Category «Economy»

15 Best Amazon Alternatives For Ethical Online Shopping

goodgoodgood [June 2022] Amazon, the company that catapulted founder Jeff Bezos to billionaire status (and to the edge of space), has long been touted as environmentally unfriendly; the company emits the same level of carbon emissions as the country of Norway, according to a report released by Amazon in 2019. Its impact on the environment, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Commerce, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law, Internet

VISA Biannual Threat Report Fall 2024

This report provides an overview of the top payments ecosystem threats within the past six-month period (January – June 2024) as identified by Visa Payment Fraud Disruption (PFD). In the December 2023 Biannual Report, Visa PFD noted an interesting shift in threat actors’ organization, access to tools, and target choice, with threat actors increasing in …

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, E-Records, Economy, Financial System, Internet

The National Security Case for Public AI

Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator:  In a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posed a simple but striking question: “Who will control the future of AI?” Altman frames the choice as between two futures: “Will it be one in which the United States and allied nations advance a global AI that spreads the …

Subjects: AI, Defense, Economy, Education, Financial System, Internet, Knowledge Management

Billionaire Blowback on Housing and The American Housing Crisis: A Theft, Not a Shortage

How concentrated wealth disrupts housing markets and worsens the housing affordability crisis. By Chuck Collins, Omar Ocampo, Amee Chew – Across the United States, communities are facing an acute housing affordability crisis. Rents and homelessness are rising while home ownership feels increasingly out of reach for millions. What’s driving that crisis? In a word, inequality. …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Housing, Legal Research

SBA disaster assistance resources

Data is Plural: “Following a declared disaster,” the US Small Business Administration offers “disaster assistance in the form of low-interest, long-term disaster loans for damages not covered by insurance or other recoveries to businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, as well as homeowners and renters.” The SBA publishes anonymized data about each such loan …

Subjects: Climate Change, E-Government, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research

A baseline structure inventory with critical attribution for the US and its territories

Data is Plural: “Leveraging high performance computing, remote sensing, geographic data science, machine learning, and computer vision,” Hsiuhan Lexie Yang et al., researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have “partnered with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to build a baseline structure inventory covering the US and its territories to support disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.” …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Government Documents, Housing, Search Engines

Inside Redbox’s insane bankruptcy unwinding

Sherwood: “Ever wanted to own 46 copies of Orlando Bloom’s latest movie? What about a dozen empty Redbox DVD cases? Or maybe an entire Redbox kiosk, free with local pickup? It’s all up for grabs, thanks to Redbox’s recent demise. The chain of DVD-rental kiosks filed for bankruptcy in June after racking up close to …

Subjects: Courts, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, ID Theft, Intellectual Property, Legal Research

The Individualization of Responsibility – Masterclass in Deception

The Climate Historian: “…In the mid-20th century, as evidence mounted linking smoking to lung cancer, the tobacco industry didn’t just fight back—they mastered the art of deflection. Instead of outright denying the dangers, they funded research to stir doubt, muddying the scientific waters.In the 1950s, the Tobacco Institute launched its “health reassurance” campaigns. These campaigns …

Subjects: Climate Change, Congress, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Internet, Legal Research

Where climate change poses the most and least risk to American homeowners

Washington Post – [unpaywalled] This article includes searchable databases as follows: Find your county’s climate risk. AlphaGeo, a climate modeling group, analyzed the risks in every county. Type in your county below to see which exist in your area. Figure out your state’s disclosure laws. More than one third of states don’t require sellers to …

Subjects: Climate Change, E-Government, Economy, Environmental Law, Housing

Comics art against Project 2025

“Project 2025 is a detailed plan to shut you up, and shut you out. You matter, and you have a voice. Project 2025, also known as “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise,” is a document created to be a roadmap for a second Donald Trump presidency. It was prepared by the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation and …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Economy, Energy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Government Documents, Health Care, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation