Ferguson Police Department Investigation Report

The U.S. Department of Justice released its Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department dated March 4, 2015. The following paragraph from the summary section of the report highlights issues of concern:

Ferguson’s law enforcement practices are shaped by the City’s focus on revenue rather than by public safety needs. This emphasis on revenue has compromised the institutional character of Ferguson’s police department, contributing to a pattern of unconstitutional policing, and has also shaped its municipal court, leading to procedures that raise due process concerns and inflict unnecessary harm on members of the Ferguson community. Further, Ferguson’s police and municipal court practices both reflect and exacerbate existing racial bias, including racial stereotypes. Ferguson’s own data establish clear racial disparities that adversely impact African Americans. The evidence shows that discriminatory intent is part of the reason for these disparities. Over time, Ferguson’s police and municipal court practices have sown deep mistrust between parts of the community and the police department, undermining law enforcement legitimacy among African Americans in particular.

The report ends with broad recommendations about changes Ferguson should make to its police and court practices and states that the Justice Department will "work with the City of Ferguson toward developing and reaching agreement on an appropriate framework for reform."

Fair Use Week, Feb. 23-27, 2015

ARL, the Association of Research Libraries, is coordinating a celebration of Fair Use Week from February 23-27, 2015. ARL states:

[Fair Use Week] celebrates the important role fair use plays in achieving the Constitutional purpose of intellectual property rights in the US: to promote the progress of science and the useful arts. The flexible nature of the fair use doctrine has permitted copyright to adapt to new technologies and changes.

Information about ways to participate in Fair Use Week are available from http://www.fairuseweek.org  and from ARL.

National Security Strategy

On February 6, 2015 the White House released the latest National Security Strategy (29p. PDF). In the introduction, President Obama addresses the United States' strengths and speaks of the following challenges:

Now, at this pivotal moment, we continue to face serious challenges to our national security, even as we are working to shape the opportunities of tomorrow. Violent extremism and an evolving terrorist threat raise a persistent risk of attacks on America and our allies. Escalating challenges to cybersecurity, aggression by Russia, the accelerating impacts of climate change, and the outbreak of infectious diseases all give rise to anxieties about global security. We must be clear-eyed about these and other challenges and recognize the United States has a unique capability to mobilize and lead the international community to meet them.

For a quick overview, access Fact Sheet: The 2015 National Security Strategy http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/06/fact-sheet-2015-national-security-strategy

USGS Releases Historic Hydraulic Fracturing Data

According to a January 27, 2015 news release, the U.S. Geological Survey has made available online two new publications about hydraulic fracturing, the Scientific Investigation Report and its companion Data Series, The publications highlight historical hydraulic fracturing trends and data from 1947 to 2010. They "provide a basis for making comparisons of current-day hydraulic fracturing to historical applications" and an "improved understanding of where the practice is occurring and how hydraulic fracturing characteristics have changed over time."

Asteroid Visible from Earth on January 26, 2015

According to NASA, an asteroid about a third of a mile in size (0.5 kilometers), will be visible from Earth with binoculars on January 26, 2015 as it passes by about 745,0000 (1.2 kilometers) miles away.

For more information and to see a graphic and a video depiction, access NASA's new story, "Asteroid to Fly By Earth Safely on January 26."

National Taxpayer Advocate 2014 Annual Report to Congress

The National Taxpayer Advocate, an independent organization within the IRS created to help taxpayers resolve problems with the IRS and/or recommend changes to prevent problems, released its 2014 Annual Report to Congress. According to its newsroom report, taxpayers "this year are likely to receive the worst levels of taxpayer service since at least 2001 when the IRS implemented its current performance measures."

The primary sections of the report include:

• Most Serious Problems
• Legislative Recommendations
• Most Litigated Issues
• Volume 2: TAS Research and Related Studies

A link to the Executive Summary and the full report is available at http://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/2014-Annual-Report/full-2014-annual-report-to-congress/

The preface to the report was dated Dec. 31, 2014. In January libraries participating in the IRS Tax Outlet program were notified that since Congress cut IRS appropriations in the 2015 Omnibus Appropriations bill, outlets will receive Forms 1040EZ, 1040A and 1040 but not the multi-page instruction booklets (104 pages for 1040; 86 pages for 1040A; 43 pages for 1040EZ). Each program will receive only a reference copy of the popular Publication 17,  the general rules for filing a federal income tax return. Individuals are encouraged to download forms from IRS.gov/Forms or order tax products from IRS.gov/orderforms to be delivered by mail. They may also call 1-800-829-3676, but phone service is one of the problems noted in the report.

Songs from the Selma March

On January 15, 2015 Smithsonian.com spotlighted songs recorded on the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, some of which were used in the Ava DuVernay film Selma. The songs were recorded by Carl Benkert, an architectural interior designer from Detroit who joined the march and captured it with a battery-operated reel-to-reel tape recorder hidden under his overcoat. The songs are available for listening, but require using a free Spotify account.

For more information access Smithsonian's Listen to the Freedom Songs Recorded 50 Years Ago During the March From Selma to Montgomery .

Celebrating the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today, January 19, 2015, all over the United States celebrations are being held to  commemorate the the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In Houston the Children's Museum is hosting a celebration of his life with activities going on throughout the day. It's a beautiful day to visit MacGregor Park, home to the Houston Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial which honors "Dr. King’s legacy and contributions to peace, justice, equality, human dignity, and education." People also have an opportunity to participate in a National Day of Service to honor his memory. Find service opportunities by entering a zip code at  http://www.nationalservice.gov/mlkday2015 (slow loading page).

To learn more about Martin Luther King, Jr. including links to his speeches, access the American Memory Collection from the Library of Congress, or the Martin Luther King Jr., Research and Education Institute, or the King Center."

