Teachers teach that knowledge waits Can lead to hundred-dollar plates Goodness hides behind its gates But even the president of the United States Sometimes must have to stand naked. It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

Whether an NSA activity is permissible under the Fourth Amendment and the statutory scheme outlined above is impossible to determine without an understanding of the specific facts involved and the nature of the President’s authorization, which are for the most part classified. If the NSA operations at issue are encompassed in the definition of “electronic surveillance� set forth under FISA, it would seem consistent with Congress’s intent that such surveillance must be carried out in accordance with FISA procedures. Although section 109(a) of FISA does not explicitly limit the language “as authorized by statute� to refer only to Title III and to FISA, the legislative history suggests that such a result was intended.

Whether an NSA activity is permissible under the Fourth Amendment and the statutory scheme outlined above is impossible to determine without an understanding of the specific facts involved and the nature of the President's authorization, which are for the most part classified.

including the 2002 decision by the FISA appellate court, which wrote:

We take for granted that the President does have that authority [to order warrantless surveillance for foreign intelligence gathering purposes], and, assuming that is so, FISA could not encroach on the President's constitutional power.

foreign intelligence gathering

If the NSA operations at issue are encompassed in the definition of “electronic surveillance� set forth under FISA, it would seem consistent with Congress’s intent that such surveillance must be carried out in accordance with FISA procedures. Although section 109(a) of FISA does not explicitly limit the language “as authorized by statute� to refer only to Title III and to FISA, the legislative history suggests that such a result was intended. The exceptions to the criminal prohibition under Title III, however, are specifically limited to those mentioned within Title III. Even if the AUMF is read to provide the statutory authorization necessary to avoid criminal culpability under FISA, it does not necessarily follow that the AUMF provides a substitute authority under FISA to satisfy the more specific language in Title III. To the extent that any of the electronic surveillance at issue may be outside the sweep of FISA or Title III, Congress does not appear to have legislated specifically on the subject, nor, by the absence of legislation, to have authorized or acquiesced in such surveillance.

Among Moussaoui's possessions was a computer. Minneapolis agents wanted to go into the hard drive to check for contacts or other information. Doing so, however, required that FBI headquarters in Washington apply for a search warrant before a federal judge. Schooled in the latest niceties of contemporary law enforcement, the Washington office responded that there was no "probable cause" for conducting a search. "All you've got is a guy with an expired visa who's taking flight lessons," they said. "Where's the crime?" The Minneapolis office responded that it would be good to find out exactly what was going on before Moussaoui "took an airplane and flew it into the World Trade Center." Their pleas had no impact. Only after September 11th did FBI officials finally look into Moussaoui's computer, where they found information linking him to both the Hamburg cell that planned the attack and to its leader, Mohammed Atta.

Three Algerians arrested in an anti-terrorist operation in southern Italy are suspected of being linked to a planned new series of attacks in the United States, Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said Friday. The attacks would have targeted ships, stadiums or railway stations in a bid to outdo the September 11, 2001 strikes by Al-Qaeda in New York and Washington which killed some 2,700 people, Pisanu said.

Never mind the fact that they did absolutely nothing to address the problem in the days, weeks and months leading up to the attack.

A more direct reason may be found in Colleen Rowley's remarkable letter of May 21, in which the Minneapolis field office's legal counsel notes with dry wit that this is the director's third public position on the FBI's relationship to the tragedy, not exactly a credibility booster. The first line, she notes, emerged almost immediately after the attacks. The assertion was made that if only the FBI had some form of warning, it might have been able to take preventive action. Rowley discloses in her letter that she and her colleagues at once began trying to reach his office in case he was unaware of the arrest and mishandling of the possible 20th hijacker, Zaccarias Moussaoui, in the weeks before the tragedy. When the public line kept getting repeated, she wrote, her office came to the ''sad realization that the remarks indicated someone, possibly with your approval, had decided to circle the wagons ... in an apparent effort to protect the FBI from embarrassment and the relevant FBI officials from scrutiny. Everything I have seen and heard about the FBI's official stance and the FBI's internal preparations in anticipation of further congressional inquiry had unfortunately confirmed my worst suspicions in this regard.'' As details about the bungling of the Moussaoui matter began to emerge, as well as the earlier report about ''Middle Eastern men'' at flight school around Phoenix, the story line changed. This spring, Mueller began claiming that even if the Phoenix tip had been acted on, and even if the French-Algerian terrorist's belongings and laptop hard drive had been searched, the attacks would almost certainly still have occurred on Sept. 11.

