Cyberspace Policy Review

According to a May 29, 2009 White House press release, President Obama's requested report on cybersecurity is now available. Entitled Cyberspace Policy Review: Assuring a Trusted and Resilient Information and Communications Infrastructure, the report contains the following five main chapters:

1. Leading from the Top
2. Building Capacity for a Digital Nation
3. Sharing Responsibility for Cybersecurity
4. Creating Effective Information Sharing and Incident Response
5. Encouraging Innovation

Intelligence Community Overview

In an introduction to Consumer's Guide to Intelligence released May 28, 2009, David Shedd, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Policy, Plans, and Requirements, states that "... it is important for consumers to understand the mission, background, opportunities, and challenges facing the IC (Intelligence Community)." The report begins by explaining what the Intelligence Community is and what it can and cannot do. It discusses sources and levels of intelligence; planning and direction; collection; processing; analysis and production; and dissemination. The report also details what role consumers can play in the intelligence process.

To read other publications by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, access their Reports and Publications page.

Home Foreclosure Help

To provide foreclosure alternatives the federal government has created MakingHomeAffordable.gov. According to a May 14, 2009 press release, these alternatives "provide incentives for servicers and borrowers to pursue short sales and deeds-in-lieu (DIL) of foreclosure in cases where the borrower is generally eligible for a MHA modification but does not qualify or is unable to complete the process, which helps prevent costly foreclosures and minimizes the damage that foreclosures impose on borrowers, financial institutions and communities." To help consumers determine eligibility for the program, the Making Home Affordable web site includes self assessment tools. The site also warns consumers to beware of foreclosure rescue scams and links to tips for avoiding mortgage modification scams and foreclosure rescue scams.

Biological Lab Safety

The Defense Science Board (DSB) which provides independent advice to the Secretary of Defense just released its final report about safety in DoD (Department of Defense) biological labs. When comparing DoD labs with those of similar size in government, industry, and academia, the report found that DoD labs were as good or better. The labs also exceeded recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the DSB task force also found that "a determined adversary cannot be prevented from obtaining very dangerous biological materials intended for nefarious purposes, if not from DoD laboratories, then from other sources." Therefore, the task force recommended improvements in seven areas:

Cyber Red Team (computer systems security)

Monitoring Activities

Biological Personnel Reliability Program

Overseas Regulations

Compliance Inspections

BSAT (Biological Select Agents and Toxins) Transport

Public Education and Relations

GAO Report - Alleged Abuse at Schools & Treatment Centers

On May 19, 2009 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a 62 page report entitled Seclusions and Restraints: Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private Schools and Treatment Centers. The one page highlights version of the GAO's testimony before the House Committee on Education and Labor gives background and examples about the use of restraints and seclusions in public and private schools that resulted in abuse or death. To prepare the report, GAO reviewed federal and state laws about the use of restraints and seclusions in schools, examined allegations of abuse from the past twenty years, and looked at police reports, autopsies, and school policies of closed cases. GAO personnel also interviewed parents, attorneys, and school officials and searched to find the current employment status of staff involved in the cases.

GAO found the following common themes in the 10 cases of restraint or seclusion they examined that resulted in either a criminal conviction, a civil or administrative liability finding, or a large financial settlement:

• they involved children with disabilities who were restrained and secluded often in cases where they were not physically aggressive and their parents did not give consent
• restraints that block air to the lungs can be deadly
• teachers and staff in the cases were often not trained on the use of seclusions and restraints
• teachers and staff from at least 5 of the 10 cases continue to be employed as educators.

The highlights version of the report also contains a chart with details about four of the ten cases.

Banks' Stress Test

According to a Board of Governors' press release dated May 7, 2009, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation made public the results of a comprehensive assessment of the financial conditions of the nation's 19 largest bank holding companies (BHCs). Called the Supervisory Capital Assessment Program (SCAP), the assessment identified "potential losses, resources available to absorb losses, and resulting capital buffer needed for the 19 participating BHCs."

The SCAP complements the Treasury's Capital Assistance Program (CAP) whose function is to make capital available to financial institutions "as a bridge to private capital in the future."

Both the Overview of Results (333 KB PDF)and a statement by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke are available.

U.S. Nuclear Strategy

The Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States has released its final report about U.S. nuclear strategy. Entitled America's Strategic Posture: The Final Report of the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United, the executive summary's introduction states that in preparing its report the Commission addressed the following questions:

• What factors in the external security environment should inform U.S. policy and strategy?
  
