Saturday, December 24, 2005

Internet Fosters Local Political Movements

COMMENTARY
Because of the Christmas holiday, I had intended to give politics a rest. However, the instant I read, Internet Fosters Local Political Movements, I knew the rest was over. The piece, written by Ron Fournier, does more than I ever could to illustrate what conservatives have been saying about the Left:

-- Liberals have joined together to promote a secular agenda.
-- MoveOn.org has been a driving force in the organization of the secular movement.
-- Liberals will both deny the existence of and promote the organized secular movement.
-- Liberals like to get together and complain about things, but seldom offer solutions.
-- Liberals like to take credit for things others have done. For example, liberal Internet activists have lagged far behind the conservative activists, who often point to the breaking of the Monica Lewinsky scandal by Matt Drudge in 1998 as a waypoint in the battle against liberal news bias. However, Fournier would have us believe liberals are at the forefront of Internet activism and ignores the Swift Boat Vets, Rathergate, and a whole list of long-running Republican and conservative blogs.

I often think of conservatives as a group who choose to listen to talk radio while on the way to and from their jobs. With those jobs, conservatives can also afford greater access to new communications technology and the Internet. Here, liberals are perhaps at a disadvantage. Liberals should blame the failure to motivate all their constituent base on the idea that those folks simply care more about enjoying their secular, liberal lifestyles than politics of the lifestyle itself.

NEWSLINE
"At a time when we are craving community and meaning in our lives, people are using these technologies to find others with the same complaints and organize them," he said. "They don't have to just sit in a coffee shop and gripe about politics."

NEWSBYTE
Internet Fosters Local Political Movements
FORT MYERS, Fla. Dec 24, 2005 (AP) -- Frustrated by government and empowered by technology, Americans are filling needs and fighting causes through grass-roots organizations they built themselves some sophisticated, others quaintly ad hoc. This is the era of people-driven politics.

TENSION: GetOverIt.org
GRAVITY: A paycheck


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Hurricane Katrina Aftermath News Pictures #26

A KATRINA CHRISTMAS

HURRICANE KATRINA NEWS PHOTO PICTURES -- People gather to watch traditional Christmas bonfires on a levee on the Mississippi River in Lutcher, La., Saturday, Dec. 24, 2005. The tradition of burning dozens of massive bonfires, believed by local children to illuminate the river so Papa Noel, the south Louisiana Santa Claus, can find their homes, took place Christmas Eve despite Hurricane Katrina's impact in the area. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma)
Two people walk on a levee along the Mississippi River in front of traditional Christmas bonfire pyres as the sun sets in Lutcher, La. Friday Dec. 24, 2005. The tradition of burning dozens of massive bonfires, believed by local children to illuminate the river so Papa Noel, the south Louisiana Santa Claus, can find their homes, is taking place Christmas Eve despite Hurricane Katrina's impact in the area. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma)
Christmas decorations adorn the front porch of a home destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in the Gentilly section of New Orleans Saturday, Dec. 24, 2005. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Melvin Beaulieu (L) and Felicia Henderson stand on the porch of Beaulieu's trailer, which is decorated with a Christmas tree and lights, in New Orleans' Seventh Ward December 23, 2005. The trailer was loaned by FEMA for residents whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. REUTERS/Lee Celano More News Images on THE TENSION

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Hurricane Katrina Aftermath News Pictures #25

A KATRINA CHRISTMAS

HURRICANE KATRINA NEWS PHOTO PICTURES -- Christmas decorations adorn the front lawn of a home destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in the St. Bernard Parish town of Chalmette, La. just outside New Orleans Friday, Dec. 23, 2005. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Damaged Christmas decorations sit on the lawn of a home destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in the St. Bernard Parish town of Chalmette, La. just outside New Orleans Friday, Dec. 23, 2005. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A small Christmas tree sticks out of the roof of a flooded out car in front of homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in the St. Bernard Parish town of Chalmette, La. just outside New Orleans Friday, Dec. 23, 2005. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) More News Images on THE TENSION

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2005 Pictures of the Year Digest

FBI Monitors Sites Around D.C. for Nukes

WASHINGTON

Washingon Monument at Sunset, Washington DC
COMMENTARY
In the article, EXCLUSIVE: Nuclear Monitoring of Muslims Done Without Search Warrants, and the others like it linked below, the mainstream news folks would have you believe that testing in public for radiation somehow rates a search warrant signed by a judge. Next, I guess Fire Department inspectors will need a warrant to check extinguishers and make sure buildings are up to fire code.

