In the News - Feb. 17

FEMA needs independence, former chief says - 17 Feb 2006 at 8:14am - CONWAY, Ark. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency has become a disgrace since it was merged into the Department of Homeland Security following the 2001 terrorist attacks, former FEMA chief James Lee Witt says.

Wis. Referendums Call for Troop Withdrawal (AP) - 17 Feb 2006 at 7:13am - AP - Peace activist Jill Bussiere wants the United States to bring its troops home from Iraq immediately, so she went door-to-door in this community in the hopes of getting others to join her cause.


Bush: Cheney's explanation 'powerful' - 17 Feb 2006 at 3:19am - President Bush says he is "satisfied" with the explanation Vice President Dick Cheney gave of a hunting accident over the weekend in which he wounded his friend, describing the explanation as "powerful."

Powerful? Maybe, but is it movie-of-the-week material? Anyway, since Karl Rove told Cheney how to explain the shooting, should anyone be surprised by (or otherwise impressed with) the fact that Rove told Bush to find the explanation satisfactory?

Bush Administration's War Spending Nears Half-Trillion Dollars - 17 Feb 2006 at 8:31am - In a single year, it is difficult to measure overall progress in the war on terror. But ABC News has learned today that President Bush will ask Congress for an additional $65.3 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It brings the total funds requested this year to more than $110 billion for those operations.


Prosecutor resists Libby's request - 17 Feb 2006 at 9:25am - WASHINGTON -- A former White House aide charged in the investigation of the leaking of a CIA operative's identity is seeking access to information that would threaten national security, grand jury secrecy and presidential executive privilege, a prosecutor said in court papers.


McPherson gives conditional OK to Diebold voting machines - 17 Feb 2006 at 9:54pm - California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson gave conditional approval Friday for counties to use two voting machines produced by Diebold Election Systems that he had previously questioned. McPherson's office said in December that the Diebold machines...


Prosecutor: Libby has evidence he needs - 17 Feb 2006 at 9:43pm - WASHINGTON -- Granting a former White House aide's demands for classified documents to aid his defense in the CIA leak investigation would torpedo the case, the prosecutor is arguing.


White House aims to protect new Texas map - 17 Feb 2006 at 9:43pm - WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Friday granted the Bush administration's request to join Texas in defending a Republican-friendly congressional map engineered by Rep. Tom DeLay.


Senators push probe of claims against FBI - 17 Feb 2006 at 9:40pm - WASHINGTON -- Three senators want the Justice Department to investigate claims that the FBI retaliated against an Arab-American agent by passing him over for top counterterrorism jobs despite his expertise.


Senior Anglican links US to Orwell over Guantanamo - 17 Feb 2006 at 9:37pm - LONDON (AFP) - The second most senior cleric in the Church of England has lashed out at the United States, saying its Guantanamo Bay detention centre reflected "a society that is heading towards George Orwell's 'Animal Farm'."


Rockefeller questions NSA's authority - 17 Feb 2006 at 9:37pm - WASHINGTON -- The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee wants the panel to look into whether the National Security Agency was eavesdropping without proper authority in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks.