“There were 22.0 million total federal, state and local government employees in the U.S. in March 2012 (including part-time employees), down 115,733 or 0.5 percent from March 2011, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of federal government employees declined 2.2 percent from 2011 to 2.8 million in 2012,… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: March 2014
BIS Quarterly Review, March 2014
March 2014 Quarterly Review: Emerging economies respond to market pressure “The recent performance of emerging market currencies has reflected the success of central banks in defending exchange rates as well as the political uncertainty in a number of countries. External imbalances, inflation and domestic credit growth have played a much smaller role than during the… Continue Reading
2013 Status of the Nation’s Highways, Bridges, and Transit: Conditions & Performance
“This edition of the C&P report is based primarily on data through the year 2010; consequently, the system conditions and performance measures presented should reflect effects of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which authorized Federal highway and transit funding for Federal fiscal years 2005 through 2009 (and… Continue Reading
TIME – The Top of America – One World Trade Center
“After 12 years of anticipation, the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere is ready for its close-up. How 10,000 workers lifted 104 floors, gave new life to an international symbol and created one spectacular view. For years after the 9/11 attacks, nearly all the activity at Ground Zero was downward—digging through the piles of debris, excavating… Continue Reading
Presidential Appointments and Trust in Government
Hollibaugh, Gary E., Presidential Appointments and Trust in Government (December 14, 2013). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2405202 “Despite their responsibility for federal policy implementation in the United States, little research has focused on how presidential nominees and appointees affect public opinion. This study offers the first systematic examination of this overlooked phenomenon. Using a survey with… Continue Reading
Politics and Culture in an Age of Austerity
Etzioni, Amitai, Politics and Culture in an Age of Austerity (March 5, 2014). International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, February 2014. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2405098 “The Great Recession forced many people around to cut back on consumption and is one reason that drives the rise of right-wing forces. One response to the downturn has… Continue Reading
The Association of Ambient Air Pollution and Physical Inactivity in the United States
Roberts JD, Voss JD, Knight B (2014) The Association of Ambient Air Pollution and Physical Inactivity in the United States. PLoS ONE 9(3): e90143. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0090143 “In this cross-sectional study, we assessed leisure-time physical inactivity using individual self-reported survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. These data… Continue Reading
African Elephant Alarm Calls Distinguish between Threats from Humans and Bees
Soltis J, King LE, Douglas-Hamilton I, Vollrath F, Savage A (2014) African Elephant Alarm Calls Distinguish between Threats from Humans and Bees. PLoS ONE 9(2): e89403. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089403 “The Samburu pastoralists of Northern Kenya co-exist with African elephants,Loxodonta africana, and compete over resources such as watering holes. Audio playback experiments demonstrate that African elephants produce alarm… Continue Reading
Google’s Top Exec – data now safe from government spying
2014 SXSW conference in Austin, Texas via the Guardian: Eric Schmidt to dictators: ‘You don’t turn off the internet: you infiltrate it’: “Google’s executive chairman concerned by manipulative new approach of governments spooked by popular uprisings…Schmidt was pressed on the last year’s revelations of surveillance by agencies including the National Security Agency (NSA) in the US,… Continue Reading
Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources
“The waste of a staggering 1.3 billion tonnes of food per year is not only causing major economic losses but also wreaking significant harm on the natural resources that humanity relies upon to feed itself, says a new FAO [Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations] report. Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources is the… Continue Reading
Increasing homogeneity in global food supplies and the implications for food security
Colin K. Khoury, Anne D. Bjorkman, Hannes Dempewolf, Julian Ramirez-Villegas, Luigi Guarino, Andy Jarvis, Loren H. Rieseberg, and Paul C. Struik. Increasing homogeneity in global food supplies and the implications for food security. PNAS 2014 : 1313490111v1-201313490. “The narrowing of diversity in crop species contributing to the world’s food supplies has been considered a potential threat to food security.… Continue Reading
Guidelines for Derived 6 Personal Identity Verification (PIV) 7 Credentials
“This publication has been developed by NIST to further its statutory responsibilities under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Public Law (P.L.) 107-347. NIST is responsible for developing information security standards and guidelines, including minimum requirements for Federal information systems, but such standards and guidelines shall not apply to national security systems without the express approval of appropriate… Continue Reading