NORAD's Santa Tracker

Since 1955 the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), have provided a Santa tracking service to children all over the world. Volunteers from NORAD personally respond to phone calls and emails and use the internet to track Santa. NORAD's creative website includes the Santa tracker and games and images related to the North Pole and Santa's Village. It even has an app to tract Santa from a mobile phone. To find Santa's exact location children can call 1-877-446-6723 to talk with a NORAD staff member from 3:00 a.m. MST on December 24 until 3:00 a.m. MST on December 25, or on December 24 they can email noradtrackssanta@outlook.com.

Happy Holidays!

Report on the Future of Privacy

On December 18, 2014 Pew Research, a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, released a report that looks "into the future of privacy in light of the technological change, ever-growing monetization of digital encounters, and shifting relationship of citizens and their governments that is likely to extend through the next decade." Digital Life in 2025: The Future of Privacy canvassed thousands of experts and Internet builders to share their predictions. (They use the term canvas since this was not a representative randomized survey.) Questions asked of the responders were:

• Will policy makers and technology innovators create a secure, popularly accepted, and trusted privacy-rights infrastructure by 2025 that allows for business innovation and monetization while also offering individuals choices for protecting their personal information in easy-to-use formats?
• Describe what you think the reality will be in 2025 when it comes to the overall public perception about whether policy makers and corporations have struck the right balance between personal privacy, secure data, and compelling content and apps that emerge from consumer tracking and analytics. 
• Consider the future of privacy in a broader social context. How will public norms about privacy be different in 2025 from the way they are now?

Common thoughts shared by those interviewed were:

• Privacy and security are foundational issues of the digital world
• People are living in an unprecedented condition of ubiquitous surveillance
• People require little more inducement than personal convenience to disclose their personal information
• Norms are always evolving, and privacy will certainly change in coming years 
• An arms-race dynamic is unfolding
• Renegotiation and compromise will be a constant in privacy-security policy space

For more information and to obtain a PDF of the report, access 

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/12/18/future-of-privacy/

CIA Torture Report

On December 9, 2014 the Senate released the recommendations, executive summary, and findings of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program commonly known as the CIA Torture Report.  Read a PDF of the Executive Summary, Findings and Conclusions and/or a PDF of the Minority Views of Vice Chairman Chambliss and Senators Burr, Risch, Coats, Rubio and Coburn.

The official digital version (PDF) is now available on GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys). The print version is available for purchase at GPO’s retail and online bookstore for $29.

Understanding Pearl Harbor

U.S.S. Shaw burning in Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941 http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98506923

To help us understand the background of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and what it was like to live through it, government agencies have posted material online. For example, the Senate has made available the summary of the work of the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack as well as a PDF of their report. The Naval History and Heritage Command website has an overview and selected images about the Pearl Habor raid. The Library of Congress' American Folklife Center (AFC) has "man on the street interviews" featuring "opinions recorded in the days and months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor from more than two hundred individuals in cities and towns across the United States." The AFC also hosts the Veterans History Project making accessible personal accounts of American veterans from World War I to the present. Bibliographic records are available online for all the interviews with about 10% of the interviews (those with a VIEW DIGITAL COLLECTIONS button) being available online. Enter "Pearl Harbor" in the search box to access interviews relating to that fateful day.

Free Election Data

According to Library Journal and also Data Driven Journalism, Derek Willis, New York Times interactive news developer, and Sedar Tumgoren, Washington Post news apps developer, have created a free comprehensive database of past U.S. election results with the approval but not sponsorship of their employers. Supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's News Challenge, OpenElections aims to "create the first free, comprehensive, standardized, linked set of election data for the United States, including federal and statewide offices."

Warren Commission Report Available Online

Notice from the Government Printing Office (GPO):

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the release of the Warren Commission Report, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) makes the complete report and 26 hearing volumes available on GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys). The Commission was created by President Lyndon Johnson and chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren to investigate President Kennedy's assassination. GPO worked with Boston Public Library to digitize the 26 hearing volumes after digitizing the Warren Commission Report last year. Now the complete, official Warren Commission Report and hearing volumes are digitally available through GPO.

For link to complete Warren Commission Report, click here 

For link to historic video of GPO’s production of the Warren Commission Report, click here

GPO produced the Warren Commission Report and 26 hearing volumes in 1964. Altogether, GPO's work for the Commission resulted in nearly 235,000 copies of the report and nearly 5,600 sets of the hearings. All of these materials were made available to the public through distribution to Federal depository libraries nationwide and sales via GPO's bookstores.

“GPO is committed to digitization efforts and providing future generations of Americans with digital access to historical content,” Public Printer Davita Vance-Cooks. “I thank Boston Public Library for collaborating with GPO to digitize the hearing volumes. This digitization effort reflects GPO’s digital transformation from printing the report 50 years ago to making digitally available today.”

The post President Kennedy assassination audio tape recordings of conversations between various individuals in Washington, DC and Air Force One pilots and officials on board during the flight from Dallas to Andrews Air Force Base are also available on FDsys.

For link to post assassination audio tape recordings, click here.

Affordable Care Act Legislation

On Sept. 12, 2014 the Congressional Research Service released Legislative Actions to Repeal, Defund, or Delay the Affordable Care Act (PDF link) by C. Stephen Redhead and Janet Kinzer. Three appendices summarize legislative actions to repeal, defund, delay, or otherwise amend the ACA law's enactment:

• Table A-1 in Appendix A - "summarizes the authorizing legislation to amend the ACA that has been approved by both chambers and enacted into law."
• Table B-1 in Appendix B - "summarizes the ACA provisions in authorizing legislation that passed the House in the 112th Congress (2011-2012) but was not approved by the Senate. It also lists the ACA-related legislation that the House has passed to date in the 113th Congress (2013-2014), but which has not been taken up by the Senate."
• Table C-1 in Appendix C  - "summarizes the ACA-related provisions in enacted annual appropriations acts for each of FY2011 through FY2014."

The report also contains background information on the core provisions of the ACA and an overview of the law's impact on federal spending.

