Sebastopol man puts code manuals online

Matthew B. Stannard, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, September 27, 2008

From a paper-choked sublet office in Sebastopol, Carl Malamud is operating a kind of nonprofit Napster, with offerings a little less sexy than the music of Metallica, Dr. Dre and Green Day.

Example: 404.1. All plumbing fixtures, other than water closets and urinals, shall be equipped with approved strainers having an approved waterway area.

That's a snippet of the 2007 California Plumbing Code, a print version of which might cost $125. But Malamud purchased the code and placed it on his Web site - and now anybody can download all 526 riveting pages free.

Or the building codes, fire codes, or mechanical codes from California, San Francisco or Los Angeles. Or millions of pages of other codes, all legally obtained by Malamud, who then uploaded them to public.resource.org for anybody to take, even though many of them are copyrighted.

"Not everybody is going to read the building code, but everybody who wants to should be able to without putting 100 bucks in the slot," Malamud said. "Primary legal materials are America's operating system."

His actions perturb government agencies, technical organizations and publishers who create, maintain and sell books of codes. While some say they do not plan to oppose Malamud's efforts, others question the legality of his site and the wisdom of his actions.

Malamud says he believes that he's on solid ground if he is sued. Some legal experts agree.

Law belongs to all

"It's very clear in American law that you can't get intellectual property protection for law," said Pamela Samuelson, co-director of the UC Berkeley Center for Law and Technology. "Law belongs to everybody."

This year Malamud persuaded the Oregon legislature not to enforce its copyright claim to Oregon Revised Statutes - after he put them online. Now he'd like to see California - and other agencies that claim copyright over public codes and regulations - do the same.

"This stuff has been locked up behind a cash register," Malamud said. "(It's) way too important to just leave it there."

If Malamud is fishing for a lawsuit - something he denies - so far nobody is biting. Officials at the agencies whose codes Malamud has posted all say they are aware of his efforts but have no plans for legal action.

Which doesn't mean those agencies are giving up their copyright - especially if someone republishes the codes for profit, said Linda Brown, deputy director of the California Office of Administrative Law.

"If somebody is going to make commercial use of that, the people of California deserve to benefit," she said.

Brown said Malamud's rhetoric is misleading - many of the codes on his site are already available free online.

The state's administrative law office Web site, for example, allows users to search the California Code of Regulations. Many other state and federal agencies do the same.

But it's not enough, said Malamud. Many of the free codes carry notices banning downloading for commercial use or downloading, printing or more-complicated options.

Free codes in future

He envisions a future where government codes are freely available in computer-friendly form to be mashed up, cross-linked, debated and redrafted by the online community.

"By liberating it, we can begin making it more useful," Malamud said. "If it costs $6 million to buy a copy of federal law ... you're not going to get somebody like Larry Page in a Stanford dorm room downloading American law and making a better version of it."

But the organizations that oversee or publish the codes appearing on Malamud's site question that claim.

"The Internet really succeeds when it's used collaboratively," said Dexter Johnson, Oregon's legislative counsel. "When laws are created by elected people, I'm not sure that model works so well."

Call it the Brittanica vs. Wikipedia debate - can online crowds be as wise as one expert? Except this debate involves laws where small details can make a difference in whether a house is constructed safely.

Codes keep changing

What's more, said California's Brown, some codes - including the California Code of Regulations - change frequently. Those changes are pushed out to people who purchase official subscriptions, but republishing sites like Malamud's may not be up to date.

Creating and updating the codes that help build safe schools, homes and offices is enormously complicated, said Michael Colopy, spokesman for the International Code Council. And the money from selling codes pays for that process.

"It is ultimately a disservice to the public if in the name of access to so-called free codes the very process that develops and enhances public safety is undermined," Colopy said. "The public is the big loser."

Malamud said he is sympathetic and willing to work with the ICC. But he argued that the ICC must grapple, like many industries, with the way the Internet is disrupting its business model.

"I think there is a lot of ways to keep that going without taking it out on the back of the kid in the pickup truck studying for the plumber's license," he said.

