Obama, Chavez Shake Hands at Summit of the Americas  —  Venezuela quoted Chavez as saying, “I'd like to be your friend.”  —  FOXNews.com  —  PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago - President Obama made the first move to greet Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, but it was the acerbic …

Partied-Out CNN Reporter Takes a Break  —  Two days after Susan Roesgen's much talked-about Chicago Tea Party live shots, we are learning more about what happened off-camera.  —  Sources close to the situation tell TVNewser as Roesgen was reporting her 2pmET live shot for CNN …

Why McCain-Lieberman wasn't an option (legally speaking)  —  Former McCain veep vetter and Washington power lawyer A.B. Culvahouse made clear in remarks before a Republican lawyers group today that the campaign had investigated the legal issues surrounding putting Democrat-turned-independent Joe Lieberman …

Divisions Arose on Rough Tactics for Qaeda Figure  —  WASHINGTON — The first use of waterboarding and other rough treatment against a prisoner from Al Qaeda was ordered by senior Central Intelligence Agency officials despite the belief of interrogators that the prisoner had already told them all he knew …

The Bigger Picture  —  It will take some time to absorb the full implications of the ICRC report and the OLC memos.  Right now, many are understandably focused on the legal details, the grotesque specifics of the techniques ("insects", “walling”?), the inconsistencies of the memos …

Tea Party Fallout: Independents Turned Off, Some GOPers Worried  —  It's been two days now since angry conservatives hosted a series of tea parties across the country, and the fallout has some Republicans nervous.  —  While the anti-tax sentiment of the protests may have been sincere …

Israel stands ready to bomb Iran's nuclear sites  —  The Israeli military is preparing itself to launch a massive aerial assault on Iran's nuclear facilities within days of being given the go-ahead by its new government.  —  Among the steps taken to ready Israeli forces …

Child Obesity Is Linked to Chemicals in Plastics  —  Exposure to chemicals used in plastics may be linked with childhood obesity, according to results from a long-term health study on girls who live in East Harlem and surrounding communities that were presented to community leaders on Thursday …

How Barack Obama resurrected The Dead  —  LOS ANGELES - He's still got a little work to do on the economy, but already President Barack Obama has accomplished at least one task that had appeared all but impossible just a year ago: He's put The Dead back on the road.

Rivera: “[T]he grand total of all of the tea party demonstrators" was less than the number “at that immigration rally in 2006 in the city of Chicago alone”  —  I've written this before, but will do so again.  What kind of weird world are we living in that Rivera has become to voice of sanity on FoxNews?

Income Gaps Hit Record Levels In 2006, New Data Show  —  Rich-Poor Gap Tripled Between 1979 and 2006  —  New data from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show that in 2006, the top 1 percent of households had a larger share of the nation's after-tax income, and the middle and bottom fifths …

Taxes & Tyranny  —  Amidst all of the hooplah, I've heard a lot of complaints from liberals.  Here are the most frequent complaints and my responses.  1. All of this tyranny talk is overheated and idiotic.  Well, some of it surely is.  But look: According to that Reason video I posted below …

Culture Shock  —  What happened when one conservative Web site ventured outside the movement bubble.  —  Last May, Conor Friedersdorf, a twenty-eight-year-old recent graduate of NYU's Journalism School, decided he was going to save conservative journalism.

Turning Tables, U.S. Troops Ambush Taliban With Swift and Lethal Results  —  KORANGAL OUTPOST, Afghanistan — Only the lead insurgents were disciplined as they walked along the ridge.  They moved carefully, with weapons ready and at least five yards between each man, the soldiers who surprised them said.

Obama ‘seeks a new beginning’ with Cuba, talks  —  PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - Trading their warmest words in a half-century, the United States and Cuba built momentum toward renewed ties on Friday, with President Barack Obama declaring he “seeks a new beginning” — including direct talks — with the island's communist regime.

CNN: Palin Family Issues Like Soap Opera; Downplays Obama Relatives' Troubles  —  CNN has displayed a double standard in its coverage of the difficulties involving the extended family of Sarah Palin versus that of President Barack Obama.  Two programs on the network on Thursday evening used …

Rescued Banks Balk at Chrysler Deal  —  Creditors Pushed To Surrender Claims Of Billions  —  At a meeting with executives from four of the nation's largest banks earlier this month, the chief of the government's auto task force, Steven Rattner, delivered a message that shocked some in the room.

Goodbye Bland Affluence  —  Get ready for authenticity chic.  —  A small sign of the times: USA Today this week ran an article about a Michigan family that, under financial pressure, decided to give up credit cards, satellite television, high-tech toys and restaurant dining, to live on a 40-acre farm and become more self-sufficient.

Drug Control Breeds Gun Control  —  Two weeks ago (as Radley Balko noted), a Fox News story by William La Jeunesse and Maxim Lott debunked the commonly heard factoid that 90 percent of the firearms used by Mexican drug traffickers come from American dealers.

Morning Thread: Epilogue  —  Since the right-wing blogs likely will not revisit and the press certainly will not.  —  The coda of the Beauchamp Affair: … If you cannot place the name, Master Sgt. Hatley was the direct superior of Pvt. Scott Beauchamp and the person most used to discredit …