The Sentencing Project – “Twenty-eight states and the federal government incarcerated 121,718 people in private prisons in 2017, representing 8.2% of the total state and federal prison population. Since 2000, the number of people housed in private facilities has increased 39%, according to data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and The Sentencing Project… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: October 2019
Trump to Tell Federal Agencies to Cut New York Times, Washington Post Subscriptions
WSJ.com – The move comes days after President Trump told his staff to cancel the White House’s print subscriptions to the Post and the Times. “The White House is planning to instruct federal agencies to not renew their subscriptions to the New York Times and the Washington Post, administration officials said, escalating President Trump’s attacks… Continue Reading
Drivers are killing pedestrians at the highest rate in almost 30 years
The Verge – Pedestrian and cyclist death rates are increasing, as overall traffic fatalities plummet – “Nearly 36,600 people died on US roadways last year, a decrease of 2.4 percent from 2017, according to recently released figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled also decreased… Continue Reading
Major Public Library System Will Boycott Macmillan E-books
Publishers Weekly – The nation’s top digital-circulating library has said it will stop buying new release Macmillan e-books once the publishers’ two-month embargo begins next month – “With Macmillan’s controversial embargo on new release library e-books set to begin in just two weeks, PW has learned that the King County (WA) Library System has decided… Continue Reading
Google Accused of Creating Spy Tool to Squelch Worker Dissent
Bloomberg: “Google employees are accusing the company’s leadership of developing an internal surveillance tool that they believe will be used to monitor workers’ attempts to organize protests and discuss labor rights. Earlier this month, employees said they discovered that a team within the company was creating the new tool for the custom Google Chrome browser… Continue Reading
BBC News launches ‘dark web’ Tor mirror
BBC News: “The BBC has made its international news website available via Tor, in a bid to thwart censorship attempts. Tor is a privacy-focused web browser used to access pages on the dark web. The browser can obscure who is using it and what data is being accessed, which can help people avoid government surveillance… Continue Reading
Google Maps adds more Waze-like features including driving-incident reports
TechCrunch: “…Google today announced a series of new features that will allow drivers using the Maps app on iOS to report accidents, speed traps and traffic jams. And on both iOS and Android, users will be able to report other driving hazards and incidents, like road construction, lane closures, disabled vehicles and objects in the… Continue Reading
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
Via Google Recover Together: Help prevent drug misuse. Take back unneeded medications for safe disposal. Saturday, October 26. 10 AM-2 PM – Find a drug disposal location near you. In addition to these Take Back Day locations, search Google Maps for “medication disposal near me” to see pharmacies, hospitals, police stations, and other locations that accept… Continue Reading
Leaping Into Your Future with the Real-Life Mr. Spock
Via LLRX – Leaping Into Your Future with the Real-Life Mr. Spock – Bill Jensen’s fascinating interview with Prof. Sohail Inayatullah, UNESCO Chair in Future Studies at UNESCO and USIM, focuses on the future of work, leadership and the significance of the Key Performance Indicator [KPI]. Continue Reading
Libra: A Facebook-led Cryptocurrency Initiative
EveryCRSReport.com – Libra: A Facebook-led Cryptocurrency Initiative October 21, 2019: “On June 18, 2019, Facebook announced that, with 28 other members, it had founded the Libra Association, which planned to launch a new cryptocurrency, called Libra. The association released a white paper that outlined the characteristics of Libra and described its goal of creating a… Continue Reading
Calculating the True Value of A Library that is Free
Internet Archive Blogs: “The Internet Archive, which runs the project Open Library, is working to create a vast network of online book lending in order to make all books accessible to all people. Open Library cares about the input of its readers. As Open librarian and Internet Archive Software Engineer Mek Karpeles describes, “Open Library’s… Continue Reading
How Vladimir Putin Has Cracked Down on Russia’s Internet
Newsweek: “Russia President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that blocks websites and internet services offering Russians a loophole into viewing content banned in their country. The law, signed by Putin Saturday and published by the government Sunday, claims to combat the spread of extremism but once again shuts down an avenue used by many… Continue Reading
