Stop, In the Name of National Security!

So, I was reading Business Week.... what, you don't read business week? That and New Scientist are my touch stones of information!

Anyway, Business Week has this fascinating article with the following opener:

"President George W. Bush has bestowed on his intelligence czar, John Negroponte, broad authority, in the name of national security, to excuse publicly traded companies from their usual accounting and securities-disclosure obligations. Notice of the development came in a brief entry in the Federal Register, dated May 5, 2006, that was opaque to the untrained eye."

The companies in question have to be working on Top Secret defense projects. Like those at Halliburton. Interesting, yes? This It is a power all presidents since Jimmy Carter have had. This is believed to be the first time this power has been granted. The timing is brilliant.

Sez MSNBC:

"The timing of Bush's move is intriguing. On the same day the President signed the memo, Porter Goss resigned as director of the Central Intelligence Agency amid criticism of ineffectiveness and poor morale at the agency. Only six days later, on May 11, USA Today reported that the National Security Agency had obtained millions of calling records of ordinary citizens provided by three major U.S. phone companies. Negroponte oversees both the CIA and NSA in his role as the administration's top intelligence official."

Of course, this gives me a lovely reason to post a cuteness buffer.