"The American Bar Association calls upon the President to abide by the limitations which the Constitution imposes on a president under our system of checks and balances and respect the essential roles of the Congress and the judicial branch in ensuring that our national security is protected in a manner consistent with constitutional guarantees." See the report of the American Bar Association Task Force on Domestic Surveillance in the Fight Against Terrorism: http://www.abanet.org/op/domsurv/
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Non-communication has become WH's standard procedure http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2006/02/16/chn_ftz.html
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The day Cheney plotted to accidentally shoot NYT's Dowd http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-kenney15feb15,0,1216758.story?coll=la-news-comment Los Angeles Times Novelist John Kenney imagines it. He also writes about Dick Cheney accidentally shooting Michael Moore as the documentary filmmaker walked out of a Manhattan Denny's. Hillary Clinton was lucky because the veep tripped as he shot at her. I think Cheny ought to just shoot himself to put himself and us out of his misery.
Bad Reporter: Liberals now OK with Scalia hunting with Cheney (Chron) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/02 15/DDASMUSSENBR.DTL
Bet the are!
CHENEY'S CHOICE OF BRIT HUME AS CONFESSOR DRAWS CRITICISM (LAT) In an interview with Fox News' Brit Hume, the vice president called last Saturday's accidental shooting "one of the worst days of my life," but said he was certain that he handled it correctly by waiting nearly a day to make it public. NYT: Cheney's choice of Fox News for his first TV interview since the incident is telling, writes Alessandra Stanley. WaPo: Hume was Cheney's choice for a "straight shooter." CSM: Media frenzy intensifies. Salon: The White House's secretive response to Cheney's misfire cannot be understood apart from the society of Texas royalty. Slate: Cheney's assault on the public's right to know. USAT: "[Fox News is] the house organ for the Republican Party," said CNN political analyst Paul Begala, a former Clinton aide. "It's like Khrushchev giving an interview to Pravda." http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cheneytv16feb16,0,6154961.story?coll=la-home-headlines http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/16/politics/16watch.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502401.html?sub=AR http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0216/p02s02-uspo.html http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2006/02/15/cheney/index_np.html http://www.slate.com/id/2136323/?nav=tap3 http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2006-02-15-media-mix_x.htm
THE VICE PRESIDENT'S DECLASSIFICATION AUTHORITY "Is it your view that a Vice President has the authority to declassify information?" Vice President Cheney was asked yesterday by Fox News' Brit Hume. "There is an executive order to that effect," replied the Vice President. This was a simple answer to a straightforward question, but the matter is actually a bit more complicated. The executive order in question is E.O. 13292 on classified national security information, issued by President Bush in March 2003: http://www.fas.org/sgp/bush/eoamend.html
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"Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the number of insiders alleging wrongdoing in government - either through whistle-blower channels or directly to the press - has surged, as have reprisals against them." See "A surge in whistle-blowing ... and reprisals" by Gail Russell Chaddock, Christian Science Monitor, February 16, 2006: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0216/p01s01-uspo.html
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Jack Shafer sorts out what appeared to be an early post-9/11 disclosure of warrantless domestic surveillance, and takes a poke at DCIA Porter Goss for flogging discredited leak allegations. See "NSA Scoop or Just Bad Writing?" by Jack Shafer, Slate, February 15, 2006: http://www.slate.com/id/2136184/
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Jonathan Schell, Goodbye to All That
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=60579
THE CHENEY INTERVIEW [FISHBOWLDC] The complete interview between Dick Cheney and Brit Hume... http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/teapot_tempests/the_cheney_interview_32503.asp
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"We cannot continue to claim we are a nation of laws and not of men if our laws, and indeed even the Constitution of the United States itself, may be summarily breached because of some determination of expediency or because the President says, 'Trust me'," said Sen. Robert Byrd in a Senate floor statement yesterday.
