CIA Says Pelosi Was Briefed on Use of ‘Enhanced Interrogations’  —  Intelligence officials released documents this evening saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was briefed in September 2002 about the use of harsh interrogation tactics against al-Qaeda prisoners …

Palin pulls out of White House Correspondents' Dinner  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will miss a chance to chat up President Obama this weekend because she's cancelling plans to attend the White House Correspondents' dinner, but she's got a good excuse.

U.S. Jobless Rate Hits 8.9%, but Pace of Losses Eases  —  The United States economy lost 539,000 jobs in April, the government reported on Friday, a sign that the relentless pace of job losses was starting to level off slightly.  —  A year ago, the loss of more than half a million jobs …

Diminished Conservative Groups Gear Up for Supreme Court Nomination Battle  —  Conservatives Prepare For Underdog Role  —  When John G. Roberts Jr. was nominated to the Supreme Court as chief justice, a pro-Republican group called Progress for America had $18 million in the bank.

Stressing the Positive  —  Hooray!  The banking crisis is over!  Let's party!  O.K., maybe not.  —  In the end, the actual release of the much-hyped bank stress tests on Thursday came as an anticlimax.  Everyone knew more or less what the results would say: some big players need to raise more capital …

Your Yard Sale Is Illegal  —  Thinking of having a yard sale this weekend?  Before you do, be sure to consult CSPC Publication #254 [PDF].  —  This handy 28-pager from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reminds the American people that, thanks to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act …

Obama sends handwritten letter to gay soldier ousted from the military promising to repeal DADT.  —  In January, Sandy Tsao, an army officer based out of St. Louis, MO, told her superiors that she is gay — a violation of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell law.  Tsao then wrote to President Obama …

Pakistan slams door on Taliban  —  Pakistan's government today declared an end to peace initiatives with Taliban insurgents controlling Swat , signalling the start of a major military operation to drive the militants from the valley.  —  In a televised address, prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani …

Dissident Chrysler Group Is Likely to Disband  —  The withdrawals of OppenheimerFunds and Stairway Capital Management will likely drop the group, calling itself the Committee of Non-TARP Lenders, below 5 percent of Chrysler's $6.9 billion in secured debt, this person said.

Canadian Exceptionism  —  Canada is one of the few countries without a major banking crisis.  Weirdly, this was also true in 1930.  I've seen this list of the success factors for Canadian banks in several places.  I want to believe it, but . . .  ..it doesn't seem to be as simple as “Canadian banks are more tightly-regulated”.

Obama and the 9/11 Families  —  The president isn't sincere about ‘swift and certain’ justice for terrorists.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  In February I was among a group of USS Cole and 9/11 victims' families who met with the president at the White House to discuss his policies regarding Guantanamo detainees.

Under Restructuring, GM To Build More Cars Overseas  —  The U.S. government is pouring billions into General Motors in hopes of reviving the domestic economy, but when the automaker completes its restructuring plan, many of the company's new jobs will be filled by workers overseas.

Someone at Best Western gets it  —  If this ad doesn't present a story worth telling, nothing does:  —  With props to Bob McCarty.

U.S. threatens to rescind stimulus money over wage cuts  —  The Obama administration threatens to rescind billions in stimulus money if Gov. Schwarzenegger and lawmakers do not restore wage cuts to unionized home healthcare workers.  —  Reporting from Sacramento — The Obama administration …

Weak Treasury auction sends stocks lower  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Weak demand at a Treasury bond auction touched off worries in the stock market Thursday about the government's ability to raise funds to fight the recession.  —  The government had to pay greater interest than expected in a sale of 30-year Treasurys.

N.Y.'s Junior Senator Gains a Defender: The Senior Senator  —  WASHINGTON — At a recent Capitol Hill fund-raising event, Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand rose to thank her donors.  It was important for her to raise money now, she told them, because she might face a Democratic primary challenge next year.

The President's Name Trips Up a Would-Be Voice of the News  —  The Amazon Kindle, an electronic reader, has been lavished with praise by hopeful newspaper and book executives who say they believe it has the potential to do for newspapers and books what the iPod did for music.

U.S. to Appoint Top General to Kabul  —  WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is expected to bolster the U.S. military leadership in Afghanistan by appointing a three-star general to Kabul, according to senior defense officials.  The move underscores growing concern in the military …

It's Church not Prayer That Makes Us Good  —  Mike Gerson has a column up today laying out some of the key findings to be featured in Bob Putnam and David Campbell's upcoming book, “American Grace,” that I mentioned on Wednesday.  —  In a nutshell, writes Gerson:

Spring Thaw Triggers Floods in Alaska  —  An unusually warm spring thaw in Alaska is causing some of the state's worst flooding in decades, with rising rivers wiping out an entire village and bombarding another town with ice chunks as big as houses.  —  The Alaska Railroad shut …

Lawmaker Defends Imprisoning Hostile Bloggers  —  Rep. Linda Sanchez responded Wednesday to Threat Level's tirade against her proposed legislation outlawing hostile electronic speech.  Her answer: “Congress has no interest in censoring.”  —  Sanchez, with the introduction …

Sessions Subordinate: I Thought I'd Be Fired If I Objected To Being Called ‘Boy’  —  When it became clear that Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) was poised to become ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, we recalled this 2002 article by Sarah Wildman which addresses some of the controversies …