A meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee was held in the offices of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C., on Monday, December 15, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. and continued on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 9:00 a.m.
To see the Minutes, click on the link below:
Bernard Lawrence Madoff was arrested on December 11, 2008 on a ciminal complaint and has been charged with” perpetrating the largest investor fraud ever committed by an individual.” Below are some excerpts and links to articles and documenrs related to this matter. As this matter unfolds we expect to both add and perhaps revise information as appropriate:
The first excerpt is from the WIKI posting Bernard Lawrence Madoff. Although some may question linking to WIKI postings for this type of material, we have looked at this entry and believe it is useful as an introduction to both Bernard Madoff and his alleged activities”:
“Bernard Lawrence Madoff (IPA: /ˈmeɪdɑf/) (born April 29, 1938) is a businessman and former chairman of the NASDAQ stock market. He started the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960 and was its chairman until December 11, 2008, when he was charged with perpetrating the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single individual.[1]” This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.”
At the beginning of 2007, the steering committee of OpenTheGovernment.org put a spotlignt on the importance of developing recommendations for the next administration and Congress to strengthen government transparency. OMB Watch agreed to spearhead such a project and to work with the OpenTheGovernment.org coalition and others including the AALL Government Relations Office staff in fashioning recommendations for providing a new roadmap for openness in the federal government that will in turn provide greater government transparancy, accountability and usability of government information.
The resulting report “Moving Toward a 21st Century Right-to-Know Agenda: Recommendations to President-elect Obama and Congress,” was delivered to President-Elect Obama’s transition team the day after the election. It includes more than 70 prioritized recommendations on issues relating to national security and secrecy, usability of government information, and how to create an environment for greater transparency. Those who are concerned and would like to make their own positions known can go to a special website established by OMB Watch and endorse the findings of the Report.
“The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded nearly US$7 million to fund a pilot program aimed at helping public libraries in seven states get faster Internet connections, the foundation announced Thursday. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded nearly US$7 million to fund a pilot program aimed at helping public libraries in seven states get faster Internet connections, the foundation announced Thursday”. Click to Continue.
_____________________ CIO Insider, December 19, 2008.
Top Ten Stories of the Week December 23, 2008.
Law Firms Is Thacher Proffitt Dissolving Before Christmas?
Dec 22, 2008, 11:59 am CST
I am grateful to Basil Tilmon of GalleryWatch, Inc. in Washington, D.C. for sending me the following information compiled by Sara Ditta and the CongressNow Staff and am posting it here with his permission.
David Badertscher
Freshman House Members’ Committee Preferences By: Sara Ditta CongressNow Staff Dec 22, 2008 12:00 PM
From: New York State Archives – Region 1 Newsletter, December 2008
The New York State Archives is pleased to announce the release of its email policy development guidelines. These guidelines are intended as a starting point for state agencies and local governments to use for writing policies and procedures that will guide a program for managing email. Given the complexity of managing email, not all agencies will have the same needs and issues. Users should adapt the guidelines to meet their own needs and capabilities, and continue to update their policies on an as-needed basis. If users have questions or comments regarding the guidelines, please contact Ann Marie Przybyla at aprzybyl@mail.nysed.gov, or 518-474-5834.
A copy of the guidelines is available at http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/records/mr_pub85.shtml. If you have problems accessing the guidelines, please contact Sarah Durling at durling@mail.nysed.gov or 518-473-6803.
From the New York Unified Court System Press Release, December 17, 2008.
“NEW YORK – Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye and the Presiding Justices of the Appellate Division today announced a new set of attorney conduct rules for New York, effective April 1, 2009. The Rules of Professional Conduct, which will replace the existing Disciplinary Rules, introduce a number of important ethics changes for New York lawyers and are set forth in a new format and numbering system that are based on the ABA Model Rules….”
Complete Press Release
According to libraryjournal.com, a libraries taskforce has been formed to investigate the recent OCLC policy changes regarding the use and transfer of WorldCat records.
According to libraryjournal.com:
“Taking a step likely to be welcomed by many in the cataloging community, the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) have formed an ad hoc task force to study the recently disseminated OCLC policy governing the use and transfer of WorldCat records.
“GPO’s Authentication initiative focuses on the primary objective of assuring users that the information made available by GPO is official and authentic and that trust relationships exist between all participants in electronic transactions. In furthering GPO’s mission to provide permanent public access to authentic U.S. Government publications, GPO is working to afford users further assurance that files are unchanged since GPO authenticated them.
The Beta release of an Authenticated Congressional Bills application provides digitally signed and certified Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files for a sample set of Congressional Bills from the 110th Congress. GPO has signed and certified the House and Senate bills PDF files within this application as part of GPO’s initiative to reassure users that the online documents are official and authentic.
The documents in this database are available as ASCII text and digitally signed and certified Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files.”
Criminal Law Library Blog