1,263 Matching Annotations
  1. May 2020
  2. Apr 2020
    1. Verity, R., Okell, L. C., Dorigatti, I., Winskill, P., Whittaker, C., Imai, N., Cuomo-Dannenburg, G., Thompson, H., Walker, P. G. T., Fu, H., Dighe, A., Griffin, J. T., Baguelin, M., Bhatia, S., Boonyasiri, A., Cori, A., Cucunubá, Z., FitzJohn, R., Gaythorpe, K., … Ferguson, N. M. (2020). Estimates of the severity of coronavirus disease 2019: A model-based analysis. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, S1473309920302437. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30243-7

    1. Having said all that, I think this is completely absurd that I have to write an entire article justifying the release of this data out of fear of prosecution or legal harassment. I had wanted to write an article about the data itself but I will have to do that later because I had to write this lame thing trying to convince the FBI not to raid me.
    2. I could have released this data anonymously like everyone else does but why should I have to? I clearly have no criminal intent here. It is beyond all reason that any researcher, student, or journalist have to be afraid of law enforcement agencies that are supposed to be protecting us instead of trying to find ways to use the laws against us.
  3. Mar 2020
    1. Turkey’s government says it is not disclosing the location of cases to prevent the risk of increasing transmission rates by encouraging people to move from areas with high rates to places where there are no or few cases.

      I'm amused as to how many possible reasons governments come up with to not disclose data.

      I do not understand how likely people are to move between areas, do people have more than 1 housing options?

      There is an obvious conflict of interest in a government hiding information that is bound to invite questions or make their performance look poor in contrast to other countries etc.

    1. expect to see more support from Democrats, Republicans, academics and diplomats for the notion that government has a much bigger role to play in creating adequate redundancy in supply chains
    1. The main forces that restricted public health police powers were: (1) the advent of civil rights jurisprudence; (2) the rise of patient autonomy and the rapid expansion of state personal health services expenditures; and (3) federal encroachment on state authority.
    2. Historically, the communitarian bases of the American legal system supported the subordination of individual rights when necessary for the preservation of common good. Quarantine measures were subjected to a deferential review supporting the states' right to substantially limit individual rights for the community's benefit.
    3. The legal principles employed to sustain state public health police power were sic utere tuo ut alterum non laedas (use that which is yours so as not to injure others) and salus publica suprema lex est (public well-being is the supreme law).12 The principle of sic utere describes the power of the state to prevent or prohibit “the use of private property or the commission of private acts in a manner harmful to others.”15 The principle of salus publica, on the other hand, recognizes police power as a means to “prevent or avoid public harm even if the action has not harmed others.
    4. Generally, the courts reviewed police power measures only when the degree of restriction of personal liberty was found to be unconscionable.
    5. Remedies included regulation of private property and behavior and the power to detain and hold individuals without pre-intervention review
    6. communitarian philosophy underlying this approach was carried into later judicial holdings, further consolidating states' exercise of public health police power.

      "Communitarian"

    7. Police powers of the states are an expression of civil authority, i.e., the state's ability to control, regulate, or prohibit non-criminal behavior.6 Health officials may use these powers to compel treatment, prohibit or direct a particular conduct, or detain and isolate in a quasi-criminal nature
    1. basic infrastructure

      Each and every word of this can be debated upon.

      What comes under basic infrastructure?

      • I presume everyone thinks about high investment hard infrastructure like roads, rail networks, fibre optic and electric lines, airports etc.

      • Are public schools and colleges included?

      • Are medicare and social safety nets counted as basic infrastructure?
      • Is defining criteria of intellectual property and granting patents counted?
      • What about public transportation?
      • Funding early scientific research?

      Or do we expect all of these to be funded through charity?

  4. Feb 2020
    1. Don’t hate corporations for playing to win — they don’t make the rules, you do.

      Well articulated!

      That reference to computer games is awesome but the problem comes down the the fact that winners of the corporate game are influencing the rules - the corporate tax law, regulations etc.

      Now this is also another problem with how the rulemakers are chosen or how the rules are made. So maybe the solution is to rectify the few rules that influence many other rules being made!

    1. In some, their spending on goods and services as well as on transfers like unemployment benefits and pensions, accounts for more than half of GDP.

      What is the government's proportion of the US GDP presently?

    1. Politics is, first and foremost, driven by the people who pay the most attention and wield the most power — and those people opt in to extraordinarily politicized media. They then create the political system they perceive.

      How can we push it back so that the power stems from the people? How could we up-end the current system?

    1. Declaration of Independence

      We have the right to petition the government for redress of grievances

      That seems impractical these days with our government so big.

      We don't even write to our representatives in Congress. Why not? Maybe most of us don't think it would do any good.

      But if we don't stand up for our rights, they will gradually be taken away.

