In Custodia Legis: [In August 2021], the Law Library of Congress will present a webinar on federal statutes. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the legislative process and how to trace federal statutes from their publication in the U.S. Code to their origins as bills. Participants will also learn about the difference between public and private laws, how to conduct research using free online resources, and other useful tips and tricks. Also in August, Law Library staff will host a webinar discussing Congress.gov. The presentation will feature some of Congress.gov’s functions, as well as recent updates to the site. More information about the content of both webinars and registration links..”
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Monthly Archives: July 2021
New Browse, Updated Bill Alerts, and More: Congress.gov New, Tip, and Top for July 2021
In Custodia Legis: “Earlier this month, Margaret shared the exciting news that we added bills and resolutions from 1799-1873 to Congress.gov. There was also a press release to highlight this new feature of content from Century of Lawmaking. We previously added Key Word in Context (KWIC) to Legislative Text on the Quick Search Form. With… Continue Reading
48 Advocacy Groups Call on the FTC to Ban Amazon Surveillance
Vice: “…While a number of firms offer networked surveillance devices to try and make homes “smart,” the coalition uses Amazon as a case study into how dangerous corporate surveillance can become (and the sorts of abuses that can emerge) when in the hands of a dominant and anti-competitive firm. From Amazon’s Ring—which has rolled out… Continue Reading
New Actions to Get More Americans Vaccinated and Slow the Spread of the Delta Variant
White House Fact Sheet: “Six months into the Biden Administration’s vaccination effort, 164 million Americans are fully vaccinated, including 80 percent of seniors and more than 60 percent of adults. This is significant progress, and as a result, the country and economy are in a stronger position than January 2021. We are now faced with… Continue Reading
She risked everything to expose Facebook. Now she’s telling her story.
MIT Technology Review: “The world first learned of Sophie Zhang in September 2020, when BuzzFeed News obtained and published highlights from an abridged version of her nearly 8,000-word exit memo from Facebook. Before she was fired, Zhang was officially employed as a low-level data scientist at the company. But she had become consumed by a… Continue Reading
Americans added a few hundred million smart devices to their homes in 2020
Marketplace – And they’re learning a lot about us. “Back in 2014, when the Echo and its virtual assistant Alexa made their debut, it was called a “Star Trek computer for the home.” Over this past year, our homes have become our own personal Starship Enterprises, as more of us have turned to smart devices… Continue Reading
Legal support staffing must be addressed by law firms to successfully transition to hybrid working
“This month BigHand released the findings from the largest legal survey of its kind – with over 900 respondents from legal professionals in North America, the UK and APAC with roles across Operations, HR, Support Services, Resource Management and Practice Group Leaders. When we first assessed the results, the main thing that struck me was… Continue Reading
Senate Bill Aims to Create National Database of Restrictive Property Covenants
WSJ (paywall – see alternative full text): “A new bill backed by a slate of Senate Democrats would allocate competitive grants to colleges and universities to analyze, digitize and map historic housing discrimination records, creating the first national database of its kind. The focus of the effort is to research covenants attached to housing deeds,… Continue Reading
The World Federation of ADHD International Consensus Statement
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Volume 128, September 2021, Pages 789-818 (Open Access) “Abstract – Background – Misconceptions about ADHD stigmatize affected people, reduce credibility of providers, and prevent/delay treatment. To challenge misconceptions, we curated findings with strong evidence base. Methods – We reviewed studies with more than 2000 participants or meta-analyses from five or more… Continue Reading
Facial recognition surges in retail stores
Axios: “Face-recognition tech is coming to a store near you, if it’s not there already, and that’s sparking a new wave of opposition. Why it matters: The systems can scan or store facial images of both shoppers and workers. Their use accelerated during the pandemic as retailers looked for ways to prevent fraud, track foot… Continue Reading
DOJ – Trump officials can testify in inquiries into efforts to subvert election outcome
The New York Times: “The Justice Department notified former officials this week that they could testify to the various committees investigating the Trump administration’s efforts to subvert the results of the presidential election and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to a letter obtained by The New York Times. Witnesses can give “unrestricted… Continue Reading
Finally, could Google’s chickens be coming home to roost?
Medium: “Google is telling anybody who will listen that the APIs and functionalities built into its Google Cloud platform will remain stable over time and will not fall victim to arbitrary decisions by the company, a fiction designed to avoid discussion of the company’s longstanding disregard for its users, which has led it, over the… Continue Reading
