Top Items:
Los Angeles Times:
U.S. Spying Is Much Wider, Some Suspect — WASHINGTON — President Bush has acknowledged that several hundred targeted Americans were wiretapped without warrants under the National Security Agency's domestic spying program, and now some U.S. officials and outside experts say they suspect …
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Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Officials Want to Expand Review of Domestic Spying — WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 - Congressional officials said Saturday that they wanted to investigate the disclosure that the National Security Agency had gained access to some of the country's main telephone arteries to glean data on possible terrorists.
Dafydd / Big Lizards:
The Times' Reach Exceeds Its Grasp — Global War on Terrorism , Media Madness — At this point, it's not even eyebrow-raising that the New York Times is vigorously trying to destroy the foreign-intelligence gathering program run by the National Security Agency (a.k.a., "No Such Agency").
Steve Chapman / Chicago Tribune:
Beyond the imperial presidency — President Bush is a bundle of paradoxes. He thinks the scope of the federal government should be limited but the powers of the president should not. He wants judges to interpret the Constitution as the framers did, but doesn't think he should be constrained by their intentions.
James Bamford / New York Times:
The Agency That Could Be Big Brother — DEEP in a remote, fog-layered hollow near Sugar Grove, W.Va., hidden by fortress-like mountains, sits the country's largest eavesdropping bug. Located in a "radio quiet" zone, the station's large parabolic dishes secretly and silently sweep in millions …
Jim Wolf / Reuters:
New Year's Day 2006: delayed by a second — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Get ready for a minute with 61 seconds. Scientists are delaying the start of 2006 by the first "leap second" in seven years, a timing tweak meant to make up for changes in the Earth's rotation.
Discussion:
The Heretik
Ezra Klein:
Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukkah, And So Forth — Happy holidays folks. And, yes, a Merry Christmas, too. I can't say I was ever a very vigorous participant in the War on Christmas. I happen to love the holidays and, particularly, the music. But you know how it goes.
Robert D. Kaplan / Los Angeles Times:
The future of America — in Iraq — IF YOU WANT to meet the future political leaders of the United States, go to Iraq. I am not referring to the generals, or even the colonels. I mean the junior officers and enlistees in their 20s and 30s. In the decades ahead, they will represent something uncommon …
Joshua Muravchik / Los Angeles Times:
Freedom had a good year — ALTHOUGH LAST week's Iraqi elections boost the prospects for democracy in that long-suffering land, a new report on the state of freedom globally gives hope that we are at the start of a tectonic shift toward liberty across the Muslim world.
Washington Post:
Post-9/11 Rush Mixed Politics With Security — Congressman Benefits From Homeland Security Spending — As a small start-up company in Massachusetts sought to become a major player in the business of homeland security, it hired a lobbyist and attended a fundraiser for one of the most powerful members of Congress.
Josh White / Washington Post:
Detainees Face Limited Access to Courts — But Bill Awaiting Bush Signature Would Shield Terror Suspects from U.S. Abuse — The defense authorization bill approved by Congress this week includes landmark protections for military detainees suspected of terrorist activities from abuse …
Clancy Chassay / Lebanon Daily Star:
Hizbullah is Lebanon's bulwark against Al-Qaeda — 'We do not have any relations with that group' — Since the events of September 11, 2001, there have been numerous attempts to link Hizbullah to Al-Qaeda - some more plausible than others. Investigation, however, reveals considerable animosity between …
Discussion:
TigerHawk
Faye Fiore / Los Angeles Times:
From Heckles to Halos — In dramatic contrast to the Vietnam War era, U.S. service personnel now are being treated to strangers' spontaneous bursts of gratitude. — There's a diner called Peggy Sue's about eight miles outside of Barstow, and as hard as Lt. Col. Kenneth Parks tries, he can never seem to pay his bill.
New York Times:
U.S., Citing Abuse in Iraqi Prisons, Holds Detainees — WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 - The commander of American-run prisons in Iraq says the military will not turn over any detainees or detention centers to Iraqi jailers until American officials are satisfied that the Iraqis are meeting United States standards …
