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January 30, 2007
Headlines - Documents From The Trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby
- DHS OIG Review of FEMA Internal Controls for Funding Administative Cost Under State Management Grants
- Indiana Launches Statewide Victim Notification Network
- Committee Hearing on Political Influence on Government Climate Change Scientists
- DOJ OIG Report on Efforts to Prevent, Identify, and Recover Improper and Erroneous Payments
- National Infrastructure Advisory Council Final Report on Cyber Threats
- GAO Performance and Accountability Highlights
- Election Assistance Commission Reports Document Flaws in Voting System Testing
- Internet Access Revenue for Cable and Other Program Distribution Reaches $11 Billion
- PBS Series on History of the Supreme Court Begins January 31, 2007
- DOD OIG Unclassified Summary of Equipment Status of Deployed Forces Within the U.S. Central Command
- Homeland Security Culture Task Force Report
 Documents From The Trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Via AP, Documents From The Trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, updated January 30, 2007. See also DOJ Libby Trial Exhibits January 29, 2007
DHS OIG Review of FEMA Internal Controls for Funding Administative Cost Under State Management Grants Review of FEMA Internal Controls for Funding Administative Cost Under State Management Grants, OIG-07-21 (PDF, 6 pages), January 30, 2007.
Indiana Launches Statewide Victim Notification Network "The Indiana Department of Corrections has started implementation of the new Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification (SAVIN) network, the result of legislation approved unanimously in 2005. The automated network will allow Indiana residents to receive real-time information about the custody status of offenders in all 92 counties. Development of the program has already begun and a system launch date is anticipated for April 2007. Information about 80 percent of Indiana offenders will be available by the end of this year, with the remainder added in 2008. In the last two years, Congress approved $17 million to fund the implementation of SAVIN systems nationwide. Indiana received $1.25 million to begin and operate the program."
Committee Hearing on Political Influence on Government Climate Change Scientists Release: "The Oversight Committee held a hearing on January 30 regarding political interference in the work of government climate change scientists. In preparation for the hearing, Chairman Waxman and Ranking Member Davis requested documents from the Council on Environmental Quality related to allegations that officials edited scientific reports and took other actions to minimize the significance of climate change.
Documents and Links Chairman Waxman's Opening Statement Hearing Notice and Witness List Atmosphere of Pressure: Political Interference in Federal Climate Science Witness Testimony: Francesca T. Grifo, Ph.D., Union of Concerned Scientists Witness Testimony: Rick Piltz, Government Accountability Project Witness Testimony: Dr. Drew T. Shindell Witness Testimony: Roger A. Pielke, Jr., University of Colorado, Boulder Memo to Committee Members Regarding CEQ Documents Letter to CEQ Chairman James Connaughton Related postings on climate change
National Infrastructure Advisory Council Final Report on Cyber Threats Convergence of Physical and Cyber Technologies and Related Security Management Challenges Working Group Final Report and Recommendations (PDF, 42 pages), January 19, 2007 and Transmittal Letter (PDF, 2 pages), January 19, 2007.
GAO Performance and Accountability Highlights U.S. Government Accountability Office: Performance and Accountability Highlights: Fiscal Year 2006, GAO-07-3SP, January 30, 2007. "This report presents the highlights of GAO's fiscal year 2006 Performance and Accountability report. In short, fiscal year 2006 was an exceptional year for GAO. For example, we received a clean opinion from independent auditors on our financial statements. Senior GAO executives and the Comptroller General delivered testimonies at 240 hearings covering a range of topics, including the tax gap and tax reform, U.S. border security, Iraq and Hurricane Katrina activities, and issues affecting the health and pay of military servicemembers."
Election Assistance Commission Reports Document Flaws in Voting System Testing VoteTrust USA press release: "On Friday, January 26, 2007 the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) released the Interim Accreditation Assessment report submitted to the EAC back in July of 2006. The report Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Interim Accreditation Independent Test Authorities (ITA) Assessment Report CIBER & Wyle is an assessment of an on-site review conducted July 17 to July 22, 2006...The failures documented in the report exceed the direst fears of those who had come to question the independence, authority and testing competence of the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) ITA labs. The cadre of doubters came to include many computer security experts, election integrity activists, several state examiners and eventually candidates themselves. Doubt grew with each NASED qualified system which later proved to have signif! icant defects. Doubts grew with revelations of significant defects in systems qualified through NASED ITA program. The defects and illegal system configurations had gone undiscovered by these labs through many rounds of “testing” and remained undiscovered the two labs over the course of years." Related postings on e-voting
Internet Access Revenue for Cable and Other Program Distribution Reaches $11 Billion Press release: "Internet access revenue for cable and other program distribution increased 18 percent, from $9.4 billion in 2004 to $11.1 billion in 2005, while access revenue for Internet service providers decreased 13 percent, from $14.1 billion in 2004 to $12.2 billion in 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. Revenue for Internet publishing and broadcasting increased from $8.7 billion in 2004 to $10.3 billion in 2005, a 19 percent rise, according to the 2005 Service Annual Survey (SAS): Information Sector Services. The report covers the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) sector 51, and is one in a series on economic activity in several service industries. Also from the report on taxable firms with employees, revenues from cellular and other wireless telecommunications rose from $126 billion! in 2004 to $141 billion in 2005, an increase of 12 percent."
PBS Series on History of the Supreme Court Begins January 31, 2007 PBS: "It's known as the court of last resort -- the Supreme Court -- where nine judges appointed for life make monumental decisions that govern our everyday lives, from the contents of the nation's daily newspapers to what we can do in the privacy of our own homes. With immense power and considerable mystery, the court of final appeal has helped author the history of America." Transcript and Video links currently available, via this link for the following episodes: Episode 1, January 31, 2007: "One Nation Under Law examines the creation of the Court and follows it through the brink of the Civil War, paying particular attention to the fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court -- John Marshall -- and to his successor, Roger Taney." Episode 2, January 31, 2007: "A New Kind of Justice explores the issues before the Court during the period after the Civil War -- a time of unprecedented economic growth, when industrialists like Carnegie and Rockefeller were earning millions."
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