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Daily Archives: November 21, 2022

Senior Democratic lawmakers demand answers on alleged Supreme Court leak

Politico via Yahoo: “Two senior Democrats in Congress are demanding that Chief Justice John Roberts detail what, if anything, the Supreme Court has done to respond to recent allegations of a leak of the outcome of a major case the high court considered several years ago. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) are also interested in examining claims about a concerted effort by religious conservatives to woo the justices through meals and social engagements. They wrote to Roberts on Sunday, making clear that if the court won’t investigate the alleged ethical breaches, lawmakers are likely to launch their own probe. The pair of lawmakers also criticized the high court’s response to a letter they sent Roberts in September, seeking information about the court’s reaction to reports in POLITICO and Rolling Stone about a yearslong campaign to encourage favorable decisions from the justices by bolstering their religiosity. A Supreme Court ethics attorney replied on Roberts’ behalf earlier this month, recounting some of the court’s policies and practices in the area, but offering no specifics about the lobbying drive. “A response pointing out the existence of rules is not responsive to questions about whether those rules were broken,” Whitehouse and Johnson wrote in their new letter Sunday, which was obtained exclusively by POLITICO. “It seems that the underlying issue is the absence of a formal facility for complaint or investigation into possible ethics or reporting violations. …. If the Court, as your letter suggests, is not willing to undertake fact-finding inquiries into possible ethics violations that leaves Congress as the only forum.” A Supreme Court spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message Sunday evening seeking comment on the letter.

Apple Device Analytics Contain Identifying iCloud User Data, Claim Security Researchers

From the, “There is really no privacy on every technology, application and device you use,” via BeauHD: “A new analysis has claimed that Apple’s device analytics contain information that can directly link information about how a device is used, its performance, features, and more, directly to a specific user, despite Apple’s claims otherwise. MacRumors reports:… Continue Reading

Climate Change from A to Z

The New Yorker – The stories we tell ourselves about the future – by Elizabeth Kolbert  November 21, 2022. 
Illustrations by Wesley Allsbrook [subscription req’d – this is an articulate, insightful and cleverly designed chronologically organized longread]: “…Both the effort to limit climate change (by replacing the world’s energy systems) and the effort to adapt… Continue Reading

Department of Energy computer systems target of relentless cyberattacks

“Cyber attackers successfully compromised the security of U.S. Department of Energy computer systems more than 150 times between 2010 and 2014, according to a review of federal records obtained by USA TODAY. Incident reports submitted by federal officials and contractors since late 2010 to the Energy Department’s Joint Cybersecurity Coordination Center shows a near-consistent barrage… Continue Reading

What Are the Pros and Cons of Data Redundancy?

MakeUseOf: “Data redundancy is like a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it can enhance your application; on the other hand, it can distort it. This raises concerns about implementing data redundancy in database management. Understanding data redundancy helps you maximize its benefits and mitigate its risks for healthy database management, which is why you… Continue Reading

Red flag laws and the Colorado LGBTQ club shooting – questions over whether state’s protection order could have prevented tragedy

Via LLRX: Red flag laws and the Colorado LGBTQ club shooting – questions over whether state’s protection order could have prevented tragedy. Professor Alex McCourt, an expert on gun laws at Johns Hopkins University, explain show red flag laws are supposed to work – and why they weren’t triggered in this case. Continue Reading