Sensational developments in the high-profile environmental lawsuit (AmLaw Daily): The decades-long legal battle between Chevron and Ecuador took yet another dramatic turn on Monday when the company announced that it has video tapes revealing a $3 million bribery scheme implicating…

Guess what? Your auto company, Government Motors, has decided to partner with China to sell trucks:

General Motors said on Sunday it has agreed to set up a light commercial vehicle production venture with major Chinese automaker FAW Group, with total investment of 2 billion yuan ($293 million).

The 50-50 joint venture, based in the northeast China city of Changchun in Jilin province, will make light-duty trucks and vans, GM said in a statement.

Do you like this investment decision by the auto company that you bought? If so, you can show your support by re-electing the corporate board at the next leadership vote, it’ll be in November of 2010. You can also show your disapproval by voting out that board, though the CEO vote isn’t until 2012. The only complicating thing is that the same board is also the corporate governor of Citigroup and Bank of America, so it’ll be a mixed share holder vote.

This investment may or may not be a good move for GM, I’m not an auto executive so I can’t say for sure. But as a taxpayer-owner I regret my inability to voice my opinion one way or the other in case I did have a thought or two.

A coalition of education activists and union officials is suing the people of Washington, claiming taxpayers are not fulfilling the constitutional paramount duty to provide “ample” funding for public schools. An in-depth study by the Washington Policy Center finds the…

It’s back to school season — and the Documentary Channel is celebrating the occasion by bringing Indoctrinate U back to the public. Last year, the Documentary Channel–which reaches 25 million homes–aired this incomparable film about intolerance on our campuses multiple times. Response was overwhelmingly positive — and so the channel is airing it again on September 1st at 5:00 PM, September 15th at 2:30 PM, September 28th at 11:30 PM, September 30th at 3:30 AM, and October 2nd at 8:00 PM and again at 11:00 PM. All times are Eastern.

Check to see if your cable or satellite provider offers the Documentary Channel–and, if they don’t, check to see if your local PBS station simulcasts the Documentary Channel. You might get lucky.

I have a few comments to add about the Springfield News-Leader op-ed piece that David Stokes wrote about earlier today. The piece berates Rep. Roy Blunt for favoring private insurance reform to a public option model, and falls prey to a few logical errors in the process.
The article claims:
For-profit insurance companies milk 30 percent off [...]

Gotta ask it.
Rookie RB Mike Goodson gets the full-on feature treatment the other night, now Jonathan Stewart misses practice due to “personal reasons.” Such as getting his stuff together in advance of a trade to a West Coast team?
You got another way for the Panthers to get help for the defensive side the ball, let [...]

The Business Journal (Triad) reports that North Carolina was ranked 10th in the country based on the total value of the Cash for Clunkers rebate requests. More than $78 million was requested from North Carolina.

There's a lot of attention on how the new cars have better fuel efficiency. …

On July 15, six weeks ago, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee passed an amended $1 trillion health-care bill, with acting Chairman Chris Dodd calling it a "historic achievement." Too bad the committee won't reveal this history even to other Senators, much less to the public.
Three weeks ago Republicans on the committee wrote [...]

The Washington Post has a revealing report on the rise of intercity bus lines on the East Coast. In just a few years, perhaps as many as a dozen bus lines have started up as riders take advantage of reliable service and low costs.

“Between 2005 and 2007, according to the American Bus Association, nationwide ridership surged by 20 percent, increasing from 631 million passenger trips to 751 million. “We move about the same numbers as domestic [air] carriers each year,” said ABA spokesman Eron Shosteck, a bus rider himself, “and more people in two weeks than Amtrak does all year.”

“As Shosteck put it, “This is Transportation 2.0.”

Bus companies include Greyhound, Megabus, Bolt, Hola, Chinatown, Tripper Bus, Double Happiness and others. The “pioneer” was Fung Wa bus line which ferried immigrant Chinese workers and students between Chinatowns in Boston and New York in the late 1990s. Now, the cheap fares (plus high gas prices) have given intercity bus service a new lease on life.

“Credit [for the intercity bus line growth] goes mainly to the new convoy of buses, which appropriated the [low cost budget] Chinatown model, then gave it a substantial upgrade. This new species offers curbside pickup and drop-offs, cheap fares, clean restrooms, express service, online reservations, free WiFi and loyalty programs. Neither Amtrak, currently exploring WiFi service on trains, nor my car can make such declarations.

“The bus fares undercut Amtrak and, depending on the number of passengers, personal vehicles. One-way fares on the train start at $49, compared with $1 to $30 on the bus. As for my car, Townsend determined that gas for my make and model would add up to $43.78, plus about $20 for tolls. The buses also earn hugs from carbon-emission watchers. According to such experts as Schwieterman and the ABA, one bus can potentially eliminate 55 cars from the road. The Union of Concerned Scientists’ “Getting There Greener” guide notes that a couple can halve their carbon output by taking the bus and leaving their hybrid car in the garage.”

Of course, this is the same corridor that already has extensive intercity rail, including “high speed” rail in the form of the Acela trains. Yet, bus lines are growing and becoming more competitive with each other, and consumers benefit as a result.