Journalists Killed Worldwide since 1992

The Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ)  maintains a database listing journalists killed worldwide since 1992.  Deaths are classified as "motive confirmed" if there is reasonable certainty the journalist was murdered in direct reprisal for his or her work, or killed in crossfire during combat, or killed while carrying out a dangerous assignment. If the motive is unclear, the case is labeled "unconfirmed" and investigation continues.

CPJ is an "an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal."

Microfilm and Microfiche Cabinets Available for Free

Please Note: These cabinets are no longer available.

Rice University’s Fondren Library is giving away a number of used bookshelves and microfilm and microfiche cabinets on a first come, first served basis. Institutions that take these free cabinets and/or shelves are responsible for moving, disassembling (if necessary), loading and transporting them. Cabinets and shelves must be picked up by the end of September and are provided as is.


Microfilm cabinets available (good condition):

10-12 Russ Bassett Gemtrac high density cabinets. Tan. 90"H x 30W. (Note: typically these are installed in pairs)
19 Russ Bassett Lower Vertical Cabinets. 11 drawers with five rows. Dark Gray. 57.5”H x 23.75W
9 JB Lower Vertical Cabinets. 12 Drawers with five rows. Gray. 57.5"H x 23.75W
2 Watson Lower Vertical Cabinets. 11 drawers with five rows. Dark Gray. 57.5”H x 23.75W
4 Russ Bassett Upper Overflow Drawers. 5 Drawers with Six Rows. Dark Gray. 34"H x 25W
18 JB Upper Overflow Drawers. 5 Drawers with 6 Rows. Gray. 31.75"H x 23.75W

Microfilm/ microfiche cabinets available (fair to poor condition):

We also are making available a number of microfilm and microfiche cabinets that are in fair to poor condition (e.g. stained with ink, scuffed up exteriors, mismatched drawers, loose handles, etc):

Recordak Microfilm Cabinet

• 1 JB Overflow Upper Microfilm Drawers. 31.75"H x 23.75W
• 3 Recordak Microfilm Cabinet (10 drawers/5 rows). 32.75"H x 23.5W
• 5 Russ Bassett Overflow Upper Microfilm Drawers . 34"H x 25W
• 29 Watson Overflow Upper Microfilm Drawers. 52"H x 23.5"W
• 23 Watson Lower Microfilm Cabinets (11 Drawers/5 Rows). 57.5"H x 23.75W
• 2 Microfiche Cabinets (no manufacturers’ label) 9 Drawers/2 Rows. 18.25H x 57.25W
• 4 Microfiche Cabinets ((no manufacturers’ label) 7 Drawers/2 Rows. 18.25H x 51.5W
• 3 General Firing Proof Company Microfiche Cabinets. 9 Drawers/2 Rows. 13"H x 41.75W

Bookshelves available (good condition):

95 Aetnastack double-facing shelving units. 84" H x 36" W x 16.5" D
13 double-facing gray shelving units. 36" H x 37.5" W x 12" D

Contact information: 
If you are interested in any of these cabinets or shelves, please contact:

Lisa Spiro, Executive Director of Digital Scholarship Services
lspiro@rice.edu
713-348-2480

Feel free to spread the word about the availability of the cabinets and shelves.

Online Access to Archives of Five Courts Discontinued

Due to changes in technology, online access to records of five courts through the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) system has been discontinued. A notice on the PACER webpage states the locally developed legacy case management systems in the five courts listed below are now incompatible with the new PACER Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system;

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit - Cases filed prior to January 1, 2010
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit - Cases filed prior to January 1, 2008
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit - Cases filed prior to January 1, 2010
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit - Cases filed prior to March 1, 2012
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California - Cases filed prior to May 1, 2001

A note says to contact the court directly to obtain copies of documents and dockets in the above cases. Contact information for each court is available on the Court Locator page.

A Washington Post blog article contains statements from Charles Hall, a spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and Brian Carver, an assistant professor at the University of California at Berkeley School of Information and co-founder of the nonprofit Free Law Project. The project along with Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy maintains RECAP, a crowd-sourced platform hosting free archives of documents obtained through the paid PACER system.

New Copyright Publication

The U.S. Copyright Office has made available for viewing a public draft of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Third Edition, the first major revision in more than two decades. According to the announcement,

the draft presents more than 1200 pages of administrative practices and sets the stage for a number of long-term improvements in registration and recordation policy. It will remain in draft form for 120 days pending final review and implementation, taking effect on or around December 15, 2014.

More information and a link to download the draft is available at http://copyright.gov/comp3/.

For previous editions see The Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, First Edition (1973) and Second Edition (1984).

Overview of Nonmarital Births

On July 30, 2014 the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a report by Carmen Solomon-Fears, Specialist in Social Policy, entitled Nonmarital Births: An Overview. CRS studied this topic because "although marriage and family life are generally considered private issues, they have become part of the public arena primarily because of public policies that help families affected by negative outcomes associated with nonmarital births to maintain a minimum level of economic sufficiency." The report "analyzes the trends in nonmarital childbearing, discusses some of the characteristics of unwed mothers, addresses some issues involving the fathers of children born outside of marriage, and offers some concluding remarks."

Africa Rising: Harnessing the Demographic Dividend

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released an August 2014 working paper revealing "Africa will account for 80 percent of the projected 4 billion increase in the global population by 2100." The authors of the paper, Paulo Drummond, Vimal Thakoor, and Shu Yu, state that the increase in this working age population "creates a window of opportunity, which if properly harnessed, can translate into higher growth and yield a demographic dividend." To translate this opportunity into concrete economic growth, the right supportive policies fostering human capital accumulation and job creation must be in place.

For more information access working paper WP/14/143, Africa Rising: Harnessing the Demographic Dividend.

Dodd-Frank Act a Failure?

On July 21, 2014 the House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) released a committee staff report that concludes "the Dodd-Frank Act did not end 'too big to fail' as the law’s supporters claim, but actually had the opposite effect of further entrenching 'too big to fail' as official government policy. The report also examines the causes of the 2008 financial crisis and the bailouts to large financial institutions. Both a description of the report and a link to it are available from The Committee on Financial Services press release page.

Financial Literacy of Teenagers

OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) released the results of its 2012 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) financial literacy assessment of 15 year old students from 18 countries including the United States. Results from the US include:

• Students in the US ranked somewhere between 8 and 12 among the 18 countries represented.
• More than one in six US students did not reach the baseline level of proficiency in financial literacy.
• About one in ten students in the US is a top performer able to "take into account features of financial documents that are significant but unstated or not immediately evident, such as transaction costs, and can describe the potential outcomes of financial decisions."
• In the US about 70% of advantaged students have a bank account compared to 32% of socio-economically disadvantaged students.

FCC Proposed Rule on the Open Internet

On May 15, 2014 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a proposed rule about protecting and promoting the Open Internet with a comment date of July 15, 2014 and and reply to the comments date of September 10, 2014. The document includes both supporting and dissenting opinions. The third point made in the introduction states the purpose of the notice:

3. Today, there are no legally enforceable rules by which the Commission can stop broadband providers from limiting Internet openness. This Notice begins the process of closing that gap, by proposing to reinstitute the no-blocking rule adopted in 2010 and creating a new rule that would bar commercially unreasonable actions from threatening Internet openness (as well as enhancing the transparency rule that is currently in effect).

What are some of the reactions to the notice? Andrea Peterson of The Washington Post interviewed Lynn Bradley, the director of government relations at the American Library Association's Washington office, about how net neutrality affects all types of libraries and ALA's hope to preserve an open Internet policy.

9/11 Memorial Museum Dedication, May 15, 2014

The National September 11 (9/11) Memorial Museum dedication ceremony is taking place at 9 a.m.(EST) on May 15, 2014. Following the dedication ceremony, the museum will be open around the clock for six days for 9/11 family members and rescue and recovery workers. The museum will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily starting May 21. The ticket price for the museum is $24. Children age 5 and younger will get in free as will rescue and recovery workers and relatives of 9/11 victims. The museum will not charge admission on Tuesdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Entrance to the World Trade Center memorial plaza with its two huge fountains sitting on the original footprints of the twin towers will continue to be free. The plaza opened on the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

DoD Releases Report on North Korea's Military and Security Developments

On March 5, 2014 the Department of Defense released a congressionally mandated unclassified report entitled Military and Security Developments Involving the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 2013. The report is posted at http://www.defense.gov/pubs/North_Korea_Military_Power_Report_2013-2014.pdf.

Congress asked that the report address:

an assessment of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, the goals and factors shaping North Korean security strategy and military strategy, trends in North Korean security, an assessment of North Korea’s regional security objectives, including an assessment of the North Korean military’s capabilities, developments in North Korean military doctrine and training, an assessment of North Korea’s proliferation activities, and other military security developments.

New Website for Census Bureau

On Feb. 19, 2014 the Census Bureau released a beta version of its new census.gov website, beta.census.gov . The newly designed website is scheduled to become available in mid-March.
The website will feature the following new statistical digital tools:

• Internet response — The Census Bureau offers Internet response for many of its surveys, including the American Community Survey. The Internet option makes responding to surveys more convenient, conducting surveys more cost-effective and America’s statistics more accessible on digital and mobile devices.

• dwellr mobile app — The newest app from the Census Bureau allows people to compare their preferences to find 25 “ideal” dwelling places, based on statistics from the American Community Survey. Users can check their current locations and share their places on Facebook and Twitter.

• Census Explorer — The newest mapping tool from the Census Bureau provides a look at eight topics from the American Community Survey and how they have changed since the 1990 and 2000 censuses.

• Open data application programming interface — The Census API lets developers customize Census Bureau statistics in their Web or mobile apps. The API offers data from the American Community Survey and the 2010, 2000 and 1990 censuses.

• America’s Economy mobile app — The app provides real-time updates for 20 key economic indicators from the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Unauthorized Immigrants and Their Families

On December 23, 2013 The Urban Institute released a fact sheet by Maria E. Enchautegui presenting information on the households of the United States' estimated 11.7 million unauthorized immigrants. The majority of the family members of undocumented immigrants are U.S. born citizens under the age of 18. Data used is from the 2012 Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey.

China’s Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges, and Implications for the United States

On December 17, 2013 the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a report by Asian Trade and Finance Specialist Wayne M. Morrison entitled China’s Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges, and Implications for the United States, Mr. Morrison discusses both positive and negative aspects of China's economic growth in relation to the United States.

Iraq: Politics

Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Easter Affairs, has written a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report entitled Iraq: Politics, Governance, and Human Rights made available December 17, 2013. Mr. Katzman discusses the continuing conflict between Sunni and Shiite factions in Iraq as well as Iraq's efforts to reestablish its place in the Arab world.

FDA Food Safety Proposed Rule

The FDA is proposing a rule that would "require the largest food businesses in the United States and abroad to take steps to prevent facilities from being the target of intentional attempts to contaminate the food supply." Under the proposed rule, a food facility would be "required to have a written food defense plan that addresses significant vulnerabilities in its food production process" and identify and implement strategies to address these vulnerabilities. Companies would also need to "establish monitoring procedures and corrective actions, verify that the system is working, ensure that personnel assigned to the vulnerable areas receive appropriate training and maintain certain records."

More information is available from the FDA News & Events page or from the proposed rule.

MOOCS Letter to the President - Science & Technology Advisory Council

The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has released a December 2013 report to President Obama evaluating the present and future impact of MOOCs. The report concludes:

After only two years of practical experience with MOOCs and related technologies, it is too early to tell whether substantial gains in the quality of instruction, access, achievement, and cost will be realized. But there is no question that the new technologies offer the potential for expanding access for millions of Americans, not only to college degrees, but to a wide range of effective and low-cost training modules and courses that might assist in providing the vocational skills that a twenty-first century workforce needs. To be truly successful in promoting both expansion of access and improvement in the quality of education, the MOOCs and their relatives will need to (1) employ excellent technology, (2) foster excellent pedagogy, (3) apply the results of learning science, (4) deploy new techniques of big data analysis to provide rapid feedback to teachers and learners, and (5) cultivate an online social ecosystem to enhance peer-to-peer learning and teaching. Although the jury is out, and there are legitimate reasons to be skeptical, PCAST believes that all of these conditions for success can potentially be met.

