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Daily Archives: April 17, 2019

Guides to the Redacted Mueller Report – Release is April 18, 2019

  • The redacted report by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, covers his investigation into Russian election interference, any ties to the Trump campaign and possible presidential obstruction.
  • The New York Times: “After 23 months, 500 search warrants, 2,300 subpoenas and a string of indictments, the results of the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, will be public on Thursday in a nearly 400-page report. The treatise is likely to add significantly to our understanding of Russia’s 2016 election interference and President Trump’s efforts to control federal inquiries into the matter. Attorney General William P. Barr said last month that the special counsel did not find that anyone associated with the Trump campaign worked with the Russian government to illegally influence the election. He also said there was insufficient evidence that Mr. Trump illegally obstructed justice. But Americans have been eagerly waiting to hear from Mr. Mueller’s investigators in their own words. Whether you have followed every step of the investigation or are tuning in after months of avoiding the headlines, here is a primer for the report’s release….”  Also via NYT – “Justice Department officials have had numerous conversations with White House lawyers about the conclusions made by Mr. Mueller, the special counsel, in recent days, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The talks have aided the president’s legal team as it prepares a rebuttal to the report and strategizes for the coming public war over its findings….”
  • AP: “… Barr will hold a 9:30 a.m. news conference [this is a link to the DOJ live stream site] to present his interpretation of the report’s findings, before providing redacted copies [on CDs] to Congress and [then posting it online for] the public. The news conference, first announced by Trump during a radio interview, provoked immediate criticism from congressional Democrats…After the news conference, the report will be delivered to Congress on CDs between 11 a.m. and noon and then be posted on the special counsel’s website…” [Note – Neither Mueller nor any members of his team will attend this press conference.] See also AP – 10 instances of possible obstruction in the Mueller Report.
  • Here Are 17 Things BuzzFeed News Is Trying To Pry Loose About The Mueller Investigation
  • Lawfare – Memo to the Press: How Not to Screw Up on the Mueller Report
  • Newsweek – The Mueller Report Is Just the Beginning | Opinion Seth Abramson

Knowledge Organization Systems

Hanging Together: “That was the topic discussed recently by OCLC Research Library Partners metadata managers, initiated by Daniel Lovins of Yale and Stephen Hearn of the University of Minnesota. As controlled vocabularies and thesauri are converted into linked open data and shared publicly, they often separate from their traditional role of facilitating collection browsing and… Continue Reading

Women in Congress 1917-2019: Service Dates and Committee Assignments by Member, and Lists by State and Congress

EveryCRSReport.com – Women in Congress, 1917-2019: Service Dates and Committee Assignments by Member, and Lists by State and Congress, April 9, 2019. “In total 365 women have been elected or appointed to Congress, 247 Democrats and 118 Republicans. These figures include six nonvoting Delegates, one each from Guam, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, and American… Continue Reading

Scientists propose bird conservation plan based on eBird data

Cornell Chronicle – “A blueprint for conserving enough habitat to protect the populations of almost one-third of the warblers, orioles, tanagers and other birds that migrate among the Americas throughout the year is detailed in research published April 15 in Nature Communications. An international team of scientists used eBird, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s global citizen science database,… Continue Reading

Cognitive scientist explains why humans are so susceptible to fake news and misinformation

Nieman Lab – “We might like to think of our memory as an archivist that carefully preserves events, but sometimes it’s more like a storyteller.” “How fake news gets into our minds, and what you can do to resist it Although the term itself is not new, fake news presents a growing threat for societies… Continue Reading

Your car is watching you. Who owns the data?

Roll Call – Computers on wheels raise thorny questions about data privacy: “If you’re driving a late model car or truck, chances are that the vehicle is mostly computers on wheels, collecting and wirelessly transmitting vast quantities of data to the car manufacturer not just on vehicle performance but personal information, too, such as your… Continue Reading