      Where is our militant faith? We're afraid of it being called hate speech.

      "Bigotry disguised as religious liberty is still bigotry"

      Republicanism is a country without a king. Protestantism is a church without a Pope.

      Pope Francis

      Jesuits

      Protestantism is [religious] racism Well, I don't want to be a racist. I better not speak up. Affects free speech.

      Sunday sacredness is the mark of Catholic church's authority.

      "Ecumenism is not optional"

      The persecution from Catholic Church will return again renewed

  5. Jan 2020
  6. Dec 2019
  7. Nov 2019
    1. However, PIPA is the agency's first standalone bot, meaning it can be used across multiple government agencies. Crucially, the bot can be embedded within web and mobile apps, as well as within third-party personal assistants, such as Google Home and Alexa.  According to Keenan, the gang of five digital assistants released so far by the DHS have answered "more than 2.3 million questions, reducing the need for people to have to pick up a phone or come into a service centre for help.” “This is what our digital transformation program is all about – making life simpler and easier for all Australians.”

      Scope of PIPA

    1. The federal government has decided that all Commonwealth entities would benefit from having a chatbot, with the Department of Human Services (DHS) announcing it was working on the development of one that will be ready by the end of 2019.The Platform Independent Personal Assistant -- PIPA -- is expected to "significantly improve the customer experience for users of online government services", according to Minister for Human Services and Digital Transformation Michael Keenan.

      Federal Government creating PIPA chatbot

    1. Senior government officials in multiple U.S.-allied countries were targeted earlier this year with hacking software that used Facebook Inc’s (FB.O) WhatsApp to take over users’ phones, according to people familiar with the messaging company’s investigation.
  8. Oct 2019
  9. s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com
    1. hetheIndiansgenerallyappearedtogrowmoredisaffectedtowardourGertforrealorimaginarywrongs,yettheyhadasyetshownnohostilefeelingsinparticulartowar

      Ayer notes that the Natives are growing more and more hostile toward the US government

    2. Weareatpresentthrongedwithcompany,governmentbeingaboutmakingatreatywiththeseIndiansforalargetractoflandlyingsouthofus.MorethantwothousandIndiansarepresen

      more than 2000 Natives are present for the land treaty

    3. heschoolisinteresting,butourbrethrenatPokegamaandFonduLacaretriedverymuchbythehostilityoftheindians,theyarebeginningtobestirred.bythestoryoftheoppres-sionoftheirsouthernbrethrenwhichhasreachedthem,theyarebeginningtofeelthatthewhitemenwilloppressthemasmuchastheycan,andareafraidthatgovernmenthassentthemissionariestoFavourtheirdesigns.TheCherokeeshavesentwampumtoseveralofthenortherntribestojointhemainsttheAmericanssoinsteadoflisteningtotheWordeirmindsareontheunjustnessesofthewhitemen.Ourbandhavenotyetbeenthusexcited.Ihopeitwillbealongtimebeforetheywill.Werewetolookuponthesemis-sionswiththeeyeofsense,weshouldbeentirelydiscouraged,buttheeyeoffaithdiscernsinthedistancetheredmanofthewildernessbendingthekneetotheonetrueGod;to18.-bourforthisendwemusthavefaithandpatienc

      Mills has a really good understanding of the mission situation in relationship to the government

    1. First, government did not always engage with the market early in running procurements or establish a sufficient understanding on both sides about the service that were being outsourced. This often led to problems over the lifetime of a contract, such as disputes and cost overruns.Second, an excessive focus on the lowest price and an insufficient assessment of quality in selecting bids undermined many contracts. While outsourcing can reduce costs, government must balance this against the minimum level of quality it needs in a service. Too often, it has outsourced services in pursuit of unrealistic savings and without a realistic expectation that companies would deliver efficiencies.Third, large contracts have failed when government has transferred risks that suppliers have no control over and cannot manage, rather than those which suppliers can price and manage better than government. Government should also not think that it has outsourced risks that will revert to it if a supplier fails – as the provision of public services will always do.

      Three case study themes on why contracts failed or worked

    2. It must also understand why different outsourcing projects succeed or fail. The Institute for Government has previously showed that there are several conditions that make outsourcing more likely to succeed.2 Above all, these include: •the existence of a competitive market of high-quality suppliers•the ease of measuring the value added by the provider •the service not being so integral to the nature of government as to make outsourcing inappropriate.*

      Outsourcing conditions

  10. Sep 2019
    1. The Executive [Lincoln] is frequently compelled to affix his signature to bills of the highest importance, much of which he regards as wholly at war with the national interests.
  11. Aug 2019
    1. Work with them on how to create longer-term business cases

      I think integrating the idea of government platforms into regional or local plans could be an actionable first step. These are documents that look ahead 20 - 30 years. I am currently working on the Boston area regional plan for 2050. Most plans have sections relating to "dynamic government". Could be a spot to shift the culture longterm towards new practices.

