“Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein today announced the appointment of former Department of Justice official and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to serve as Special Counsel to oversee the previously-confirmed FBI investigation of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters. This is a copy of the order.” “In… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: May 2017
Purchases on Google Now Available for Beta Request
Anthony Capetola on May 16, 2017 – Sales and Orders Blog: “This is new and we only just noticed it in Merchant Center. It seems as though Google quietly rolled out the Beta for Purchases on Google. Access to the request form can be found in Merchant Center Programs in your Merchant Center account. Additionally,… Continue Reading
Household Debt Reaches New Peak Driven by Gains in Mortgage, Auto, and Student Debt
Federal Reserve Bank of New York: “The Center for Microeconomic Data’s latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit reveals that total household debt achieved a new peak in the first quarter of 2017, rising by $149 billion to $12.73 trillion—$50 billion above the previous peak reached in the third quarter of 2008. Balances climbed… Continue Reading
GAO – Gov’t Opportunities to Address Pervasive Management Risks and Challenges while Reducing Federal Costs
Government Efficiency and Effectiveness: Opportunities to Address Pervasive Management Risks and Challenges while Reducing Federal Costs, GAO-17-631T: Published: May 17, 2017. Publicly Released: May 17, 2017: “The federal government is on a long-term, unsustainable fiscal path—it is spending more money than it is collecting. We’ve made hundreds of recommendations through our High Risk list and… Continue Reading
FTC – New dietary supplement website launched
“Ever wonder if your dietary supplements are truly safe, effective and risk-free? If you are a member of the military, this question can be particularly important. Servicemembers often are targeted by companies selling supplements: to help members of the military lose weight, enhance workouts, or be in top shape for battle. If you’re considering using… Continue Reading
The Emoji States of America – a new way to present government data
I admit to not being and emjoi aficionado, so to make up for this apparent deficit, I offer you The Emoji States of America – via Axios Visuals Editor Lazaro Gamio: “This visualization is a modified version of Chernoff Faces, a technique that maps multiple statistical values to the features of a face. Because it’s… Continue Reading
The Visual History of Decreasing War and Violence
Truth be told, the world has not become more violent. The facts specific to the history of violence are documented in numerous charts, graphs and statistics, all expertly researched and presented by Our World in Data (OWID) – an online publication that shows how living conditions are changing. The 18 slides that comprise the presentation… Continue Reading
The Importance of Truth Workers in an Era of Factual Recession
The Importance of Truth Workers in an Era of Factual Recession, Alison Head and John Wihbey: “In our post-truth world, the evaluation of knowledge has become a perfunctory process facilitated by the ease of the one-search interface. Many of us, not only students, have become a nation of Google searchers looking for instantaneous matches of facts… Continue Reading
MuralsDC promotes artistic use of aerosol painting rather than graffiti
DC Department of Public Works, in cooperation with the DC Commission on the Arts and the Humanities: “MuralsDC was created in 2007 to replace illegal graffiti with artistic works, revitalize sites within communities in the District of Columbia, and to teach young, aspiring artists the art of aerosol painting. This initiative aims to positively engage… Continue Reading
The State of Racial Justice in Chicago Report
Institute for Research on Race & Public Policy (MC 347) University of Illinois at Chicago: “The State of Racial Justice in Chicago Report provides a comprehensive picture of the changing conditions of racial and ethnic groups in Chicago during the last half century. The report provides accessible data and analysis on how racial and ethnic groups… Continue Reading
How The Intercept visualized and open-sourced a database of terrorism prosecutions since 9/11
“Last month, The Intercept published “Trial and Terror,” a database of – and series of stories about – the 796 people prosecuted for international terrorism by the United States since the attacks of September 11, 2001. To accompany the database, Moiz Syed, a data journalist and designer at The Intercept, developed a visualization to convey details of the cases, including the most… Continue Reading
Library Offers Largest Release of Digital Catalog Records in History
“The Library of Congress announced today that it is making 25 million records in its online catalog available for free bulk download at loc.gov/cds/products/marcDist.php. This is the largest release of digital records in the Library’s history. The records also will be easily accessible at data.gov, the open-government website hosted by the General Services Administration (GSA).… Continue Reading
