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Daily Archives: November 11, 2020

Biden-Harris agency review teams

Biden-Harris Transition: “Agency review teams are responsible for understanding the operations of each agency, ensuring a smooth transfer of power, and preparing for President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris and their cabinet to hit the ground running on Day One. These teams are composed of highly experienced and talented professionals with deep backgrounds in crucial policy areas across the federal government. The teams have been crafted to ensure they not only reflect the values and priorities of the incoming administration, but reflect the diversity of perspectives crucial for addressing America’s most urgent and complex challenges. The Presidential Transition Act requires presidential transitions to disclose the “most recent employment” and “sources of funding” for all agency review team members. The Transition Team has three types of agency review team members:

  • Volunteers: Individuals who are volunteering for the Transition in their personal capacity. For these team members, their current or most recent employer is listed (for informational purposes only), and their source of funding is listed as “Volunteer.”
  • Full-Time Transition Employees: Individuals who are full-time paid Transition employees, funded by the Transition entity itself (PT Fund, Inc.). For these team members, their most recent employer prior to joining the Transition is listed (for informational purposes only), and their source of funding is listed as “Transition — PT Fund, Inc.”
  • Detailees: Individuals on detail who will be funded through an appropriation administered by the General Services Administration. For these team members, their current employer is listed, and their source of funding is listed as “Transition — Appropriation.”..

Snell & Wilmer withdraws from election lawsuit as Trump contests Arizona results

Reuters – “The largest law firm representing the Trump campaign or its allies in post-election litigation challenging votes in key states has withdrawn from an election lawsuit in Maricopa County, Arizona. Associate Presiding Civil Judge Daniel Kiley on Tuesday granted Snell & Wilmer’s request to withdraw as counsel of record for the Republican National Committee.… Continue Reading

The Degradation of American Democracy And the Court

134 Harv. L. Rev. 1 Volume 134, November 10 2020 –  The Supreme Court Term 2019 – The Degradation of American Democracy — And the Court – Foreword by Michael J. Klarman. “On June 25, 2013, the Supreme Court invalidated the geographic coverage formula of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, effectively abrogating the preclearance requirement… Continue Reading

‘Be the Twitter that you want to see in the world

Harvard Law Today – “How social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook manage the spread of mis- and disinformation—and their governance approaches to this and related problems—has been a major concern over the past few years. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election in the United States, experts from the Berkman Klein Center for Internet &… Continue Reading

FTC Requires Zoom to Enhance its Security Practices as Part of Settlement

“The Federal Trade Commission today announced a settlement with Zoom Video Communications, Inc. that will require the company to implement a robust information security program to settle allegations that the video conferencing provider engaged in a series of deceptive and unfair practices that undermined the security of its users. Zoom has agreed to a requirement to… Continue Reading

Simple Search Is a Browser Extension That Gives You Google Circa 2010

Back to the Future via The Verge – “For the last 10 years, Google has been building new widgets into its search results — and now, a group of journalists has built a browser extension to show you what search would look like without them. Built by The Markup, Simple Search strips out the information… Continue Reading

A crowdsourcing platform aims to provide better insight into health issues than is currently available

ZDNet: “In the age of social media, blogs, and online forums, the most common practice when feeling slightly under the weather has undeniably become to resort to a quick Google search. Unfortunately, when they are not unnecessarily worrying, the answers found on the web are typically inconclusive. That observation is what prompted Israeli entrepreneur Yael… Continue Reading

The Potential Role Of Open Data In Mitigating The COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges And Opportunities

Health Affairs: “The scale and diffuse impact of the global 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is unprecedented in our lifetime. As of October 23, 2020, less than a year into the pandemic, there have been more than 41.7 million cases and more than one million deaths globally. Without a vaccine or widespread treatment access, the… Continue Reading

You Need to Update Chrome Right Now

Gizmodo: “Google rolled out Chrome version 86.0.4240.198 on Wednesday in response to two zero-day vulnerabilities discovered in the wild—the fourth and fifth security flaws discovered in the browser in the last three weeks alone. Although Google has not made details about the attacks involving the zero-days public, the company was reportedly alerted to the vulnerabilities… Continue Reading

Retail Might Be Struggling, But the Rich Are Buying Rare Books

Bloomberg via MSN: “Even as independent bookstores struggle to survive, rare books and manuscripts have proven a rare bright spot in the industry. “It’s almost like two businesses,” says Kenneth Gloss, the owner of Brattle Book Shop in Boston. “As far as the general used-book business, it’s been off.” His third floor of rare and antiquarian… Continue Reading