“Secure Communities, a massive government surveillance program launched in 2008 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has failed to increase the removal of its primary announced targets: noncitizens who have committed crimes other than minor violations. According to a new examination of detailed agency records by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University,… Continue Reading
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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici
Report – Galvanizing Clean Energy Investment in the United States
Peter Ogden, Mari Hernandez, and Ben Bovarnick | Center for American Progress. April 3, 2014: “The United States has long been a top destination for clean energy investment, which has helped it to capture many of the near-term economic, energy security, and environmental benefits that stem from expanded domestic clean energy generation. Since 2004, in fact, clean energy investment… Continue Reading
CRS – Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress
Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress. Ronald O’Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs. February 27, 2014. “The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region’s future. The United States, by virtue ofAlaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests… Continue Reading
Challenges of integrating researchers in authority files
“OCLC Research Program Officer Karen Smith-Yoshimura and MIT Libraries Director of Research and Brookings Institution Non-resident Senior Fellow Micah Altman presented “Integrating Researcher Identifiers into University and Library Systems” at theCNI Spring 2014 Membership Meeting. These slides are now available for downloading (.pptx: 6.0MB/47 slides) or viewing on SlideShare. In addition, draft Researchers in Authority Filesreport (.docx: 813K/17 pp.) is available for community review and… Continue Reading
To Make Beautiful the Capitol: Rediscovering the Art of Constantino Brumidi
“To Make Beautiful the Capitol offers the latest scholarship on Constantino Brumidi, the artist whose elaborate wall and ceiling murals give the U.S. Capitol its distinctive appearance. Prepared by the Office of Senate Curator under the direction of the U.S. Senate Commission on Art.” Continue Reading
Data Retention Directive Invalid, says EU’s Highest Court
EFF – “Today the European Court of Justice declared the EU’s Data Retention Directive invalid, declaring that the mass collection of Internet data in Europe entailed a “wide-ranging and particularly serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data.” The Directive ordered European states to pass laws that obliged Internet… Continue Reading
IMF – Recovery Strengthening, but Requires Stronger Policy Effort
“The global recovery is becoming broader, but the changing external environment poses new challenges to emerging market and developing economies, says the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO). The IMF forecasts global growth to average 3.6 percent in 2014―up from 3 percent in 2013―and to rise to 3.9 percent in 2015. The strengthening of the recovery from… Continue Reading
Affordable Healthcare Act
Healthcare.gov – “You can read the Affordable Care Act by visiting the links below. The health care law, sometimes known as “Obamacare,” was signed March 23, 2010. Read the full law: The law has 2 parts: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. You can view them in PDF… Continue Reading
The World Bank – Facilitating SME financing through improved Credit Reporting
Facilitating SME financing through improved Credit Reporting- Report of the International Committee on Credit Reporting, chaired by the World Bank (Draft Version for Public Comments), March 2014. “This report is one of the concrete outputs of the work following the General Principles. It addresses one of the most significant problems that limit the ability of most Small… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Aviation Safety, Government Efficiency, Info Security, Medicare, Paid Tax Preparers, Tobacco Produccts
2014 ANNUAL REPORT: Additional Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieve Other Financial Benefits, GAO-14-343SP: Published: Apr 8, 2014. Publicly Released: Apr 8, 2014. AVIATION SAFETY: FAA Should Improve Usability of its Online Application System and Clarity of the Pilot’s Medical Form, GAO-14-330: Published: Apr 8, 2014. Publicly Released: Apr 8, 2014. GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS: Opportunities to Reduce… Continue Reading
2014 Internet Security Threat Report, Volume 19
Symanted – “The Internet Security Threat Report provides an overview and analysis of the year in global threat activity. The report is based on data from the Symantec Global Intelligence Network, which Symantec’s analysts use to identify, analyze, and provide commentary on emerging trends in the dynamic threat landscape.” Continue Reading
Gallup – Americans Say College Degree Leads to a Better Life
Gallup: “Americans believe in the importance of postsecondary education, with more than nine in 10 (94%) saying a postsecondary degree or credential is at least somewhat important and 70% saying it is very important, similar to last year’s findings. However, most also say higher-education institutions must evolve to better serve the needs of today’s students. These results… Continue Reading
