Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Colorado Student Assessment Program Results

The summer means a break from school right? Well, while the K-12 crowd may not have to be in class there is data from the last time they were in coming out. Today the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) results were released. There are two places you can go to look at these online. First, the state government has them online in a searchable database. But if you want options, check out the Denver Post's database.

Want to know how your community did? The Denver Post has an article "CSAP: DPS gains celebrated" on Denver. The Daily Camera has the article "More high-schoolers skip CSAPs" on Boulder's scores.

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

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

CRS 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 only a few reports on defense issues. 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.

Monday, July 28, 2008

NASA images

It is a Monday morning and summer, so rather then discuss the latest housing bill or some other exciting economic news I will instead give you something fun to look over. There is a new site called NASAImages.org, it is a collaboration between NASA and the Internet Archive. You can read all about this collaboration in the NASA press release, but really why not just spend some time playing in the system. The image quality is amazing and you can create fun little presentations (see this one of images of Earth if you want a sample).

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

Friday, July 25, 2008

Sanctions against Zimbabwe

President Bush released an Executive Order today "Blocking Property of Additional Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe." This order directs that the assets residing in the US of those meeting the criteria in the order cannot be "transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in." This action is a result of the continuing controversy over the elections held on June 27th.

To learn more about the sanctions, check out the Washington Post's "Bush Expands Sanctions Against Zimbabwe."

To read up a bit on the Zimbabwean government's perspective, check out Zimbabwe's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You will not find anything yet on the sanctions, but you will find under featured articles more discussion of the elections.

Looking for more resources on Zimbabwe? Check out the library's country guide.

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 public transportation, tax and financial activity in the Cayman Islands, defined benefit pensions, and the U.S. Postal Service. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports
Related Products
  • Cayman Islands: Review of Cayman Islands and U.S. Laws Applicable to U.S. Persons' Financial Activity in the Cayman Islands, (GAO-08-1028SP), an E-supplement to GAO-08-778, July 2008. GAO-08-1028SP, July 24. [Internet only]
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-1028SP
  • Defined Benefit Pensions: Survey of Sponsors of Large Defined Benefit Pension Plans (GAO-08-818SP, July 2008), an E-supplement to GAO-08-817. GAO-08-818SP, July 21. [Internet only]
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-818SP
  • Government Performance: 2007 Federal Managers Survey on Performance and Management Issues: (GAO-08-1036SP, July 2008), an E-supplement to GAO-08-1026T. GAO-08-1036SP, July 24. [Internet only]
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-1036SP
  • U.S. Postal Service: USPS Has Taken Steps to Strengthen Network Realignment Planning and Accountability and Improve Communication, by Phillip R. Herr, director, physical infrastructure issues, before the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. GAO-08-1022T, July 24.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-1022T
    Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d081022thigh.pdf
Testimonies
Correspondence

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Oil Shale in the West

If you read the Denver Post you may have noticed the headline story "Oil-Shale Debate Moves West." In case you want to read up on all the latest moves I thought I would highlight some resources:
  • BLM Proposed Rules on Oil Shale Management This is the Regulations.gov site for the proposed rules. From here you can make and read comments on these rules.
  • Senator Salazar's responses If you keep reading today, you will notice there is a bit of a discussion going on about the reaction by the Senator to this proposal, so here are his statements.
Want more energy information? Check out the library's guide or the custom search engine.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

CRS 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 funding, nuclear weapons, 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.

Friday, July 18, 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 Small Business Administration, highway safety, hunger in Africa, fair lending, and food safety. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports
Reposted Product
Testimonies
Correspondence

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

President Bush's Press Conference

This morning President Bush held a press conference, starting with a brief statement on the economy and some of the actions taken. You can read or watch the press conference on the White House web site.

In addition to the press conference, the White House has also updated two pages on energy and economy. On the energy page you can find a fact sheet on the President's lifting of the executive ban on offshore drilling, this does not lift the Congressional ban though and President Bush urged Congress to lift that ban in his press conference.

Want to read some analysis of the press conference? Check out the Washington Post's "Bush Says U.S. Economy Still Fundamentally Strong."

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 FISA, wind power, appropriations, 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, July 14, 2008

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Government

Before I start this blog post I want to state I am not an economist. Yes, I know how to find the GINI index and all sorts of other fun economic data, but I don't always know what it means. That said, here is my attempt to provide some information on what the government is doing in regards to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

First, the Treasury:
  • Friday's statement, which is very short and has no details.
  • Sunday's statement, which still doesn't have details on exactly how they are going to do it, but does provide specifics on how they are going to move forward during this "current housing correction."
Second, the Federal Reserve:
  • Sunday's statement, which is only a paragraph long, but gives the "Federal Reserve Bank of New York the authority to lend to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should such lending prove necessary. "
Third, the Senate:
  • Senator Dodd (Chair of Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs) statement on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
  • H.R.3221 this is the Housing Reform Bill just passed on Friday in the Senate that Senator Dodd is referring to in his statement.
  • Senate vote on H.R. 3221
Finally, News Media reaction:
Still want more? The library has a collection of Business and Economic guides.

