After news that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was holding off implementation of the Partner Vetting System (PVS) until the agency reviews comments, more news reveals that the program will be altered to only target aid recipients in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. USAID officials met with some of the nonprofit organizations who submitted comments. At the meeting the changes to the proposed program were announced, and that it is operational but has not been implemented. USAID presented the nonprofit representatives with a power point presentation explaining the program.

Almost a year ago FBI agents raided the Muslim charity Life for Relief and Development, taking away computers and records while nobody has yet been charged with anything and the charity continues operation. Understandably, Life for Relief is now asking for the return of nearly 200 boxes of paperwork critical to its operations. The U.S.

The Pentagon has said it will shut down its TALON anti-terrorism database that had been criticized for including information on antiwar protesters and other peaceful activists. "The Quakers can sleep easier." Read the ACLU press release here.

The case involving government spying on the charity, Al-Haramain Foundation has received a lot of blog coverage in light of the contradictory and perplexing claims made by the government lawyers. For example, how can the argument be accepted that national security concerns require that the lawsuits be dismissed when, as Judge Margaret McKeown accurately stated that a lot is known about the surveillance program; "We know quite a lot." And as the Washington Post reported, late in the proceedings, McKeown complained of feeling "like I'm Alice in Wonderland." Read the New York Times story here.