Just for the record: I am not willing to run my life through a government screening process in the futile hope that they can save me from crazy people with bombs or boxcutters. I prefer to be a man and face the nearly nonexistent risks of terrorism.

For your information, a graphic showing a history of public acknowledgements of the NSA program.

Your daily outrage, via Atrios.

NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls

Time to review my calling plans and internet provider, I think.

Alarmed by Raids, Neighbors Stand Guard in Iraq

Three years after the American invasion, the war has settled here, in the quiet of neighborhoods, streets and Iraqis' backyards. Dozens of bodies surface daily. People are taken from their homes and executed. Assassinations are routine. But instead of looking to the government for protection, ordinary Sunni Arabs are taking up arms against it, perhaps the most vivid illustration of the depth of Sunni mistrust of the American backed, Shiite-led security forces. "There is no bridge of confidence between the government and the Iraqi people," said Tarik al-Hashimy, a vice president of Iraq who is a Sunni Arab.
...
In March, the Baghdad morgue received 1,294 bodies, more than double the 596 received in March 2005. In April, the figure was up by 88 percent from the previous April. Nearly 90 percent died violently, most by gunfire, according to the morgue.
"The killing, you can't imagine the killing," said Yusra Abdul Aziz, 47, a teacher, whose block, in Adhamiya, organized its watch group in March, after four neighbors were shot dead over several days. "Without any reason. Cars come and shoot us. We run to the hospital and get our wounded. We live in a nightmare, actually."

Ex-Aide With Abramoff Ties Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy

Mr. Ney's spokesman, Brian Walsh, said in a separate statement that the plea deal with Mr. Volz was "thin at best" and that "the congressman is more confident than ever that he will be vindicated in this matter."

Ah, yes. A "thin" plea arrangement. A "thin" deal where a person pleads guilty. A wafer thin statement before the court, where Mr. Volz admits that he dunnit. Why, that admission of guilt is so narrow, it can barely be seen with the naked eye.

That Volz sure was a sucker to cop a deal on such lean charges.

Some day, I will figure out why I am so obsessed with ridiculous statements by official spokesweasels.

U.S. defends human rights record before U.N. committee in Geneva

Bellinger urged committee members not to believe everything they've read about U.S. abuses. "Allegations about U.S. military or intelligence activities have become so hyperbolic as to be absurd," he said.

You, in the hood. Stop with the hyperbole already. It's getting absurd.