Political law links today: J&J FCPA case, disclosure and democracy, no smooth sledding for VT CFR, the Waters case, and more

JOHNSON & JOHNSON & FCPA. Another FCPA settlement announced. DOJ Release. ”‘Today, Johnson & Johnson has admitted that its subsidiaries, employees and agents paid bribes to publicly-employed health care providers in Greece, Poland and Romania, and that kickbacks were paid on behalf of Johnson & Johnson subsidiary companies to the former government of Iraq underRead… Read more »

New Website Tracks FOIA Withholding Challenges

There’s a new FOIA website in town. The other week, FOIA.gov was launched by the Department of Justice. This time, it’s not a government FOIA site, but one done by Syracuse University (with a grant from the CS Fund/Warsh-Mott Legacy). Designed to bring more transparency to FOIA withholding decisions, the new site — http://FOIAproject.org —Read… Read more »

Flint to test hydrogen fueling station

The Mass Transportation Authority in Flint (MI) plans to build a hydrogen fueling station, which will be a test site for researchers at Kettering University. Original post

The need for micro-participation

A theme I’ve been returning to on a regular basis in the talks I’ve been giving lately has been about the need for government to make participation easier. I’ve blogged in my usual half-assed manner about the participation deficit before, and it strikes me that this is an important issue that is both not goingRead… Read more »

NRG Energy brings electric cars to Texas

NRG Energy is bringing electric cars to Texas with a new program that will create a network of 70 electric vehicle charging stations throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. An additional 50 stations are also slated for the Houston area as well as another network along the Interstate 45 corridor, by the end of nextRead… Read more »

NRG Energy brings electric cars to Texas

NRG Energy is bringing electric cars to Texas with a new program that will create a network of 70 electric vehicle charging stations throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. An additional 50 stations are also slated for the Houston area as well as another network along the Interstate 45 corridor, by the end of nextRead… Read more »

Who the hell are you to judge my worth?

I work in local government. Apparently, this makes me: lazy unsuitable for to work in the private sector ever again guaranteed not to be accepted onto temping agency books looked down upon by private sector colleagues in the same job roles behind the times incapable of maintaining my own self development incapable of keeping upRead… Read more »

Has Social Media Killed the RSVP?

What got me thinking today, however, was the RSVP return. Before the party, only 8 people had RSVPed and yet, more than 40 people were in attendance. A similar situation occurred several month ago when I shared invitations to my daughter’s birthday party. We had invited 12 kids and only 3 RSVP’s arrived in advanceRead… Read more »

Winkels: What’s in an Interchange Standard for Legislative XML?

Professor Dr. Radboud Winkels of the Leibniz Center for Law of the University of Amsterdam has published What’s in an Interchange Standard for Legislative XML?, Jusletter IT, 22, Feb. 2011. Here is the abstract: To make efficient and effective use of all sources of law electronically available in Europe, with all their different (XML) formats,Read… Read more »

Canberra Conference Centre Proposal

The Canberra Times reports to day in “City’s waterside vision revealed” (by JUDITH IRELAND, 11 April 2011, 2011 12:07 PM), that it is proposed to build a $327 million conference centre and hotel complex. I was previously consulted on the design of a hi-tech dialogue centre as part of the development. My suggestion was toRead… Read more »