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Daily Archives: January 3, 2013

Transocean Agrees to Plead Guilty to Environmental Crime and Enter Civil Settlement to Resolve U.S. Clean Water Act Penalty Claims from Deepwater Horizon Incident

News release: “Transocean Deepwater Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) and to pay a total of $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines and penalties, for its conduct in relation to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Department of Justice announced today. The criminal information and a proposed partial civil consent decree to resolve the U.S. government’s civil penalty claims against Transocean Deepwater Inc. and related entities were filed today in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana.” Related Material:

New GAO Reports – Causes and Consequences of Recent Bank Failures, Border Security

Financial Institutions – Causes and Consequences of Recent Bank Failures. GAO-13-71, Jan 3, 2013. “Ten states concentrated in the western, midwestern, and southeastern United States—all areas where the housing market had experienced strong growth in the prior decade—experienced 10 or more commercial bank or thrift (bank) failures between 2008 and 2011. The failures of the… Continue Reading

Google Agrees to Change Its Business Practices to Resolve FTC Competition Concerns

News release: “Google Inc. has agreed to change some of its business practices to resolve Federal Trade Commission concerns that those practices could stifle competition in the markets for popular devices such as smart phones, tablets and gaming consoles, as well as the market for online search advertising. Under a settlement reached with the FTC,… Continue Reading

Proposed Rulemaking – IRS Truncated Taxpayer Identification Numbers

“This document contains proposed regulations that create a new taxpayer identifying number known as an IRS truncated taxpayer identification number, a TTIN. As an alternative to using a social security number (SSN), IRS individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), or IRS adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN), the filer of certain information returns may use a TTIN… Continue Reading

State employment and unemployment, November 2012

BLS: “From November 2011 to November 2012, nonfarm employment increased in 45 states and decreased in 5 states and the District of Columbia. The largest over-the-year percentage increase occurred in North Dakota (+4.7 percent); the largest decrease occurred in West Virginia (−1.8 percent). Over the year, 29 states experienced statistically significant changes in employment; only… Continue Reading

U.S. Periods of War and Dates of Current Conflicts

U.S. Periods of War and Dates of Current Conflicts, Barbara Salazar Torreon, Information Research Specialist, December 28, 2012 “Many wars or conflicts in U.S. history have federally designated “periods of war,” dates marking their beginning and ending. These dates are important for qualification for certain veterans’ pension or disability benefits. Confusion can occur because beginning… Continue Reading