    2. public forum

      What about public forums like G2, Capterra, or Stackshare, how can these be leveraged to share government software insights? Could be framed as open ongoing RFI processes. We should be sharing with each other openly on these platforms. Hope it would at-least improved the level of interfaces / skin vendors put on the same "management" software.

    1. appropriatio

      the government is fully willing to help "civilize" the Natives at La Pointe

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  12. Jul 2019
    1. canonical registers.

      The descriptor "canonical" has been very helpful for me to distinguish this data structure from others. Have had a few people think I am talking about something biblical, but it seems to stick. Helps distinguish it from data silos and align it with the other needed components of open standards and APIs.

    2. If you have a government email address, you can create a trial account.

      All for it! Built systems allow you the flexibility to include trial accounts.

      Purchased web services that have a trail or free tier have been a great place for my digital teams to learn and experiment. I think if the government marketplace had more easy and acceptable options for free or low cost web service trials it would have a major impact on the pace of change.

      The justified fears of misspent money should be met with research of "did it work" rather than just rules to restrict behavior.

    3. Developing a collective understanding of what makes a good platform is important. A general rule is that if a system is trying to do multiple things, or is highly customizable, it probably isn’t a good platform.

      Love this line. Does this translate into procurement language or is it a best practice norm rather than a rule?

    1. Cardinal Health said that it has learned from its experience, increasing training and doing a better job to “spot, stop and report suspicious orders,” company spokeswoman Brandi Martin wrote.

      Because companies are incentivized to sell however, it will require governmental oversight and regulation to fix this problem.

  13. Jun 2019
    1. The decision did not favour his financial interests and has been misreported by the journalist. In fact, Mr Petch was pressuring an inexperienced General Manager to attend to an entitlement affecting multiple councillors. The entitlement - reimbursement of legal expenses incurred in legal action initiated by council - is not discretionary, but must be extended to councillors incurring costs in carrying out their civic duties in good faith. The entitlement is explicitly coded in the NSW Local Government Act and NSW Office of Local Government expenses guidelines for serving councillors and Mayor's. No evidence was submitted that the affected councillors had acted in a manner other than "good faith". Therefore the only logical conclusion that could be drawn for delaying the reimbursement

  14. Apr 2019
    1. In Estonia, for example, it takes about a minute to file a tax return.

      It is the second time I've seen Estonia mentioned this morning. Sounds like they are trying some really interesting things in government. Curious to see how it all goes.

      https://www.zdnet.com/article/e-estonia-what-is-all-the-fuss-about/

  15. Mar 2019
  16. webstandards.hhs.gov webstandards.hhs.gov
    1. Usability guidelines This site seems a bit dated in its appearance but still provides the user the opportunity to review usability standards in general, together with a rating of the weight of evidence that supports each assertion. It would take some time to go through all the information available on this site. It is also usable enough that a designer can check up on guidelines while in the middle of designing a specific project. Rating 3/5

    1. what is plain language This government site describes the rationale for plain language and more importantly provides some tools for using it. Plain language can be useful when writing text for e-learning products, among other things; this is a useful site to review. There is a list of resources as well. rating 4/5

    1. Applications can be found at vbgov.com by searching “talent bank.” When completed, they can be emailed with supporting information to the clerk via abarnes@vbgov.com.
  17. Feb 2019
    1. So much of our government’s service and program delivery happens online nowadays that sites such as Canada.ca could almost be considered public spaces online.

      absolutely, a very good analogy!

  18. Jan 2019
    1. Gdańsk podążył za rekomendacją Marcina Gerwina i zdecydował się zwołać panel obywatelski. To dość radykalna metoda, bo panel nie jest ciałem konsultacyjnym, tylko decyzyjnym. Rekomendacje panelu, które zyskają poparcie 80 procent jego uczestników, stają się w Gdańsku obowiązujące. Do tego jeśli obywatele zbiorą 5 tys. podpisów, władze miasta mają obowiązek zorganizować panel na wskazany przez mieszkańców temat. Trudno o lepszy przykład obywatelskiego współwytwarzania polityki miejskiej.
    1. We must have an agency of the federal government to pMtett it.

      Is a federal government, and a federal government alone, enough to do such a thing? I mean, look at what happened to the Library of Alexandria. I still get pissed off thinking about that. And is it even a good idea in the first place to let them have that responsibility? I can't help but think of all of the instances in which governments have been directly responsible for mass destructions of literature. There's an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to historical book burning events, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_book-burning_incidents, and a large majority of these noteworthy burnings were done at the will of the government. What would happen if we were to give them too much agency in this matter? Is it a good idea for governments to have the final say in the well-being of our literature? How can we trust them to decide what is and isn't worth protecting?

