May 04, 2009 – How Would Medicare Part B Premiums Be Affected If There Is No Social Security COLA? April 30, 2009 – The 2009 H1N1 “Swine Flu” Outbreak: An Overview – See also related postings. April 29, 2009 – U.S. Foreign Aid to the Palestinians April 27, 2009 – Federal Tort Claims Act April… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Monthly Archives: June 2009
Economic Policy Institute – Jobs Picture
Jobs Picture, by Heidi Shierholz, 06-05-09: “The unemployment rate increased from 8.9% to 9.4% in May, as the Household Survey showed that over three-quarters of a million workers were added to the jobless rolls, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. May marked the 17th straight month of job loss; the current recession is now… Continue Reading
EFF Launches 'Terms of Service' Tracker for Facebook, Google, eBay, and More
News release: “Terms of Service” policies on websites define how Internet businesses interact with you and use your personal information. But most web users don’t read these policies — or understand that the terms are constantly changing. To track these ever-evolving documents, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is launching “TOSBack”: a “terms of service” tracker… Continue Reading
Official Documents and Presentations Related to Crash of Flight AF 447
French Government: Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety – Press releases, documents and presentations in French [initial page translated into English]. New York Times: The Search for Flight 447 – “Search teams have covered an area larger than the state of New York and spotted debris in several locations, but none of… Continue Reading
FDIC State Profiles, First Quarter 2009
FDIC State Profiles First Quarter 2009: “The First Quarter 2009 FDIC State Profiles are now available on-line. The FDIC State Profiles are formatted as a quarterly data sheet summation of economic and banking conditions for all fifty states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. They are available in both HTML, and via map links,… Continue Reading
Employment Situation Summary, May 2009
News release: “Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 345,000 in May, about half the average monthly decline for the prior 6 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The unemployment rate continued to rise, increasing from 8.9 to 9.4 percent. Steep job losses continued in manufacturing, while declines moderated… Continue Reading
Iraq Energy Data, Statistics and Analysis – Oil, Gas, Electricity, Coal
Energy Information Administration: Iraq Energy Data, Statistics and Analysis – Oil, Gas, Electricity, Coal, June 2009 “Iraq was the worlds 13th largest oil producer in 2008, and has the worlds third largest proven petroleum reserves after Saudi Arabia and Canada. Just a fraction of Iraqs known fields are in development, and Iraq may be one… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports: Export Controls, IRS Budget Review, International Food Assistance, Military and Dual-Use Technology
Export Controls: Fundamental Reexamination of System Is Needed to Help Protect Critical Technologies, GAO-09-767T, June 4, 2009 Internal Revenue Service: Review of the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request, GAO-09-754, June 3, 2009 International Food Assistance: Local and Regional Procurement Can Enhance the Efficiency of U.S. Food Aid, but Challenges May Constrain Its Implementation, GAO-09-570, May… Continue Reading
Open Government Initiative Discussion Phase: Transparency Principles
Beth Noveck, Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Open Government: “…this initial public engagement process on open government policy will take place in three phases (brainstorming, discussion, drafting). Following this initial process, we will distill the input received here, from submissions of proposals in From the Inbox, and from government experts and develop a set of… Continue Reading
Proposed Financial Regulatory Overhaul
FoxBusiness: “Lawmakers and Obama Administration officials are moving closer to finalizing proposals to overhaul the financial regulatory system — a discussion which now includes federal insurance regulation and institutions such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but significant conflicts remain unresolved.” Related postings on financial system Continue Reading
CBO: Monthly Budget Review, June 2009
Monthly Budget Review, June 2009 – Based on the Monthly Treasury Statement for April and the Daily Treasury Statements for May: “The federal budget deficit was $984 billion for the first eight months of fiscal year 2009, CBO estimates, $664 billion more than the deficit recorded through May 2008. That estimate includes outlays for the… Continue Reading
NIST Delivers Updated Draft Standards for Electronic Voting Machines
“The Commerce Departments National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) delivered to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) a draft revision to the 2005 federal Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) Version 1.0, specifying how electronic voting machines are built and tested. The EAC has made the draft revision available for public comment today, with a final… Continue Reading
