Government Information @ NCSU Libraries

New Report Proposes Strategy Change for U.S.-Muslim Relations

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:54:31 +0000

http://www.sfcg.org/programmes/us/pdf/Changing%20Course.pdf

from the Search for Common Ground web site: "The United States urgently needs to develop a new approach to address tensions with Muslim countries and communities. Conflict, misunderstanding and distrust plague relations between the U.S. and Muslims around the world. Yet the much-publicized divide between the U.S. and the Muslim world is not as deep or irreconcilable as many believe.

On Wednesday, September 24th, 2008, the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project will release the Report of its Leadership Group. The Report presents the first senior, bipartisan and interfaith U.S. leadership consensus on a comprehensive approach to improving U.S.-Muslim relations. Moving beyond current deadlocked debates, the Leadership Group has crafted a multi-faceted strategy to enhance U.S. and international security.

The Report is titled Changing Course: A New Direction for U.S. Relations with the Muslim World. It represents the consensus of an exceptionally diverse, senior, bipartisan and inter-faith group of 34 American leaders who have worked together over the last 18 months. Their work was supported by Search for Common Ground and CBI, two organizations that specialize in building consensus on controversial public issues."

Court Order Permitting BIA Internet Reconnection

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:55:47 +0000

http://www.doi.gov/bia/

Indian Affairs is now on the path to full reconnection to the Internet. In a major development with regard to the Cobell v. Norton litigation, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit on May 14, 2008, granted defendants’ motion to vacate the December 17, 2001, Consent Order Regarding Information Technology Security and has given its permission for the information technology systems of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Office of Hearing and Appeals (OHA), the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST), and the Office of Historical Trust Accounting (OHTA) to be reconnected to the Internet. A copy of the Court Order is attached.

The Department, and Indian Affairs has worked long and diligently to resolve the IT security issues that have concerned the Court with respect to the Department’s systems housing Individual Indian Trust Data (IITD). Indian Affairs is pleased that the Court has granted this opportunity to improve our level of service to the tribes and individual Indian trust beneficiaries and to demonstrate our commitment to the protection and preservation of the IITD.

Gasoline Prices web site

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:10:08 +0000

http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/dn08/dn08gas.html

DOCUMENTS IN THE NEWS - 2008
from the Documents Center at the University of Michigan

"...filled with statistics on pump and crude oil prices, exchange rates, and oil reserves. Did you know there are 42 gallons to a barrel of oil? It is also addresses solutions to high prices from supply and demand to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a gas tax holiday, and regulating commodity exchanges."

Economic Cost of War

Mon, 05 May 2008 13:21:23 +0000

http://liber8.stlouisfed.org/newsletter/2008/200805.pdf

From the St. Louis Federal Reserve newsletter, Liber8 Economic Information (May 2008):

It is difficult to measure the cost of the Iraq war and related expenses; it is at least as difficult to decide exactly what costs to measure. The May issue compares the two most widely cited estimates: one from the Congressional Budget Office and the other from researchers Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes. This month's newsletter also compares these estimates to U.S. GDP over the same time frame to get a better sense of the war's cost in relation to the entire U.S. economy.

Commission on National Guard and Reserves Publishes Final Report

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:28:34 +0000

http://www.cngr.gov/Final%20Report/CNGR%20Final%20Report.pdf

Transforming the National Guard and Reserves into a 21st-Century Operational Force
Final Report to Congress and the Secretary of Defense
Published January 31, 2008

"The Commission concludes that there is no reasonable alternative to the nation’s continued increased reliance on reserve components as part of its operational force for missions at home and abroad. However, the Commission also concludes that this change from their Cold War posture necessitates fundamental reforms to reserve components’ homeland roles and missions, personnel management systems, equipping and training policies, policies affecting families and employers, and the organizations and structures used to manage the reserves. These reforms are essential to ensure that this operational reserve is feasible in the short term while sustainable over the long term. In fact, the future of the all-volunteer force depends for its success on policymakers’ undertaking needed reforms to ensure that the reserve components are ready, capable, and available for both operational and strategic purposes."