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January 24, 2007
Headlines - Global Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative
- Documents From The Trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby
- Two GAO Reports on Poverty in America
- National Taxpayers Union Foundation's Cost Analysis of the President's 2007 State of the Union Address
- The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2008 to 2017
- Hearing: EIA Analysis of Draft Global Warming Legislation
- Bipartisan Resolution on Iraq Passes Senate Committee
- Executive Order Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management
- GAO Report Highlights Post 9/11 Security Gaps
- Guiliani Dossier of Campaign Documents Online
- New CRS Reports on Iran and Iraq
- Latest Waterbird Population Estimates Track Decline Around the World
- Jakob Nielsen's 10 Best Intranets of 2007
 Global Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative "Counterfeiting and piracy costs U.S. companies between $200-$250 billion a year and roughly 750,000 jobs to date. Nearly all industries are being affected, from apparel and footwear, high-tech industrial goods, medicines, autos and auto parts, food and beverages, and cosmetics to copyrighted works, including entertainment and business software, movies, music, and books. The U.S. Chamber through its National Chamber Foundation has launched a broad initiative to effectively thwart the growing global threat of counterfeiting and piracy to the U.S. economy, the global business community, and consumers."
Two GAO Reports on Poverty in America Poverty In America: Consequences for Individuals and the Economy, Full text GAO-07-343T, and Highlights, January 24, 2007: "In 2005, 37 million people, approximately 13 percent of the total population, lived below the poverty line, as defined by the Census Bureau." Poverty in America: Economic Research Shows Adverse Impacts on Health Status and Other Social Conditions as well as the Economic Growth Rate, Full text GAO-07-344, and Highlights, January 24, 2007: "Economic research suggests that individuals living in poverty face an increased risk of adverse outcomes, such as poor health and criminal activity, both of which may lead to reduced participation in the labor market."
The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2008 to 2017 Summary of The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2008 to 2017, prepared by the Congressional Budget Office (191 pages, PDF). See also this Summary (6 pages, PDF)
Hearing: EIA Analysis of Draft Global Warming Legislation Full Committee Hearing: EIA Analysis of Draft Global Warming Legislation, January 24, 2007: "The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on analysis recently completed by the Energy Information Administration, Energy Market and Economic Impacts of a Proposal to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Intensity with a Cap and Trade System." Related postings on global warming Pew Research Center for the People and the Press - Global Warming: A Divide on Causes and Solutions - Public Views Unchanged by Unusual Weather, January 24, 2007
Bipartisan Resolution on Iraq Passes Senate Committee The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-9 in favor of the nonbinding measure to limit troops deployed to Iraq. See this statement by Sen. Chris Dodd [ declared candidate for President] on the resolution. Dodd has offered an amendement to this resolution, ( S. 308), to prohibit an escalation in United States military forces in Iraq without prior authorization by Congress.
GAO Report Highlights Post 9/11 Security Gaps Homeland Security: Progress Has Been Made to Address the Vulnerabilities Exposed by 9/11, but Continued Federal Action Is Needed to Further Mitigate Security Risks, Full-text GAO-07-375, and Highlights, January 24, 2007. "While much attention has been focused on mitigating the specific risks of 9/11, other critical assets ranging from passenger rail stations to power plants are also at risk of terrorist attack. Deciding how to address these risks--setting priorities, making trade-offs, allocating resources, and assessing social and economic costs--is essential. Thus, it remains vitally important for DHS to continue to develop and implement a risk-based framework to help target where and how the nation's resources should be invested to strengthen security."
Guiliani Dossier of Campaign Documents Online From Politico.com, "a dossier [ 126 pages, PDF] of confidential Giuliani campaign documents of which the campaign lost possession in early November [2006]. The documents appear to have been prepared by Giuliani's chief fundraiser, Anne Dickerson. Some personal information, largely cellular phone numbers, was redacted." The Giuliani Dossier: A Brief Tour
Latest Waterbird Population Estimates Track Decline Around the World "Today, the NGO Wetlands International released the Fourth edition of their Waterbird Population Estimates, a publication based on annual monitoring of millions of waterbirds, that presents estimates and trends of 878 waterbird species. The new edition reveals a decrease in waterbird populations since the third edition of 2002. At a global level 44% of populations for which trend data is available are decreasing or have become extinct, 34% are stable, and 17% are increasing. Asia is the continent where concern is greatest."
Jakob Nielsen's 10 Best Intranets of 2007 From the Summary of Jakob Nielsen's 10 Best Intranets of 2007: "The 10 best-designed intranets for 2007 are: American Electric Power (AEP), United States Comcast, United States; DaimlerChrysler AG, Germany; The Dow Chemical Company, United States; Infosys Technologies Limited, India; JPMorgan Chase & Co., United States; Microsoft Corporation, United States; National Geographic Society, United States; The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), United Kingdom; Volvo Group, Sweden. Nine winners are traditional company-wide intranets. The winning Comcast design is an extranet that supports both internal marketing staff and external vendors, affiliates, and marketing partners."
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