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July 11, 2007
Headlines - DOD OIG Testimony on Strengthening the Unique Role of the Nation's Inspectors General
- Joint Committee on Taxation Report on Financing of The Airport And Airway Trust Fund
- Judiciary Committee Continues Hearings on U.S. Attorney Firings
- Privacy Forum Calls for FDA Standards to Protect Patients in Drug Risk Programs
- More Than Half the World Is Now Urban, UN Report Says
- Tributes Mark Passing of Beloved Lady Bird Johnson
- New Report Identifies US and Japan Provide the Strongest Environments for IT Competitiveness
- New GAO Reports: Environmental Satellite Acquisitions, Retirement Decisions, DOD's High-Risk Areas, Unmanned Aircraft Systems,
- New Tool for Customizing Google Map Released Today
- Law Library of Congress Issues June 2007 Issue of Global Legal Monitor
- EEOC Amends Age Bias Regulations To Conform With Supreme Court Ruling
 DOD OIG Testimony on Strengthening the Unique Role of the Nation's Inspectors General , Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs concerning Strengthening the Unique Role of the Nation's Inspectors General, July 11, 2007. Joint Committee on Taxation Report on Financing of The Airport And Airway Trust Fund "In connection with a hearing scheduled by the Senate Committee on Finance for July 12, 2007, the Joint Committee on Taxation has issued Present Law And Background Information Relating To Financing of The Airport And Airway Trust Fund And Airports (JCX-42-07)" Related government documents: Senate Finance Committee Hearing, Airport Airways Trust Fund: The Future of Aviation Financing, July 12, 2007 - Testimony on the Taxation of Carried Interest: Peter Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office, Washington, DC.
Privacy Forum Calls for FDA Standards to Protect Patients in Drug Risk Programs "World Privacy Forum executive director Pam Dixon testified at an FDA/AHRQ joint public workshop about the need for the FDA to set robust privacy standards for drug risk minimization programs, which are put in place for drugs the FDA has determined to be high risk in some way. Drug risk minimization programs...are not typically covered by HIPAA, and some programs have a privacy policy that allows marketing use of patient information collected as part of the risk program. This kind of marketing activity would not be allowable if the programs fell under HIPAA, and Dixon's testimony stated that patients in these programs should have the same kinds of privacy protections as HIPAA covered programs, and that marketing activities involving patient information should not be allowable in these programs. Read the testimony (PDF)." More Than Half the World Is Now Urban, UN Report Says Press release: "In a historical first, more people now live in cities than rural areas. The world's population is now 6.6 billion, according to a new UN report, and slightly more than half live in urban areas, the majority of them in developing countries. Between now and 2050, the report says, world population will surge by more than 37 percent – from 6.616 billion to 9.076 billion, with Asia and Africa leading the way." State of World Population Report Tributes Mark Passing of Beloved Lady Bird Johnson Lady Bird Johnson 1912 - 2007: "Wife, mother, grandmother, conservationist, businesswoman, philanthropist, First Lady. Lady Bird Johnson holds claim to all of those titles and more. All her life, Mrs. Johnson has brought beauty to her sprawling family, to the Texas Hill Country she loves, and to the nation that loves her. She inspired the passage of the Beautification Act of 1965 [Public Law 89-285 (79 Stat. 1028)] – a bill her husband called a "gift" to his wife - which cemented environmentalism as a top priority in the United States." Images of Lady Bird Johnson "As information regarding the Celebration of Lady Bird Johnson's life becomes available, this website will be updated." New Report Identifies US and Japan Provide the Strongest Environments for IT Competitiveness Press release: "Relatively few countries possess all the factors necessary to support a thriving information technology sector, but the United States, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom provide the strongest environments for IT competitiveness, a new study concludes. As reflected in the Economist Intelligence Unit's "IT industry competitiveness index", these factors include an ample supply of skills, an innovation-friendly culture, world-class technology infrastructure, a robust legal regime and well-balanced government support, not to mention a competition-friendly business environment. Those countries possessing most of these "competitiveness enablers" are also home to high-performance IT industries: all but four of the top 22 countries in the Economist Intelligence Unit index are also among the world's top countries in terms of IT labour productivity." New GAO Reports: Environmental Satellite Acquisitions, Retirement Decisions, DOD's High-Risk Areas, Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Defense Logistics: Efforts to Improve Distribution and Supply Support for Joint Military Operations Could Benefit from a Coordinated Management Approach, GAO-07-807, June 29, 2007 DOD's High-Risk Areas: Efforts to Improve Supply Chain Can Be Enhanced by Linkage to Outcomes, Progress in Transforming Business Operations, and Reexamination of Logistics Governance and Strategy, GAO-07-1064T, July 10, 2007 Environmental Satellite Acquisitions: Progress and Challenges, GAO-07-1099T, July 11, 2007 Retirement Decisions: Federal Policies Offer Mixed Signals about When to Retire, GAO-07-753, July 11, 2007 Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Advance Coordination and Increased Visibility Needed to Optimize Capabilities, GAO-07-836, July 11, 2007 New Tool for Customizing Google Map Released Today Press release: "Today Google officially released a new feature of Google Maps that enables users to layer valuable third-party information directly on Google Maps with a single click and to save these customized maps to their personal library. These mini-applications, called Mapplets, make it possible for users to view and layer maps containing information such as real estate listings, jogging trails, events and photos...These tools are built using the Google Mapplets platform, which enables any developer to create mini map applications that overlay their content on Google Maps and showcase their services to millions of Google users. Developers can find more information on authoring Mapplets here. Law Library of Congress Issues June 2007 Issue of Global Legal Monitor Global Legal Monitor, June 2007, Issue 6 (62 pages, PDF). Previous issues of the perodical are available using a drop-down menu on this webpage. EEOC Amends Age Bias Regulations To Conform With Supreme Court Ruling Press release: "The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued revised regulations on age discrimination in the workplace in accordance with a 2004 Supreme Court decision, General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. v. Cline. The updated regulations, published in [July 6, 2007] Federal Register. The revised regulations clarify that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) does not prohibit employers from favoring an older employee over a younger one when both are protected by the Act. The EEOC initially proposed these changes in 2006 and, after receiving public comments on its proposal, unanimously voted to approve the revisions. The public comments were largely supportive of the revisions, with both business and labor groups supporting the changes."
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