• How has U.S. nuclear and strategic policy evolved since the end of the Cold War?
  
• What role should nuclear weapons and U.S. strategic military capabilities more generally (including missile defense) play today in U.S. military strategy and national security strategy?
  
• How should U.S. forces be postured? How many nuclear weapons are “enough?”
  
• How can political instruments be used to shape the security environment? What can arms control contribute? How can nonproliferation be strengthened?
  
• What is the most efficient and effective way to maintain a safe, secure,
  and reliable deterrent?

Terrorism Reports

Two new annual reports about terrorism are now available.

• The National Counterterrorism Center has made available its 2008 NCT Report on Terrorism.
• The State Department has made available its 2008 Country Reports on Terrorism. In 2004 this series replaced Patterns of Global Terroism. Previous reports including Patterns of Global Terrorism are also linked.

Swine (H1N1) Flu

Local, state, national and international agencies have organized resources to keep the public well informed about swine flu.
Local
Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services (HCPHES) has created a Swine and Pandemic Flu Resources page to provide information for businesses, healthcare providers, first responders, educators, and the public.

State
The Texas Department of Health Services also has an extensive listing of resources on its swine flu page including information for professionals and news releases about precautions such as school closures.

National
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a wide variety of frequently updated multi-media links about flu/swine flu (now called by them H1N1 flu).

International
The World Health Organization provides constant updates about the threat of an influenza pandemic.

Commercial Vendors
EBSCO Publishing announced that its DynaMed is providing free swine flu information to health care providers and institutions throughout the world. DynaMed's Swine Influenza resource helps medical care providers stay current "with recommendations for monitoring, diagonosing, and treating patients with flu-like illnesses."
Gale Cengage Learning is providing free access to dozens of eBooks in Gale Virtual Reference Library and to its newly created Swine Flu Portal in Global Issues in Context which is updated daily.

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Latest Updates
CDC frequent updates about H1N1 has a comprehensive list of links about H1N1 Virus plus the latest updates including the 5/5/09 update about recommendations concerning closing schools.

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5/4/09 Links for special populations/situations in addition to the ones listed several days ago are:
First Responders

• Personal Protective Equipment Guidelines for First Responders
  
• Interim Guidance for Cleaning Medical Emergency Service (EMS) Transport Vehicles during an Influenza Pandemic

Texas and Area Cases

• Cases by Texas Counties
  
• Houston Area school closings provided by newspaper or public radio sources.
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  As of 4/30/09 some of the latest links from the CDC include:
  
  • Antiviral Drugs
    
  • Facemasks and Respirators
  • Interim Guidance - Pregnant Women and Swine Influenza: Considerations for Clinicians
    
  
  ***************************************************************************
  The following links are taken from a swine flu information packet annotated and emailed by the CDC to various agencies.
  
  Podcasts/Videos
  
  
  • Swine Flu Video Podcast: In this video, Dr. Joe Bresee, with the CDC Influenza Division, describes swine flu - its signs and symptoms, how it's transmitted, medicines to treat it, steps people can take to protect themselves from it, and what people should do if they become ill.
    
  • All you have to do is wash your hands Podcast: Teaches children how and when to wash their hands properly.
    
  • Ounce of Prevention: Tips and streaming video for parents and children about the steps and benefits of effective hand washing.
    
  • CDC TV - Put Your Hands Together: (Video) Improper handwashing may transmit up to 80% of all infections.
  
  
  Web pages
  
  
  • Swine Flu Key Facts: Provides facts about Swine Influenza
    
  • Swine Flu and You: Provides answers to questions about Swine Influenza
  
  
  
  RSS Feed
  
  
  • Swine Flu RSS feed: Receive automatic updates on Swine Flu from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention right on your desktop or browser.
  
  
  PDFs
  
  
  • INFLUENZA: Pigs, People and Public Health: Public Health Fact Sheet from National Pork Board
    
  • Cover your Cough Posters: Stop the Spread of Germs that Make You and Others Sick! ... Printable formats of "Cover Your Cough". Posters only available as PDF files.
  
  
  The CDC also has resources organized especially for children in schools and child care settings, for health care workers, and for the workplace in general.
  
  Schools/Child Care Facilities
  
  
  • The Flu: A Guide for Parents: Questions and answers about the flu, how to protect your child, treatment, and more
    
  • Preventing the Spread of Influenza (the Flu) in Child Care Settings: Guidance for Administrators, Care Providers, and Other Staff: Flu recommendations for schools and child care providers
    
  • Questions and Answers: Information for Schools: Printable version of answers to questions commonly asked by school administrators, teachers, staff, and parents
    
  • Protecting Against the Flu: Advice for Caregivers of Children Less Than 6 Months Old: Research has shown that children less than 5 years of age are at high risk of serious flu-related complications.
    
