[Orin Kerr, February 10, 2006 at 12:29am] Trackbacks
Patriot Act Compromise Reached:
The Washington Post has the story. I haven't seen the actual text yet, though, so it's hard to know what to make of it.
Noah Klein (mail):
Orin,

So far it appears from the article that both sides won a little and both sides lost a little. I am just very relieved that this issue is over.

Noah
2.10.2006 2:00am
Just an Observer:
In late December, after the NSA surveillance controversy broke, Feingold and some other senators had suggested the Patriot Act renewal could become a legislative vehicle for NSA-related amendments.

Obviously, that proved not to be feasible. I think because the Patriot Act bill had gone so far in the process, there were too many barriers in both Houses to reopening it now. Specter essentially ruled that out late last month.
2.10.2006 9:53am
Thief (mail) (www):

The proposal would restrict federal agents' access to library records, one of the Patriot Act's most contentious provisions. A form of secret subpoena known as a National Security Letter could no longer be used to obtain records from libraries that function "in their traditional capacity, including providing basic Internet access," Sununu and others said in a statement. But libraries that are "Internet service providers" would remain subject to the letters, Durbin said.


I'm not sure I understand the difference between providing "basic internet access" and being an ISP, and I'm not sure I like the idea of specifically exempting libraries from the acts' requirements.
2.10.2006 10:03am
Medis:
I'm glad they worked something out, although part of me is thinking, "Why bother?"
2.10.2006 12:20pm
minnie:
Another travesty. Cosmetic changes that amount to nothing. Seems Feingold is the only principled person around, and has posted his objections on his web page. I wonder why Medis is glad they worked something out? The Patriot Act itself is part of the big problem.
2.10.2006 12:29pm
Medis:
minnie,

To me this is just the other side of the coin on the separation of powers issue. I think Congress should be actively involved in dealing with these issues. And as many have noted, these issues--relating to international terrorism--are probably not going to go away any time in the near future.

So, for me this is a big picture proposition: whether or not I like any particular deal or law, I want Congress actively involved in the issue. Indeed, I think that process will ultimately be best for civil liberties as well, although it will probably take time and experience for that to happen.
2.10.2006 12:42pm
Justin (mail):
Isn't the Patriot Act unconstitutional to the degree it constrains the President's powers to fight terrorism under the AUMF? .
2.10.2006 1:09pm
ginaa (mail) (www):
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Boycott Egypt
Check out his site he has pics ..



Freedom For Egyptians reminded me why the cartoons looked so familiar to me: they were actually printed in the Egyptian Newspaper Al Fagr back in October 2005. I repeat, October 2005, during Ramadan, for all the egyptian muslim population to see, and not a single squeak of outrage was present. Al Fagr isn't a small newspaper either: it has respectable circulation in Egypt, since it's helmed by known Journalist Adel Hamoudah. Looking around in my house I found the copy of the newspaper, so I decided to scan it and present to all of you to see.
http://egyptiansandmonkey.blogspot.co m/2006/02/boycott-egypt.html



Be forewarned: The writer of this blog is an extremely cynical, snarky, pro-US, secular, libertarian, disgruntled sandmonkey. If this is your cup of tea, please enjoy your stay here. If not, please sod off


and there is this ...

Ahmad Akkari is your typical Danish Imam with an Agenda. Ahmad Akkari, shown in the image above, used to be a Hizbullah terrorist before he immigrated to Denmark. Last September he led a delegation in the Arab world showing his budies in Hizbullah the images and provoking their anger against the Danish government by showing some more fake images he made and presented to Islamic radical groups as the work of the Danish newspaper. He was born in 1978 and here is his email address in case you need to let him know what you think of him akkari@religion.dk
posted by Steve Decatur at 1/31/2006 11:08:00 PM links to this
2.11.2006 11:13pm
ginaa (mail) (www):
forgot to mention , I already tried emailing him , but I guess because of a large response , my email came back as undeliverable ..
2.11.2006 11:15pm