The New York Times – “The millions of dots on the map trace highways, side streets and bike trails — each one following the path of an anonymous cellphone user. One path tracks someone from a home outside Newark to a nearby Planned Parenthood, remaining there for more than an hour. Another represents a person… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Government Documents
UK just banned the NHS from buying any more fax machines
BBC News: “The National Health Service will be banned from buying fax machines from next month – and has been told by the government to phase out the machines entirely by 31 March 2020. In July, the Royal College of Surgeons revealed nearly 9,000 fax machines were in use across the NHS in England. The… Continue Reading
House Cmte Investigation Issues Scathing Report on Equifax Breach
The Hill: “The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, following a 14-month probe, released a scathing report Monday saying the consumer credit reporting agency aggressively collected data on millions of consumers and businesses while failing to take key steps to secure such information. The breach is estimated to have harmed 148 million consumers. “In 2005, former Equifax Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard… Continue Reading
Paper – An Unappreciated Constraint on the President’s Pardon Power
Rappaport, Aaron J., An Unappreciated Constraint on the President’s Pardon Power (November 30, 2018). UC Hastings Research Paper. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3293411 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3293411. [h/t Joe Hodnicki] “Most commentators assume that, except for the few textual limitations mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, the President’s pardon power is effectively unlimited. This paper suggests that this common… Continue Reading
As fake news flourishes UK’s fact-checkers are turning to automation to compete
Wired – Speed is everything in a post-truth world of alternative facts, online propaganda and political lies. Full Fact, the UK’s fact-checkers, are increasingly relying on technology to tackle counter-narratives: “..Since its inception in 2010, Full Fact has been parsing claims from British politicians and media, cross-referencing them with reliable data and labelling them as… Continue Reading
Congressional Oversight of Intelligence: Background and Selected Options for Further Reform
EveryCRSReport.com – Congressional Oversight of Intelligence: Background and Selected Options for Further Reform, December 4, 2018: “Prior to the establishment of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) in 1976 and 1977, respectively, Congress did not take much interest in conducting oversight of the Intelligence Community… Continue Reading
CDC data – Large cities still segregated even as nation becoming more diverse
Washington Post: “…Even as the United States becomes increasingly diverse, neighborhood segregation patterns persist in large urban areas, including in the Washington metro region, according to five-year trend data from the Census Bureau. Segregation has remained most entrenched between black and white residents, while segregation between whites and Hispanics and whites and Asians is more… Continue Reading
UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library publishes “UDHR70: 30 Articles – 30 Documents” online exhibit
“Are the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) still valid? And if they are, how do they relate to the world we live in today? These are the questions that the Dag Hammarskjöld Library’s online exhibit “30 Articles, 30 Documents” explores. To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the UDHR,… Continue Reading
Monumental Disaster at the Department of the Interior
Scientific American – A new report documents suppression of science, denial of climate change, the silencing and intimidation of staff: “…In a new report, Science Under Siege at the Department of the Interior, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has documented some of the most egregious and anti-science policies and practices at the DOI under… Continue Reading
Federal Workers Warned Against Talk of ‘Impeachment,’ ‘the Resistance’
Reason.com: “Employees of the federal government were warned this week that both praising and criticizing the Trump administration while on duty may be considered illegal. Federal workers are specifically barred from “advocating” for or against impeachment and from expressing support for the so-called “resistance” to President Donald Trump. Such expressions could be considered violations of… Continue Reading
CBO’s Long-Term Social Security Projections
CBO’s Long-Term Social Security Projections: Changes Since 2017 and Comparisons With the Social Security Trustees’ Projections – December 3, 2018: “This report explains the changes to CBO’s long-term Social Security projections since last year and compares CBO’s projections with those of the Social Security Trustees. The projected 75-year actuarial balance, a commonly used measure of… Continue Reading
Document: Special Counsel Files Flynn Sentencing Memo
Lawfare: “The special counsel’s office has filed its sentencing memo in the case of Michael Flynn. The memo is available here and below. A redacted addendum is available as well.” Via the Washington Post – “The most striking part of Bob Mueller’s sentencing memo recommending Michael Flynn serve no prison time, because of his “substantial”… Continue Reading
