Follow up to postings on the Gulf Coast oil spill, this graphic from The Economist compares the largest oil spills – excluding military attacks (in millions of barrels), dating back to 1972. The graphic is accompanied by a background image of oil soaked pelicans. See also New York Times – Onshore Spill Response Is Chaotic… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: June 2010
EPIC Recommends Consumer Privacy Protections for California Smart Grid
“In formal comments to the California Public Utility Commission, EPIC said that utility customers should control the use of personal information generated by Smart Grid services. EPIC warned that companies will otherwise use the data for purposes not related to electricity delivery, consumption management, or payment. EPIC urged the California Commission to include a requirement… Continue Reading
BP Responds to Admiral's Call for Fast Implementation of New Safety and Redundancy Plans
Follow up to posting, Coast Guard R. Admiral Gives BP 48 Hours to Identify Leak Containment Capacity, this new letter inclusive of graphs, from BP responding to the Admiral’s directive that “sets out the plans for rebuilding additional capacity and redundancy for the containment of oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill…” See also this… Continue Reading
The Future of Children: Princeton-Brookings Report
Transition to Adulthood The Future of Children, Vol. 20, No. 1, Spring 2010, Vol. 20, No. 1, Spring 2010. A Collaboration of The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and The Brookings Institution. “Todays young people are taking longer to leave home, attain economic independence, and form families of their… Continue Reading
National Archives Clinton Library to Open Additional Kagan Materials
News release: “On Friday, June 11, 2010, the Clinton Library [made] available an additional 41,759 pages of materials relating to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. The records [are] posted on their web site: www.clintonlibrary.gov. The opening includes materials primarily related to Kagans tenure in the White House Counsel’s Office. Other files concern her nomination to… Continue Reading
Pew: One-in-Seven New U.S. Marriages is Interracial or Interethnic
Marrying Out: One-in-Seven New U.S. Marriages is Interracial or Interethnic, June 6, 2010, by Jeffrey S. Passel, Wendy Wang and Paul Taylor “A record 14.6% of all new marriages in the United States in 2008 were between spouses of a different race or ethnicity from one another. This includes marriages between a Hispanic and non-… Continue Reading
A Child Born in 2009 Will Cost $222,360 to Raise According to USDA Report
News release: “Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today released USDA’s new annual report, Expenditures on Children by Families, which finds that a middle-income family with a child born in 2009 can expect to spend about $222,360 ($286,050 if inflation is factored in) for food, shelter, and other necessities to raise that child over the next 17… Continue Reading
PWC Health Research Institute – Behind the numbers: Medical cost trends for 2011
PricewaterhouseCoopers – Health Research Institute – Behind the numbers: Medical cost trends for 2011 “This annual report on medical cost trends was published in June 2010 and factored the impact of many variables including the US economy, which continues to emerge from a deep recession, as well as healthcare reform, which has phased-in milestones that… Continue Reading
U.S. Military Identifies Vast Untapped Stores of Critical Mineral Deposits in Afghanistan
Follow up to previous postings on Afghanistan, the New York Times reports, “The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials. The previously unknown… Continue Reading
White House Letter to Congressional Leaders Requests $50 Billion in Emergency Aid
In his letter to bi-partisan Congressional leadership President Obama highlights “the devastating economic impact of budget cuts at the state and local levels that are leading to massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters.” Je goes on to request support for his small business legislation that “includes a new lending initiative to help creditworthy firms… Continue Reading
International Trade Commission Launches Tariff Infringement Investigation of Apple
News release: The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain portable electronic devices and related software. The products at issue in this investigation are portable electronic devices that utilize certain power management methods and may incorporate hardware and software for telephone directories within mobile telephone systems. The investigation is… Continue Reading
The Atlantic: Closing the Digital Frontier
Closing the Digital Frontier: “The era of the Web browsers dominance is coming to a close. And the Internets founding ideology that information wants to be free, and that attempts to constrain it are not only hopeless but immoral suddenly seems naive and stale in the new age of apps, smart phones, and pricing… Continue Reading
