Forces Network: UFO Sightings Reported To RAF To Be Published Online. “Sightings of UFOs investigated by the Royal Air Force are to be published online. The RAF took the decision to wind up its UFO unit in 2009, after concluding that in more than 50 years, no received report had ever disclosed any evidence of a potential threat. The most recent reports received by the RAF will be placed online, the PA news agency can disclose, following a Freedom of Information Act request.”
transparency
ABC News: Veterans group: Lawsuit prompts Pentagon to reopen database
ABC News: Veterans group: Lawsuit prompts Pentagon to reopen database. “The Pentagon will reopen a records database that helps service members who are appealing a less-than-honorable discharge, a veterans group said Friday. The National Veterans Legal Services Program had sued the Defense Department over a lack of access to the database, arguing that the military had been breaking federal law since April.”
National Post (Canada): Follow the Money – Welcome
National Post (Canada): Follow the Money – Welcome. “There is no tracking of donations made on a national scale. There are no consistent rules — or penalties — for political financing across Canada. Spending limits, out-of-province and foreign gifts, money from unions and corporations, donations from numbered companies: in some places anything goes, in others regulations are rarely enforced. The Follow the Money project is an effort to address these gaps, and hold politicians to account for gifts large and small. ”
Danish Energy Agency: The Ukraine-Denmark Energy Center launches advanced database with open and transparent energy data
Danish Energy Agency: The Ukraine-Denmark Energy Center launches advanced database with open and transparent energy data. “The State Statistics Service of Ukraine (SSSU) and the Danish Energy Agency have launched a database covering three decades of previously disconnected energy data. By documenting developments in energy supply and consumption, the database could play a crucial part in visualizing possible scenarios for reaching Ukraine’s renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy independence targets.”
The Trace: What I Learned From Making Dozens of Public Records Requests for Police Data
The Trace: What I Learned From Making Dozens of Public Records Requests for Police Data. “To tailor an effective request, first consult the database’s user manual. Here are 21 examples that might help.”
Rowan Today: Hasse receives N.J. conservation award for vast online mapping project
New-to-me, with new offshoots: Hasse receives N.J. conservation award for vast online mapping project. “Rowan University Professor of Geography John Hasse and a team of researchers have compiled a massive trove of New Jersey land use data and moved it all online for easy access, a project that will benefit students, journalists, municipal officials, developers and residents for decades to come.”
National Declassification Center Blog: New Records Released – 2020 First Quarter Release List
National Declassification Center Blog: New Records Released – 2020 First Quarter Release List. “On January 3, 2020, the NDC released a listing of 206 entries that completed declassification processing between October 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019. These records are now available for researcher requests. This release consists of textual and special media records from military and civilian agencies as well as the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.” Note that these have not been digitized, just declassified.
