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Daily Archives: May 11, 2015

The many benefits of libraries continue in town and cites around the country

NPR – “A new campaign, Invest in Libraries, puts forth that in the past 10 years, the city government has reduced funding for public libraries by nearly 20 percent and 1,000 workers or so have been trimmed from the payroll. The campaign calls on the city to increase its support in various ways, such as restoring $65 million in operating funds. The New York Times reports that “the city’s three public library systems — the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Library — are seeking $1.4 billion in city funds over the next decade to bring all 217 public library branches up to modern building standards. Notable, really, because last week marked the 114th anniversary of steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie’s gift of 60 library branch buildings to the New York Public Library. The library recently mounted an exhibit showcasing Carnegie’s largesse that will be up through May 10. Carnegie’s generosity, says Tony Marx, president of the New York Public Library, “allowed a public library in almost every neighborhood; a safe, oasis where people could learn, improve themselves, and by extension, improve their communities. That grand tradition continues today.”

World Happiness Report 2015

“Since it was first published in 2012, the World Happiness Report demonstrated that well-being and happiness are critical indicators of a nation’s economic and social development, and should be a key aim of policy. This year’s report looks at the changes in happiness levels in 158 countries, and examines the reasons behind the statistics. The World… Continue Reading

Collapse of the world’s largest herbivores

“Large wild herbivores are crucial to ecosystems and human societies. We highlight the 74 largest terrestrial herbivore species on Earth (body mass ≥100 kg), the threats they face, their important and often overlooked ecosystem effects, and the conservation efforts needed to save them and their predators from extinction. Large herbivores are generally facing dramatic population… Continue Reading

Unabated global mean sea-level rise over the satellite altimeter era

“The rate of global mean sea-level (GMSL) rise has been suggested to be lower for the past decade compared with the preceding decade as a result of natural variability, with an average rate of rise since 1993 of +3.2 ± 0.4 mm yr−1. However, satellite-based GMSL estimates do not include an allowance for potential instrumental… Continue Reading

EFF Case Analysis: Appeals Court Rules NSA Phone Records Dragnet is Illegal

Andrew Crocker – “We now have the first decision from a court of appeals on the NSA’s mass surveillance program involving bulk collection of telephone records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, and it’s a doozy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion in ACLU v. Clapper holding that… Continue Reading

CRS – The Future of Internet Governance

The Future of Internet Governance: Should the U.S. Relinquish Its Authority Over ICANN? Lennard G. Kruger, Specialist in Science and Technology Policy, May 5, 2015. “Currently, the U.S. government retains limited authority over the Internet’s domain name system, primarily through the Internet Assigned Number s Authority (IANA) functions contract between the National Telecommunications and Informati… Continue Reading

New GAO reports – Forest Restoration, Medicaid

Forest Restoration: Adjusting Agencies’ Information-Sharing Strategies Could Benefit Landscape-Scale Projects, GAO-15-398: Published: Apr 9, 2015. Publicly Released: May 11, 2015: “Agencies GAO reviewed—the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and National Park Service (NPS) in the Department… Continue Reading

Interactive: Exploring the Public’s View of Affordable Care Act Over Time and by Group

“A newly-updated Kaiser Family Foundation interactive tool allows users to explore five years’ worth of detailed data capturing the public’s views on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including breakouts by party identification, age, gender, race, and other characteristics. With more than 50 polls since April 2010 involving more than 70,000 interviews, the Kaiser Health Tracking Poll… Continue Reading

Consumer Watchdog Calls On Google To Release Driverless Car Accident Reports

“Consumer Watchdog today called on Google to release the reports of accidents involving its driverless cars that have been filed with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and to commit to making public all future driverless car accident reports.  “It is important that the public know what happened,” wrote John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy… Continue Reading