  • Stopping Germs at Home, Work and School: Fact Sheet
    
  • BAM! Body and Mind. Teacher's Corner: In this activity, students will conduct an experiment on washing their hands. They will learn that "clean" hands may not be so clean after all and the critical importance of washing their hands as a way to prevent the spread of disease.
    
  • Questions and Answers: Information for Schools: Information about preventing the spread of flu in schools
    
  • CDC - Be a Germ Stopper: Posters and Materials: For Community and Public Settings Like Schools and Child Care Facilities).
    
  • Stop the Spread of Germs: "Be a Germ Stopper" posters and screensavers. Simple reminders for good hygiene for use in classrooms, cafeterias or laminated for bathrooms.
    
  • Cover Your Cough: Access posters and flyers formatted for use in schools.
    
  • Scrub Club: The site features a fun and educational animated Webisode with seven "soaper-heros" who battle nasty villains who represent germs and bacteria. Kids learn the six key steps to proper handwashing through a webisode, handwashing song, interactive games, and activities for kids, and educational materials for teachers are also available to download.
  
  
  Health Care Settings
  
  
  • Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Tools for Professionals: Resources to help hospital administrators and state and local health officials prepare for the next influenza pandemic.
    
  • Patient Education Materials: This season’s materials reflect outreach to high-risk groups, including caregivers and parents of infants...
    
  • Cough Etiquette in Health Care Settings: Tips to prevent the spread of germs from coughing; Information about Personal Protective Equipment Demonstrates the sequences for donning and...
    
  
  Workplace
  
  
  • Seasonal Flu Information for Workplaces & Employees: Resources for Workplaces & Employees
    
  • Workplace Planning: Includes flyers and posters, in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Chinese...

World Digital Library

Modeled on the American Memory project from the U.S. Library of Congress, the World Digital Library is now available in seven languages - Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Partners include UNESCO, archives and museums from around the world, the Library of Congress (who maintains the site) and other national libraries. The World Digital Library makes available for free over the Internet in a variety of formats, languages and time periods "significant primary materials, including manuscripts, maps, rare books, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural drawings, and other types of primary sources."

Celebrate Earth Day

Celebrate Earth Day today and every day with tips from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA has an Earth Day site with information about the history of Earth Day, a widget to get daily environmental information, environmental podcasts, and practical ideas for everyone to help make Earth a greener place.

National Academies Historic Documents Available

According to an April 10, 2009 press release, the National Academies completed "the first phase of a partnership with Google to digitize the library's collection of reports from 1863 to 1997, making them available – free, searchable, and in full text – through Google Book Search." Plans are to have the entire collection of nearly 11,000 reports digitized by 2011.

The press release describes the following available reports:

• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 1 (1863–1894). This was the first NAS publication series, and it includes information about the Academy's early work for the government on topics such as how to prevent compass deviation which sent iron warships off course, whether the metric system of weights and measures should be adopted, and how the new U.S. Geological Service should be organized.
• Investigation of the Scientific and Economic Relations of the Sorghum Sugar Industry (1882). This report was the Academy's first self-initiated study, produced by the first committee to include non-Academy members.
• Proposed U.S. Program for the International Geophysical Year, 1957-1958. American participation in the International Geophysical Year – a historic, worldwide scientific effort that investigated the workings of the Earth and saw the launch of the first satellites – was guided and coordinated by a committee of the Academy.
• The Polar Regions and Climatic Change (1984) Changes in Earth's polar regions are widely covered in the news today, but the Academies have been studying this phenomenon for more than 20 years.

The National Academies is made up of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council. Although private nonprofit institutions, they operate under a congressional charter to provide science, technology, and health policy advice to the nation. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln "signed into being" the National Academy of Science to "investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art" when asked by any department of the government. Expansions included the National Research Council in 1916, the National Academy of Engineering in 1964, and the Institute of Medicine in 1970.

NIH Public Access Help

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has created a page to help scientists who must submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts arising from NIH funded research to the digital archive PubMed Central. NIH Public Access and NIH Manuscript Submission - Useful Resources & Tools includes information about how to address copyright and how to submit and cite papers. It also has links to the NIH Manuscript Submission System and to the PMID:PMCID converter tool for translating PUBMed Identifiers (PMID) to PMC Identifiers (PMCID) or vice versa.

