Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Monthly Archives: June 2007

U.S. National Strategy for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication

Via NPR News Blog and PoliticalWarfare.org: “It took 18 months and some prodding from other agencies, but the State Department finally has a new strategy for communications and public diplomacy. The new plan is intended to help State Department diplomats around the world provide a unified message about U.S. policies and programs, something critics say… Continue Reading

Subcommittee Asks GAO to Investigate New FBI Center Designed to Amass Records on Citizens

Press release: “The leaders of the House Committee on Science and Technology’s 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… Continue Reading

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

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

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