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

Category Archives: Congress

How YouTube supports elections

Official YouTube Blog –  How YouTube supports elections – “As the 2020 election season kicks into high gear in the United States, people will visit YouTube to learn about the candidates and watch the election season unfold. Over the last few years, we’ve increased our efforts to make YouTube a more reliable source for news… Continue Reading

Competitive Intelligence – A Selective Resource Guide – Updated January 2020

Via LLRX – Competitive Intelligence – A Selective Resource Guide – Updated January 2020 – Sabrina I. Pacifici has completely revised and updated her guide, which she first published in 2006 and has updated regularly since that time. A wide range of free and low cost sites with expertly sourced content specific to researchers focused… Continue Reading

The fact-checker’s dilemma

NeimanLab – Humans are hardwired to dismiss facts that don’t fit their worldview – “Human cognition is inseparable from the unconscious emotional responses that go with it.” By Adrian Bardon – “Something is rotten in the state of American political life. The U.S. (among other nations) is increasingly characterized by highly polarized, informationally insulated ideological… Continue Reading

U.S. Media Polarization and the 2020 Election: A Nation Divided

Deep partisan divisions exist in the news sources Americans trust, distrust and rely on: “As the U.S. enters a heated 2020 presidential election year, a new Pew Research Center report finds that Republicans and Democrats place their trust in two nearly inverse news media environments.  Overall, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents view many heavily relied on… Continue Reading

You Are Now Remotely Controlled – Privacy is not private

The New York Times Opinion By Shoshana Zuboff author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. …Privacy is not private, because the effectiveness of these and other private or public surveillance and control systems depends upon the pieces of ourselves that we give up — or that are secretly stolen from us. Our digital century was… Continue Reading

Commentary – Google and Amazon make us worse people

CNET – “Let me show you a magic trick. Make a choice — any choice. You’re already online, so maybe you want to read the news, check your email, surf your newsfeed, buy some food or any other number of things. Now for the trick, I’m going to tell you the companies that facilitated whatever… Continue Reading

A no-BS guide to how a House impeachment process really works

Vox: “Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) is the only member of Congress who was part of the Nixon impeachment, the Clinton impeachment, and is still serving today. Lofgren is also the second-most-senior Democrat on the crucial Judiciary Committee. In the latest episode of Impeachment, Explained, she walks us through how a House impeachment process actually works,… Continue Reading

Reporters Cmte and 57 news orgs urge Senate to reconsider impeachment trial press restrictions

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: “In a letter sent Thursday night, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, joined by 57 news organizations, asked the Senate to reconsider press restrictions during the impeachment trial that have been the subject of growing criticism over the past week. “Absent an articulable security rationale,” the… Continue Reading

Oversight Committee Finds Widespread Ethics Issues at EPA

On January 17, 2020 “Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Harley Rouda, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) releasing new information in the Committee’s investigation into the Trump Administration’s use of ethics waivers to allow political appointees… Continue Reading

Impeachment managers previewed arguments in legal brief filed Saturday

Vox: “…The first legal filings for the Senate impeachment trial gave a preview of what to expect in the upcoming weeks: The House impeachment managers called for Trump’s removal, arguing that his “conduct is the Framers’ worst nightmare,” while the president’s defense team called the entire impeachment process “brazen and unlawful.” House impeachment managers filed… Continue Reading

Presidential Pardons: Overview and Selected Legal Issues

EveryCRSReport: Presidential Pardons: Overview and Selected Legal Issues,, January 14, 2020: “Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution authorizes the President “to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” The power has its roots in the king’s prerogative to grant mercy under early English law, which… Continue Reading