One of the most socially progressive European states debates whether or not to allow women to wear the garments in public. Can a fatwa be far off? | story Also, The Guardian probes an Islamic debate over the place of nudity in, heaven forbid, marriage. | story
In a rebuke to the Bush administration, the justices voted 6-3 to keep the law on the books. Roberts dissented (for the first time). So did Scalia and Thomas, surprise, surprise. | story
Kakutani and Haberman slam the “Million Little Pieces” fabulist for his B.S. spin attempt. | There seems to be no end to the number of potential headline puns stemming from “A Million Little…”
The former VP, hot and bothered, says a special prosecutor should investigate Bush’s spy program. | story or transcript The NYT reports that even the former FBI director had qualms about the legality of the spying. | story Meanwhile, the ACLU and another group sue Bush over his wiretapping. | story
Chris Rock on the true meaning of minimum wage: “If we could pay you less, we would.” Check out this NYT Magazine piece on the struggle just to get by. | story
Ohio Rep. Bob Ney lobbied Colin Powell to ease sanctions on Iran—at the behest of a crooked lobbyist. | story Iran and dirty lobbying: Can you even imagine a more sordid combo? No wonder Ney just stepped down from his leadership post. | story
The NSA began its data-mining activities early in 2001. This disclosure contradicts the president’s claim about the program being a product of his post-9/11 “smoke ‘em out” mind-set. | story
A year before his death, Martin Luther King Jr. called America the “greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” His comments and actions made him the object of a massive, FBI-led audio surveillance program into his sex life. Check out our multimedia assemblage in Uncovered. | entry
Thousands take to the streets of Karachi to protest a deadly air attack that killed at least 17. | story The airstrike’s target, Al Qaeda’s top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, reportedly had been invited to dinner at the raid site but decided not to go.
The Iranian president, while claiming that his nuclear research is peaceful, slammed the “double standards” of the West and those who seek to “make peace for themselves by creating war for others.” | story Perhaps he’s right, but this guy is also a Holocaust denier. Update: And now he wants to hold a debate on the scale and consequences of the Holocaust.
The move comes in the wake of James Frey admitting fabrications in his book. | story Earlier: Publisher Nan Talese spars with her husband, author Gay Talese, over the issue of falsehoods in memoirs. | story
A committee will investigate whether the CIA operated secret prisons in Eastern Europe. | story Also, documents show that the U.S. Army may have ended some detainee abuse probes prematurely. | story
Bush and the new German chancellor are pushing diplomacy on the Iranian nuclear issue. | story
If this seems in stark contrast with the president’s Iraq policy, read Truthdig’s Robert Scheer or Juan Cole—who argue that we’ve lost leverage over Iran because the Iraq war has empowered the Shiites in both countries to link arms against us.
Spam ‘Godfather’ Sentenced
