President Obama Names Childhood Obesity Taskforce – Read Memorandum “Childhood obesity or excess weight threatens the healthy future of one third of American children. We spend $150 billion every year to treat obesity-related conditions, and that number is growing. Obesity rates tripled in the past 30 years, a trend that means, for the first time… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: February 2010
Labor Underutilization Problems of U.S. Workers Across Household Income Groups at the End of the Great Recession
Labor Underutilization Problems of U.S. Workers Across Household Income Groups at the End of the Great Recession: A Truly Great Depression Among the Nations Low Income Workers Amidst Full Employment Among the Most Affluent. Prepared by Andrew Sum, Ishwar Khatiwada, With the Assistance of Sheila Palma, Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts.… Continue Reading
U.S. Salary Increase Budgets Nearly Matching Inflation
News release: “With total salary increase budgets now barely exceeding inflation, even top performers may barely be keeping up with cost of living increases, according to The Conference Board Salary Increase Budgets for 2010-Winter Update, containing revised projections for 2010 U.S. salary budgets and salary structure adjustments. Projected new 2010 projections show that salary increase… Continue Reading
Hearing – Furthering the Mission or Having Fun: Lax Travel Policies Costs DHS Millions
February 4, 2010 – House Subcommittee on Management, Investigations & Oversight, Committee on Homeland Security, Hearing: Furthering the Mission or Having Fun: Lax Travel Policies Costs DHS Millions – the Statement of Carlton Mann, Assistant Inspector General, Office of Inspections. “DHS officials were unable to produce precise and consistent numbers on conference spending. For example,… Continue Reading
Google Buzz Social Media Integrated into Gmail
Official Google Blog: “Google Buzz is a new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting. It’s built right into Gmail, so you don’t have to peck out an entirely new set of friends from scratch it just works. If you think about it, there’s always been a big social network underlying… Continue Reading
Kaiser Budget Tracker: Status of U.S. Funding for Key Global Health Accounts
Budget Tracker: Status of U.S. Funding for Key Global Health Accounts: “This resource provides regularly updated information on the status of U.S. funding for key global health programs throughout the budget and appropriations process. It includes a detailed breakdown of each major account as presented in the Presidents budget request and in relevant appropriations bills… Continue Reading
CRS Reports: Terrorist Watchlist Checks and Terrorist Grounds for Exclusion of Aliens
Follow up to previous postings on Terrorist Watchlist see the following related CRS reports: Terrorist Watchlist Checks and Air Passenger Prescreening, December 30, 2009: “Considerable controversy continues to surround U.S. air passenger prescreening and terrorist watchlist checks. In the past, such controversy centered around diverted international flights and misidentified passengers. Another issue surfaced on Christmas… Continue Reading
Social Transmission and Viral Culture
Social Transmission and Viral Culture, by Jonah Berger, assistant professor of Marketing and Katherine L. Milkman, assistant professor of Operations and Information Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. “People often share news, opinions, and information, and social transmission shapes both individual behavior and collective outcomes. But why are certain things more viral than… Continue Reading
World Report: Abusers Target Human Rights Messengers
News release: “Governments responsible for serious human rights violations have over the past year intensified attacks against human rights defenders and organizations that document abuse, Human Rights Watch said in issuing its World Report 2010. The 612-page report, the organization’s 20th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, summarizes major human rights trends… Continue Reading
CRS Report – Al Qaeda and Affiliates: Historical Perspective, Global Presence
February 05, 2010 – Al Qaeda and Affiliates: Historical Perspective, Global Presence, and Implications for U.S. Policy “Al Qaeda (AQ) has evolved into a significantly different terrorist organization than the one that perpetrated the September 11, 2001, attacks. At the time, Al Qaeda was composed mostly of a core cadre of veterans of the Afghan… Continue Reading
CRS Report – Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile
Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile. Jennifer E. Manning, Information Research Specialist, February 4, 2010 “This report presents a profile of the membership of the 111th Congress. Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party affiliation, average age and length of service, occupation, religious affiliation, gender, ethnicity, foreign births,… Continue Reading
CRS Report: Metropolitan Transportation Planning
Metropolitan Transportation Planning, William J. Mallett, Specialist in Transportation Policy, February 3, 2010 “Federal law requires state and local governments to designate a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) in each urbanized area with a population of 50,000 or more to help plan surface transportation infrastructure and services. There are currently 381 MPOs nationwide. Despite some strengthening… Continue Reading
