Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery With Daily Postings Since 2002
News release: “The Federal Housing Finance Agency today reported that the average interest rate on conventional 30-year, fixed-rate, mortgage loans of $417,000 or less decreased 1 basis point to 5.30 percent in August. The average interest rate on 15-year, fixed-rate loans of $417,000 or less increased 3 basis points to 4.92 percent in August. These …
“The U.S. is facing a cyber war. Foreign powers, criminal groups, hackers, and terrorist organizations have launched cyber attacks on the White House, Pentagon, State Department, and New York Stock Exchange; stolen data from the Pentagons fighter aircraft; and hacked into the nations electrical grid. There were millions of attempts to penetrate defense digital networks …
Follow up to previous postings on Investigation of Plame CIA Leak, this October 1, 2009 news release: “U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered the release of records of former Vice President Cheneys interview with the FBI in the Valerie Plame Wilson leak investigation. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), CREW had sued …
CBO: Changes in the Distribution of Workers’ Annual Earnings Between 1979 and 2007, October 2009 “This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) paper, which was prepared at the request of the Senate Committee on Finance, documents changes in the annual earnings of workers ages 25 to 54 between 1979 and 2007. CBOs analysis compares the distribution of …
Center for Economic and Policy Research: Decreased Jobs and Hours Push Economy Back to 1997 Hours Level, By Dean Baker “The benchmark revisions will show job loss was 824,000 larger than originally reported. The loss of 263,000 payroll jobs, coupled with a 0.1 hour decline in the average workweek, pushed the index of aggregate hours …
World Economic Outlook (WEO) – Sustaining the Recovery, October 2009: “The World Economic Outlook (WEO) presents the IMF staff’s analysis and projections of economic developments at the global level, in major country groups (classified by region, stage of development, etc.), and in many individual countries. It focuses on major economic policy issues as well as …
Eight Years in Afghanistan – How the American and NATO commitment in Afghanistan has evolved since 2001. See also related article, Report Cites Firefight as Lesson on Afghan War: “The battle of Wanat is being described as the Black Hawk Down of Afghanistan, with the 48 American soldiers and 24 Afghan soldiers outnumbered three to …
White House Proclamation: “Every American deserves an opportunity to study, understand, and contribute to the arts and humanities. This must begin in our schools, where children may have their first and most important exposure to these disciplines. Working on their own masterpieces and finding inspiration in the work of others, young people are opened to …
New Yorker (no fee): Rational Irrationality – The real reason that capitalism is so crash-prone. by John Cassidy “Most of the time, financial markets are pretty calm, trading is orderly, and participants can buy and sell in large quantities. Whenever a crisis hits, however, the biggest playersbanks, investment banks, hedge fundsrush to reduce their exposure, …
News release: “Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in September (-263,000), and the unemployment rate (9.8 percent) continued to trend up, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The largest job losses were in construction, manufacturing, retail trade, and government.” Related postings on financial system
Update on the Financing of the Fund’s Concessional Assistance and Debt Relief to Low-Income Member Countries, September 24, 2009 “This paper provides a semi-annual review of the status of financing for the Funds concessional lending and debt relief to low-income countries (LICs). Since the last review, the Executive Board has approved comprehensive reforms of the …
Contingency Contracting: DOD, State, and USAID Continue to Face Challenges in Tracking Contractor Personnel and Contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, GAO-10-1, October 01, 2009 Emergency Management: Preliminary Observations on FEMA’s Community Preparedness Programs Related to the National Preparedness System, GAO-10-105T, October 01, 2009 Personnel Security Clearances: An Outcome-Focused Strategy and Comprehensive Reporting of Timeliness and …