It's apparent that this news story is riding on the coattails of the Times' story exposing the NSA's secret monitoring activity, and is intended simply to add fuel to the fire of hysteria surrounding what were once secret domestic monitoring programs.

Having just moved to the D.C. area, and well aware of the government's action involving the Al-Qaida cell that had operated in and around Fairfax, Virginia, I am here to tell you that I am happy to see the government has been on the job. However, I am concerned that my safety is compromised every time a story like this is leaked to the press and bantered about in the name of partisan politics. When all is said and done, I hope those who are responsible for security leaks one day have to answer for their sad behavior.

NEWSLINE
FBI officials expressed concern that discussion of the program would expose sensitive methods used in counterterrorism. Although NEST staffers have demonstrated their techniques on national television as recently as October, U.S. News has omitted details of how the monitoring is conducted.

NEWSBYTES
EXCLUSIVE: Nuclear Monitoring of Muslims Done Without Search Warrants
(USNews.com) In search of a terrorist nuclear bomb, the federal government since 9/11 has run a far-reaching, top secret program to monitor radiation levels at over a hundred Muslim sites in the Washington, D.C., area, including mosques, homes, businesses, and warehouses, plus similar sites in at least five other cities, U.S. News has learned. In numerous cases, the monitoring required investigators to go on to the property under surveillance, although no search warrants or court orders were ever obtained, according to those with knowledge of the program. Some participants were threatened with loss of their jobs when they questioned the legality of the operation, according to these accounts.

FBI Official Defends Radiation Monitoring
WASHINGTON (AP) - A classified radiation monitoring program, conducted without warrants, has targeted private U.S. property in an effort to prevent an al-Qaida attack, federal law enforcement officials confirmed Friday. While declining to provide details including the number of cities and sites...

Mosques monitored for radiation: report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials have secretly monitored radiation levels at Muslim sites, including mosques and private homes, since September 11, 2001 as part of a top secret program searching for nuclear bombs, U.S. News and World Report said on Friday.

U.S. Monitored Muslim Sites Across Nation for Radiation
(washingtonpost.com) Clandestine FBI and Energy Department teams have monitored private property in the United States for signs of radiation without warrants, U.S. officials said yesterday.

TENSION: Motivated leak
GRAVITY: Status quo


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Images of the News: Saturday, 24 Dec. 2005

A KATRINA CHRISTMAS

A refrigerator damaged by Hurricane Katrina is used to deliver a holiday greeting in New Orleans Friday Dec. 23, 2005. Many area residents are taking the holiday weekend to return to the city and are just beginning the clean up from the hurricane. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

illuminate the river so Papa Noel, the south Louisiana Santa Claus, can find their homes, will take place Christmas Eve despite Hurricane Katrina's impact in the area. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma)
Wade Waguespack, left, cuts cane reed as family friend Remy Roper, 12, carries cane to a bonfire pyre being constructed on a levee on the Mississippi River in Lutcher, La. Wednesday Dec. 21, 2005. The tradition of burning dozens of massive bonfires, believed by local children to illuminate the river so Papa Noel, the south Louisiana Santa Claus, can find their homes, will take place Christmas Eve despite Hurricane Katrina's impact in the area. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma) More News Images on THE TENSION

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More Classified NSA Info Leaked to the Times

WASHINGTON

Capitol at nightCOMMENTARY
Ok, enough is enough. It's about time someone opened an investigation into the unnamed, anonymous sources who are determined to abuse their security clearance and put our country at risk. If an individual has access to classified programs -- and documents marked classified -- and that individual leaks information deemed classified to the press, aren't they breaking the law by abusing their security status?

The mainstream news folks made a lot of stink about Plamegate. Where's the outrage now?

NEWSLINE
The current and former government officials who discussed the program were granted anonymity because it remains classified.

