Federal judge #DavidEzra ruled Wed. that #Texas must remove border buoys placed along #RioGrande by Friday, Sept 15. The judge additionally barred Texas & Governor #GregAbbott from putting up any new blockades.

In his order, the judge wrote, “The Court also find Texas's conduct irreparably harms the #PublicSafety, navigation, & operations of federal agency officials in & around the Rio Grande….The balance of the equities and #PublicInterest each favor an injunction.”

https://www.meidastouch.com/news/federal-judge-orders-abbott-to-remove-barriers-in-rio-grande

PINE TREE POWER
Consumer-Owned Power Could Slash Your Electric Bill

This could change everything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aELimf6ct60&ab_channel=MorePerfectUnion

Maine residents will vote this November on whether to create the first statewide consumer-owned utility in the country.
They're facing skyrocketing electricity bills and frequent power outages, while the corporate utilities (CMP and Versant) that dominate the state brought in $187 million in profit last year. Both the companies are owned by foreign entities.
Residents are organizing to take power back into their own hands — literally. A ballot measure on the November ballot could create the consumer-owned utility non-profit Pine Tree Power, and put it under community control.

We talked with residents about what this would mean for them.
#Interview #reverseprivatization #publicowned #statepowergrid #climateresiliance #publicinterest #nonprofit #takethepowerback

As a public-interest product development organization, we aim to be transparent and democratic. So, we've made the 🛣️ roadmaps for Hush Line, Pi Relay, and our internal development public.

Check them out. We'd love your feedback!

Hush Line: https://github.com/orgs/scidsg/projects/12/views/3
Pi Relay: https://github.com/orgs/scidsg/projects/14/views/1
Org: https://github.com/orgs/scidsg/projects/15/views/1

#roadmap #planning #opensource #publicinterest #publicgood #foss #nonprofit

Declining integrity standards a national problem

"Politicians, whatever their persuasion, are reluctant to see themselves exposed to investigation, to the identification of failings."

"In an exclusive in-depth interview with 7.30, Mr Redlich explained why the reforms he proposed to strengthen the agency are vital to upholding integrity in the state. Mr Redlich's investigations brought the dark underbelly of decision-makers and those in power out of the shadows."

"He and other anti-corruption commissioners have identified the hollowing out and marginalisation of the public service and the rise of a shadow workforce of political advisors."

"Robert Redlich has expressed his disappointment about reforms not passing in parliament." He "says raising the bar for public hearings has weakened IBAC
Integrity standards have deteriorated in several states..."

"The change would allow probes into grey-level corruption that may not be illegal but still represent serious misconduct."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-22/robert-redlich-ibac-vic-government-missed-opportunity-730/102762376
#PublicService #politician #DecisionMakers #misconduct #corruption #IBAC #watchdog #AntiCorruptionCommission #governance #PublicInterest #transparency

When someone won’t be transparent, they’ve something to hide.

When someone gives you conflicting reasons for something that cancel each other but they don’t recognise it, they’re gaslighting.

Unfortunately I’m not the sort of person who falls for these tricks, and I’ll leave no stone unturned.

#PublicInterest

For more read #NealKatyal’s WaPo article 'Why the #Trump trial should be televised'

#PetitionToTeleviseTrumpTrial #TrumpTrial #FederalCourts #TeleviseTrumpTrial #Transparency #Propaganda #Spin #Bias #Narrative #Optics #Media #Uninformed #MediaLiteracy #Indictment #Jan6 #ElectionInterference #Conspiracy #Fraud #Obstruction #Insurrection #Coup #PublicInterest #RightToVote #Vote #Law #Legal #SpecialCounsel #JohnRoberts
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/03/trump-trial-tv-broadcast/

Perhaps the real reason for disallowing cameras in federal courtrooms is to protect the levers of ruling-class power, e.g., by filtering through the "mainstream" (ruling-class controlled) media.

"Oh, [pearl-clutching], just imagine the circus that might happen otherwise ...", as if judges have never had to deal with theatrics before. Please.

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/03/case-allowing-cameras-supreme-court-proceedings/316876/

#PublicInterest
#CamerasInCourtrooms #TeleviseTrumpTrial
#decentralize

“Given the historic nature of the charges brought forth in these cases, it is hard to imagine a more powerful circumstance for televised proceedings,” said the letter, dated Thurs. “If the public is to fully accept the outcome, it will be vitally important for it to witness, as directly as possible, how the trials are conducted, the strength of the evidence adduced & the credibility of witnesses.”

