Tuesday, August 04, 2020

COVID-19 Has Allowed Law Librarians to Flex Their Tech Prowess

COVID-19 Has Allowed Law Librarians to Flex Their Tech Prowess - Law.com – “Newly appointed American Association of Law Libraries president Emily Florio discusses how COVID-19 is allowing law librarians to shatter myths about their capabilities. On Monday, Hogan Lovells U.S. senior research services manager Emily Florio was formally elevated to president of the American Association of Law Libraries. Last week, AALL held its all-virtual conference in lieu of its originally scheduled meeting in New Orleans. While COVID-19 caused difficult and laborious replanning, Florio noted the convention was a success with over 1,200 participants. But the novel coronavirus’s impact didn’t stop at in-person meetings. More broadly, COVID-19 has altered the perception of law librarians and highlighted the advanced legal research librarians can remotely perform, Florio argued. American Association of Law Libraries president Emily Florio. Below, Florio discusses how AALL is adapting to COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement, all while promoting law librarians’ evolution. This interview has been been edited for clarity and length…”




Why Hundreds of Mathematicians Are Boycotting Predictive Policing - Popular Mechanics – “Several prominent academic mathematicians want to sever ties with police departments across the U.S., according to a letter submitted to Notices of the American Mathematical Society on June 15. The letter arrived weeks after widespread protests against police brutality, and has inspired over 1,500 other researchers to join the boycott. These mathematicians are urging fellow researchers to stop all work related to predictive policing software, which broadly includes any data analytics tools that use historical data to help forecast future crime, potential offenders, and victims. The technology is supposed to use probability to help police departments tailor their neighborhood coverage so it puts officers in the right place at the right time…”



Watershed data indicates more than a trillion dollars of corporate profit smuggled into tax havens

Analysis of new OECD data published yesterday, on the basis of a reporting standard developed by the Tax Justice Network, has tracked for the first time $467 billion worth of corporate profit shifted by multinational firms into corporate tax havens, with associated corporate tax losses of $117bn.

Roberta Mann (Oregon), I Robot: U Tax? Considering the Tax Policy Implications of Automation, 64 McGill L.J. 1 (2019):

I RobotIn a 2017 interview, Microsoft founder Bill Gates recommended taxing robots to slow the pace of automation. Funds raised could be used to retrain and financially support displaced workers. Up to 47 percent of U.S. jobs are at risk by advancements in artificial intelligence. Low-wage workers currently hold a majority of those at-risk jobs. Increased automation is likely to exacerbate income inequality.


Why Bitcoin is not a socialist’s ally – Reply to Ben Arc Yanis Varoufakis

 

More Than One In Four Young Adults Say They’ve Personally Participated In A Protest For Racial Justice Forbes


Bloomberg Law, Cyber Attack Locks Michigan Bar Exam Takers Out of Online Test


Austria Confirms OPCW Report On Skripal Faking by the British – Vienna Exposes Financial Times Lies and Cover-Up

Revealing a big hole in the official Skripal story



China’s Three Gorges Dam is one of the largest ever created. Was it worth it? CNN. Personally, I always regard gigantism (the A380, Apple headquarters, Versailles) as a sign of coming decay.


The role of banks and digitalised beneficial ownership registries: way more than just reporting discrepancies

Read Article 


Hong Kong issues arrest warrant for U.S. citizen under new national security law NBC


Hong Kong third wave: free Covid-19 tests for residents as mainland Chinese clinical teams head to city South China Morning Post


A Newsroom at the Edge of Autocracy The Atlantic. The South China Morning Post.