NSA Spying Part of Broader Effort  —  Intelligence Chief Says Bush Authorized Secret Activities Under One Order  —  The Bush administration's chief intelligence official said yesterday that President Bush authorized a series of secret surveillance activities under a single executive order in late 2001.

Late Nite FDL: Why the Republicans are Running From YouTube  —  Let's get something straight here.  The reason the Republicans are running from a YouTube debate has nothing to do with embarrassing themselves and everything to do with the horror that is the Republican base (see video above).

Ethics Questions Plague Other Alaska Senator  —  Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, has been drawn into a swirl of ethics accusations that have already brought F.B.I. scrutiny to the two other members of the state's Congressional delegation and resulted in a raid this week on the home of Senator Ted Stevens.

Rather than deny funding for Bush's initiatives, Congress should provide it now . . . * Congress should also give the president the money and support that he requests.  —  In February, O'Hanlon went to the Wall St. Journal Editorial Page to argue that Congressional Democrats were wrong to oppose …

U.S. checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan  —  The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa.  The request came in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem.

U.S. Attorney Became Target After Rebuffing Justice Dept.  —  The night before the government secured a guilty plea from the manufacturer of the addictive painkiller OxyContin, a senior Justice Department official called the U.S. attorney handling the case and, at the behest of an executive for the drugmaker …

Britain can't have two best friends  —  Gordon Brown's first Washington visit as Britain's prime minister has prompted tea-leaf reading about the strengths and weaknesses of the US-UK relationship.  Momentarily diverting - and probably unavoidable - as the frenzy of speculation is, the real tests lie ahead.

This Time, Bill to Raise Yuan Might Pass  —  It has become a Capitol Hill ritual: A few senators, always including the New York Democrat Charles E. Schumer, introduce a bill to punish China if its leaders do not raise the value of the nation's currency.  Photos are taken, news releases are issued, but nothing really happens.

Biglaw and Big Politics: Which Way Does Your Firm Lean?  —  With the 2008 presidential campaign dominating the airwaves, despite being over a year away, everyone is talking about politics (and watching awesome, politically-themed music videos).  Here's a question that a law student posed to us:

Cheney admits was wrong about "last throes" in Iraq  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney acknowledged on Tuesday he was wrong in 2005 when he insisted the insurgency in Iraq was in its "last throes."  —  It was Cheney's most direct public admission of how badly …

Teachers demand ban on sites used by cyber-bullies  —  Websites such as YouTube, MSN and RateMyTeachers.com should be closed down to prevent the bullying of schoolchildren and staff online, teachers demanded yesterday.  —  Victims of cyber-bullying are vulnerable 24 hours a day …

Group to Deliver Bibles With Newspapers  —  NEW YORK Everything from detergent to computer discs is packaged with the Sunday newspaper.  So why not Bibles?  —  A Christian ministry wants to deliver custom-designed New Testaments to newspaper subscribers around the country as part of an effort …

Building onto Facebook's Platform  —  Developers search for killer apps for the social operating system. … Facebook Platform, an application program interface (API) that developers can use to build applications within the social-networking site Facebook, has created a Silicon Valley gold rush.

Study: Fla. Voting Machines Still Flawed  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida's optical scan voting machines are still flawed, despite efforts to fix them, and they could allow poll workers to tamper with the election results, according to a government-ordered study obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

Novak likes the idea of President Paul  —  Bob Novak stopped by the Heritage Foundation today for a lunchtime discussion with conservative bloggers about his new professional autobiography, The Prince of Darkness.  —  While he lamented the practice of reporters acting as opinion drivers and news analysts …