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Daily Archives: April 24, 2011

Department of Defense Contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq: Background and Analysis

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CRS: Department of Defense Contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq: Background and Analysis – Moshe Schwartz, Specialist in Defense Acquisition – Joyprada Swain, Research Associate – March 29, 2011

  • “The critical role contractors play in supporting military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq necessitates that the Department of Defense (DOD) effectively manage contractors during contingency operations. Lack of sufficient contract management can delay or even prevent troops from receiving needed support and can also result in wasteful spending. Some analysts believe that poor contract management has played a role in permitting abuses and crimes committed by certain contractors against local nationals, which may have undermined U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. DOD relies extensively upon contractors to support overseas contingency operations. As of December 2010, DOD had more contractor personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq (159,000) than uniformed personnel (144,000). Contractors made up 52% of DOD’s workforce in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since December 2009, the number of DOD contractors in Afghanistan has exceeded the number in Iraq. According to DOD, in Afghanistan, as of December 2010, there were 87,483 DOD contractor personnel, compared to approximately 96,900 uniformed personnel. Contractors made up 47% of DOD’s workforce in Afghanistan at that time. This compares to December 2008, when contractors represented 69% of DOD’s workforce in Afghanistan. According to DOD data, the recent surge of uniformed personnel in Afghanistan and the increase in contract obligations did not result in a corresponding increase in contractor personnel.”

    • Report: More Extreme Weather and the U.S. Energy Infrastructure

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    New release: “The country’s energy infrastructure is not ready to weather the storm of more frequent extreme weather. A new National Wildlife Federation (NWF) report delivers that finding and makes recommendations for improving energy reliability. NWF climate scientist Dr. Amanda Staudt says floods, intense storms, hurricanes, droughts and heat waves have been happening more frequently,… Continue Reading

    Applying Dispute System Design Theory to Create a Foreclosure Mediation System

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    Schneider, Andrea Kupfer and Fleury, Natalie, There’s No Place Like Home: Applying Dispute System Design Theory to Create a Foreclosure Mediation System (April 21, 2011). Nevada Law Review, Forthcoming. “This article analyzes the theory of dispute system design when put into action to meet a current economic crisis. In partnership with the City of Milwaukee,… Continue Reading

    'HTTPS Now' Campaign Urges Users to Take an Active Role in Protecting Internet Security

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    News release: “The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Access have launched an international campaign for HTTPS Now, rallying consumers around the world to help us make web surfing safer. HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) protects web surfing by encrypting requests from a user’s browser and the resulting pages that are displayed, but many websites default… Continue Reading

    In Praise of Vagueness: Malleability of Vague Information as a Performance-Booster

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    Mishra, Himanshu, Mishra, Arul and Shiv, Baba, In Praise of Vagueness: Malleability of Vague Information as a Performance-Booster (October 14, 2010). Psychological Science, Forthcoming. “Is the eternal quest for precise information always worthwhile? This research suggests that at times vagueness has its merits. Previous research has demonstrated that people choose precise (over vague) information because… Continue Reading

    Dutch Data Protection Authority issues several administrative orders against Google

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    News release: “[April 19, 2011], the Dutch Data Protection Authority (College bescherming persoonsgegevens, CBP) has issued several administrative orders against Google for incremental penalty payments. Investigations by the CBP show that Google has, for a period of two years, systematically, and without the data subjects’ knowledge, collected MAC addresses of more than 3,6 million WiFi… Continue Reading

    2010 Census Advance Group Quarters Summary File

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    “The Census Bureau, in response to federal and state officials as well as other data users, is providing an early version of table P42 from the 2010 Census Summary File 1, showing population counts for seven types of group quarters. The institutionalized group quarters categories include correctional facilities for adults, juvenile facilities, nursing facilities/skilled-nursing facilities… Continue Reading