Author archives

Presidential libraries preserve the records and burnish the legacies of America’s heads of state

The New Yorker – no paywall – “…”The threat that Trump poses to the maintenance of an accurate historical record should be obvious by now. During his first term, he was accused of shredding documents and flushing them down the toilet; after leaving office, he was criminally indicted for hoarding official files, some of them …

Subjects: E-Government, E-Records, Education, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

States Have More Data About You Than the Feds Do. Trump Wants to See It.

The New York Times – no paywall – “Critics fear that personal data might be used to monitor immigrants and political foes, and to spread false tales of fraud. As the Trump administration has sought to amass personally sensitive data on millions of individuals in America, it has run into one roadblock. The states, and …

Subjects: E-Government, E-Records, Economy, Food and Nutrition, Government Documents, Health Care, Internet, Legal Research, Medicine, Poverty, Privacy

Maps – Tracking Trump’s New Tariffs on Every Country

The New York Times – no paywall: “President Trump unveiled an updated slate of sweeping tariffs on Thursday, targeting imports from dozens of U.S. trading partners, in a major escalation of a potentially damaging global trade war without parallel in modern history. For the most part, Mr. Trump’s duties will take effect on Aug. 7, capping …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

Are AI companies committed to a safe future?

Safrer AI: “We rate frontier AI companies’ risk management practices. Our objective is to make frontier AI safer through improved risk management practices and to enhance the accountability of private actors shaping the development of AI. Advanced AI systems are arguably one of the most transformative technologies ever built. Frontier AI companies are advancing technology …

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Internet, Knowledge Management

Donor List Suggests Scale of Trump’s Pay-for-Access Operation

The New York Times – gift article – “…A new disclosure shows how corporations and individuals, including many in the crypto business, wrote big checks while seeking favor from the president…Since Mr. Trump’s election last fall, fund-raisers and lobbyists have been steering corporations and donors to a buffet of options for unlimited giving, some of …

Subjects: Cryptocurrency, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Social Media

Urban planners hoping to mitigate floods by specifically designing municipalities to soak up water

“After massive flooding in 2011 caused $1.8 billion in damage, Copenhagen began refashioning its infrastructure: It built wetlands and parks, plus underground pipes and basins, to gather and redirect the rainwater. The project is ongoing, but it is already helping the Danish capital withstand torrential rains, and the “sponge city” model is being copied by …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law, Housing

$21.7 Billion Blunder: New PSI Report Reveals Billions in Taxpayer Dollars Squandered by DOGE

“U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) released a Minority staff report today unveiling that Elon Musk’s brainchild, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has generated at least $21.7 billion in waste across the federal government between January 20, 2025, and July 18, 2025. The report, “The $21.7 …

Subjects: Censorship, Climate Change, Congress, E-Records, Environmental Law, Food and Nutrition, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research

Trump signs executive order laying out sweeping tariffs on a number of countries

The Tax Foundation – Trump Tariffs: Tracking the Economic Impact of the Trump Trade War. An extensive well documented timeline along with Tracking the Trump Administration’s Tariff Policies, Country-Specific Tariffs, Product-Specific Tariffs, Retaliation, Economic Effects of 2025 Trump Tariffs, Estimated Impact of President Trump’s Proposed Tariffs, Revenue Effects of 2025 Trump Tariffs, Distributional Effects of …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

‘Fuck the Justice Manual’: A New Trump DOJ Assault on the Rule of Law

TMP Morning Memo – “The Justice Manual is the DOJ’s internal handbook of rules on prosecutorial conduct. According to a damning Bloomberg Law piece, Bill Essayli, Trump’s interim US Attorney in Los Angeles, said “fuck the Justice Manual” in response to questions from line attorneys about his pursuit of indictments against anti-ICE protesters. (Morning Memo …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Courts, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Substack Is Where Writers Go to Be Weird

Vulture [no paywall] “It has become the premier destination for literary types’ unpublished musings. What is an author without an editor? Look to Substack for your answer. You’ll find the novelist Garth Greenwell reflecting on a single paragraph from James Baldwin’s Another Country for 3,500 words; Fuccboi author Sean Thor Conroe on “why Faulkner is …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Internet, Social Media