“New criminal prosecutions dropped by 80 percent between February and April — from 13,843 during February 2020, before federal shutdowns to control the spread of COVID-19 began, to just 2,824 in April 2020. This means that only one-fifth the usual prosecutions took place. Two major factors contributed to this precipitous decline. First, referrals to federal… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Government Documents
Trump’s executive order targets political bias at Twitter and Facebook: draft
Reuters: “U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to order a review of a law that has long protected Twitter, Facebook and Alphabet’s Google from being responsible for the material posted by their users, according to a draft executive order and a source familiar with the situation. News of the order comes after Trump threatened to… Continue Reading
Inspector General Vacancy Tracker
POGO – Where Are All the Watchdogs? “Offices of Inspectors General (OIG) serve as independent watchdogs within federal agencies and are essential to a well-functioning federal government. They conduct audits and investigations that identify wasteful government practices, fraud by individuals and government contractors, and other sorts of government misconduct, even including torture. Congress and the public… Continue Reading
COVID-19: Resources for Tracking Federal Spending and Federal Awards
COVID-19: Resources for Tracking Federal Spending May 27, 2020: “Congress has responded to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with various legislation providing relief to individuals and families, state and local governments, businesses, healthcare providers, and other entities. This CRS Insight provides information on selected sources for tracking COVID-19 relief funding provided through these bills.… Continue Reading
Even with a vaccine coronavirus may never go away
Washington Post – “There’s a good chance the coronavirus will never go away. Even after a vaccine is discovered and deployed, the coronavirus will likely remain for decades to come, circulating among the world’s population. Experts call such diseases endemic — stubbornly resisting efforts to stamp them out. Think measles, HIV, chickenpox. It is a… Continue Reading
Social Media Usage Is At An All-Time High
NPR – That Could Mean A Nightmare For Democracy: “America’s new socially distant reality has warped the landscape of the 2020 election. Candidates aren’t out knocking on doors, and U.S. election officials are bracing for a record surge in mail ballots. But another subtler shift is also occurring — inside people’s brains. Four years after… Continue Reading
Johns Hopkins releases report on digital contact tracing to aid COVID-19 response
“Leading global experts contributed to the report, which offers clear guidance and recommendations on ethics and governance as digital technologies are developed to fight the pandemic: “Johns Hopkins University today released a comprehensive report to help government, technology developers, businesses, institutional leaders, and the public make responsible decisions around use of digital contact tracing technology,… Continue Reading
OSHA Complaint tracker
“Workplace health and safety is more important now, than ever. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, essential workers—whether unionized or not—have fought employers to ensure that workers and the public are protected. One tool available to workers: complaints made to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA. We’ve compiled an interactive map of… Continue Reading
Violation Tacker
Discover Which Corporations are the Biggest Regulatory Violators and Lawbreakers Throughout the United States – “Violation Tracker is the first wide-ranging database on corporate misconduct. It covers banking, consumer protection, false claims, environmental, wage & hour, health, safety, employment discrimination, price-fixing, bribery and other cases resolved by more than 50 federal regulatory agencies and all… Continue Reading
Scientists are drowning in COVID-19 papers. Can new tools keep them afloat?
Science: “Timothy Sheahan, a virologist studying COVID-19, wishes he could keep pace with the growing torrent of new scientific papers about the disease and the novel coronavirus that causes it. But there are just too many—more than 4000 alone last week. “I’m not keeping up,” says Sheahan, who works at the University of North Carolina,… Continue Reading
Twitter fact-checks Trump’s tweets for first time
Washington Post – Twitter labels Trump’s tweets with a fact check for the first time – The action comes after years of criticism that social media companies have allowed the president to push misinformation unchecked… But Trump has made dozens of false claims on social media, particularly on his preferred medium of Twitter, and has… Continue Reading
Five Ways to Monitor the Coronavirus Outbreak in the U.S.
The New York Times – “To help provide a detailed picture of the past, present and future of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, here are five ways of thinking about it in hundreds of metro areas across the country, using data compiled by The New York Times. This page will be updated regularly…” Continue Reading
