June 07, 2010

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that on March 22, 2010, it received records from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) concerning Mexican Government incursions and encounters along the U.S. border. The documents which are incomplete and do not contain all of the relevant data nonetheless indicate an increase in the number of incursions in 2008 and 2009. Full release.

"This morning's announcement that BP has insufficient water- and oil-handling capacity at the disaster site is yet another example of the company's repeated failure to plan for contingencies," according to a statement today by Environmental Defense Fund President Krupp. "BP PLC apparently underestimated the amount of processing capacity it would need to handle the gusher at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico after fixing a container cap atop the blown well," according to a report today by MarketWatch.com, so the company doesn't have enough equipment on-site to handle the volume. Full release.

Apple today presented the new iPhone® 4 featuring FaceTime, which makes the dream of video calling a reality, and Apple's stunning new Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, resulting in super crisp text, images and video. In addition, iPhone 4 features a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple's A4 processor, a 3-axis gyro and up to 40 percent longer talk time-in a beautiful all-new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world. iPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of the world's most advanced mobile operating system, which includes over 100 new features and 1500 new APIs for developers. iOS 4 features Multitasking, Folders, enhanced Mail, deeper Enterprise support and Apple's new iAd mobile advertising platform. iPhone 4 will be available in the US, UK, France, Germany and Japan on June 24, starting in the US at just $199 for qualified buyers with a two year contract. Full release.

The United States Commission on Civil Rights will hold a public briefing of experts to examine the impact of the current economic crisis on older workers and whether potential age discrimination by employers contributes to this impact. The current economic crisis has forced many companies to cut costs and downsize by, among other things, laying off workers, cutting salaries and exploring early retirement options with their employees. In a nation where "baby boomers" born in the late 1940s and early 1950s are now at or near retirement age, older workers may experience disproportionately greater effects of company downsizing, whether real or merely perceived. In addition, many retired senior citizens living on pensions or investments may face marked reductions in the income of their assets and seek reentry into the work force. Full release.

Credit Suisse U.S. Equity Research hosted the first annual "Future of Energy Conference" in Washington, DC, June 2nd-June 4th. The conference focused on a wide range of topics from emerging technologies to investment opportunities in both the public and private arenas. Highlights included keynote addresses by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and James Carville, American Political Consultant as well as Andy Karsner, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy, Office of Energy and Renewable Energy from 2005-2008. Over 60 companies, represented by their CEOs and other executive management, attended the conference from important sectors participating in the global energy landscape including cleantech, chemicals and advanced materials, smart grid technologies, solar, wind and utilities. In addition to individual company presentations, the conference featured panel discussions on smart grid and energy efficiency, biofuels, batteries, electric vehicles, and private equity in the solar and wind industries. Full release.

Health care providers now have evidence-based guidelines to emphasize the importance of pregnant women maintaining good oral health care and the safety of providing appropriate treatment during pregnancy as published in the June Journal of the California Dental Association. "Oral Health During Pregnancy and Early Childhood: Evidence-Based Guidelines for Health Professionals" was developed by a panel of state and national medical, dental, and public health experts who reviewed scientific literature and recent research on the relationship between oral disease, treatment and pregnancy outcomes. Full release.

William S. Sessions, Former FBI Director and Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and Douglas K. Spaulding from Reed Smith LLP, Habeas Counsel to several Guantanamo detainees will release a new Habeas Report at a National Press Club Newsmaker press conference, at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 10 in the Zenger Room at the National Press Building, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, DC. Two years after the U.S. Supreme Court's historic Boumediene v. Bush ruling that the constitutionally guaranteed right of habeas corpus review applies to persons held in Guantanamo for them to challenge their detentions in federal court, 16 of the nation's most respected former federal judges will release a new report demonstrating that habeas is working in these cases. Full release.

In response to a discussion draft of a new privacy bill currently under consideration by the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, ten leading privacy and consumer organizations today called for much stronger provisions to protect consumer privacy both online and off. The groups, including the Consumer Federation of America, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Consumer Watchdog, World Privacy Forum, Consumer Action, USPIRG, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Privacy Times, Privacy Lives, and the Center for Digital Democracy, raised their concerns in a letter to Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher and Ranking Member Cliff Stearns. Full release.

As of last week, Twitter 105 million users had collectively sent 15 billion tweets. Earlier this year, Facebook reached over 400 million active users-more members than the populations of Japan, Mexico and Russia, combined. Given these numbers, it's not surprising that nearly two-thirds (64%) of online Americans use social media, and most social media users (84%) reveal information about themselves via social media channels. Full release.

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