Author archives

Trump vs. Science. We explain the administration’s cuts to research.

The New York Times – no paywall: “Late yesterday, Sethuraman Panchanathan, whom President Trump hired to run the National Science Foundation five years ago, quit. He didn’t say why, but it was clear enough: Last weekend, Trump cut more than 400 active research awards from the N.S.F., and he is pressing Congress to halve the …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Education, Energy, Environmental Law, Food and Nutrition, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Health Care, Medicine

DOGE Just Took Over National Parks

Wes Siler’s Newsletter: “Elon Musk is now effectively in charge of America’s public lands,” says Jennifer Rokala, executive director at the Center for Western Priorities. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum just issued an order ceding oversight of the Department of the Interior to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (which is not a government …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Legal Research

Trump Takes Aim at Democrats’ Online Fundraising Platforms

Gizmodo: “President Trump has decided to target the online fundraising websites that power a majority of Democrats’ political campaigns. In an executive order on Thursday, the Trump administration initiated a plan to investigate ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s primary grassroots fundraising tool.The executive order, which was published on the White House website on Thursday, claims that …

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

‘Who Is Doge?’ Has Become a Metaphysical Question

Wired [no paywall]: “…The ambiguity around who is and is not DOGE starts with the fact that there are in fact two DOGEs: the repurposed US Digital Service, now known as the US DOGE Service, and a temporary organization within the US DOGE Service called, naturally, the US DOGE Service Temporary Organization, which is tasked …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management

AI secretly helped write California bar exam, sparking uproar

Ars Technica – A contractor used AI to create 23 out of the 171 scored multiple-choice questions: “On Monday, the State Bar of California revealed that it used AI to develop a portion of multiple-choice questions on its February 2025 bar exam, causing outrage among law school faculty and test takers. The admission comes after …

Subjects: AI, Education, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

What to do if your phone is lost or stolen: practical steps to restore peace of mind

The Guardian – “From remotely locking your phone to changing passwords, do this quickly to protect yourself and restore peace of mind: “Smartphones contain the entirety of our modern lives, from photos, messages and memories to credit cards, bank accounts and all life admin, so when one gets lost or stolen it can be far …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Records, Privacy

The Dispatch Buys SCOTUSblog, a Supreme Court Mainstay

The New York Times [no paywall]: “…The site is being acquired by The Dispatch, a right-of-center political news and commentary start-up founded by the conservative journalists Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes. The deal is part of a strategy to “double down on rigorous reporting and analysis in topic areas where we already have meaningful advantages,” …

Subjects: Courts, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media

DOGE Worker’s Code Supports NLRB Whistleblower

Krebs on Security: “A whistleblower at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleged last week that denizens of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) siphoned gigabytes of data from the agency’s sensitive case files in early March. The whistleblower said accounts created for DOGE at the NLRB downloaded three code repositories from GitHub. Further …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Records, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research

Law Students Signing Pledge To Refuse Offers From Collaborating Biglaw Firms

Follow up to Big Law Preys On Itself – Above the Law: “As more Biglaw firms sell out their integrity in exchange for relief from illegal retaliation from the Trump administration, lawyers and clients are distancing themselves from the settling firms. Some law students have already walked away from recruiting efforts by these firms. A …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Education, Legal Research

State of the Air 2025

“The “State of the Air” 2025 report finds that even after decades of successful efforts to reduce sources of air pollution, 46% of Americans—156.1 million people—are living in places that get failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. This is nearly 25 million more people breathing unhealthy air compared to last year’s …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Health Care, Legal Research, Medicine