The list of newspapers that has gone under or have morphed into an Internet version is seemingly endless: Rocky Mountain News, Cincinnati Post, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Detroit Free Press, and The Christian Science Monitor, to name a few. This was adumbrated by a Pew report issued a few months ago -Internet Overtakes Newspapers as News Outlet. So dire has the sitution become that Maryland Senator Benjamin Carbin is sponsoring the Newspaper Revitalization Act, allowing newspapers to act as non-profit entities. The fact that the respected International Herald Tribune has just been subsumed under the New York Times and been sub-titled “The Global Edition of the New York Times” only adds an urgency to this situation. Read this informative Reuters entry on the takeover. Also, other articles worth looking at are : “The Death and Life of America’s Great Newspapers” from The Nation, “Stop the Presses” from cbsnews.com, and “The 10 Most Endangered Newspapers in America” from Time.
Archive for March, 2009
China’s Military Power
This annual report to Congress highlights China’s burgeoning military growth. Compare this to previous reports issued by the Department of Defense. For additional information, please consult: China: Pentagon Military Report Distorted (CNN); Central Military Commission (globalsecurity.org); China’s National Defense in 2008 (Information Office of the State Council of the PRC); China Military Statistics (CIA World Factbook); Country Profile-China (Library of Congress); U.S.-China Military Contacts, China Naval Modernization, U.S. Conventional Land Forces and Nuclear Deterrence: A China Case Study, and China and Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Missiles:Policy Issues (all CRS); Backgrounder: China’s Military Power (Council on Foreign Relations); China Responses to U.S. Military Transformation and Implications for the Department of Defense, Modernizing China’s Military, and The United States and a Rising China: Strategic and Military Implications(all RAND Corporation); Russia, China, and the United States in Central Asia, The “People” in the PLA: Recruitment, Training, and Education in China’s Military, Right-Sizing the People’s Liberation Army, and China’s Nuclear Forces (all Strategic Studies Institute); Chinese Military Power (Commonwealth Institute); and China Military Guide (globalsecurity.org);
Tracking Obama’s Political Appointments
President Obama has literally hundreds of government positions to fill in his new administration. Head Count from the Washington Post allows us to keep track of this process. You can search by individual, agency, and status, and you can also view demographic breakdowns of his appointments. Biographical information is included as well; a previous blog entry will direct you to additional biographical resources.
Digest of Education Statistics 2008
This annual volume from the National Center for Education Statistics provides “…a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school.” This compendium is widely used and quoted by diverse audiences and is considered a definitive source. Chapter 6 contains “international education” figures from OECD countries as well as “partner economies,” among them Brazil and Russia ; chapter 7 focuses both on libraries(academic, school, and public) and on educational technology. Previous volumes back to 1990 can also be accessed.
Webcast of AIG Hearings
The webcast before a subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee is available, as are prepared statements/testimonies. A blow-by-blow description of this hearing from the New York Times should be perused; it’s not pretty.
State of the News Media 2009
This annual report from the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism examines the major sectors in journalism (newspapers, online, network TV, cale TV, local TV, magazines, audio, and ethics news outlets) using the following tools: analysis, audience demographics, economics, news investment, and ownership. Special reports are also included along with an extensive bibliography which has hyperlinks in many cases.
Projected 2009-2010 State School Aid
This site lists state school aid for all New Jersey school districts. See if your school district is receiving a boost. In related news, Allocation One of funds approved for school construction projects has been released.
St Patrick’s Day Parades in the Area
This list gives parades for New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Slainte!!
Health Care for Those with Mental Health Illness
A new report entitled Grading the States 2009 from the National Alliance on Mental Illness(NAMI) examines on national and state levels the kinds of help provided to those who suffer from mental illness. What it reveals are systems inadequate to the demand. As a whole, the United States rates a “D”; New Jersey rates a “C.” Go to the NAMI homepage for additional resources and look at this informative page courtesy of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.
