Top Items:
Washington Post:
Judges on Surveillance Court To Be Briefed on Spy Program — The presiding judge of a secret court that oversees government surveillance in espionage and terrorism cases is arranging a classified briefing for her fellow judges to address their concerns about the legality …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, War and Piece, Balkinization, Power Line, Obsidian Wings, The American Thinker, IntoxiNation-News …, Hugh Hewitt, Amygdala, The Strata-Sphere, Confederate Yankee, Balloon Juice, Macsmind, Think Progress, The Carpetbagger Report, The Left Coaster, The Volokh Conspiracy, Shakespeare's Sister, Wonkette and The Washington Monthly
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Scott Shane / New York Times:News of Surveillance Is Awkward for Agency
Discussion:
Air America Radio
Charles Hurt / Washington Times:
'Warrantless' searches not unprecedented — Previous administrations, as well as the court that oversees national security cases, agreed with President Bush's position that a president legally may authorize searches without warrants in pursuit of foreign intelligence.
Discussion:
Let Freedom Ring Throughout …, Daily Pundit, A Blog For All, Sister Toldjah and JunkYardBlog
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Hindrocket / Power Line:
ON THE LEGALITY OF THE NSA ELECTRONIC INTERCEPT PROGRAM — It has been widely suggested that the NSA electronic intercept program that has been carried out by the Bush administration for the last three years is, or may be, illegal. The New York Times and other media outlets have implied …
Clint Van Zandt / MSNBC:The media, the NSA and the Patriot Act
Discussion:
The Counterterrorism Blog
New York Times:
No Timetable Is Announced on Resumption of Service — After meeting with both sides through the night, state mediators have devised a preliminary framework for a settlement of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority contract dispute that would allow strikers to return to work later today …
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David B. Caruso / Associated Press:
NYC Transit Union Moves to Return to Work — NEW YORK - Striking bus and subway workers agreed Thursday to "take steps" to go back to work while their union and the transit authority resume negotiations, a mediator said. — The deal with the Transit Workers Union could pave the way for a resumption …
Jesse J. Holland / Associated Press:
Senate Passes Patriot Act Extension — WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday passed a six-month extension of the terror-fighting USA Patriot Act as a last resort after Democrats and a small group of GOP senators blocked President Bush and Republican congressional leaders' attempt to make most of the anti-terrorism law permanent.
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Washington Post:
Senate Votes to Extend Patriot Act for 6 Months — A much-debated domestic surveillance law won a reprieve last night when senators agreed to continue it for six months to allow House and Senate negotiators to resume efforts next year to rewrite it for the longer term.
Discussion:
White House, CNN, The Carpetbagger Report, The Volokh Conspiracy, ScrappleFace and Hit and Run
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
A Bit of Drama on Senate Floor — Procedural Point Fuels Debate Between Longtime Colleagues — It was quite a bull session between two old bulls. — Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, battered all week for using the defense spending bill to force through a home-state oil drilling provision …
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Editor and Publisher:
'Impeachment' Talk, Pro and Con, Appears in Media at Last — NEW YORK Suddenly this week, scattered outposts in the media have started mentioning the "I" word, or at least the "IO" phrase: impeach or impeachable offense. — The sudden outbreak of anger or candor has been sparked by the uproar …
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Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
John Gibson goes berserk — on air and off — Anyone familiar with Fox News broadcasts has come to expect a level of professionalism on par with an elementary school food fight, but once in a while, even the FNC gang manages to surprise. — C&L and Newshounds offered terrific coverage …
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Associated Press:
Son of Colts' Coach Tony Dungy Found Dead — 18-Year-Old Son of Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy Is Found Dead in His Apartment — TAMPA, Fla. Dec 22, 2005 — James Dungy, the 18-year-old son of Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, was found dead in a Tampa-area apartment, police said Thursday.
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Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
File the Bin Laden Phone Leak Under 'Urban Myths' — President Bush asserted this week that the news media published a U.S. government leak in 1998 about Osama bin Laden's use of a satellite phone, alerting the al Qaeda leader to government monitoring and prompting him to abandon the device.
Discussion:
Rantingprofs, firedoglake, Comments From Left Field, IntoxiNation-News …, Ezra Klein, Amygdala, The Left Coaster, AGITPROP, Poynter Online, PoliBlog and TAPPED
Steve Connor / Independent:
Britain will be first country to monitor every car journey — From 2006 Britain will be the first country where every journey by every car will be monitored — Britain is to become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded.
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Anne E. Kornblut / New York Times:
Lobbyist Nears Terms on Plea Deal — WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 - Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist under indictment for fraud in South Florida, is expected to complete a plea agreement in the Miami criminal case, setting the stage for him to become a crucial witness in a broad federal corruption …
Washington Post:
Report Revises Katrina's Force — Hurricane Center Downgrades Storm to Category 3 Strength — Hurricane Katrina will go down in the history books as the costliest hurricane in U.S. history, but not by a long shot the most powerful. — The National Hurricane Center released a summary report …
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Mark Leibovich / Washington Post:
Unanswer Man — Scott McClellan Is the President's Spokesman, Which Doesn't Leave Him Much to Say — On the Thursday morning after his reelection in November 2004, President Bush bounded unexpectedly into the Roosevelt Room of the White House, where about 15 members of his communications team were celebrating.
Reuters:
Annan assails reporter in rare show of anger — UNITED NATIONS, Dec 21 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan lost his diplomatic cool with a reporter on Wednesday, calling him an "overgrown schoolboy" in a show of anger at questions over his part in the Iraq oil-for-food scandal.
