It means that Google can now build a complete portrait of a user by name, based on everything they write in email, every website they visit and the searches they conduct. The move is a sea change for Google and a further blow to the online ad industry’s longstanding contention that web tracking is mostly anonymous. “It was a border wall between being watched everywhere and maintaining a tiny semblance of privacy,” said Paul Ohm. “That wall has just fallen.”   read more

The EPA had sufficient authority and information to issue an emergency order to protect residents of Flint, Michigan, from lead-contaminated water as early as June 2015 — seven months before it declared an emergency, the EPA's inspector general said Thursday. The Flint crisis should have generated "a greater sense of urgency" at the agency to "intervene when the safety of drinking water is compromised," said the report.   read more

Many of the photos held by police agencies are of law-abiding Americans. The report found that 16 states allow officials to compare the faces of people suspected of criminal acts to photos on driver’s licenses without a warrant, “creating a virtual lineup of their state residents. This is unprecedented and highly problematic." Because African-Americans are disproportionately more likely to come into contact with, and be arrested by, police, their photos will most likely be over-represented.   read more

While most grown-ups are a few weeks away from heading to the polls, more than 150,000 of the nation's schoolchildren have already voted on who they want to be president. The student vote has been a fairly accurate predictor of the actual election over the years. Scholastic says it has mirrored the results in every election since 1940, with the exception of election years 1948 and 1960. Kindergarteners through 12th graders were allowed to vote.   read more

On Wall Street, companies have long relied on confidentiality agreements to prevent employees from divulging secrets. But now, the nation’s labor board has challenged provisions in Bridgewater’s contract that it requires each full-time employee to sign. The board’s action has money management firms worried because they share many of the same provisions being challenged. Hedge funds and private equity firms are bracing themselves. “I would say it is a watershed event,” said Rabin.   read more

For years, the Chair of the SCE, Mary Jo White, has refused to develop a political spending disclosure rule despite ... overwhelming investor and public support for such a rule. This brazen conduct is merely the most recent and prominent example of [her] undermining your Administration's priorities and ignoring the SEC's core mission... She is concerned that companies disclose too much to investors - a presumption directly counter [to the] ... purpose of this agency for more than 80 years.   read more

Unfilled judicial vacancies are occurring across the nation at an unprecedented level, mainly due to obstruction of the Republican-led Senate which has prioritized non-cooperation with President Obama. This tactic is without precedent in modern times. "People and businesses all around the county are forced to wait sometimes years for their cases to be heard," said Bannon. The problem is so severe that 32% of the vacancies represent judicial emergencies.   read more

Al-Hawsawi's torture features prominently in the declassified Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture, which describes harsh treatment on al-Hawsawi in a footnote. Ruiz said injuries from being sodomized causes his client to soil himself in blood and feces, accompanied by excruciating pain. "To this day Mr. al-Hawsawi continues to have to choose between defecating and eating because whenever he has bowel movements he has to reinsert parts of his anus back into his anal cavity."   read more

The Justice Department is moving forward with plans to collect data on how often law enforcement officers use force and how often civilians die during encounters with police or while in police custody. It comes amid several years of high-profile deaths of black men at the hands of police officers. FBI Director James Comey said at a House committee hearing last month that in the absence of data, "we're driven entirely by anecdote, and that's a very bad place to be."   read more

With guns a major flash point in the presidential race, gun-control advocates are spending tens of millions of dollars on a central message: Stronger firearms laws can reduce gun violence. Although the NRA has long rejected that assertion, a growing body of evidence supports the link between gun restrictions and reduction in violence. The latest analysis concludes that gun fatalities in states with weaker laws are more than three times as high as in those states with tougher restrictions.   read more

Three years ago, on behalf of beleaguered American air travelers, the Obama Justice Dept filed suit to block a mega-merger between two major airlines. Its case went well beyond one merger. But an abrupt reversal came after the airlines tapped former Obama officials to launch an intense lobbying campaign. One of the deal’s biggest champions was Rahm Emanuel, Obama's first chief of staff, who was in regular contact with the CEOs and lobbyists for both airlines.   read more

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have given millions of dollars to nearly 100 prominent health groups in recent years, while simultaneously spending millions to defeat public health legislation that would reduce Americans’ soda intake. In numerous instances, influential health groups accepted beverage industry donations and then backed away from supporting soda taxes or remained silent about them. Nonprofit Save the Children, which had supported soda taxes, did an about face and withdrew its support.   read more

The attack on the funeral killed 140 people and wounded 525 in the latest in the wave of bombings of hospitals and markets. "The place has been turned into a lake of blood," said a rescuer, Hundreds of body parts were found strewn everywhere and collected in sacks. The strike left the building little more than a shell, with most of its walls and roof gone. The U,S. has backed the coalition with multi-billion dollar arms sales and provided logistical and intelligence support.   read more

Officers trained in mental health are in short supply and often unavailable in a crisis. It's estimated that only 3,000 of the nation's 18,000 law enforcement agencies have mental health response teams. The Treatment Advocacy Center published a study last year showing that police are 16% more likely to shoot and kill mentally ill suspects than other suspects. "It's one of the biggest nightmares for families of people with mental illness ... and for law enforcement, too," said TAC's John Snook.   read more

Law enforcement agencies have mined posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other sites during parades, protests and other large events. One company marketing the technology suggested police track hashtags such as #BlackLivesMatter and #ImUnarmed. Police used its software during protests over the death of Freddie Gray, Denver's annual marijuana rally and Martin Luther King Day march and parade. "These programs are a deterrent to free speech," said Baltimore activist Kwame Rose.   read more

The Labor Dept concluded that states have decreased benefits, created hurdles to medical care, raised the burden of proof to qualify and shifted costs to public programs. “We’re sounding an alarm bell,” said Perez. “A critical part of the safety net is being both attacked and eroded...because there are no federal minimum standards for workers’ compensation.” The report details how states have changed their laws to reduce business costs--a trend the report calls a “race to the bottom.”   read more