Top Items:
Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Secret Court's Judges Were Warned About NSA Spy Data — Program May Have Led Improperly to Warrants — Twice in the past four years, a top Justice Department lawyer warned the presiding judge of a secret surveillance court that information overheard in President Bush's eavesdropping program …
Discussion:
firedoglake, Macsmind, Hugh Hewitt, TAPPED, Decision '08, The Hotline's Blogometer, TalkLeft, PoliBlog, Amygdala, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Left Coaster, Defense Tech, A MOCKINGBIRD'S MEDLEY, Think Progress, The Volokh Conspiracy, Stygius, The Democratic Daily Blog, Democrat Taylor Marsh …, AMERICAblog, WTF Is It Now??, The American Street, The Washington Monthly, Democratic Veteran, Just a Bump in the Beltway and Bark Bark Woof Woof
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Charles Babington / Washington Post:
White House Agrees to Brief Congress on NSA Surveillance — Responding to congressional pressure from both parties, the White House agreed yesterday to give lawmakers more information about its domestic surveillance program, although the briefings remain highly classified and limited in scope.
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, Big Lizards, The Heretik, The Left Coaster, The Moderate Voice, the talking dog, Stop The ACLU, PoliBlog and Reuters
Opinion Journal:
Abolish FISA — A Congressional power grab, using judges as a cudgel. — Whatever happened to "impeachment"? Only two months ago, that was the word on leading Democratic lips as they assailed President Bush for "illegal" warrantless NSA wiretaps against al Qaeda suspects.
Bill Theobald / gallatinnewsexaminer.com:
Hastert, Frist said to rig bill for drug firms — Frist denies protection was added in secret — WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert engineered a backroom legislative maneuver to protect pharmaceutical companies from lawsuits, say witnesses to the pre-Christmas power play.
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Murray Waas / nationaljournal.com:
Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information — Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information …
Associated Press:
Bush: Al Qaeda attack on West Coast thwarted — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush said the U.S.-led global war on terror has "weakened and fractured" al Qaeda and allied groups, outlining as proof new details about the multinational cooperation that foiled purported terrorist plans to fly …
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Hassan M. Fattah / New York Times:
At Mecca Meeting, Cartoon Outrage Crystallized — BEIRUT, Lebanon, Feb. 8 — As leaders of the world's 57 Muslim nations gathered for a summit meeting in Mecca in December, issues like religious extremism dominated the official agenda. But much of the talk in the hallways was of a wholly different issue …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Ezra Klein, The Blogging of the President, The Belmont Club, Daimnation!, Althouse, Tim Worstall and PoliBlog
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Jamal Saidi / MSNBC:Bush, Rice told to 'shut up' over cartoon issue
Discussion:
Israel news and commentary …
Lee Scott / Washington Post:
Wal-Mart Is in Maryland to Stay — Last month the Maryland General Assembly enacted a law that requires large employers to spend a certain percentage of their payroll on health care. The bill was designed to apply solely to our company, Wal-Mart. Since then we've received a lot of e-mails …
Discussion:
Hotline On Call
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Associated Press:
Ex-FEMA chief: I may tell all about Katrina — Michael Brown asks White House if they want him to stay quiet — WASHINGTON (AP) — Former disaster agency chief Michael Brown is indicating he is ready to reveal his correspondence with President Bush and other officials during Hurricane Katrina unless …
Discussion:
IntoxiNation-News …, The Carpetbagger Report, Shakespeare's Sister, The Heretik and Talking Points Memo
Andrew Osborn / Independent:
Russia aghast as red tape causes vodka shortage — Stocks of vodka, Russia's national tipple, are running dangerously low because of a Soviet-style bureaucratic blunder that has brought production to a halt. — Hardly a bottle of the grain-based spirit has been made since the beginning of the year …
Brian Montopoli / News Blog:
The China Syndrome — In America, where Google is fighting the Justice Department's efforts to secure the company's records of its users search habits, it might look like Internet companies consider keeping private information about users a significant priority.
David Rennie / Telegraph:
EU commissioner urges European press code on religion — Plans for a European press charter committing the media to "prudence" when reporting on Islam and other religions, were unveiled yesterday. — Franco Frattini, the European Union commissioner for justice, freedom and security …
newsyemen.net:
Security apparatus arrest about 200 of the 23 escapees' relatives and families for investigation — Sana'a, NewsYemen — In the wake of the escape of 23 al-Qaeda prisoners from the prison of the Yemen Political Security Organization, security forces here launched a large-scale arrest campaign …
Mike Hughlett / Sun-Sentinel:
Craigslist sued over housing ad bias — Online classified site's standards in question — A Chicago fair housing group has sued groundbreaking Web site Craigslist for allegedly publishing discriminatory advertisements, a case that could test the legal liabilities of online ad venues.
Jonathan D. Glater / New York Times:
Applications to Law Schools Are Declining — Has law school lost its appeal? — Last year, for the first time since the 1997-98 admission cycle, the number of applicants to law school declined, by 4.6 percent, and so far this year, the number has declined by 9.5 percent.
benningtonbanner.com:
Freed and a Brattleboro Democrat sign up with Tarrant — BRATTLEBORO — A Brattleboro native is crossing party lines to lead Republican candidate Richard Tarrant's campaign for U.S. Senate. — Kate O'Connor, a Democrat from Brattleboro who headed former Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2004 …
Nancy Goldstein / rawstory.com:
Money shot — Twenty bloggers. Seventeen states. One question: If you had $100 to invest politically, where would it go? — True confessions: when I queried folks, I told them that I, like so many disenchanted progressives, had sworn off giving money to the Democratic National Party …
Nick Britten / Telegraph:
100,000 Muslims to vent anger in London at cartoon protest — A mass demonstration of 100,000 Muslims will take place in London next weekend as anger continues over publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. — The Muslim Action Committee, an umbrella group which claims to represent …
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
Bucking Bush on Spying — No member of the Senate is more conservative than Sam Brownback of Kansas — a loyal Republican, an ardent opponent of abortion and, not coincidentally, a presidential hopeful for 2008. — As a member of the Judiciary Committee, he has supported President Bush on every one of his court appointments.
DownWithTyranny!:
JOE SHOULD GO— NED LAMONT'S FIRST FUND-RAISER — I just got back from meeting Ned Lamont. I went because I dislike everything about Lieberman and have since I first heard about him as a sleazy, right wing local pol in Connecticut, long before he became part of a national or international nightmare.
James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:
Lone Gun in War Reporting — Michael Yon's blog made him a hero among backers of the effort in Iraq. As his profile grew, so did debate on the quality of his work. — More than one U.S. senator endorsed him. So did retired Lt. Col. Oliver North and platoons of American fighting men and women.