E-mail Matthew B. Stannard at mstannard@sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/27/BAAH134FI4.DTL

This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Check out Gambling on the Future: Managing the Education Challenges of Rapid Growth in Nevada
By Aaron Terrazas and Michael Fix
Nevada, the fastest growing state in the United States, is experiencing a population boom – driven in part by immigration – that has key implications for its school system and labor market. Immigrants represent one in five Nevada residents and their children account for one in three Nevadans under age 18. Yet even as schools have experienced a surge in enrollment, federal and state investments in the state's failing education system haven't kept pace at The National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy.

Access to Science Information Expands with Science.gov 5.0 Launch

 

200 Million Pages of U.S. Government Science Resources Now Available on the Internet

 

The latest version of Science.gov <http://www.science.gov/> -Science.gov 5.0-was launched Sept. 15th, allowing users to search additional collections of valuable science resources; more easily target their searches; and readily find links to information on a variety of science topics. Science.gov is a free, integrated single-search gateway to reliable science and technology information from 17 organizations within

13 federal science agencies.

 

Science.gov 5.0 improves upon the previous version, Science.gov 4.0, by offering seven new databases and portals which allow researchers access to over 200 million pages of scientific information. New information available includes thousands of patents resulting from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research and development(DOepatents <http://www.osti.gov/doepatents> ); documents and bibliographic citations of DOE accomplishments (DOE R&D Accomplishments Database <http://www.osti.gov/accomplishments> ); millions of electronic scientific documents from around the world known as e-prints (Eprint Network <http://www.osti.gov/eprints> ); and comprehensive and peer-reviewed toxicology data for thousands of chemicals (HSDB Hazardous Substances Databank <http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?HSDB>

) as well as more than 3 million references to worldwide literature on the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms (TOXLINE Toxicology Bibliographic Information <http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?TOXLINE> ).  New information also includes a digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature (PubMed Central <http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/> ) and cancer-related information of all kinds for all audiences (Cancer.gov <http://www.cancer.gov/> ), including support and treatment resources for patients, comprehensive descriptions of research programs and clinical trials for healthcare professionals and the general public, and funding opportunities for researchers.

 

Another key feature of Science.gov 5.0 is a "clustering" tool which helps target searches by grouping results by subtopics or dates. This technology was recently developed through a DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program award.

 

In addition to quadrupling the amount of searchable content and enhancing the search technology, Science.gov 5.0 now provides links to related EurekAlert! Science News <http://www.eurekalert.org/>  and Wikipedia, and provides the capability to easily download research results into personal files or citation software.

 

Science.gov is hosted by DOE's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), within DOE's Office of Science.  In addition to DOE, Science.gov is supported by contributing members of the Science.gov Alliance, including the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, and the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Government Printing Office, the Library of Congress, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation, with support from the National Archives and Records Administration.

 

WASHOE COUNTY APPROVES INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH CITY OF RENO FOR HOMELESS SERVICES PROVIDING MORE THAN $1 MILLION IN CASH AND IN-KIND SERVICES



Reno, Nevada. September 16, 2008. At their meeting today, the Washoe County Commission approved an interlocal agreement with the City of Reno for the operation and provision of homeless services at the Community Assistance Center (CAC) located at 315 Record Street.



The interlocal agreement is for $1,035,000 in cash and in-kind support ($240,000 in professional staff assigned to assist at the center) for fiscal year 2008-09. In addition to the $1 million-plus agreement, Washoe County had previously agreed to provide an additional $300,000 in cash for support of the construction of the Family Shelter/Resource Center Building for a total of $1,335,000 in homeless shelter support from Washoe County for fiscal year 2008-09. The $300,000 cash support is an annual commitment Commissioners made towards the Family Shelter/Resource Center Building construction and will be granted for four more years.



Key components of the agreement include:

Identifies the City of Reno as the lead entity responsible for oversight and implementation of the operation of the homeless shelters, community resource center and related services at the CAC;
Defines the term of the agreement through June 30, 2009;
Identifies that the cities of Reno and Sparks and Washoe County will cooperate in the research, planning and/or development of a 501©3 organization to take over management of the CAC;
Identifies the cooperative funding and in-kind contributions to support the CAC for fiscal year 2008-09 and any restrictions on the use of these funds.

The USCCR Report on the civil rights record of President Bush - Redefining Rights in America: The Civil Rights Record of the George W.
Bush Administration - that was mentioned in the NYT article on Saturday
- can be found on the Historical Publications of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. - http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/usccr/

In Digital Age, Federal Files Blip Into Oblivion By ROBERT PEAR
Published: September 12, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/us/13records.html


WASHINGTON Countless federal records are being lost to posterity because federal employees, grappling with a staggering growth in electronic records, do not regularly preserve the documents they create on government computers, send by e-mail and post on the Web.

Federal agencies have rushed to embrace the Internet and new information technology, but their record-keeping efforts lag far behind. Moreover, federal investigators have found widespread violations of federal record-keeping requirements.

Many federal officials admit to a haphazard approach to preserving e-mail and other electronic records of their work. Indeed, many say they are unsure what materials they are supposed to preserve.

This confusion is causing alarm among historians, archivists, librarians, Congressional investigators and watchdog groups that want to trace the decision-making process and hold federal officials accountable. With the imminent change in administrations, the concern about lost records has become more acute.

We expect to see the wholesale disappearance of materials on federal agency Web sites, said Mary Alice Baish, the Washington representative of the American Association of Law Libraries, whose members are heavy users of government records. When new officials take office, they have new programs and policies, and they want to make a fresh start.



---------------------------------------




The complete article may be read at the URL above.

2008 FARM BILL SIDE-BY-SIDE The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, which governs Federal farm programs for 2008-12, was enacted into law in July 2008. ERS’ side-by-side comparison of this new Farm Act with previous legislation is now available at http://www.ers.usda.gov/FarmBill/2008/. Summarized but substantive, this comparison is a time-saving reference on farm bill provisions. In addition to key provisions and details by Title, the side-by-side includes links to related ERS publications and to analyses of previous farm acts. New features include a user's guide, an A-Z list of major provisions, and a search function. Released Friday, August 22, 2008You may browse or search by topic. You'll get a table with the provisions under the previous Farm Bill, and then the provisions under the current farm bill. Below are some examples. (A search for the National Agricultural Library did not yield anything!)Examples:Grants to Reduce Methamphetamine ProductionPrevious Legislation No similar provision.2008 Farm Bill Establishes agricultural producers, cooperatives, and chemical retailers as eligible for $40-$60 grants to install locks on anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks or to add a substance that reduces methamphetamine production efficacy.Pollinator ResearchPrevious Legislation No similar provision.2008 Farm Bill Authorizes annual appropriations of $10 million in research and extension grants for honey bees and other pollinators for FY 2008-12. Activities supported include:
data collection on bee colony production and health, and investigation of pollinator biology
research on factors that contribute to colony collapse disorder, including parasites and pathogens
development of mitigative and preventive measures for pollinator health
habitat conservation and best management practices
Authorizes annual appropriations of $7.25 million for FY 2008-12 for capacity and infrastructure spending to hire personnel and conduct research on pollinator issues at USDA facilities, subject to appropriations.
Authorizes annual appropriations of $2.75 million for honey bee pest and pathogen surveillance in FY 2008-12.
Requires Secretary to submit annual report to Congress on colony collapse disorder describing progress on research and strategies for reducing colony loss. Strategies include efforts supported under the Conservation Title in this Act. (See Title II, Encouragement of Pollinator Habitat Development and Protection.)
Bioenergy ResearchPrevious Legislation Sun Grant Research Initiative Act of 2003 established Research, Extension, and Educational Programs on Biobased Energy Technologies and Products. No funds were appropriated in FY 2004 and FY 2006. However, legislation authorized appropriations of $25 million in FY 2005, $50 million in FY 2006, and $75 million annually in FY 2007-10. 2008 Farm Bill Revises Sun Grant Research Initiative; authorizes grants to 5 regionally based Sun Grant Centers and 1 subcenter intended to:
develop, distribute, and implement biobased technologies
promote diversification and environmental sustainability through biobased energy and product technologies
promote diversification of rural areas through biobased energy
enhance efficiency of bioenergy and biomass research and development through collaborations among USDA, Department of Energy (DOE), and land grant universities
Directs centers to award 75% of funds to multi-institution and multistate research, extension, and education programs via competitive process:
30% of these funds to be used for technology development
30% of funds are for integrated programs for technology implementation
20% of project costs must be matched by non-Federal source, though this requirement can be waived
limits administrative overhead costs of centers to 4%, portion of which is used to coordinate plan for addressing bioenergy, biomass, and gasification priorities of USDA and DOE, and coordinated gasification research with land grant universities
remaining funds to be retained by centers to conduct research, extension, and education programs for technology development and implementation
Grant Information Analysis Center will support regional centers and produce annual report. Authorizes $75 million annually for FY 2008-12.

Hi Amy and Valerie,
(note: I am neither a dem nor a repub and this is not a flame :-) ) I would have to respectfully disagree with your analysis. It is clear that McCain will continue Bush policies on secrecy, net neutrality, and the hyper-corporatization of the entire spectrum at the expense of things like low power FM (LPFM). It's only natural since one of McCain's chief technology advisors (and drafter of his technology
position) is former FCC Chairman Michael Powell, who vigorously worked toward selling off large swaths of spectrum to large corporations and toward changing media rules to allow for large media companies to completely take over media markets at the expense of local voices.
Their stances on "sunshine" and network neutrality are night and day and Obama's got more interesting ideas like "open source government"
and having a chief technology officer (CTO). those are just a few of the issues in which they differ and which will have a huge effect on access to govt info (and libraries in general).
lessig has a fine video regarding the presidential candidates technology policies. Granted Lessig is pro-Obama and states that at the outset, but I think he makes some good points about where the US is at in terms of technology infrastracture and where each of the candidates will take the country.
http://lessig.org/blog/2008/08/me_on_mccain_on_technology.html
On the surface, the two candidates' technology policies may be similar, but looking beyond those policy statements to take into account the candidates' advisors and their past legislative stances shows that the two candidates are at completely different ends of the policy spectrum.
Regards,
James Jacobs
International Documents Librarian
Stanford University
jrjacobs@stanford.edu

Now that both presidential candidates have gone on record with campaign positions on access to government information, we were struck by the similarity in their stated technology positions. The biggest difference that we could see is in their positions on transparency - Obama's statements appear more sunshine-friendly. Below is a summary of relevant points. Complete policies are at
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/cbcd3a48-4b0e-4864-8be1-d0456
1c132ea.htm
<http://mail.lib.ua.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.johnmccain.
com/Informing/Issues/cbcd3a48-4b0e-4864-8be1-d04561c132ea.htm> and
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/cb15a056-ac87-485d-a64d-82989
bdc948c.htm

(McCain) and http://www.barackobama.com/issues/technology/
<http://mail.lib.ua.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.barackobama
.com/issues/technology/> and http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ethics/
(Obama).
Valerie Glenn & Amy West
Universal Service
-McCain: federal support for locally built broadband access (whether public, private or mixed) as well as incentives for private companies'
extension into rural areas, auction wireless spectrum for private company expansion of broadband access to rural areas
-Obama: encourage Universal Service reform, public/private partnerships, "unleash" wireless spectrum for private company expansion of broadband access to rural areas (possibly meaning to auction spectrum)
Network Neutrality
Network Neutrality is the unprioritized transmission of content across the Internet. Because many content providers are also service providers, there exists a potential conflict over whose content gets priority in transmission. The major players in this debate are gigantic companies with massive revenue streams, e.g. Google and Comcast.
Currently, network neutrality is in place. Content/Service providers would like to be able to charge content-only providers fees to guarantee equivalent transmission of content. Content-only providers would like FCC regulations prohibiting such fees. Questions for universal service and government information: if network neutrality ended, how likely would it be that content/service providers would provide equivalent transmission to _non_-commercial content? Further, how likely is it that content-only providers would advocate for equivalent transmission of non-commercial content when they themselves have to pay for similar treatment?
-McCain: "John McCain does not believe in prescriptive regulation like "net-neutrality," but rather he believes that an open marketplace with a variety of consumer choices is the best deterrent against unfair practices."
-Obama: "Barack Obama strongly supports the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet."
Government Information Online
-McCain: more information online; more business conducted electronically, more use of rich media, creation of Office of Electronic Government
-Obama: enforce universally accessible data formats, more business conducted electronically, more use of rich media, more use of participatory software to encourage citizen participation, creation of a Chief Technology Officer."
Sunshine
-McCain: greater transparency re: lobbyists, campaign funds, earmarks
-Obama: greater transparency re: lobbyists, campaign funds, earmarks, contractors; five-day public comment period (on the White House web
site) before signing any non-emergency bill; more timely release of Presidential records

Robyn Rassuchine and Liza Printz smile for "The Gov Doc" in the young people's area of the Downtown Reno Library.

