Music Search: Use Google to get quick access to a wide range of music information. For details, see the Official Google Blog posting. Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: December 2005
News of Classified Domestic Surveillance Operation Sparks Outrage
The revelation of previously undisclosed domestic surveillance operations, documented in by the New York Times in the December 15 article which apparently had been withheld from publication for a year, has generated considerable controversy and bipartisan reaction calling for a Congressional probe. Civil Liberties Become a Casualty of War Continue Reading
Digital Age Communications Act
Press release: “…Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced the Digital Age Communications Act (DACA), S. 2113, 50 pages, PDF. The bill creates a communications regulation system that is market-oriented, competition-based and grounded in sound economic principles.” Continue Reading
Complete Pentagon FOI Request Logs for 2000 to Present Now Online
Following-up on this November 24 posting, FOI Requests Made By Media Outpaced By Non Partisan Research Archive, additional details and the availability of complete FOI logs from 2000-2004 (in either Excel of zipped PDF), and the logs from 2004 to present (in either Excel or zipped PDF). Continue Reading
Patriot Act Reauthorization Blocked By Senate
As noted, this week marked a dramatic shift in Senate support for Patriot Act reauthorization without substantive reforms to the White House backed bill. Today a bipartisan group of Senators blocked the the bill’s approval (the vote was 52-47), noting other recent revelations about secret government surveillance as having an impact on their decision. WSJ… Continue Reading
New CRS Report Clearly Documents Differences in Congressional and Presidential Access to Intelligence Data
Press release: Senator Feinstein Releases Nonpartisan CRS Report that Concludes Congress Did Not Have Access to Full Scope of Prewar Intelligence. CRS Report, Congress as a Consumer of Intelligence Information, December 14, 2005: Limitations on Congressional Access to Certain National Intelligence – By virtue of his constitutional role as commander-and-in-chief and head of the executive… Continue Reading
Commentary by Bill Moyers on Government Secrecy
In the Kingdom of the Half-Blind, by Bill Moyers. “This is the prepared text of the address delivered on December 9, 2005, by Bill Moyers for the 20th anniversary of the National Security Archive, a non-governmental research institute and library at The George Washington University, in Washington D.C.” “It has to be said: there has… Continue Reading
Non Partisan Report Notes Slight Upturn in Satisfaction With E-Gov Sites
Federal Government Scores, December 15, 2005, American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), Commentary by Professor Claes Fornell: “Since 2003, the ACSI has also measured satisfaction with Federal government websites. This year, the ACSI e-Government index rose 2.5% from 72.1 a year ago, up to a score of 73.9. Much like offline government services, there is a… Continue Reading
Report Reveals Post 9/11 Gov’t Surveillance of Americans
New York Times: Bush Secretly Lifted Some Limits on Spying in U.S. After 9/11, Officials Say, by James Risen and Eric Lichtblau: “Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the… Continue Reading
Senate Vote on Patriot Act Scheduled Tomorrow
AP: Feingold Now Has Numbers on His Side – As the only Senator voting against the Patriot Act in 2001, Feingold’s consistent efforts to reform the bill have resulted in a bipartisan group now comprising over 24 Senators who are demanding reforms before reauthorizing the legislation. Statement by Sen. Russ Feingold: “The Senate is scheduled… Continue Reading
Science Magazine Reviews Accuracy of Wikipedia
Following up on a series of postings included in Authority of Vast Collaborative Online Encyclopedia Questioned, please see this related article, Nature 438, 900-901 (15 December 2005), Special Report, Internet encyclopaedias go head to head, by Jim Giles: “Jimmy Wales’ Wikipedia comes close to Britannica in terms of the accuracy of its science entries, a… Continue Reading
Pentagon Responds to Reporting on Domestic Surveillance of Citizens
Follow-up on NBC Reports on DOD Surveillance of American Anti-War Activists, from William M. Arkin’s Early Warning blog today: “The Pentagon now says that it has ordered a “review” of the collection of information about U.S. citizens, particularly those who pose no plausible terrorist threat..” Continue Reading
