Friday, March 30, 2007

GAO releases this week

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is often called the investigative arm of Congress. This week they released reports, testimony and correspondence this week on topics, such as defense, homeland security and food stamps. Want to know more about the GAO? Check out the library's guide.

Reports
Correspondences
Testimonies

Hearings on U.S. Attorneys

Yesterday the Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing entitled "Preserving Prosecutorial Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys?–Part III." You can watch the testimony and read prepared statements at this site.

Want to read more on the hearing? Check out the Washington Post article "Ex-Aid Contradicts Gonzales on Firings."

Want to read some of the documents on this controversy? Check out the previous posting on this blog.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

United Nations and Space

The United States has a space program, so does Russia and the European Union, but did you know that the United Nations also has an office dedicated to space? The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs works to promote the peaceful use of space. The office has several charges, some of which are listed here:
  • the activities and resources of the United Nations, the specialized agencies and other international bodies relating to the peaceful uses of outer space
  • legal problems which might arise in programmes to explore outer space
  • to assist in the study of measures for the promotion of international cooperation in outer space activities.
Want to know what objects have been launched into space? You can search their database, which lists both manned and unmanned spacecraft.

Want to know the latest information on space exploration and research? Check out Highlights in Space 2006.

Want more resources? Check out the library's guide on Space and Astronomy.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

This weeks discovered CRS reports...

Secrecy News released information this week on how the Congressional Research Service (CRS) is further cracking down on the release of CRS reports. They received a copy of a memo to CRS staff in which CRS director Daniel P. Mullohan states "I have concluded that prior approval should now be required at the division or office level before products are distributed to members of the public." While you can always get CRS reports from congressional members, researchers, other government agencies and journalists have also been able to get reports directly from CRS, which now appears to be forbidden.

Here are the latest CRS reports found by OpenCRS and Secrecy News:
Interested in historical CRS reports? If you are here at Boulder, check out the LexisNexis Congressional database, which has reports back to 1916.

Want to check out some other free sources of reports? Check out the library's guide.

Monday, March 26, 2007

White House and U.S. Automakers

President Bush met today with the CEOs of Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler. Check out the flex-car demonstration on the lawn of the White House (transcript and video).

Want to read more about the meeting? Check out the Associated Press article "Bush, Auto Execs to talk Flex-Fuel Cars." President Bush has launched an initiative "Twenty in Ten" (announced in the State of the Union address) to reduce consumption of oil by 20% in the next ten years.

Want to know more about our energy consumption? Check out the library's guide to energy information.

Friday, March 23, 2007

GAO Releases for the week

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released reports, testimony and correspondence this week on topics, such as Medicare, education, Iraq and Yellowstone Park. Want to know more about the GAO? Check out the library's guide.

Reports
Testimonies
Special Publication
Presentations by Comptroller General
  • "Improving Performance, Transparency, and Accountability Through Use of Key National Indicators" before the OECD Workshop on Indicators for Developing, Monitoring, and Analyzing Agri-Environmental Policies, in Washington. GAO-07-642CG, March 19. [slides]
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d07642cg.pdf
  • "Fiscal Facts and Keeping America Great" by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States. The John Hazen White Lecture at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. GAO-07-648CG, March 15. [text]
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d07648cg.pdf

Thursday, March 22, 2007

New royalty rates for Internet Radio stations

How many of you listen to radio stations on the Internet or through satellite radios? Many do at work or in the car, but what most people don't know about are the recent proposed changes to how those stations pay royalties for the music they play. On March 2nd, the Copyright Review Board, a branch of the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress, announced new royalty rates, and plans to retroactively enforce them to January 1, 2006.

The heart of the controversy centers around the issue of royalty fees for artists whose music is played on Internet radio stations, both the large corporate sites like Live365 and Yahoo, and the smaller basement broadcasters feeding their internet hobby through playing their favorite music. The Digital Performance Rights in Sound Recordings Act requires Internet, cable and satellite radio stations to submit royalties to record companies in exchange for playing their artists' songs. There are various rate catagories but the highest current rate is 10.9% of the station's annual revenue.

