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“The New York Fed’s latest Beige Book report indicates that regional economic growth slowed in October and early November, while the job market stayed strong and prices remained stable. This latest report, based on information collected through November 20, suggests that economic activity in the Second District has leveled off since the end of the …
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Annual Assessment of the Internal Revenue Service Information Technology Program, September 30, 2015. Reference Number: 2015-20-094 “For FY 2015, TIGTA designated Security for Taxpayer Data and Employees as the IRS’s number one management and performance challenge for the fifth consecutive year. The IRS faces the daunting task of securing …
“The CFPB Ombudsman’s Office is an independent, impartial, and confidential resource that assists consumers and companies in informally resolving issues with the CFPB. This report summarizes our activities in fiscal year 2015. The report includes a description of how our office works in practice with a new flowchart of when to contact us and what …
“Today, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released its first set of official statistics on personal consumption expenditures (PCE) by state for 1997-2014. PCE by state – the measure of goods and services purchased by or on behalf of households by state of residence – provides insight into household spending patterns across states and can …
Asylum: Additional Actions Needed to Assess and Address Fraud Risks, GAO-16-50: Published: Dec 2, 2015. Publicly Released: Dec 2, 2015: “The total number of asylum applications, including both principal applicants and their eligible dependents, filed in fiscal year 2014 (108,152) is more than double the number filed in fiscal year 2010 (47,118).” Centers of Excellence: …
CBO Report – “Only military personnel engage in combat operations, according to U.S. government policies. However, either military personnel, civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DoD), or contractors may carry out support functions, such as accounting services. In 2012, about 340,000 active-duty military personnel were assigned to commercial positions that perform support functions. Those …
I wrote this entry on December 1, 2015 and my email listserv did not send out my postings as usual. So I am re-posting this to be sure that I reach friends and colleagues and readers who continue to include beSpacific as a part of their daily reading. Thank you for reading beSpacific, for supporting …
EPIC – “For the first time, a federal court has lifted a national security letter gag order, allowing an Internet Service Provider to publish the FBI’s demands for records of user web browsing history, IP addresses, online purchases, and location information. The FBI issues thousands of NSLs each year, forcing companies to disclose troves of …
Google Official Blog: “It takes years of practice to perfect the pirouettes. Months of rehearsal to get the crescendos just right. Multiple stories of lights, rigging and machinery to set the scene. At the world’s leading performing arts venues —like Carnegie Hall, the Berliner Philharmonie, the Bolshoi Theatre—artists, costume designers, musicians, stage crews and many …
The Moral Character of Cryptographic Work, Phillip Rogaway, Department of Computer Science, University of California, Davis, USA. December 1, 2015: “Cryptography rearranges power: it configures who can do what, from what. This makes cryptography an inherently political tool, and it confers on the field an intrinsically moral dimension. The Snowden revelations motivate a reassessment of …
“The Library of Congress Literacy Awards program, now in its third year, has just published “Best Practices 2015,” a review of the outstanding work in the field of literacy being done by the three 2015 Literacy Awards award winners and 14 additional organizations that are successfully implementing best practices in literacy and reading promotion. The …
News release: “The Chinese currency renminbi (RMB) is to be included in the basket of currencies which make up the IMF’s Special Drawing Right, or SDR. This is the first time in over 15 years that the list of currencies comprising the SDR has been altered. The change was agreed by the IMF’s Executive Board …
