Last month I spoke with @fedscoop.bsky.social about how OPM's updated USAJOBS API Terms of Service were confusing and inconsistent with OPEN Government Data Act and their data being in the public domain. Today, OPM clarified as a result of this feedback: developer.usajobs.gov/guides/terms...

On my morning reading list! An excellent essay by my friend and fellow good troublemaker Julia Lane and her Google colleague Natasha Noy on the value of data tools for increasing the approachability and accessibility of underlying data. 🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Data everywhere, but are they fit for purpose?

Vast amounts of new data are fundamentally shaping how people manage their lives and do their work. The volume is overwhelming—Google Dataset Search discovers 2 million new datasets every month—and so...

science.org

So it turns out that the U.S. government changed the wording in the final version of the Kyoto Vision from "artificial intelligence" to "super intelligence" without securing the consent of the other countries. The German government is now on the record confirming this to @sciencebusiness.net

Concern after Europeans endorse US science agenda

Germany’s biggest research funder has said it is “concerned” after Berlin, plus several other European countries, endorsed a controversial US-led science policy statement.

sciencebusiness.net

True, tho most things done under this admin are not driven by Trump. The factions (of which Vought represents one) mostly try to keep Trump distracted with shiny objects. Agree, Trump is vindictive and also easily manipulated.

A new False Claims Act case shows how the government is enforcing the rules on contractors

A new False Claims Act case shows how the government is enforcing the rules on contractors

"Contractors shouldn't just be looking at potential federal exposure, but also state exposure," said Richard Arnolt.

federalnewsnetwork.com

I just registered for an exciting American Statistical Association meeting, ICHPS this January in Annapolis! ww2.amstat.org/meetings/ich...

2027 International Conference on Health Policy Statistics (ICHPS)

Throughout the last 20+ years, the International Conference on Health Policy Statistics—organized by the Health Policy Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association—has played a vital rol...

ww2.amstat.org

"Meanwhile, the census’s proposed rule has no scientific justification or participation by federal agencies with experience in this area. And the little rationale the rule does provide does not withstand scrutiny." slate.com/news-and-pol...

Trump Is Aiming Again at a Familiar First-Term Target. The Consequences Could Be Deadly.

By heedlessly seeking to end a centurieslong practice, the Trump administration is headed down a dangerous path.

slate.com

Bumping this for science! 🧪

Chris Marcum 📖@csmarcum.bsky.social · 6d ago

For anyone working in science, technology, or research please take this brief survey from OECD - OCDE on your career! survey.oecd.org/index.php?r=...

Very cool to see analysis I prepared hit the socials! Join our weekly briefings each Weds to learn more about proposed changes to the US Census:

dataindex.us@dataindex.us · 5d ago

Join handsoffourcens.us this Wednesday for our weekly briefing analyzing the 20,000+ comments published on the proposed decennial census rule. 👉 Register here: tinyurl.com/handsoffourcensus-briefing 📅 Wednesdays, 3–3:30 pm ET ⏰ Comments due Nov 2 (extended from Oct 13)

ICYMI: Here's a recording of Rapid Response Webinar from dataindex.us on proposed changes to the National Health Interview Survey (featuring Melanie Klein, Jeffrey Hall, Jennifer Madans, Vi Donna Le, PhD, MPH, and myself): youtu.be/bKV4687SgJc

Nice to see some of the work Abigail Haddad and I have done for the @dataindex.us led handsoffourcens.us project in this piece by @mikeysid.bsky.social :

Hands Off Our Census

The Census Bureau has proposed unprecedented changes to the 2030 Census. Public comment closes November 2, 2026. Here's what's proposed and how to weigh in.

handsoffourcens.us

Mike Schneider@mikeysid.bsky.social · 6d ago

Even the Census Bureau says proposed changes to the 2030 census will degrade data countofcounting.substack.com/p/even-the-c...

For anyone working in science, technology, or research please take this brief survey from OECD - OCDE on your career! survey.oecd.org/index.php?r=...

OECD-EU Research and Development Careers Survey 2026

survey.oecd.org

@whitehouse.senate.gov we agree! And yet, Congress hasn't done enough to combat the forces that make interagency coordination efforts fail.

Cole Donovan@colesci.bsky.social · 6d ago

He’s not wrong - @csmarcum.bsky.social and I wrote at @scientistsorg.bsky.social about how these processes end up failing to serve the public, here. Good to build incentives to force decisions. The actual title is through the link.