The recommendations that follow reflect PCAST’s thinking about how the Federal Government might most effectively contribute to achieving the potential of MOOCs to help address the Nation’s challenges in higher education. Going forward, we intend to explore the potential of information technology to improve K-12 education, technical training, and adult education as well as higher education, and we will report on our findings in the future.

Read the full report at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/PCAST/pcast_edit_dec-2013.pdf

Nanotechnology: A Policy Primer

On December 16, 2013 the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a new science and technology report by John F. Sargent, Jr. addressing three topics of interest to Congress regarding nanotechnology: "federal research and development (R&D) in nanotechnology; U.S. competitiveness; and environmental, health, and safety (EHS) concerns." Nanotechnology: A Policy Primer addresses those three topics plus nanomanufacturing and public understanding of and attitudes toward nanotechnology. The report is available as a PDF.

Google Transparency Reports and Government Requests

In 2010 Google launched the Transparency Report "to provide hard evidence of how laws and policies affect access to information online." They recently released numbers showing how many requests Google received from various governments to remove content from their services. There was a 68 percent increase of government requests to remove content from the last six months of 2012 to the first six months of 2013. Various types of governments or government officials have asked Google to remove political content ranging from judges, police departments, and town councils to countries such as Turkey and Russia. Reasons given for the requests include defamation, privacy and copyright laws.

Google emphasizes:

While the information we present in our Transparency Report is certainly not a comprehensive view of censorship online, it does demonstrate a worrying upward trend in the number of government requests, and underscores the importance of transparency around the processes governing such requests.

The report also includes a link to a safe browsing page detailing how many malware and phishing websites Google detects each week, how many users they warn, and which networks around the world host malware sites. Google also has a series of videos that describe malware infections and the cleanup process.

Remembering JFK

 

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________ 

 

Remembering

 

 

John F. Kennedy

 

May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________ 

 

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

John F. Kennedy Papers (in Fondren = Gov AE2:114:961-963, Public Papers of the Presidents, 1961-63); (digital through Univ. of Michigan); (digital through JFK Museum)

 

Assassination Documents:

• Warren Commission Report (in Fondren)  (digital through National Archives)
•  House Select Committee on Assassinations Report (microfiche in Fondren - PDFs in ProQuest Congressional) (digital through Internet Archive); (AARC Public Library [nonprofit group] digital documents)

Space Speech at Rice University, Sept. 12, 1962

 

Noncopyrighted official portrait available from Wikimedia Commons 



 

 

 



OMB Report on Impacts of the Government Shutdown

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has published a report discussing the impacts and economic, budgetary, and programmatic costs of the October 2013 Federal government shutdown. Bullet points under each section of Impacts and Costs of the October 2013 Federal Government Shutdown provide a quick view of the negative impacts.

2013 Survey of Americans on U.S. Role in Global Health

The Kaiser Family Foundation has published its fifth survey discussing Americans' perceptions and knowledge about the role the United States plays in improving the health of people living in developing countries. The 2013 survey "explores new questions including the public’s perception of the 'bang for the buck' of U.S. aid and its ability to promote self-sufficiency in developing countries, views of spending reductions in the context of the federal budget deficit, and more detail on people’s sources of information, including how much news they report hearing about specific global health issues." The report site includes a summary of key findings for quick review.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye - 1st Audio Book Now Available on FDsys

GPO Announcement updated Nov. 7, 2013:

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has made an audio book available for the first time on the agency’s Federal Digital System (FDsys). Published by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the audio book, Getting to Know the President: Intelligence Briefings of Presidential Candidates, 1952-2004, is a historical account of the information sharing process between the intelligence community and presidential candidates and presidents-elect during campaigns and administration transitions. The audio book is available in an .mp3 format on FDsys, a one-stop site to authentic, published Government information. The print version of the book is also available through GPO’s bookstore.

Sports-Related Concussions in Youth

Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture is now available for free download or purchase (paperback) from the National Academies Press. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) convened the Committee on Sports-Related Concussions in Youth to research concussions in youth of elementary-school age through young adulthood, including military personnel. The committee "was charged with reviewing the available literature on concussions, within the context of developmental neurobiology, regarding the causes of concussions, their relationships to impacts to the head or body during sports, the effectiveness of protective devices and equipment in preventing or ameliorating concussions, screening for and diagnosis of concussions, their treatment and management, and their long-term consequences."

Government Operations and Websites Impacted by Shutdown

For information about how the government shutdown is affecting the operations and services of the federal government, see the USA.gov shutdown information page at http://www.usa.gov/shutdown.shtml. The White House has also posted links to agency contingency plans at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/contingency-plans.
Most government websites indicate being closed completely or not updating information because of the shutdown. A partial list of shut down websites include those from the:

• Census Bureau
• Copyright Office (Will accept registrations to be processed once the shutdown ends.)
• Library of Congress (except the legislative sites Thomas.gov and beta.congress.gov)
• Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
• Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
• National Center for Education Statistics(NCES) sites including ERIC,the Digest of Educational Statistics, and International Comparisons in Education. Fondren has three commercial ERIC databases and an extensive collection of ERIC microfiche.
• National Science Foundation
• Interior Department including USGS (United States Geological Survey) (Information about Interior Department closures is available from http://www.doi.gov/index.cfm).

