🦜 Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002 | beSpacific
@www.bespacific.com@rss-parrot.net
I'm an automated parrot! I relay a website's RSS feed to the Fediverse. Every time a new post appears in the feed, I toot about it. Follow me to get all new posts in your Mastodon timeline!
Brought to you by the RSS Parrot.
---
Your feed and you don't want it here? Just
e-mail the birb.
Who won the redistricting fight? GOP with +8 to +10 seats
https://www.bespacific.com/who-won-the-redistricting-fight-gop/
Published: June 12, 2026 02:20
Data is Beautiful: “The GOP is forecasted to pick up +8 to +10 U.S. House seats via legislative redistricting as new congressional maps are finalized. Legal challenges may still overturn some maps. Geographically, most projected GOP gains are concentrated…
Tech Influence Watch as AI follows crypto into politics
https://www.bespacific.com/tech-influence-watch-as-ai-follows-crypto-into-politics/
Published: June 12, 2026 02:16
Molly White – citation needed: “I’ve been running my website Follow the Crypto since 2024, tracking the cryptocurrency industry’s influence on our democracy. The industry spent more than $130 million buying the 2024 elections, and the strategy worked.…
A New Commerce Policy Could Mean Less Public Data, Not Better Public Data
https://www.bespacific.com/commerce-policy-could-mean-less-public-data-not-better-public-data/
Published: June 12, 2026 02:09
DatIndexUS: “Late last week, the Department of Commerce quietly issued a sweeping new policy that could reshape how the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) protect the privacy of people and businesses whose information they collect. The…
The DOJ Prosecutors Who Think They’re Trump’s Personal Lawyers
https://www.bespacific.com/the-doj-prosecutors-who-think-theyre-trumps-personal-lawyers/
Published: June 12, 2026 02:08
The New Republic: “This week, more than 100 former federal prosecutors in Illinois sounded the alarm about the current leaders of the office where they all once served. “Regrettably,” their statement reads, “there is little doubt that actions taken by…
Deezer launches an AI music detector for other streaming services
https://www.bespacific.com/deezer-launches-an-ai-music-detector-for-other-streaming-services/
Published: June 12, 2026 02:08
The Verge: “Deezer will now scan your playlists on other streaming platforms to detect AI-generated music. Deezer was the first of the big streaming services to start labeling AI-generated music. It even offered its tech to other platforms, but it doesn’t…
The Feather Atlas
https://www.bespacific.com/the-feather-atlas/
Published: June 12, 2026 02:05
The Feather Atlas is an image database dedicated to the identification and study of the flight feathers of North American birds. The feathers illustrated are from the curated collection of the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory. TOTAL SPECIES…
Congress Demands List of People Who Have Applied for Trump Slush Fund
https://www.bespacific.com/congress-demands-list-of-people-who-have-applied-for-trump-slush-fund/
Published: June 12, 2026 02:02
Scott McFarlane Reports: “In a memo obtained by Meidas Touch Network, a group of Members of Congress have demanded a list of people who have applied for taxpayer-funded payouts from the Trump Administration’s controversial $1.7 billion slush fund. The…
Washington Post setting prices ‘based on personal data – slapped with massive lawsuit
https://www.bespacific.com/washington-post-setting-prices-based-on-personal-data-slapped-with-massive-lawsuit/
Published: June 12, 2026 02:01
The Washingtonian: “The Washington Post Is Using Reader Data to Set Subscription Prices. How Does That Work? Some subscribers recently received a heads-up that they’re on the hook for a new rate “set by an algorithm using your personal data.” We asked a…
Reuters Climate Monitor
https://www.bespacific.com/reuters-climate-monitor/
Published: June 11, 2026 02:20
Data Dashboard – Reuters Climate Monitor – How today’s temperatures compare to the historic average – Updates daily – The Reuters Climate Monitor shows where temperatures are unusually hot or cold in real time by comparing today’s conditions with what was…
Your Search Results Are Getting Sloptimized
https://www.bespacific.com/your-search-results-are-getting-sloptimized/
Published: June 11, 2026 02:14
The Atlantic – How companies are gaming the chatbot internet [Gift Article]: “…For the quarter century that Google has been the de facto front door to the web, businesses have tried to find ways to get their pages at the top of search results. You’ve…
Inside the White House Freakout Over the Epstein Files
https://www.bespacific.com/inside-the-white-house-freakout-over-the-epstein-files/
Published: June 11, 2026 02:13
CNN Reliable Sources: “Inside the White House Freakout Over the Epstein Files” is the title of Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s explosive excerpt from their forthcoming book “Regime Change.” Now comes the freakout over the “freakout” article. The New…
Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology
https://www.bespacific.com/beyond-red-vs-blue-the-political-typology-2/
Published: June 11, 2026 02:10
Pew Research: Nine groups show the conflicting values underlying today’s polarized politics. American politics is deeply divided along partisan lines – and for many Americans, the choice between the two parties feels stark, even existential. But beneath…
Anthropic’s Ambitious Claims Versus Reality: What Fable Really Can’t Do
https://www.bespacific.com/anthropics-ambitious-claims-versus-reality/
Published: June 11, 2026 02:03
Byte-Pulse: “Anthropic has rolled out Claude Fable 5, positioning it as their most potent AI model yet. They claim that Fable excels in areas like cybersecurity and scientific research, making it a versatile tool for businesses and researchers alike.…
House Votes to Advance $70 Billion GOP Immigration Bill
https://www.bespacific.com/house-votes-to-advance-70-billion-gop-immigration-bill/
Published: June 11, 2026 02:01
The New York Times [no paywall]: “The House on Tuesday narrowly voted to take up Republicans’s $70 billion immigration enforcement bill, clearing a key hurdle to enacting the measure to fund President Trump’s deportation crackdown through the end of his…
How to help knowledge workers who lose their jobs to AI
https://www.bespacific.com/how-to-help-knowledge-workers-who-lose-their-jobs-to-ai/
Published: June 10, 2026 02:22
Platformer: “Brookings Institution researcher Molly Kinder on why she’s leaving her job to create solution for AI’s “messy middle.” Molly Kinder has spent the past three years at the Brookings Institution leading a multiyear project on how generative AI is…
The Voting Rights Act: Historical Development and Policy Background
https://www.bespacific.com/the-voting-rights-act-historical-development-and-policy-background/
Published: June 10, 2026 02:20
CRS Report R47520. The Voting Rights Act: Historical Development and Policy Background, June 2, 2026. The Voting Rights Act (VRA) is one of the most significant elections statutes ever enacted. The law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or…
NLM Products and Services listing and search set for elimination
https://www.bespacific.com/nlm-products-and-services-listing-and-search-set-for-elimination/
Published: June 10, 2026 02:09
Beginning July 6, 2026, the NLM Products and Services listing and search will migrate to Data Discovery. This service is available now and can be accessed here.
Social Security – funds at critical low in 2032
https://www.bespacific.com/social-security-funds-at-critical-low-in-2032/
Published: June 10, 2026 02:07
Washington Post [no paywall]: “Social Security’s trust fund is now due to run low on money beginning in 2032. And in announcing that new date Tuesday, the government acknowledged that the Trump administration’s immigration policies and tax cuts are…
Just about everyone is mad at the media
https://www.bespacific.com/just-about-everyone-is-mad-at-the-media/
Published: June 10, 2026 02:07
“Welcome to Season 8: The News. This 8-part series will explore the deep challenges facing American journalism, and the nation’s news and information crisis. It seems everyone’s mad at the media, but we’ll ask, what’s really wrong with the news? Is it what…
The mayor of Shelbyville, Indiana, says only people who live in ‘shitty houses’ oppose data center
https://www.bespacific.com/shelbyville-indiana-mayor-shitty-houses-data-center/
Published: June 10, 2026 02:07
The Verge: “A proposed $2 billion data center has become a political flashpoint in the small city of Shelbyville, Indiana. And the controversy has only grown more intense after the mayor, Scott Furgeson, was caught on camera saying of the “No Data Center”…
GSA Releases Elimination, Optimization and Automation Handbook
https://www.bespacific.com/gsa-releases-elimination-optimization-and-automation-handbook/
Published: June 10, 2026 02:04
Today, the U.S. General Services Administration released the Elimination, Optimization and Automation (EOA) Handbook, a practical guide for federal leaders seeking to improve operational efficiency, strengthen mission delivery, and reduce administrative…
The Arab Gulf States, the Iran Conflict, and U.S. Relations
https://www.bespacific.com/the-arab-gulf-states-the-iran-conflict-and-u-s-relations/
Published: June 10, 2026 02:04
CRS Report Since The Arab Gulf States, the Iran Conflict, and U.S. Relations. R48971. June 3, 2026. February 2026, U.S./Israel-Iran conflict in the Persian Gulf region and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz to most shipping have presented…
How I interviewed a Facebook whistleblower who wasn’t allowed to speak
https://www.bespacific.com/facebook-whistleblower-who-wasnt-allowed-to-speak/
Published: June 10, 2026 02:03
The Nerve’s Carole Cadwalladr was all set to talk to Sarah Wynn-Williams, author of the explosive memoir Careless People, at the Hay festival when Meta’s lawyers intervened … and turned the event into ‘absurdist theatre’.
