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Cops and Former Secret Service Agents Ran Black Ops on Green Groups

The line between government and big business is already frightfully blurry and it appears that, as much as it has in the matter of war, this blurriness extends to the realm of domestic spying. James Ridgeway and others have written a great piece for Mother Jones on how Cops and Former Secret Service Agents Ran Black Ops on Green Groups. And we're not talking about casual observation here, like the creepy videotaping of protestors of which government has grown so fond. No, we're talking about stealing donor lists, detailed financial statements, the Social Security numbers of staff members, and strategy memos, then selling these to corporations and PR firms. Posted: 4/16/08; 7:21:09 PM #

Transparency in Government Act 2008

The Sunlight Foundation is taking an interesting approach with the proposed Transparency in Government Act 2008: As an experiment in online collaboration, they have posted the bill in 37 sections and are soliciting written public commentary. They know this is not likely to be the "ultimate technical solution" to drafting legislation online. I for one would be curious as to what a wiki model (or better yet, a wiki in parallel with discussion) would produce. I'll be fascinated to see what the outcomes are. And of course, the bill itself (oh right, that) is a very good idea. Posted: 4/16/08; 7:10:48 PM #