In other words it is essential that the entity bringing the action have skin in the game.

I don’t know enough about this particular case to venture an opinion as to whether the Supreme Court made the right call in this matter.

Of course we all ‘have skin in the game’ when it comes to Constitutional issues before the court. For them to pretend this is a concrete case without Constitutional ramfications for us all is nonsense and consistent with the Conservative principle of insanity first.

*cough* conservative *cough* activist judges *cough*

There is no cure for that cough, short of death, retirement or impeachment & conviction.

Funny how ’strict constructionism’ and ‘conservative activism’ are spelled different, but mean the same thing.

The Case Against Retroactive Amnesty for Telecoms

Three Keys: The Compelling Case . . .

The two companion cases in the Ninth Circuit are ongoing, having been remanded back to the district court. The government won a narrow victory on their State Secrets claim (favorite new toy, but rejected the governments completely absurd claim that the existence of the TSP was secret.

The transcript of the oral argument is simply surreal, with one of the judges calling the government’s arguments right out of Alice and Wonderland.

See for details:

Setback for wiretapping plaintiffs bodes well for EFF class action

Federal judge allows NSA wiretapping investigations to continue

See:

-G

Fund could boost high-tech jobs
By Savannah Morning News
Created 2008-02-19 00:30

ATLANTA – With a venture-capital investment, Dr. Cesario V. Borlongan figures his stem-cell research could be the fuel that spurs the development of the bio-tech industry in Augusta.

“My idea of having this, if we have funding for a start-up company, is to make this available to different stem-cell companies around the U.S., and we can be the pioneer to test the stem-cell safety,” he said. “… It would be something that we could sell, not just in Georgia, but to other people who are working in this field of stem-cell research.”

The neuroscientist at the Medical College of Georgia and Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta developed a way to test stem-cell experiments used in the quest to treat a variety of medical conditions. It already has contracts with five Fortune 500 companies but could sign up more in this growing field with a bigger lab and extra staff, he said.

“The potential for this can really take off,” he said.

His innovation is the type of opportunity Gov. Sonny Perdue may be thinking of when he recommends creation of a venture-capital fund with $10 million in taxpayer money and $30 million from private investors. It would be managed by the Georgia Research Alliance, a public/private partnership that raises money to attract world-famous scientists to the state’s universities and also nurtures faculty spin-off companies.