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U.S. House of Representatives has taken its last mainframe offline: “The U.S. House of Representatives has taken its last mainframe offline, signaling the end of a computing era in Washington, D.C.: The last mainframe supposedly enjoyed “quasi-celebrity status” within the House data center, having spent 12 years keeping the House’s inventory control records and financial …
News release: “To promote cyber safety outreach and education, the FCC recently partnered with OnGuardOnline.gov, a joint effort of 12 federal agencies and 18 non-government organizations, developed and managed by the FTC. OnGuardOnline.gov provides practical and timely tips to help consumers be on guard against Internet fraud, secure their computers, and protect their personal information. …
News release: “The Congressional Oversight Panel today released its October oversight report, An Assessment of Foreclosure Mitigation Efforts after Six Months. The Panel expresses concern about the limited scope and scale of the Making Home Affordable program and questions whether Treasury’s strategy will lead to permanent mortgage modifications for many homeowners. Rising unemployment, weak home …
Follow up to previous postings on the Google Book Settlement, this New York Times Op-Ed today: A Library to Last Forever, by Sergey Brin/Google: “Because books are such an important part of the worlds collective knowledge and cultural heritage, Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, first proposed that we digitize all books a decade ago, …
Environmental Working Group (EWG) EWGs Guide to Reduce Cell Phone Radiation Exposure: “Cell phones emit radiation to send voice and text messages to the other caller. Health risks arent confirmed, but some (not all) studies of frequent cell phone users suggest increased risks for brain and mouth tumors and childrens behavior problems.” Best and Worst …
Interim Review of ATFs Project Gunrunner, Evaluation and Inspections Report I-2009-006, September 2009: “Mexican drug trafficking organizations (cartels) are a pervasive organized crime threat to the United States, according to the Department of Justices 2009 National Drug Threat Assessment. The cartels use firearms trafficked from the United States primarily from the Southwest border states …
Withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Iraq: Possible Timelines and Estimated Costs, October 7, 2009 – Letter to the Honorable John F. Tierney “President Obama has announced that all U.S. combat operations for the war in Iraqalso called Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)will cease by the end of August 2010. According to the timeline described by Administration …
Pew Financial Reform Project, Briefing Paper# 10: Reassessing the Regulatory Role of the Fed, Grappling with the Dual Mandate and More? by Charles W. Calomiris.
News release: “Recent moves by major food manufacturers to remove High Fructose Corn Syrup from products despite FDA recommendations and a costly campaign by the corn lobby are indicative of increased consumer awareness and the powerful influence of online social networking sites and tools focused on what we eat. One new entry to …
“Energy Explained, a new web portal launched today by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), celebrates Energy Awareness Month with the most comprehensive energy education resource available from the U.S. Government. The site explains where gasoline comes from, what determines the price of electricity, how much renewable energy the United States uses, and hundreds of …
News release: “The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to the Free Annual File Disclosures Rule, also known as the “Free Credit Report Rule.” The proposed amendments would implement a new law designed to prevent consumer confusion in advertisements for free credit reports. The amendments also would address certain practices that …
Monthly Budget Review, October 2009 – Based on the Monthly Treasury Statement for August and the Daily Treasury Statements for September “CBO estimates that the federal budget deficit was about $1.4 trillion in fiscal year 2009, $950 billion greater than the shortfall recorded in 2008. The 2009 deficit was equal to 9.9 percent of gross …
