Nixon's America Alive and Well in 2007:

Bush signed into law a bill to make it legal for the N. S. A. to continue spying on people whom it "reasonably believes" to be overseas, without warrants. According to a White House spokesman, "the new law is to give the government greater flexibility in focusing on foreign suspects overseas, not to go after Americans" The New York Times reported today.

It is generally believed that the legislation came about as a result of pressure from the telecommunications industry who were being faced with major lawsuits in the wake of the government's warrantless wiretapping program. Now the various members of that industry can simply turn over all communication, foreign and domestic, to the government so that members of the Nixon, errr, Bush administration can decide which of it is useful for them to act upon and which isn't.

Don't worry. The Bush family and Dick Chaney have nothing but your very best interest at heart.

Read The Washington Post's take here. At least the bill is scheduled to expire in six months. And, uh, there is no means of checking on the government in terms of determining whether any U. S. citizen's privacy has been compromised.


China Still Shipping Lead Children's Jewelry to America:

The dangers associated with lead poisoning have long been realized in the U. S. Recently it has come to light that China has been shipping products, notably children's toys, to this country, containing levels of lead that could lead to brain damage, possibly even death. According to today's New York Times, "of the 17.9 million pieces of jewelry items pulled from the market since the start of 2005, 95 percent were made in China."