Over the past year, there has been a great deal of activity on issues related to government transparency and secrecy, but it can remain difficult to figure out exactly what all the discussions, reports and hearings actually mean. To try to get to the bottom of this murky issue, we are breaking out our Magic Eight-Ball of Information Policy to ask a few key questions about the past year — the progress and setbacks, laid out in simple terms. We wish there was a better approach, but unfortunately, 2007 was that kind of year for government transparency, with vague and unclear answers for most questions.