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Emptywheel:
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Was Waterboarded 183 Times in One Month — I've put this detail in a series of posts, but it really deserves a full post. According to the May 30, 2005 Bradbury memo, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times in March 2003 and Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times in August 2002.
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Scott Shane / New York Times:
Torture Versus War — WHEN the Central Intelligence Agency obliterates a dozen suspected terrorists, along with assorted family members, with a missile from a drone, the news rarely stirs a strong reaction far beyond Pakistan. — Yet the waterboarding of three operatives from Al Qaeda …
R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post:
Justice Dept. Memos' Careful Legalese Obscured Harsh Reality — The four Justice Department memos to the CIA's top lawyer that were released last week reflect an effort by Bush administration appointees to create finely tuned justifications for harsh interrogation techniques …
Discussion:
New York Times
John Cole / Balloon Juice:
There Better Be a Helluva Lot of Ticks Left In That Bomb — One of the favorite canards of the pro-torture Jack Bauer fetishists, behind only “this resembles fraternity pranks” and “but we do this in SERE,” has always been the “ticking time-bomb” scenario:
Jaketapper / Political Punch:
Chavez Gifts Obama With Book That Assails U.S. for Exploiting Latin America — At President Obama's meeting with the heads of South American countries this morning, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stood, walked over to him, and presented him with a copy of “Open Veins of Latin America …
Discussion:
NO QUARTER, The New Ledger, Atlas Shrugs, Political Byline, Sister Toldjah, Macsmind and protein wisdom
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Dotcomabc / Political Punch:
White House Senior Advisor: Obama More Popular Than Chavez in Venezuela
White House Senior Advisor: Obama More Popular Than Chavez in Venezuela
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Blue Crab Boulevard, Hot Air, RealClearPolitics Video Log and The Politico
Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:
It might already be too late for the right-wing blogs — The Daily Beast's Benjamin Sarlin follows up on a trend we've been noting at CF for the last couple week; far right bloggers who are calling out Fox News for the doomsday hate speech that's become Murdoch's programming anchor.
Discussion:
PERRspectives
Peter Hamby / CNN:
GOP congressman booed mercilessly at Tea Party rally — (CNN) - Several Republican members of Congress spoke at Tea Party protests around the country on Wednesday. Some were applauded. Others heckled. But only one, it appears, was booed relentlessly for the entire duration of his speech: Rep. Gresham Barrett of South Carolina.
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Hot Air
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Chicago Tribune:
Makeover debate fires up over ‘Idol’ sensation Susan Boyle — Susan Boyle's ‘makeover’ — Once people stopped marveling at Susan Boyle's voice, they started talking about her look, including her caterpillar-like eyebrows. Let the makeover debate begin.
Al Giordano / The Field on the Narcosphere:
Summit: What a Difference a Day Makes — Yesterday's banner headline on Trinidad and Tobago's daily Guardian (see below) was “Chávez vs. Obama.” — Today's is above. — Ponder that for a moment. — Also today, the Venezuelan President said aloud he wants to restore …
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Nazila Fathi / New York Times:
Iran Sentences American Journalist to 8 Years in Prison — A revolutionary court has sentenced an Iranian-American journalist, Roxana Saberi, to eight years in prison after convicting her of spying for the United States, her lawyer said Saturday. — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton …
Discussion:
TVNewser, The New Ledger, PoliGazette, Taylor Marsh, Think Progress, Harry's Place and Truthdig
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Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
High Court Poised To Closely Weigh Civil Rights Laws — The Supreme Court has an opportunity to reaffirm or reshape the nation's civil rights laws as it faces a rare confluence of cases over the next two weeks, including a high-profile challenge brought by white firefighters who claim they lost …
Petra Cahill / World Blog:
TALIBAN-STYLE JUSTICE FOR ALLEGED U.S. SPIES — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - “I was given $122 to drop chips wrapped in cigarette paper at al-Qaida and Taliban houses,” confessed 19-year-old Habibur Rehman, just before the Taliban shot him dead for spying for the United States.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
N. Gregory Mankiw / New York Times:
It May Be Time for the Fed to Go Negative — WITH unemployment rising and the financial system in shambles, it's hard not to feel negative about the economy right now. The answer to our problems, however, could well be more negativity. But I'm not talking about attitude. I'm talking about numbers.
Scott / Power Line:
The Journal's missing facts — Today's Wall Street Journal carries another editorial ("Minnesota's missing votes") on the recount in Minnestota's Senate election. It was the Journal's original editorial on the subject that prompted me to write “Minnesota 101” for NRO.
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Scott / Power Line:
An obscene insult — The star hosts of CNN and MSNBC news shows have notoriously derided the tea party demonstrations around the country with reference to the practice of teabagging (which I had never heard of before they brought it up). As John noted, both networks' “journalists” …
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
The Choler of Online Comments — Dear Reader: — I wish to apologize to you for my behavior last week. — On Tuesday, I learned that I am a right-wing hack. I am not a journalist. I am typical of the right wing. I am why newspapers are going broke. I write garbage. I am angry with Barack Obama.
Discussion:
race42008.com
Associated Press:
NATO frees 20 hostages; pirates seize Belgian ship — NAIROBI, Kenya - NATO forces rescued 20 fishermen from pirates who launched the latest attack in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday, but let the Somali hijackers go because they had no authority to arrest them.
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