NEWSBYTE
Spy Agency Mined Vast Data Trove, Officials Report
(NYT) WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 - The National Security Agency has traced and analyzed large volumes of telephone and Internet communications flowing into and out of the United States as part of the eavesdropping program that President Bush approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to hunt for evidence of terrorist activity, according to current and former government officials

TENSION: Take a leak
GRAVITY: Status quo


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Friday, December 23, 2005

Images of the News: Friday, 23 Dec. 2005

A KATRINA CHRISTMAS

HURRICANE KATRINA NEWS PHOTO PICTURES -- Christmas decorations hang in front of homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans Friday, Dec. 23, 2005. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A Santa Claus and reindeer are propped in a carton next to other Christmas decorations placed in front of a building destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in the Lower Ninth Ward section of New Orleans Friday Dec. 23, 2005. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma)
A damaged portrait of a child hangs above Christmas decorations which adorn a home destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans Friday, Dec. 23, 2005. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Gregory Scott stands on his porch amidst his tent and Christmas decorations in New Orleans Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005. Other than three weeks he spent on a median on the Orleans Parish border, he says he never left New Orleans or his damaged home since Hurricane Katrina. At left is his friend Myron, no last name given. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)More News Images on THE TENSION

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Al-Qaida Plot to Kill Bush Thwarted: Report

WORLD

Al Qaeda's No. 3 leader, Abu Faraj Al-LibiCOMMENTARY
With all the negative press about the war on terrorism, NSA, CIA, etc., this is one story sure to be overlooked by the mainstream.

NEWSLINE
"Al-Libi had one mission: Kill Bush and Musharraf," the Pakistani official told The News. "He wanted to kill Bush in the White House, preferably."

NEWSBYTE
Al Qaeda fiend targeted Bush
(NY Daily News) WASHINGTON - Before he was captured last spring, Osama Bin Laden's top operational commander was solely focused on killing President Bush and Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharaff, the Daily News has learned.

The capture last May of Al Qaeda's No. 3 leader, Abu Faraj Al-Libi [PICTURED], apparently thwarted plots to assassinate the two partners in the global war on terror, said a senior Pakistani official, whose information was corroborated by two senior U.S. counterterrorism officials.

TENSION: Another one bites the dust
GRAVITY: Overlooked

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Google Talks About the AOL Announcement

TECHNOLOGY/BUSINESS

The Google headquarters in Mountain View, California is shown in this August 18, 2004 file photo. (File/Reuters) COMMENTARY
Marissa Mayer, Google VP of Search Products & User Experience has posted an entry on the Google Blog to clear up misinformation regarding the AOL partnership.

Mayer addresses concerns about search results and the addition of AOL content into the mix. She also says that Google will retain its respectable and restrained layout.

NEWSLINE
We're looking forward to what AOL can help us do for you, and believe that our new agreement with them will only create a better experience for you in 2006 and beyond -- one where you can continue to trust that we're giving you a result because it's the best one we can possibly provide.

NEWSBYTE
About the AOL announcement
(Google Blog) The recent announcement of the AOL partnership has been the source of a lot of rumors and misconceptions. We'd like to clear some of those up.

TENSION: Google will take over the world
GRAVITY: Googlesphere

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Thursday, December 22, 2005

Images of the News: Thursday, 22 Dec. 2005

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Hussein: White House 'No. 1 liar in the world'

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Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Senate Passes Patriot Act Extension

WASHINGTON/POLITICS

PATRIOT ACT - NSA - CIA - WHITE HOUSE - BUSH -- An aerial view of the U.S. Capitol Building is seen in a 2001 file photo. The House of Representatives has no plans to return early from its long winter break to pass a $39.7 billion spending cut bill that was amended on Wednesday by the Senate, an aide to Acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt said. (Larry Downing/Reuters) NEWSBYTES
Senate Passes Patriot Act Extension
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate passed a six-month extension of the USA Patriot Act late Wednesday night, hoping to avoid the expiration of law enforcement powers deemed vital in the war on terror. Approval came on a voice vote, and cleared the way for a final vote in the House. Several provisions in...

Senate votes to extend anti-terrorism bill
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday ended a high-stakes impasse and voted to extend for six months key provisions of the anti-terrorism USA Patriot Act set to expire in 10 days.

Senate Extends Patriot Act
(CBS News) Senators agreed to extend the expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act for six months to allow the bill's critics to continue to seek additional civil liberty safeguards in the anti-terrorism law. The provisions were set to expire on Dec. 31.

Senators agree to extend Patriot Act provisions
(USA Today) The Senate approved a six-month extension of the USA Patriot Act Wednesday night, avoiding the expiration of law enforcement powers deemed vital to the war on terror.

TENSION: Politically motivated
GRAVITY: Status quo


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Hurricane Katrina Top Story of 2005: AP

TOP NEWS STORIES OF 2005

A Grinch blow-up doll stands in front of a house under a sign in the Lakeview area of New Orleans December 21, 2005. Four days before Christmas, the city opened more of its storm-savaged neighborhoods to residents and lifted a curfew for most of the city in steps that Mayor Ray Nagin said were signs the recovery from Hurricane Katrina was ahead of schedule. REUTERS/Lee Celano COMMENTARY
Hurricane Katrina touched so many lives in the Gulf Coast area. Having just recently relocated to DC, I was living in Mobile, Alabama when Hurricane Katrina struck. Situated on the outer fringes of destruction, the storm spared much of Mobile the catastrophe that befell Biloxi and points west. Because Mobile remained intact, almost overnight, the city transformed into a boomtown populated by refugees and relief workers. By the time I moved at the end of November, the strain's burden was apparent on local infrastructure and emotions. The Gulf Coast will never be the same.

In the story linked below are 2005's top 10 stories, as voted by AP members:

NEWSBYTE
Media: Hurricane Katrina Top Story of 2005
NEW YORK (AP) - The onslaught of Gulf Coast hurricanes, notably Katrina and the deadly flooding which devastated New Orleans, was overwhelmingly picked by U.S. editors and news directors as the top story of 2005 in The Associated Press' annual vote.

TENSION: In the news
GRAVITY: Season's greetings

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Political Correctness Kills Americans

OPINION

Political CorrectnessCOMMENTARY
Michael Scheuer, a 22-year veteran with the CIA, created and served as the chief of the agency's Osama bin Laden unit at the Counterterrorist Center. He is also the author of "Imperial Hubris." Scheuer's insights in the piece below, P.C. kills Americans, are timely and telling.

NEWSLINE
"History is replete with episodes of rats leaving a sinking ship."

NEWSBYTE
P.C. kills Americans
By Michael Scheuer
December 21, 2005 (Washington Times) -- If we die as a nation, Lincoln once said, it will be an act of national suicide. And so it seems we are. The media, led by The Washington Post, and Congress, led by Arizona Sen. John McCain, are moving America to disaster's brink by intentionally destroying its most successful counterterrorism tool: the CIA's rendition program.

RELATED
Michael Scheuer

TENSION: Politically correct
GRAVITY: Status quo


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Back to September 10

OPINION

NYC PRE 9/11 COMMENTARY
Offered for your contemplation, a thought-provoking observation on the American status-quo by Daniel Pipes. This piece forces me to imagine U.S. foreign policy as a leaking sieve whose joint ownership is shared by the Dutch boy and the Dean. In my mind's eye, I see the persistent Dutch Boy running back and forth plugging each new leak drilled into the sieve by the equally persistent Dean.

NEWSLINE
"pre-9/11 political correctness has reasserted itself"

NEWSBYTE
Back to September 10
(New York Sun) The attacks of September 11, 2001, made me feel more secure, unlike most Americans. Finally, the country was focused on issues that had long worried me.

"The FBI is engaged in the largest operation in its history," I wrote in late 2001. "Armed marshals will again be flying on U.S. aircraft, and the immigration service has placed foreign students under increased scrutiny. I feel safer when Islamist organizations are exposed, illicit money channels closed down, and immigration regulations reviewed. The amassing of American forces near Iraq and Afghanistan cheers me. The newfound alarm is healthy, the sense of solidarity heartening, the resolve is encouraging."

TENSION: Politically correct
GRAVITY: Status quo


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The Double Standard: Where's the Outrage?

WASHINGTON/POLITICS

COMMENTARY
Remember Plamegate? It doesn't seem so long ago that politicians, progressives, and the press were having spitting fits over the dire threat to national security caused by exposing Valerie Plame as a CIA operative while the country is at war.

Why, then, has the same group been deathly silent over other security breaches? What about the news of secret CIA prisons and interrorgation techniques? What about the news that the Pentagon was involved in psy-ops overseas to combat misinformation spread about the US. What about the Times breaking the story on a secret NSA program to monitor calls to suspected terrorists abroad while the country is at war? Where's the liberal outrage?

Why are these folks only concerned with only some of the security breaches and not the others?

Ya' know, there eventually comes a point when you just can no longer have it both ways.

NEWSLINE
The way things are going, with Congress refusing to reauthorize the Patriot Act and banning "degrading" interrogation methods, we may soon find out if the civil libertarians are right. Heaven help us if they're not.

