Answered Questions

QUESTION: statistics for philadelphia

question / pregunta: 

We are working on a newsletter for and by Pennsylvania prisoners. One of the topics has to do with quality of life in Philadelphia.
We are looking for sources to find the following info:

Murder Rate (for the last few years, in comparison to other cities [per capita])
The lock up rate, per capita, compared to other cities
Chemicals in the water supply, in comparison
Median Income
Estimated homelessness population
Who owes the most taxes? How much is 'saved' due to tax abatement? Other tax info

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

QUESTION: finding English language material on the gods/religion of Tai O (Hong Kong) or Tanka people?

question / pregunta: 

Where and how would I find English language material on the local gods and/or religion practiced in Tai O (a fishing village on one of Hong Kong's outlying islands) or by its people (an ethnic group most commonly known as the Tanka people)?

QUESTION: Corporations engaged in manufacture of nuclear weaponry

question / pregunta: 

Takoma Park MD is a nuclear free zone, by ordinance. I'm a member of the NFTPC committee that reports on these issues to the city council. The text of the ordinance calls (in part) for city contracts to be ineligible if made with nuclear weapon manufacturers. [1]

Until ca. 2002, the city relied on an apparently-now-defunct nonprofit in Baltimore called "Nuclear Free America" for a publication called "Prime Nuclear Weapons Contractors: U.S. Departments of Defense and Energy Broad Nuclear Definition - Fiscal Year 2002 With Parent Company/Prime Contractor Cross References." [2] The document has not been released in some time, and tracking down the folks responsible has not been all that useful (although we know who they are and have been in contact). [3]

So here's the question: are there publicly-available resources for researching, on a case-by-case basis, the ties of corporations to manufacture and maintenance of nuclear weaponry? Seems like a good business library should provide the relevant information. We'd want to track known subsidiaries to parent companies, and cross-reference that list to a list of companies known to be in the business of contracting with DOD and DOE on nuclear weapons-related work. For example, a question has come up about "3M."

For just a little bit more about NFTPC you can check out our new-and-not-very-active-yet blog. [4]

[1] Section 14.04.060. See: http://takomaparkmd.gov/code/html/_DATA/TITLE14/Chapter_14_04_NUCLEAR_FREE_ZON.html
[2] For the front matter from the most recent publication, see: http://www.takomaparkmd.gov/clerk/agenda/items/2005/022805-4a.pdf
[3] Richard Torgerson is current, or perhaps immediate-past president of NFA. See his bio here: http://www.progressive-asset.com/who/team.html
[4] http://nftpc.blogspot.com/

QUESTION: Statistics for artists in need

question / pregunta: 

Dear Radical Reference,
My organization, Acts of Art, is working with Split This Rock & the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) to create a petition and paper demanding that 1% of the $500 billion stimulus package go to the arts. (In a way similar to the WPA projects). We need to create this 2 page paper pronto! Can you help us find solid statistics & references: 1) how the arts have financially/socially stimulated neighborhoods 2) how art funding has been cut 3) artists in need. Any further direction would be appreciated!
Thank you!
Susan Brennan

QUESTION: womens' roles in activist organizations

question / pregunta: 

I am looking for recent (past five years) publications on the roles of women in activist organizations for a literature review in preparation for a series of documentary interviews.

I am not looking for biographies, but rather behavorial analysis or case studies. Book or journal publications are preferred, but well referenced website essays or dissertations are okay too.

Thanks!

QUESTION: American soldier and man of conscious held in refugee camp

question / pregunta: 

I would like any precedents in Germany or other countries for what is happening to Andre Shepherd, an American soldier and IVAW member currently being held in a German refugee camp as he seeks asylum? I have other questions too but this is on the top of my list. You can find out more by going to articles posted on the front of the www.ivaw.org website, the article in Der Spiegel is particularly informative.

QUESTION: nuclear waste

question / pregunta: 

What are the best web sites available about low-level nuclear waste and its disposal?

QUESTION: Copyright & Fair Use

question / pregunta: 

Greetings radical librarians: I am part of an organization developing an online syllabus for study groups we hope to be launching in 2009. We hope to be using articles from academic journals (and most likely obtained from J-STOR and Project Muse). Since we're posting this syllabus online, are there any issues of copyright that we should be worried about?

My gut feeling is that since we're not conducting these study groups with any kind of fee$, that we're in the realm of fair use, but i'd like a more informed opinion than my gut. Help me out, please!

QUESTION: Archival event at Brecht Forum on Tuesday Nov. 11 - RSVP?

question / pregunta: 

Hi. I am an archivist and would like to attend this event. Do I need to RSVP?

Thank you.

QUESTION: election watchdog sites?

question / pregunta: 

http://www.stealingamericathemovie.org/getactive/index.html

do you know of any other election watchdog sites or groups that have a participatory component like this one? there's a call going out to form a coalition to take immediate action around election fraud if mccain wins. meeting's this sunday at st marks. not that it really matters who's president....

thanks and happy halloween!