all a copyright owner has to do to effectively repeal the statutory first sale doctrine is draft a EULA that (1) specifies that the user is granted a license; (2) significantly restricts the user's ability to transfer the software; and (3) imposes notable use restrictions.

See her article linked above for the full discussion.

Income Distribution Reports

If the Occupy Wall Street movement has you wondering about income distribution in the United States, check out the following sources suggested by Charles E. Malone, Coordinator of Government and Legal Information at Western Illinois University:

• Trends in the Distribution of Household Income Between 1979 and 2007; (63 page report from the Congressional Budget Office) available at http://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo14429
• The Concentration of Household Wealth (Congressional Research Service 2006 report from Open CRS at http://opencrs.com/document/RL33433/2006-05-23/download/1005/ )

Other government agencies also feature wealth-related reports for specific populations:

• Income Security: Older Adults and the 2007-2009 Recession (55 page report from the General Accounting Office at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1276.pdf )
• Polarization, immigration, education: What's behind the dramatic decline in youth employment?(584 KB PDF from the Federal Reserve Board at http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2011/201141/201141abs.html )

For those having access to Fondren's databases, ProQuest has prepared a LibGuide entitled Distribution of Wealth - A Selected Bibliography. Fondren has a subscription to Statistical Insight and Congressional (committee prints, hearings and reports). Notice Tips for Searching under To Find Related Reports.

Federal Reserve Board Finance and Economic Discussions Series

The Federal Reserve Board Finance and Economic Discussions Series includes staff working papers on a variety of economic and financial topics of interest to the American public.  For example, Raven Molloy and Hui Shan 's "The Post-Foreclosure Experience of U.S. Households"  looks at  1999 to 2010 data from the credit reports of a large group of individuals.  They concluded, "Although foreclosure considerably raises the probability of moving, the majority of post-foreclosure migrants do not end up in substantially less desirable neighborhoods or more crowded living conditions."

See the links for that report and the complete lists of reports at http://www.federalreserve.gov/Pubs/FEDS/2011/ .

Remembering 9/11

For a sampling of events, reports, and multi-media information about 9/11, please see the Remembering 9/11 LibGuide .

GAO Study Evaluating US Postal Service Deficit Proposals

The General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a short study addressing the United States Postal Service's (USPS) deficit. GAO evaluates key proposals made by USPS including the

• USPS proposal to sponsor its own health benefit plan...
• USPS proposal to seek reimbursement of its $6.9 billion FERS (Federal Employess Retirement System) surplus...
• USPS proposal on workforce optimization...

The report also poses key questions Congress should address including those that should be considered before USPS creates its own health benefit program.

The report concludes that "USPS’s business model is broken" and that difficult choices must be made.

Research Center for the Prevention of Financial Fraud

The Stanford University Center on Longevity and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation have joined forces to create the Research Center on the Prevention of Financial Fraud. The center is an "interdisciplinary resource for law enforcement, government and research groups studying financial fraud." The center plans to address the following questions:

• Who is most susceptible to financial fraud?
• How can people be effectively protected against fraud?
• What techniques do fraudsters use to persuade victims?
• Why do people fall victim to fraud?
• What is the economic and emotional impact of fraud in the U.S.?

If the fraud is committed online, the United States Department of Justice addresses fraud and cybercrime on its Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section page which includes information about how to report cyber and IP crime.

Violent Extremism Prevention

The National Strategy for Counterterrorism now has a partner document, Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism. The national strategy contains President's Obama's plan to protect the American people against al-Qa’ida, its affiliates and its adherents. The partner document describes how federal agencies will support local communities and agencies in their efforts to prevent violent extremism.

Analysis of the Budget Control Act of 2011

What impact will The Budget Control Act of 2011 have on the deficit? Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office created for the House and Senate are now available online. The estimates include discussions on the following topics : Discretionary Caps, Program Integrity Initiatives, the Social Security Administration, Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control, Changes in Direct Spending for Education Programs, Pell Grants, Student Loans,Other Provisions, and Overall Budgetary Impact of the Legislation.

On Aug. 2, 2011 President Obama signed into S. 365, The Budget Control Act of 2011, assigned as Public Law 112-25 (cite as Pub. L. No. 112-25, 140 Stat. 240 [28 pages]). The enrolled bill is available as a pdf at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s365enr/pdf/BILLS-112s365enr.pdf or in html at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.365.enr: which also has links to previous versions of the bill.

Transnational Crime

According to a July 25, 2011 entry posted by Attorney General Eric Holder on the White House blog, the National Security Council has released its Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime. The strategy includes legislative proposals designed to strengthen anti-money laundering provisions and to identify and respond to evolving tactics used to conceal illicit operations and profits associated with transnational crime. The blog entry also links to fact sheets and assessments relating to transnational criminal activities.

Blog Commemorating 9/11

Starting July 5 the Homeland Security Digital Library will publish one blog a week leading up to the ten year anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The blogs will honor those who died by highlighting lessons learned and societal changes made to ensure another such attack does not occur. The blog schedule is:

• July 5 – Terrorism, Terrorists and Threats
  
• July 12 – The Department of Homeland Security
  
• July 19 – The 9/11 Commission Recommendations
  
• July 26 – Emergency Preparedness
  
• August 2 – Border Security and Immigration
  
• August 9 – Transportation and Travel
  
• August 16 – Freedoms and Rights
  
• August 23 – Protecting Critical Infrastructure
  
• August 30 – Communication
  
• September 6 – Commemorating 9/11

Access On the Homefront Blog entries at https://www.hsdl.org/hslog/.