NEWSBYTE
'Plame Platoon' is AWOL on new leaks
Highly classified programs have been revealed, which could provide real aid to our enemies. So where's all that outrage now?
(latimes.com) IT SEEMS like only yesterday that every high-minded politician, pundit and professional activist was in high dudgeon about the threat posed to national security by the revelation that Valerie Plame was a spook. For daring to reveal a CIA operative's name -- in wartime, no less! -- they wanted someone frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs, preferably headed for the gallows.

TENSION: Divisive
GRAVITY: Status quo

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Images Of The News: Wednesday, 21 Dec. 2005

NEW YORK TRANSIT WORKERS UNION STRIKE

TRANSIT STRIKE - TWU -- Commuters pack the Brooklyn Bridge during the morning rush hour during the second day of the transit strike in New York on December 21, 2005. New York transit workers walked off the job yesterday for the first time in 25 years, stranding millions of people who rely on the bus and subway system each day. REUTERS/Seth Wenig
People walk on New York's 5th Avenue closed for traffic Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005. The city stepped up its pressure on striking transit workers Wednesday in hopes of forcing them back to work as millions of New Yorkers trudged to work in another bone-chilling commute without subways and buses. (AP Photo/Dima Gavrysh)
Cars line up to get onto the Brooklyn Bridge during the morning rush hour during the second day of the transit strike in New York December 21, 2005. New Yorkers begged rides on the Internet and dusted off their bicycles on Wednesday in the battle to beat a mass transit strike that has hit business and raised tempers at the height of the holidays. REUTERS/Seth Wenig
Manhattan bound pedestrians cross the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Wednesday Dec. 21, 2005 as commuters sought alternatives to subways and buses on the second day of a strike by transit workers. With contract talks still stalled, a judge fined the Transport Workers Union $1 million for each day of the strike, and lawyers were due back in court Wednesday. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan) More News Images on THE TENSION

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Images Of The News: Wednesday, 21 Dec. 2005

NEW YORK TRANSIT WORKERS UNION STRIKE

TRANSIT STRIKE -- A sign reading 'closed' hangs in a stairway for an unused subway platform at the Columbus Circle Subway Station in New York City, December 20, 2005, shortly before the Transit Workers Union Executive Board voted to reject the Metropolitan Transport Authority's final offer and declare a strike. (Peter Foley/Reuters)
Passengers stream out of the packed Staten Island Ferry in New York, December 20, 2005. New York transit workers walked off the job for the first time in 25 years, stranding millions of people who rely on the bus and subway system each day. (Seth Wenig/Reuters)
Commuters crowd the sidewalk by the Grand Central terminal as they wait for a taxi Wednesday morning, Dec. 21, 2005. Millions of New Yorkers trudged to work Wednesday in another bone-chilling commute without subways and buses as a transit strike entered its second day. (AP Photo/Dima Gavrysh.)
Commuters bike and rollerblade down Fifth Avenue in New York December 20, 2005. REUTERS/Keith Bedford NOTE: Mouseover pictures for captions.
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Tent Cities Arise From Hurricane's Rubble

NATION/GULF COAST HURRICANES

Car wreckage is decorated with Christmas lights, a toy reindeer and painted with the message 'Merry Christmas' in the hurricane-devastated New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward section Tuesday Dec. 20, 2005. Hundreds of thousands of people remained displaced by Hurricane Katrina and property lies in ruins. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma) NEWSLINE
"I keep telling myself, one day, I will wake up and everything will be back in the place it was supposed to be."

NEWSBYTE
In Mississippi, Canvas Cities Rise Amid Hurricane's Rubble
PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss., Dec. 18 (NYT) -- From a distance, it looks like an Army base camp, or perhaps the old set from the television series "M*A*S*H." But here, a little more than a stone's throw from the Gulf of Mexico, on a muddy gravel lot that used to be a Little League field, a makeshift village has emerged for some of the many families who, as winter approaches, are still homeless because of Hurricane Katrina.

TENSION: Tropical depression
GRAVITY: Season's greetings

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Tuesday, December 20, 2005

AOL - Google Will Connect AIM, Google Talk, Content

BUSINESS/TECHNOLOGY

AOL GOOGLECOMMENTARY
Here's more news on this important partnership.

NEWSLINES
From Paid Content:
Google, AOL and Time Warner may choose to expand the new partnership to Time Warner's other advertising opportunities.

