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Just Security: “What follows is a timeline of actions that highlight the alarming level of politicization and weaponization of the Department of Justice under the second Trump administration. Politicization includes the misuse of the Department’s powers for political purposes rather than the independent and impartial enforcement of the laws. Weaponization includes a deliberate and systematic …
EFF: “At EFF we spend a lot of time thinking about Street Level Surveillance technologies—the technologies used by police and other authorities to spy on you while you are going about your everyday life—such as automated license plate readers, facial recognition, surveillance camera networks, and cell-site simulators (CSS). Rayhunter is a new open source tool …
TechDirt: “While political reporters are still doing their view-from-nowhere “Democrats say this, Republicans say that” dance, tech and legal journalists have been watching an unfortunately recognizable plan unfold — a playbook we’re all too familiar with. We’ve seen how technology can be wielded to consolidate power, how institutional guardrails can be circumvented through technical and …
CREW – “On January 24, 2025, the Trump administration decommissioned the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD) in an apparent violation of federal law. CREW sent a letter to the Department of Justice Inspector General and Acting National Archivist asking them to investigate and take corrective action. NLEAD was created in 2023 as a centralized …
“A rarely used amendment to the Endangered Species Act allows for the creation of a committee nicknamed “the God Squad” to take unprecedented action during emergencies like hurricanes and wildfires. Trump wants to convene this committee to bypass endangered species protections and other environmental regulations to ramp up timber production across 280 million acres of …
The Changing Tides of the SEC Under the Second Trump Administration – “From the moment the second Trump presidential term became a reality in November 2024, it was widely expected that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would undergo broad changes under a Republican-led commission focused on rolling back many of the Biden administration’s regulatory …
PC Mag: “The General Services Administration (GSA) has axed a technology unit that developed key public-facing IT services like Login.gov, the central login system for key government services like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. The decision, unearthed in an internal memo seen by Politico, was ordered by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as …
Democracy Docket: “President Donald Trump may soon attempt to absorb the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), an independent agency, into his administration by issuing an executive order that reportedly would dissolve the service’s leadership. The order could allow the Trump administration to make mail voting — which was used by tens of millions of voters last …
The Atlantic [no paywall] “…The joy of Reddit comes from it being simultaneously niche and expansive—like an infinite world’s fair of subcultures, fandoms, support groups, and curiosities. There seems to be a subreddit for everyone and everything. There are mainstream subreddits with popular appeal, such as r/askscience (26 million users) and r/technology (18 million users). …
“The World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), has unveiled the updated 2025 Air Quality Standards database. This resource compiles national air quality standards for major pollutants and other airborne toxics from countries worldwide. This latest update provides an overview of global efforts towards achieving the …
Voronoi – “What We’re Showing – This map illustrates the top trading partner of every U.S. state as of November 2024. The data is sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. Key Takeaways Canada, Mexico, and China are the top trade partners for 42 states. The U.S. imports about $900 billion in goods from Canada and …
Washington Post – no paywall – Identify “mission-critical” jobs? Spot dead people on Social Security rolls? Government needs AI -— but what DOGE appears to be doing doesn’t add up. The U.S. DOGE Service is pursuing an “AI-first” strategy to remake the government. I understand why it’s an alluring idea: Bring a noted technologist like …
