December 13, 07 Distribution

Elections and advocacy:

Your Guide to the E-Advocacy Revolution:

For more than a decade the Internet has helped to gradually reshape the American political environment. This manual offers a guide to using technology techniques to engage in advocacy and promote the quality of life and access to opportunity for everyone. It provides case studies, resources, tips, and best practices to help readers plan and implement campaigns that use various combinations of online and offline tools to effectively engage their constituencies.  (Read more)

U.S. Elections: Guide to the 2008 Elections:

A user-friendly website with continuously updated information about the 2008 elections in the United States.  The site is produced and maintained by USINFO which delivers information about current U.S. foreign policy and about American life and culture. The site provides background information about candidates, program campaigns and upcoming activities.  It also introduces the user to important topics relevant to the American voter. The website features this week a video on political activism of Arab Americans.  (visit the site) 

U.S. Culture:

New York City tops list of America's fun places:

Evaluating the fun potential of the nation's 50 largest markets, bizjournals attempted to determine the preference of the American people.  At the top of the list is New York City, which adopted the nickname of Fun City back in the mid-1960s. New York is blessed with an impressive array of recreation and entertainment options, truly making it the fun capital of America, based on the study's calculations.  Bizjournals began by collecting federal statistics for 14 relevant types of businesses, from retail stores and restaurants to gambling casinos and golf courses. Each market was graded on both the volume (total number) and the concentration (rate per 100,000 residents) of such businesses.  (Read more)

International Human Rights:

Remarks by Secretary Rice at the 2007 International Human Rights Day Awards Ceremony:

Today, on every continent, men and women are working, often against great odds and at great risk, to secure their fundamental rights. Regrettably, some governments have responded to growing demands for personal and political freedom not by accepting their obligations to their people, but by oppressing those seeking to exercise fundamental freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. If the great promise of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights is to be fulfilled, the United States and other democratic nations must align ourselves with those who defend human rights and advocate for peaceful democratic change.  (full text)

State Department Links Violence Against WOmen, Human Rights:

U.S. embassies around the world organized 16 days of activities focused on the problem of violence against women to draw a symbolic link between the International Day Against Violence Against Women -- November 25 -- and International Human Rights Day -- December 10. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in her directive to all U.S. embassies, called for engagement with host country governments, civil society and media. Preventing violence against women worldwide is part of President Bush’s Freedom Agenda.  Regarded as having reached “epidemic proportions,” violence against women includes rape, sex trafficking, domestic abuse and honor-related crimes.  (full text)

Education:

Giving knowledge for Free: the Emergence of Open Educational Resources:

Open educational resource (OER) initiatives encourage transparency and can stimulate more quality control and competition. Universities and colleges are encouraged to join the OER movement due to the risk involved in doing nothing when developments are so rapid. The existing copyright regime however is a serious barrier to the growth of the OER movement. Increased awareness and clear policies on copyright should be a priority on the agenda of every higher education institution. There is also a need to increase access to and the usefulness of existing resources.  (Read more)

Science and Technology:

Turning Point Reached in Developing Alternative Fuels Plan:

A plan by the United States, Brazil and other countries to develop alternative fuels from organic matter and build a market for them is said to be at a “turning point” that will help the participating nations lower their dependence on foreign oil.  The State Department’s Dan Sullivan told USINFO during the December 3-5 Miami Conference on the Caribbean Basin that part of the plan involves the United States, Brazil and “third countries” working on ways to stimulate private sector development of domestic biofuels industries.  (Read more)