Air pollution

I am often surprised on who does research on a particular topic, for example who would expect the World Health Organization to have material on indoor air pollution? But following their focus on human health the title Fuel for Life: Household Energy and Health examines the effects of energy use and pollution. The WHO actually has a large quantity of material on indoor air pollution, which can be found at their web site.

Homelessness in Metro Denver

Each year there is a point-in-time survey of the homeless conducted in the Denver metro area, read the 2006 report online. This report shows a decline 11.5% overall decline in homelessness, but a 12% increase in the number of homeless families. For an in-depth analysis of the report, read the Denver Post's "Number of metro homeless falls 11.5% over year." There are tables by county and city for 2005 available on the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative web site. For reports back to 1998, see the Colorado Department of Human Services web site.

Michael Hayden Nominated to head CIA

Porter Gross, current head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) resigned his post last Friday. Today, President Bush nominated General Michael Hayden to be the new director of the CIA. The White House has released a press sheet with Hayden's qualifications, which include his post as Director of the National Security Agency. The Washington Post has released an article discussing this nomination "Hayden Nominated to Head CIA" or you can read the Denver Post's "Bush Taps Hayden for CIA."

Katrina Contractors

Yesterday, the House Committee on Government Reform held a hearing entitled "Sifting through Katrina's Legal Debris: Contracting in the Eye of the Storm." This discussed the successes and failures of the various government agencies involved in contracting after Katrina hit. On this site you can read the testimony from the agencies and various contractors. For an overview of the contracting process, take a look at the Government Accountability Office report: "Hurricane Katrina: Improving Federal Contracting Processes in Disaster Recovery Operations."

Pandemic Influenza

It is getting warm outside and on some days the sun is shining, which means the end of flu season, right? Well, back in November we posted on the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, now the government has come up with an plan to fight global influenza. The "Implementation Plan: National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza" has information on how the federal government is addressing this threat and has advice for states, schools (check out page 194 for Colleges), and law enforcement. If the idea of reading 233 pages on flu makes you a little sick, why not check out the briefing book, which is a much more manageable 26 pages. And finally for a non-governmental perspective, check out the Washington Post Article "White House Plan Defers Leadership in Bird-Flu Fight."