US Workforce in Danger of Losing Protections

“The U.S. government has tried for decades — and with considerable success — to make workplaces safer; to provide free access to research, information and guidelines to inform best practices for businesses of all sizes; and to enforce the law when unscrupulous companies put workers at risk. In a flurry of recent activity aimed at cutting the budget and rolling back protections, the Trump administration is compromising worker safety. If you work, or know someone who does, you need to pay attention — people’s lives are literally at stake.”   More …

How to Deal With North Korea

“There are no good options. But some are worse than others… Right now the best hope for keeping the country from becoming an operational nuclear power rests, as it long has, with China, which may or may not have enough economic leverage to influence Kim’s policy making—and which also may not particularly want to do so, since having a friendly neighbor making trouble for Washington and Seoul serves Beijing’s interests nicely at times.”  More …

The Republican War on the CBO, Explained

“The Trump administration is not fond of the Congressional Budget Office. The independent, highly respected agency that analyzes the impact of legislative proposals has said the numbers in President’s Trump’s budget don’t add up and that Republican health care proposals would cause huge insurance coverage losses. And it will hold immense sway over the fate of Republicans’ next legislative priority: tax reform.”  More …

Surveillance without Borders: The “Traffic Shaping” Loophole and Why It Matters

“Since the disclosures of Edward Snowden in 2013, the U.S. government has assured its citizens that the National Security Agency (NSA) cannot spy on their electronic communications without the approval of a special surveillance judge. Domestic communications, the government says, are protected by statute and the Fourth Amendment. In practice, however, this is no longer strictly true. These protections are real, but they no longer cover as much ground as they did in the past.”  More …