Open Wallets for Open-Source Software

via The New York Times: "Venture capitalists are again embracing open-source technology companies. JBoss, which offers a layer of software for controlling Web applications, was one of 20 such businesses that raised $149 million in venture money in 2004, according to estimates by the research firm VentureOne. At least three open-source start-ups raised $20 million last month alone.

But given some spectacular open-source failures in the late 1990's, a natural question may be whether some of these venture capitalists have perhaps lost their minds."

Open-source companies chase steady money

via CNET News.com: "Many industry veterans argue that open source is accelerating a shift that has been going on in the software industry for some time: Rather than hinge their business on big-ticket license contracts, software providers increasingly rely on recurring maintenance revenue.

And because most open-source tools don't have license fees attached to them, commercial open-source companies are often forced to build their businesses around services revenue, in the form of support, up-front installation or training."

Let the Leader Twist

It would be a strategic blow if Tom DeLay's exit stage right were truly imminent. He is the embodiment of the Right's arrogance and hypocrisy and it would be a sad thing for progressives if he were allowed to leave the scene before he can inflict more carnage on himself and the repugs. I have no problem with folks like CAF turning up the heat with the media buys; I just hope that it stays on the burner and just reaches a good boil, say, around September 2006.

Sam Rosenfeld offers similar thoughts via TAPPED: "There’s all sorts of interesting speculation about the ifs, whos, and hows of Tom DeLay’s possible downfall, and they're all worth reading. I remain skeptical of the prospect for many of the reasons Ezra Klein and Jesse Lee mention; more importantly, I desperately hope that my skepticism is warranted. I’m fervently and sincerely cheering on the movement-conservative bigwigs gathering their resources to defend the House majority leader. The much-cited Wall Street Journal editorial attacking DeLay had me panicked that Democrats and their allies might actually succeed in securing the Hammer’s imminent fall, which would prove utterly disastrous for the prospects of nationalizing the 2006 mid-term elections with a reformist message that could topple many Republicans."

Sources of The Conservative's Success

Kevin Drum via The Washington Monthly: "First, they created all those famous think tanks to spread their ideas: Heritage, Cato, AEI, etc. Second, they researched language and invented a new way of talking about conservative ideas and promoting wedge politics. Third, they figured out that the judiciary was a big deal and started overtly campaigning to install conservative judges on the federal bench. Fourth, when the Fairness Doctrine was tossed out in 1987, they glommed onto the underutilized AM spectrum and filled it up with the syndicated talk radio shows we all know and love today. Later, Fox News joined them. Fifth, they began the K Street Project, designed to coerce lobbying firms into hiring only fellow Republicans if they wanted any chance of getting their agendas passed.

The Democratic response to all this has been simple: build foundations of our own, fashion a competing liberal way of framing issues, fight back on judges, create liberal talk shows, and remind lobbyists that Republicans won't be in power forever. Which is all fine. But in a way, I think it misses the point.

What conservatives really did was to exploit new levers of power in ways that no one had thought of before. Their answers turned out to be foundations, language, judges, talk radio, and lobbyists, but there's nothing sacred about those particular levers. So while creating our own foundations and talk shows is important, what's more important is that we should be constantly searching for new and underappreciated levers of power and figuring out creative ways to exploit them. Howard Dean's campaign did this in a minor way with its use of internet MeetUps, a new way of organizing grassroots support that took everyone by surprise."

Hatchet Man Steffen Exposed

via Ed Kilgore temping at Talking Points Memo: "You probably haven't heard about it unless you live in or nearby the State of Maryland, but one of the more peculiar local political stories has been the exposure and firing of a Republican operative named Joe Steffen who was fanning, on the Freeper site no less, (completely unsubstantiated) rumors of extra-marital sexual activity by Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley. Steffen is a long-time retainer for Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich, whom the very popular O'Malley is thinking about challenging in 2006. When O'Malley publicly exposed the smear effort, Ehrlich fired Steffen.

There's a big fat Style profile of Steffen and his career in today's Washington Post, and a good chunk of it deals not with his attempted sliming of O'Malley, but with his tours of duty of state agencies since Ehrlich's election, where he put a figurine of the Grim Reaper on his desk, let it be known that his nicknames were 'Prince of Darkness' and 'Doctor Death,' and went happily about compiling lists of Democrats to fire."