A partial list of sites open but not updating include:

• FDSys (Federal Digital System)(Provides official access to documents from all three branches of government). Exception: Federal Register services necessary to safeguard human life, protect property or provide other emergency services will be updated
• USA.gov (Normally provides comprehensive information on government resources, services and forms for citizens, businesses and government.)
• Ed.gov but statistical sites are closed - see above
• CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(but CDC Wonder for disseminating health information is closed)
• Health and Human Services sites such as NIH (National Institutes of Health),PubMed, and AHRQ (Agency for Healhcare Research and Quality)
• HUD.gov (Housing and Urban Development)
• Grants.gov (Will accept applications, but applications will not be processed by any of the federal agencies.)

The USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) has funds to continue operating for several weeks. The Department of Energy pages presently have no statement as to their status.

On Oct. 3, 2013 Inside Higher Education documented interruptions in academic research as a result on the shutdown in an article by Michael Stratford entitled Locked Out of the Library.

If you wish to contact Congress to describe how the lack of access affects you, Who Represents Me, Texas provides a database to identify your U.S. House of Representatives member as well as the Senators from Texas.

Employment Trends: Young Adults and Older Workers

The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce and The Generations Initiative have published a report analyzing the "divergent labor market trends for young and older adults since 1980." The major findings of the report entitled Failure to Launch: Structural Shift and the New Lost Generation are:

• In 1980, young adults reached the middle of the wage distribution at age 26; today, they do not reach the same point until age 30. For young African Americans, it has increased from age 25 to 33.
• Young adults’ labor force participation rate has returned to its 1972 level, a decline that started in the late 1980s and has accelerated since 2000.
• Older workers aren't crowding young adults out of the labor market: there are more job openings created from retirements per young person today than there were in the 1990s.
• The 2000s were a lost decade for young adults. Between 2000 and 2012, the employment rate for young fell from 84 percent to 72 percent.
• Opportunities have especially dwindled for young men, high school graduates, and young African Americans.

Read the full report and/or the executive summary.

Affordable Health Care Act Video

Confused by all the hype surrounding the Affordable Health Care Act? The Kaiser Family Foundation has created a 6.53 min. video to explain the basics of the act in a clear and entertaining way. See the English version The YouToons Get Ready for Obamacare: Health Insurance Changes Coming Your Way Under the Affordable Care Act or the Spanish version Los YouToons Se Preparan Para Obamacare: Cambios En Los Seguros Médicos Que Llegarán Con La Ley De La Salud a Bajo Precio.

For additional information, see Fondren's Understanding the Affordable Health Care Act LibGuide.

Both the guide and the video link to the official site for Affordable Health Care Act information, healthcare.gov.

Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has released a report detailing the threats posed by the antibiotic-resistant germs having the most impact on human health. Yearly in the United States an estimated 2 million people become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria while about 23,0000 people die as a result of these infections. The infections can be contracted anywhere, but most deaths occur in hospitals and nursing homes. The report divides the resistant microorganisms into three levels: urgent, serious, and concerning. In the urgent category are Clostridium difficile (life-threatening diarrhea),carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)(bloodstream infection), and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonorrhea).

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report

The bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission created to find the domestic and global causes of the financial crisis five years ago has released its final report. The commission "reviewed millions of pages of documents, interviewed more than 700 witnesses, and held 19 days of public hearings in New York, Washington, D.C. and communities across the country that were hard hit by the financial crisis." A website - www.fcic.gov - will host a wealth of additional material "including documents and emails, video of the Commission’s public hearings, testimony, and supporting research." In the future more materials will be made available through the National Archives and Records Administration.

UN Report on Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria

The United Nations has released its report on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The 38 page report including pictures and charts concluded:

27. On the basis of the evidence obtained during our investigation of the Ghouta incident, the conclusion is that on 21 August 2013, chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, also against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale.

28. In particular, the environmental, chemical and medical samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent Sarin were used in Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah and Zamalka in the Ghouta area of Damascus.

The facts supporting the conclusion follow in the full report.

698 New Laws for Texas

According to the Legislative Reference Library of Texas, 698 bills that passed during the regular session of the 83rd Legislature took effect on September 1, 2013 as did sections of bills passed in 2011. Access the list of new laws from http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/whatsNew/client/index.cfm/2013/8/7/New-Laws-Effective-September-1-2013. The page includes links to the legislation.

The Aug. 31, 2013 Forth Worth Star Telegram also features a selection of these laws which include:

• prohibiting teens under 18 from using tanning beds
• prohibiting the use of drones to photograph people on private property without their consent
• prohibiting motorists from using cellphones on school property (even outside a school zone) unless their vehicle is stopped or they are using a hands-free device
• requiring drivers to move over a lane or slow to 20 mph below the posted speed for Texas Department of Transportation vehicles and tow trucks on the side of the road in addition to the previously listed first responder or law enforcement vehicles.

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Report of the Subcommittee on Military Justice in Combat Zones

The Defense Legal Policy Board has released a report dated May 30, 2013 which addresses both best practices and areas for improvement regarding "military justice in cases of U.S. Service members alleged to have caused the death, injury or abuse of non-combatants in Iraq or Afghanistan." The Secretary of Defense's questions explored by the committee were:

1. The manner in which such alleged offenses are initially reported and investigated; are there ways to ensure that alleged offenses are reported and investigated promptly, thoroughly, and accurately? Are there ways to improve cooperation with local law enforcement and local communities?
2. The command level at which the initial and final disposition authority now resides in such cases; is it at the right levels, or should the disposition authority be withheld to a different level?
3. In joint, deployed areas, should military justice be pursued within the joint force, utilizing joint resources, rather than having cases handled separately and within each component service?
4. In deployed areas, are resources adequate for the investigation of offenses and the administration of military justice?
5. Should the system of military justice be revised in some manner to improve the way in which cases involving multiple defendants are handled? In cases involving multiple defendants, should the system be revised in some manner to better secure the testimony and cooperation of those involved in the offense? Are there lessons to be learned from the civilian system?
6. Does the military justice system in deployed areas fully preserve the rights of the accused, while also respecting the rights and needs of victims and witnesses?

