On Monday, a federal judge gave permission for the lawyers for a pair of Belfast Project researchers to file a response to the government's response to their petition to intervene in the case. I'm giving up on background at this point, on the assumption that anyone who cares already knows it. Bottom line: in March, the federal government began trying to secure a subpoena for archival files at Boston College, and the matter is still unresolved in November. While Irish-American activists hammer away at the politics behind the request, the Department of Justice can't get the court to pull the trigger.