I thought that those of you who like to stay on top of the latest in the swine flu outbreak (which is not the same as rising above it) might like to know that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cdcemergency. (Following 72; 56,452 followers.) Their posts are essentially pointers to specific information for the various organizations that are tasked with preparing for medical emergencies. (This isn’t really an occasion for 140 character data.) But a number are useful for the likes of you and me:

Parents: take steps to protect your family

At this time last year, John Ruggie, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on business and human rights released a report, “Protect, Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights” [PDF] recommending, as we reported then, implementation of a framework to give effect to

the State duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business; the corporate responsibility to respect human rights; and the need for more effective access to remedies.

Ruggie has now released a report to the UN Human Rights Council on his work since that time, entitled “ . . . [more]

Having a carpenter for a partner adds an interesting twist to my life. Rather than playing Scrabble or sipping Margaritas on beaches, when he and I take a vacation, it is often to work on the current building project. It also means I take special interest in construction that leads to the courts like McMillan v. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Eugene Meehan’s excellent publication Lang Michener Supreme Court of Canada L@wletter had this note today:

TORTS: GOVERNMENT AGENCY LIABILITY
The Applicants purchased a condominium unit in a condominium development in White Rock, British Columbia, constructed in 1994.

Dominic Jaar has posted a video of his interview with Canadian Lawyer Magazine on the use of technologies in the judicial system. You’ll find it on his website, Ledjit. . . . [more]

Find a niche with growth potential
Organize information to make it useful
The internet is a distribution channel — not a product
Turn words into maths
Separate the signal from the noise
Computers can’t do everything
Treat content like patented material
Print’s not dead, it just needs online help

Rules that wouldn’t have been recognized by the distinguished figure below:

They’re the distilled wisdom in a well-researched piece entitled Westlaw rises to legal publishing fame by selling free information – St. Paul company outprofits Gannett, McGraw Hill, New York Times

And it started here: . . . [more]

The most recent issue of the AALL Spectrum features a number of articles on law library design as part of its 9th Annual Architectural Series.

AALL Spectrum is the monthly magazine of the American Association of Law Libraries.

From the presentation article:

“This edition highlights the need to innovate to be green, to stretch budget dollars, and to make the best use of space: a law school, Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law, and a law firm, O’Melveny & Myers San Francisco, both aim for LEED certification; a new decentralized library at Bose McKinney & Evans emphasizes green; a

The Irish Times is reporting that the Minister for Justice proposes to introduce a provision into the defamation bill under discussion by committee that will prohibit blasphemous libel. The provision would read in part:

A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €100,000.

According to the news report:

“Blasphemous matter” is defined as matter “that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that

It may be heresy to say so, but I still consider the in-person, face-to-face, in-the-same-room contacts that we at the LCO have to be crucial to our work. I’ve emphasized how important outreach generally and consultation on our projects are to what we do, mostly in connection with wanting to develop smart technological means to accomplish both (or maybe especially the consultation on particular projects). Of course, we’re still working on doing more, but, I hope, only when it enhances old-fashioned ways of interacting with people, when it allows us to hear from people we might not otherwise hear from, . . . [more]

Most Slaw readers will know that gavels simply aren’t part of the equipment of Canadian or British judges – however much they may feature in the popular iconography of the American judicial system.

Which meant that it seemed odd to see headlines like Gavel falls on Judge Cosgrove, by Tracey Tyler in the Toronto Star for April 1, (admittedly fixed in the electronic archive) or Gavel Slams Harper on Khadr in the free Toronto newspapers for April 24. . . . [more]

Gosh I know I’ve a lot of space on my Ipod, but do I really need to be able to check the wisdom of Bryan Garner all the time, everywhere. Our friends in Eagan MN announced the release of most recent 8th edition of Black’s Law Dictionary Application for the iPhone. It’s a unique publication – as far as I know, the first serious legal research tool released for that platform. And a big plus for Bryan, who got a great tip yesterday from William Safire in the NYT.

While today’s FT lauds Thomson-West’s acumen in building a . . . [more]

Swine Flu, of course, dominated the weekend’s news. I have collected some info on reliable statistics, resources and updates, and have added a Google News RSS and a Twitter RSS to the front page of the Cross-Border Biotech Blog. 

My own personal (non-medical) mini-faq:

1. coughing and fever seem to be diagnostic differentiators — if you don’t have those symptoms, you probably don’t have flu. Check WebMD if you want. Their guys have been asking a zillion symptoms questions on the CDC update calls; and
2. you can not get swine flu from eating pork, just from the guy who

The New Yorker has a fascinating piece, Brain Gain, by Margaret Talbot, that explores the various current and likely future uses of neuroenhancing drugs. Typically stimulants prescribed for such conditions as attention deficit disorder, prescription drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall, Provigil (modafinil), or piracetam are now commonly taken “off label” by people wishing to enhance their mental powers in some respect or other. It would seem that the principal effect of these drugs is an increase in the ability of the user to focus attention and to persist in a task that would otherwise be too tiresome . . . [more]