Some of the bullet points include:

-- creation of an AOL Marketplace, a white-label version of Google's ad technology, so AOL can sell search advertising directly to advertisers on AOL sites.
-- extension of the existing Europe agreement, including the right to extend the AOL Marketplace internationally.
-- making AOL content more accessible to Google web crawlers.
-- expanding display advertising across the Google network.
-- collaborating on video search.

Google wil be the only shareholder in AOL, which raises the question of whether AOL can sell additional equity without Google's permission. AOL retains "management control" and "full strategic flexibility" over AOL. Google gets "certain customary minority shareholder rights, including those associated with any future sale or public offering of AOL."

        NEWSBYTE
        (Details of above)
        UPDATE 2-Google takes 5 pct stake in AOL in new ad deal
        SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Google Inc. and America Online Inc. on Tuesday expanded their search and advertising alliance to include video and instant messaging, shutting out Microsoft Corp., which had fought hard for a deal with Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit.

        TENSION: Google will take over the world
        GRAVITY: Googlesphere


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        Clinton Claimed Authority to Order No-Warrant Searches

        WASHINGTON/POLITICS

        BILL AND HILLCOMMENTARY
        NR's Byron York asks if anyone remembers when Clinton Claimed Authority to Order No-Warrant Searches.

        Yes, I remember a lot of things from the Clinton years. I remember the IRS audits ordered for folks the Clintons didn't like. I remember Janet Reno's handling of the Branch Davidians at Waco. I remember news photos of Elian Gonzalez being snatched at gunpoint. I remember a president who, on national television, uttered the now infamous words, "I did not have sex with that woman." I remember Wag the Dog and a sadly, I remember a president impeached.

        It's too bad other folks have such a short memory. Worse yet, these forgetful folks are elected offiicals and news outfits charged with maintaining the freedom our country.

        NEWSLINE
        "The Department of Justice believes, and the case law supports, that the president has inherent authority to conduct warrantless physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes," Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on July 14, 1994, "and that the President may, as has been done, delegate this authority to the Attorney General."

        NEWSBYTE
        Clinton Claimed Authority to Order No-Warrant Searches
        Does anyone remember that?
        In a little-remembered debate from 1994, the Clinton administration argued that the president has "inherent authority" to order physical searches -- including break-ins at the homes of U.S. citizens -- for foreign intelligence purposes without any warrant or permission from any outside body. Even after the administration ultimately agreed with Congress's decision to place the authority to pre-approve such searches in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court, President Clinton still maintained that he had sufficient authority to order such searches on his own.

        TENSION: Inclusive
        GRAVITY: Status quo

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        Images Of The News: Tuesday, 20 Dec. 2005

        NEW YORK TRANSIT WORKERS UNION STRIKE

        TRANSIT STRIKE -- Commuters make their way back into Brooklyn during the evening rush hour on the first day of the MTA's transit strike, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2005, in New York. Subways and buses ground to a halt Tuesday morning as transit workers walked off the forcing millions of riders to find new ways to get around. (AP Photo/Jennifer Szymaszek)
        Evening rush commuters pour into Pennsylvania Station Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2005 in New York. A strike on buses and subways by local transit workers has forced the Long Island Railroad to operate as a local form of transportation for parts of the city's outer boroughs. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
        Commuters pack the Brooklyn Bridge during the evening rush hour in New York December 20, 2005. (Seth Wenig/Reuters)
        Union transit workers keep warm around a fire outside a facility in New York Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2005, during the transit strike. The nation's biggest mass-transit system ground to a halt after 3 a.m., when the TWU called the strike after a late round of negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority broke down. The subways and buses provide more than 7 million rides per day. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) NOTE: Mouseover pictures for captions.
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        Snoopgate in the News

        WASHINGTON/POLITICS

        SNOOPGATECOMMENTARY
        Offered with minimal commentary for your unfettered perusal, a collection of articles about Snoopgate. Fo' Shizzle.

        NEWSLINES
        "The president was so desperate to kill The New York Times’ eavesdropping story, he summoned the paper’s editor and publisher to the Oval Office. But it wasn’t just out of concern about national security."

        "The Times will not comment on the meeting." Quotes taken directly from the Newsweek article Bush's Snoopgate, by Jonathan Alter.

