Top Items:
David Stout / New York Times:
Senate Panel Decides Against Eavesdropping Inquiry, for Now — WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 — The Senate Intelligence Committee decided today not to investigate President Bush's domestic surveillance program, at least for the time being. — "I believe that such an investigation is currently unwarranted …
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New York Times:
Accord in House to Hold Inquiry on Surveillance — WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 — Leaders of the House Intelligence Committee said Thursday that they had agreed to open a Congressional inquiry prompted by the Bush administration's domestic surveillance program. But a dispute immediately broke …
Jay Rosen / PressThink:
Dick Cheney Did Not Make a Mistake By Not Telling the Press He Shot a Guy — "The public visibility of the presidency itself is under revision. More of it lies in shadow all the time. Non-communication has become the standard procedure, not a breakdown in practice but the essence of it …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Ezra Klein, TAPPED, Confusing Visitors …, Outside The Beltway, tapscottscopydesk.blogspot.com, JABBS, The Carpetbagger Report, Media Blog on National …, Bring it On!, Betsy's Page, Hugh Hewitt, Ed Driscoll.com, State of the Day, Exposing Liberal Media Bias, mediabistro and firedoglake
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Steve Clemons / The Washington Note:
Can Cheney be His Own Declassification Machine? — In my view, the law says "No". . .but I have little doubt Alberto Gonzales and his minions will construct a rationale that says otherwise. — But I have run across some interesting information — and have some questions that we should all pose …
National Review:
The Little-Noticed Order That Gave Dick Cheney New Power — In addition to discussing his hunting accident, Vice President Dick Cheney, in his interview on the Fox News Channel Wednesday, also pointed to a little-known but enormously consequential expansion of vice-presidential power …
Mark Benjamin / Salon:
Salon exclusive: The Abu Ghraib files — Never-published photos, and an internal Army report, show more Iraqi prisoner abuse — evidence the government is fighting to hide. — Print EmailFont: S / S+ / S++ — An unknown detainee with women's underwear on his head, strapped to a bed frame.
Discussion:
Reuters, Body and Soul, ACLU, Obsidian Wings, Fausta's Blog, Daimnation!, Riehl World View and Andrew Sullivan
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Dr. Rusty Shackleford / The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta:
Exclusive: Prisoner Abuse Photos from Iraq that MSM Won't Show You — **Jawa Report Exclusive** — The Jawa Report has obtained new photos from a new prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq. The photos show Iraqi prisoners being murdered by troops. The photos have not been published by a single mainstream news outlet.
Kevin Sites / Associated Press:
Iran Renames Danish Pastries — TEHRAN, Iran - Iranians love Danish pastries, but when they look for the flaky dessert at the bakery they now have to ask for "Roses of the Prophet Muhammad." — Bakeries across the capital were covering up their ads for Danish pastries Thursday …
Nancy Martinez / knoxstudio.com:
Sheriff, deputy explain responses to Cheney shooting — SARITA, Texas - The Kenedy County Sheriff's Department feels at home with the Secret Service and the powerful people who go hunting on the Armstrong Ranch, but is out of its comfort zone with the media circus that the Dick Cheney shooting incident …
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National Review:
Checked and Unbalanced — As a reverent admirer of George Will, it pains me to say that his diatribe today against the National Security Agency's terrorist-surveillance program is an embarrassing magpie of hyperbole and error. — Will's premise is that the administration, in authorizing the program …
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White House:
President Discusses Health Care — Reforming Health Care for the 21st Century — THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming. Please be seated. (Applause.) Jack, thanks for the introduction, thanks for letting us convert your lobby into a — (laughter) — place to come and visit.
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Shankar Vedantam / Washington Post:
Glacier Melt Could Signal Faster Rise in Ocean Levels — Greenland's glaciers are melting into the sea twice as fast as previously believed, the result of a warming trend that renders obsolete predictions of how quickly Earth's oceans will rise over the next century, scientists said yesterday.
Anthony Faiola / Washington Post:
Japanese Putting All Their Energy Into Saving Fuel — KAMIITA, Japan — When the Japanese government issued a national battle cry against soaring global energy prices this winter, no one heeded the call to arms more than this farming town in the misty mountains of western Japan.
Polly Curtis / Guardian:
Abortions at home are safe - pilot study — Women who are less than nine weeks pregnant can safely have medical abortions at home, according to the head of a government-backed pilot project. — Abortion services for the 20,000 women who seek a chemically induced abortion every year …
Ace / Ace of Spades HQ:
Bryant Gumbel: Winter Olympics So White They Look Like a "GOP Convention" — Well, yeah, moron. Last time I checked, black kids weren't walking around in Nike Air Turino luge-cleats. — Suffice to say that Mr. Gumbel will not, in the near future, be commenting on the NBA looking like a Biggie Smalls funeral procession.
Mario F. Cattabiani / Philadelphia Inquirer:
Swann sat out on most election days — When Lynn Swann votes for himself in the May Republican primary, it will be a rare springtime trip to the polls. — Despite once saying that the right to vote should never be taken for granted, Swann missed 20 of the state's 36 elections in the last 18 years …
Greg Krikorian / Los Angeles Times:
Secret Data Exposed in Terrorism Case — Federal officials erred in releasing intelligence documents to an Islamic charity's defense team. — Federal officials in Dallas mistakenly disclosed classified counter-terrorism information in a breach of national security that could also threaten …
