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Monthly Archives: May 2016

CRS – Who Is a “Veteran”? — Basic Eligibility for Veterans’ Benefits,

Via FAS – Who Is a “Veteran”? — Basic Eligibility for Veterans’ Benefits, Scott D. Szymendera, Analyst in Disability Policy. May 25, 2016.
“The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a broad range of benefits to U.S. Armed Forces veterans and certain members of their families. Among these benefits are various types of financial assistance, including monthly cash payments to disabled veterans, health care, education, and housing. Basic criteria must be met to be eligible to receive any of the benefits administered by the VA. This report examines the basic eligibility criteria for VA administered veterans’ benefits, including the issue of eligibility of members of the National Guard and re serve components. For a former service member to receive certain VA benefits, the person must have active U.S. military service for a minimum period of time, generally the lesser of the full period ordered to active duty or 24 months, and be discharged “under conditions other than dishonorable.” Some members of the National Guard and reserve components have difficulty meeting the active duty and length of service requirements. However, a member of the National Guard or reserve components who is activated for federal military service and meets the length of service requirement is considered a veteran for purposes of VA benefits. The Secretary of Defense may determine that service for the Armed F orces by a group of civilians or contractors will be considered active service, allowing members of those groups to be considered veterans for purposes of VA benefits. Such determinations, authorized by the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 ( P .L. 95-202), have been made only for groups involved in World War I and World War II…”

New on LLRX – Should Colorado court documents be free on public library computers?

Via LLRX.com – Should Colorado court documents be free on public library computers? – Jeff Roberts of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition raises the question of expanding free public access to court documents in Colorado. Specifically, he identifies the only location where a non-lawyer can view and request copies of all civil court documents… Continue Reading

OSHA Rule Makes Workplace Injury and Illness Data Publicly Available

Via FAS – CRS Reports & Analysis Legal Sidebar – OSHA Rule Makes Workplace Injury and Illness Data Publicly Available: “On May 11, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule that will make the data that certain employers collect on workplace injuries and illnesses publicly available. The rule does not… Continue Reading

European Commission and IT Companies announce Code of Conduct on illegal online hate speech

Brussels, 31 May 2016 – “The Commission together with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft (“the IT companies”) today unveil a code of conduct that includes a series of commitments to combat the spread of illegal hate speech online in Europe. The IT Companies support the European Commission and EU Member States in the effort to… Continue Reading

OCCRP Launches New Search Engine for Investigative Journalists

Via Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project – “The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a non-profit network of investigative journalism centers in Europe and Eurasia, has launched a new data platform to enable journalists and researchers to sift more than 2 million documents and use the findings in their investigations. People using the… Continue Reading

Financial Secrecy Index – 2015 Results

Via the Tax Justice Network – “The 2015 Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) focuses on 93 jurisdictions, including several that are not traditionally considered to be tax havens, such as China, France, Germany and Japan. Secrecy jurisdictions set up laws and systems which provide legal and financial secrecy to others, elsewhere. Our index shows that there… Continue Reading

Google Food Trends 2016 US Report

“In our Google Food Trends Report 2016, we are excited to bring forth the power of data into the hands of the marketers, product developers, restaurateurs, chefs, and foodies. The goal of this report is to share useful data for planning purposes accompanied by curated styles of what we believe can make for impactful trends.… Continue Reading

New on LLRX – Law Firm Libraries Cannot Simply Be A Service…It Must Be A Strategic Partner

Via LLRX.com – Law Firm Libraries Cannot Simply Be A Service…It Must Be A Strategic Partner Greg Lambert speaks to fellow Law Librarians, Knowledge Managers and law firm info pros from a pro-active position as he addresses the increasingly prevalent issue of outsourcing critical librarian staff. Institutional knowledge, excellent communications skills, teaching and training competency,… Continue Reading

The Urban Agenda for the EU: European cities get their say in EU policy making

News release: “Today, the informal Ministerial meeting on urban matters agreed on the “Pact of Amsterdam”, which sets out the principles of the Urban Agenda for the EU. Today, the Commission is taking part in the informal meeting in Amsterdam of the 28 Ministers in charge of urban matters, along with representatives from other EU… Continue Reading