How AI Agents Reshape Knowledge Work
https://www.bespacific.com/how-ai-agents-reshape-knowledge-work/
Published: June 10, 2026 02:03
Perplexity – Frontier AI systems are closing the gap between model intelligence and real-world utility. New models, compute architectures, and orchestration patterns are enabling these systems to accomplish tasks deemed impossible just a few months ago.…
Fewer Americans say democracy is central to country’s identity
https://www.bespacific.com/fewer-americans-say-democracy-is-central-to-countrys-identity/
Published: June 9, 2026 02:22
AP: “As the U.S. prepares for an extravagant celebration of its founding principles, fewer Americans see their country as exceptional, a new poll finds. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research highlights many Americans’…
My Students Can’t Read
https://www.bespacific.com/my-students-cant-read/
Published: June 9, 2026 02:16
The Chronical of Higher Education- no paywall: “The generational collapse in literacy is measurable, persistent, and likely to get worse…Every generation of professors has complained that their students cannot read. The lament is usually overblown, but…
The Grocery Industrial Complex
https://www.bespacific.com/the-grocery-industrial-complex/
Published: June 9, 2026 02:11
rxansmithmedia: “You’re not paying for food. You’re paying for a system engineered to extract from you at every step—while calling it a free market. The conversation about grocery prices in America gets framed as economics. Supply and demand. Inflation.…
DOJ Hasn’t Taken Its Usual Steps to Protect 2026 Election
https://www.bespacific.com/doj-hasnt-taken-its-usual-steps-to-protect-2026-election/
Published: June 9, 2026 02:11
NOTUS: “President Donald Trump says “if you don’t have honest voting, you can’t really have a nation.” But five months out from the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress, his Justice Department has canceled election-integrity training…
Employees’ Religious Objection to Using AI at Work
https://www.bespacific.com/employees-religious-objection-to-using-ai-at-work/
Published: June 9, 2026 02:10
Employees’ Religious Objection to Using AI at Work: “Pope Leo XIV’s lengthy encyclical on AI sparked a larger public debate on AI regulation. But it also raised a fundamental question about what role religion and religious views should play in this debate…
This Company Will Add Phone, AirPod, and Smartwatch Trackers to License Plate Readers
https://www.bespacific.com/this-company-will-add-phone-airpod-and-smartwatch-trackers-to-license-plate-readers/
Published: June 9, 2026 02:03
404 Media no paywall: “A surveillance company plans to add sensors to automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) that would mean the devices, as well as capture the license plate of passing vehicles, would also sweep up unique identifiers of mobile phones,…
The Supreme Court Has Invented a Right to Discriminate
https://www.bespacific.com/supreme-court-has-invented-a-right-to-discriminate/
Published: June 9, 2026 02:01
The Atlantic Gift Article: “…Alabama willfully drew a map that flouted the District Court’s preliminary injunction and hoped that this Court would eventually see things its way,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, which was joined by Justices…
Dismantling and Destroying Biomedical Research in America
https://www.bespacific.com/dismantling-and-destroying-biomedical-research-in-america/
Published: June 8, 2026 02:17
Washington Post [no paywall] Diabetes researchers ejected from conference after criticizing White House Five diabetes researchers, including the editor of a leading journal, were removed from the field’s premier conference in New Orleans on Friday morning,…
Google Pinpoint Explained
https://www.bespacific.com/google-pinpoint-explained/
Published: June 8, 2026 02:12
Wondertools: “Google’s Pinpoint is now open to everyone. It’s a surprisingly powerful free tool for making sense of giant piles of digital stuff. (Before June 3, it was restricted to journalists and academics). Read on to learn more about creative ways to…
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 6, 2026
https://www.bespacific.com/pete-recommends-weekly-highlights-on-cyber-security-issues-june-6-2026/
Published: June 8, 2026 02:09
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 6, 2026 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete…
Inside Trump’s takeover of the American regulatory machine
https://www.bespacific.com/inside-trumps-takeover-of-the-american-regulatory-machine/
Published: June 8, 2026 02:08
WSJ via MSN: “Trump has gotten involved in regulatory decisions big and small that once were made by independent agencies, according to interviews with business executives, lobbyists and administration officials, dramatically shifting the balance of power…
How Donald Trump is insulating himself from future investigations
https://www.bespacific.com/how-donald-trump-is-insulating-himself-from-future-investigations/
Published: June 8, 2026 02:08
CNN – no paywall: “The deal that President Donald Trump reached with his own administration to set-up an “anti-weaponization fund” for his allies is the latest example of how his second stint in the White House has focused on undermining checks on…
2025 State of the Nation Report
https://www.bespacific.com/2025-state-of-the-nation-report/
Published: June 8, 2026 02:08
Summary of Results from the 2025 State of the Nation Report – Americans share the same struggles despite deep political divides, new bipartisan report finds – The purpose of the State of the Nation Project is to provide an overall assessment of how the…
We Sued ICE to Get Its Spyware Contract
https://www.bespacific.com/we-sued-ice-to-get-its-spyware-contract/
Published: June 8, 2026 02:06
404 Media: The Agency Is Redacting Essentially Everything – “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contracted with a spyware company that tells customers it ensures they can use the tool without the agency being caught doing so, according to documents…
Passive AI use at work increases feelings of work meaninglessness
https://www.bespacific.com/passive-ai-use-at-work-increases-feelings-of-work-meaninglessness/
Published: June 8, 2026 02:04
Lee, E.H., Yin, Y., Jia, N. et al. Relying on AI at work reduces self-efficacy, ownership, and meaning while active collaboration mitigates the effects. Sci Rep 16, 13583 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-42312-6 “Artificial intelligence (AI)…