The Scout Report -- Volume 11, Number 39

http://www.eclac.org/default.asp?idioma=IN

Established in 1948, the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) is part of the United Nations broader initiative to foster coordinated economic development schemes and relationships among Latin American nations. Their web presence is quite formidable, and for persons interested in these types of policy endeavors, this site warrants several visits. First-time visitors can get an accurate sense of ECLAs overall mission by reading the headlines on the homepage, which draw attention to their economic analyses and monitoring of the UNs Millennium Development Goals. Visitors looking for reports and publications can take a look at some of their more recent works, such as the economic survey of Latin America and the Caribbean as well as papers on foreign investment in the region. The site is rounded out by a very helpful interactive database which provides information on trade for 33 of the regions countries, along with 15 members of the European Union. [KMG]

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hcpds/

Founded in 1964, the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies maintains a strong link to the Harvard School of Public Health along with other policy institutes at the university. On their homepage, visitors can read their latest press releases, learn about the activities of their associates, and various fellowship opportunities. Along with these general areas, the web-browsing public may be more interested in taking a look at the Publications area of the site. Here they will find the latest edition of their in-house newsletter, the Bow Street Bulletin, along with several online books (such as Public-Private Partnerships for Public Health) and their working papers series, which includes works dating back to 1991. The site is rounded out by a selection of links that will lead visitors to related online resources such as separate websites on road traffic injuries and reproductive health rights. [KMG]

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB165/index.htm

The National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book series has intrigued and informed policymakers, students, and the general public for the past few years. This latest release should be no different as it provides FAA documents that deal with the attacks on the United States that occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001. These particular documents were referenced extensively in the first chapter of The 9/11 Commission Report and help corroborate the observation that the FAA was under prepared as it attempted to deal with these coordinated attacks. This particular collection includes eight documents, including radar reports and extensive chronologies that track the broader response of the US government in the wake of the attacks until late October 2001. Some of the more compelling materials include the FAA report titled Summary of Air Traffic Hijack Events: September 11, 2001 which provides the most comprehensive chronology of the events of that day. [KMG]

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/americas/americashome.html

The History of Medicine division of The National Library of Medicine has been responsible for a number of fine online digital collections, and this latest one is no exception. The Medicine in the Americas website provides access to a number of key primary historical documents that deal with a number of areas, such as womens health, public health, and clinical works of enduring historical value. Currently, there are a total of eight works in the archive, and they include Clara Bartons The Red Cross of the Geneva Convention from 1878 and L. Emmett Holts 1894 work The Care and Feeding of Children: A Catechism for the Use of Mothers and Childrens Nurses. For many of the generally curious and those with a penchant for the world of medical and scientific history, this website will be quite a find. [KMG]

http://www.crest.org/

Established in 1995 with funding from the Energy Foundation and the Department of Energy, the Renewable Energy Policy Project (REPP) has spent the past decade educating the general public about renewable energies. This is accomplished by providing competent and rigorous policy analysis about the myriad of issues surrounding the viability and sustainability of such energy sources. Visitors to the sites homepage will find clickable icons (such as those depicting wind, solar, and hydrogen), and they can discover the variety of resources associated with each type of renewable energy source. These resources generally include a brief description of the REPPs work in each field, along with links to some of their more recent working papers and policy briefs. For persons who hope to join the discussion about some of these timely topics, the site also maintains a number of relevant listservs, such as those dealing with bioconversion and strawbale conversion. [KMG]

http://www.cr.nps.gov/archeology/feature/feature.htm

Several thousands of years ago in the lower Mississippi River Delta, Native Americans began constructing mounds to bury the dead. For the next fifteen centuries, these various groups would build what may be called the first dense urban settlements in what would later become the United States. Today some of these former settlements and earthworks are overseen by the National Park Service, which has seen fit to create this website to provide information to the general public. Here visitors can review information about these settlements, view a timeline of related events, and learn about the complex nature of trade within and among these communities. The site also has a Delta Voices section, which contains some brief quotations from early explorers who traversed the area, along with comments from Native Americans and perspectives from contemporary archaeologists and scholars. [KMG]

http://redstudio.moma.org/

By collaborating with high school students, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) put together Red Studio, a Web site designed to connect teens with modern art and today's working artists. Currently, Red Studio features an interview with Shahzia Sikander, an artist born in Pakistan in 1969, who was educated, and now lives here in the US. Conducted by six students, interview questions range from what it's like for a young woman with a Muslim family to pursue a career as an artist, if she's ever felt she has to censor her art, to what type of music she likes. Red Studio visitors can view the interview as a Flash presentation with sound, or read the complete transcript. There is also an earlier interview with Vito Acconci, who is asked if he is an artist or an architect, and why he always wears black. Another teen-orientated part of the site is polls, so that kids can find out what other kids think about the purpose of art, and what they like to do after school. [DS]

http://www.aarp.org/

The American Association of Retired Persons has been advocating on behalf of adults over the age of 50 for decades, and their website provides a host of important information about their efforts and public outreach programs. From their homepage, visitors can access sections that include Issues and Elections, Health, and Learning and Technology. After taking a look at a few (or all) of these areas, visitors would do well to continue scrolling down the sites homepage to the policy and research area. Here they can read and download reports on the future of Social Security and Medicaid. The publications area also contains important content, including advice on financial planning and access to their in-house magazine. Keeping in touch with the times, the AARP website also has an issues blog that helps keep concerned visitors up to date with issues of interest to older persons. [KMG]

http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/JAZ/Pages/home.html

Over the past several years, the Louisiana Digital Library has assembled a number of online collections that draw on the many archives and institutions from around the state. One such noteworthy collection is the Louisiana State Museum Jazz Collection, which has been assembled here with the kind assistance of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Drawing on the rich musical and cultural heritage of traditional New Orleans jazz, the collection contains close to 700 photographs taken over the past nine decades. Some of the photographic highlights include early portraits of noted trumpeter Al Hirt and a rare photograph of Louis Armstrongs childhood bedroom. Visitors will want to use the basic keyword search to find specific materials, or they may also elect to browse the images by title. Perhaps the real highlights of the site are the 386 audio files that contain some of the very important (and very obscure) recordings from this golden age of jazz. Visitors will be delighted to listen to the 1919 Rag as performed by Kid Ory and the hot version of Alexanders Ragtime Band, as rendered by Bessie Smith, accompanied by Fletcher Hendersons Hot 6. [KMG]