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_cr/byrd021506.html
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NYC'S ALT-WEEKLY TURMOIL (BOSTON PHOENIX) Mark Jurkowitz: The turmoil at the New York Press and Village Voice reflects a similar uncertainty about their editorial missions. It's a sure indicator that the alt-weekly business, despite its long-entrenched emphasis on politics, pop culture, and stylistic license, is struggling for relevance. http://thephoenix.com/Article.aspx?id=4211&page=1
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Blocking Progress In New Orleans by Robert Reich, TomPaine.comBush wants market forces to rebuild New Orleans--the only problem is that there's no market. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/16/blocking_progress_in_new_orleans.php
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Whoa! Saddam Hussein told aides in the mid-1990s that he warned the United States it could be hit by a terrorist attack, ABC News reported Wednesday, citing 12 hours of tapes the network obtained of the former Iraqi dictator's talks with his Cabinet.
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060215201309990002&ncid=NWS00010000000001
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Bush's Health Care Scheme Would Create 600K More Uninsured Americanshttp://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/16/health-care-scheme/
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Venezuela: a revolution in contraflow
Ivan Briscoe 10 - 2 - 2006
FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT="Ivan Briscoe, travelling west from Caracas to Macaraibo, listens to the voices of the unemployed, the mobilised, the empowered and the disillusioned to portray the hope and the paradoxes of Hugo Chávez's "Bolivarian revolution".
http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-protest/venezuela_3255.jsp
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Ray McGovern: Who Will Blow the Whistle Before We Attack Iran? -- A BuzzFlash Guest Contributionhttp://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/06/02/con06062.html

Abramoff Admits Authenticity of Photos with Bush But Now is Fearful Their Publication Would Harm His Plea Agreement. In Short, As BuzzFlash Predicted the DOJ is Cutting a Plea Agreement with Jack A. that Will Protect the White House.
"They will come up with excuse after excuse as to how and why he did not know me. I could have spent four months alone with him in Bolivia and he would not know me."
http://www.washingtonian.com/inwashington/buzz/2006/abramoffpictures1.html
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Alberto Gonzales refuses to step aside in Abramoff case. Alberto is there as the Bush Consigliere and Needs to Protect the White House and Himself. 2/18
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060217/ap_on_go_co/abramoff_gonzales;_ylt=Ah9HAXNehFeMtvZthyVRckCWwvIE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM
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Why Were the Abu Ghraib Photos Released Now? 2/18
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/17/why-were-the-abu-ghraib-photos-released-now/
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Bush administration seeks funds for regime change in Iran http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/feb2006/iran-f18.shtml
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Published on Friday, February 17, 2006 by the Independent/UK
Sea Levels Likely to Rise Much Faster Than Was Predictedhttp://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0217-06.htm
Sea Levels Likely to Rise Much Faster Than Was Predicted
by Steve ConnorGlobal warming is causing the Greenland ice cap to disintegrate far faster than anyone predicted. A study of the region's massive ice sheet warns that sea levels may - as a consequence - rise more dramatically than expected.
Scientists have found that many of the huge glaciers of Greenland are moving at an accelerating rate - dumping twice as much ice into the sea than five years ago - indicating that the ice sheet is undergoing a potentially catastrophic breakup.

AT&T Collaborated With NSA to Invade Americans' Privacy, Suit SaysBy LINDA COADY, ESQ., Andrews Publications Staff Writer
http://news.findlaw.com/andrews/bt/prv/20060217/20060217hepting.html
A purported class-action lawsuit against AT&T Corp. alleges the telecommunications giant has allowed the National Security Agency access to its facilities and databases for the purpose of spying on American citizens. ===Why the President's Defense of Executive Power to Wiretap Without Warrants Can't Succeed in the Strict Constructionist Court He WantsBy VIKRAM AMAR AND ALAN BROWNSTEIN
A few months ago, President Bush said he picked Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito largely because he considers them "strict constructionists." In the President's words, "[w]e've got to make sure . . . to have people who serve on the bench who are not going to try to legislate, but who will strictly interpret the Constitution." The President's message was clear: Justices should narrowly apply the law as it exists - derived from non-judicial sources like text, history and unbroken societal tradition - rather than "create" law in the context of adjudicating disputes.
Chief Justice Roberts in his confirmation hearings reinforced this idea with his memorable analogy to baseball umpiring. "I will remember," Roberts explained, "that it's my job to call balls and strikes, and not to pitch or bat."
