Monthly archives: March, 2017

San Francisco passes ban on selling dogs and cats in pets stores

“San Francisco officials have voted to ban the sale of non-rescue dogs and cats at pet shops as part of a concerted effort to eradicate “inhumane” puppy breeding operations in the city.  The amendment will not affect licenced breeders however it will aim to tackle the prevalence of large-scale “puppy mills”, while helping to facilitate …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Legal Research

WaPo – The astounding political divide over what it means to be ‘American’

Chris Cilliza, Washington Post – “President Trump’s second executive order banning visitors from six predominantly Muslim states from entering the country lands in an America deeply divided on what it means to be, well, American. That’s according to a new AP-NORC poll that suggests that there are really two Americas right now: a Republican one …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

MAP: The most toxic country in the world

Via The Eco Experts: “Climate change is one of the greatest threats we face, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warning that continued emissions of greenhouse gases at their current level could cause a disastrous and irreversible impact on the planet. The effects of climate change are already clear: 2016 has officially been …

Subjects: Climate Change, Energy, Environmental Law, Government Documents

Stanford research shows that anyone can become an Internet troll

Stanford News Service – Stanford research shows that anyone can become an Internet troll. “Three methods of research find that the situation in which an online discussion occurs influences whether people will troll more than their personal past of trolling suggests.” Taylor Kubota. “Internet trolls, by definition, are disruptive, combative and often unpleasant with their …

Subjects: Internet, Knowledge Management, Privacy, Social Media

When Reporters Get Hands-on with Robo-Writing

When Reporters Get Hands-on with Robo-Writing – Professionals consider automated journalism’s capabilities and consequences – Neil Thurman, Konstantin Dörr & Jessica Kunert. Pages 1-20. Published online: 01 Mar 2017. “The availability of data feeds, the demand for news on digital devices, and advances in algorithms are helping to make automated journalism more prevalent. This article …

Subjects: Internet, Knowledge Management

The New Yorker Poetry Bot

“The New Yorker Poetry Bot was developed in collaboration with Courtney Stanton and Darius Kazemi. They are the same artist-coders who crafted @staywokebot, a tool for activists in the form of a Twitter bot, and Madam Eva, an interactive fortune-telling bot that ran on the Dungeons & Dragons Twitter account. Kazemi, working under the name …

Subjects: Education, Knowledge Management, Libraries

Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States – Revised

Executive Order Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States, March 6, 2017. See also  – Presidential Memorandum on Implementing Immediate Heightened Screening and Vetting of Applications for Visas and Other Immigration Benefits Via The Hill: “President Trump issued a new travel ban on Monday with changes aimed at ensuring the controversial policy stands …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

GOP releases bills to repeal and replace ObamaCare

The Hill: “House Republicans on Monday  unveiled their long-awaited legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare.  The two measures dismantle the core aspects of ObamaCare, including its subsidies to help people buy coverage, its expansion of Medicaid, its taxes and its mandates for people to have insurance. (READ THE BILLS HERE AND HERE.) In its place, Republicans would put in …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research, Legislation

The Eight Power Centers Of The Trump Administration

FiveThirtyEight: “…So some policies in the Trump administration, more than either the George W. Bush or Obama tenures, are likely to be a jump ball: Since there is no existing policy or ideology on many issues, the persons best able to sell their ideas — or, alternatively, smartly deploy the federal bureaucracy — can win …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

How to save a life – first-aid advice you’ll actually remember

theguardian – A British Heart Foundation report suggests that our reluctance to intervene is killing people who are in cardiac arrest. Here are some simple, memorable steps you can take to help “Resuscitation to Recovery, published this week by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), reveals that a lack of confidence and training – and even …

Subjects: Health Care, Knowledge Management

The Scalia Vacancy in Historical Context: Frequently Asked Questions

The Scalia Vacancy in Historical Context: Frequently Asked Questions. March 1, 2017 R44773 “The procedure for appointing a Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States is provided for by the Constitution in only a few words. The “Appointments Clause” (Article II, Section 2, clause 2) states that the President “shall nominate, and by …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research