Along with many other agencies and groups, the American Library Association has handed in its recommendations/plans for the future to the Obama transition team. Selected other plans are : Center for Democracy and Technology’s Transition Materials for President Obama; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s A Transition Plan for Securing America’s Energy Future; 21st Century Right to Know Project’s Moving Toward a 21st Century Right-to-Know Agenda; Sunshine in Government Initiative’s Media Coalition Recommendations…to Strengthen Transparency and Integrity in Government; the American Civil Liberties Union’s Action for Restoring America; the Third Way’s Protecting the Homeland From Day One: A Transition Plan; and the Criminal Justice Transition Coalition’s Smart on Crime.
Archive for December, 2008
Complete Report of Obama Transition Staff Contacts with Illnois Governor Blagojevich
The title says it all. Read the complete text here.
Women in the Labor Force: 2008 Databook
This new Census Bureau publication highlights the strides women have made in the workplace. But still much needs to be done: in 1979, women working full time earned 62% of what men did; in 2007, it had risen to 80%. For additional insights, consult: Changing Trends in the Labor Force: A Survey(2008); Trends in Labor Force Participation of Married Mothers of Infants(2007); A New Look at Long-term Labor Force Projections to 2050(2006); The Spatial Diffusion of the Female Labor Force Participation: Evidence from U.S. Counties(2004?); The Labor Supply of Married Women: Why Does It Differ Across U.S. Cities?(2007); Changes in the Labor Supply Behavior of Married Women: 1980-2000(2006); and Culture as Learning: The Evolution of Female Labor Force Participation Over a Century(2007).
Quality of Nursing Home Care
This comprehensive site allows you to search for nursing homes within a specific state, county, city, or zip code. Rankings are based on a five-star system, and information is given justifying the individual rankings. A valuable tool.
The Disabled Population in America
This snapshot of the disabled poulation, based on the 2005 Census Bureau survey reveals, among other things, that: 19% or 54.4 million Americans reported some disability in 2005; only 46% of the disabled population between 21 and 64 were employed; 3.3 million use a wheelchair; and 4.7 million children have a disability. More information on disabilities can be found here. And do not forget the New Jersey Division of Disability Services.
Clinton Foundation Releases Donor List
As a pre-condition to Hillary Clinton being vetted as our next Secretary of State, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, needed to publish a list of all donors to his charitable foundation to avoid any apparent conflictc of inetrest. This searchable accounting contains some of the most recognizable names and institutions in the world: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, along with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, each gave between $10 million and $25 million to the William J Clinton Foundation. Among those giving $1 million to $5 million were:the governments of Norway, Kuwait, Oman, Taiwan, Qatar as well as the Friends of Saudi Arabia, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and the Streisand Foundation. Donors down to the $250 to $1000 level are included.
Statistical Abstract of the United States
The vade mecum of every good reference librarian, the Statistical Abstract for 2009 has just been released. Containing over 1300 tables, this annual title presents a numerical portrait of this country with figures ranging from “Members of Congress-Selected Characteristics: 1993-2007″(Table 390) to “Farm Income 2005 and 2006″(Table 805) which reports that one of the principal commodities that New Jersey produces is “horses/mules.” We wish the index were interactive, but it only requires a little backing and forthing to retrieve the needed data. This is well worth a look. And don’t forget that Statistical Abstracts back to 1878 are here.
President-elect Obama Is Time’s Person of the Year
Time Magazine has chosen Barack Obama as its “Person of the Year.” You can also read about the four runners-up including Nicolas Sarkozi, along with the seventeen “people who mattered” including Hillary Clinton and Robert Downey, Jr. View previous selections back to 1928 here. You can read a brief history of this award and get some interesting facts as well.
Library Hours for Christmas/Winter Intersession
In order to prevent a mind-numbing enumeration of the opening and closings of the Library, we are gonna make it simple. Between Monday, 12/22 and Monday, 1/19, the Library will be open from 8:30am to 4:30pm on the following days: Monday 12/22 to Wednesday 12/24; Friday, 1/2/09; Monday, 1/5 to Friday, 1/9; Monday, 1/12 to Friday, 1/16. We are closed all the other days, and we will resume our regular schedule at 7:30am on Tuesday, 1/20.
Rebuilding Iraq: What Went Wrong?
In this unpublished 500+ page report , called Hard Lessons, which is making its away through the corridors of power, incompetency and political in-fighting figure prominently. Over $100 billion have already been spent and Iraq is still considered a fragile state. Other reports of interest include: Cost of the Wars in Irag and Afghanistan, and Other Military Operations Through 2008(Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments); Status of Forces Agreement between the U.S. and Iraq; The Kurds in Post-Saddam Iraq(CRS); More Freedom, Less Terror?: Liberalization and Violence in the Arab World(RAND Corporation); Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security(CRS); Iraq: Assessing the Surge(Council on Foreign Relations); U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction(SIGIR); the Ground Truth Project; International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq(World Bank); Reconstruction Under Adversity: Rebuilding Iraq – Lessons for the Future(U.S. Army War College); and Topic Collection: Iraq and Afghanistan(Government Accountability Office).
