Flowing Data: “Charts are a window into the world. When done right, we gain an understanding of who we are, where we are, and how we can become better versions of ourselves. However, when done wrong, in the absence of truth, charts can be harmful. This is a guide to protect ourselves and to preserve… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Legal Research
What Just Happened: Purges at the DOJ and FBI — How Do and Don’t the Civil Service Laws Apply
Just Security: “The Trump Administration has been on a firing spree inside the Department of Justice. On January 20th, immediately after President Donald Trump took office, the administration fired four career officials in the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EIOR), including the Chief Immigration Judge and the EOIR’s acting Director. James McHenry, the acting Attorney… Continue Reading
A Brief History of Anti-Fascism
Smithsonian Magazine – A Brief History of Anti-Fascism – “As long as the ideology has threatened marginalized communities, groups on the left have pushed back with force.” Continue Reading
How to Prepare for Your Digital Afterlife
The New York Times/unpaywalled: “How do you want your social media pages, smartphone photos and computer files handled after you die? While property and money distribution are usually at the top of the estate-planning list, don’t forget to leave instructions regarding your digital accounts and assets — so your survivors are left with more than… Continue Reading
The SAVE Act Would Disenfranchise Millions of Citizens
CAP: “The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation would require all Americans to prove their citizenship status by presenting documentation—in person—when registering to vote or updating their voter registration information. Specifically, the legislation would require the vast majority of Americans to rely on a… Continue Reading
Data Rescue Project
Data Rescue Project – There are many individuals, organizations, and community-based resources that document and assist with rescuing efforts. Below is the list of tools, data sources, library guides, and articles we are aware of and their associated scopes. This list was developed from the original Data Rescue Google Doc. Please email suggestions to [email protected].… Continue Reading
The Venn Diagram of Trump’s Authoritarian Actions
Kottke.org: Professor Christina Pagel of University College London has mapped the actions of the Trump administration’s first few weeks into a Venn diagram (above) with “five broad domains that correspond to features of proto-authoritarian states”: Undermining Democratic Institutions & Rule of Law; Dismantling federal government Dismantling Social Protections & Rights; Enrichment & Corruption Suppressing Dissent… Continue Reading
Condé Nast, other news orgs say AI firm stole articles, spit out “hallucinations”
Ars Technica: “Condé Nast and several other media companies sued the AI startup Cohere today, alleging that it engaged in “systematic copyright and trademark infringement” by using news articles to train its large language model. “Without permission or compensation, Cohere uses scraped copies of our articles, through training, real-time use, and in outputs, to power… Continue Reading
USAspending Data Sources and SAM.gov
“USAspending.gov links data from many government systems, including agency financial systems and governmentwide award systems. Scroll below to learn more about these systems, as well as the context for this historic initiative to provide federal spending transparency.” Try searching for contracts by vendor name such as AWS, Inc., Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Tesla Laboratories, Inc.… Continue Reading
Implementing President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Workforce Optimization Initiative
Josh Marshall: “This new EO signed today appears to create DOGE as a shadow government across the entire federal government. Each agency/dept will be assigned a DOGE minder who will work with the Secry or Director and essentially be in charge of all new hiring and/or firing. People have been saying the Elon is President.… Continue Reading
Elon Musk’s AI Fuelled War on Human Agency
The New Yorker – unpaywalled – “To run his agency [DOGE], Musk brought on a group of tech-company managers and inexperienced twentysomethings whose credentials included internships at SpaceX. We watched as this crew began interrogating federal employees about their jobs, interfering with the system that controls payments at the Treasury Department, and trawling government budgets… Continue Reading
Current Federal Civilian Employment by State and Congressional District
CRS Report – Current Federal Civilian Employment by State and Congressional District, Updated December 20, 2024: “The federal government employs more than 2 million civilians who live and work in every state and U.S. territory. As Congress considers the impact of federal appropriations at the national, state, and local levels, Members may seek information on… Continue Reading
