http://www.nytimes.com/…
By THOM SHANKER and STEVEN LEE MYERS
WASHINGTON — With its international mandate in Iraq set to expire in 11 months, the Bush administration will insist that the government in Baghdad give the United States broad authority to conduct combat operations and guarantee civilian contractors specific legal protections from Iraqi law, according to administration and military [...]

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/…
By Mike Nizza
Paul D. Wolfowitz, who resigned as World Bank chief after serving as second-in-command at the Pentagon, has returned to the Bush administration, albeit in an advisory role. From a short news release put out this afternoon:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…
Friday, January 25, 2008; A17
For three years, the Bush administration has drawn fire from civil liberties groups over its use of national security letters, a kind of administrative subpoena that compels private businesses such as telecommunications companies to turn over information to the government. After the 2001 USA Patriot Act loosened the guidelines, the FBI [...]

http://www.ctv.ca/…
The Canadian Press
Updated: Fri. Jan. 25 2008 2:30 PM ET
OTTAWA - A troubling new allegation about large amounts of cash arriving at 24 Sussex Drive when Brian Mulroney was prime minister will be aired at the Commons ethics committee.

http://www.americablog.com/…
Rudy Giuliani just said, again, that it was Bill Clinton who cut the military in the 1990s. Wrong, it was Dick Cheney, and the proof is on the Department of Defense’s own Web site, in Dick Cheney’s official bio:

http://www.boston.com/…
January 24, 2008 05:43 PM
Fallon Community Health Plan said a laptop computer was stolen containing personal information for all the members of its Fallon Senior Medicare Advantage and Summit ElderCare plans. The computer contained claims data for about 30,000 people, or about 15 percent of Fallon’s overall membership.
The insurer said the computer belonged to a [...]

http://www.americablog.com/…
Troubling indeed, but does anyone honestly believe that the Democrats in Congress wouldn’t vote en masse for a treaty committing us to Iraq for the next 100 years? Please. All Bush has to do is say “Osama!” and the Democrats will cave like, well, Democrats. Don’t threaten what you’re not willing to follow through on.

http://www.defensetech.org/…
Tonopah redux?
As we reported here a few days back folks in Texas are seeing UFOs and now the Air Force appears to be changing it’s story a bit. The plot thickens. This from a report running in Military.com’s headlines right now:

http://www.defensetech.org/…
Back in 1985, during my first airwing detachment to Fallon, Nevada, my squadron participated in an exercise called “Constant Peg.” C-Peg was super classified and involved American fighter crews flying 1v1 ACM mission against Soviet fighters like MiG-23s and MiG-21s. These fighters were based at Tonopah. (My pilot and I went up against a MiG-23.)
Now [...]

http://www.antiwar.com/…
January 24, 2008
by Jon Elmer
with Anthony Fenton
VANCOUVER - Despite the government’s official position abstaining from combat in Iraq, Canada has dispatched yet another top general to the command group overseeing day-to-day operations for the US-led occupation and counterinsurgency war.