September 3, 2009
SEC IG on Madoff: Major FAIL
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has found that the SEC recieved “ample information in the form of detailed and substantive complaints over the years to warrant” an investigation of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, but that “a thorough and competent investigation or examination was never performed.”
The executive summary on Case No. OIG-509, posted here, is a thorough indictment of the SEC’s ability to carry out its mission. It remains to be seen how, or even IF, the commission can be reformed.
September 1, 2009
PBS: Ken Burns Tackles the National Parks
Ken Burns, maker of lengthy, well-funded, at times boring, but nonetheless valuable documentaries about creations uniquely American (jazz, baseball), has chosen to train his camera on the National Parks, maintained by the National Park Service, a bureaucratic, underfunded, but nonetheless vital guardian of nearly 400 natural, cultural, and recreational sites located in just about every U.S. state.
The result is “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” a 12-hour, six-part film debuting Sept. 27.
It’s entirely unclear how many viewers the film will attract, but the website already has an array of video clips, materials for educators, interactive widgets, and more information designed to engage communities to learn more about sites that many Americans may take for granted. In fact, if the film does anything, it will hopefully disabuse anyone of the notion that it’s easy to preserve these sites and keep them open to visitors for almost no charge.
Watch a preview of the series below.
[video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F87BLyb_Rq8&eurl=http://pressroom.pbs.org/programs/the_national_parks_americas_best_idea&feature=player_embedded]The National Parks Traveler is a blog — not linked to the film — about life in America’s parks.
Private Health Insurance Competition: A Literature Review
The Government Accountability Office takes a down-the-middle look at the question of private health insurance competition, and is stymied by the lack of reliable, longitudinal data. However, GAO’s effort seems valuable as a review of the literature on the subject, even if there wasn’t enough time, really, to draw solid conclusions.
August 30, 2009
A Model for Reform?
From one president to another, a health care bill. Just so we don’t forget, it’s been done before.
August 28, 2009
Science Friday: Highlight Reel
Get the scientific skinny below, or watch here.
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