Pentagon Papers Released 6/13/11

On June 13, 2011 at noon ET the National Archives will release online all 7,000 pages of the Pentagon Papers, the informal name for the "Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force" commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1967. According to the National Archives, this version is unique for the following reasons:

• No redactions compared to previous versions
  
• Presented as Leslie Gelb presented it to Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford on Jan. 15, 1969
  
• Includes all the supplemental back-documentation.
  
• Includes the complete account of peace negotiations, significant portions of which were not previously available either in the House Armed Services Committee redacted copy or in the Gravel Edition.

For more information including how to access a hard copy, see the Press Release.

Counterinsurgency Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Operations

The Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Defense Intelligence Counterinsurgency (COIN) Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Operations is now available. The Department of Defense asked the task force to "identify how Department of Defense (DoD) intelligence can most effectively support COIN [counterinsurgency] operations." According to an introductory memorandum, the Task Force "examined the multi-phase COIN challenge, which includes the need to continue to support COIN operations in Afghanistan; prepare for emerging and urgent COIN ISR operations that will have to be met using current resources, and building a capability to deal with long-term COIN scenarios using new concepts of operations (CONOPS) and resources."

Where does your tax money go?

Now that you've paid your 2010 taxes, are you wondering how your tax money is spent? Louis Garcia and Andrew Johnson, computer engineers from Minneapolis, wondered the same. They created an easy way to view how the federal budget is spent in relation to your tax dollars. Called What We Pay For, the database assumes that tax dollars are pooled into one lump sump to spend on the programs and operations of the federal government. To be sure their data was accurate, the engineers randomly sampled over a hundred records at different levels. They also provide a feedback section for reporting any issues. For more information, check their About page.

In today's world of mashups Anil Kandangath got permission to use the data from What We Pay For to create an interactive chart for quick viewing. His Where Did My Tax Dollars Go? lets you choose the following categories to see proportionally how taxes are spent: single, married (filing jointly), married (filing separately), qualified widow(er), and head of household. Kandangath also has a tab for suggestions to improve the site.

Income Tax Deadline Extended Until April 18, 2011

If you are rushing to complete your income tax return by April 15, relax a little. Because April 15 is Emancipation Day, a District of Columbia holiday, and D.C. holidays impact tax deadlines in the same manner as federal holidays, the tax deadline has been extended until Monday, April 18, 2011. For more information see IRS Kicks Off 2011 Tax Season with Deadline Extended to April 18.

Open Government Initiatives Going Dark

According to Federal News Radio, an internet-only all-news station focusing on the Federal Government and those who do business with it, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will shut down several public and internal government websites started under President Obama's Open Government Initiative because of a lack of e-government funding. Unless something changes, funding will begin to run out April 20 for the public sites:

• Data.gov,  
• IT Dashboard, and 
• paymentaccuracy.gov

Funding is projected to run out soon after July 30 for

• USASpending.gov and
• Apps.gov/now

Internal government sites reported to face the budgetary ax include some sites related to the FEDRamp cloud computing cybersecurity effort and:

• Performance.gov (login required even to view the homepage), and
• FedSpace
.

For the complete story see OMB prepares for open gov sites to go dark in May (March 31, 2011 - 2:46pm).

Other organizations are providing information about these proposed cuts too. William Matthews of GovernmentExecutive.com discusses the scaling back or elimination of these open-government/transparency sites in his April 12, 2011 news story entitled Transparency websites hit by budget ax. (To read the article, click on Continue to Government Executive at the top of the advertising page the link initially accesses.) On April 12 Bill Shuman of the Sunlight Foundation also posted a blog entry entitled Major Cuts for Online Tech Transparency Progs. In the entry Shuman provides a link to bill H.R. 1473 containing the appropriations, a brief Save the Data video, and an opportunity to sign a letter to Congress asking members to protect funding for these sites.

Discontinuing Statistical Abstract

For many Statistical Abstract is the first source of statistical information they consult. Data that would take countless hours to compile is often available there in a table with source information included.  It appears that 2012 budget cuts will mean the demise of this statistical bible. Under the topic "Statistical Abstract and the Consolidated Federal Funds Report, and other noted publications from the Statistical Compendia Branch (Census Bureau)" the Government Printing Office (GPO) help site states:

Question

We've heard the Census Bureau has announced it is going to discontinue the Statistical Abstract and the Consolidated Federal Funds Report. Can you confirm this information? Answer A representative of the agency states: "The just released 2012 budget does not include funding for the Statistical Compendia Branch which would mean the elimination of not only the Statistical Abstract, but all titles produced by that branch (State and Metropolitan Area Data Book, County and City Data Book, USA Counties, Quick Facts). No new editions would be produced in print or online. We have already started work on the Statistical Abstract 2012 edition and are still working on the local area products. We will continue to work on these products and have a contingency plan to have the Statistical Abtract 2012 out by the end of September, due to our uncertain future." The Consolidated Federal Funds Report (CFFR) was proposed for termination in the FY 2012 Budget.  The FY 2010 CFFR will be the last publication. The data can be accessed at http://www.census.gov/govs/cffr/.

