Update: Via Stop the ACLU:

The ACLU is calling for the investigation to be called off. They say that since the wiretaps were illegal, that is what should be investigated, not who leaked the wiretapping.

———–
All the outrage and coverage by the left over the “outing” of a desk jockey at the CIA. Special Investigations. Indictment of a man, not for doing the outing, but for perjury and obstruction of justice over the investigation into said outing.

Now this is worth investigating. Who did the leaking? When was it leaked? Remember that the Gray Lady said that they sat on this for “a year” before finally printing it just in time to affect the Patriot Act and their writer’s impending book release.

64% of Americans are okay with this type of surveillance including 51% that identify as democrats.

The BBC:

US investigates Bush spying leak

Bush says monitoring is part of his so called war on terror
The US justice department has opened an inquiry into how information about President George Bush’s secret spying programme was leaked, officials say.
The investigation is expected to focus on how the New York Times newspaper obtained the information.

Earlier this month, the paper reported that the National Security Agency had been conducting surveillance in the US without warrants.

Mr Bush later admitted he authorised the programme after the 9/11 attacks.

The AP:

Justice Dept. probing domestic spying leak

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the leak of classified information about President Bush’s secret domestic spying program, Justice officials said Friday.

The officials, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the probe, said the inquiry will focus on disclosures to The New York Times about warrantless surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The Times revealed the existence of the program two weeks ago in a front-page story that acknowledged the news had been withheld from publication for a year, partly at the request of the administration and partly because the newspaper wanted more time to confirm various aspects of the program.

Catherine Mathis, a spokeswoman for The Times, said the paper will not comment on the investigation.

Reuters:

US probes eavesdropping leak

The U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation to determine who disclosed a secret NSA eavesdropping operation approved by President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks, officials said on Friday.
“We are opening an investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified materials related to the NSA,” one official said.

Earlier this month Bush acknowledged the program and called its disclosure to The New York Times () “a shameful act.” He said he presumed a Justice Department leak investigation into who disclosed the National Security Agency eavesdropping operation would get under way.

Justice Department officials would give no details of who requested the probe or how it would be conducted.

The disclosure of the covert domestic spying program has triggered concerns among both Democrats and Republicans, with many lawmakers questioning whether it violates the U.S. Constitution.

Note the AP headline “Domestic Spying”. Note also that the Gray Lady says that they have no comment on the investigation.

I wonder how the Gray Lady is going to [not] cover this.

Other coverage:
Michelle Malkin – FINALLY: JUSTICE DEPT. OPENS NSA LEAK PROBE
Stop The ACLU – Justice Department Opens NSA Leak Probe
Blogs For Bush – Justice Department Opens Investigation Into NSA Program Leak
Curt at Flopping Aces has a lot at – Justice Dept. Finally Investigating The Leak

Farris Hassan, a 16-year-old from Fort Lauderdale, Florida decided to take a [few] day[s] off and go to Baghdad.

Hassan, a junior at Pine Crest School, a prep academy of about 700 students in Fort Lauderdale, recently studied immersion journalism – a writer who lives the life of his subject in order to better understand it.

The teenager, whose parents were born in Iraq but have lived in the United States for about 35 years, says he wanted to travel to Baghdad to better understand what Iraqis are living through.

“I thought I’d go the extra mile for that, or rather, a few thousand miles,” he told The Associated Press.

Skipping a week of school, he left the country on Dec. 11, telling only two high school friends of his plans. His travels took him to Kuwait and Lebanon before he arrived in Iraq on Christmas Day.

(source)

His brother said that he speaks no Arabic and would have to have had a translator to even try his immersion journalism. The AP office in Baghdad that he went to called the US Embassy. Farris is now on his way home.

Reynaldo Rapalo’s attorney asked for bail for his client on the escape charge.

The judge rightly denied bail, stating that Rapalo was “a danger to this community“.

Rapalo was in jail awaiting trial in February on seven felony rape counts. This suggests to me that he was denied bail for those charges.

This is a man who was apparently denied bail on the initial charges, then he escapes, then he’s caught again. His attorney then asks for bail on the escape charge.

Why would bail ever be granted to someone on escape charges? Obviously, this person wants to be out of jail. Why reward him? Is this just some way to try to play the “get out of jail free card”?

It’s not just that this guy was a danger to the community. He is an illegal alien (he overstayed his visa), he has no ties to this country. He is a flight risk.

It’s absolutely absurd that anyone would even ask for bail under these circumstances. Good for the judge denying bail.

My five-year-old came up to me this morning and said, “Mom, if you waste a lot of energy, hogs will come into your house.”

He saw this Ad Council PSA.

The campaign was announced in March 2004 and was done by the Ad Council in conjuction with the Department of Energy. The ads are aimed at kids between 8 and 13, but they seem to work on five-year-olds too.

The ads direct you to www.energyhog.org where you can train to become an Energy Hog Buster.
We try here at home. We turn lights off in rooms we’re not in. We try to get the kids to turn off the TV when they leave a room. We keep our heat set at 66° during the day and 64° overnight.

Jeanette at Oh How I Love Jesus asked me to post this. Her husband may possibly have suffered a heart attack. He is at the hospital and she is with him. His EKG this morning was good, and they are doing a catheterization tomorrow to be sure it wasn’t a heart attack.

Jeanette, you and your husband are in our prayers.

¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

KJV

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men from Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our Friend!
He knows our need—to our weakness is no stranger.
Behold your King; before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King; before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

Merry Christmas to one and all!

This is the 50^th year that NORAD and it’s predecessor CONAD have tracked Santa’s progress by radar.

Click here for English

Click here to choose a language.

Santa hasn’t taken off from the North Pole yet, but he’ll be taking off soon to visit children all over the world.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

That’d be Steyn’s money quote. Read it all. Oh yes, read it all.

This is why I don’t have any ornaments on the Christmas tree, just lights and bows.

His first birthday will be St. Patrick’s Day, so he’s still just a kitten.