To read the Report of the Subcommittee on Military Justice in Combat Zones access: http://www.caaflog.com/wp-content/uploads/20130531-Subcommittee-Report-REPORT-OF-THE-SUBCOMMITTEE-ON-MILITARY-JUSTICE-IN-COMBAT-ZONES-31-May-13-2.pdf

Targeting U.S. Technologies

The Defense Security Service has published its 2013 annual report about the targeting of U.S. technology by foreign entities. Targeting U.S. Technologies: A Trend Analysis of Cleared Industry Reporting uses "information contained in reports from industry to develop analytical assessments that articulate the threat to U.S. information and technology..." Key findings include that electronics was "East Asia and the Pacific's most commonly reported targeted technology, with attempts aimed at specific sensitive components rather than complete systems." U.S. defense technology may be the target of South and Central Asia while Near East entities tend to use "complicated and opaque procurement networks to attempt to avoid export-control regulations." Europe and Eurasia ranked fourth in collection attempts, but contain some of the most skillful collectors targeting U.S. information and technology.

Reports from 2008 through 2013 are available from the Defense Security Service's Counterintelligence Report's page.

SIGAR (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction) Quarterly Report

The July 30, 2013 SIGAR (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction) Quarterly Report pinpoints key concerns in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. In the introduction to the report, John F. Sopki, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan, states a concern that the Army has failed to act "on SIGAR’s recommendations to prevent supporters of the insurgency, including supporters of the Taliban, the Haqqani network, and al-Qaeda, from receiving government contracts." Among the contracting and procurement concerns he mentions is that the Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF) has a monopoly on providing security service and USAID implementing partners who need armed security have to pay often inconsistent and inappropriate fees. The report also mentioned the Defense Department is "moving forward with a $771.8 million purchase of aircraft the Afghan National Army cannot operate or maintain."

SIGAR is launching a high risk list that will "call attention to programs, projects, and practices in Afghanistan that SIGAR finds especially vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse, or which may be otherwise seriously detrimental to the U.S. government’s reconstruction objectives."

The July 30 report along with other SIGAR reports is available from http://www.sigar.mil/audits/reports.html.

NSA's Core Values

Given the recent NSA leaks by Edward Snowden, NSA's Deputy Director, John C. Inglis, has added explanation of NSA/CSS's core values to its website. In addition to a core value message, Inglis has given answers to a set of questions about civil liberties vs national security and provided a link to a NSA/CSS Core Values Brochure.

A group composed of civil society groups, industry and international experts in communications surveillance law, and policy and technology experts has published a set of principles they believe nations should consider in relation to State surveillance of communications. International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance discusses the following principles: legality, legitimate aim, necessity, adequacy, proportionality, competent judicial authority, due process, user notification, transparency, public oversight, integrity of communications and systems, safeguards for international cooperation, and safeguards against illegitimate access.

Organizations participating in the International Principles are listed on the website as follows:

The International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance was co-operatively written by privacy organizations and advocates worldwide, including but not limited to Access, Article 19, Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia, Asociación por los Derechos Civiles, Association for Progressive Communications, Bits of Freedom, Center for Internet & Society India, Comision Colombiana de Juristas, Electronic Frontier Foundation, European Digital Rights, Fundación Karisma, Open Net Korea, Open Rights Group, Privacy International, and the Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic. In addition, we also want to thank IP Justice, SHARE Foundation - SHARE Defense and Instituto NUPEF for help connecting concerned groups together.

Texas Senate Bill 5 Video Available

The Texas Senate maintains video archives of its committee hearings and proceedings. The June 25th Senate Session containing Senator Wendy Davis' 11 hour filibuster is now available online.

Effects of Climate Change on Sub_Saharan Africa, South Asia and South East Asia

Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience is now available from the World Bank (A report for the World Bank by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics. Washington, DC:World Bank. License: Creative Commons Attribution—NonCommercial–NoDerivatives3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.)The report makes a strong case "that climate change is a fundamental threat to economic development and the fight against poverty" in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and South East Asia and that there "can be no substitute for aggressive national emissions reduction targets."

2012 Revision of the World Population Prospects

Do you need world population data? The UN has released its online 2012 Revision of the World Population Prospects. Information is available from quick search images or from the left side bar which includes links under the broad topics of Data, Documentation, Methodology, Research, and Other Information.

New Mental Health Website

Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced the launch of MentalHealth.gov, an online resource providing information about mental health. The site includes information about "about the signs of mental illness, how individuals can seek help, and how communities can host conversations about mental health." Also included are videos from people sharing their stories about mental illness, recovery, and hope.

A companion piece, the SAMHSA Toolkit for Community Conversations About Mental Health, will be available soon through the SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration) website or store or MentalHealth.gov.

Public Access to Federally-Supported R&D Data and Publications: Planning Meetings

The National Academies recently held two meetings to solicit comments by interested stakeholders regarding public access to federally-supported research and development data and publications. The first meeting focused on scientific data while the second focused on scholarly publications. The agenda, archived webcast, written statements, PowerPoints, and transcripts of public comments are now available for both meetings at http://sites.nationalacademies.org/DBASSE/CurrentProjects/DBASSE_082378#.UZ5etPWO7Kc (scroll to the bottom).

Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2013

On May 3, 2013 the Congressional Research Service published a report by Barbara Salazar Torreon listing "hundreds of instances in which the United States has used its Armed Forces abroad in situations of military conflict or potential conflict or for other than normal peacetime purposes." Its purpose is to serve as a rough survey for the time period 1798-2013 without "without reference to the magnitude of the given instance noted." As such, it is a good starting point for more extensive research.

Congressional Research Service reports on an extensive variety of topics are available to those with Rice access as part of ProQuest Congressional. Sources of free Congressional Research Service reports are listed on Fondren's Congress subject page.

Unemployment from a Child's Perspective

The Urban Institute, a nonpartisan economic and social policy research center arising in 1968 out of a blue-ribbon commission created by President Lyndon Johnson, released an issue brief In March 2013 by Julia Isaacs about how unemployment affects children. Unemployment from a Child's Perspective "provides estimates of children affected by unemployment by state and metropolitan area, considers the effects of parental job loss on child development, and reviews policies affecting the safety net for children of the unemployed."