The proposed elimination of the Statistical Compendia Branch originated in the U.S. Census Bureau's Budget Estimates as Presented to Congress, February 2011. Librarians across the country are uniting in protest of the proposed cut and starting a campaign to write Congressmen. *Concerns expressed by librarians include:

• The abstract aggregates social, economic, and political indicators. It is time-consuming and difficult to compile this information. The multitude of government statistical programs and publications can be difficult for many members of the public to understand and use, much less compile.
  
• The abstract provides source information for the statistics provided.
• The printed abstract includes some copyrighted material that will no longer be easily accessible without it. According to the preface of the 2011 Statistical Abstract (under Statistical Abstract on other media), "The Abstract is available on the Internet and on CD-ROM. Both versions contain the same material as the book, except for a few copyrighted tables for which we did not receive permission to release in these formats."
• A similar abstract is published by many developed countries around the world as a tool to understand the state of a nation's social, political and economic functioning. Terminating the Statistical Abstract program would lower the United States international standing as free and open society that values unfettered access to information.

*Much of this information was organized into a sample letter by Hailey Mooney.

Access Who Represents Me to find contact information for members of Congress from Texas.

To see a 45 second video prepared by librarians at the University of Texas at San Antonio explaining what you can find in the Statistical Abstract, access http://librarygrapevine.wordpress.com/nesting-page/april-2011/statistical-abstract/

Census data release for Texas

From the U.S. Census Bureau: 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                          THURSDAY, FEB. 17, 2011

Public Information Office
CB11-CN.37
301-763-3030
e-mail: 


U.S. Census Bureau Delivers Texas’ 2010 Census Population Totals, Including First Look at Race and Hispanic Origin Data for Legislative Redistricting


      The U.S. Census Bureau today released more detailed 2010 Census population totals and demographic characteristics to the governor and leadership of the state legislature in Texas. These data provide the first look at population counts for small areas and race, Hispanic origin, voting age and housing unit data released from the 2010 Census.

   The official 2010 Census Redistricting Data Summary File can be used to redraw federal, state and local legislative districts under Public Law 94-171. The census data are used by state officials to realign congressional and state legislative districts in their states, taking into account population shifts since the 2000 Census.

   Data for Texas show that the five most populous incorporated places and their 2010 Census counts are Houston, 2,099,451; San Antonio, 1,327,407; Dallas, 1,197,816; Austin, 790,390; and Fort Worth, 741,206. Houston grew by 7.5 percent since the 2000 Census. San Antonio grew by 16.0 percent, Dallas grew by 0.8 percent, Austin grew by 20.4 percent, and Fort Worth grew by 38.6 percent.

      The largest county is Harris, with a population of 4,092,459. Its population grew by 20.3 percent since 2000. The other counties in the top five include Dallas, with a population of 2,368,139 (increase of 6.7
percent); Tarrant, 1,809,034 (increase of 25.1 percent); Bexar, 1,714,773 (increase of 23.1 percent); and Travis, 1,024,266 (increase of 26.1
percent).

     The redistricting file consists of five detailed tables: the first shows the population by race, including six single race groups and 57 multiple race groups (63 total race categories); the second shows the Hispanic or Latino population as well as the non-Hispanic or Latino population cross-tabulated by the 63 race categories. These tabulations are repeated in the third and fourth tables for the population 18 years and over and are for the resident population of the United States. The fifth table provides counts of housing units and their occupancy status.

    These five detailed tables are available to the public online via FTP download at < http://www2.census.gov/census_2010/01-Redistricting_File--PL_94-171/> and will be available within 24 hours at .  (Access 2003 or Access 2007 shells or SAS scripts are provided to assist with importing and accessing the summary file data from the FTP site. These shells and scripts can be found at < http://www.census.gov/rdo/tech_tips>.  This Web page also contains special instructions for linking data downloaded from FactFinder and/or the FTP site with the Census Bureau’s geographic products.)

      By April 1, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico will receive these data for the following areas: state, congressional districts (for 111th Congress), counties, minor civil divisions, state legislative districts, places, school districts, census tracts, block groups and blocks, and if applicable, American Indian and Alaska Native areas and Hawaiian home lands. In addition, data are available for the 46 states that voluntarily provided voting districts to the Census Bureau’s Redistricting Data Program. Unique geographies for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are also available.

Race and Hispanic Origin Data

      The Census Bureau collects race and Hispanic origin information following the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) standards for collecting and tabulating data on race and ethnicity. In October 1997, the OMB issued the current standards, which identify five race groups: white, black or African-American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. The Census Bureau also utilized a sixth category — “some other race.” Respondents who reported only one race are shown in these six groups.

      Individuals were first presented with the option to self-identify with more than one race in the 2000 Census, and this continued in the 2010 Census. People who identify with more than one race may choose to provide multiple races in response to the race question. The 2010 Census results provide new data on the size and makeup of the nation’s multiracial population.

      Respondents who reported more than one of the six race groups are included in the “two or more races” population. There are 57 possible combinations of the six race groups.

      The Census Bureau included the “some other race” category for responses that could not be classified in any of the other race categories on the questionnaire. In the 2000 Census, the vast majority of people who reported only as “some other race” were of Hispanic or Latino origin. Data on Hispanics or Latinos, who may be of any race, were obtained from a separate question on ethnicity.

How to Find Assistance

      Additional information about the redistricting data program, including news releases for other states, can be found online at <
http://2010.census.gov/news/press-kits/redistricting.html>. More information on the redistricting data program is also available at < http://www.census.gov/rdo/data>.

