Germany's stance on the TTIP. Background, interests and concerns. OSW Studies 52, March 2015

Co-operation between the United States and Germany has for many years been a subject of disputes. In addition to the differences over the US engagement in the resolution of international conflicts, bilateral relations have been strained as a consequence of the so-called Snowden scandal and the unproved allegations that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s telephone was wiretapped. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership offers a chance for improving relations between Germany and the USA for the first time in many years. Companies from the two countries may benefit from the lifting of some barriers to transatlantic economic co-operation. Furthermore, the emergence of in fact an internal EU and US market, with reduced customs tariffs and harmonised legal and economic rules, will pressure the emerging economies to make their markets more open. The TTIP may create conditions for exporting US raw materials from unconventional sources to the European Union; and this will be a benefit of geopolitical significance for Germany. The German government is aware of the fact that diversification of supplies of fossil fuels will make Europe less dependent on pressure from Moscow.

TABLETUTORIAL: Stata module to provide tutorial on automated table generation and reporting

-tabletutorial- illustrates how Stata can be used to export statistical results and generate customized reports. Part 1 explains how results from Stata routines can be accessed and how they can be exported using the -file- comand or a wrapper such as, e.g., -mat2txt-. Part 2 shows how model estimation results can be archived using -estwrite- and how models can be tabulated and exported to LaTeX, MS Excel, or MS Word using -estout-. Part 3 illustrates how to set up automatic reports in LaTeX or MS Word. The tutorial is based on a talk given at CEPS/INSTEAD in Luxembourg in October 2008. After install, type -help tabletutorial- to start the tutorial (in Stata 8, type -whelp tabletutorial-). The -mat2txt-, -estwrite-, and -estout- packages, also available from SSC, are required to run the examples.

Astrotheology: Exoplanets, Christian Concerns, and Human Hopes

Are there planets beyond our solar system? What may appear quite plausible now had only been a hypothesis until about twenty years ago. The search for exoplanets is driven by the interest in the “habitable” ones among them. Could such planets one day in the far future provide resources or even shelter for humankind? Will we find one day a habitable planet that is even inhabited? These kinds of imaginative speculations drive public interest in the subject. Imagining alien intelligent life in the universe is not at all new. When Ted Peters called for establishing the field of “astrotheology,” he was certainly thinking less of historical precedents than of something analogous to the emerging field of astrobiology. Will astrotheology result in the decentering of humanity in cosmic dimensions? One could also conclude that we are alone, at least for all practical purposes.

Standardized reporting using CODES (Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System).

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

National urban mass transportation statistics. First annual report, section 15 reporting system.

Urban Mass Transportation Administration, Washington, D.C.

National urban mass transportation statistics. Second annual report, section 15 reporting system.

Urban Mass Transportation Administration, Washington, D.C.

Desegregation and education concerns of the Hispanic community : conference report, June 26-28, 1977, Washington, D.C.

Includes bibliographical references.

Knowing our waters : tribal reporting under section 305(b).

Mode of access: Internet.