From Xinhua News Agency:
China has established more than 30,000 libraries in rural areas since 2006 in a move to bridge the “information gap” and help the farmers develop business opportunities, an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Thursday.
Jiang Li, vice Minister of Civil Affairs, said China started a program of establishing libraries [...]
Archive of entries posted on June 2007
China establishes more than 30,000 rural libraries
Congress Set to Uncover Truth About NSA Spying Program
From the Electronic Frontier Foundation:
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to authorize subpoenas related to the National Security Agency (NSA)’s domestic spying program, setting the stage for a Congressional showdown over the surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans. The subpoenas demand certain legal documents that the Administration has withheld despite Congress’ repeated requests.
Links to Live and Archived Blogs from the U.S. Government Portal
At USA.gov, find active and archived blogs from U.S. federal agencies. Currently linking to 10 active sites, including Library of Congress Blog, Pandemic Flu Leadership Blog, and Health Marketing Musings.
Support Restoring Funding for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) grants program
SLA Action Alert:
The National Archives and Records Administration, was created within the National Archives in 1934, given its own staff in 1951, authorized to make grants in 1964, and reorganized in 1975 as the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Its 15 members represent the three branches of the federal government and six professional associations [...]
Drug, Food Risks Stay Secret as Inquiries to U.S. FDA Pile Up
From Bloomberg:
The FDA’s 20,365 unfilled [FOIA] requests for information exceed the totals for the departments of Defense and Justice. One company, FOI Services Inc., accounts for 44 percent of the backlog, according to the agency. Researchers, consumer groups and individuals say the delays limit their ability to alert the public to food and drug dangers [...]
GAO Examines Signing Statement Cases
From the Baltimore Sun:
The Bush administration sometimes fails to follow all provisions of laws after President Bush attaches “signing statements” meant to interpret or restrict the legislation, congressional examiners say.
Read the GAO Opinion on White House Signing Statements, June 18, 2007 (43 pages, PDF)
Despite promises, few in House make earmark requests public
From CNN:
Despite the new Democratic congressional leadership’s promise of “openness and transparency” in the budget process, a CNN survey of the House found it nearly impossible to get information on lawmakers’ pet projects.
Staffers for only 31 of the 435 members of the House contacted by CNN between Wednesday and Friday of last week supplied a [...]
Court Protects Email from Secret Government Searches
From the Electronic Frontier Foundation:
The government must have a search warrant before it can secretly seize and search emails stored by email service providers, according to a landmark ruling Monday in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court found that email users have the same reasonable expectation of privacy in their stored email [...]
Report: Bush aides may have circumvented records act
From The Hill:
The destruction of e-mails from top White House officials “could be the most serious breach of the Presidential Records Act in the 30-year history of the law,” according to an interim report from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The committee is investigating the use of non-White House e-mail accounts issued to senior [...]
New GAO Report on Dissemination of Federal Research
Federal Research: Policies Guiding the Dissemination of Scientific Research from Selected Agencies Should Be Clarified and Better Communicated, GAO-07-653, May 17, 2007
Researchers at federal agencies disseminate their research results through a variety of approaches, including scientific publications, presentations, press releases, and media interviews. Because of recent concerns about some federal researchers possibly being restricted from [...]