        NEWSBYTES
        The one that started it, speculation and all
        Bush’s Snoopgate
        Dec. 19, 2005 (Newsweek) -- Finally we have a Washington scandal that goes beyond sex, corruption and political intrigue to big issues like security versus liberty and the reasonable bounds of presidential power. President Bush came out swinging on Snoopgate—he made it seem as if those who didn’t agree with him wanted to leave us vulnerable to Al Qaeda—but it will not work. We’re seeing clearly now that Bush thought 9/11 gave him license to act like a dictator, or in his own mind, no doubt, like Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.
        SNOOPGATE
        Bush to keep domestic surveillance program
        WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush said he would continue to authorize a National Security Agency program that monitors communications even in the United States.

        Bush's Spying: Scandalous, or Echo of Clinton-Era "Echelon"?
        (NewsBusters) Travel caused me to miss Friday's big lead scoop in the New York Times on domestic spying by the National Security Agency ("Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts"), but the rest of the blogosphere took the story on from multiple angles, questioning the pieces timing, agenda, even its newsworthiness.

        TENSION: Divisive
        GRAVITY: Status quo

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        Images Of The News: Tuesday, 20 Dec. 2005

        NEW YORK TRANSIT WORKERS UNION STRIKE

        TWU STRIKE / TRANSIT STRIKE -- A sign is posted at the Times Square subway station the day after the Transit Workers Union Executive Board voted to reject the MTA's final offer and declare a strike effective immediately, shutting down all bus and subway service in New York City, December 20, 2005. (Keith Bedford/Reuters)
        Traffic is seen along the Long Island Expressway approach to the Midtown Tunnel as the 11 a.m. four passenger requirement ended during the transit strike in New York, December 20, 2005. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
        New York City police officers direct traffic on Second Ave. and 96th St. where they are allowing only cars with at least four passengers to continue into the heart of the city, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2005, in New York. Subways and buses ground to a halt Tuesday morning as transit workers walked off the job at the height of the holiday shopping and tourist season, forcing millions of riders to find new ways to get around. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
        Well past the usual rush hour commuters pack the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on December 20, 2005. New York transit workers walked off the job for the first time in 25 years, stranding millions of people who rely on the bus and subway system each day. REUTERS/Seth Wenig NOTE: Mouseover pictures for captions.
        NOTE: All rights are reserved by image owners; site content is linked only.

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        Newsweek's 'Snoopgate' Hip Hops Around Bush

        WASHINGTON/POLITICS

        U.S. President George W. Bush speaks during a press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, December 19, 2005. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueCOMMENTARY
        Snoopgate? Fo-shizzle!

        Come on, gimme a break.

        Jonathan Alter throws more fuel onto the anti-Bush flamewar and gives it a name. Newsweek's Web column, Bush’s Snoopgate, offers nothing more than an opinion which is missing as many vital pieces of information as the story it opines upon ... and ultimately becomes nothing more than a pro-press speculation as to why the Times held the story. Alter's comments add nothing vital to the discussion. Be sure to wash after reading.

        NEWSBYTE
        Bush’s Snoopgate
        Dec. 19, 2005 - Finally we have a Washington scandal that goes beyond sex, corruption and political intrigue to big issues like security versus liberty and the reasonable bounds of presidential power. President Bush came out swinging on Snoopgate—he made it seem as if those who didn’t agree with him wanted to leave us vulnerable to Al Qaeda—but it will not work. We’re seeing clearly now that Bush thought 9/11 gave him license to act like a dictator, or in his own mind, no doubt, like Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War.

        TENSION: Divisive
        GRAVITY: Status quo

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        Monday, December 19, 2005

        UPDATED: Bush Approval Rebounds

        WASHINGTON/POLITICS

        Pres. Bush Monday 12/19/05COMMENTARY
        You'll have to hand it to the lockstep mainstream media for wacking Bush to all-time lows in his public support. The results of a new ABC poll released today opens a bright spot in the dark clouds that have been hanging over the Presidency. While this poll is simply a measure of a thousand folk's opinions (as are most all the other polls), perhaps it does some good in de-pessimistifying a little corner of the news desktop.

        NEWSBYTES
        Poll: Bush's Approval Ratings Climb
        (ABC News) Dec. 19, 2005 — The recent elections in Iraq and an improved economic outlook at home have shifted public support in the president's direction, lifting him from career lows in his job performance and personal ratings alike.

        President's Approval Rating Rebounds
        (washingtonpost.com) President Bush's approval rating has surged in recent weeks, reversing what had been an extended period of decline, with Americans now expressing renewed optimism about the future of democracy in Iraq, the campaign against terrorism and the U.S. economy, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News Poll.

        TENSION: Up and down
        GRAVITY: Severe

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