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Daily Archives: April 23, 2014

Estimates of illegal and unreported fish in seafood imports to the USA

Illegal and unreported catches represented 20–32% by weight of wild-caught seafood imported to the USA in 2011, as determined from robust estimates, including uncertainty, of illegal and unreported fishing activities in the source countries. These illegal imports are valued at between $1.3 and $2.1 billion, out of a total of $16.5 billion for the 2.3 million tonnes of edible seafood imports, including farmed products. This trade represents between 4% and 16% of the value of the global illegal fish catch and reveals the unintentional role of the USA, one of the largest seafood markets in the world, in funding the profits of illegal fishing. Supply chain case studies are presented for tuna, wild shrimp and Chinese re-processed Russian pollock, salmon and crab imported to the USA. To address this critical issue of unintended financing of illegal fishing, possible remedies from industry practices and government policies may include improved chain of custody and traceability controls and an amendment to the USA Lacey Act.”

New Website Helps Vets Manage Benefits, Apply for Loans

“eBenefits is a portal; a central location for Veterans, Service Members, and their families to research, find, access, and, in time, manage their benefits and personal information. eBenefits offers: A personalized workspace called My Dashboard that provides quick access to eBenefits tools. Using eBenefits tools, you can complete various tasks. You can apply for benefits, download… Continue Reading

Go back in time with Street View

Google Official Blog: “If you’ve ever dreamt of being a time traveler like Doc Brown, now’s your chance. Starting today, you can travel to the past to see how a place has changed over the years by exploring Street View imagery in Google Maps for desktop. We’ve gathered historical imagery from past Street View collections dating back to… Continue Reading

Visualizing Health Policy: A Snapshot of US Global Health Funding

Kaiser Family Foundation: “This month’s Visualizing Health Policy infographic shows global health funding’s share of the US federal budget, the flattening of US funds for global health during the 21st century, where US dollars for global health are spent, the major areas receiving US global health funding, and how the US public overestimates the percentage of the… Continue Reading

Unemployment in the EU28 regions in 2013

“Regional unemployment rates varied widely across the 272 NUTS 2 regions of the EU28 in 2013, with the lowest rates recorded in the regions of Oberbayern in Germany (2.6%), Freiburg in Germany and Salzburg in Austria (both 2.9%), Tübingen in Germany and Tirol in Austria (both 3.0%), while the highest rates were registered in five Spanish  regions: Andalucía (36.3%), Ceuta (35.6%), Melilla (34.4%), Canarias (34.1%) and Extremadura (33.7%). Among the regions, 49 had an unemployment rate of… Continue Reading

Executive Order 13636 Privacy and Civil Liberties Assessment Report 2014

“Executive Order 13636, Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, requires that senior agency officials for privacy and civil liberties assess the privacy and civil liberties impacts of the activities their respective departments and agencies have undertaken to implement the Executive Order, and to publish their assessments annually in a report compiled by the DHS Privacy Office and Office for… Continue Reading

EFF Outlines Key Issues With Mass Surveillance to Government Oversight Board

“EFF recently filed comments with the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) concerning Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act (FAA), one of the key statutes under which the government claims it can conduct mass surveillance of innocent people’s communications and records from inside the US. EFF maintains that the government’s activities under Section 702 that we know… Continue Reading

McKinsey – Global flows in a digital age

“Global flows have been a common thread in economic growth for centuries, since the days of the Silk Road, through the mercantilist and colonial periods and the Industrial Revolution. But today, the movement of goods, services, finance, and people has reached previously unimagined levels. Global flows are creating new degrees of connectedness among economies—and playing an… Continue Reading