According to the NIH Public Access Policy, "Final, peer-reviewed manuscripts must be posted to the NIHMS upon acceptance for publication, and be made publicly available on PMC no later than 12 months after the official date of publication."

China's Military Power

On March 25, 2009 the Department of Defense (DOD) released its annual report about the current and future military capability of the People's Republic of China. The Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2009 discusses their grand, security, and military strategies through the next 20 years.

Previous annual reports from 2002-2008 about the military capability of the People's Republic of China are also available.

Economic Stimulus Plan Web Sites

If you are seeking information about the stimulus plans, in addition to the Obama Administration's Recovery.gov which helps Americans track spending from the $787 Billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, several federal and independent agencies have pertinent web sites:


IRS Information Related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 highlights the following topics:

• COBRA: Health Insurance Continuation Subsidy


• Tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time home buyers


• Tax credit of $400 or $800 for many taxpayers


• $250 payment to Social Security Recipients, Veterans and Railroad Retirees


• Deductions for state and local sales taxes for purchasing certain new 2009 vehicles


• Tips to avoid Recovery Rebate Credit confusion

FinancialStability.gov from the U.S. Department of the Treasury contains links about making housing affordable, the Consumer and Business Lending Initiative (TALF), the Capital Assistance Program (CAP), the Financial Stability Plan, fact sheets, and press releases and statements.

The fiscal year 2010 budget overview from the Office of Management and Budget describes the Obama Administration's fiscal policies and major budgetary initiatives.

State Economic Stimulus Plans from the National Conference of State Legislatures provides details about state-level stimulus plans for 16 states.

Stimulus Watch describes projects that are candidates for funding by federal grant programs once the stimulus bill passes. This site allows people with local knowledge about the proposed projects in their cities to find, discuss, and rate the projects.

Consumer and Business Loans

According to a March 3, 2009 press release, the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board rolled out the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), part of the Consumer and Business Lending Initiative. The TALF potentially makes $1 trillion available for loans to businesses and households.

The press release explains:

The TALF is designed to catalyze the securitization markets by providing financing to investors to support their purchases of certain AAA-rated asset-backed securities (ABS). These markets have historically been a critical component of lending in our financial system, but they have been virtually shuttered since the worsening of the financial crisis in October. By reopening these markets, the TALF will assist lenders in meeting the borrowing needs of consumers and small businesses, helping to stimulate the broader economy.

Obama's Proposed Budget

President Obama's proposed fiscal year 2010 budget entitled A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America’s Promise is now available. The document provides an overview of the full fiscal year 2010 budget that will be released later in the spring. It describes the Obama Administration’s fiscal policies and major budgetary initiatives.

Track Spending from the Economic Stimulus Package

To enable Americans to track spending from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law on Tuesday, Feb. 17, the Obama Administration has created Recovery.gov. The site includes a video introduction by President Obama, graphs that chart spending by major categories, timelines of major milestones, a place to share how the Recovery Act is affecting you, and a link to the complete bill.

Reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan

Quarterly Inspector General reports about reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan are now available.

SIGAR's (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction) second quarterly report to Congress (Jan. 2009) about Afghanistan summarizes oversight reports on reconstruction since 2002, discusses observations about challenges to reconstruction, and outlines SIGAR's methodology for oversight.

SIGIR's (Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction) Jan. 2009 quarterly report about Iraq "examines the obligation and expenditure of the four major U.S. reconstruction accounts, updates progress on significant projects in the provinces, and reviews key political, economic, and security developments that will affect the U.S. program in Iraq during 2009." It also makes the following recommendations:

• Expeditiously appoint new leadership and clearly articulate policy and budget direction.
  
• Re-evaluate and re-shape the reconstruction management structure to fit the new era in Iraq.
  
• More efficiently integrate civil and military management structures.
  
• Effectively manage the security situation in accord with the terms of the new Security Agreement.
  
• Urge the Government of Iraq to embrace and sustain its primary role in reconstruction.

Response to Nuclear Detonation

Unfortunately in today's world United States public and private institutions must think about what to do in the event of a nuclear detonation. To address this topic the Homeland Security Council has just released its Planning Guide for Response to a Nuclear Detonation: First Edition targeted to emergency response planners and their leadership. The guide "addresses the unique effects and impacts of a nuclear detonation such as scale of destruction, shelter and evacuation strategies, unparalleled medical demands, management of nuclear casualties, and radiation dose management concepts." It focuses on what to do the first few days before Federal resources could be put in place.