Wired – “Recycling was already a mess. Now a study finds that one facility may emit 3 million pounds of microplastics a year. The plastics industry has long hyped recycling, even though it is well aware that it’s been a failure. Worldwide, only 9 percent of plastic waste actually gets recycled. In the United States, the rate… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Congress
GAO Report on SVB, NY Fed Report on SVB
Bank Regulation – GAO-23-106736 – Preliminary Review of Agency Actions Related to March 2023 Bank Failures – Report to the Committee on Financial Services, House of Representatives, April 2023. Released April 28, 2023: “Risky business strategies along with weak liquidity and risk management contributed to the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.… Continue Reading
Jane Roberts, who is married to Chief Justice John Roberts, made $10.3 million in commissions from elite law firms, whistleblower documents show
Business Insider: “Jane Sullivan Roberts, the spouse of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts made more than $10 million in commissions as a headhunter for top-tier law firms between 2007 and 2014, according to internal documents included with a whistleblower complaint. Jane Roberts was paid more than $10 million by a host of elite law… Continue Reading
The Fight for the American Public Library
Bloomberg/City Lab: ” Library boards, school boards and legislatures are becoming battlegrounds in a push to censor books. Communities are fighting back. National Library Week in the US comes amid a period of turmoil for libraries, as efforts to censor books intensify. Visual storyteller Ariel Aberg-Riger explores the threats libraries face, their historical context and… Continue Reading
Big Tech Lobbyists Explain How They Took Over Washington
reThink Trade: “An amazing research paper unearths how the tech industry invented the concept of digital trade and sold it to government officials. Progressive trade advocates continue to express confusion over the Biden administration’s trade policies. Despite a U.S. trade representative (USTR) in Katherine Tai who has prioritized a worker-centered trade vision that breaks with… Continue Reading
Gallup: Half the Country Now Identifies as Independent
IVN: “Gallup’s latest polling found that 49% of Americans self-identify as independent of the two major parties. The record-setting number shows voters’ growing dissatisfaction with the US political process and their options. Notably, Gallup analyst Jeff Jones observed that Gen X and Millennials are bucking a historical trend. In the past it was not uncommon… Continue Reading
Plastic Recylcing is a Scam
Plastic Recycling is an Actual Scam | Climate Town / YouTube Plastic Legislation to get involved with: Depending on where you live, there’s a lot you can do. NCSL Overview: https://www.ncsl.org/research/environ… Earth Day Plastic Action: https://www.earthday.org/act-on-plast… Cleveland Preemptive Ban: https://www.cleveland.com/open/2019/0… Nat Geo breakdown: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/en… CIF: https://www.clf.org/blog/the-truth-ab… WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/plastic-… NRDC: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/single-u… Follow Climate Town on Instagram:… Continue Reading
Digital Privacy Legislation is Civil Rights Legislation
EFF: “As Congress ponders legislation to reform “big tech,” it must view comprehensive digital privacy legislation as desperately needed civil rights legislation, because data abuses often disproportionately harm communities already bearing the brunt of other inequalities. Harvesting and monetizing personal data whenever anyone uses social media or even vital online services has become ubiquitous, yet… Continue Reading
Ethics Complaints Justice Thomas Referred To Top Judicial Panel
HuffPo: “Complaints about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas have been referred to a federal panel that oversees the nation’s financial disclosure laws, a top judicial official said Tuesday. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) last week called on the body overseeing the federal judiciary to refer Thomas for investigation amid a series… Continue Reading
The Promise and Perils of Tech Whistleblowing
Bloch-Wehba, Hannah, The Promise and Perils of Tech Whistleblowing (March 3, 2023). Northwestern University Law Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4377064 “Whistleblowers and leakers wield significant influence in technology law and policy. On topics ranging from cybersecurity to free speech, tech whistleblowers spur congressional hearings, motivate the introduction of legislation, and animate critical press coverage… Continue Reading
How is Congress handling the TikTok conundrum?
Brookings: “The potential security implications of China’s corporate control of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance have scaled up in recent years as U.S.-China relations have soured and China has expanded its domestic social, political, and economic controls. But Congress’ potential answer — the RESTRICT Act — has its flaws. Cam Kerry examines TikTok’s challenges, other ways… Continue Reading
Financial Disclosure and the Supreme Court
CRS Legal Sidebar: April 14, 2023: ” The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (EIGA) established financial disclosure reporting requirements for many high-level government officials and employees, including the Chief Justice of the United States and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court Justices must file publicly available financial disclosure statements that report… Continue Reading
