With the ongoing strikes in France over raising the pension-eligible age from 62 to 64, a comparison with OECD and G20 countries is warranted. Recourse to the 2021 Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index is also recommended; the U.S. is only mediocre in the standings.
Archive for January, 2023
Hundreds of Issues of Classic Science Fiction Magazines Available
Within the Pulp Magazine Archive are listed, by title, dozens of science fiction titles ranging from Amazing Stories Magazine to New Worlds Magazine (featuring the first appearnace of Moorcock’s Behold the Man) to Gernsback’s Science Wonder Stories. Each title can be searched individually and you can limit by year as well. Amust for anyone interested in the development of science fiction.
Overview of the 19th Amendment
The Congressional Research Service (the think tank of Congress) recently generated a six-part series on the 19th amendment, tracing it from its development until the present day. These brief, readable documents, replete with links, provide lucid explanations for this crucial piece of legislation.
Documents in the News: 2022 UFO Report
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has just released its latest report. Over the past year, more than 350 sightings were reported, and of that number, only around 50% have been explained.
For those who are interested, the first Congressional hearing on UFOs occurred last May: Hearing on Government Investigation of UFOs (transcript included).
In governmental parlance, UFOs are really “unidentified aerial phenomena”. You can track use of that term through various bills, reports, and mentions in the Congressional Record.
Was Kevin McCarthy’s Quest for House Speaker the Most Contentious?
Nope. How about one process that lasted for 133 ballots? Altogether, there have been 15 occasions when the balloting went beyond the first round. All this is explained at the Speaker Elections Decided by Multiple Ballots feature from the House of Representatives. These two CRS reports provide additional information: Speakers of the House: Elections, 1913-2021 and
Electing the Speaker of the House of Representatives: Frequently Asked Questions. Ballotpedia has an excellent overview.
January 6 Resources
Do you want to persue timelines, hundreds of witness depositions, Congressional hearings (along with the final report), additional government documents, as well as opinion polls/surveys, not to mention other numerous publications? Then go no further than the January 6 Clearinghouse.
Recent Statistical Reports
They come from diverse sources:
Federal Justice Statistics 2021 (Bureau of Justice Statistics);
Poverty in the United States 2021 (Congressional Research Service);
Transportation Statistics Annual Report 2022 (Bureau of Transportation Satistics);
Teens and Cyberbullying 2022 (Pew Research);
Trends in Bank Secrecy Act Data: Financial Activity by Russian
Oligarchs in 2022 (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network);
School Enrollment Rises Slightly in 2021 (Census Bureau);
2022 Planning and Progress Survey: Work and Retirement (Northwestern Mutual); and
Transparency in Statistical Information for the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and All Federal Statistical Agencies (National Academies Press).
National Security Reports – December 2022 Update
Trauma in the U.S. Intelligence Community (RAND); Resilience of the U.S. Electric Grid (NAP);
Cryptography and the Intelligence Community (NAP); Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference and Cybersecurity Threat Lanscape (ENISA – EU); and Securing Water and Wastewater Utilities: Cybersecurity for the Water and Wastewater Systems Sector (draft project description, NIST).
Climate Change, Slow-Onset Disasters, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine; Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act: Data Integration and Individual Rights; Cybersecurity: A Primer; Latin America and the Caribbean: U.S. Policy and Key Issues in the 117th Congress; Cuba: U.S. Policy in the 117th Congress; and PATRIOT Air and Missile Defense System for Ukraine.
Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library Blog 