To Assure Pride and Confidence in the Electoral Process: The National Commission on Federal Election Reform Final Report [.pdf]
http://www.reformelections.org/data/reports/99_full_report.php
The National Commission on Federal Election Reform, co-chaired by Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, among others, released its final report at the end of last month. Even those tiring of reading and thinking about election reform may want to take a look at this 108-page document which takes a broader view on election issues than simply a discussion of chads, hanging or otherwise. The report begins with a summary of thirteen policy recommendations, among them, recommendations that Congress make presidential and congressional elections a national holiday, that news organizations should not forecast presidential election results as long as polls remain open, and that states should make allowances to restore voting rights to citizens who have served their time for felony convictions.
[TK]
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Mapping Census 2000: The Geography of U.S. Diversity [pdf]
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/atlas.html
This Census 2000 Special Report, prepared by Cynthia A. Brewer (Pennsylvania State University) and Trudy A. Suchan (Census Bureau, Population Division), synthesizes the basic patterns and changes in the US racial population distribution in the last decade. Distribution maps depict White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latino Origin; White, Not Hispanic or Latino Origin as well as those people claiming two or more races. The Census 2000 data in this report are based on the US Census Bureau Redistricting Summary File, the data that are used in redrawing federal, state, and local legislative districts. This fact makes these maps noteworthy to anyone interested in American government and the population it is elected to represent.
[DJS]
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Two from Space:
The Genesis Mission [.pdf]
http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov/
"UC Berkeley Astronomers Find Jupiter-sized Planet Around Nearby Star in Big Dipper"
http://exoplanets.org/esp/47uma/47uma_announce.html
Space scientists postulate that the planets of our solar system arose from solar nebulae approximately 4.6 billion years ago. This July, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab launched a new mission, Genesis, to investigate the transition from solar nebulae to planets by collecting and analyzing the isotopic composition of solar particles. You can learn more about the Genesis mission at its official Website. Theoretical background, mission description, and scientific objectives are laid out in the text, while the site's imagery includes photographs of the mission hardware, diagrams of the spacecraft's orbit trajectory, mission timeline, and the instrumentation. Press releases, .pdf-formatted fact sheets, including one entitled "How does Studying Solar Wind Tell us About the Origin of Planets?" and a glossary are also available. People wishing to "catch a piece of the sun" should check out this site. In other space and planetary news, researchers have found signs of a Jupiter-sized planet near one of the Big Dipper's stars. To learn more, check out the University of California Planet Search program's press release that contains astronomical data, a sky chart, and links.
[HCS]
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Two Lists from Fortune magazine
100 Fastest Growing Companies
http://www.fortune.com/fastestgrowingcompanies
Global 500: The World's Largest Corporations
http://www.fortune.com/global500
Fortune has just released its list of the 100 fastest growing US companies. To make the list, companies had to have revenue and market caps of at least 50 million and be publicly traded for at least three years. 4Kids Entertainment tops the list with 242 percent EPS growth. Readers can also check out Perennial Companies, the 15 companies that have made the list each of the three years of its existence, and 5 Stocks to Buy Now. The second list, Fortune's Global 500, was released last month and details the 500 largest companies in the world. In addition to the standard list giving Fortune ranking, company name, and revenues, users can sort the list by company name or view lists of CEOs or industries. Clicking on a company name brings up additional information including articles, breaking news, and company information. Supplemental lists include the Top 25 in Asia, the Top 25 in Europe, Biggest Money Losers, Top Performing Companies, and so on.
[TK]
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The Impressionists -- Biography.com
http://www.biography.com/impressionists/
Biography.com, part of the History Channel, has created this special feature on Impressionist painters. The site does apparently subscribe to the great man (or woman) theory of art history: Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissaro, and Auguste Renoir are listed as great masters, with a paintbrush icon by their names, while Frederic Bazile, Mary Cassat, Eduoard Manet, and Alfred Sisley appear as lesser artists with mere spot of paint icons. Nonetheless, the artists' entries, all including essays of around 1,000 words, photos of the artists, images of several artworks, and links to related resources, provide a good, basic, reference book-style introduction to each Impressionist. The major artists' sections have interactive tours of one painting, analyzing themes, colors, and brushstrokes. In addition, the site has several fun features, such as a quiz where you can test your knowledge of Impressionist art and the Make a Masterpiece painting game. There are also links to museums, classroom materials, and the Impressionist shop.
[DS]
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Taxi Dreams -- PBS [RealPlayer, QuickTime]
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/taxidreams/
This companion site to the documentary with the same name which screened on PBS this week tells the story of New York's immigrant cab drivers. According to the site, 90 percent of today's applicants for cab licenses are born outside of the US, and the film focuses on five of these cabbies. The Website gives brief sketches of the film's five subjects, text interviews with key players, video clips from the film, a timeline of New York cab history, and even a quiz and some QuickTime VR panoramic shots from the inside of cabs.
[TK]
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GameSpy's Top 50 Games of All Time
http://www.gamespy.com/articles/july01/top50index/
Compiled from opinions of GameSpy staff, developers, and freelance press, this listing reviews the best computer games, starting from number 50 and proceeding to number 1 (we're not giving it away). Each entry includes a screen shot from the game, an explanation of its significance, and for most, a quote from a writer or software producer. Significant software developers' top ten lists are interspersed throughout. This scout didn't notice any of her favorites on the list, but then, she didn't notice any women's names involved with the selection either. Hmm.
[TK]
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