The Culture of Life Hypocrisy

via low culture

There Are No Principles Here

Sam Rosenfeld via TAPPED: "But more importantly, the liberal critique of how Republicans have handled this issue has less to do with “federalism” than it does with the separation of powers and the rule of law. The sustained ideological assault against an independent judiciary -- components of which include this weekend’s shenanigans and the current congressional majority’s zealous efforts to strip the courts of jurisdiction over any number of partisan agenda items -- is itself only one facet of a pervasive tendency of modern Republicans to disregard wholesale the integrity of codified processes and the autonomy of institutions, to change the rules and to politicize all conflict in the service of totally unprincipled and narrow political objectives. It’s worth reading this shrill, hysterical analysis from CBS’s legal expert and really trying to come to grips with what he’s saying:

QUESTION: What does that concept do the regular give and take between the court systems, the idea of comity and cooperation between judges?

ANSWER: It destroys it. But that's the whole point of this Congressional action. Not liking a particular result in a case that has been litigated fully and completely by a court with competent jurisdiction, Congress now has said that the game must be re-done with new rules that heavily favor one side over the other. The implications of this move are astonishing. Just think about it. Anytime Congress doesn't like the result in a particular case, it could swoop in and call a "do-over," which is essentially what this legislation represents. And this from a Congress that has for a decade or so tried to keep all sorts of citizens-- including disabled employees-- out of federal court. If this law is declared valid, no decision in any state court in the country will be immune from Congressional second-guessing. It would throw out of whack the entire concept of separation of powers. The constitutional law expert Tribe calls it "trial by legislation" and he is right.

QUESTION: You are getting agitated again. Doesn't the legislation specifically say that it does not "constitute a precedent with respect to future legislation, including the provision of private relief bills"?

ANSWER: Yes, it says that. But so what. It said that the last time Congress did this and it didn't stop Congress from doing this now. Look, there is no other way to put it: this is the most blatant and egregious power-grab by one branch over another in my lifetime. Congress is intruding so far into the power of the judiciary, on behalf of a single family, that it is breathtaking. It truly will be fascinating to see how federal court judges react to this-- whether they simply bow down to this end-run or whether they back up their state-court colleagues. And it will be interesting in particular to see what the Supreme Court does with this case. Even the conservatives on the High Court-- and the Chief Justice in particular-- must be concerned about the precedent this sort of legislation would set.

As far as I can tell, conservative advocates in this fight haven’t even bothered to engage these kinds of questions -- they just don’t care. An individual woman in Florida must be “saved” by any means necessary and that’s all there is to say about the matter. Thus legislation is passed that doesn’t even bother to offer a forward-looking rule change in the process by which these kinds of decisions can be adjudicated in the future. (Instead, the action should be considered non-binding and narrowly targeted at the specific case in question -- sound familiar?)

We’re a law-based society. Rules matter. Precedents matter. Separation of powers and institutional autonomy matter. To the Republicans in power and the conservative intelligentsia lending legitimacy to their governance, apparently, such things don’t matter at all. Congressional Republicans capped a week during which they definitively demonstrated that small-government fiscal conservatism as a guiding legislative principle is completely dead by whipping up this grotesque circus of ill-informed hysteria and rampant trampling of rules and procedural limits. There’s nothing “hypocritical” in pointing out the apparently direct relationship between the ideological bankruptcy of Republican governance and their inability to recognize any limits on their actions. "

MI6 chief told Blair that US 'fixed' case for Iraq war

via Yahoo! News: "MI6 supremo Richard Dearlove briefed Blair and a group of ministers on the United States' determination to launch the invasion nine months before hostilities began in March 2003, the BBC programme will claim on Sunday.

After attending a briefing in Washington, he told the meeting that war was 'inevitable', according to The Sunday Times newspaper.

'The facts and intelligence' were being 'fixed round the policy' by US President George W. Bushs administration, Dearlove said."

More Bad News

via Digby: "By now most people who read liberal blogs are aware that George W. Bush signed a law in Texas that expressly gave hospitals the right to remove life support if the patient could not pay and there was no hope of revival, regardless of the patient's family's wishes. It is called the Texas Futile Care Law. Under this law, a baby was removed from life support against his mother's wishes in Texas just this week. A 68 year old man was given a temporary reprieve by the Texas courts just yesterday.

Those of us who read liberal blogs are also aware that Republicans have voted en masse to pull the plug (no pun intended) on medicaid funding that pays for the kind of care that someone like Terry Schiavo and many others who are not so severely brain damaged need all across this country.

Those of us who read liberal blogs also understand that that the tort reform that is being contemplated by the Republican congress would preclude malpractice claims like that which has paid for Terry Schiavo's care thus far.

* * *

Those who don't read liberal blogs, on the other hand, are seeing a spectacle on television in which the news anchors repeatedly say that the congress is 'stepping in to save Terry Schiavo' mimicking the unctuous words of Tom Delay as they grovel and leer at the family and nod sympathetically at the sanctimonious phonies who are using this issue for the"

Party of Lincoln Senator . . . Denounces Lincoln

or why running all three branches of the government means never having to say your sorry . . . about the lynching, segregation, civil war, etc.

In news from behind the red curtain, according to a United States Senator, he and his fellow South Carolinians are still too pissed at our nation's greatest president for freeing the slaves and saving the Union to celebrate his birthday.via Raw Story:

"Senator Lindsey Graham has ignited a new furor in Washington over comments he made over the weekend referring to his state’s difficulty in “getting over” President Abraham Lincoln, with apparent reference to Lincoln’s role in the civil war and the freeing of American slaves, RAW STORY has learned.

“We don’t do Lincoln Day Dinners in South Carolina,” Senator Graham told a Lincoln Day gathering in Tennessee Saturday. “It’s nothing personal, but it takes awhile to get over things.”

Does that go for his black constituents as well? Maybe he should ask.

I guess they will be celebrating Booth's birthday instead, with a big white birthday cake decorated with a burning cross.

Todays Republican Party: Our Past is Now Your Future.


Tags: Political Jesusland

Title Momentum Swings Back to the Bhoys

A thrilling weekend of action has left the Hoops with a slight edge in the title chase as the SPL nears its final run-in. A magesterial display by Celtic on Sunday at Easter Road left the highly-touted Hibs wee-uns to pick up the pieces after a 3-1 rout. The scoreline, to be fair, flattered the home side, as the rampant Celts, sparked by Bellamy's pace and flair, kept constant pressure on the Hibs goal. Petrov remains in outstanding form despite playing week in-week out for the past 18 months or so without a break. Stan put Celtic on the score sheet just 5 minutes into the game, slotting in a cross from Sutton on a move started by Bellamy. Hartson and Bellamy finished off the game, with Beuzelim adding a consolation goal for the home side. As the Boss said, a tremendous display, proving that the recent Old Firm slip-up settled nothing.

Despite so many in the squad in fine form, Hoops fans would be happy to hand the weekend's top laurels to ex-Celt Brian Prunty who equalized for Inverness Caley Thistle against Rangers in the dying seconds at Ibrox on Saturday. Rumors of a rancorous home dressing room will leave no doubt that momentum has swung to the East End of Glasgow.

Ten wins and at least a draw at Ibrox sees the SPL title stay where it belongs at Parkhead, and in the adoring hearts of all Hoops supporters.

Hail Hail! And make mine a double.

Tags: Football Celtic

Sowing the Seeds of Open Source Advocacy

Jono Bacon via LinuxDevCenter: "This article has provided a bird's-eye perspective on the issues of open source advocacy. These higher-level issues are fundamental in understanding the devil in the detail. In future columns, I will explain some of the ways in how you can advocate open source in a well-considered and intelligent manner. This process does not only involve understanding the open source community, but also understanding the business community and purely how people tick. Aristotle seemed to have a spookily accurate interpretation of how to develop as an advocate, and he was fundamentally correct when he stated, 'It is possible to fail in many ways ... while to succeed is possible only in one way.'"

Tags: Open Source

Online Mock Jury Focus Groups

On his South Carolina Trial Law Blog, David Swanner discusses a company, JuryTest, that conducts online focus groups for jury analysis in litigation . He did a comparison of the service with a live focus group he ran for an actual mediation, with mixed results.

I was surprised at how closely the on-line focus group information tracked the responses from our live focus group. However, the lack of interaction and videotape bothers me. I still think it’s a good tool when you have limited time or expenses. I also think an on-line focus group might be a good idea in the initial stages of a case to get general impressions and help formulate your discovery. I would not use an on-line focus group as a replacement for a live focus group, and would not rely on one for making critical case decisions. But I do think they are a valid, cost effective tool if you remember their limitations.

Tags: Law Practice

When Ordinary is Not Enough, by Pamela Troy

via Democratic Underground:

Our national media has shirked that responsibility. By abandoning the pursuit of truth in favor of a form of stenography, of he said/she said journalism, they have allowed lies to go unchallenged and the power of the press to be transformed into a propaganda vehicle for the Bush administration and its corporate buddies. The damage this has already done to our country and the terrible impact it has already had on individual American lives, is undeniable. When the history of the Bush administration is written – and I have enough faith in humanity to believe that the Bush faux patriotism extant today will someday be remembered with the same contempt that we now remember McCarthyism and Jim Crow – the mainstream press as it is now will not be regarded as heroes.

