Monthly archives: February, 2017

2016 U.S. Wind Industry Market Reports

Wind Surpasses Hydroelectric as Top U.S. Renewable Energy Source “American Wind Energy Association releases U.S. Wind Industry Quarterly Market Reports each quarter to provide a snapshot view of U.S. wind industry activity and trends, including new wind capacity installed, wind projects under construction and in the advanced stages of development, along with newly signed power purchase …

Subjects: Economy, Energy, Environmental Law

Minimum Wage and Corporate Policy

Gustafson, Matthew and Kotter, Jason D., Minimum Wage and Corporate Policy (January 2017). Available for download at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2914598 “We provide evidence that minimum wage changes significantly affect the investment and financing policies of labor intensive public firms. Our identification strategy exploits cross-state and intertemporal variation in whether a state’s minimum wage is bound by …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

Beyer, Johnson, Lipinski Ask for Hearing on Trump Administration Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities

“Democratic leaders on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology sent a letter [February 9, 2017] to their Republican counterparts on the Committee’s majority requesting a hearing on lapses in cybersecurity in the Trump White House.   “Just months ago the House Science Committee’s Republican Majority seemed to believe that cybersecurity for the President’s team …

Subjects: Congress, Cybersecurity, E-Mail, E-Records, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research

The Right Tools: Europe’s Intermediary Liability Laws and 2016 General Data Protection Regulation

Keller, Daphne, The Right Tools: Europe’s Intermediary Liability Laws and the 2016 General Data Protection Regulation (February 8, 2017). Available for download at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2914684 “The so-called “Right to Be Forgotten” established by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2014 is about to change. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, which goes …

Subjects: EU Data Protection, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines

2016 The Year in Assembly & Association Rights

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, February 2017. “2016 The Year in Review – Headline after headline brought us news of political upheaval, war, terrorism, health crises, endemic corruption, environmental disaster, economic turmoil and more. The pace and magnitude of the change and adversity was, at …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Economy, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Legal Research

Open Observatory of Network Interference

“A free software, global observation network for detecting censorship, surveillance and traffic manipulation on the internet. OONI develops free software tests designed to examine the following: Blocking of websites Blocking of instant messaging apps Blocking of Tor and other circumvention tools Detection of systems that could be responsible for censorship and/or surveillance Testing methodology There …

Subjects: Censorship, Cybercrime, Government Documents

GAO – HUD Needs to Address Significant Weaknesses in Its Cost Estimating Practice

“The cost estimates that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) developed for the four selected information technology (IT) investments were unreliable and, thus, lacked a sound basis for informing the department’s investment and budgetary decisions. GAO’s Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide (Cost Guide) defines best practices that are associated with four characteristics of …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Housing

Redesigned California Online Directory

“The California Department of Technology has redesigned the state’s online directory to improve the way agency, department and employee information is accessed. The enhanced California Online Directory offers a new look and easier navigation for users.  The directory, https://cold.govops.ca.gov, continues to offer approximately 250 state agency and department’s general information, employees’ telephone number and email …

Subjects: E-Government, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Take a Very Cheap Trip Around the World Using Over 3,300 Google Maps Screenshots

Via YouTube – Google Maps: Hyperlapse Around the World Via PetaPixel – “Today is Google Maps’ 12th birthday, and graphic design student Matteo Archondis is paying the platform homage in a really cool way. A fan of timelapse and hyperlapse techniques, Archondis created a visual hyperlapse tour of the world using only screenshots taken within …

Subjects: Internet, Search Engines

During World War II U.S. Saw Italian-Americans as a Threat to Homeland Security

David A. Taylor – smithsonian.com – February 2, 2017: “The executive order that forced Japanese-Americans from their homes also put immigrants from Italy under the watchful eye of the government…The incarceration of Japanese-Americans is the best-known effect of Executive Order 9066, the rule signed by President Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. And for good …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

9th Circuit refuses to reinstate travel ban

Follow up to previous postings and related primary, secondary sources and commentary on travel ban issues by Executive Order – Responses to immigrant ban include legal stay and legislation – see the following updates: New York Times – Court Refuses to Reinstate Travel Ban, Dealing Trump Another Legal Loss: “The decision is the most stinging …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research, Social Media