I'm Back

I have not posted anything for over a month due to a variety of pretty lame reasons. From now on, however, there will be at least one new posting every Friday, with postings on other days if the need arises. You also will see a change in the look of the blog over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, the change will make the site easier to use.

Now here is the FOIA news item of the day. The New York Times is reporting that President Bush has ordered agencies to improve public access to government information under the Freedom of Information Act. However, Mark Tapscott of the Heritage Foundation states in today's Boston Globe that the Executive Order only addresses FOIA procedures and does not address the overly broad exemptions claimed by some agencies or the complete lack of penalties for individuals or agencies that violate the Act. In other words, the Executive Order addresses form, but not substance.

At least the Administration is advocating that procedures be followed, unlike what it did according to the really big news story of the day. According to today's New York Times, the Administration completely ignored procedure (and violated constitutional rights) when it authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on international calls made by people within the United States without first obtaining a warrant.

I guess the Administration figured that sometimes that procedure stuff just gets in the way...