Link: http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v13

This volume continues the practice established in the previous Foreign Relations volume on U.S.-Soviet relations and focuses on the relationship in the global context, highlighting the conflicts and collaboration between the two superpowers on foreign policy issues from October 1970 to October 1971. Beginning with the confrontation over the construction of a Soviet military base in Cuba, the volume documents the development of the Nixon administration’s policy of détente and the crucial role of the private channel between Henry Kissinger, the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs, and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. The backchannel was key to making progress on the most problematic issues in U.S.-Soviet relations: Berlin, the war in Indochina, strategic arms limitation talks, Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union, and trade. It also allowed the two nations to avoid conflict and to cooperate on managing crises around the world, such as the Middle East dispute and the Indo-Pakistani conflict."

Link: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012007.pdf

"This is the 2011 edition of a biennial series of compendia describing key education outcomes and contexts of education in the Group of Eight (G-8) countries—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The report is organized into five topical areas: population and school enrollment, academic performance, contexts for learning, expenditures for education, and educational attainment and income."

Link: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/healthy_people/hp2010/hp2010_final_review.htm

From the press release - "Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a progress assessment of the nation’s health goals over the last decade. The report entitled, “Healthy People 2010 Final Review,” determined that Americans had met — or were moving toward meeting — 71 percent of the program’s 2010 targets, including those associated with reducing deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke."

Link: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41959.pdf

From the Congressional Research Service via FAS-

"The United States often looks to Europe as its partner of choice in addressing important global challenges. Given the extent of the transatlantic relationship, congressional foreign policy activities and interests frequently involve Europe. The relationship between the United States and the European Union (EU) has become increasingly significant in recent years, and it is likely to grow even more important. In this context, Members of Congress often have an interest in understanding the complexities of EU policy making, assessing the compatibility and effectiveness of U.S. and EU policy approaches, or exploring the long-term implications of changing transatlantic dynamics."

Link: http://www.thereaganvision.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/CRS-Comprehensive-Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty-Background-and-Current-Developments.pdf

From the Congressional Research Service via The Reagan Vision -

"A ban on all nuclear tests is the oldest item on the nuclear arms control agenda. Three treaties that entered into force between 1963 and 1990 limit but do not ban such tests. In 1996, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which would ban all nuclear explosions. In 1997, President Clinton sent the CTBT to the Senate, which rejected it in October 1999. In a speech in Prague in April 2009, President Obama said, “My administration will immediately and aggressively pursue U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.” However, the Administration focused its efforts in 2010 on securing Senate advice and consent to ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START)."

Link: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41900.pdf

From the Congressional Research Service via the Federation of American Scientists:

"South Sudan faces serious challenges in the coming years. There are a number of unresolved issues between the governments of Sudan and South Sudan, which could pose a serious threat to peace and stability in both countries. South Sudan lacks the capacity to deliver basic services to its people and demands are likely to increase in the coming years. There are also a number of new rebellions, often backed by the government in Khartoum, against the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS)."

Link: http://childstats.gov/americaschildren/index.asp

From the forward: America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2011 is a compendium of indicators depicting both the promises and the challenges confronting our Nation's young people. The report, the 15th in an ongoing series, presents 41 key indicators on important aspects of children's lives.

Link: http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2010.pdf

In 2010, women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median weekly earnings of $669. Women earned 81 percent of the median weekly earnings of their male counterparts ($824). In 1979, the first year for which comparable earnings data are available, women earned 62 percent of what men earned. The women's-to-men's earnings ratio has been in the 80 to 81 percent range since 2004; prior to this time, the ratio had been gradually trending upward.

Link: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/index.htm

From Secretary of State Clinton's remarks: "Today, we are releasing a new report that ranks 184 countries, including our own. One of the innovations when I became Secretary was we were going to also analyze and rank ourselves, because I don’t think it’s fair for us to rank others if we don’t look hard at who we are and what we’re doing. This report is the product of a collaborative process that involves ambassadors and embassies and NGOs as well as our team here in Washington."

Link: http://nationalmap.gov/historical/

From the press release: "The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Historical Quadrangle Scanning Project (HQSP) is in the process of releasing all editions and all scales of more than 200,000 historic topographic maps of the United States dating from 1884-2006. [...]

Historical maps are available to the public at no cost in GeoPDF format from the USGS Store. These maps are georeferenced and can be used in conjunction with the new USGS digital topographic map, the US Topo.

Future plans include providing the historical maps in GeoPDF andGeoTIFF formats through The National Map in the fall of 2011. The GeoTIFFs can be imported into a Geographic Information System and overlain with other data sources."