Just added: video from our Independence Day celebrations at the Embassy.

Neil Armstrong has written a letter to commemorate all those who had worked in the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex at Tidbinbilla. The letter was read as part of the commemorative activities on the anniversary of the moon landing.

This month the National Center for Health Statistics has published two reports on the health of children and of older adults.

America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2009 is a compendium of indicators illustrating both the promises and the difficulties confronting young people in the United States. The report presents 40 key indicators on important aspects of children’s lives.

The opportunities for older adults to live longer, healthier lives should continue to increase, according to Health Characteristics of Adults Aged 55 Years and Older: United States, 2004-2007. However, variations in health were noted within the four age groups, with the most consistent and striking results found for poverty status and health insurance coverage. 

• Publications list from NCHS
• Publications list from CDC
• Health care (White House)

• U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
• Bureau of East Asian & Pacific Affairs

Still interested in election results? According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s report on Voting & Registration in the election of November 2008, about 131 million people reported voting in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, an increase of 5 million from 2004. Read the Press release for a summary.

Anatomy of a Jury Trial is the latest e-journal produced by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs. This issue in a sense cross-examines the U.S. jury system, with eyewitness testimony from jurors themselves, judges, a prosecutor, a defense lawyer, a witness, and a reporter.

New position in Canberra: Security Investigator (position description). Applications close 3 August, 2009.

New position in Perth: Management Clerk (part time) (position description). Applications close 5 August, 2009.

Just added:  Visa Clerk, applications close 31 July 2009. Vacancy Announcement and Position Description.

“Today, we must acknowledge two inescapable facts that define our world: First, no nation can meet the world’s challenges alone … Second, most nations worry about the same global threats … but also face very real obstacles,” said Secretary of State Clinton in her 15 July speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. “For just as no nation can meet these challenges alone, no challenge can be met without America.”

Outlining the five policy approaches of the Obama adminstration, the Secretary noted, “We are working with our key treaty allies Japan and Korea, Australia, Thailand, and the Philippines and other partners to strengthen our bilateral relationships as well as trans-Pacific institutions.”

More info:

• Q&A session after speech
• U.S. Department of State
• Council on Foreign Relations

Food security in 70 developing countries is projected to deteriorate over the next decade, according to the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. ERS researchers estimate and project the number of food insecure people from 2008 through 2018 in their Food Security Assessment 2008-09. Food-insecure people are defined as those consuming less than the nutritional target of 2,100 calories per day per person.