  19. Nov 2018
    1. Finally, 2011 seemed to herald the true beginning of a new era, with a transformed communication landscape.

      There are some commonly reported misconceptions about revolutions and coups, particularly with respect to military take overs of television and newspapers, that the average reader may wish to familiarize themselves with as they enter this area. One of the best resources I've seen for this is a recent recap by On The Media.

    2. peoples rising up and shaking off aging autocracies, modes of rule on which history had already seemingly rendered its verdict long before, seemed unstoppable, even irreversible.

      Hidden here, though I highly suspect she'll cover it later, there is a huge value to the building and maintenance of institutions with respect to government and building into the future.

  20. Oct 2018
  21. Sep 2018
    1. However, courts might go further and address the concern that, even where government regulation of cognitive enhancement drugs is rooted in legitimate safety concerns, this should not—by itself—give the government authority to restrict individuals’ mental freedom or “cognitive liberty” far more than is necessary to address those safety concerns. Perhaps, for example, government has imposed a complete ban where something less restrictive will satisfy the safety concerns it is worried about. For example, the state might instead institute a “gatekeeper” system in which a doctor must assess and discuss risks for a particular individual before drugs are prescribed or require a mandatory course on side effects before use of cognitive enhancement drugs.

      I believe that this solution to the paragraph directly above it, directly contradicts itself. If the Government bans the use of a drug not because it can make someone happier/better, but because it can have potentially negative or harmful side affects, then this solution is impossible. If the government deems some as potentially harmful then in more cases than not it most probably is. In this way no government could rationally come to this solution rather than the one above it. It would be obscure for a Government to allow a person who is educated about the dangers of a product to choose to use it. In the Government's and the medical professional's eyes this person would not be in their 'right mind'.. How then, could they ever allow someone who they do not deem 'in their right mind' to use a potentially hazardous drug?

  22. Aug 2018
    1. The philosopher Karl Popper, author of The Open Society and Its Enemies, did not stay involved. He had a more nuanced view on markets and freedom, pointing out that ‘proponents of complete freedom are in actuality, whatever their intentions, enemies of freedom’. Popper saw the logical consequence of ignoring how power, unregulated markets and unrestrained individual behaviour would interact, reasoning that this notion of freedom would, paradoxically, be, ‘not only self-destructive but bound to produce its opposite, for if all restraints were removed there would be nothing whatever to stop the strong enslaving the weak’. By Popper’s definition, neoliberalism wasn’t liberal at all.

      Is it fair to at least partially blame Popper for the advent of neoliberalism? If not, is it fair to question the use of the term "open" to describe the ideal society?

    1. da una parte ci sono le istituzioni, dall’altra le famiglie e le imprese

      la PA consapevole dell'incapacità di svolgere appieno e nel modo piu professionale possibile il suo compito si trincera dietro la burocrazia.... la soluzione è nell'e-governement nel rendere trasparente il processo di disbrigo delle pratiche... una sorta di tracciamento commentato e intelligente della pratica....

    1. Legislative staff members had finished rewriting AB 375, and a deal seemed imminent. That Friday, as he drank his morning coffee, Mactaggart decided to read the new bill — the fine print — one more time. He noticed a seemingly minor alteration in one section, the kind of thing most people would skip over. Mactaggart realized it would completely gut what remained of the private right of action. Furious, he called Hertzberg and Chau and told them the deal was off. Neither lawmaker could explain who made the change, Mactaggart told me, but Hertzberg scrambled to fix it. “In most negotiations, you are talking to all these different interest groups,” Hertzberg told me recently. “This is a situation where we had to go and reach out to everyone and bring that information to Mr. Mactaggart and ask him what he wanted to do.”

      Here's a case where we ought to consider creating our bills and laws via version control, so we can see exactly who, what, and when things changed along the way. It might mean much less gets done, but there'd be a lot more transparency and accountability.

  23. Jul 2018
    1. Under late capital, the non-profit has been asked to take over the space of providing for community needs or supporting community interests that had formerly been occupied by the state as the entity responsible for the public welfare.

      I know the book American Amnesia talks about the value built up by a strong government working in conjunction with a capitalist machine over the past century or so. I wonder if the later half of the book gets into how to shift things back in this manner?

    1. The notion of a governmental reboot seems fair enough. Government bureaucracies that grow over time can be anathema to innovation and efficiency. Technology has challenged the way we engage with all institutions, and the federal government could certainly improve its use of technology to better deliver services.
  24. Jan 2018
    1. by the federal government

      Historians have given a lot of attention to the relationship between the federal and state governments. The states must comply with laws passed by the US Congress as long as the laws do not violate the U.S. Constitution.