More about Sunshine Week
As noted here previously, Sunshine Week is coming up March 16-22. More events around it: Gabriela notified us of a a press briefing featuring Lawrence Lessig that will be webcast. Secrecy News lists several events, including: National Freedom of Information Act day will be observed on March 14 with a day-long conference sponsored by the First Amendment Center. http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/press/information/topic.aspx?topic=FOI_Day Collaboration on Government Secrecy at the American University’s Washington College of Law will hold a conference on Monday March 17. http://www.wcl.american.edu/secle/founders/2008/031708.cfm OpenTheGovernment.org will hold a webcast conference on Government Secrecy at the National Press Club on March 19 and lists a Calendar of Sunshine Week Events http://www.openthegovernment.org/article/subarchive/109 Continue reading
Enhanced American FactFinder (AFF) Comments Requested
This from the Census Bureau:
Enhanced American FactFinder (AFF) Comments Requested The U.S. Census Bureau is enhancing the current American FactFinder (AFF) to add features and improve its functionality. As users of our data, we value your input and want the enhanced AFF to meet as many of your needs as possible so that you can easily access and use data available at the Census Bureau. Therefore, we would like your input about the new system. We have identified a number of improvements which are described in the link below. Please review them and then provide up to five additional items you would like to see incorporated into the new system. (Note: The survey will be available for comments beginning today, March 10 - March 31, 2008.) Given the limited resources available for enhancing the AFF, the Census Bureau may not be able to implement all the suggestions. https://questionweb.com/63144/ In an effort to reach as many users as possible, please forward this information to your colleagues and others who use data from the Census Bureau. Thanks for your time and input as we work together to make the AFF a more efficient, dynamic, and interactive data access and dissemination system. ******************************************* Nancy M. Gordon Associate Director for Strategic Planning and Innovation U.S. Census Bureau 301-763-2126 (Office) 301-763-8150 (Fax)Continue reading
The Army Monograph that Predicted Just About Everything that’s Happened in Iraq
"In October 2002, the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute, in coordination with the Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff/G-3, initiated a study to analyze how American and coalition forces can best address the requirements that will necessarily follow operational victory in a war with Iraq." Thus says the foreward of the monograph that is available from the Strategic Studies Institute of the the U.S. Army War College.
- Reconstructing Iraq: Insights, Challenges, and Missions for Military Forces in a Post-Conflict Scenario, February 2003, by Dr. Conrad C. Crane and Dr. W. Andrew Terrill.
There is an excerpt and a bit more about the authors at:
- The Army Monograph that Predicted Just About Everything that's Happened in Iraq, History News Network, March 10, 2008.
From the foreward of the monograph:
In October 2002, the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute, in coordination with the Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff/G-3, initiated a study to analyze how American and coalition forces can best address the requirements that will necessarily follow operational victory in a war with Iraq. The objectives of the project were to determine and analyze probable missions for military forces in a post-Saddam Iraq; examine associated challenges; and formulate strategic recommendations for transferring responsibilities to coalition partners or civilian organizations, mitigating local animosity, and facilitating overall mission accomplishment in the war against terrorism. The Strategic Studies Institute organized an interdisciplinary team under the leadership of Dr. Conrad C. Crane and Dr. W. Andrew Terrill. The team’s initial findings were vetted at a joint and interagency workshop conducted in December. The final report of the project consists of three parts: a discussion of historical insights from 20th century postwar occupations and post-conflict operations; an analysis of the unique challenges Iraq will present for an occupying power; and a mission matrix that lists 135 specific tasks that must be performed to build and sustain a state. The matrix arrays those tasks across four phases of occupation and designates whether coalition military forces or civilian agencies should perform them.Continue reading
Army Reopens Digital Library to Public
I wasn't even aware they had closed it, but the Army reopened their Reimer Digital Library to the public a month after it decided to close it behind a firewall. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) filed a FOIA request for all of the library's contents and then posted these documents to the FAS website! The FAS Secrecy News blog documented the experience on the following blog posts: Army Blocks Public Access to Digital Library Army Says It Will Restore Public Access to Online Library Army Will Restore Access to Online Library Within 2 Weeks The Reimer Digital Library is Back Thank goodness for organizations like the FAS who are keeping tabs on and taking a stand on disturbing occurrences like this. Be sure to check out the FAS Project on Government Secrecy website and blog. It gives me the chills to think how many other resources are "closed" or simply vanish without our knowledge. I've been working as a Government Documents Librarian for a little over a year and I've only read about restricted access...but I dread the day I have to actually experience it. At least I feel more prepared after reading about the FOIA request filing procedures and I know where to get support if I have questions (yes, I'm talking about you, my fellow FGI readers!). Continue reading
How should spectrum be managed?
A veritable who's-who of the legal world -- or at least where legal meets the internet! -- was on hand last saturday (3/8) for the Legal Futures Conference at Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society. Actually, Saturday's sessions were free and open to the public, while Friday's sessions were invitation-only. FCC chair Kevin Martin spoke on Friday about networks and their management. Why we should care about the spectrum debate Saturday's sessions Conference Speakers: * Jamie Boyle / Professor of Law, Duke Law School; Co-Founder, Center for the Study of the Public Domain * Tim Bresnahan / Landau Professor in Technology & the Economy, Stanford University * Michael Callahan / Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Yahoo! * Tom Campbell / Dean, U.C. Berkeley Business School * Paul Cappuccio / General Counsel, Time Warner * Dan Cooperman / General Counsel, Apple; former General Counsel, Oracle * David Drummond / Senior Vice President, Google * Lauren Gelman / Executive Director, Center for Internet and Society and Lecturer in Law, Stanford Law School * Jamie Gorelick / Partner, WilmerHale; former U.S. Deputy Attorney General * Jennifer Granick / Civil Liberties Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation * Joi Ito / Chair, Creative Commons; Founder & CEO, Neoteny * Michael Jacobson / General Counsel, eBay * Jeff Jonas / Distinguished Engineer and Chief Scientist, IBM Entity Analytics Continue reading