while you were gaming...

while i've been away from the blog and not paying much attention to the news, the world has kept on turning.

prop 622 passed last night. it is now illegal to make hiring or housing decisions on the basis of sexual orientation. and steph was on fox59 news a couple more times. i saw the teasers for it on sunday night, but didn't get to see the segment itself.

i did hear that the move to extend the patriot act was blocked by a senate filibuster. but in my seclusion i totally missed the story that bush approved secret NSA wiretaps against american citizens without a warrant. this is illegal, but bush claims he has the authority under executive privelege. and there's also been some debate about the nytimes's timing on the story: reportedly the times knew about this for "a year", possibly since before the election, and sat on it until "it became apparent a book by one of its reporters was about to break the news".

ouch. the things you miss while you're not paying attention. (tip to atrios, where you'll find lots more on the NSA snooping story.)¶