memeorandum: Alaa blogging from his Prison (Alaa/Manal and Alaa's bit bucket)

12:10 PM ET, May 11, 2006

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Matt Stoller / MyDD:

Qwest: Good Corporate Behavior Should Be Rewarded — I read this post from Atrios on the big telcos cooperating with the NSA and was just about to shrug my shoulders about the latest outrage. Then I actually read the article and something jumped out - these companies have a choice in whether …

Discussion: Confederate Yankee

Rick Moran / Right Wing Nut House:

JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE FOR THE LEAKERS — There are apparently no limits to which the cadre of leakers who are working in our intelligence agencies will go to undermine legitimate national security interests in furtherance of their own, private agendas.

Discussion: AMERICAblog, Booman Tribune, A Blog For All and lgf

AJStrata / The Strata-Sphere:

Another Day, Another National Security Leak — Is anyone surprised the rogue CIA and their media counterparts are leaking more information and spinning it to sound really, really bad: … Emphasis mine because there are wo things to note. First off most recordings related to a warranted search cover the innocent.

Discussion: Macsmind and Atlas Shrugs

Scott Shane / New York Times:

With Access Denied, Justice Department Drops Spying Investigation — WASHINGTON, May 10 — An investigation by the Justice Department ethics office into the conduct of department lawyers who approved the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program has been closed because investigators …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Reality-Based Community, The Glittering Eye, Charging RINO, Outside The Beltway, Amygdala and The Carpetbagger Report

USA Today:

Questions and answers about the NSA phone record collection program — Answers to some questions about the program, as described by those sources: — Q: Does the NSA's domestic program mean that my calling records have been secretly collected? — A: In all likelihood, yes.

James Joyner / Outside The Beltway:

NSA Has Massive Database of Americans' Phone Calls — USA Today has the banner headline "NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls." The actual story, alas, is much less dramatic: … So, the government has my phone records? Sure, I trust mega-corporations who sell …

Discussion: The American Mind

Associated Press:

Security issue kills domestic spying inquiry — NSA won't grant Justice Department lawyers required security clearance — WASHINGTON - The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Obsidian Wings, The Next Hurrah, Bring it On!, QandO, Daily Kos, TPMmuckraker, Midtopia and CorrenteWire

Maha / The Mahablog:
Let's See the "Libertarian" Righties Defend This One

Discussion: Macsmind and The American Street

Confederate Yankee:
And? — USA Today has packaged a story today about a massive …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Stop The ACLU and Daily Kos

Thomas B. Edsall / Washington Post:

Democrats Are Fractured Over Strategy, Funds — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and the leader of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have clashed angrily in recent days in a dispute about how the party should spend its money in advance of this fall's midterm elections.

Discussion: TAPPED, JustOneMinute, Betsy's Page, Oliver Willis, Blue Crab Boulevard and BrothersJudd Blog

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Shakespeare's Sister:
I've got two questions for Howard Dean

Discussion: All Things Conservative, Pam's House Blend and Waveflux

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Dean and Party Leaders in a Money Dispute

Discussion: The Hill, MyDD, AMERICAblog and Democrat Taylor Marsh …

Joshua Lynsen / washblade.com:
Dean slams gay marriage on '700 Club'

Discussion: Hit and Run

Washington Post:

Hard-Core Republicans Are Fleeing President — Conservatives Point to Spending, Immigration — Disaffection over spending and immigration have caused conservatives to take flight from President Bush and the Republican Congress at a rapid pace in recent weeks, sending Bush's approval ratings …

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, The Next Hurrah, Bark Bark Woof Woof, The Gun Toting Liberal, Hot Air, Rook's Rant, Just a Bump in the Beltway, Air America Radio and AMERICAblog

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MSNBC:
Rove revamps the Republican strategy

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Moderate Voice, Riehl World View, Booman Tribune, Blue Crab Boulevard, HolyCoast.com, Power Line and Oliver Willis

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Have Conservatives Washed Their Hands Of Bush?

Discussion: Centerfield and Diggers Realm

Baltimore Examiner:

Snow issues detailed rebuttals to media coverage of the president — WASHINGTON - New White House Press Secretary Tony Snow is starting off in a combative mode against the press by issuing detailed rebuttals to what he considers unfair coverage of Bush. — "The New York Times continues …

Discussion: Hotline On Call, The Sundries Shack, RightWinged.com, News Blog, Ace of Spades HQ and NewsBusters.org

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Philip Shenon / New York Times:
Abramoff Visits in White House Logs Are Linked to Rove and a Budget Aide

Discussion: The Raw Story, The Carpetbagger Report and Air America Radio

Peter Pae / Los Angeles Times:

Lewis Surfaces in Probe of Cunningham — Federal prosecutors have begun an investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis, the Californian who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee, government officials and others said, signaling the spread of a San Diego corruption probe.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Air America Radio and Think Progress

Washington Post:

Plan to Give D.C. a Vote In Congress Advances — Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) is teaming up with U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) to introduce a bill that would for the first time give the District a full vote in Congress, a sign of bipartisan cooperation that advocates of D.C. voting rights hailed as a breakthrough.

Discussion: Betsy's Page, MyDD, Outside The Beltway and Taegan Goddard's …

Alaa / Manal and Alaa's bit bucket:

Alaa blogging from his Prison — Today it hit me, I am really an idiot. I'm not sure how I feel. I thought I was OK but I took forever to wake up. The way fellow prisoners look at me tells me I do not feel well but I can't really feel it. — I'd say prison is not like I expected, but I had no expectations.

Discussion: Rantings of a Sandmonkey

Agence France Presse:

Brother Jeb would make 'great' US president: Bush — President George W. Bush praised his brother, Florida governor Jeb Bush, as an "excellent" leader who would make a "great president" of the United States, according to news accounts. — "I think Jeb would be a great president.

Discussion: Blogcritics.org, Preemptive Karma and In The Pink Texas