Press release: “The leaders of the House Committee on Science and Technologys Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight have asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) [copy of the letter] to investigate the proposed creation of a new federal facility aimed at identifying terrorists. The Subcommittee is concerned that, without the proper safeguards in place, billions of personal records that will be stored there may be vulnerable to theft or abuse. The FBI is currently seeking $12 million to develop a new, mammoth, data-mining center that will collect billions of records on individuals suspected of terrorist connections over the next few years. The new National Security Branch Analysis Center (NSAC) proposed in the Department of Justices FY2008 budget justification document, will include 90,000 square feet of office space and a total of 59 staff, including 23 contractors and five FBI agents. “Documents predict the NASC will include six billion records by FY2012. This amounts to 20 separate ‘records’ for each man, woman and child in the United States,” wrote the Subcommittee leaders.”
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Daily Archives: June 12, 2007
GAO Evaluates Talking Books for the Blind Program
Talking Books for the Blind, GAO-07-871R, June 12, 2007. “The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), a part of the Library of Congress, operates a free national talking (audio) book program for qualified blind, visually impaired, or physically disabled residents of the United States and its territories, as well as qualified… Continue Reading
Marine-Base Housing Contained Drinking Water Contaminated with Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) for Nearly 30 Years Says Federal Health Agency
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Press Release, June 12, 2007: “Water in the drinking water system for the Tarawa Terrace family housing area at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, affecting possibly 75,000 residents, was contaminated with tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a dry cleaning solvent, during the period November 1957 through February… Continue Reading
FDA Implementing Initiative to Reduce Tomato-Related Foodborne Illnesses
Press release: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin a multi-year Tomato Safety Initiative to reduce the incidence of tomato-related foodborne illness in the United States…The Tomato Safety Initiative complements the Leafy Greens Initiative launched in 2006.” Continue Reading
Anti-phishing Research Group at Indiana University
“The anti-phishing research group at Indiana University, stop-phishing.com, is striving to understand, detect and prevent online fraud, and in particular, to reduce the economic viability of phishing attacks. We achieve this goal through a cross-disciplinary research agenda in which we consider all facets of the problem, ranging from psychological aspects and technology matters to legal… Continue Reading
International Forum to Share Best Practices in Utilizing Performance Information
OMB and the Council for Excellence in Government Host International Forum to Share Best Practices in Utilizing Performance Information (June 12, 2007) Continue Reading
Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism
From the State Department: The Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism – Pakistan Endorses the U.S.-Russia-led Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (6/11/07) The Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism is open to other partner nations who share the common goals of the initiative and are actively committed to combating nuclear terrorism on a determined… Continue Reading
31% – Campaign Watchers on the Net
Pew Research Center DataBank, June 12, 2007: “Nearly a third (31%) of American adults used the internet during the 2006 campaign to get political news and information and discuss the races through email; the number of Americans using the internet as their main source of political material doubled since the last mid-term election in 2002.” Continue Reading
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Yearbook 2007
“The Yearbook is SIPRI’s annual compendium of data and analysis of developments in security and conflicts, military spending and armaments and non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament. The SIPRI Yearbook 2007: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security was launched at a press conference on 11 June 2007.” Download the press release and chapter summaries booklet (28 pages) Continue Reading
CBO Reports: Current Accounting Deficit, Effectiveness of Medical Treatments, Medicare's Spending for Physicians' Services
Will the U.S. Current Account Have a Hard or Soft Landing? June 11, 2007 Testimony on Research on the Comparative Effectiveness of Medical Treatments: Options for an Expanded Federal Role, June 12, 2007 Background Paper: Factors Underlying the Growth in Medicare’s Spending for Physicians’ Services, June 2007 Continue Reading
2007 Trafficking in Persons Report Released
“The purpose of this Report is to call the world’s attention to the existence of modern-day slavery, and the desperate need to eliminate it the same way the world ended the African slave trade more than a century ago. Human trafficking plagues every country including the United States. The Report covers 164 countries and territories,… Continue Reading