They know this. They aren't stupid and they aren't ignorant of history. But knowing something and admitting it to oneself are two different things.

It would have been nice if the Guckert/Gannon embarrassment had resulted in genuine soul-searching among the press about why this outrageous shill had gone undetected by the mainstream media even as he sat several feet away from reporters who are presumably the best and brightest of their profession. It could still happen. Maybe it will.

But don't bet on it.

Tags: Political Media

Hey Jesusland! Get a Job!

A commentary by Eric Scigliano via SeattlePI.com:

"There's a general perception out there that the blue states are big net recipients of federal subsidies," says Harvard business professor Herman "Dutch" Leonard. And there's a corollary perception that, in contrast to these welfare-queen states, the inland and Southern states are a heartland of self-reliance and private initiative, less dependent on federal spending. As Leonard says, "That historically hasn't been the case." And it's becoming less and less so.

* * *

The results, when you crunch the fragmented state data, are striking. In 2003, according to the Tax Foundation data, the blue states contributed $966 billion to the federal Treasury and got $830 billion back. The reds paid $697 billion and received a whopping $909 billion. Welfare queens, indeed.

Tags: Political Jesusland

Compassionate Conservatism On Display

The message from Jesusland: our troops are heroes, except when the parents of said troops dare speak out against the policies that led to their childrens' deaths.

via News Hounds:

Cindy and Pat Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq last April, were guests during the second hour of Alan Colmes' radio show last night (2/22/05). The grief was evident in their voices as they spoke from their hearts about their opposition to the Iraq war and the conduct of Bush and Rumsfeld toward the troops. I almost cried listening to them and Colmes was also obviously affected by their story. At the end of the segment, he said, "I know I echo the sentiments from our audience when we express - it almost sounds redundant - our sympathy for your loss." Unfortunately, he was wrong. Much of the FOX listening audience was not moved by the Sheehans but angry that they dared to speak out against the war and that Colmes would allow them to do so on national radio.

meat-eating leftist weighs in: "These are the red-staters, my friends. Look at them now. They cry more when NASCAR drivers die than when American troops lose their lives."

Also check out the Sheehan's support group for families who have lost loved ones in the war, Gold Star Families For Peace.

Tags: Political Jesusland Iraq Media

What We Could Have Bought for $300 Billion

via The Left Coaster: "The cost of the Iraq War is obscene, there isn’t any real auditing of how this money is being spent, our own citizens desperately need the spending for basic necessities, and the $300 billion exacerbates an already insane fiscal policy. George Bush seems more than happy to squander our money on total failure while nobody speaks for the citizens of America, who are being neglected and saddled by incredible debt for this utter failure."

Tags: Iraq Political Budget

Big firm blogs....Not passionate, but good for the blawgosphere

via Promote the Progress: "I firmly believe that the difference between bfb's [big firm blogs] and blogs by solos and small firms will be one of passion. In a recent post for the anniversary of PTP, I explored the question of why I blog...and gave this simple answer: passion. This one word defines the entire blogging experience for me. Sure the blog helps with client development (a little), but my passion for intellectual property law, computers, technology, and writing is the driving force.

I suspect most bfb's will lack this passion, making them easy to spot. Associates will blog for credit (real or perceived), not passion. Partners will supervise by committee, which will likely drain any passion that may be present.

I do think a surge of bfb's will benefit the blawgosphere generally, though. Big firms will attract a lot of attention, and should nudge more and more people into the blawgosphere. Big firms have big networks and big marketing budgets. Their entry into the blawgosphere will attract lawyers and non-lawyers alike. Some of those people will start using RSS, follow links and conduct searches and, one day, discover the passion present in solo and small firm blogs."

Tags: Law Practice Blogging Marketing

The Open Source Approach to Patent Policy

The American Constitution Society Blog: "So why worry about software developers, after all patent policy went largely unnoticed during the industrial revolution? That question points to a critical difference between software development and manufacturing. Patent infringement in the manufacturing world is a corporate enterprise. To pose any real threat to a patent holder, it would require millions of dollars in capital to deploy the technology required to truly infringe. That is not the case for software, where one individual with a broadband internet connection can do as much damage to a patent holder as a Fortune 500 company. The difference makes things sticky at the policy level."

Tags: Open Source Patent Law Intellectual Property

Twelve Ways Technology Can Make You a Better Trial Lawyer

David Swanner hosts South Carolina Trial Law Blog, the tagline of which is Using Technology to be a Better Trial Lawyer. He offers 12 helpful tips as a guest blogger on Evan Schaeffer's Notes from the (Legal) Underground.

Tags: Law Practice Technology