The new rates level a graduated tax ($0.0008 for 2006 to $0.019 by 2010) based on performance numbers rather than by revenue. A performance is defined as one song to one listener. For example, stations usually play 16 songs per hour. For a station with 500 listeners, that is 16 songs x $0.0011 per song (2007 rate) x 500 listeners = $8.80 an hour. Most internet stations broadcast 24 hrs a day so that is $211.20 a day. Take that times 365 days and the yearly fee to run an internet station with 500 listeners would be $77,088.00.

On one hand the Recording Industry Association of America, who proposed the new rates, says they want to make sure artisits get the royalties due them. On the other hand, opposers of the new rates say many stations will be unable to pay these much higher fee and many will go out of business. Feel strongly one way or the other? Let your Senator or Representative know!

For more information on copyright, go to the library's Copyright Subject Guide.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

World Water Day

Today has been designated World Water day by the United Nations. Want to learn more? Here are some blog postings from the United Nations affiliated organizations:

Want some additional resources? Check out the UNDP's Human Development Report, Beyond Scarcity or the UN's World Water Development Report.

If you still need more information, check out the library's guide to water resources.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Deparement of Justice releases information on U.S. Attorney firings

The story has been in the news for a while now, but there is now quite a collection of correspondence from the Department of Justice office, in a bunch of different places.

What story? It is the debate over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys in 2006. There is discussion of whether the attorneys were fired for political reasons or for job performance. The Department of Justice released another 3000 pages of documents last night. The problem is that there is no one source for these materials, but here are three sources:
  • U.S. House Judiciary Committee currently the documents are under What's New. There are also selected materials listed under documents on demand. Unfortunately, you will just have to click on each item to see what it is about since there is no index.
  • National Public Radio Selected emails are listed on the left next to the story.
  • Washington Post In addition to linking to all the stories on this topic, you can also find links to selected documents on the right.

CRS reports to check out

I have found a few regularly updated sources for Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports, so the blog will now start featuring a list of new CRS reports on Tuesdays.

What are CRS reports? They are reports written by the CRS for members of Congress. They usually range from 6 to 20 pages long and are written in a clear and concise manner. These reports cover anything of interest to Congress, which can mean you will can find a report on defense spending or maybe a report on the effects of climate change.

Here are this weeks reports:

These links are coming to you courtesy of OpenCRS and Secrecy News.

Want access to historical reports back to 1916? Those of you either here on campus or affiliated with campus can access the LexisNexis Congressional database, which has full-text access.

For those of you without campus access, check out the library's guide.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Iraq, Four years

Today the President spoke on the fourth anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom. You can read, listen to or watch his eight minute speech from this morning. You can also read more from the White House on Iraq, in their guide "Renewal in Iraq."

Want some analysis of his speech? Check out the Washington Post's "Bush Warns U.S. Security will suffer if troops withdraw from Iraq."

Want more information on the military or operations in Iraq? Check out the library's War Against Terrorism or Military guides.

Friday, March 16, 2007

GAO releases for the week

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released reports, testimony and correspondence this week on topics, such as homeland security, fiscal responsibility, and nuclear proliferation. Want to know more about the GAO? Check out the library's guide.

Reports
Correspondences
Testimonies
  • Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request: U.S. Government Accountability Office, by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, before the Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, Senate Committee on Appropriations. GAO-07-547T, March 16.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-547T
  • Operation Iraqi Freedom: Preliminary Observations on Iraqi Security Forces' Logistical Capabilities, by William M. Solis, director, defense capabilities and management, before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Armed Services. GAO-07-582T, March 9.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-582T
    Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07582thigh.pdf
  • Federal Housing Administration: Ability to Manage Risks and Program Changes Will Affect Financial Performance, by William B. Shear, director, financial markets and community investment, before the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, Senate Committee on Appropriations. GAO-07-615T, March 15.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-615T
    Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07615thigh.pdf
  • Combating Nuclear Smuggling: DHS's Decision to Procure and Deploy the Next Generation of Radiation Detection Equipment Is Not Supported by Its Cost-Benefit Analysis, by Gene Aloise, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology, House Committee on Homeland Security. GAO-07-581T, March 14. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-581T
    Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07581thigh.pdf
  • Nuclear Nonproliferation: Focusing on the Highest Priority Radiological Sources Could Improve DOE's Efforts to Secure Sources in Foreign Countries, by Gene Aloise, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. GAO-07-580T, March 13.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-580T
    Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07580thigh.pdf
  • Stabilizing Iraq: Factors Impeding the Development of Capable Iraqi Security Forces, by Joseph A. Christoff, director, international affairs and trade, before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Armed Services. GAO-07-612T, March 13.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-612T
    Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07612thigh.pdf
  • Veterans' Disability Benefits: Processing of Claims Continues to Present Challenges, by Daniel Bertoni, acting director, education, workforce, and income security issues, before the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. GAO-07-562T, March 13.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-562T
    Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07562thigh.pdf
  • Capitol Visitor Center: Update on Status of Project's Schedule and Cost as of March 13, 2007, by Terrell G. Dorn, director, physical infrastructure issues, before the Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, House Committee on Appropriations.GAO-07-601T, March 13.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-601T
Presentations by the Comptroller General
  • "Improving Performance, Transparency, and Accountability in the Federal Government" by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, before the Federal Financial Management Conference, in Washington, D.C. GAO-07-603CG, March 13. [slides]
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d07603cg.pdf
  • "America's Fiscal Future: A Call for Citizen Involvement" by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States. The Flory Public Policy Lecture at McPherson College, McPherson, Kansas. GAO-07-613CG, March 11. [Text]
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d07613cg.pdf
  • "Saving Our Future Requires Tough Choices Today" by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, on the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour in Cincinnati, Ohio, GAO-07-624CG, March 9. [Slides]
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d07624cg.pdf
  • "Fiscal Stewardship and Defense Transformation" by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, before the U.S. Naval Academy, in Annapolis, Maryland. GAO-07-600CG, March 8.
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d07600cg.pdf

UFOs

For my last post of Sunshine week I thought I would highlight some government documents on UFOs. There is of course the well known discussion of Roswell (see the FBI, Air Force, and Department of Defense). But what did they know when? Check out the article "CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90" this article discusses the possible fears of the U.S. government that UFOs were advanced technologies from the USSR and the various government initiatives researching UFOs.

Want more reports? The library has created a guide to UFOs.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Scientific Writing class

This is a blog entry for the ENVS3020 class. Feel free to discuss issues or any other discussions from the class here in the blog. This blog is monitored by librarians, so feel free to ask questions of us as well as each other. The handout used in this class is available online.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Happy Birthday Albert Einstein!

Today is Albert Einstein's birthday. In celebration of his birthday why not check out the FBI's files on Albert Einstein? He was investigated due to his numerous ties as a member, sponsor, or honorary Charmain of numerous groups associated with the Communist Party.

As mentioned before this is Sunshine week (see Monday's entry) and the files on Einstein are available due to Freedom of Information Act requests. There are numerous files available at the FBI to view online, check out their Electronic Reading Room for reports on people such as Marilyn Monroe or groups like the Quakers.

Want to read more previously classified documents? For those of you on campus, check out the Declassified Documents Reference Service or Digital National Security Archive databases.

For the rest of you, check out the library's guide to declassified documents which has numerous links to free sources on the web.

Does the Census have current data on America?

For those of you here in Boulder, I will be doing a drop-in session this afternoon from 4-5 in E160 (right across from the reference desk on the first floor) entitled "Does the Census have current data on America?"

Data from Census 2000 too old for you now? With the new American Community Survey, some cities and counties will have access to annual demographic and socio-economic estimates from the Census. By 2010, every county, Census place (city or town) and Census tract will have new data every year, not just every ten years. Come learn about the American Community Survey and see a demonstration of the American Factfinder website.

The handout for the class is available online.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

State of the World's Forests

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has released the 2007 edition of the State of the World's Forests. This annual report examines the forest cover of the world and has specific reports on each countries growth or loss of forest cover. Did you know that from 1990 to 2005, the world lost three percent of its total forest area, an average decrease of some 0.2 percent per year, according to FAO data. From 2000 to 2005, 57 countries reported an increase in forest area, and 83 reported a decrease. However, the net forest loss remains at 7.3 million hectares per year or 20,000 hectares per day, equivalent to an area twice the size of Paris.

For a quick overview of the report, check out the FAO's press release.

Want to learn more about the FAO? Check out the library's guide.

Want more forestry resources? Check out the library's guide.

Selected recent CRS reports

In continued celebration of Sunshine week, today I want to highlight Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports. As mentioned last week, while CRS reports are not classified, the average citizen can only get these reports by requesting them from his or her Senator or Representative. Here are this weeks reports from OpenCRS and Federation of American Scientists:

Want to learn more about the Congressional Research Service? Check out the library's guide.

For those of you on campus who would like access to historical reports, check out the LexisNexis Congressional database which has CRS reports back to 1916 in full-text.

Monday, March 12, 2007

President Bush in Latin America

President Bush is touring Latin America this week (and this past weekend). You can view the speeches and press releases for this trip on the White House web site.

Want to see what people are saying about the various stops on the trip? Check out the Washington Post's On the Plane it allows you to see stories and blog postings on this trip.

And if all this talk of politics has made you want to look at some pictures, check out the Washington Post's slide show of the visit.

Want to learn more about the countries on this tour? Check out the library's foreign country guide.

Sunshine Week

This is the week of the year when journalists and others highlight the citizens ability (or inability) to get at government records. The House is scheduled to vote this week on the Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007. The Senate Judiciary committee will be holding a hearing, "Open Government: Reinvigorating the Freedom of Information Act" this Wednesday.

Want to read a little more on how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is used? Check out the Denver Post article "Big week for freedom of information."

Want to learn more FOIA itself? Check out the library's guide.

Finally, for those of you who love to read those previously hidden government documents, check out the library's guide to declassified documents.

Friday, March 09, 2007

GAO releases for the week

This week the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released information on higher education accreditation, under inflated tires, and nuclear weapons. Want to know more about the GAO? Check out the library's guide.

Reports
Testimony
Correspondence
Presentations by Comptroller General
  • "Saving Our Future Requires Tough Choices Today" by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, on the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour at the Citadel School of Business Administration, in Charleston, South Carolina. GAO-07-602CG, March 6. [slides]
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d07602cg.pdf
  • "Fiscal and Health Care Challenges" by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, before the Federation of American Hospitals' annual public policy conference, in Washington. GAO-07-577CG, March 5. [slides]
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d07577cg.pdf
  • "GAO's Initiatives to Improve Performance, Transparency, and Accountability in the Federal Government" by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, at a senior level coordination meeting between GAO and the Congressional Research Service, in Washington. GAO-07-569CG, March 2. [slides]
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d07569cg.pdf

Thursday, March 08, 2007

UN Peace Operations

The United Nations has peacekeeping operations going on all across the globe. They have released the 2006 year in review report on operations.

There are currently 16 peacekeeping operations going on and there have been 61 since 1946. Check out this map of operations on the second page you can find out how long the operation has been going on, the number of fatalities and cost.

The top 10 contributors of personnel to this missions are:
Pakistan (9,867), Bangladesh (9,681), India (9,483), Jordon (3,820), Ghana (2,694), Nepal (2,607), Uruguay (2,586), Italy (2,462), Nigeria (2,408), and France (1,988). The rest of the world contributes 32,772 personnel. These numbers are also illustrated on a graph that shows how in recent years the number of personnel in missions has increased.

Want to know more about the United Nations? Check out the library's guide.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Human Rights report

The U.S. Department of State has released the Human Rights report for 2006. This report looks at the human rights record in the past year for 196 countries. This report is submitted annually to Congress (see past reports online).

Want to know who is covered? The law (Foreign Assistance Act of 1961) states that the Department of State must submit "a full and complete report regarding the status of internationally recognized human rights, within the meaning of subsection (A) in countries that receive assistance under this part, and (B) in all other foreign countries which are members of the United Nations and which are not otherwise the subject of a human rights report under this Act." In other words, it is all countries who receive funding for human rights projects and all the members of the United Nations.

Want some analysis of this year's report? The Washington Post has an article "State Dept. Human Rights Report Faults China's Curbs on Internet." You could also listen to a report on NPR focusing on the plight of Non-Governmental Organizations "Rights Report Focuses on Plight of NGOs."

Want more information on human rights? Check out the library's guide.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Libby found guilty on 4 of 5 counts

The jury, after 10 days of deliberation, found I. Lewis Libby, former Chief of Staff for Vice President Cheney, guilty of 4 counts: obstruction of justice, false statements (in regards to a conversation with NBC's Tim Russert), perjury (in regards to same conversation), perjury (in regards to other reporters, including Time magazine report Matthew Cooper). He was found innocent of false statements in regards to a conversation with Cooper.

In case you haven't heard the background, Libby has been found guilty of misleading FBI agents investigating the leaking of the identity of Valerie Plame, a former CIA agent, who was married to former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.

The verdict form filled out by the jury is not on at U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, but you can see a copy obtained by the Washington Post. Judge Reggie B. Walton will now have to make a ruling on sentencing.

Want to read more? Check out the Washington Post's "Libby Found Guilty in CIA Leak Case." On the same page as this article you can also find information such as the inditment and evidence in the case.

Some recent CRS reports

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a research branch of the Library of Congress. They write short reports at the request of Congress. Unlike most government groups the CRS does not release the reports they write. They are not classified, but the reports can only be released by a member of Congress. There is no index produced to this material, so the first step is finding out a report exists and then making a request of your representative or senator.

Fortunately this documents are not copyrighted, so there are groups that gather these reports and put them up on the web. One of these is OpenCRS, whose mission is to encourage Congress to provide access to all CRS reports.

Here are some recent reports loaded on OpenCRS:
As you can see these reports cover everything from Katrina recovery to Iraq to trade information.

Want to see more reports? For those of you on campus, check out the LexisNexis Congressional database, which has reports back to 1916. For everyone else, check out the library's guide to find a list of additional free sources of reports.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Walter Reed Hearing

Today the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing examining the the conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital. The witness list and links to testimony is available online.

The Washington Post broke this story a week ago, if you want to see their take on the hearings check out "Apologies, Anger at Walter Reed Hearing."

Want to hear the President's reaction check out the Press Briefing by Tony Snow.

Friday, March 02, 2007

GAO Releases for the week

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is often called the investigative arm of the legislative branch (Congress). These are their releases for this week. Want to know more? Check out the library's guide.

Reports
Testimony
Correspondence
Presentations by Comptroller General
  • "Medicare: Taking Care of Your Future" by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, before the Pepper Institute, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. GAO-07-526CG, February 22. [slides]
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d07526cg.pdf
  • "Fiscal, Retirement, and Health Care Challenges" by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States, before the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's 2007 Savings and Retirement Symposium, in Washington. GAO-07-544CG, March 1. [slides]
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d07544cg.pdf