Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

You Are Here: Home » Archives: February 2017

Daily Archives: February 15, 2017

Libraries Are For Everyone

by on

Via GOOD – “Shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries, assistant library director Rebecca McCorkindale created a sign to let immigrants and longtime residents alike know “Libraries Are For Everyone.” It was a simple message, but it quickly gained global momentum. After publishing a blog post about the sign on February 2, McCorkindale checked her email the next day to find messages from librarians around the world wanting to use the image in their respective languages. Some might consider it a bold move for a librarian to take a political stance during such polarizing times. But McCorkindale sees it as a rather simple choice, telling PBS, “Libraries are the heart of a community, for anyone and everyone that lives there, regardless of their background. And so we strongly believe that libraries are not neutral. We stand up for human rights.”

World Bank Scores Sustainable Energy Policies in 111 Countries

by on

World Bank: “An increasing number of developing countries – Mexico, China, Turkey, India, Vietnam, Brazil, and South Africa – are emerging as leaders in sustainable energy, with robust policies to support energy access, renewables and energy efficiency, according to a new World Bank Report. But there is huge room for improvement across every region in… Continue Reading

2016 Motor Vehicle Deaths Estimated to be Highest in Nine Years

by on

National Safety Council: “For the first time in nearly a decade, preliminary data from the National Safety Council estimates that as many as 40,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2016. That marks a 6% increase over 2015 and a 14% increase over 2014 – the most dramatic two-year escalation in 53 years. ​… Continue Reading

FiveThirtyEight – Tracking Congress In The Age Of Trump

by on

An updating tally of how often every member of the House and the Senate votes with or against the president By Aaron Bycoffe. From the FAQ – “Donald Trump has Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress — it’s the first time since Barack Obama’s first two years in office that the same party has… Continue Reading

Cloud Spanner: a global database service for mission-critical applications

by on

Google Cloud Platform Blog: “…we’re excited to announce the public beta for Cloud Spanner, a globally distributed relational database service that lets customers have their cake and eat it too: ACID transactions and SQL semantics, without giving up horizontal scaling and high availability. When building cloud applications, database administrators and developers have been forced to… Continue Reading

Report – Corporate interests rack up earnings at expense of budget for national parks

by on

“…America’s national parks should be owned by and managed for the benefit of all Americans. However, corporate interests have been steadily attacking and whittling away at that idea. Hotels, food service providers, gift shops, and other concessionaires, such as Delaware North, are profitable businesses in the national parks. The top-four concession holders in national parks—Aramark… Continue Reading

Paper – Peer Effects on the United States Supreme Court

by on

Holden, Richard and Keane, Michael and Lilley, Matthew, Peer Effects on the United States Supreme Court (February 3, 2017).  Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2916394 “Using data on essentially every US Supreme Court decision since 1946, we estimate a model of peer effects on the Court. We consider both the impact of justice ideology and justice votes… Continue Reading

CRS – Congressional Gold Medals, 1776-2016

by on

Congressional Gold Medals, 1776-2016, Matthew Eric Glassman, Analyst on the Congress. February 13, 2017. [Via FAS] “Senators and Representatives are frequently asked to support or sponsor proposals recognizing historic events and outstanding achievements by individuals or institutions. Among the various forms of recognition that Congress bestows, the Congressional Gold Medal is often considered the most… Continue Reading

The Essential Neil Gorsuch Reader: What Judge Gorsuch Cases Should You Read?

by on

Via FAS – The Essential Neil Gorsuch Reader: What Judge Gorsuch Cases Should You Read?, CRS Legal Sidebar, February 13, 2017. “Judge Gorsuch has a voluminous judicial record, having served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit for more than a decade. According to Judge Gorsuch’s recent submissions to the Senate Judiciary… Continue Reading

Federal Spending for Means-Tested Programs, 2007 to 2027

by on

“CBO projects that, if current laws generally remained unchanged, federal outlays for mandatory means-tested programs (programs and tax credits that provide cash payments or other assistance to people with relatively low income or few assets) would grow over the next decade at an average annual rate of 4.3 percent, whereas spending for mandatory non–means-tested programs… Continue Reading

Yale, Harvard Law School Deans rise up against attacks on judiciary

by on

Law.com: “The deans of Yale Law School and Harvard Law School have joined the growing chorus of lawyers publicly condemning President Donald Trump’s attacks on the judiciary. In a blistering op-ed in The Boston Globe on Friday, Harvard’s Martha Minow and Yale’s Robert Post wrote that Trump’s Twitter-delivered insults against the federal judges who stayed… Continue Reading