Friday, July 11, 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 reconstruction of Afghanistan, email management and federal records, and pension plans of state and local governments. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports
Related Product
Testimonies
Correspondence
Presentation by the Acting Comptroller General
  • "Preparing the Accountability Profession for 21st Century Challenges," by Gene L. Dodaro, acting comptroller general, before the Institute of Internal Auditors' 2008 International Conference, in San Francisco, California. GAO-08-1017CG, July 7, 2008
    http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d081017cg.pdf

Thursday, July 10, 2008

No jalapeƱos? No tomatoes? But how can I make salsa?

The FDA has added raw jalapeƱos and raw serrano peppers to the list of foods for high risk populations (elderly persons, infants and people with impaired immune systems) should avoid, in addition to raw red plum, red Roma, or red round tomatoes grown outside of the areas listed on the web site.

Due to the scale of the problem the Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak has been getting the most press, but there have been 16 additional recalls/alerts since this outbreak began on June 3rd (the full national alert went out on June 6th). Want to read the other recalls? Check out the FDA recalls and alerts web page (which lets you subscribe via email if you are interested).

Want more recalls then just those related to food? Check out recalls.gov, which combines recalls from six federal agencies at one site.

Want a history of this outbreak with some comments from officials? Check out the Washington Post's "Officials Add JalapeƱos To Salmonella Warning."

Want more on information on the food supply? Check out the library guide.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

G-8 tackles greenhouse gas emissions

The G-8 is meeting this week and has released preliminary information on a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Before we look into this I thought it might be nice to explain a little about the G-8.

The G-8 is a group of eight countries, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The leaders of these eight countries meet once a year to discuss issues on a global scale (as well as having their representatives meet more often on specific issues). Want to learn more about the summit and the G-8, but in a much simpler form? Check out the kid's page, developed by Japan who is hosting this year's summit.

The big agreement to come out of the summit thus far is in regards to countries cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The last major international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions, the Kyoto Protocol, was never ratified by the United States, and focused on getting industrialized countries to cut emissions by 2012 (see web site for more details). The G-8 statement can be found online, but you will notice that while the discussions mentioned a 50% cut this statement does not set specific goals. For more details, such as press conferences and statements, check out the summit web site.

Want to read more about this statement and reactions from developing countries, such as China and India? Check out the Washington Post's "G-8 Conference Tackles Global Warming Treaty: China, India Still Balk at Efforts to Curb Greenhouse Gases."

Want more on climate change? Check out the library's guide.

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

CRS reports

Despite the holiday week a few Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports were discovered. 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 veterans, appropriations and weapons. 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.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Bertha first hurricane of the season

The first hurricane of the 2008 season has formed in the Atlantic today. Hurricane Bertha's maximum sustained winds reached 90 mph this morning and are expected to increase over the next 24 hours. To watch the hurricane track and get more information on the speeds, check out the Bertha section of the NOAA web site.

Want to know all the names of the hurricanes/tropical cyclones this year? Check out the name list. The names alternate between male and female names and the list is reused every seven years, unless a "storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity."

Want more climate and weather resources? Check out the library's guide.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Fewer Jobs in the United States

I know tomorrow is the start of a long weekend for many of us, but the government released numbers today that indicate that employers are cutting jobs across the United States. The Employment Situation Summary reports that the non-farm employment is down 62,000 in June. If you want to examine these numbers in more detail over a longer period, check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics's Current Employment Statistics web site.

Want some media reaction? Check out the Washington Post's "Employers Cut Jobs for 6th Straight Month" or the Wall Street Journal's "Economists React: 'Consistent Picture of Weakness' on Jobs."

Still need more business and economic information? Check out the library's guides.

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 defense acquisitions, Medicaid, and nuclear safety. If you would like to know more about the GAO, check out the library's guide.

Reports
Correspondence
  • Depot Maintenance: DOD's Report to Congress on Its Public-Private Partnerships at Its Centers of Industrial and Technical Excellence (CITEs) Is Not Complete and Additional Information Would Be Useful. GAO-08-902R, July 1.
    http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-902R
Highlights of a GAO Forum

Tuesday, July 01, 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 FISA, wind power, appropriations, 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.