CRS – Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, Kenneth Katzman – Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs – October 23, 2013 “The United States and its partner countries are reducing military involvement in Afghanistan as Afghan security forces assume lead security responsibility throughout the country. The current international security mission will terminate at the end of 2014 and likely… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: October 2013
CRS – Cybersecurity: Authoritative Reports and Resources
Cybersecurity: Authoritative Reports and Resources – Rita Tehan, Information Research Specialist. October 25, 2013 “Cybersecurity is a sprawling topic that includes national, international, government, and private industry dimensions. In the 113th Congress, 5 bills have been introduced in the Senate and 7 in the House. More than 40 bills and resolutions with provisions related to cybersecurity were introduced in… Continue Reading
Towers Watson Report – Extreme Risks 2013
News release: Focus on the extreme risks ‘that can kill you’ Towers Watson warns institutional investors: “Towers Watson’s extreme risks ranking has a new top three: Food/water/energy crisis, Stagnation and Global temperature change – while Sovereign default and Insurance crisis have both fallen five places and Depression loses the top spot for the first time since… Continue Reading
WaPo – NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide
Snowden documents how NSA and GCHQ are copying entire data flows across fiber-optic cables that carry information between the data centers of the Silicon Valley giants – by Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani “The National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world,… Continue Reading
Mastering the building blocks of strategy
Increase your likelihood of developing effective strategies through an approach that’s thorough, action-oriented, and comfortable with debate and ambiguity. by Chris Bradley, Angus Dawson, and Antoine Montard | October 2013 “Left unchecked, market forces continually conspire to deplete profits. Powerful business strategies can counteract those tendencies, but good strategy is difficult to formulate.Indeed, the latest McKinsey research… Continue Reading
Countercyclical Policy and the Speed of Recovery After Recessions
Countercyclical Policy and the Speed of Recovery After Recessions – Working Paper 2013-032A by Neville Francis, Laura E. Jackson, and Michael T. Owyang, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. October 22, 2013 “The nature of the business cycle appears to have changed. Prior to the 1990s, recoveries from recessions were quick and steep; after the past three recessions, however,… Continue Reading
EPIC – Leahy and Sensenbrenner Introduce USA FREEDOM Act
“The Democratic Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Republican author of the Patriot Act have introduced the USA FREEDOM Act, which would reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and limit NSA surveillance activities. A bi-partisan coalition, including 17 Senators and 70 Members of Congress, have joined as original co-sponsors. Key provisions of the FREEDOM… Continue Reading
IMF – Doing Business 2014
Doing Business 2014 – Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises, October 29, 2013. Main Findings: “Ukraine, Rwanda, the Russian Federation, the Philippines, Kosovo, Djibouti, Côte d’Ivoire, Burundi, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Guatemala are among the economies improving the most in 2012/13 in areas tracked by Doing Business. Worldwide, 114 economies implemented 238 regulatory reforms in 2012/13 making it easier to do business as measured… Continue Reading
New study suggests coral reefs may be able to adapt to moderate climate change
News release: “Coral reefs may be able to adapt to moderate climate warming, improving their chance of surviving through the end of this century, if there are large reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, according to a study funded by NOAA and conducted by the agency’s scientists and its academic partners. Results further suggest corals have already adapted… Continue Reading
Drinking Water From The Potomac River – An endangered watershed?
This is a podcast of the The Kojo Nnamdi Show, recorded on October 28, 2013 – the conversation about the Potomac River and drinking water is here: “Three-fourths of our region’s drinking water comes from the Potomac, but there are new concerns about contaminants in the river. Kojo examines the challenges facing the source of our drinking… Continue Reading
Open data: Unlocking innovation and performance with liquid information
Open data—machine-readable information, particularly government data, that’s made available to others — “has generated a great deal of excitement around the world for its potential to empower citizens, change how government works, and improve the delivery of public services. It may also generate significant economic value, according to a new McKinsey report. Our research suggests that seven… Continue Reading
SIGTARP Quarterly Report to Congress
Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program – Quarterly Report to Congress, October 29, 2013 “The financial system has stabilized in part due to five years of the TARP bailout, but the toxic corporate culture that led up to the financial crisis and TARP has not sufficiently changed. At the core of the… Continue Reading
