“Welcome to our new website! As the Executive Director of the Council [Valerie Jarrett], Im very excited to launch this site as we commemorate Womens Equality Day on August 26. On this day when we remember the bravery and struggles that won women the right to vote, we are very pleased to add this website… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: August 2009
Newly Declassified CIA Histories on Wars in Indochina
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 283: “The Central Intelligence Agency participated in every aspect of the wars in Indochina, political and military, according to newly declassified CIA histories. The six volumes of formerly secret histories (the Agency’s belated response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by National Security Archive senior fellow… Continue Reading
Cash for Clunkers Wraps up with Nearly 700,000 car sales and increased fuel efficiency
News release: “The CARS program came to a close Tuesday night with nearly 700,000 clunkers taken off the roads, replaced by far more fuel efficient vehicles. Rebate applications worth $2.877 billion were submitted by the 8 p.m. deadline, under the $3 billion provided by Congress to run the program. Cars made in America topped the… Continue Reading
FDIC Board Approves Final Statement of Policy on the Acquisition of Failed Depository Institutions
News release: “The FDIC Board today adopted a final Statement of Policy on the Acquisition of Failed Insured Depository Institutions. This policy statement provides guidance to investors interested in acquiring or investing in the deposit liabilities of failed banks or thrifts about the standards they will be expected to meet in order to qualify to… Continue Reading
Edward M. Kennedy, Senate Stalwart – Graphics, Video and Remembrances
New York Times: “Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, a son of one of the most storied families in American politics, a man who knew acclaim and tragedy in near-equal measure and who will be remembered as one of the most effective lawmakers in the history of the Senate, died late Tuesday night. He was… Continue Reading
Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Bounces Back
News release: “The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index ®, which had retreated in July, rebounded in August. The Index now stands at 54.1 (1985=100), up from 47.4 in July. The Present Situation Index increased slightly to 24.9 from 23.3 last month. The Expectations Index improved to 73.5 from 63.4 in July.” Related postings on financial… Continue Reading
Global Warming Bringing More Extreme Heat Waves
Global Warming Bringing More Extreme Heat Waves – More Extremely Hot Days Projected 30 Large Cities Especially Vulnerable, Published August 25, 2009: “More extremely hot summer days are projected for every part of the country, detailed in a new report from the National Wildlife Federation and Physicians for Social Responsibility. To explain the bigger… Continue Reading
CBO – The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update
The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update 2009 Budget Projections (pdf) Economic Projections (pdf) Economic Projections (xls) Data for Figures 2-1, 2-10, 2-12 (xls) Comparison of CBO’s Baseline and OMB’s Mid-Session Review (pdf) Details of CBO’s Year-by-Year Forecast and Projections for Calendar Years 2009 to 2019 (Along with data for 1950 to 2006) (xls) Key… Continue Reading
Side-by-side Comparison of the Bush and Obama Administration Releases on Torture
News release: “Today, the National Security Archive posted a side-by-side comparison of two very different versions of a 2004 report on the CIA’s “Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities” by Agency Inspector General John Helgerson. Yesterday, the Obama administration released new portions of the report including considerably more information about the use of torture and other… Continue Reading
Mid-Session Review, Budget of the U.S. Government – Fiscal Year 2010
Mid-Session Review Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2010. Office of Management and Budget: “When the President took office, the Nation was experiencing the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. This decline was not simply the result of a normal downturn in the business cycle; also contributing to it were irresponsible… Continue Reading
NIST Guidelines recommends best practices for next generation of portable biometric acquisition devices
“A new publication that recommends best practices for the next generation of portable biometric acquisition devicesMobile IDhas been published by Commerces National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Devices that gather, process and transmit an individuals biometric datafingerprints, facial and iris imagesfor identification are proliferating. Previous work on standards for these biometric devices has focused… Continue Reading
CCR, Amnesty and NYU Receive Docs Cheney Wanted Declassified to Justify Torture
News release: “The [redacted] documents [below] were released through FOIA litigation by the Center for Constitutional Rights, Amnesty International USA, and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University School of Law seeking disclosure of information concerning disappeared detainees, including ghost and unregistered prisoners. The original FOIA requests were filed with… Continue Reading
