Washington Post: “House Republicans on Tuesday changed the way Congress calculates the cost of transferring federal lands to the states and other entities, a move that will make it easier for members of the new Congress to cede federal control of public lands. The provision, included as part as a larger rules package the House approved by a vote of 233 to 190 during its first day in session, highlights the extent to which some congressional Republicans hope to change longstanding rules now that the GOP will control the executive and the legislative branches starting Jan. 20. Many Republicans, including House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah), have been pushing to hand over large areas of federal land to state and local authorities, on the grounds that they will be more responsive to the concerns of local residents.”
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Daily Archives: January 4, 2017
US Department of Labor sues Google Inc. for compensation data
Data requested as part of routine audit of a federal contractor: “The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit to require Google Inc. to provide requested compensation data and documents for the multinational company’s Mountain View headquarters as part of a routine compliance evaluation. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs asked the technology… Continue Reading
The Transparency Reporting Toolkit: Guide & Template
“The Transparency Reporting Toolkit is a joint project by New America’s Open Technology Institute and Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. The purpose of the Toolkit is to make it easier for companies to create better transparency reports about government requests for user data. Similarly, by providing a template and best practices,… Continue Reading
Pew – Animal Drug Companies Fulfill Commitment to Change Antibiotic Labels
Pew Charitable Trusts: “The Food and Drug Administration announced an important milestone today in efforts to ensure that antibiotics are used responsibly in food animals. The agency said that all affected companies have voluntarily complied with Guidance for Industry #213 that called for them to make two key modifications to the labels of medically important… Continue Reading
FCW – 3 in 10 agency websites miss OMB deadline to migrate to HTTPS
Federal Computer Week, Chase Gunter: “…While many agencies have indeed moved to HTTPS, 31 percent of the approximately 1,200 .gov domains monitored by the Pulse dashboard have not completed these conversions…To help transitioning agencies, GSA also launched a help site that provides technical advice and assistance, and “works directly with federal staff who are working… Continue Reading
Survey of Business Owners: U.S. Exporting Firms Tables
“This release combines 2012 Survey of Business Owners (SBO) data with the 2012 Profile of U.S. Exporting Companies. This combined data product provides a look at the ownership characteristics (specifically, gender, ethnicity and race) of exporting companies. These data were first produced in 2007.” Continue Reading
Ranks of Super Rich Grew in 2014
WSj via FastCompany – “There’s no need to panic—the rich are doing fine. According to new data from the Internal Revenue Service, income reported on tax returns for the 400 wealthiest individuals rose 20% in 2014, the Wall Street Journal reports. The significant income boost reveals what many of us already suspected: The rich are getting… Continue Reading
COIN: A Study of Strategic Illusion
Etzioni, Amitai, COIN: A Study of Strategic Illusion (March 12, 2015). Small Wars & Insurgencies, 26:3, 345-376, 2015.. Available for download at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2577457 “Has the United States military become a learning institution, one able to transition from relying on a conventional war model to fighting against irregular adversaries such as insurgents and terrorists? This… Continue Reading
French workers win legal right to avoid checking work email out-of-hours
Agence France-Presse via The Guardian – “From 1 January, workers have ‘right to disconnect’ as France seeks to establish agreements that afford work flexibility but avoid burnout woman checks her phone while lying in bed From Sunday, French companies will be required to guarantee their employees a “right to disconnect” from technology as the country… Continue Reading
Commentary – How Social Isolation Is Killing Us
Dhruv Khullar, New York Times 12-22-16 – “Social isolation is a growing epidemic — one that’s increasingly recognized as having dire physical, mental and emotional consequences. Since the 1980s, the percentage of American adults who say they’re lonely has doubled from 20 percent to 40 percent. About one-third of Americans older than 65 now live… Continue Reading
Science reports American Community Survey and Census Bureau lack funding
Jeffrey Mervis – Census: “Add the U.S. Census Bureau to the list of government agencies whose activities may be threatened by the election of Donald Trump and the new Congress. The bureau has traditionally maintained a fairly low profile among federal agencies. At the same time, it symbolizes many things that the president-elect and congressional… Continue Reading
Legislative History of “Repeal and Replacement” of the Obamacare: Overview
This guide as created and is maintained by experts at the The Legal Research Center, Drexel School of Law. “The election of 2016 saw the GOP obtain control of the presidency and retain control of both chambers of Congress. This created an opportunity for Republicans to “repeal and replace” the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA),… Continue Reading