#TrumpTrial #FederalCourtrooms #transparency #Trump #Indictment #PublicInterest #Law #Legal #DOJ

#House #Democrats push for #televising #Trump trials on ClassifiedDocuments, 2020 #ElectionInterference #charges

Trump’s lawyer has also called for #cameras in the #courtroom

In a letter to Judge Roslynn Mauskopf, who oversees the admin of #FederalCourts, the lawmakers argued that the move would bolster public acceptance of the outcome.

#legal #law #PublicInterest #2024election
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/04/trump-cameras-courtroom-indictment/

The Sewer Cats - Answer The Question

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16j9eEGBY8A&ab_channel=TNSrecords

#government #corruption #bribery #lies #frustration #publicinterest #punk #sewercats #answer #question

We Exposed How Chicken Producers Are Colluding To Raise Prices

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UENwwTff0Bg&ab_channel=MorePerfectUnion

Perdue, Tyson, Sanderson Farms, and JBS are colluding to raise chicken prices — up 61% over the last 15 years. But Washington state is leading a charge to fight back against Big Chicken's monopoly. And they're winning.

#conspiracy #chicken #perdue #tyson #sandersonfarms #jbs #monopoly #fight #classwar #impoverish #pauperize #publicinterest

"But if what we're being served by are these international, enormous companies that are not paying attention to the needs of individual countries, then the time has come to build a public interest internet that serves NZers. Or serves different countries needs. In ways that respects their right to the truth."

#DrJoanDonovan, Research Director, Shorenstein Center on Media and Politics, Harvard University

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018894802/further-fallout-as-rnz-takes-out-the-garbage

#podcasts #RNZ #MediaWatch #PublicInterest #PublicMedia

AI as Sensemaking for Public Comments https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2023/06/ai-as-sensemaking-for-public-comments.html #artificialintelligence #publicinterest #Uncategorized #laws #LLM

#PrinceHarry accuses 'the yellow press' of obtaining information 'illegally'.

Under the #DataProtectionAct of 1994 there is " a defence, which is available to anyone who shows that obtaining, disclosing or procuring the information was in the public interest. The public interest defence has never been tested in court."

Written in 2011 re the Gordon Brown case, this is worth reading in the current context.

Of #PublicInterest - undoubtedly.
In the public interest - debatable?

#Rish Sunak must stop trying to hide evidence from the #CovidInquiry -
The #PublicInterest demands the full disclosure of what went on inside government during our deadliest peacetime emergency in more than a century https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/04/rishi-sunak-must-stop-trying-to-hide-evidence-from-the-pandemic-inquiry
#Covid19 #ToryPoliciesInAction

#EU #DSA #PublicInterest #CivilSociety: "Historically, the terms of public data sharing have been set by the companies, not by their users or the public interest research community. Much of the data that is made publicly available by platforms is designed to serve advertisers and marketers, not to help the research community or to allow for scrutiny of systemic risks. On April 26th, the Mozilla Foundation and a group of civil society experts gathered to discuss the implementation of the Digital Services Act’s public data sharing scheme in practice. This cohort combined technical expertise and years of experience in platform monitoring, data protection and human rights.

Together we put forward the following recommendations to the European Commission and to the designated platforms directly as they move to implement Article 40, paragraph 12, of the Digital Services Act."

https://foundation.mozilla.org/pt-BR/blog/the-digital-services-act-must-ensure-public-data-for-public-interest-research/

Someone should be looking into #DavidEby #personal #political & #corporate #financials in #BritishColumbia right now too. Sleazy & corrupt actions will be #exposed if all those papers were revealed - going back before #NewDeathParty #BCNDP even came back into power here.

Huge #government #coverups & they used our #public #taxpayers #monies to fund that #sleazy #corruption & legal defense. Eby & few others need public reckonings for unethical actions against #PublicInterest using #PublicMonies ✊

Greetings #sfba music fans. I managed to compile another guide to new releases from local #EastBay bands for the month of April. Please listen to and support these local musicians, including #TheJazzualSuspects, #BHamilton, #SpaceyJester, #PublicInterest and #FrankiJupiter.

Together, they represent some excellent jazz-and-funk-sampling #hiphop, ironic #indierock, hyperactive #drumandbass, classic #postpunk, and polyamorous #pop. Enjoy!

http://billchapin.net/allthecitylights/2023/05/most-beguiling-new-releases-by-east-bay-musicians-april-2023/

This is the first judgment of its kind. It establishes that a public interest defence can be available to women who are sued for libel. Where they are unable to overcome the burden of proving they were sexually assaulted, it establishes that they can still have a defence if they believed there was a public interest in speaking out.
#GoodLawProject #Law #SexualAssault #PublicInterest
https://goodlawproject.org/update/win-nina-cresswell/

But we are not asking for contributions for contribution's sake.

You get something powerful in return: reporting that serves a #publicinterest mission, that engages and educates.