Category «Civil Liberties»

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 15, 2025

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 15, 2025 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Internet, Privacy, Social Media

Collection of free cut out PNG trees from all four seasons by landscape architect Mikkel Eye

“All the trees are available as high quality PNG’s with transparent background. The trees are free to use for anyone who wants to add plantings to their visualizations, sections, and diagrams within the fields of landscape architecture, architecture, or urban planning. However, your project should be in focus. The trees of Meye are not to …

Subjects: Civil Liberties

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 …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

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 …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Congress, Courts, E-Government, Education, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Federal workers say they increasingly distrust platforms like Facebook

The Verge: “As Elon Musk and President Donald Trump have sought to gut and remake the federal government to their liking, federal workers have changed how they communicate with one another and with friends. They have locked down communication channels, migrated to new platforms, and what was once skepticism has grown into deep distrust — …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Records, Economy, Financial System, Health Care, Internet, Knowledge Management, Privacy, Social Media

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. …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Economy, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

How Trump Could Remake the Supreme Court for a Generation

The Nation: Donald Trump is poised to become the first president since FDR to have appointed the majority of high-court justices. His potential picks are terrifying.This article appears in the March 2025 issue, with the headline “The Supreme Trump Court.” Donald Trump’s first term as president gave the republicans control over the most dangerous body …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Congress, Courts, Defense, Economy, Education, Energy, Environmental Law, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Health Care, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

The List of Trump’s Forbidden Words That Will Get Your Paper Flagged at NSF

Gizmodo –  “It’s fascism, plain and simple.Every federal agency in the U.S. is currently trying to figure out how to purge forbidden words from documents posted online, in a desperate attempt to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order to purge “DEI” from every facet of American life. And nowhere is that effort more bizarre …

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

Executive Actions and Legal Challenges in President Trump’s First 100 Days

Lawfare: “On Jan. 20, 2025, Donald Trump became the 47th president of the United States. After taking the oath of office, President Trump began signing executive orders pardoning Jan. 6 defendants, implementing Schedule F to reclassify civil servants as political appointees, declaring a national emergency at the border, and more.  Executive actions related to national …

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

Elon Musk’s AI Fueled 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 while Musk …

Subjects: AI, Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

NSA can track powered-down phones: how to actually protect your privacy

BoingBoing – Ellsworth Toohey: “Yesterday I wrote about Privacy Guide’s mobile phone privacy and security guide for protesters. Today, Randy Zar, CEO of Faraday pouch manufacturer SLNT wrote: “Just want to let you know your cell phone is tracking you regardless if you have it in airplane mode or not.  It even ping’s when it’s …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Records, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media