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Follow up to previous postings – How Trump’s crackdown on law firms is undermining legal defenses for the vulnerable and What if the Big Law Firms Hadn’t Caved to Trump?, see also Above the Law: “Back in August, the New York Times reported that Kirkland and Paul Weiss (along with Skadden) — firms who had …
EFF: “Amazon Ring’s upcoming face recognition tool has the potential to violate the privacy rights of millions of people and could result in Amazon breaking state biometric privacy laws. Ring plans to introduce a feature to its home surveillance cameras called “Familiar Faces,” to identify specific people who come into view of the camera. When …
Opinion, The Editorial Board, The New York Times, October 31, 2025. Gift Article – Countries that slide from democracy toward autocracy tend to follow similar patterns. To measure what is happening in the United States, the Times editorial board has compiled a list of 12 markers of democratic erosion, with help from scholars who have …
Austin-American Statesman – “…Nestled in a red-leaning suburb south of Houston, Pearland is one of several school districts turning to artificial intelligence to keep up with the law, Senate Bill 13, which requires boards to sign off on all library purchases. The legislation comes after a 2023 law first required schools to purge “sexually explicit” …
Northwestern Medill Local News Initiative 2025 State of Local News Report: Two Decades of Data, Deserts and Dynamic Change. “Twenty years of data, one overarching headline: transformation. With this State of Local News Report, Medill has two decades of data on local news outlets across America. And over the span of that time, the historic …
Just Security – “President Donald Trump has made suppressing speech he doesn’t like a governing priority. From his first days back in office he cast dissent as disloyalty, promising “retribution” against anyone who criticized, investigated, or resisted him. He then translated that promise into action through regulatory proceedings, lawsuits, clearance revocations, and restrictions on press …
“OpenOMB is a searchable database that makes apportionments easier to find and track. Apportionments are legally binding plans issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget that set the pace at which federal agencies may spend appropriated funds. OpenOMB’s database makes apportionments easy to find and track. Apportionments set the pace at which …
Government Executive Update – “On Tuesday, the Trump admin said furloughed feds were not guaranteed back pay. On Wednesday, it sent notices saying they were Just one day after taking a different argument, the Trump administration notes federal law guarantees back pay for employees sent home during a shutdown…” “All excepted employees are entitled to …
Beta News: “A new report from The Conference Board and ESGAUGE [The full report available from The Conference Board site] finds that 72 percent of S&P 500 companies now flag AI as a material risk in their public disclosures. That’s up from just 12 percent in 2023, underscoring how rapidly AI has moved from experimental …
USFacts: “Congress hasn’t passed a full budget on time since 1997. How is the government getting funded? Government budgeting is a massive project. Each year, the federal government takes in trillions of dollars and redistributes them (and, in most years, more) to fund government programs and address the current administration’s priorities. At USAFacts, we talk …
Overview Shutdown Furlough Administrative Furlough This page provides information on shutdown furloughs [Note – this site does not provide comprehensive, detailed, accurate and actionable information on the consequences of the shutdown for the pay, insurance and employment of federal employees. In accordance with Circular A-11, agency contingency plans for a lapse in appropriations are hosted …
Strength in Numbers: “Trump is unpopular Compare Trump’s topline job approval (-11) to that of other recent presidents, and he stands out quite clearly (not in a good way): The president’s entire domestic policy agenda is underwater, too — especially on the economy and inflation, the two issues that won him the 2024 election: But …
