The Digital Divide: Guide, Discussion, Links
Your Guide to the Digital Divide, by Mark Glaser, MediaShift. PBS (17 January 2007)
The digital divide is the chasm separating the haves and have-nots in digital technology. On one side are people who can afford or who have access to computers, a high-speed broadband connection and the plethora of services from online banking to social networking to blogging. On the other side of the equation are people who cannot afford the technology, cannot get broadband access because of their location, or who have learning or cultural limitations to using the technology. There are many digital divides: Rural and urban; poor and rich, African-American and white; old and young; disabled and able; developing nation and developed nation. All these factors have been studied and solutions have been debated for years.Continue reading
Looking for Presidential Directives? CRS Report Helps.
The type and scope of various Presidential orders can be a bit confusing and tracking them down frustrating. This report describes Executive orders, proclamations oral presidential directive, Homeland Security Presidential Directives, Letters on Tariffs and International Trade, Military Orders, National Security Instruments, Presidential Findings, and more and lists source tools with URLs. Presidential Directives: Background and Overview [PDF], Updated January 7, 2005, by Harold C. Relyea, Specialist in American National Government Government Division. Congressional Research Service Order Code 98-611 GOV. Also see: Abstract. Continue reading
More News about access to local government information. VA and CA.
The FOI Advocate blog is doing an excellent job of picking up more stories about local access to government information.
Good news from Virginia. After a recent study that showed how hard it can be to get public information in Virginia (See Survey of records access in Virginia), there is some new good news. One Virginia city "plans to create an office that will handle requests for documents that are available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act."
- Office to handle FIOA requests to be created, DailyPress, Hampton Roads, Virginia, January 18, 2007
Bad news from California. "Police agencies in the capital region and statewide routinely delay, dismiss or ignore ordinary citizens' requests for reports on basic public crime, arrest and other topics, according to a landmark audit of California law enforcement agency practices.... The average grade earned was an F plus."
- Public records access foiled By Andrew McIntosh, Phillip Reese, Chelsea Phua and Todd Milbourn, The Sacramento Bee, January 12, 2007
Boeing and U. S. Air Force Research Laboratory Launch “Airborne Information Broker” Balloon.
Phantom Works, the advanced Research and Development unit of Boeing, launched a balloon as a carrier vehicle for what it calls an "airborne information broker." "Boeing [NYSE: BA] and the U.S. Air Force have demonstrated for the first time how -- with advanced airborne networking and information management technology -- a near-space vehicle can be used as a flexible, low-cost, theater-wide information broker that provides real-time tactical information to ground forces to enhance their effectiveness and survivability." This experiment may revolutionize the delivery of real-time information within the tactical theater, enhancing the Network-Centric capabilities of the military's Global Information Grid. The complete story Boeing, U.S. Air Force Demonstrate Advanced Airborne Networking First, is available online. Continue reading
Pentagon Sets Rules for Terror Suspect Trials
The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday, January 18, 2007, that the Pentagon sets rules for terror suspect trials.
The Pentagon set rules Thursday for detainee trials that could allow terror suspects to be convicted and perhaps executed using hearsay testimony and coerced statements, setting up a new clash between President Bush and Congress.Thanks to Sabrina Pacifica of beSpacific for the following links:
- Preamble
Rules for Military Commissions
Military Commission Rules of Evidence
Crimes and Elements
Manual for Military Commissions — Executive Summary
Related postings on the Military Commissions Act of 2006.