Top Items:
Alberto R. Gonzales / Opinion Journal:
America Expects Surveillance — Monitoring the enemy is necessary and appropriate. — In the days following Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush charted a course of action to respond to the worst attack on our homeland in history. He promised to use every tool available to defeat al Qaeda …
Discussion:
Blogs for Bush, Roger L. Simon, The Heretik, Power Line, Althouse, Solomonia, Michelle Malkin, Fausta's Blog, PJ NSA Files and GOP Bloggers
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Associated Press:
Gonzales makes case for spy program — GOP senator says he'll ask attorney general to have court review effort … WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was appearing before a Senate hearing Monday to make the case for President Bush's controversial electronic eavesdropping program.
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
Live blogging the NSA hearings — The logistics of live-blogging from the Committee room were too complicated, so I am live-blogging the hearings off-site. I may be able to do it from the Committee room itself for the afternoon session, but I'd rather have full blogging abilities outside of the room than be in the room.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog
USA Today:
Telecoms let NSA spy on calls — The National Security Agency has secured the cooperation of large telecommunications companies, including AT&T, MCI and Sprint, in its efforts to eavesdrop without warrants on international calls by suspected terrorists, according to seven telecommunications executives.
Scott Shane / New York Times:
For Some, Spying Controversy Recalls a Past Drama — WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 — As the Senate prepares to hold hearings on Monday on domestic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency, old Washington hands see a striking similarity to a drama that unfolded three decades ago in the capital.
Discussion:
ACSBlog
Financial Times:
White House to lash out at media coverage of terror surveillance — The Bush administration will tell the Senate today that the National Security Agency's programme for terrorist surveillance has been badly distorted by media reports, and that the scheme is a strictly limited one aimed at al-Qaeda members and affiliated groups.
BBC:
Four killed in cartoon protests — Four people have died in violent protests against cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad, following more than a week of demonstrations. — Three people died after police in Afghanistan fired on protesters when a police station came under attack, a government spokesman said.
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Rory McCarthy / Guardian:
Rioting with well-planned spontaneity — It was one of those unpredictable Lebanese Sunday mornings. The ski slopes in the mountains overlooking Beirut would have been crowded with skiers enjoying the brilliant winter sunshine. Walkers were out along the Corniche, strolling in designer tracksuits.
James Kilner / Reuters:Norway PM blames Syria for embassy attack
Discussion:
The Glittering Eye, The Politburo Diktat, Hyscience, democracyarsenal.org and New York Times
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Boehner Opposes Sweeping Changes In Lobbyist Work — Newly elected House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said he opposed efforts to ban privately funded travel for members of Congress and provisions in spending bills that fund lawmakers' pet projects.
Times of London:
Self-harmers to be given clean blades — NURSES want patients who are intent on harming themselves to be provided with clean blades so that they can cut themselves more safely. — They say people determined to harm themselves should be helped to minimise the risk of infection from dirty blades …
Francoalemán / Barcepundit:
NOW, ZAPATERO HAS DEFINITELY put Spain in the wrong side. With all Western countries publicly defending free speech and condemning the barbaric acts of violence after the publication of the Danish cartoons, Zapatero and Erdogan write an open letter that has been published in today's International Herald Tribune:
Jim Galloway / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Republican senators urge Reed to quit race — Twenty-one Republican state senators on Friday called for Ralph Reed to withdraw from the contest for lieutenant governor, declaring that his ties to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff could jeopardize the re-election of Gov. Sonny Perdue and the rest of the GOP ticket.
Discussion:
The Democratic Party
Victor Davis Hanson / realclearpolitics.com:
A European Awakening Against Islamic Fascism? — Over the last four years Americans have played a sort of parlor game wondering when—or if—the Europeans might awake to the danger of Islamic fascism and choose a more muscular role in the war on terrorism. — But after the acrimony …
Donald G. McNeil Jr / New York Times:
States and Cities Lag in Bird Flu Readiness — WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — The nation's 5,000 state and local health departments are rushing to plan for an epidemic of avian flu, but they say they are hobbled by a lack of money and guidance from the federal government.