Today, the President's warrantless spying on telephone and e-mail communications between people in the United States and in foreign countries is being aggressively challenged on constitutional grounds. A case involving the President's program could possibly reach the high Court. And given the fact that this is the first major constitutional controversy to arise since the new "strict constructionist" Justices have been confirmed, now seems like an ideal time to test the efficacy of the President's constitutional vision against the realities of constitutional practice.
Ironically, in order to resolve this dispute - and especially to resolve it in the way the President wants - the Court would very probably engage exactly the kind of creative "law making" policy-oriented analysis the President rejected so emphatically such a short time ago. For reasons we'll explain in this column, the President might be well-advised to hope that Roberts and Alito aren't quite the strict constructionists he touted.
To demonstrate the limits on the utility of the President's strict constructionism - and the unhelpfulness of the "balls and strikes" umpiring metaphor - we examine the eavesdropping question from three "strict constructionist" perspectives: The constitution's theoretical foundations, its text and its original understanding.
The First Strict Constructionist Tool: Foundational Principles
First, let's consider underlying foundational precepts - the mega-principles, if you will - that undergird the Constitution. Some of these, at least, are not open to serious argument. One is popular sovereignty - the idea that the expressed, considered will of the people be respected -- and its practical corollary, political accountability on the part of government officials. This comes straight out of the Declaration of Independence. "Governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Nothing activist here.
Another basic principle is the need to diffuse power to avoid its abuse. Again, this is Constitutional Law 101. The basic structures of the United States government - the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances - are direct manifestations of this overriding concern. This axiom - like that concerning popular sovereignty - is clearly accepted.
The President's assertion of inherent executive power to conduct secret surveillance of telephone and e-mail messages of American citizens without prior congressional authorization or judicial oversight directly conflicts with both of these foundational principles.
Column continues below ¢ Ads by Google Vonage VoIP Phone ServiceSave money with the top-rated VoIP service, starting at just $14.99www.vonage.com Learn The Facts - VOIP {Find Out How VOIP Can Help You} Download Our VoIP White Paperwww.globalcrossing.com VOIP PBX SelectionFree guide to VOIP PBX selection and successful integration. www.ascendentsystems.com Secret surveillance of private communications, by its very nature, is immune from political accountability; the people cannot use the electoral process to sanction clandestine government conduct of which they are unaware.
Similarly, and obviously, no direct checks and balances apply to executive conduct that, according to the Administration, need not be authorized by congressional legislation and is immune from judicial review. Whether the spying that has already occurred has been limited to serve only legitimate, indeed, compelling government interests is largely irrelevant to this debate. The problem with unchecked power is not that it will be misused in every instance, but that over time it will always be abused.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20060217_brownstein.html
====Judge Orders Spying Documents Released
A federal judge ordered the Bush administration on Thursday to release documents about its warrantless surveillance program or spell out what it is withholding, a setback to efforts to keep the program under wraps. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0217-03.htm --Current Administration Seems to Relish Media's Angerhttp://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0217-09.htm ===Sea Levels Likely to Rise Much Faster Than Was Predicted, not fast enough for my taste to drown out AndrewLleeds!http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0217-06.htm


Debating Impeachment: Your Letters by TomPaine.com Readers What Muslims really want; the big "I" question; New Orleans' free market: Readers react in this week's letters. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/17/debating_impeachment_your_letters.php
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Rumsfeld says we're losing the propaganda war. Hey, Rummy, we're losing the real one, too, or did someone forget to mention that to you? He thinks the U.S. needs a blog. Really. Oh, that'll stop an IED.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060217/pl_nm/security_rumsfeld_dc_6
Rumsfeld's Pet Tyrants by Tom Porteous, TomPaine.comThe defense secretary's North African deals show that freedom is on the march -- a death march. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/17/rumsfelds_pet_tyrants.php
There is no AXIS of EVIL, but there sure is a HUB of EVIL.
