NYT: Just 44 percent of Americans approve of the job the Supreme Court is doing and three-quarters say the justices decisions are sometimes influenced by their personal or political views, according to a poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News. Those findings are a fresh indication that the courts standing with the public has slipped significantly in the past quarter-century, according to surveys conducted by several polling organizations. Approval was as high as 66 percent in the late 1980s, and by 2000 approached 50 percent. The decline in the courts standing may stem in part from Americans growing distrust in recent years of major institutions in general and the government in particular. But it also could reflect a sense that the court is more political, after the ideologically divided 5-to-4 decisions in Bush v. Gore, which determined the 2000 presidential election, and Citizens United, the 2010 decision allowing unlimited campaign spending by corporations and unions.”
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Daily Archives: June 7, 2012
Ownership Characteristics of Classifiable U.S. Exporting Firms: 2007
“This first-ever report describes findings from the merging of two Census Bureau data products, the 2007 Profile of U.S. Exporting Companies (the Profile) and the 2007 Survey of Business Owners. The merged data provide new insights on the ownership of U.S. exporting firms by gender, ethnicity, race and veteran status. Among other findings, the statistics… Continue Reading
Bing introduces New Britannica Online Encyclopedia Answers
Bing Search Blog: “Starting today, were excited to announce a partnership with Encyclopedia Britannica to include Britannica Online answers directly in the Bing results page. The answer provides a quick overview of the subject, a thumbnail image, and useful facts and figures making it easier than ever to get trusted content in search. We also… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports: Requirements for the Selective Service, GSA Pricing for Office Supplies, Medicaid and Medicare Programs
DOD Should Reevaluate Requirements for the Selective Service System, GAO-12-623, Jun 7, 2012 Office Supplies – Recent GSA Pricing Study Had Limitations, but New Initiative Shows Potential for Savings, GAO-12-705T, Jun 7, 2012 Program Integrity Further Action Needed to Address Vulnerabilities in Medicaid and Medicare Programs, GAO-12-803T, Jun 7, 2012 School Bullying – Extent of… Continue Reading
Law School Grads Face Worst Job Market Yet – Less Than Half Find Jobs in Private Practice
News release: “According to Selected Findings from the Employment Report and Salary Survey for the Class of 2011 released today by NALP, the overall employment rate for new law school graduates is, at 85.6%, the lowest it has been since 1994, when the rate stood at 84.7%. In addition to an overall employment rate that… Continue Reading
Federal Reserve Board approves final rule to implement changes to market risk capital rule
News release: “The Federal Reserve Board [on June 7, 2012] approved a final rule to implement changes to the market risk capital rule, which requires banking organizations with significant trading activities to adjust their capital requirements to better account for the market risks of those activities. The final rule implements certain revisions made by the… Continue Reading
The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2011
The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2011. Prepared by the Staff of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, Higher Education Research Institute, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles “The 46th administration of the CIRP Freshman Survey finds the political and social views of incoming first-year students leaning in a more… Continue Reading
Refugees and Asylees: 2011
Refugees and Asylees: 2011 – May 2012 “The United States provides refuge to persons who have been persecuted or have well-founded fear of persecution through two programs: one for refugees (persons outside the U.S. and their immediate relatives) and one for asylees (persons in the U.S. and their immediate relatives). This Office of Immigration Statistics… Continue Reading
Sunlight Foundation: Appropriators May Undercut Legislative Transparency
Daniel Schuman and Eric Mill: “House Appropriators may deal a tremendous blow to prospects for improving public access to legislative information. In a draft report expected to accompany the Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill for 2013…appropriators misunderstand how data can be “authenticated,” and kick responsibility for improving public access to legislative data to a non-public task… Continue Reading
A movement to improve e-book access and services for public library users
ReadersFirst: “Libraries have a responsibility to fight for the public and ensure that users have the same open, easy and free access to e-books that they have come to rely on with physical books. They face two major challenges. The first is that, unlike print books, publishers are not required to sell e-books to libraries… Continue Reading
Connect, Collaborate, and Communicate: A Report from the Value of Academic Libraries Summits
Connect, Collaborate, and Communicate: A Report from the Value of Academic Libraries Summits, by Karen Brown and Kara J. Malenfant, June 2012. “Five overarching recommendations for the library profession emerged from the discussions, presentations, and facilitated small group work at the summits: Increase librarians understanding of library value and impact in relation to various dimensions… Continue Reading
