The Facts About Vaccine Safety

The Conversation: “In the four months since he began serving as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made many public statements about vaccines that have cast doubt on their safety and on the objectivity of long-standing processes established to evaluate them. Many of these statements are factually …

Subjects: Health Care, Medicine

How Cops Can Get Your Private Online Data

EFF: “Can the cops get your online data? In short, yes. There are a variety of US federal and state laws which give law enforcement powers to obtain information that you provided to online services. But, there are steps you as a user and/or as a service provider can take to improve online privacy. Law …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Records, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy

Anthropic destroyed millions of print books to build its AI models

Follow-up to previous post, Copyrighted books to train AI? Fair. Storing them? Not so much, via Ars Technica: “On Monday, court documents revealed that AI company Anthropic spent millions of dollars physically scanning print books to build Claude, an AI assistant similar to ChatGPT. In the process, the company cut millions of print books from …

Subjects: AI, Copyright, Courts, E-Records, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

House Republicans Advance Plan to Halve GAO’s Funding

Follow-up to House Bill Would Lay Waste to Congress’s Watchdogs and Information Experts, again via Daniel Schuman, House Republicans Advance Plan to Halve GAO’s Funding: “Monday evening, House Legislative Branch appropriators voted 6 to 4 on party lines to cut GAO’s funding by 50% and reduce the Library of Congress’s funding by 12%. This would …

Subjects: Censorship, Congress, E-Government, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5%

ahrefs.blog: “Google says AI Overviews increase clicks. Cold, hard logic disagrees, and so does our research. We analyzed 300,000 keywords and found that the presence of an AI Overview in the search results correlated with a 34.5% lower average clickthrough rate (CTR) for the top-ranking page, compared to similar informational keywords without an AI Overview. …

Subjects: AI, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Search Engines

Climate.gov Didn’t Fit Trump’s “Gold Standard”

SciLight – Climate.gov Didn’t Fit Trump’s “Gold Standard.” Dismantling climate.gov is not an accident; it is a blueprint. Jacob Carter. Well, I didn’t expect confirmation so soon, but we now know how this administration will be using the “gold standard science” executive order (EO) and the subsequent OSTP guidance: to undo science that is politically …

Subjects: Censorship, Climate Change, E-Government, E-Records, Economy, Education, Environmental Law, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Housing, Legal Research, Search Engines, Transportation

Project 2025 Tracker – many goals and objectives met quickly

“Project 2025 Tracker began as a humble spreadsheet created by /u/rusticgorilla, combined with /u/mollynaquafina‘s vision for making this information accessible to everyone through a dedicated website. What started as a passion project by two Redditors has grown into a community-driven resource, powered by people like you who believe in the importance of transparent, detailed analysis.” …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

U.S. Copyright Office Replaces Online Public Catalog with Copyright Public Records System

“Today, the U.S. Copyright Office is pleased to announce that the Copyright Public Records System (CPRS) has replaced its Online Public Catalog. CPRS provides copyright registration and recordation data with advanced search capabilities, filters, and improved interfaces for public users and Office staff. CPRS is the second component of the Office’s Enterprise Copyright System (ECS) …

Subjects: Copyright, E-Government, E-Records, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Search Engines

Speak Up for Justice Forum, “Global Threats to the Justice System: A Warning to America

WHAT: Speak Up for Justice Forum, “Global Threats to the Justice System: A Warning to America.” A powerful, nonpartisan international forum where judges who’ve lived through authoritarian crackdowns will share urgent warnings about what happens when courts are attacked—and how it signals a broader collapse of democracy. Featuring rare remarks by U.S. Supreme Court Justice …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

See Vaccine Recommendations Backed by Science in These Handy Charts

Scientific American – These graphics will guide you through science-based vaccine guidelines for children and adults – “Vaccines are a marvel of modern medicine: the carefully tested and regulated technologies teach people’s immune systems how to fight off potentially fatal infections, saving both lives and health care costs. But for as long as vaccines have existed, …

Subjects: Health Care, Medicine