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Whittington sorry for what Cheney has gone through. He's sorry? The VP shot him in the face and heart, but he's sorry that Cheney had a bad week? Who apologizes for being shot? Obviously, a pellet entered his brain and caused some serious damage. Well, it's that or he's an idiot, a lily-livered sycophant or Cheney has compromising pictures of the guy. If the guy is that much of an idiot that he'd step in front of a properly wielded gun, why did they take him hunting?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060217/ts_alt_afp/ uspoliticscheney_060217191838
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SacBee: Libby revelation shows priority of secrecy over security 2/17
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/editorials/v-print/story/14195104p-15021738c.html
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2006 Fleischer sides with White House reporters on Cheney issue http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5220808
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Washingtonpost.com allows comments again on post.blog http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=11103
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The new strategic plan is a handsome document, but largely devoid of significant content. See "DHS Intelligence Enterprise Strategic Plan," January 2006 (3.3 MB PDF file): http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dhs/stratplan.pdf And see "Intelligence Integration and Management," DHS Management Directive 8110, January 30, 2006: http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dhs/md8110.pdf
Relatedly, "DHS Has Not Implemented an Information Security Program for Its Intelligence Systems," according to the title of a new DHS Inspector General report (flagged by BeSpacific.com): http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interweb/assetlibrary/OIG_06-13-Dec05.pdf
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Guantanamo's Invisible Men by Dahlia Lithwick, Slate We now have proof that most of the prisoners are guilty only of bad luck and that we are casually destroying their lives. http://www.slate.com/id/2136422/?nav=tap3

David Michael Green See No Evil, Become That Evil: Supporting the War As An Act of Unpatriotic Cowardice. That would be douchebag Lleedsidrewnoff!http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0216-28.htm
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We in Basra have decided not to cooperate in any way with the British troops," 43 year-old food merchant Ali Shehab Najim told IPS. "These occupiers of Basra are invaders and we will not sell them any of their requirements." Najim added, "None of us will work with them any longer either. My cousin used to work with them inside their base, but not any more. He refuses to go to work, and we have decided to show our contempt for them in every way possible."
http://www.ipsnews.net/
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CAFFERTY: "TOTALLY OUT OF LINE?" [TVNEWSER] CNN's Jack Cafferty hit a nerve yesterday when he called Fox News the "F-word network" and suggested that Brit Hume would toss Dick Cheney softballs. http://www.mediabistro.com/news/original/jcaff.jpg
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THE FISHBOWLLA SEX TAPE POLL [FISHBOWLLA] It sure seems like a lot of celebrities get taped having sex, especially if one assumes that for every tape that makes its way to the public, there are several that don't.The tape of one AndrewLeed's in his stall with his mutton, however, is drawing, raves. http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlLA/on/the_fishbowlla_sex_tape_poll_32551.asp
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In short, Cheney is a rich man who pretends to be a hunter, but really just might as well have the domesticated birds brought dead to him on a platter. In Pennsylvania awhile back, he killed hundreds of pheasants by just standing around and basically randomly shooting buckshot into the air...The problem with the Cheney/Bush Administration is that long ago the rumors became a lot more credible than the cover stories. Who else but America's Rasputin, Dick Cheney, could be the GOP Hypocrite of the Week
http://www.gophypocrites.com/2006/02/hyp06007.html
Veteran hunters and shooting experts said Thursday that they still did not understand how the vice president injured his fellow hunting partner so badly if he was actually 30 yards away as Cheney says.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/16/news/shot.php
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Destined to be Overruled by the Bushevik Supreme Court: "A federal judge dealt a setback to the Bush administration on its warrantless surveillance program, ordering the Justice Department on Thursday to release documents about the highly classified effort within 20 days or compile a list of what it is withholding."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/domestic_spying_courts
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The Growing Importance of Japan's Engagement in Central Asia
Drafted By: Christopher Len http://www.pinr.com
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Bush Plans Huge Propaganda Campaign in Iran http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0216-08.htm
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National Security Whistle-Blowers Allege Retaliationhttp://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0215-12.htm
Cheney Invokes Monarchal Powers, Claims That He Can Unilaterally Declassify Information. This is to Protect Him from Libby's Claim that Cheney Authorized Him to Use Classified Information to Go After Joe Wilson with a Chainsaw. When Will America Wake Up That We Have Dictators Running the Country?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/cheney_cia_leak;_ylt=AhYQ2.uKi46eNy37deHuedas0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM
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"We can't get bin Laden, but we nailed a 78-year-old attorney," comedian David Letterman said on his CBS Late Night Show. Yesterday the joke suddenly became a good deal less funny. Actually Letterman's Quip Was True, Not Just a Laugh Line.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10368594...
