After every law in the Code of Virginia is a little section called “history.” If you’ve seen it, you’ve almost certainly ignored it, because it looks like nonsense. In fact, it’s just a poorly encoded collection of really valuable data about that law. Here’s a translation guide. (From my State Decoded blog.) →
Tag Archives: laws
Why you can’t infer the content of a law from the legislation on which it is based.
On the blog for my State Decoded project, I explain how a bill becomes law. Hint: It’s not how you think. →
Links for July 22nd
Wikipedia: Flotsam and jetsamFloatsam is the wreckage of a ship or cargo that is floating in the water. Jetsam is any part of either that was tossed overboard deliberately. ChosenThis is a nice-looking, non-intrusive little jQuery/Prototype plugin that improves the UI of HTML select boxes. I'm not using it anywhere, but I intend to. BBC …
Links for July 16th
Tabulaw: What Congress Does When it Runs Out of NumbersCongress recently passed a bill that created section 139D of the tax code. But there was already a 139D. No problem—they just kept the existing one. So there are two section 139Ds. Given my work on codes, this makes my head feel all explodey inside. New …