Department of State, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, December 2006: Background Note: Afghanistan Topics include: People, History, Government, Political Conditions, Economy, Foreign Relations, U.S. Relations, Travel/Business See also Background Notes A-Z Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: December 2006
GAO Report Calls for Increased FDA Oversight of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising
Prescription Drugs: Improvements Needed in FDA’s Oversight of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Advertising, Full text GAO-07-54, and Highlights, November 16, 2006. “Studies GAO reviewed suggest that DTC advertising has contributed to increases in drug spending and utilization, for example, by prompting consumers to request the advertised drugs from their physicians, who are generally responsive to these requests.… Continue Reading
Official UK Report Released on Death of Princess Diana
The Operation Paget inquiry report into the allegation of conspiracy to murder Diana, Princess of Wales and Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed, by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpinton, Thursday 14 December 2006. Download Operation Paget inquiry – overview (PDF) Download Operation Paget inquiry – full report (PDF) Continue Reading
Internet Users Increasingly Turn to Online House Hunting
Pew Internet & American Life Project: “For Americans on the move, the Internet is becoming an increasingly important resource for researching housing options. The number of online house hunters has increased by two thirds since March 2000. On average, more than three million Internet users are online on any given day searching for a new… Continue Reading
Report Finds U.S. Bioterror, Bird Flu, and Health Disaster Preparedness Inadequate
Press release: “Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) today released the fourth annual “Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism,” which found that five years after the September 11th and anthrax tragedies, emergency health preparedness is still inadequate in America. The…report contains state-by-state health preparedness scores based on 10 key indicators… Continue Reading
Wyden Proposes The Healthy Americans Act
Press release: “Following 60 years of gridlock on a desperately-needed overhaul of the nations health care system, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, a member of the Finance Committee, today unveiled a groundbreaking new proposal to provide affordable, high quality, private health coverage for everyone regardless of where they work or live.” Learn more about the Healthy… Continue Reading
Google Launches Patent Search With Over 7 Million Patents Granted by USPTO
About Google Patent Search: “As part of Googles mission to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful, were constantly working to expand the diversity of content we make available to our users. With Google Patent Search, you can now search the full text of the U.S. patent corpus and find patents… Continue Reading
Gartner Releases 10 IT Predictions for 2007 and Beyond
Press release: Among the predicitions, is the following – “Blogging and community contributors will peak in the first half of 2007. Given the trend in the average life span of a blogger and the current growth rate of blogs, there are already more than 200 million ex-bloggers. Consequently, the peak number of bloggers will be… Continue Reading
Training for Terrorism-Related Conditions in Hospitals: United States, 2003-2004
Press release, December 11, 2006: Training for Terrorism-Related Conditions in Hospitals: United States, 2003-04. Advance Data Number 380. 9 pp. (PHS) 2007-1250. “The report …is based on data from the annual National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, conducted by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).” “Eighty-eight percent of hospitals surveyed in 2003 and 2004… Continue Reading
ALA Calls for Real Update on EPA Library Status
Follow up to my December 11, 2006 posting, EPA Responds to Protests Over Library Closures, see today’s ALA Press release: “American Library Association (ALA) President Leslie Burger responded to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) update Monday on the status of agency libraries. “The teleconference raised more questions than it answered. It is a gross oversimplification… Continue Reading
Leahy Speech at Georgetown on Ensuring Liberty And Security Through Checks And Balances
Ensuring Liberty And Security Through Checks And Balances: A Fresh Start For The Senate Judiciary Committee In The New 110th Congress, December 13, 2006 – By Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Incoming Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, United States Senate. “When it comes to protecting Americans privacy, what we have today are analog rules in a digital… Continue Reading
Senators Introduce Bill to Repeal Real ID Act
Press release: “Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) and Senator John E. Sununu (R-NH) introduced legislation [on December 8, 2006] to repeal Title II of the REAL ID Act of 2005, which they believe places an unrealistic and unfunded burden on state governments and erodes Americans’ civil liberties and privacy rights. The Identification Security Enhancement Act… Continue Reading
