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Daily Archives: September 11, 2013

Report – U.N. Rights Panel Presents Syria War Crimes Evidence

New York Times: “As the United States and Russia searched for a diplomatic solution to the crisis over Syria’s chemical weapons, a four-person United Nations rights panel presented detailed evidence on Wednesday of what it said were war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by pro-government forces and, to a lesser extent, rebels in the 30-month-old conflict. Bolstered by weapons and money from regional and global powers waging a proxy war, Syria’s government and rebel forces have committed murder, torture, rape and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, without fear of future punishment, the panel, a Commission of Inquiry that was expanded last fall, said in its latest report, to be presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council here in Geneva on Monday. The report was careful to hold both sides responsible, but the unevenness of the conflict — with heavily armed government forces battling rebels with scanty, sometimes homemade arsenals — was evident. Of the nine mass killings the panel investigated for the report, eight were attributed to the government side and one to rebels. “Relentless shelling has killed thousands of civilians and displaced the populations of entire towns,” the report said, leaving government responsibility implicit. “Massacres and other unlawful killings are perpetrated with impunity. An untold number of men, children and women have disappeared. Many have died in detention.” “The perpetrators of these violations and crimes, on all sides, act in defiance of international law,” the report said. “They do not fear accountability. Referral to justice is imperative.”

New GAO Reports – Cargo Tank Trucks, 2020 Census, Delphi Pensions, Environmental Health, Nuclear Security, Unemployment Insurance

CARGO TANK TRUCKS – Improved Incident Data and Regulatory Analysis Would Better Inform Decisions about Safety Risks, GAO-13-721, Sep 11, 2013 2020 CENSUS – Progress Report on the Census Bureau’s Efforts to Contain Enumeration Costs, GAO-13-857T, Sep 11, 2013 DELPHI PENSIONS – Key Events Leading to Plan Terminations, GAO-13-854T, Sep 11, 2013 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH – EPA Has Made Substantial Progress but Could… Continue Reading

Office of National Intelligence Releases New Documents on NSA Surveillance

EPIC: “The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has just released new documents concerning the NSA’s surveillance programs. The documents, which include numerous filings with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, date back to 2006. The documents specifically relate to the governments collection of information under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. In a… Continue Reading

Removal of 190,000 Sought in US Immigration Courts in FY 2013

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse: “TRAC projects that in fiscal year 2013 the U.S. government will file actions in Immigration Court seeking to remove over 190,000 individuals from the country, according to the latest data extending through the end of August 2013. The estimated total does not count those individuals deported administratively by ICE or the… Continue Reading

Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2013

CRS – Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2013. Barbara Salazar Torreon, Information Research Specialist, August 30, 2013 “This report lists hundreds of instances in which the United States has used its Armed Forces abroad in situations of military conflict or potential conflict or for other than normal peacetime purposes. It was… Continue Reading

What Americans Think Five Years After the Crash

Five Years After the Crash: What Americans Think about Wall Street, Banks, Business, and Free Enterprise “examines public opinion in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 crash and in the years since. How have attitudes changed toward America’s financial system? By comparing hundreds of survey questions from major pollsters, we provide an informative account of… Continue Reading

Striking it Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in U.S.

Striking it Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States (Updated with 2012 preliminary estimates). Emmanuel Saez • September 3, 2013 “What’s new for recent years? 2009-2012: Uneven recovery from the Great Recession From 2009 to 2012, average real income per family grew modestly by 6.0%. Most of the gains happened in the… Continue Reading

EPA Web Tool Expands Access to Scientific, Regulatory Information on Chemicals

“To improve chemical safety and provide more streamlined access to information on chemicals, EPA has built and is populating a new database. This new database, named ChemView, greatly improves access to health and safety data on chemicals regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). It contains information EPA receives and develops about chemicals including… Continue Reading

Tenure of American Workers

Steven F. Hipple and Emy Sok – BLS: “Information on employee tenure – the length of time that workers have been with their current employer – may not grab headlines or get mentioned in social media as frequently as other measures of the labor market, such as employment growth, the unemployment rate, or earnings trends.… Continue Reading