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Daily Archives: July 7, 2015

Greek debt crisis: background and developments in 2015

UK – House of Commons Library – “This briefing provides background to and analysis of developments in the Greek debt crisis, including an overview of the origins of the crisis, a review of latest developments and looks at the what would happen if Greece defaults on its debt – July 6, 2015. The long-running debt crisis took a surprising turn when the Greek Prime Minister announced on 26 June that Greece would hold a referendum on 5 July on whether to accept or reject the last proposal from the creditor institutions. Greek voters decisively backed ‘No’, with 61% of the electorate backing the government’s position. A short summary of what may happen after the vote is provided below. A longer summary of these recent events is provided in the first section of this briefing, followed by information and analysis on the background to the crisis, in particular developments over the past six months…”

DOJ Reports New Data Shows High Police Use of Tasers

U.S. Department of Justice – Bureau of Justice Statistics – Local Police Departments, 2013: Equipment and Technology, July 2015: “The overall percentage of the more than 12,000 local police departments in the United States authorizing the use of conducted energy weapons (CEWs) increased from 7% in 2000 to 81% in 2013. CEWs include Tasers and… Continue Reading

Adolescent exposure to e-cigarette TV ads increases likelihood of future use

News release: “Adolescents who are exposed to e-cigarette TV advertising are more likely to try e-cigarettes in the future, according to a groundbreaking experiment from researchers at RTI International. Although advertising and adolescent use of e-cigarettes have simultaneously increased in recent years, this is the first study to demonstrate a direct link between adolescents’ exposure… Continue Reading

Consumer Watchdog files FTC complaint on Right to be Forgotten

Consumer Watchdog news release: “Google’s failure to offer U.S. users the ability to request the removal of search engine links from their name to information that is inadequate, irrelevant, no longer relevant, or excessive is an “unfair and deceptive” practice, Consumer Watchdog said in a complaint today to the Federal Trade Commission. In Europe where… Continue Reading

EFF – Europe Blocks Progress for Libraries and Educators at WIPO

EFF – “Last week negotiators from around the world came together as the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) standing committee on copyright (SCCR) resumed consideration of its two current work items: the on-again, off-again broadcasters’ rights treaty, and the harmonization of minimum copyright limitations and exceptions for libraries, archives, and education. EFF has opposed the… Continue Reading

Gigablast plans to power search for Internet Archive

News release: “Shortly after releasing its web search engine as open source and available for free download, Gigablast, Inc. has inked a deal with the Internet Archive. Gigablast has agreed to provide search for the archive’s 400+ billion web documents. After conducting tests, the Internet Archive found that its users prefer the quality of Gigablast’s… Continue Reading

GAO Reports – Financial Literacy, Managing for Results

Highlights of a Forum: Financial Literacy: The Role of the Workplace, GAO-15-639SP: Published: Jul 7, 2015. Publicly Released: Jul 7, 2015: “Employers are well-suited to play a role in promoting financial literacy. Participants noted that employers already provide information on employee benefits, have key information about employees’ lives, and are generally trusted to provide sound… Continue Reading