WASHOE COUNTY COMMISSION VOTES TO PUT CITIZEN INITIATIVE REGARDING WATER RESOURCES FOR PLANNING ON 2008 ELECTION BALLOT


Reno, Nevada. August 19, 2008. At their meeting today, the County Commission unanimously voted to place the issue of identified and sustainable water resources for planning purposes on the 2008 Election Ballot. In making their decision, all Commissioners cited that an issue of this magnitude should be put before a vote of the people.

Additionally, County Commissioners declined to introduce an ordinance initiated through a citizens petition providing that, “The Truckee Meadows Regional Plan shall be amended to reflect and to include a policy or policies requiring that local government land use plans be based upon and in balance with identified and sustainable water resources available within Washoe County,” based on the legal analysis and advice of the District Attorney’s Civil Division.

Legal counsel cited the case of Horne v. City of Mesquite where the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the citizen initiatives were invalid because they exceeded the limits of existing laws that applied to the city believing that the same case would exist in this instance, as well as concerns raised about meeting time requirements. By state law, if the County Commission fails to adopt the certified citizen initiative as an ordinance then it must appear as a proposed ordinance question to the registered voters.

From Bernadine Abbott Hoduski, 312 N. Howie, Apt 1, Helena, Mt ber@initco.net
See reference to the Bureau of Reclamation library below.
From: "Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)"
Sent: Aug 18, 2008 8:08 AM
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Reclamation Jettisoning Environmental Functions

For Immediate Release: Monday, August 18, 2008
Contact: Carol Goldberg (202) 265-7337
RECLAMATION JETTISONING ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTIONS
Lame Duck Reorganization Cutting Green Jobs to Promote Outsourcing
Washington, DC - The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is rapidly downsizing its environmental capabilities by forcing scores of Denver-based specialists to go into retirement under threat of layoff, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). This massive lame duck restructuring will force the next administration to contract for the eliminated functions.
Reclamation manages millions of acre feet of water, primarily with dams and reservoirs, in 17 Western states. Job reductions are concentrated in its Technical Services Center (TSC) in Denver where nearly one-third of the 500 jobs are now or will soon be eliminated. Among the services being cut are -
a.. Drinking Water Protection. The Expeditionary Unit Water Purification program creates potable water following disasters, such as the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, but has lost key staff;
b.. Scientists, Laboratories and Library. The Center's world renowned library and laboratories are being drained of all employees. In addition, the ax is falling heavily on science positions, such as hydrologists, soil scientists and seismologists; and
c.. Environmental Studies. Reclamation is rapidly discarding both its capacity to assess environmental effects of its water projects and its ability to analyze impacts on recreation, historical and cultural resources, as well as the social and economic consequences of its actions.
"Reclamation is taking a wrecking ball to its own workforce," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, whose organization is distributing employee petitions to Congress asking for intervention to stop the removals. "At this rate, Reclamation will not have enough expertise left to tie its own shoes."
In a chart since removed from the Reclamation website, a "Vision TSC Staff Attrition" shows plans to cut the Center workforce nearly in half by year's end. Earlier this year, Reclamation managers targeted selected TSC employees for early retirement; an estimated 100 staff took the buyouts. Currently, another 65 employees are being targeted for new "offers" of outplacements coupled with threats of removal.
As a rationale for its personnel moves, Reclamation points to its "management for excellence (M4E)" initiative, which appears to be a thinly disguised effort to force reliance on private consultants. This expensive initiative also appears to violate congressional bans on using funds to promote outsourcing. No explanation has been given to staff why certain people are selected and others spared or what state of "excellence" will be achieved by the ME4 exercise.
"This initiative will tie the hands of the next administration and should be halted immediately," Ruch added, noting that the managers pushing the plan will soon be gone. "Reclamation already has a hyper-active revolving door for its managers, including a special side door for coming back as consultants."
Adding insult to injury, this past Friday August 15, Reclamation Commissioner Robert Johnson came to Denver to celebrate "Employee Appreciation Day," but the only relief afforded the TSC staff was a guest speaker, the "Healthy Humorist" (Dr. Brad Nieder) to deliver his message that "Laughter is the Best Medicine."

The Vanderbilt University 2008 Election page now has a tiny URL:
http://tinyurl.com/62xdwy

FREE LEGAL SEMINAR: “A General Overview of Social Security and disability claims”, August 28, 2008, 5:00 PM, AT WASHOE COUNTY LAW LIBRARY

Reno, Nevada. August 12, 2008. The Washoe County Law Library will host the free public legal seminar “A General Overview of Social Security and disability claims”, August 28, 2008 on Thursday, August 28th, 2008. John Boyden, Esq. will present the seminar. The seminars are held from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Law Library, located at 75 Court Street. Space is limited. Please reserve your spot by contacting the Washoe County Law Library at (775) 328-3250. The presentation is part of an ongoing series of free monthly community service seminars for the public.

FIRST WEST NILE POSITIVE MOSQUITOES FOUND IN WASHOE COUNTY

Testing of pools of mosquitoes trapped at Damonte Ranch, have shown that West Nile Virus (WNV) has found its way to Washoe County this summer. Other locations in Nevada have also seen the appearance of the virus, and the Washoe District Health Department is urging residents of our county to take precautions against being bitten by mosquitoes.
“Practicing preventive measures to reduce the chance of being bitten by mosquitoes is the best way to prevent humans from contracting the virus, stated Mary Anderson, MD, MPH, District Health Officer. Remember to use mosquito repellent containing either DEET, Picaridin or Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus, be aware that mosquitoes are most active during dusk and dawn, remove standing water from around your house and check to make sure the screens on your windows and doors fit properly.”
West Nile Virus most often is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. Mosquitoes are WNV carriers, also known as vectors. Infected mosquitoes can then spread WNV to birds, horses, humans and other animals when they bite. West Nile Virus is NOT spread through casual contact such as touching or kissing a person with the virus.
Anderson also reminds local horse owners to get their animals vaccinated against WNV, if they haven’t done so as of yet. While pets like






dogs and cats CAN contract the virus, it is very unlikely. Do not use repellents meant for humans on pets. Check with your veterinarian for products that are pet specific. For more information, please go to our web site at www.washoecounty.us/health or to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at CDC.gov.

CACI International Inc (CACI) and the National Defense University (NDU) have released a report entitled " Dealing With Today's Asymmetric Threat to U.S. and Global Security: The Need for an Integrated National Asymmetric Threat Strategy"
The report is an executive summary of a May 2008 symposium. It is hoped the report will stimulate conversation about the need to develop a new national defense and homeland security strategy which will address the threats related to everything from Islamic extremism to natural disaster.
The report can be found at
http://www.caci.com/announcement/CACI_Asymmetric_Threat_paper.pdf

From Larry Romans at Vanderbuilt University


My colleague Brian Boling has created a webpage for "Statistics - National Agencies and Compendia" at http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/romans/natlstats.html
It's rather comprehensive and up-to-date.
If you have any additions or suggestions for his page, please contact
him:
brian.boling@vanderbilt.edu

Also if you have any additions or suggestions for our Election 2008 webpage (http://lib11.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib/godort.pl?searchtext=Electio
n2008&Type=Simple&Resource=DB&Website=FDTF),
Please send them to me:
larry.romans@vanderbilt.edu
Larry
Larry Romans
Vanderbilt University Libraries
larry.romans@vanderbilt.edu
(615) 322-2838


My colleague Brian Boling has created a webpage for "Statistics - National Agencies and Compendia" at http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/romans/natlstats.html
It's rather comprehensive and up-to-date.
If you have any additions or suggestions for his page, please contact
him:
brian.boling@vanderbilt.edu

Also if you have any additions or suggestions for our Election 2008 webpage (http://lib11.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib/godort.pl?searchtext=Electio
n2008&Type=Simple&Resource=DB&Website=FDTF),
Please send them to me:
larry.romans@vanderbilt.edu
Larry
Larry Romans
Vanderbilt University Libraries
larry.romans@vanderbilt.edu
(615) 322-2838

