World Press Freedom Index 2011-2012 – “Syria, Bahrain and Yemen get worst ever rankings – This years index sees many changes in the rankings, changes that reflect a year that was incredibly rich in developments, especially in the Arab world, Reporters Without Borders said today as it released its 10th annual press freedom index. Many media paid dearly for their coverage of democratic aspirations or opposition movements. Control of news and information continued to tempt governments and to be a question of survival for totalitarian and repressive regimes. The past year also highlighted the leading role played by netizens in producing and disseminating news.” Crackdown was the word of the year in 2011. Never has freedom of information been so closely associated with democracy. Never have journalists, through their reporting, vexed the enemies of freedom so much. Never have acts of censorship and physical attacks on journalists seemed so numerous. The equation is simple: the absence or suppression of civil liberties leads necessarily to the suppression of media freedom. Dictatorships fear and ban information, especially when it may undermine them.”
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Daily Archives: January 29, 2012
Report – Most Federal Judges Warn Jurors About Social Media
Jurors Use of Social Media During Trials and Deliberations – A Report to the Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management, Meghan Dunn, Federal Judicial Center November 22, 2011 “Most federal judges have taken steps to ensure that jurors do not use social media to discuss the trial in which they are involved,… Continue Reading
IMF – Global Financial Stability Report GFSR Market Update
Global Financial Stability Report GFSR Market Update: “Since the last Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR), risks to stability have increased, despite various policy steps to contain the euro area debt crisis and banking problems. European policymakers have outlined significant policy measures to address the medium-term issues contributing to the crisis, and some of these have… Continue Reading
EPA Releases New Tool with Information about Water Pollution Across the U.S.
News release: “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of a new tool that provides the public with important information about pollutants that are released into local waterways. Developed under President Obamas transparency initiative, the Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Pollutant Loading Tool brings together millions of records and allows for easy searching and… Continue Reading
EIA – New Northeast natural gas pipeline capacity comes on-line
“Four interstate natural gas pipeline projects in the Northeast U.S. began commercial service in 2011, adding nearly 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of capacity (see map) and over 181 miles of new pipe. Average daily natural gas demand last winter (November 2010 – March 2011) in the Northeast was about 16 billion cubic feet… Continue Reading
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Americas Nuclear Futures Releases Final Report
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Americas Nuclear Future released its final report: “The Blue Ribbon Commission on Americas Nuclear Future today released its final report to the U.S. Energy Secretary, detailing comprehensive recommendations for creating a safe, long term solution for managing and disposing of the nations spent nuclear fuel and high‐level radioactive waste…The strategy… Continue Reading
CRS – The Role of Local Food Systems in U.S. Farm Policy
The Role of Local Food Systems in U.S. Farm Policy, January 24, 2012 “Sales of locally produced foods comprise a small but growing part of U.S. agricultural sales. USDA estimates that farm-level value of local food sales totaled about $4.8 billion in 2008, or about 1.6% of the U.S. market for agricultural products. An estimated… Continue Reading
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries
“The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) announces the release of the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries 2012, a clear and easy-to-use statement of fair and reasonable approaches to fair use developed by and for librarians who support academic inquiry and higher education. The Code was developed in partnership… Continue Reading
BIS – Preliminary international banking statistics, third quarter 2011
Statistical commentary on preliminary locational and consolidated banking statistics at end-September 2011 Locational and consolidated banking statistics as at end-September 2011, preliminary data in PDF format, CSV files and the BIS WebStats interactive query tool “In the third quarter of 2011, after adjusting for the effects of the depreciation of most currencies against the US… Continue Reading
World Economic Forum, Global Risks 2012 Seventh Edition
Global Risks 2012 Seventh Edition, An Initiative of the Risk Response Network Now in its seventh edition, the reports research methodology has been significantly revamped. Data and analysis are based on a newly designed survey covering a meaningfully expanded set of 50 global risks across five categories. The assessments of these risks more than doubled… Continue Reading
