News release: “Many synthetic chemicals, untested for their disrupting effects on the hormone system, could have significant health implications according to the State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The joint study calls for more research to understand… Continue Reading
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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
G20 Quarterly Gross Domestic Product, fourth quarter 2012, OECD
“Quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the G20 area grew by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with 0.6% in the third quarter, according to preliminary estimates. The aggregate G20 GDP growth rate however continues to mask diverging patterns across the worlds largest economies. Among the Major Seven countries, all European countries (Italy,… Continue Reading
Evaluation of Biomonitoring Data from the CDC National Exposure Report in a Risk Assessment Context
Evaluation of Biomonitoring Data from the CDC National Exposure Report in a Risk Assessment Context: Perspectives across Chemicals – March 1, 2013 “Biomonitoring data reported in the National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals [NER; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012)] provide information on the presence and concentrations of > 400 chemicals in… Continue Reading
Cenus – Estimates of Income and Earnings by Selected Demographic Characteristics
“Using data collected by the Survey of Income and Program Participation, this table package presents income and earnings estimates at the individual, family and household level for the third quarter (July, August and September) of 2011. The tables also include quarterly estimates by selected demographic characteristics, such as gender, race/ethnicity, age, marital status and highest… Continue Reading
Pew – Teens and Technology 2013
Teens and Technology 2013 – by Mary Madden, Amanda Lenhart, Maeve Duggan, Sandra Cortesi, Urs Gasser. March 13, 2013 “Smartphone adoption among American teens has increased substantially and mobile access to the internet is pervasive. One in four teens are cell-mostly internet users, who say they mostly go online using their phone and not using… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Budget Issues, Information Sharing, Modernizing the Nuclear Security Enterprise, Renewable Energy, Water Infrastructure
Budget Issues – Effects of Budget Uncertainty from Continuing Resolutions on Agency Operations, GAO-13-464T, Mar 13, 2013 Information Sharing – Additional Actions Could Help Ensure That Efforts to Share Terrorism-Related Suspicious Activity Reports Are Effective, GAO-13-233, Mar 13, 2013 Modernizing the Nuclear Security Enterprise – Observations on DOE’s and NNSA’s Efforts to Enhance Oversight of… Continue Reading
Freedom of Information Act Performance, 2012: Agencies Are Processing More Requests but Redacting More Often
Freedom of Information Act Performance, 2012: Agencies Are Processing More Requests but Redacting More Often. Center for Effective Government, March 13, 2013 “A building block of American democracy is the idea that citizens have a right to information about how their government works and what it does in their name. However, citizen access to public… Continue Reading
POGO – Federal Governments Largest Contractors Have Paid Billions in Fines, Penalties
“The federal governments largest suppliers of goods and services have accumulated more than $59 billon in fines, penalties, and settlements since 1995 according to the Project On Government Oversights (POGO) Federal Contractor Misconduct Database. POGO has added 12 new entities to the database, including telecom giant Verizon Communications and health insurer Highmark. Verizon has 24… Continue Reading
TRAC- Immigration Court Backlog Reaches New High
“The number of cases awaiting resolution before the Immigration Courts has risen along with the average time these pending cases have been waiting. As of the end of February 2013, the backlog has reached a new all-time high of 325,296. According to the very latest data obtained and analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse… Continue Reading
Using Metadata as the Foundation for a Government-Wide FOIA Library
News release: “The Justice Departments Open Government Plan version 2.0 (PDF) announced a variety of new Department initiatives concerning the administration of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A key initiative of this plan was the development of metadata standards that would facilitate the ability of interested persons to search and retrieve documents across websites… Continue Reading
Research – Digital records could expose intimate details and personality traits of millions
“New research, published today in the journal PNAS, shows that surprisingly accurate estimates of Facebook users race, age, IQ, sexuality, personality, substance use and political views can be inferred from automated analysis of only their Facebook Likes – information currently publicly available by default. In the study, researchers describe Facebook Likes as a generic class… Continue Reading
Report – Iraq: Still paying a high price after a decade of abuses
“Ten years after the US-led invasion ended the brutal rule of Saddam Hussein, Iraq remains enmeshed in a grim cycle of human rights abuses, including attacks on civilians, torture of detainees, unfair trials and widespread use of the death penalty, said Amnesty International in a new report today. Amnestys 82-page report – Iraq: A Decade… Continue Reading