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/heavenlycraft/

In the century after Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type, books and other printed materials began to flourish, and in doing so, many artisans began to decorate such items with marvelous woodcuts. Three centuries after their publication, Lessing J. Rosenwald (the retired chairman of Sears, Roebuck, and Company) acquired many of these masterworks at a sale sponsored by their then owner, C.W. Dyson Perrins. Eventually, Rosenwald willed these works to the Library of Congress, and they have just recently created this online exhibit to complement a current exhibit in Washington, DC. In the introduction to the exhibit, visitors can read about Rosenwald and Perrins, and also learn a bit about how a woodcut is created. The exhibit itself is divided into one section that deals with works from the 15th century, and another that deals with the 16th century. Some of the highlights featured here include images from a 1506 commentary on the Passion of Christ as executed by the Swiss artist, Urs Graf. Another set of gems are the lovely woodcuts from Jacob Wolffs 1501 edition of Aesops life and fables. [KMG]

http://www.cdpheritage.org/westerntrails/index.html

Based on a collaboration of very diverse institutions (including the University of Wyoming and the Omaha Public Library), the Western Trails digital database provides access to thousands of primary documents associated with various aspects of Western US history. Visitors to the website may want to dive right in and view some of the trail themed collections, such as the Native American Trails or the Railroad Trails. Within each of these sections, visitors will be able to read a brief essay about each theme, complete with accompanying maps, images, and other primary sources. Next to each essay are links to some of the discrete exhibits created by participating institutions, such as those on the emigrant trails of Wyoming or the Mormon trails in the San Luis Valley. What is perhaps most impressive about the site is the very well-thought out search engine which allows users to search each independently created database by creator, title, keyword, or through a host of advanced options. The site is rounded out by a selection of resources for educators to use in conjunction with the digitized materials presented here. [KMG]

http://www.sharpreader.net/index.html

With more and more websites offering RSS feeds, curious users may be looking for a program that can effectively handle all of this desired information. The SharpReader application will allow users to corral these various feeds, and also to view connected items in a threaded fashion. The program can show these connections if they have the same link or if both items link to the same external webpage. This version of SharpReader is compatible with all operating systems running Windows 98 or newer. [KMG]

http://www.dataparksearch.org/

While many web search engines may offer a number of bells and whistles, this rather novel application contains features that others might not have. With DataPark Search 4.33 visitors can search within a group of websites and also index multilingual sites with great ease. For those visitors who may have a number of additional questions about the program, their site includes full documentation materials and a forum where users can feel free to ask questions. This application is compatible with all operating systems running Windows 98 or newer. [KMG]

Europeans turn up noses over wine deal
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050928/IBWINE28/TPInternational/Americas

EU Lawmakers criticize EU-US wine trade deal
http://newsfromrussia.com/economics/2005/09/27/63825.html

EUROPA: Agriculture: Wine [pdf]
http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/markets/wine/facts/index_en.htm

EUROPA: Protected Designation of Origin/Protected Geographical Indication
http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/qual/en/1bbab_en.htm

Home Wine Making [pdf]
http://wineserver.ucdavis.edu/content.php?category=Winemaking

Free the Grapes!
http://www.freethegrapes.org/

The relationship between the Continent and the United States is perhaps best viewed through the various cultural and political exchanges, which have transpired through the efforts of both the public and private spheres of influence. These initiatives have included those that have been largely beneficent, such as the Marshall Plan, versus some cultural imports, such as EuroDisney, which have been viewed with outright hostility and disdain. In a related development this week, a number of members of the European Unions Parliament began to express strong reservations about a provisional deal with the United States that would increase imports of American-made wine into an already glutted European market. While the deal still has to be officially approved by the EU member states, the voices of opposition have already begun. If approved, the agreement would allow the import of American wine made by methods that are banned in Europe proper. Some of these methods include the use of ion extractors to reduce the wines acidity, the addition of water before fermentation, and the addition of oak chips to speed up the aging process. Speaking on behalf of many who are critical of this potential agreement, Jean-Claude Martinez, a French politician, remarked We have been making wine since the Roman Empire, and not for a couple of hundred years like the Americans. Wine is a civilization, it is a fine art. [KMG]

The first link will take users to a piece from the Globe and Mails Wednesday edition that discusses the proposed agreement between the European Union and the United States. The second link takes visitors to additional coverage on the wine agreement from this Tuesdays edition of Pravda. The third link leads users to a site from the European Unions website which provides information about the distillation, consumption,
production, and market situation of wine throughout the entire EU. The fourth link leads to a related site that provides information on the various products that are protected under the auspices of the EU, including such notable favorites as Clare Island salmon from Ireland and Allgauer Bergkase cheese from Germany. The fifth link leads to a guide
to home winemaking provided by the department of viticulture and enology at the University of California-Davis. The sixth and final link leads to the homepage of the Free the Grapes organization, which is a grassroots coalition of consumers and wineries who seek to remove restrictions in 22 states that still prohibit consumers from purchasing wines directly from out-of-state wineries. [KMG]