The Rowley letter also shows how FBI officials warped truth in order to suggest in news leaks that she concurred in the decision to deny permission for agents to seek a search warrant shortly after Moussaoui's arrest because probable cause was supposedly lacking. The opposite is true, she says and documents. In fact, Rowley recommended to the FBI's legal unit that a normal criminal warrant not be sought, but that the bureau instead seek a warrant available in intelligence cases. Rowley's letter has been characterized a great deal, quoted from briefly, but almost ignored in its detail. In addition to the PR and search warrant points, it makes six others, embellished by additional notes at the end. It is a model of clarity and rewards a visit to Time Magazine's Web site, where the text is available.

We need an SP to investigate the person who viloated these three lovely people's civil rights. Oh God! The Shame! The inhumanity of it! How dare we!

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen. --Samuel Adams Ruled by Fear and Love of War

Because the real thing, I believe, for those like you who are always making the "fear" comment, is that you have never been in a siuation where death is possible, or even likely.

Because if you did you would understand just how hard those who die fight for life. They do not close their eyes and go quietly.

SD - Providng a link is hiding nothing. Read it.

Of course, because we have been told by the Left, the terrorist are done

The hit dog always howls.

If the shoe fits, wear it.

Ya see, ya seem to forget that there weren't any before 9/11 for at least this long a period of time and that 9/11 happened on your boy's watch.

By his Excellency the Right Hon. JOHN Earl of DUNMORE, his Majesty's Lieutenant and Governor General of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, and Vice Admiral of the same: A Proclamation. VIRGINIA, to wit, WHEREAS I have been informed, from undoubted Authority, that a certain Patrick Henry, of the County of Hanover, and a Number of deluded Followers, have taken up Arms, chosen their Officers, and styling themselves an Independent Company, have marched out of their County, encamped, and put themselves in a Posture of War; and have written and dispatched Letters to divers Parts of the Country, exciting the People to join in these outrageous and rebellious Practices, to the great Terrour of all his Majesty's faithful Subjects, ...it undeniably appears, that there is no longer the least Security for the Life or Property of any Man: WHEREFORE I have thought proper, with the Advice of his Majesty's Council, and in his Majesty's Name, to issue this my Proclamation, strictly charging all Persons, upon their Allegiance, not to aid, abet, or give Countenance to, the said Patrick Henry, or any other Persons concerned in such unwarrantable Combinations; but, on the Contrary, to oppose them and their Designs by every Means... GIVEN under my Hand, and the Seal of the Colony, at Williamsburg, this 6th Day of May, 1775, and in the 15th Year of his Majesty's Reign. DUNMORE. GOD SAVE THE KING.

Michael - Is this service very accurate?? Would subscribing to this site be worthwhile? Would it work? (I assume a real sharp dedicatded hacker/designer could break it, but how easy?)

...I guess that depends on what your level of paranoia is and how cheap you are. :-)

Thanks Mike. T'm not cheap. Just money disadvantaged. ;-) Edger - Yes, I understand the capabilities, very well.

Early in the Revolutionary War, Henry led militia against Royal Governor Lord Dunmore in defense of some disputed gunpowder, an event known as the Gunpowder Incident. During the war, he served as the first post-colonial Governor of Virginia, from 1776-79, an office he held again from 1784-86.

After the Revolution, Henry was an outspoken critic of the United States Constitution and urged against its adoption, arguing it gave the federal government too much power. As a leading Antifederalist, he was instrumental in the adoption of the Bill of Rights to amend the new Constitution.

The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit their views.