By Yaël Ossowski / April 10, 2015 / Watchdog.org More students than ever are opting for Atlanta charter schools, and they’re about to get a bigger piece of the financial pie. In the 2016 budget proposal to be voted on next week, Atlanta charter schools are expected to get a funding boost of $21 million…
THE PUNISHER: President Obama signed an executive order declaring hacking a “national emergency” and offers sanctions to seize their property and effects By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org If cyber hackers are aiming their malicious code at American companies or government bureaus, they now face the wrath of brutal U.S. sanctions. That’s the latest law of…
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org An easy way to fix the convoluted immigration system in the United States entails making it easier for foreigners to be hired, without a lot of red tape in their way. Even the 8.1 million illegal immigrants now in the workforce. That, at least, was the consensus of the five…
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org The Transportation Security Administration is defending its controversial “behavior detection program” against a torrent of criticism by civil libertarians and a fresh lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. “The Behavior Detection and Analysis (BDA) program is designed to detect individuals who exhibit anomalous behaviors indicating they fear discovery and…
By Yaël Ossowski / March 24, 2015 / Watchdog.org Much of the debate on the net neutrality regulations — now a reality — hinged on the FCC’s role in enforcing the rules. But after all the lobbying, all the pressure, and all the attention, is there a chance for abuse? For many activists who care…
By Yaël Ossowski / March 19, 2015 / Watchdog.org Since the Federal Communications Commission released its net neutrality regulations last week, there have been some strange interpretations about what these rules mean for Internet consumers. For instance, an article by Newsweek says the regulations will prohibit Internet service providers from limiting traffic based upon “commercial…
By Yaël Ossowski / March 19, 2015 / Watchdog.org In his first month on the job, the nation’s chief data scientist DJ Patil has been busy assigning Americans some homework. As part of his effort to celebrate Pi Day (3.14.15), Patil conjured up a geometry question for Americans to solve. “Imagine you have a rope…
By Yaël Ossowski / March 13, 2015 / Watchdog.org At long last, the FCC has released its 400-page tome of net neutrality regulations. One sentence alone reveals in a nutshell what’s to come. It’s to be found in the massive document released by the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday, nearly two weeks after three of…
By Yaël Ossowski / March 10, 2015 / Watchdog.org Yet again, Americans can rest reassured their government officials don’t really know how to use email. Or technology for that matter. Save for Hillary Clinton, of course. This has been made more clear after revelations that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used her private email…
By Yaël Ossowski / March 5, 2015 / Watchdog.org Taking risks and reaping huge rewards may be a fixture of American politics, but a bill being pushed through committee may completely outlaw the chance for Americans to do the same from their home computer or smartphone on Internet gambling websites. At least that’s the idea…