The Future of Liberty State Park calls for, among other things, a low-rise hotel along the water’s edge of this 1200 acre park opposite Ellis Island.
Archive for November, 2015
Online Primary Sources: The Nuremberg Trials
Seventy years ago, the International Military Tribunal opened proceedings against 24 high-ranking military and political Nazis; in addition, dozens more defendants were also brought before the tribunal. The trials lasted from 1945-49 and generated a tremendous number of reports, broken down into three series: The Blue Series is composed of the official proceedings (42 volumes) of what most of us refer to as The Nuremberg Trials (1945-46); The Red Series is an eight-volume compilation of documentary evidence against the defendants (1945-46); and The Green Series that is the official abridged version of the twelve trials of almost 200 additional defendants that lasted from 1946-1949 and are considered as part of the Nuremberg Trials. Robert Jackson who was the U.S. representative to the tribunal, issued his own report. Nuremberg Trials, 1945-1949 has more relevant material as well.
Human Rights Sites
With immigration and human rights becoming front line news, we thought we would provide an updated guide to reliable web sites on these topics. Here goes: Amnesty International; Brookings Institution. Human Rights; CRS Reports on Human Rights; Chatham House. Human Rights; Congressional Hearings on Human Rights; Council on Foreign Relations. The Global Human Rights Regime; European Parliament Think Tank. Human Rights; Human Rights Watch; International Crisis Group. Human Rights; UK Parliament Library. Human Rights; UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights; and US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights.
World Anti-Doping Agency Report on Russia
The independent commission established by the WADA issued its report lambasting the state-sponsored drug regimes employed by Russian athletes. As this document attests: “The investigation has confirmed the existence of widespread cheating through the use of doping substances and methods to ensure, or enhance the likelihood of, victory for athletes and teams. The cheating was done by the athletes’ entourages, officials and the athletes themselves.”(10)
Transcripts of New Jersey Legislature Public Hearings
Did you ever wonder about these public hearings? What was actually said? Who was there? And can you find these hearings that merit only a brief mention in the news media but can have a major affect on your life in the Garden State? Transcripts of public hearings are available for your perusal. They are broken down by committee and not only provide a verbatim accounting of the hearing, but supporting documentation that was presented is also included. Hearings back to 1996 are also accessible.
Reduced Snowmelt Will Affect Drinking Water Supply For Two Billion People
Examining dozens of basins in the northern hemisphere that depend on snowmelt for water supplies, the authors of this article – The potential for snow to supply human water demand in the present and future – conclude that: “… that should greenhouse gas emissions continue along their recent trajectory… the risks of declines in snow resource potential exceed 67% in snow-sensitive basins, potentially impacting spring and summer water availability for nearly 2 billion people.” Among those areas to be adversely affected would be northern and central California and the Colorado basin area.
Who Are The Wealthiest In Congress?
It appears that this listing of all of Congress from Roll Call, starting with the richest and working on down, contains 192 millionaires based on net worth. Each profile comes with assets and liabilities; many also include notes as to the deficiencies of the financial reporting requirements governing Congress, leading most members to appear less privileged than they really are. Previous lists are also available. Another perspective, this one having even more Congressional millionaires (due to different number-crunching) is: Personal wealth: a nation of extremes, and a Congress, too from the Center for Responsive Politics.
Continuous Coverage of Paris Attack
Real-time news reports and videos can be accessed here. It is updated every five minutes, or you can manually update reportage.
Best Books of 2015
Here they come! Library Journal has issued its best lists from cookbooks to graphic novels. Amazon’s best lists are out as well. The venerable Publishers Weekly has a listing, too. The Telegraph makes a contribution. ALA has 2015 Best Fiction for Young Adults. NPR has its own list. The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Barnes & Noble, Forbes (best business books), School Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews.More to be added as they are published.
New College-Level Attendance Figures, Degrees Awarded, and Enrollment Numbers
This just-released NCES report – Attendance in 2015-15; Degrees and Other Awards Conferred, 2013-14; and 12-Month Enrollment, 2013-14 – provides a wealth of data for higher education. Among the numbers: there are 7,151 Title IV institutions in the country with almost 28,000,000 students of whom 3,800,000 are attending graduate school; almost 4,250,000 students earned a degree, with 177,000 doctoral degrees granted; and the average cost of tuition and fees at a four-year public school is around $8,000, for a private school $25,5000, and for a for-profit school $15,700. All the accompanying tables are broken down to an almost granular level.
