Race

Cheney Aide Is Screening Legislation in Seeking to Protect Bush’s Power

Staff / Truthdig May 29, 2006 Dick Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington, routinely reviews legislation bound for the president's desk, searching for ways that the bills may limit presidential power. More than a quick-hit news item, this article masterly describes Bush's use of signing statements--interpretations of a law that can be used to subvert a law's intended purpose. Earlier: Addington--"The Most Powerful Person You've Never Heard Of" Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Gonzales Sidesteps Legal Issues of NSA Spying

Staff / Truthdig May 24, 2006 The attorney general, in defending the NSA's collection of millions of U.S. phone records, claims it is constitutional--but conveniently ignores the fact that it appears to be illegal. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Gonzales: We May Prosecute Journalists

Staff / Truthdig May 23, 2006 Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales says that the Bush White House may go after journalists who report on national security-related matters. "There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility." Funny: There are lots of FISA statutes that you don't have to read particularly carefully to learn that spying on Americans without warrants is illegal. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Blockbuster Report: AT&T Allows NSA to Spy on Entire Internet

Staff / Truthdig May 22, 2006 This is the big one, folks Wired News unearths internal AT&T documents that show how the telecom company, at the behest of the government, built "secret rooms" in cities across America that enable the NSA "to look at every individual message on the Internet and analyze exactly what people are doing" Story and AT&T internal documents Wired News explains why it published the story. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Did Telcos Use Scapegoat-for-Hire in NSA Case?

Staff / Truthdig May 21, 2006 Via Business Week, we learn that an entire niche industry has sprung up to provide the government with commercially purchased telecommunications records that the government isn't allowed to purchase itself. (TPM Muckraker has a good sum-up.) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Authorities Mining More Corporate Data for Personal Information

Staff / Truthdig May 21, 2006 We learn from the Wall Street Journal that banks, Internet service providers and other companies are being besieged by law enforcement authorities who want to pore over their corporate data in hunting for clues in criminal cases. Just another example of how the government is going through personal records. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Hayden Denounces Media Coverage of CIA Activities

Staff / Truthdig May 18, 2006 Gen. Michael Hayden bemoaned the "endless picking apart" of CIA operations in the news media during today's confirmation hearing on his nomination to head the intelligence agency. If the architect of the NSA domestic wiretapping program gets this promotion, it will be like a Jon Stewart joke gone horribly wrong. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Missouri Town May Evict Unwed Couples With Kids

Staff / Truthdig May 18, 2006 Current law in Black Jack, Mo., prohibits more than three people from living together unless they are related by "blood, marriage or adoption." The City Council rejected amending that law to include unmarried couples with children. We're speechless. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Will the Real ‘Big Brother’ Please Stand Up…

Staff / Truthdig May 17, 2006 When the government can't legally dig up your medical records, call histories and voter registration information, it turns to the data mining company ChoicePoint--which has sucked up over $1 billion in federal contracts. Do. Not. Miss. this article on how the frightening industry of data mining works. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Has AT&T Sent Out the Most Ironic Mailer Ever?

Staff / Truthdig May 17, 2006 You won't believe the envelope that the phone company has apparently been sending out. If it's not a hoax, the irony is so thick that not even an NSA eavesdropper could penetrate it. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Forever Pregnant

Staff / Truthdig May 16, 2006 Salon writer Rebecca Traister sounds off on new "Orwellian" federal guidelines that treat all women as pre-pregnant--regardless of whether or not they plan on being so any time soon. "Healthcare authorities," she writes, are "letting you know why your health as a woman really matters"--i.e. as baby incubators. Salon link (reg. req'd) Washington Post story Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

BellSouth: We Didn’t Give Data to NSA

Staff / Truthdig May 16, 2006 The phone company says that, despite the claims made in the USA Today story, it never provided phone records to the NSA. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )