The New York Times has a ten page article explaining how President Bush, via executive order issued after 9/11, directed the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on thousands of conversations and read e-mails, without a warrant. Not even a secret FISA warrant was obtained. The Times says it withheld reporting this for a year because the White House said it would alert terrorists.

Mr. Bush's executive order allowing some warrantless eavesdropping on those inside the United States ­ including American citizens, permanent legal residents, tourists and other foreigners ­ is based on classified legal opinions that assert that the president has broad powers to order such searches, derived in part from the September 2001 Congressional resolution authorizing him to wage war on Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, according to the officials familiar with the N.S.A. operation.

As for numbers:

The New Jersey Senate today passed a one year moratorium on the death penalty.

A co-sponsor, Sen. Robert J. Martin, R-Morris and Passaic, noted that 50 of the 60 death sentences imposed since the penalty was reinstated in 1982 have been overturned. "Something is fundamentally flawed with that statute," Martin said.

If passed, New Jersey will be the first state in the modern era to legislatively enact a moratorium. Maryland and Illinois have imposed moratoriums based on executive orders. More details:

The state has 10 men on death row. The bill the Senate will consider would create a death penalty study commission to scrutinize the state's death penalty law, particularly whether it is applied fairly, its costs, whether it is a deterrent to crime and if it should be abolished. The commission would complete its work by Nov. 15, 2006. In the meantime, a moratorium would be imposed on all state executions until at least 60 days after the commission finishes its work.

by TChris

The two men who stole a Mustang in San Bernardino would have committed a better crime if they hadn't photographed themselves with the disposable camera they found in the car. When they abandoned the Mustang, they left the camera behind. Police developed the pictures which, together with fingerprints the thieves helpfully left in the car's interior, led them to Albert Engelsman. When the police knocked on Engelsman's door, he was wearing the same shirt depicted in the photographs. Confronted with the evidence, Engelsman ratted out his brother-in-law, the accomplice standing next to him in the impromptu photo shoot.

The Koufax Award Nominations are now open. Go on over and nominate your favorite blogs.

The Koufax Awards are named for Sandy Koufax, one of the greatest left handed pitchers of all time. They are intended to honor the best blogs and bloggers of the left. At the core, the Koufax Awards are meant to be an opportunity to say nice things about your favorite bloggers and to provide a bit of recognition for the folks who provide us with daily information, insight, and entertainment. The awards are supposed to be fun for us and fun for you.

Here's how they work.

You can nominate blogs in more than one category. TalkLeft has had the most success in the "Best Single Issues" category.

Sen Russ Feingold, leading the charge for a filibuster of the Patriot Act renewal legislation, confirms what we suspected all along: The Sneak and Peek provisions of the Patriot Act are about drugs, not terrorism. A Sneak and Peek, if you are new to the jargon, is where a law enforcement agent enters a dwelling surreptitiously with a warrant, snoops around, and leaves without ever notifying the resident that a search has occurred. There has been a 75% increase in sneak and peeks since 2000.

From his prepared statement on the Patriot Act renewal legislation, read on the Senate floor last night:

Don’t be fooled for a minute into believing that this power is needed to investigate terrorism or espionage. It’s not. Section 213 is a criminal provision that could apply in whatever kind of criminal investigation the government has undertaken. In fact, most sneak and peek warrants are issued for drug investigations. So why do I say that they aren’t needed in terrorism investigations? Because FISA also can apply to those investigations. And FISA search warrants are always executed in secret, and never require notice. If you really don’t want to give notice of a search in a terrorism investigation, you can get a FISA warrant. So any argument that limiting the sneak and peek power as we have proposed will interfere with sensitive terrorism investigations is a red herring.

TalkLeft hit 10 million visitors today. And welcome, Denver Post readers who are finding us for the first time through David Harsanyi's column today. (And thanks to Crooks and Liars for mentioning it.)

For radio listeners, I'll be talking with Rachel Maddow on Air America today at 11:30 a.m. (MT) about Karl Rove and PlameGate. Is an Indictment looming, or has Robert Luskin pulled yet another rabbit out of his hat? You can listen live online here.

Also, TalkLeft will be getting a bloglift (y.i.c.t.p. as Skippy would say)over the weekend, it's first since Markos of Daily Kos so graciuosly designed TalkLeft in June, 2002.

It's the last day for voting in the Weblog Awards. TalkLeft is in second place for best liberal blog, so please vote so we can keep our spot - and for your other favorite blogs. The Koufax award nominations (for liberal blogs) opened today.

Robert Novak said Tuesday that people should ask President Bush who the Valerie Plame leaker is because he has to know. The White House gives a testy response, and then clams up.

"I don't know what he's basing it on," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan, declining to comment further.

Not quite a denial, is it? Sen. Schumer sent Bush a letter asking him to give up the identity of the leaker. And how much trouble is Karl Rove in?

Some Rove allies now fear he may be in more legal jeopardy than he was when Libby was charged.

by Last Night in Little Rock

It is reported on Law.com today that DOJ has hired defense counsel for the two air marshals who shot and killed Rigoberto Alpizar last week on a jetway in the Miami Airport.

It should be recalled that the head of the air marshal program and even the White House were defending the use of deadly force against Alpizar as absolutely justified on CNN immediately after the shooting, without so much as an investigation.

The FBI is investigating, and passengers reported to CNN that they heard no bomb threat. He just said "I've got to get off, I've got to get off."

I've been on an airplane where a man panicked about the claustrophobia. He rushed for the door, too, and ran inside. It happens.

Circle the wagons.

Bump and Update: Arianna says this news requires Congressional action.

...as is emblematic of this administration, these agencies now appear to be overreaching, moving away from identifying "possible terrorist pre-attack activities" and heading into the murky waters of spying on U.S. citizens doing nothing more than voicing their objections to U.S. policy.

*****
Original Post 12/13

NBC News has obtained a secret 400 page Defense Department document that shows how the Pentagon is spying on Americans:

The House-passed version of the Patriot Act renewal legislation includes the Meth Act. The New York Times reports:

Under the proposal, Sudafed and similar medicines would have to be under lock and key in stores. Buyers would have to sign a sheet and show a driver's license. Purchases would be limited to one box a day and three boxes a month.

This has nothing to do with terrorism. Poor people and the elderly who don't drive won't have driver's licenses to show. Neither will undocumented residents.

Mike Krause of Colorado's Independence Institute reported:

Scott Burns, Deputy Director of the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) recently contradicted the “epidemic” rhetoric, telling a Congressional sub-committee that America’s estimated 1.5 million methamphetamine users make up only 8% of the country’s estimated 19 million drug users.

Check out the New York Time's John Tierney on the meth myth and Reason's Jacob Sullum here and in Speed Bumps at the Pharmacy. Also, Radly Balko explains why restricting cold pills won't curb meth use.

There is no crisis. Cold pills do not equate to terrorism. Tell your senators to just say no to the meth act.

The House of Representatives passed the Patriot Act renewal legislation today. (More here and here.) The Senate is scheduled to vote on Friday. It's a bad, bad bill, filled with new crimes, including drug offenses, death eligible offenses and habeas restrictions, as well as enhanced penalties, many of which have nothing to do with terrorism. Check it out yourself here.

A filibuster is possible.

A Senate Democratic leadership aide said opponents seemed to have from 40 to 46 votes to sustain a filibuster. Republicans said it was uncertain how many votes they would have. "It's going to be close," a Senate Republican aide said.

This may be your last chance. Call your senators now. Tell them that you want them to:

• Vote no cloture and support a filibuster.
• Vote NO on the conference report, should it get to a vote.

Here is a letter by the ACLU explaining why the bill is bad for civil liberties.

In order to pay off a $5,000 poker debt, Greg Hogan, a sophomore at Lehigh University who is president of his class, plays cello in the university orchestra, and is the son of a Baptist pastor, robbed a bank. Authorities say he confessed. His lawyer blames it on the national poker craze and has already hired forensic experts to explain his addiction.

Now Hogan, the 19-year-old son of a Baptist minister, faces as much as 20 years in prison on bank robbery charges, and his lawyer says the nationwide poker craze is partly to blame.

''This is one of the nicest kids I've ever met, but his gambling addiction led him to make a terrible, terrible mistake,'' said Waldron of Allentown. ''There's so much good in this kid. It easily outweighs this one bad mistake.''

Lehigh University costs $40k a year. Mr. Hogan's private high school near Shaker Heights, Ohio cost $19k a year. Why rob a bank rather than call your parents, get a new credit card with a cash advance feature, take out a loan or sell your stuff? What's wrong with this picture? What a waste of a life filled with opportunity.