How Frankenstein Came to Life
The great novel Frankenstein, like other works of literature, did not spring fully realized from Mary Shelley’s mind; it evolved over time until the work as we know it was created. To watch this significant piece of literature develop, we now have access to all known manuscripts as well as their transcriptions. Here is a listing of the major editions, reprints, and translations of the novel; most are based on the 1831 edition. Several additional online editions can also be consulted.
Fewer States To Use PARCC – New Jersey Is One Of Them
According to this survey from the Education Commission of the States, only seven states and the District of Columbia are moving forward with PARCC testing for next year; in 2014/15 Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, and Rhode Island used the assessments. Other states have either totally opted out, are using some of PARCC, administering their own tests, or using the Smarter Balanced assessment. Here is a relevant article from The Washington Post.
Tuition and Fees for Over 3400 Colleges – NJCU Still Has Lowest Tuition in the State
This interactive chart traces the growth of tuition and fees at 3,417 colleges from 1998/99 to 2015/16. One can limit to a specific college or pull up an entire state’s listing. Data are shown for public, private, for-profit, four-year and two-year colleges. Here is New Jersey City University’s profile; New Jersey’s colleges are here, highlighting once again how NJCU has the lowest tuition of any four-year college in the state.
Mortality Rates Rise Significantly for White non-Hispanic Americans
You may have been hearing about this disturbing trend. This is the study that highlights this marked reversal in longevity – Rising morbidity and mortality in midlife among white non-Hispanic Americans in the 21st century. One contributory cause is explained: “Although the epidemic of pain, suicide, and drug overdoses preceded the financial crisis, ties to economic insecurity are possible. After the productivity slowdown in the early 1970s, and with widening income inequality, many of the baby-boom generation are the first to find, in midlife, that they will not be better off than were their parents.”(4)
The State of New Jersey Earns a “D” in Integrity
At least that is the opinion of the Center for Public Integrity, but we are in good company as only three states garnered a grade higher than C-. New Jersey’s scores across the thirteen metrics employed reveal some dysfunction within the state government, starting with Governor Christie: “Bridgegate is perhaps the most brazen of a series of controversies, including lavish all-expense-paid trips and an ongoing battle with the press over public records, that have engulfed the Christie administration in recent years. All of this has contributed to the state earning an overall score of 65, or a grade of D, in the State Integrity Investigation, a data-driven analysis of state government accountability and transparency conducted by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity. The report also found in New Jersey a significant “enforcement gap,” which measures the difference between the laws on the books and how they’re actually implemented.” When this report was issued in 2012, New Jersey ranked tops in the nation with a B+ rating, although the 2015 iteration does say that comparison with previous measures are not totally accurate due to differences in the evaluation process.
Strengthened Accreditation Polices for Higher Education Introduced
In this press release, the U.S. Department of Education outlines both the rationale and the executive actions being taken to improve the accreditation process for colleges and universities. As the release states: ” …there is broad agreement that the system needs updating and that accreditors should be held responsible for the schools they endorse.” Insidehighered has an informative piece on this.
New Jersey 2014/15 School Violence and Vandalism Report
This report was recently released; school district data by county are available in Appendix D. Reports back to 1999 are here.
Law Library of Congress Legal Reports
At the behest of Congress, the library produces legal reports on various topics; they “… provide commentary and recommended resources on issues and events. These reports are provided for reference purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.” The reports can be heavily footnoted and links are provided where available. The documents range from Bitcoin practices in forty countries to Japan’s constitutional prohibition against waging war. If you need to research various subjects from a legal viewpoint, you might want to stop at this site.
Full Text of the Trans Pacific Partnership
In all its thousands of pages, thankfully broken down by chapters. A detailed summary of the United States’ stance is online as well. In addition, you have fact sheets, issue briefs, and outlines. What is TPP is and why it is so important can be found at: The New York Times; The Washington Post; United States Trade Representative; The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP):Negotiations and Issues for Congress (CRS); Council of Foreign Relations; and the European Parliament Think Tank. The Washington Post has released a searchable version of TPP
Detailed Tables of More Than 380 Languages Spoken At Home in the United States
For only the second time in its history, the American Community Survey, an annual tally undertaken by the Census Bureau, has released detailed data on what languages are spoken at home. Rather than limit this to just the 39 standard languages available on its “regular” forms, these tables reflect ten times the number of languages included. These data are invaluable for planners, educators, linguists, and statisticians. Aggregate numbers are available at the national, state, county, and metropolitan level.
Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library Blog 