Free Republic

In 1994 Sen. Pat "Leaky" Leahy co-wrote a law that forced telecommunications carriers to build convenient wiretap features into their networks enabling the kind of telephone records collection now at the heart of the controversy over the National Security Agency's terrorist surveillance operation. In recent days Leahy has called the NSA's actions troubling and potentially illegal - saying they show that the Bush administration is treating Americans like terrorists. "'The secret collection of phone call records of tens of millions of Americans?" he exclaimed after USA Today blew the lid off the program last week. "Are you telling me that...

When Bassam Khalaf raps, he calls himself the Arabic Assassin. On the Web: Khalaf's music Web site. NOTE: This site contains obscene material A Houston-based rapper said his decision to call himself the "Arabic Assassin" was meant to stir up a bit of controversy in the music business. The stage persona — along with some incendiary lyrics in one of his songs — also helped get Bassam Khalaf fired this month from his job as a baggage screener at Bush Intercontinental Airport. "I thought it was kind of ridiculous. What does my music have to do with my job?" Khalaf...