European Institute for Gender Equality – “Since 2005 the EU is still only half way towards gender equality, as shown by the Gender Equality Index 2015 of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). Two years on from the launch in 2013, EIGE has built a time series of the Index covering 2005, 2010 and… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: July 2015
Most Americans support ban on public smoking
Gallup: “A majority of Americans continue to believe smoking should be made illegal in all public places (58%), as they have since 2011. Forty-one percent are opposed to a total ban in public places. The latest results come from Gallup’s July 8-12 Consumption Habits survey, in which 19% of Americans report having smoked cigarettes in… Continue Reading
GAO Reports – Credit Rating Analysts, Facial Recognition Technology, Federal Autism Research, Hurricane Sandy, Nuclear Weapons Sustainment
Credit Rating Analysts: Views Varied on Merits of a Professional Organization, but Creating One Now Viewed as Premature, GAO-15-591: Published: Jul 30, 2015. Publicly Released: Jul 30, 2015. Facial Recognition Technology: Commercial Uses, Privacy Issues, and Applicable Federal Law, GAO-15-621: Published: Jul 30, 2015. Publicly Released: Jul 30, 2015. Federal Autism Research: Updated Information on… Continue Reading
Global law firm implements innovative internal messaging system
Legal Insider – “In an idea that has yet to be fully embraced by its staff, DLA Piper has introduced its own internal Twitter for enterprise called Grapevine. Using Greets instead of Tweets, Grapevine is an open security model which is being used to send messages; spread news, information and know-how across the firm; and send… Continue Reading
200 Defendants Investigated by SIGTARP convicted of TARP related crimes
News release, July 30, 2015: “The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) announced that 200 bankers, corporate executives, mortgage modification scammers, real estate developers, brokers, and other defendants investigated by SIGTARP and our law enforcement partners have been convicted of crimes related to TARP. Of the 200 defendants… Continue Reading
2015 Revision of World Population Prospects
UN: “The 2015 Revision of World Population Prospects is the twenty-fourth round of official United Nations population estimates and projections that have been prepared by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. The main results are presented in a series of Excel files displaying key demographic… Continue Reading
Stress Testing Convergence
Gutierrez Gallardo, German and Schuermann, Til and Duane, Michael, Stress Testing Convergence (July 28, 2015). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2636984 “This year, 2015, marks the six-year anniversary of US regulatory stress testing. We observe three key trends: 1) Increasingly aggressive capital management: Banks initially responded to CCAR by maintaining wide capital cushions vs. regulatory… Continue Reading
See the world in your language with Google Translate
Google Blog: “The Google Translate app already lets you instantly visually translate printed text in seven languages. Just open the app, click on the camera, and point it at the text you need to translate—a street sign, ingredient list, instruction manual, dials on a washing machine. You’ll see the text transform live on your screen… Continue Reading
Federal White Collar Crime Prosecutions At 20 Year Low
“The federal prosecution of individuals charged with white collar crimes is significantly lower than it was 20 years ago, according to thousands of case-by case records analyzed by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). Records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that the overall decline began under President Clinton, and indicate that… Continue Reading
Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement
Release Date: July 29, 2015: “Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June indicates that economic activity has been expanding moderately in recent months. Growth in household spending has been moderate and the housing sector has shown additional improvement; however, business fixed investment and net exports stayed soft. The labor market continued… Continue Reading
FireEye – Uncovering Malware Backdoor that Uses Twitter
FireEye announcement: “It hides in network communications, in all the noise—designed so that defenders can neither detect nor characterize its activity. But its purpose is transparent: to use Twitter, GitHub, and cloud storage services to relay commands and extract data from compromised networks. Download the report [reg. req’d] and read about the recently discovered HAMMERTOSS,… Continue Reading
GAO Reports – BLM, Central America, DATA Act, International Trade, IRS Case Selection, Managing for Results, Motor Carrier Cases, Affordable Care Act
Bureau of Land Management: Improvements Needed in Internal Controls over Mining Law Administration Program Funds, GAO-15-562: Published: Jul 23, 2015. Publicly Released: Jul 29, 2015. Central America: Improved Evaluation Efforts Could Enhance Agency Programs to Reduce Unaccompanied Child Migration, GAO-15-707: Published: Jul 29, 2015. Publicly Released: Jul 29, 2015. DATA Act: Progress Made in Initial… Continue Reading
