Top Items:
Katherine Shrader / Associated Press:
Hatch: Court Briefed on Bush Surveillance — WASHINGTON - Two judges on the secretive court that approves warrants for intelligence surveillance were told of the broad monitoring programs that have raised recent controversy, a Republican senator said Tuesday, connecting a court to knowledge …
Discussion:
Right Wing Nut House, Running Scared, Confederate Yankee, The Strata-Sphere, AMERICAblog, NewsHog and GOP Bloggers
RELATED ITEMS:
New York Times:
Verizon Denies Turning Over Local Phone Data — Verizon, the country's second-largest phone company, said yesterday that it had not provided local phone records to the National Security Agency as part of efforts to compile a database of calling records to track terrorist activities.
Discussion:
CNN, The Left Coaster, TPMmuckraker, The Carpetbagger Report, The Anonymous Liberal, The Washington Monthly and TalkLeft
Vaughn Ververs / News Blog:
A Story Slipping Away?
A Story Slipping Away?
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, Iowa Voice, The American Mind, Wizbang, In the Bullpen and USATODAY.com
Patrick Yoest / public.cq.com:
DHS Does About-Face In Backing Use of National Guard to Seal Border — In December of 2005, Fox News talking head Bill O'Reilly floated an unlikely — even brash — idea to the Homeland Security secretary to seal off the porous southwest border. — "Why don't you put the National Guard …
RELATED ITEMS:
New York Times:
Divide Remains as Bush Pushes Immigration Plan — WASHINGTON, May 16 — President Bush pushed ahead on Tuesday with his effort to bring Republicans in the House and the Senate together on a plan to reduce illegal immigration. But he ran into renewed resistance from conservatives …
RELATED ITEMS:
Mark Tapscott / Tapscott's Copy Desk:
Conservative Battle Fatique? The "What If" Issue — More bad news for the GOP in today's edition of The Washington Post as 56 percent of the respondents to the latest Post/ABC News survey say they prefer Democrats in control of Congress. — There is a distinct, though not quite as deep …
RELATED ITEMS:
Echidne / ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES:
The Care And Maintenance of the Aquarium — The Washington Post honors the recently passed Mother's Day by a most interesting article on the health of the newborn: … Are you prepared for this, ladies between the ages of fifteen and fifty-five? You are now in the state of pre-pregnancy!
Discussion:
Unfogged, Washington Post, Ezra Klein, Blog of the Moderate Left, Shakespeare's Sister, Bitch Ph.D. and Outside The Beltway
Lorie Byrd / Lorie Byrd.com:
Update — I am sorry that I have been MIA all day. I had a doctor appt. out of town that had been scheduled for months and then enjoyed a visit from my mom who came to help lift the spirits of my little fever girl. Anyway, it has been kinda nice to be away from the computer all day …
Discussion:
Stolen Thunder, The Strata-Sphere, PunditGuy, BitsBlog, Ex-Donkey Blog and Alarming News
David Germain / Associated Press:
'Da Vinci Code' Misses the Mark for Critics — CANNES, France - "The Da Vinci Code" drew lukewarm praise, shrugs of indifference, some jeering laughter and a few derisive jabs Tuesday from arguably the world's toughest movie crowd: critics at the Cannes Film Festival.
RELATED ITEMS:
David Germain / Associated Press:
Albinos Condemn 'Da Vinci' Assassin
Albinos Condemn 'Da Vinci' Assassin
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
GOPers Find A New Political Horror Star In Pelosi — You can hear the music starting now. That menacing cadence. The numbing feeling that something could soon happen. A small move that you see in the corner of your eye that makes your blood run cold. And then it happens:
Roger Clegg / Opinion Journal:
Disinvited — The EEOC cancels a meeting rather than listen to criticism. — Last month, I received an invitation to testify before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about affirmative action and diversity in U.S. companies. The testimony was scheduled for today …
Associated Press:
Venezuela may sell U.S. jets to Iran, others — CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's military is considering the possibility of selling its fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to another country, perhaps Iran, a Venezuelan military official said Tuesday.
Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
Senate readies vote on $70B tax cut — MAY. 11 1:13 P.M. ET President Bush and his GOP allies on Capitol Hill anticipated a long-sought election year victory Thursday as senators debated a bill awarding tax relief to investors and 15 million taxpayers with above-average incomes.
Discussion:
David Sirota
Patrick Cockburn / Independent:
Basra carnage escalates as one person killed every hour — One person is being assassinated in Basra every hour, as order in Iraq's second city disintegrates, according to an Iraqi Defence Ministry official. — And a quarter of all Iraqi children suffer from malnutrition …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Chris Bowers / MyDD:
We Will All Win, Eventually — Today, in just three divisions (precincts) available to me, Kevin and I pulled over 100 votes. With only 27-01, 27-02, and 27-23 reporting, we have reached roughly 110 votes. And that is only three divisions (precincts). We won, and we won huge.
TCS Daily:
The Parent Trap — Not long ago we worried about baby booms and overpopulation. Now some people are worrying about a "Global Baby Bust." Writing in Foreign Affairs, Phillip Longman says it's mostly because of economics: … He's clearly right about the economics.
Kathy Matheson / Associated Press:
Foster Quotes Eminem at Penn Graduation — PHILADELPHIA - You can add rapping to the list of Jodie Foster's talents. The Oscar-winning actress spoke Monday at the University of Pennsylvania's commencement ceremonies, ending her address with the chorus of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" from …
Khaled Abu Toameh / Jerusalem Post:
Aksa Brigades threatens US, Europe — The Aksa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, on Monday threatened to strike at US and European interests in response to international sanctions on the Palestinian Authority. — The threat, the first of its kind, came as PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas …
PittsburghLIVE.com:
'Earthquake in Pennsylvania' — TRIBUNE-REVIEW — Angry taxpayers on Tuesday tossed out the two Republican Senate leaders who helped engineer last year's legislative pay raise, an issue that apparently cost 15 House members their jobs, too. — Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer of Altoona …
Washington Post:
U.S. Secretly Backing Warlords in Somalia — More than a decade after U.S. troops withdrew from Somalia following a disastrous military intervention, officials of Somalia's interim government and some U.S. analysts of Africa policy say the United States has returned to the African country …
Discussion:
Air America Radio
Declan McCullagh / CNET News.com:
Congress may make ISPs snoop on you — A prominent Republican on Capitol Hill has prepared legislation that would rewrite Internet privacy rules by requiring that logs of Americans' online activities be stored, CNET News.com has learned. — The proposal comes just weeks …