New Web Site Consolidates Access to
DoD Scientific and Technical Information
FORT BELVOIR, Va. - The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC(r)) launches the new DTIC Online, a redesigned public Web site for Department of Defense (DoD) scientific and technical (S&T) information.
This new site integrates three of DTIC's public Web sites: DTIC Search, DTIC Home and its Public Scientific and Technical Information Network (STINET(r)).
R. Paul Ryan, DTIC's Administrator, said, "This consolidation provides DTIC customers with a single point of entry to S&T information. While the new site includes users' favorite products and resources, enhancements have been made to improve navigation and provide access to more resources in one location."
Two key features of the new site are (1) the ability to search more databases in one search and (2) Interest Area pages that provide links to pertinent information for specific S&T research communities.
With the release of DTIC Online, the MultiSearch tool has also been enhanced. This search feature assists the DoD community in accessing S&T information over a wide range of DoD, federal, commercial and international sources. DTIC customers are now able to access more than 50 database sources, from approximately 50 countries with an estimated number of 20 million documents. Sources include DTIC collections, Science.gov, the Library of Congress, World Wide Science.org, Scitopia.org and much more.
View DTIC Online at http://www.dtic.mil today. To submit feedback on the new Web site, please email: feedback@dtic.mil.
DTIC is a DoD Field Activity aligned with the Director, Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E). The premier provider of DoD scientific and technical information, DTIC has served the information needs of the defense community for more than 60 years.

The Commission to Assess the Threat to United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack has released their latest and it can be found along with related information at their website -- http://www.empcommission.org/index.php
Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack: Critical National Infrastructure can be found at http://www.empcommission.org/docs/A2473-EMP_Commission-7MB.pdf
The EMP Commission was established as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2001 and "reestablished via the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 to continue its efforts to monitor, investigate, make recommendations, and report to Congress on the evolving threat to the United States from electromagnetic pulse attack resulting from the detonation of a nuclear weapon or weapons at high altitude."
Duties of the EMP Commission include assessing:
1. the nature and magnitude of potential high-altitude EMP threats
to the United States from all potentially hostile states or non-state actors that have or could acquire nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles enabling them to perform a high-altitude EMP attack against the United States within the next 15 years;
2. the vulnerability of United States military and especially
civilian systems to an EMP attack, giving special attention to vulnerability of the civilian infrastructure as a matter of emergency preparedness;
3. the capability of the United States to repair and recover from
damage inflicted on United States military and civilian systems by an EMP attack; and
4. the feasibility and cost of hardening select military and
civilian systems against EMP attack.

The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point is pleased to announce the release of its second report of al-Qa'ida's foreign fighters in Iraq:
Bombers, Bank Accounts, and Bleedout: al-Qa`ida's Road in and Out of Iraq. The report expands on an analysis of al-Qa'ida in Iraq personnel records conducted by the CTC in December 2007. The report can be accessed at:
http://www.ctc.usma.edu/harmony/pdf/Sinjar_2_July_23.pdf
New Raw Data
Bombers, Bank Accounts, and Bleedout not only expands on the analysis of the Sinjar Records conducted in the first report, it also introduces a host of new data, including:
* Statistics on the exact number and nationality of foreign
fighters held by the US at Camp Bucca in Iraq.
* Contracts signed by AQI's foreign suicide bombers
* Contracts signed by AQI fighters entering and leaving Iraq
* Accounting sheets signed by various fighters that indicate
funding sources and expenditures
* Several narratives describing AQI's network in Syria, personnel
problems, and ties to Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon
* Weapons reports, etc.
Findings
The report has several major new findings:
* Foreign Fighters were an important source of funds for AQI;
Saudi Fighters contributed far more money than any other nationality
* Far more Syrians and Egyptians are held at Camp Bucca than were
listed in the Sinjar Records, which likely reflects the demographic shift away from those nationalities
* Approximately 75% of suicide bombings in Iraq between August
2006 and August 2007 can be attributed to fighters listed in the Sinjar Records.
* "Bleedout" of fighters from Iraq is occurring, but in relatively
small numbers. Nonetheless, these individual fighters will likely be well-trained and very dangerous. The primary threat from these fighters is to Arab states, Af-Pak, and perhaps Somalia.
* Smuggling of all kinds across the Syrian/Iraqi border has long
been linked to corruption in both Syria and Iraq, which limits both government's ability to crackdown.
* Fighters that contributed money to AQI were more likely to
become suicide bombers.