'Mass. AG Continues Chase of Own Tail," read the headline on the first press release."West Virginia Bytes Taxpayers" was the headline on the second.

The derisive titles targeted Thomas Reilly of Massachusetts and Darrell McGraw of West Virginia, the only two state attorneys general who have refused to settle antitrust litigation against Microsoft Corp. on favorable terms for the software giant.

Who is so worked up about their refusal to cave?

Citizens Against Government Waste issued the releases attacking Reilly and McGraw on Dec. 2. The Washington, D.C., group describes itself as "a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government."

What is the group's objection to Reilly and McGraw trying to stop Microsoft from leveraging its market-dominant Windows operating system to foist new versions of pricey and buggy software on unsuspecting PC buyers? It's a waste of taxpayer money, the group says.

But this may be more than a simple crusade against public-sector intransigence.

Citizens Against Government Waste has been a passionate Microsoft ally in the company's frequently clumsy PR campaign to derail the antitrust probe, which was vigorously pursued by Bill Clinton's Justice Department and ex-Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth.

Two years ago, the Los Angeles Times reported that Microsoft helped fund Citizens Against Government Waste. The group, in turn, orchestrated a letter-writing effort for Microsoft urging state officials to drop the antitrust investigation.

"Utah officials found that two prefab letters from Citizens Against Government Waste bore the typed names of dead people," the L.A. Times reported. "Those names had been crossed out by family members who signed for them. And another letter came from 'Tuscon, Utah,' a city that doesn't exist."

Surely, Citizens Against Government Waste has healed itself since then, right? Maybe. Maybe not.

A "media associate" for the group, Mark Carpenter declined a Weekly Planet invitation to confirm or deny that it still takes Microsoft money.

"As a policy, CAGW does not disclose specific donor information," Carpenter informed the Planet in a Dec. 9 e-mail. "As an organization of more than a million members and supporters, we receive 72 percent of our funding from individuals and out of respect for donor privacy do not release further details."

Apparently, the concern for the privacy of individual donors extends to corporate donors as well.—Francis X. Gilpin

Looking in on MM&W

It looks like a mighty nice life. Three guys get to pile into a spacious tour bus and travel around the country playing whatever the hell music they want. About a thousand people a night turn out and watch. The trio gets paid and leaves.Welcome to the world of Medeski Martin & Wood, the groove-jazz trio that played Jannus Landing Dec. 14. They took the stage shortly after the appointed 8:30 p.m. start time and sort of eased into their set. There were no mandatory hits to play, no dance steps, no set list, no costumes, no damn singing to mess with. And there's no audience interaction to worry about. These guys strictly interact among themselves. You're welcome to witness.

To truly appreciate a Medeski Martin & Wood show requires intense concentration and attention to detail. Spontaneity is their stock-in-trade, so you better be ready to go along for the ride — and not be worried about where it leads.

At Jannus Landing, MM&W delivered two funk-fortified sets of highly dynamic, free-ranging improvisation.

John Medeski roamed around his edifice of analog keyboards, switching instruments willy nilly, hands flailing, building riffs and dissonant solos. The masterful Billy Martin hit the drums with such seeming ease, especially early on, yet all of his grooves carried a loose-limbed sense of propulsion. On a relatively chilly night, Chris Wood appeared to favor his more easily fingered electric basses, although he did play a stunningly percussive solo on acoustic during the second set.

None of this virtuosity would matter without the deep chemistry that Medeski Martin & Wood routinely conjure up in their musical laboratory. They were certainly locked in. And a whole bunch of faithful voyeurs got to watch.—Eric Snider

Barbs Fly at Greco Talk

As a political goodbye, Dick Greco's Dec. 13 soliloquy before the Tampa Bay Tiger Bay Club wasn't mistaken for George Washington's farewell address. Then again, neither were the Tampa mayor's words quite as venomous as Richard Nixon's 1962 "you're not going to have Nixon to kick around anymore" sayonara.When it comes to self-pity, the 69-year-old retiring mayor doesn't have to take a back seat to Nixon, whom Greco used to support. But Greco has always been more Reaganesque when paying back his foes. The brass knuckles are neatly hidden under a soft velvet glove.

Tiger Bay President Steve LaBour graciously introduced Greco, despite his past life as an aide to former Mayor Sandy Freedman, whose admiration for her successor is limited.

Greco talked nostalgically about his Tampa political career, which was interrupted for nearly two decades by more lucrative employment with a mall developer.

The mayor lamented that citizens don't get involved in politics anymore. "You can't just wave the flag and not vote," he said of low post-9/11 turnouts at the polls.

The press doesn't help, Greco said. Using his son's 2001 resignation from the Hillsborough County bench as an opening, Greco condemned the news media for being too hard on public officials. Unfair reporters discourage candidates from running for office, he suggested.

Without mentioning names, Greco vaguely cited instances of what he considered local media hypocrisy, misconduct or just plain pandering during his administration. There were unmistakable references to the WFTS-Ch. 28, The Tampa Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times, which had at least three scribes chowing down at the luncheon.

"You need to be honest about what you do," said Greco.

The mayor then proceeded to stomp on his own advice by directing a backhanded compliment at old nemesis Joe Redner. Greco said he wished he made as much money as the adult entertainment impresario while claiming Redner would put strip bars anywhere in the city.

Sitting in the crowd, Redner had to set Greco straight during the question period. Redner said he believes adult businesses should only be located where more traditional entertainment venues such as taverns are allowed.

Redner was ecstatic after Greco declared that his desire to put a strip joint in Ybor City almost killed Centro Ybor, the mayor's centerpiece project to attract white suburbanites to the Latin Quarter. That was the first time Greco had made such an admission publicly, according to Redner, who predicted hizzoner's slip would help the Mons Venus owner's litigation with the city.

Praising Centro Ybor's mall-like amenities, Greco predicted great things for Ybor City in another five or six years. Redner muttered about Greco's redevelopment of Ybor City: "You ruined it. You ruined it."—Francis X. Gilpin

This article appears in Dec 18-24, 2002.