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday the latest images of abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison showed clear violations of international humanitarian law.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/iraq_abuse_cross_dc;_ylt=Ary7UBMH7.6zdeHYVZd0xKys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ
Iraq Death Squad Claims Being Investigated
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/iraq;_ylt=AmzaI4ZBZlyxkUdvvZmEeras0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
Russ Feingold On the Patriot Act Dealhttp://www.commondreams.org/views06/0215-34.htm
How is It Possible that the Anti-Patriot Act Provisions is Still Moving Toward Re-Passage? Bush and Cheney are Daring the Congress to Give Them Dictatorial Powers and the Rubber Stamp Congress Deli! vers Them on a Platter. 2/16
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060216/ap_on_go_co/patriot_act;_ylt=AjqoNa2SQ3hg0_GrhtbEsUus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM -
Jeremy Harding on the benefits of self-censorship
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n04/hard01a.html
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Russ Feingold On the Patriot Act Dealhttp://www.commondreams.org/views06/0215-34.htm
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International Study on Arctic Climate Change Produces Startling Findingshttp://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0215-07.htm
A variety of stories keep trickling out about jack abromoff having photos of himself and the bushwacker, and of e-mail exchanges between the two. am just wondering whether any of the heavy bettors are willing to wager on the appr. date that Jacko will be pardoned??? === http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-2035 [...] === The challenges posed by so-called "sensitive but unclassified" http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=UNCLASSIFIED-02-02-06&cat=AN ==== Cheney "doesn't seem to worry about reporters' outrage" (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060215/a_cheney15.art.htm http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/gwbush/chnyshooting21106rpt.html Texas Attorney and Shooting Victim Harry Whittington http://pview.findlaw.com/view/3008369_1 Whittington's Litigation Record http://pview.findlaw.com/view/3008369_1?channel=LP Justice Scalia Discusses Duck Hunting With Cheney http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/scotus/chny22304scrbrf24.html What Is Negligence? http://injury.findlaw.com/personal-injury/personal-injury-a-z/personal-injury-law-negligence/ Frameshop: 13, 2006: http://www.nysun.com/article/27429 === Op-ed: 'Ignotum per Ignotius'!" by Sibel Edmonds, February 11: http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/06/02/con06058.html === A HEARING ON WHISTLEBLOWERS The House Government Reform Committee held an extraordinary hearing yesterday on the vulnerabilities of national security whistleblowers http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2006_hr/index.html === Responsibility for the accident lies squarely on Cheney's shoulders" (DNT) http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/13871266.htm Leggett: "Stand up. Take responsibility. Be a man. You shot a guy." (A-S) http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/other/02/14leggettcolumn.html http://dickcheneyquailhunt.cf.huffingtonpost.com/ === Feds want to know how Bee reporters got terror case file http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/14187598p-15014676c.html The FBI is investigating http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/ongoing/investigation/ === U.S. Quadrennial Defense Review Reveals a Strategy Void Drafted By: Dr. Michael A. Weinstein http://www.pinr.com == Corruption and Impunity in Mexico's Now Famous Press Freedom Case is One More Stain on the Fox Presidency http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2006/COHA%20Opinion/COHA_Opinion_06.04_Lydia_Cacho.html === Dereliction Of Duty by David Corn, TomPaine.com Republican leaders in Congress are failing the public by choosing not to question King George and his courtesans. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/02/15/dereliction_of_duty.php === Security & Terrorism Whistleblower says NSA violations biggerWASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- A former NSA employee said Tuesday there is another ongoing top-secret surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights. http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20060214-053955-9494r === Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/14/AR2006021401812_pf.html