New Report on Transitions to Alternative Vehicles and Fuels

The National Academies Press has published a new report that assesses the potential for reducing petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 80% across the U.S. light-duty vehicles fleet by 2050 compared to 2005. Entitled Transitions to Alternative Vehicles and Fuels, the report analyzes scenarios that combine various fuel and vehicle pathways, "identifies barriers to implementation of these technologies and suggests policies to achieve the desired reductions." Both a free PDF and a reasonably priced paperback version of the report are available from the Academies' website.

New American Community Survey Bills

Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) are sponsoring two new bills limiting the reach of the American Community Survey. Representative Poe's bill, H.R.1078, seeks to make participation in the American Community Survey voluntary except with respect to certain basic questions. Senator Paul's bill, S.530, has similar wording. Poe explains the purpose of his bill on his website as does Senator Paul in a March 15, 2013 press release.

Terri Ann Lowenthal from The Census Project, an informal network of census stakeholder organizations, expresses strong concerns about the bills in her March 20, 2013 blog entry.

Impacts of Sequestration

With the threat of Sequestration cuts looming on March 1, many are wondering what the possible effects of Sequestration will be. The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is conducting Sequestration hearings now and has made available letters from various government agencies discussing possible impacts. For more information, see The Impacts of Sequestration page.

Medigap: Spotlight on Enrollment, Premiums and Recent Trends

The Kaiser Family Foundation and the University of California at Los Angeles have released an analysis of Medigap plans designed to help with expenses not covered by Medicare. The study looks at national and state trends in enrollment and finds a variation across the country and within states regarding monthly premiums for identical plans. For more information access the study at http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/8412.pdf .

President Obama's Plan to Reduce Gun Violence

President Obama's gun control plan called Now is the Time is available from the White House at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/wh_now_is_the_time_full.pdf.

The Protection of Classified Information: The Legal Framework

When WikiLeaks published classified information, many wondered about the legalities involved. Legal background information is now available from a new Congressional Research Service report, The Protection of Classified Information: The Legal Framework by Legislative Attorney Jennifer K. Elsea. According to the summary, the report

provides an overview of the relationship between executive and legislative authority over national security information, and summarizes the current laws that form the legal framework protecting classified information, including current executive orders and some agency regulations pertaining to the handling of unauthorized disclosures of classified information by government officers and employees. The report also summarizes criminal laws that pertain specifically to the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, as well as civil and administrative penalties. Finally, the report describes some recent developments in executive branch security policies and legislation currently before Congress (S. 3454).

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* Understanding the Risks Inherent in Shadow Banking

Staff at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank have published a paper exploring how shadow banking relates to systemic risk and the recent financial crisis. The paper, Understanding the Risks Inherent in Shadow Banking: A Primer and Practical Lessons Learned by David Luttrell, Harvey Rosenblum and Jackson Thies, is divided into two parts. "The first serves as a primer on shadow banking; the second provides a narrative of how the system froze during the financial crisis and pertinent lessons learned for the current reform effort." The paper explains shadow banking came about because technological advances opened up new avenues of credit. "The various other avenues of credit flow have been called the shadow banking system— so named because they intermediate credit with less transparency and regulation than in traditional banking. Shadow banks are at the center of our global market-based financial intermediation system, conducting maturity, liquidity, and credit transformation without explicit public sector credit guarantees or liquidity access."

Long-Term Implications of an Aging Population

The National Academies recently released a congressionally mandated study from the National Research Council about the long-term economic implications of the ratio of people aged 65+ to people aged 20-64 rising by 80%. Entitled Aging and the Macroeconomy: Long-Term Implications of an Older Population, the report offers "four practical approaches for preparing resources to support the future consumption of households and for adapting to the new economic landscape." A free pdf of the 239 page report is available from the Academies website as is a $49.00 paperback version. More information is available from the press release.

ACS Online Response Option

According to a Dec. 17, 2012 news release, in 2013 the Census Bureau will begin offering a secure online response option for the American Community Survey (ACS). Households sampled for the ACS will receive a package introducing the survey and providing a secure website to complete the survey which also includes new questions about computer and internet use. Alternative paper, telephone, and personal interviewing options are available for those not choosing the cost-effective secure website option.

Science.gov Celebrates 10th Birthday

According to a Dec. 5, 2012 press release, the U.S. Government's science information search and retrieval web portal has now been in service for 10 years. Science.gov was created in Dec. 2002 after "senior information managers representing 13 Federal agencies forged a consensus on how national science organizations could improve public access to the nation’s rich and diverse scientific research information" by partnering to create the web portal.

See the press release for more information. Also check out the "Cool Things" page to find odd facts and interesting history about the Science.gov Alliance members.

CBS News reported on Nov. 26, 2012 that during the Cold War the United States had considered detonating a nuclear device on the moon to send a message to the Soviet Union. Military officials rejected the idea because of possible harm to people on the Earth. The abstract for the unclassified 1959 report about the project, "A Study of Lunar Research Flights, Vol I," states:

Nuclear detonations in thc vicinity of the moon are considered in this report along with scientific information which might be obtained from such explosions. The military aspect is aided by investigation of space environment, detection of nuclear device testing, and capability of weapons in space.

International Banking Supervision

With headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, the Basel Committee, an international committee associated with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) aims to improve the quality of banking supervision worldwide. It holds an International Conference of Banking Supervisors (ICBS) every two years. On November 6, 2012 Mr. Wayne Byres, an Executive General Manager of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) who presently serves as Secretary General of the Basel Committee, gave the keynote address at its 6th Biennial Conference on Risk Management and Supervision. In his speech Mr. Byres discusses why the Basel III plan proposed by the committee is essential but not sufficient to secure a healthy banking system for the future. He stressed that "Basel III needs to be complemented by other measures to deliver the sort of financial stability outcomes" that the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors desire.

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