Where U.S. Government Data Is Disappearing

The New York Times, Gift Article – “Over the past several months as we’ve explored different measures of how the U.S. is faring, a pattern has emerged: In multiple areas, statistics and reports long compiled by the federal government were delayed, missing or suspended. Ordinarily, much federal data is the domain of a niche network …

Subjects: Censorship, Climate Change, Congress, E-Government, E-Records, Education, Environmental Law, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research, Libraries

Trump’s Super Pardon

Bloomberg – no paywall – Trump Extends Pardons to Companies, Echoing a 17th Century King “…Unlike in previous administrations, commutations as well as pardons have cleared unpaid penalties tied to the convictions…Since taking office for the second time, Trump has become the first modern US president to issue pardons for companies, from a Middle America …

Subjects: Courts, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

90,000 Flock cameras have quietly gone up in the US

ZDNET – What they track and how to check your city: “Flock Falcon cameras don’t detect speed. Instead, the cameras take roughly six to 12 still images each time a vehicle passes. Flock then uses automated license plate recognition software and machine learning to analyze those images. The cameras can capture a vehicle’s plate, make, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Records, Legal Research, Privacy, Transportation

Amazon, gig companies see spike in workers on SNAP and Medicaid, study shows

Federal Social Safety Net Programs: Millions of Workers, Including Many Employed by Large Employers, Continue to Rely on Medicaid and SNAP. GAO-26-108703Publicly Released: July 22, 2026. Millions of American adults earn so little that they rely on federal programs to make ends meet, such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. To learn more …

Subjects: E-Commerce, Economy, Food and Nutrition, Government Documents, Health Care

The World’s Energy/Power Grid

Public data for public use. Energy infrastructure data and visualization that sparks joy by OpenGridWorks. US Power Plants and Data Centers  [Data center load is outpacing the grid’s ability to meet new demands] – The World’s Energy/Power Grid. “Zoom out and use the mouse to rotate this visually stunning map to other parts of the …

Subjects: Economy, Energy

Classified Record is a searchable index of declassified U.S. government documents

“The Classified Record is a searchable index of declassified U.S. government documents, with primary sources linked and FOIA status documented for each entry. It exists because the existing infrastructure for accessing declassified records was built for researchers, not for the general public. The CIA FOIA Electronic Reading Room contains millions of pages of declassified material. …

Subjects: E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Search Engines

Anthropic’s Claude AI tools for very different jobs: How to pick between models, Code, and Cowork

ZDNET: “Anthropic is currently the world’s most valuable AI company, with an astonishing $1.2 trillion valuation on secondary markets as of earlier this month. The company’s offerings have been making headline news all year, especially after the US government temporarily banned use of Anthropic’s Fable model because it was just too smart and risky for …

Subjects: AI, Internet, Knowledge Management

“Four Score and Seven Years Ago….” Lincoln’s Handwritten Gettysburg Address

Library of Congress Blogs: “On Nov. 2, 1863, Gettysburg lawyer David Wills wrote to Abraham Lincoln, officially inviting the president to attend the dedication of a new military cemetery on Nov. 19 and provide “a few appropriate remarks” at the ceremony. Despite his heavy workload, Lincoln agreed to participate. In addition to honoring the fallen …

Subjects: Education, Government Documents, Legal Research, Libraries

Map of the world’s great castles & fortresses

3,708 notable landmarks · 131 countries · one map – “Everything on this map comes from open data: facts, coordinates and founding dates from Wikidata, photographs from Wikimedia Commons, stories from Wikipedia, and the night basemap from OpenFreeMap and Natural Earth. The atlas is curated, not exhaustive: the 3,708 most significant landmarks worldwide, ordered by …

Subjects: Education

AI Companies Are Buying Tons of Old Books Because They’re Free of AI Slop

404 Media: “ISBNdb, a company that sources printed books for AI companies to turn into training data, tells clients “the optics problem is real.” As AI companies search for more training data to improve their models, one company is offering old, printed books as an ideal source because they are guaranteed to be free of …

Subjects: AI, Copyright, E-Records, Intellectual Property, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

Skadden Said Its Trump Deal Raised No Ethical Issues. Intel’s Shareholders Disagree.

Above the Law: “There is a version of the Biglaw capitulation story where the nine firms that bent a knee to Donald Trump did some pro bono work on behalf of veterans, ate a news cycle, and moved on. That is the version the firms have been selling since jump, but the reality is quite …

Subjects: Censorship, Congress, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research