      For further information about Texas’ 2010 Census redistricting data,
contact:
      • Census Redistricting Data Office, U.S. Census Bureau,
         301-763-4039; e-mail: ;
      • Census Bureau Regional Office, Dallas, 214-253-4481; e-mail:
         ;
      • State Data Centers 

Description of Five Custom Tables

      In addition to the full set of detailed tables to be available on FactFinder within 24 hours, five custom tables are also attached to this
news release. The first (Table 1) shows the most populous counties and incorporated places in 2010, their change since the 2000 Census and their population rank for both decades.

      Table 2 shows data for all ages and for those 18 and older for the Hispanic or Latino population, as well as for people who reported one race and those who reported two or more races. This table also shows the numeric and percent change in the population by race and Hispanic origin between 2000 and 2010.

      Table 3 is similar to Table 2. However, it shows data for the six “race alone or in combination” categories. The concept “race alone or in combination” includes people who reported only a single race (e.g.., Asian) and people who reported that race in combination with one or more of the other major race groups (i.e., white, black or African-American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and some other race).

      The concept “race alone or in combination,” represents the maximum number of people who reported as that major race group, either alone or in combination with another race(s). The sum of the six individual “race alone or in combination” categories may add to more than the total population because people who reported more than one race were tallied in each race category.

      For people who reported two or more races, Table 4 shows the population in each of the 15 combinations of two races (for example, the number of people who reported being both white and black or African-American).

      Table 5 shows the population in the major race categories and of Hispanic or Latino origin for Texas’ most populous counties and incorporated places.

Description of Two Custom Maps

      The attached custom maps show the total population by county for Texas and the percent change in the population by county.

Texas resources:
Custom tables - http://2010.census.gov/news/xls/cb11cn37_tx_2010redistr.xls
Map: Population totals (PDF) – http://2010.census.gov/news/pdf/cb11cn37_tx_totalpop_2010map.pdf
Map: Population totals (JPEG) – http://2010.census.gov/news/img/cb11cn37_tx_totalpop_2010map.jpg
Map: Population change (PDF) – http://2010.census.gov/news/pdf/cb11cn37_tx_perchange_2010map.pdf
Map: Population change (JPEG) – http://2010.census.gov/news/img/cb11cn37_tx_perchange_2010map.jpg
Interactive Map - http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/
FTP site - http://www2.census.gov/census_2010/01-Redistricting_File--PL_94-171/
Press kit - http://2010.census.gov/news/press-kits/redistricting.html

                                    -X-

Editor’s Note: The five detailed tables provided to the state are available to the public online via FTP download at < http://www2.census.gov/census_2010/01-Redistricting_File--PL_94-171/> and will be available within 24 hours at .
Access 2003 or Access 2007 shells or SAS scripts are provided to assist with importing and accessing the summary file data from the FTP site. These shells and scripts can be found at < http://www.census.gov/rdo/tech_tips>.  This Web page also contains special instructions for linking data downloaded from FactFinder and/or the FTP site with the Census Bureau’s geographic products.

Egypt's Importance in Energy Production and International Energy Markets

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is highlighting a report about Egypt's importance in energy production and international energy markets.  The report includes links to additional sources of information.

Searchable Scientific Videos from the U.S. Department of Energy

According to a February 8, 2011 press release,  the U.S.Department of Energy (DOE) has released ScienceCinema, a multimedia tool to access scientific videos that highlight the most exciting research and development sponsored by DOE. The press release describes the new tool as follows:

ScienceCinema uses innovative, state-of-the-art audio indexing and speech recognition technology from Microsoft Research to allow users to quickly find video files produced by the DOE National Laboratories and other DOE research facilities. When users search for specific scientific words and phrases of interest to them, precise snippets of the video where the specific search term was spoken will appear along with a timeline. Users can then select a snippet or a segment along the timeline to begin playing the video at the exact point in the video where the words were spoken. The timeline is synced with transcripts of the targeted portion of video.

Congressional Staff Pay Implications

On December 21, 2010 the Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to government transparency, released a report about Congressional staff pay and turnover. Keeping Congress Competent: Staff Pay, Turnover, And What It Means for Democracy by Daniel Schuman compares the generally higher salaries offered by the private sector with those of Congressional staffers and the resulting exodus of experienced Congressional staff. Schuman also discusses the limitations of this report due to the lack of easily accessible House and Senate employment data.

In November 2009 the  House of Representatives began making data more accessible by offering online House Expenditure Reports in PDF format. Since the format of those reports is not easy to search, the Sunlight Foundation  created the  House Expenditure Reports Database. The Senate plans to release comparable data online starting the third quarter of 2011.

Overview of the Afghanistan and Pakistan Annual Review

On December 16, 2010 the White House released the Overview of the Afghanistan and Pakistan Annual Review. A video and transcript of President Obama's discussion about the report is also available which reveals that our core goal is "focused on disrupting, dismantling and defeating al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and preventing its capacity to threaten America and our allies in the future."

GPO-Google E-Book Partnership

According to a Dec. 14, 2010 press release, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and Google have partnered to sell e-books of federal government titles through the new Google ebookstore. Starting with about 100 titles, GOP will continue adding to the Google site over the next several months.

GPO also offers other online tools to find government information including the Federal Digital System (FDsys) which lists and links many titles and the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications with descriptive records and links to many publications available for free online.

Also check Fondren's catalog before purchasing. As a selective Federal Depository Library Fondren receives free access to a wide range of government titles many of which are available electronically.

FAST | Financial Allocation Study for Texas

Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, has released a study to "help identify strategies for containing the costs associated with public education without compromising academic progress." The FAST (Financial Allocation Study for Texas) is divided into five parts some of which are pdfs:

• Executive Summary
• FAST Ratings by District and Campus (A-L)(M-Z)
• Smart Practices for Minimizing Costs
• Cost Efficiencies in Higher Education
• Appendix: Background, Methodology, and Expanded Data for Recommendations.

The FAST site also allows you to run custom reports.

Limiting Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Medium & Heavy Duty Motor Vehicles

A 497 page document containing the proposed regulations for limiting greenhouse gas emissions from medium and heavy duty motor vehicles is now available in the Federal Register. Proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the regulations are designed to transition the United States to a "new generation of clean vehicles." Vehicles proposed for regulation include combination tractors, heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans, vocational vehicles, and gasoline and diesel heavy-duty engines.

The summary at the beginning of the document mentions that NHTSA's proposed fuel standards for these vehicles would be voluntary in 2014 and 2015 but mandatory for new models in 2016. EPA's proposed gas emission standards would begin with 2014 models.

U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission 2010 Report

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission was created on Oct. 30, 2000 to "monitor, investigate, and submit to congress an annual report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, and to provide recommendations, where appropriate, to Congress for legislative and administrative action." The commission's 2010 Report to Congress is now available. Topics addressed in the report are:

• China’s proliferation practices,
• the qualitative and quantitative nature of economic transfers of U.S. production activities to China,
• the effect of China’s development on world energy supplies, 
• the access to and use of U.S. capital markets by China, 
• China’s regional economic and security impacts, 
• U.S.-China bilateral programs and agreements,
• China’s record of compliance with its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, and 
• the implications of China’s restrictions on freedom of expression.

The report includes 45 recommendations to Congress.  An executive summary is also available.

America Recycles Day, Nov. 15, 2010

America Recycles Day
November 15, 2010



Do you know how, where, when, and what to recycle in your community? If not, check the America Recycles Day website to find answers to those questions. The site includes a widget that lets you fill in what kind of material you want to recycle along with your zip code or city/state to find when and where to recycle that material. Their Links & Resources page provides recycling information from federal and state agencies and  battery, glass, paper, plastic, and steel industrial sites. If you would like to sponsor a recycling event, you can use their America Recycles Day Tool Kit. You can also find them on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

For campus environmental and recycling information see the Enviro-Web of Rice University.

Election Results

Harris Votes from the County Clerk's office (upper left link) has as yet unofficial results from Harris County for the Nov. 2, 2010 elections.  A pdf or html format is available and includes data showing the number of people voting straight party tickets, the number of people registered to vote, and the percentage who actually voted.

Preliminary election night returns are available for Texas from the Office of the Secretary of State. You can choose to view a statewide race summary, a county race summary from a county drop-down menu, or county by county results from a dropdown menu of specific races including judicial elections.

The wiki Ballotpedia, a free online encyclopedia about state politics with contributions from the public, includes preliminary election results for Texas and other states and extensive background information about candidates and issues. To see the results, under ballots and elections choose a link for the 2010 races (gubernatorial, senate, house, etc.).

New Multimedia Congressional Timeline

The Dirksen Center has created a fun and informative multimedia Congressional timeline by session from 1933 to the present. Using a clever revolving cube to access audio, videos, photos, and documents, the site spotlights major legislation during each session and includes information about women and African American members, measures of productivity, and the partisan composition of each Congress.  A wiki allows for participation by viewers.

Consumer Protection Act Reports, Summaries, and Commentaries

The Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C (LLSDC) has created a new Web site to provide a comprehensive history along with summaries and commentaries on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act (http://www.llsdc.org/Dodd-Frank-Act-Leg-Hist/). The site enables a user to determine when a provision got into the bill and how that provision changed in other versions when applicable. It also makes looking for related reports, hearings, and other documents easier.

New Federated Government Search Tool

The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications has just released a new MetaLib federated search tool. The tool searches across more than 50 U.S. Federal government databases with more to be added in the future. Use it to retrieve reports, articles and citations. MetaLib offers basic, advanced, and expert search and includes an A-Z resource list to locate specific databases and to create a personalized set of databases to search at a user's convenience. It also offers a session-based My-Eshelf so that users can create their own resource lists, save records, and define preferences for the display of results for that session only.

Focus on American Education

Combating the decline in American educational achievement has been the focus this week of the following events/sites: NBC's Education Nation, the new Teach.gov recruitment site, and President Obama's press release announcing plans to recruit 10,000 new Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) teachers over the next two years. Highlights from the September 26-27 education summit in New York are available on the Education Nation website and include interviews with such notables as President Obama, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell to name a few. Teach.gov is the United States Department of Education's effort to let young people know what it is like to be a teacher and give them the tools to become one. In his STEM press statement President Obama stressed expanding education and career opportunities for underrepresented groups such as women and minorities, giving American students the tools to catch up with their peers in other high performing nations, and helping them learn to think critically in STEM fields. Now the challenge is to turn the focus into results.

2010 Secrecy Report Card

On September 7, 2010, OpenTheGovernment.org, a coalition of groups committed to open government, released the 2010 Secrecy Report Card. In the corresponding press release, Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org, states, "In general, after hitting high water marks during the Bush Administration, statistics indicate the creation of new national security secrets is slowing ebbing." However, the report also highlights "looming secrecy problems the Obama Administration should address."

Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China

On August 16, 2010 the Department of Defense released a report entitled "Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China." According to the report, despite making some progress, Chinese military transparency is still lacking. For more information, see the full report or the news article describing it.

Country Reports on Terrorism 2009

The State Department has released its 2009 Country Reports on Terrorism. Starting in 2004, this annual report replaced Patterns of Global Terrorism. The report "serves as a reference tool to inform policymakers, the general public, and our foreign partners about our efforts, progress, and challenges in the campaign against international terrorism."

Country Reports on Terrorism (2004-2008) and Patterns of Global Terroism (1995-2003) are also available at http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/index.htm.

Constitution Day Quizzes, Puzzles, and Kids Contest

In preparation for Constitution Day, Sept. 17, 2010, ConstitutionFacts.com is sponsoring a poster contest for students in grades K-12. Posters should show how the students benefited from the freedoms embodied in the U.S. Constitution.

How much do you know about the U.S. Constitution? The site also offers crossword puzzles, treasure hunts, word finds, and the following four interactive quizzes:

• What's Your Constitution I.Q.?
• "Real or Fake?" Quiz
• Which Founding Father are You?
• Which Founding Father Would You Vote For?

The Nuclear Weapons Effects National Enterprise

"The Nuclear Weapons Effects National Enterprise," the latest report from the Joint Defense Science Board (DSB)/Threat Reduction Advisory Committee Task Force is now available at http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/NWE-National-Enterprise.pdf.

According to Paul G. Kaminiski's introductory memorandum in the report:

Nuclear weapons remain a serious threat to our nation's security. The nation's capability to deter against this threat and provide assurance to our allies requires that US nuclear and conventional forces are able to operate in a nuclear environment. Unfortunately, the nation's expertise and capability to operate in a nuclear environment have decayed. As a result the Department of Defense and the nation are not as well prepared as it should be to deter, defend, and mitigate an attack.

.
Additonal reports from the Defense Science Board are available at http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports2000s.htm

Changes in Canadian Census

Until recently one of every five Canadian households received a long-form census with 53 extra questions about such things as ethnicity, disabilities, religion, education, and income. In response to complaints that this long form was an invasion of privacy, starting next year the Canadian government will send out a voluntary form with more detailed questions than the short form to one of every three households. Many think tanks, academic experts, statisticians, genealogists and public policy developers fear this move since they think it might impact policy and funding decisions because of skewed and incomplete information.

More information about the impacts of this decision is available on the July 14, 2010 CBC Radio One Show, "The Current". Included on the show is Ivan Fellegi who was Statistics Canada's Chief Statistician for 23 years before retiring in 2008, Richard Shearmur who is a professor of urban and regional economics at the Universite du Quebec, and Dean del Mastro, the Conservative MP for Peterborough and a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage.  Industry Minister Tony Clement who currently oversees Statistics Canada was unable to participate in the radio interview but did include a written statement.

New Tool for Assessing Effects of Hurricanes on the Workforce

According to a July 12, 2010 news release, the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Weather Service have released a new Web-based tool to provide workforce data for areas impacted by hurricanes. OnTheMap for Emergency Management: Hurricanes allows users to see characteristics of the local workforce including affected industries, ages of workers, and workers' earnings. The site also includes historical data.

Ups and Downs of American Finance, 1861-1938

FRASER, the Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research, has created a graphic presentation of American financial history 1861-1938. Available files include an index by subject and by year, topics of interest, and a slideshow for the years 1861-1935.  Also on the site is a link to the related publication, Business Booms and Depressions since 1775.

Historical Publications of the United States Commission on Civil Rights

The Thurgood Marshall Law Library at the University of Maryland has added forty new titles to its Historical Publications of the United States Commission on Civil Rights project. The  latest additions include hearings and reports from 15 states plus material specific to the area surrounding Baltimore.

In a partnership with the United States Government Printing Office and the United States Commission on Civil Rights, the law library also added reports received directly from the Civil Rights Commission including:

• Briefing: The Effects of the Community Reinvestment Act and its Alleged Effects on the Mortgage Crisis. (2009)
and
• Domestic Wiretapping in the War on Terror (2010).

The site provides access by title, subject, date of publication and Superintendent of Documents number.

Widgets for Accesssing News about Congressional Bills

Votetocracy, a Web site that allows people to vote on bills before Congress, is now providing widgets to enable bloggers and Web site owners to show bills currently in Congress. Widgets are available for the following categories: economy, education, environment, health care, technology, war and military, and latest votes in Congress.
Here's what the latest votes in Congress widget looks like:

IRS Taxpayer Assistance Open House

On Saturday, June 5, 2010 approximately two hundred IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the U.S. will be open from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. to help individual taxpayers with questions about notices and payments, return preparation, and a variety of other tax issues. To find the location nearest you, access the list of Taxpaper Assistant Centers. In Houston the NW, SE, and SW offices will participate. On an email notification the downtown office was not listed as a participant in Saturday's event.

The IRS is also partnering with other organizations to assist taxpayers. In Houston the Stakeholder Partnerships, Education and Communication Office (SPEC) is located at:
Internal Revenue Service
8701 S. Gesner, Stop 6610-Hal
Houston, TX 77074

For Houston, Taxpayer Advocate Service is available at 713-209-3660.

Caution: Many IRS offices are located in Federal Office Buildings which may NOT allow visitors to bring in cell phones with camera capabilities.

Visit http://www.irs.gov for a variety of useful links.

National Moment of Remembrance (3 p.m. Monday)

On December 28, 2000 Congress passed Public Law 106-579 to establish a time for Americans to pause and remember military personnel who have died in service to our country. The National Moment of Remembrance occurs at 3 p.m. each Memorial Day.

Congress also established the White House Commission on Remembrance as an independent non-partisan government agency to coordinate honoring our fallen and their families. The Commission's website provides a message about the National Moment of Remembrance with taps playing in the background and includes links to names of the fallen by war from Vietnam to the present with World War I and II to be completed soon.  Information is also available about efforts by Operation Laughter to boost our troops' morale. Included in the morale-boosting efforts is Task Force Snoopy, a flat-Stanley-like movement which involves sending a stuffed animal version of the beloved cartoon character around the world with our military units.

Collegiate Inventors Competition Deadline June 25, 2010

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Abbott Foundation are sponsoring the 19th Annual Invent Now Collegiate Inventors Competition. Graduate and undergraduate individuals and teams will be competing for nearly $80,000 in cash prizes. Entries are judged on "originality of the idea, process or technology, and their potential value and usefulness to society."

Entry forms and more information about the competition including descriptions of past winning inventions are available from the Collegiate Inventors Competition site. The entry deadline is June 25, 2010.

Audit of U.S. Government Agencies' Open Government Plans

To explore the success of President Obama's December 8, 2009 Open Government Directive, OpenTheGovernment.org recently completed audits of U.S. Government agencies' open government plans. Receiving high marks were NASA for "inviting the public to collaborate in the development of technologies that are core to its mission" and Health and Human Services for planning to identify and publish high value data sets this year. The report also praises the Labor Department for making "significant amounts of information publicly accessible" and opening new platforms for potential internal and external collaboration, and the Department of Energy for improving on its Open Energy Information platform. However, the Department of Energy was also included in the group receiving the five lowest scores. Ranked from the best of the worst to the worst of the worst are the Department of Treasury, the Department of Defense, the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Justice.

Agencies have until the end of May to revise their plans. In early June OpenTheGovernment.org will review the plans again to ascertain agencies' responses to the audits.

A full list showing how agencies' plans rank is available from http://bit.ly/OGovRank. The full audit results and links to agency evaluations are available from http://bit.ly/OGovEvals.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Resources

Paula Webb from the University of South Alabama has created an online bibliography of national and Alabama resources relating to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill incident. For information from Texas state agencies see:

• Spills - Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
• Oil Spill Prevention and Response Program - Texas General Land Office
• Spills and Clean-up - Texas Online

Deepwater Horizon Response hosts media briefings, fact sheets, graphs, and photographs to provide the latest updates about response efforts.

Green Energy Portal

On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day the Department of Energy (DOE) launched DOE Green Energy, a free online public portal "designed to ease access to green energy R&D information for use by researchers, scientists, educators, students and the general public." DOE's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) describes the portal as follows:

The portal provides technical documents from thousands of R&D projects conducted at DOE National Laboratories and by DOE-funded awards at universities. The DOE Green Energy portal is part of the DOE Open Government Plan, which furthers the Administration's Open Government Initiative. DOE Green Energy contains both current and historical research, including bibliographic citations, technical reports and patent information on different types of renewable energy resources and energy conservation. Subject areas include but are not limited to solar, wind, bioenergy, hydroelectric, geothermal, tidal and wave power, and energy storage.

Childhood Obesity, a Threat to National Security

According to an April 20, 2010 press release, Mission Readiness, a non-profit group of more than 130 retired admirals, generals and other senior military leaders, released a report indicating that being overweight is now the leading medical reason recruits are rejected for military service. More than nine million young adults age 17 to 24 are too obese to qualify for military service. Entitled Too Fat to Fight, the report contains data analyzed by staff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing a dramatic rise in obesity among young people since 1995. Alarmingly in the last ten years "the number of states with 40 percent or more of young adults considered to be overweight has risen from one state to 39 states." Since young people consume 40 percent of their daily calories at school, the group strongly supports efforts by Senator Lugar and Agriculture Secretary Vilsack for new legislation to improve school nutrition programs.

National Park Week, April 17-25

Celebrate National Park Week by visiting one or more of the nation's 392 National Parks for free Saturday, April 17 - Sunday, April 25, 2010. On Saturday, April 24, National Junior Ranger Day, children can take part in kid-friendly activities and earn a junior ranger patch. National parks are also hosting special events and volunteer projects on Earth Day, April 22, and throughout the week.

Health reform - what does it mean to me?

On March 23, 2010 President Barack Obama signed major health reform into law.  The law is as complicated as the issue, so where do we go to learn what the changes mean?  Here are some key resources:


HealthReform.gov features answers to questions for:

• Small Businesses
• Parents
• Consumers
• Seniors

If you don't find the information you need, submit your question to HealthReform@hhs.gov.  The site provides information by state - see Health Insurance Reform and Texas.  

From the Whitehouse: 

What's In Reform for You: Take the quiz! Putting Americans In Control of Their Health Care Health Care Health Insurance Consumer Protections

 
Legislation - take a look at the CRS summaries for a quick overview:

• H.R. 3590: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act  
• H.R. 4872: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

New EPA Database

On March 24, 2010 the Environmental Protection Agency released a new database, Health and Environmental Research Online (HERO). The database references key studies scientists from EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment(NCEA)use in developing assessments that "characterize the nature and magnitude of health risks to humans and the ecosystem from pollutants and chemicals in the environment." You can browse the database by three topics(air pollutants, chemicals & substances, and health & environmental effects)or search for a specific author, title, etc. Articles link to publishers' websites where you can determine if they are free or can be purchased.

Nuclear Posture Review Report

The Department of Defense has released its April 2010 Nuclear Posture Review Report. The preface indicates the report "describes how the United States will reduce the role and numbers of nuclear weapons" in keeping with President Obama's agenda for reducing nuclear risks to the United States. It states that central elements of the agenda include the "New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, the Nuclear Security Summit, our work to strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime, and a broader approach to deterrence." The report indicates a need for money to revamp our aging nuclear infrastructure and recommends a stockpile management program to extend the life of our nuclear weapons without having to develop new nuclear warheads.

For news stories, press releases, fact sheets and other information related to the report see http://www.defense.gov/npr/.

Security and Stability in Afghanistan

The Department of Defense has released its latest Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan (Oct. 2009). The report identifies the following key elements necessary for success in the region:

• Expanding the size and capability of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF)
• Engaging the Afghan government and bolstering its legitimacy
• Building Afghan civilian capacity
• Building provincial and local government capacity
• Breaking the link between narcotics and the insurgency
• Building Pakistan's capacity to fight extremists
• Increasing and broadening U.S. economic assistance to Pakistan
• Strengthening Pakistani government capacity
• Mobilizing greater international political support for objectives in Afghanistan and Pakistan
• Encouraging and facilitating bilateral and trilateral coordination among Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States and broader engagement with the international community

Previous reports are available on the Department of Defense publications' page.

Government Book Talk

The Government Printing Office (GPO) has a new blog, Government Book Talk, designed to raise the profile of  government publications. The blog will review new and popular publications including some out-of-print classics. Jim Cameron, the GPO blogger who works in the publications sales program, wants feedback from readers so  the blog will become a "community of book lovers."

President Obama's Plan for Offshore Drilling

The U.S. Department of Interior has created a site entitled Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Strategy containing information about President Obama's plan to pursue "a balanced, science-based strategy for exploring and developing oil and gas resources on the Outer Continental Shelf." The site includes clickable maps with more information about development, exploration, and protection in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific and Alaska regions. The site also includes links to resources such as press releases, memorandums, questions and answers, 5 year plans, regional information pages, hi-resolution maps, and Federal Register Notices.


For a brief summary about the comprehensive strategy for offshore oil and gas development and exploration, see Secretary of the Interior Ken Salzar's March 31, 2010 press release.

Health Care Law

If you'd like to keep up with what the House and Senate are debating each day about health care, you can browse the daily edition of the Congressional Record. Today's daily digest is actually a day or so behind, but still provides a quick way of seeing what amendments are being proposed to The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed March 22, 2010 in the House of Representatives. 

To see the bill that became The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act go to THOMAS from the Library of Congress and access the text of House bill  HR 3590 and the separate House Reconciliation bill H.R. 4872.   Once you access a bill on THOMAS, you'll see a chart that provides links to additional information such as CBO (Congressional Budget Office) cost estimates, related bills,  and CRS (Congressional Research Service) summaries. Under the Latest Major Action there is a link to Public Law No: 111-148. The text of this law will be available in the near future from the link on Thomas and from Public and Private Laws.

2010 Census Help

Did you receive the notification card that your census form was on the way, but still haven't received the form?  The Census Bureau has provided 283 answers to questions like this about the 2010 census on its Find Answers page. The link to "Did not receive a questionnaire" indicates if you have not received the form by April 12, 2010, you should call the Telephone Questionnaire Assistance center during the hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (your local time) seven days a weeks from February 25 - July 30, 2010. Different extensions are listed for those who speak English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Russian and for those who are hearing impaired.

For more information about the importance of census, access the 2010 Census home page. Notice the "Select a Language" pull down on the left side.  It allows for viewing the site with a choice of 34 different languages.

March 8, 2010 - International Women's Day

2010 Theme

 Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all

In honor of International Women's Day (March 8, 2010), Secretary of State Hilliary Rodham Clinton suggests that we "rededicate ourselves to advancing and protecting the rights of women and girls, and to join together to ensure that no one is left behind in the 21st century." To see her complete message access http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/03/137841.htm.

More information about worldwide celebrations of International Women's Day is available from http://www.internationalwomensday.com. In the United States 128 events are listed to celebrate the day. To see if a celebration is planned near you, access http://www.internationalwomensday.com/search.asp?country=223.

Texas Primaries Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tomorrow (March 2, 2010) candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties will be trying to win their party's primary elections. The League of Women Voters provides information about the candidates in their online voters' guides available for both Harris and Ft. Bend Counties. Paper copies of the Harris County guide are also available at service points in Fondren Library.

Harris Votes for those residing in Harris County provides a link to "Find your Election Day Poll and View Voter Specific Ballot."

Registered voters in Texas can choose to vote in either primary, just not both.