Check out Mini-memeorandum for simple mobiles or memeorandum Mobile for modern smartphones.
3:55 PM ET, May 15, 2009

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Lindsey Ellerson / The Note:
Gingrich: Pelosi ‘Lied,’ ‘Despicable,’ ‘Dishonest,’ ‘Vicious,’ ‘Trivial’  —  ABC News' Rick Klein reports: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich today offered a blistering critique of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's handling of oversight on harsh interrogation tactics, in a major escalation of partisan attacks being aimed at Pelosi.
RELATED:
Sam Youngman / The Hill:
CIA director says Pelosi received the truth  —  CIA Director Leon Panetta challenged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's accusations that the agency lied to her, writing a memo to his agents saying she received nothing but the truth.  —  Panetta said that “ultimately, it is up to Congress to evaluate …
Dan Balz / Washington Post:
The Take: Pelosi's Comments Raise Interrogation Debate to New Level  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's extraordinary accusation that the Bush administration lied to Congress about the use of harsh interrogation techniques dramatically raised the stakes in the growing debate …
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
The Torture Debate, Continued  —  This month, I wrote a column outlining two exceptions to the no-torture rule: the ticking time bomb scenario and its less extreme variant in which a high-value terrorist refuses to divulge crucial information that could save innocent lives.
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Reporters Gettin' Played  —  Everybody's talking about Nancy Pelosi's press conference yesterday.  I'm listening to Republicans on cable yapping about this contradiction or that contradiction.  But what I've seen very little attention to is the fact that Pelosi had an answer that really answers …
Discussion: rubber hose and Balloon Juice
Martin Kady II / Glenn Thrush's Blog:
Panetta to CIA employees: We told Pelosi the truth
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:   KRAUTHAMMER'S BEST EXAMPLE.... The Washington Post's Charles …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The Ticking Time Bomb Slippery Slope
Discussion: ATTACKERMAN
Attaturk / Firedoglake:
Moral Monster  —  Charles Krauthammer took the Hippocratic Oath.
Discussion: American Power
CNN:
Gingrich: ‘Obligation’ to investigate Pelosi
Discussion: Truthdig
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
More Americans “Pro-Life” Than “Pro-Choice” for First Time  —  Also, fewer think abortion should be legal “under any circumstances”  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion and 42% “pro-choice.”
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Health Care Leaders Say Obama Overstated Their Promise to Control Costs  —  WASHINGTON — