Saturday, May 31, 2008

GAO Releases this week

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is often called the investigative arm of Congress. This week they investigated a variety of issues, such as aboveground oil storage, prison construction, and international food security. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports
Correspondence

Thursday, May 29, 2008

The Scott McClellan Flap

Scot McClellan, former White House press secretary, will release a new book in June in which he alleges that the White House "manipulated intelligence to justify the war in Iran" (May 30, 2008, NY Times). While current and former administration officials deny this and other allegations, the White House itself remains largely silent. At a "press gaggle on May 28" current press secretary Dana Perino declared that the White House would not prepare a line-by-line refutation of Mr. McClellan's book and that it wasn't in the business of "fact-checking" a memoir.

To learn more about the President and the White House, check out the Government Publication's guide to the presidents.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Congressional Research Service Reports

Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a research agency of Congress and writes reports at Congress's request. These short reports (usually 10-40 pages long) cover recent topics of concern. This week brings us CRS reports on the Syria, national security, health, and much more. While these reports are in the public domain there is no central database available to the public. To get a copy of a CRS report you can request it from your Senator or Representative. This list is compiled from CRS reports discovered by Secrecy News:
Interested in historical CRS reports? If you are here at the Boulder campus, check out the LexisNexis Congressional database, which has reports back to 1916.

Not on campus, but still want access to additional reports? The library has a guide linking to various additional sources of CRS reports.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Phoenix Mars Lander

The Phoenix Mars lander (see image to the left) successfully landed on Mars Sunday evening. The hope is that the lander will be able to examine frozen water. Want to see some pictures and learn all about the work? Check out the NASA web site on the Phoenix.

Want some press reaction? Why not check out the Washington Post's "Mars Craft Succeeds in Soft Landing: Phoenix to Begin Search for Signs of Life Beyond Earth."

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

Saturday, May 24, 2008

GAO Releases this week

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is often called the investigative arm of Congress. This week they investigated a variety of issues, such as the combating terrorism, digital television transition, and information security. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports
Related Product
CorrespondenceTestimonies
Presentation by the Acting Comptroller General
  • "Auditing and Advising in a Time of Transition," by Gene L. Dodaro, acting comptroller general of the United States, before the 17th Biennial Forum of Government Auditors, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. GAO-08-842CG, May 21, 2008
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d08842cg.pdf

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan interrogations and the FBI

The Department of Justice Inspector General released an audit of the FBI's involvement in interrogations at Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq. This 438 page report, "A Review of the FBI's Involvement in and Observations of Detainee Interrogations in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq," outlines the actions of the FBI in regards to detainee interrogations. It details practices, discussions and much more.

Don't want to read 438 pages? Why not read a media summary, "Audit Finds FBI Reports Of Detainee Abuse Ignored: Tactics Continued Against Detainees" from the Washington Post or "Detainee Report Findings Detailed" from the Wall Street Journal.

Want more crime and justice resources? Check out the library guides.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Congressional Research Service Reports this week

Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a research agency of Congress and writes reports at Congress's request. These short reports (usually 10-40 pages long) cover recent topics of concern. This week brings us CRS reports on the Iran, recession, climate change, and much more. While these reports are in the public domain there is no central database available to the public. To get a copy of a CRS report you can request it from your Senator or Representative. This list is compiled from CRS reports discovered by Secrecy News and OpenCRS:
Interested in historical CRS reports? If you are here at the Boulder campus, check out the LexisNexis Congressional database, which has reports back to 1916.

Not on campus, but still want access to additional reports? The library has a guide linking to various additional sources of CRS reports.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

For all of you who are big statistics fans out there, one of the nice sources for economic data is the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). I haven't done an explanation of a what an international organization does in an embarrassingly long time, so today I am going to make up for that.

The OECD is made up of thirty countries, representing the largest economies in the world. Their purpose is to "support sustainable economic growth, boost employment, raise living standards, maintain financial stability, assist other countries' economic development, and contribute to growth in world trade" (from the about page).

So what? Well, what this means is they gather data and statistics on all of these things and report that information out to the rest of the world. They right in-depth reports and provide access to a variety of databases. Now if you are here on Boulder's campus we have access to their nice subscription database SourceOECD, but if you are not a student don't despair. The library has a guide linking to a variety of free sources of information from this group.

While the main focus of the OECD work is on the developed world, they do developing countries research and for a sample of that, check out the African Economic Outlook for 2008 for free online.

Friday, May 16, 2008

GAO Releases this week

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is often called the investigative arm of Congress. This week they investigated a variety of issues, such as the 20110 Census, unmanned aircraft systems, nursing homes problems, and US-China trade. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports
CorrespondenceTestimonies
Reposted Product

New reports from Britain on UFOs

It is Friday and I love it when the government provides me with perfect material for a Friday. This week the British Government released some new reports on UFOs. These reports will only be available for free for a month, so check 'em out at these sites:
Need more or want some reports from the US? Check out the library's guide.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Polar Bear listed as a "threatened" species

The Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Polar Bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (see the press release). For more information and pictures and additional information, check out the Polar Bear Information site.

Want to read some discussion of the steps that lead to this decision in the media? Check out the Washington Post's "Polar Bear Is Named 'Threatened' Species: U.S. Cites Shrinking Arctic Ice."

Want more information on endangered species? Check out the library guide.

Congressional Research Service Reports

Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a research agency of Congress and writes reports at Congress's request. These short reports (usually 10-40 pages long) cover recent topics of concern. This week brings us CRS reports on the Latvia, wireless technology, the Navy, and much more. While these reports are in the public domain there is no central database available to the public. To get a copy of a CRS report you can request it from your Senator or Representative. This list is compiled from CRS reports discovered by Secrecy News and OpenCRS:
Interested in historical CRS reports? If you are here at the Boulder campus, check out the LexisNexis Congressional database, which has reports back to 1916.

Not on campus, but still want access to additional reports? The library has a guide linking to various additional sources of CRS reports.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Earthquake in China

As many of you have no doubt read, yesterday China had an earthquake measuring 7.9 in magnitude strike near the city of Chengdu. These are a few resources to check out on this disaster:

Friday, May 09, 2008

GAO Releases this week

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is often called the investigative arm of Congress. This week they investigated a variety of issues, such as value added taxes, social security and baby boomers, prescription drugs, aviation and the environment, and flood and wind insurance. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports
CorrespondenceTestimonies

Thursday, May 08, 2008

CRS reports available

Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a research agency of Congress and writes reports at Congress's request. These short reports (usually 10-40 pages long) cover recent topics of concern. This week brings us CRS reports on the Post Office, gas tax, student loans, and much more. While these reports are in the public domain there is no central database available to the public. To get a copy of a CRS report you can request it from your Senator or Representative. This list is compiled from CRS reports discovered by Secrecy News and OpenCRS:
Interested in historical CRS reports? If you are here at the Boulder campus, check out the LexisNexis Congressional database, which has reports back to 1916.

Not on campus, but still want access to additional reports? The library has a guide linking to various additional sources of CRS reports.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Burma/Myanmar Cyclone

Cyclone Nargis hit the country of Myanmar (known as Burma by the US government) on May 3, 2008. This cyclone has devastated the area of Burma home to the previous capital of Rangoon. Currently 60,000 people are estimated missing or dead in the region. To learn more check out these resources:

Monday, May 05, 2008

Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Watching

Did you know the Census Bureau conducts a survey of people who go fishing, hunting or wildlife watching in the United States? Well, every five years since 1991, in combination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they conduct this survey to see how often and how much money is spent.

The main site for all the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-associated recreation contains the survey reports back to 1991 for the full US, selected reports are available back to 1996 discussing an individual state. Turns out that in 2006 2.2 million Colorado residents participated in one of these activities (see full report). I guess it helps that some days you can help but see the wildlife out your window.

A lot of this activity has taken place at various national parks? So feel free to check out the library guide on parks.

Friday, May 02, 2008

Debate on whether McCain is a natural-born citizen

For those of you who aren't addicted to politics you might not know that there is a debate going on in some areas on whether or not John McCain (assumed Republican nominee for President) is a natural born citizen of the United States. The Senate stepped into the fray yesterday passing a non-binding resolution "Recognizing that John Sidney McCain, III, is a natural born citizen" (S.Res.511).

This debate has come about due to the phrase "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States" (clause 2 of Section 1 of the Constitution). Since McCain was born on a base in Panama there is some debate on whether he meets this qualification.

Want to read a discussion of this issue? Check out the Washington Post's "McCain's Birth Abroad Stirs Legal Debate: His Eligibility for Presidency Is Questioned."

GAO Releases this week

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is often called the investigative arm of Congress. This week they investigated a variety of issues, such as health savings accounts. , global HIV/AIDS, and defense infrastructure. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports
Special/Related Product
Correspondence
  • Defense Transportation: DOD Should Ensure that the Final Size and Mix of Airlift Force Study Plan Includes Sufficient Detail to Meet the Terms of the Law and Inform Decision Makers. GAO-08-704R, April 28.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-704R
  • Economic and Other Implications of Switching from Coal to Natural Gas at the Capitol Power Plant and at Electricity-Generating Units Nationwide. GAO-08-601R, May 1.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-601R
  • Status of Implementation of GAO Recommendations on Evacuation of Transportation-Disadvantaged Populations and Patients and Residents of Health Care Facilities. GAO-08-544R, April 1.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-544R
  • VA and DOD Health Care: Progress Made on Implementation of 2003 President's Task Force Recommendations on Collaboration and Coordination, but More Remains to Be Done. GAO-08-495R, April 30.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-495R
Testimonies

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Country Reports on Terrorism

The U.S. State Department has just released the Country Reports on Terrorism for 2007. These reports examine both individual countries as well as particular areas of concern in regards to terrorism. These reports have been being issued in some form (the older version under the title Patterns of Global Terrorism) since 1968. If you would like to view them online they are available back to 1995.

Want to read some media reaction? There isn't a lot yet, but the New York Times has written "Attacks in Pakistan Rising, State Department Reports."

Want more on terrorism? Check out the library guide.

Congressional Research Service Reports

Well, I waited a few extra days, but it appears wither Congress isn't releasing or we are all tired at the end of the semester and there aren't as many Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports this week. CRS is a research agency of Congress and writes reports at Congress's request. These short reports (usually 10-40 pages long) cover recent topics of concern. This week brings us CRS reports on the Iraq, presidential privilege, military, and much more. While these reports are in the public domain there is no central database available to the public. To get a copy of a CRS report you can request it from your Senator or Representative. This list is compiled from CRS reports discovered by Secrecy News:

Interested in historical CRS reports? If you are here at the Boulder campus, check out the LexisNexis Congressional database, which has reports back to 1916.

Not on campus, but still want access to additional reports? The library has a guide linking to various additional sources of CRS reports.