“CDT is calling on Congress to require judicial approval of FBI efforts to access the sensitive records of US citizens. Recent revelations regarding violations in the use of so-called “national security letters” have shown that no matter how many internal controls the FBI adopts, self-certification in not sufficient when the government is obtaining the sensitive… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: March 2007
Comptroller General of the U.S. Presentation on Fiscal Stewardship and Defense Transformation
David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, Fiscal Stewardship and Defense Transformation, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, March 8, 2007, GAO-07-600CG. Continue Reading
DOD OIG Unclassified Executive Summary: DoD Involvement with The Rendon Group
03/06/07 Unclassified Executive Summary from (Classified) Report No. 07-INTEL-06 “DoD Involvement with The Rendon Group” Continue Reading
OMB Agency Information Quality Guidelines
OMB Agency Information Quality Guidelines: “Section 515 of Public Law 106-554, known as the Data Quality Act, required the Office of Management and Budget to promulgate guidance to agencies ensuring the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information (including statistical information) disseminated by Federal agencies. OMB’s government-wide guidelines, published as interim final on September 28,… Continue Reading
Audio Tracks of YouTube Clips Analyzed and Transcribed By Defense Contractor
Beet.TV: “A major defense department contractor, BBN of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has applied a national security technology application, developed to fight terrorism, to “crawl” the audio tracks of public Internet videos through its Podzinger subsidiary. Podzinger has analyzed, transcribed and organized some 1.5 million YouTube clips since December and is crawling many thousand every day, according… Continue Reading
Trustworthy Repositories Audit and Certification Checklist is Published
Press release: “The Center for Research Libraries and RLG Programs (a unit of the OCLC Programs and Research division) announce the publication of Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification: Criteria and Checklist.” Continue Reading
Draft 2007 Report to Congress on the Costs and Benefits of Federal Regulations
Summary: “The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requests comments on its 2007 Draft Report to Congress on the Costs and Benefits of Federal Regulations. The full Draft Report (103 pages, PDF) is divided into four chapters. Chapter I examines the costs and benefits of major Federal regulations issued in fiscal year 2006 and summarizes… Continue Reading
Nationwide Information Audit of Public Hazmat Documents Meets with Suspicion, Confusion And, Sometimes, Compliance
Press release: “A nationwide information audit, conducted as a prelude to Sunshine Week, found slightly more than four in 10 of the official gatekeepers willing if wary to provide copies of emergency response plans, which federal law makes public. Other local officials, however, reacted to requests with confusion, outright denials and sometimes by… Continue Reading
Sunshine Week 2007: March 11-17
“Sunshine Week is a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include print, broadcast and online news media, civic groups, libraries, non-profits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know. Sunshine Week is led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and is… Continue Reading
Survey Reports 10 Years After E-FOIA, Most Federal Agencies Are Delinquent
National Security Archive: “Ten years after Congress enacted the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments (E-FOIA), only one in five federal agencies actually complies with the law, according to a new survey released today during Sunshine Week by the National Security Archive. Passed in 1996 and effective in 1997, E-FOIA ordered federal agencies to post… Continue Reading
Tax Policy Center Offers Researchers Expert Data in Searchable Formats
“The Tax Policy Center estimates the revenue and distributional impact of tax proposals using a state-of-the-art microsimulation model of the federal tax system. Our searchable database includes distribution tables that show how proposals alter tax liabilities and after-tax income, by dollar income class and by percentiles of the income distribution. We also periodically estimate the… Continue Reading
Canadian Troops in Afghanistan: Taking a Hard Look at a Hard Mission
Senate of Canada, Standing Committee on National Security and Defense, 39th Parliament, 1st Session: Canadian Troops in Afghanistan – Taking a Hard Look at a Hard Mission, February 2007. Executive Summary and Full text of the Report Continue Reading