He’s not wrong - @csmarcum.bsky.social and I wrote at @scientistsorg.bsky.social about how these processes end up failing to serve the public, here. Good to build incentives to force decisions. The actual title is through the link.

Setting Interagency Coordination Efforts Up for Success

Coordination among federal science agencies is essential to ensure government-wide alignment on R&D investment priorities. However, the federal R&D enterprise suffers from egregious siloization.

fas.org

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse@whitehouse.senate.gov · 6d ago

2. I hate “inter-agency process” where executive branch laziness, incompetence, and intramural quarrels hide. We put discipline and transparency into that mess, so agencies can’t hide their screwing around without accountability.

A downy woodpecker "panting" during a hot September day in Maryland 🪶 #birds

Careful arxiv, "equitable access" might get the publisher lobbyists to convince a congress person that your policy is woke.

Philip N Cohen@philipncohen.com · last wk.

If you are generating two papers per week, you're wasting everyone's time and resources (moderators, readers, earth). Slow down and ask your robot to make something more valuable.

Your comments have power! Nearly 5K people requested an extension to the comment period for the U.S. Census Bureau 's proposed rulemaking that would radically change how the 2030 census would be collected. It worked and the new deadline is 11/2. Stay up-to-date with: handsoffourcens.us

Back in 2021, I organized a virtual workshop series at NIAID titled: "Harnessing the Power of Data to Advance Immune-mediated and Infectious Disease Research." Those videos were taken offline. Thankfully, I was able to add them to the @archive.org here: archive.org/details/harn...

Virtual Workshop Series for Harnessing the Power of Data to Advance Immune-mediated and Infectious Disease Research

In 2021, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the United States hosted a virtual workshop series titled: Virtual Workshop Series for Harnessing the Power of Data to Adv...

archive.org

From a discussion of updating a department website...

Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is: #Black&White; any shot in black and white Ooooh, it's as if someone is calling my name in a coaxing voice 😍 Btw. As a rule, do the birds have to be alive? Because one of these may not be... 😳

So you’ve commented on the OMB rule. Here’s what needs to happen next if we don’t want to see this rule implemented: 1. Call your members of Congress. 2. Join the movement urging Congress to impeach and convict Russell Vought. actionnetwork.org/forms/civil-...

Civil Servants Demand: Impeach Russell Vought

The Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought is the central architect driving the destruction of your government. Russell Vought created lawlessness in every part of the Trump administ...

actionnetwork.org

The best merch 😂

Ami Fields-Meyer@fieldsmeyer.com · last wk.

Four years since the AI Bill of Rights under @alondra.bsky.social , 24 hours since Trump announced the AI companies would do "tremendous self-policing." Me:

I wonder if this broad-winged hawk was contemplating a dip. #addBirder #birds

Nice cartoon on the Decennial Census and how the Administration is proposing to change it: www.npr.org/2026/10/01/n...

COMIC: How the census gives your state power (and what Trump wants to change)

The census is used to determine how much say your state has in Congress and the Electoral College. President Trump failed to alter it during his first term, but he's trying again ahead of 2030.

npr.org

We’re proud to announce that UCS President & CEO Dr. Gretchen Goldman has been named in the TIME100 Next list for 2026. This list highlights 100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future of science, activism, politics, business, sports, entertainment and more. #Time100NEXT

I'll be joining @dataindex.us and friends to discuss the comment analysis of the Census proposed rule on residency and demographic questions today. Come along!

dataindex.us@dataindex.us · last wk.

Join us today at handsoffourcens.us for our weekly briefing analyzing comments submitted on the proposed decennial census rule. 👉 Register here: tinyurl.com/handsoffourcensus-briefing 📅 Wednesdays, 3–3:30 pm ET

If it is public money, it should be public code as well! I support @fsfe.org's call for more #publiccode: publiccode.eu (Not just in the EU, but also in the US and everywhere else too)

Public Money, Public Code

Public Money, Public Code - A campaign for releasing publicly financed software as Free Software

publiccode.eu

"Therefore, even if some of the partisan messaging in the communications described in this assessment violated the Hatch Act, it would be inappropriate for OSC to pursue disciplinary action in these cases." My goodness, you are useless.

Friends tomorrow, dataindex.us is hosting a Rapid Response webinar about the proposed changes to the National Health Interview Survey. Please register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

If you, like me, don't want federal statistical data and federal science to be subject to political interference, consider co-signing COPAFS's new letter to Secretary Lutnik raising concerns about changes to the Department of Commerce's Scientific Integrity Policy 🧵 1/2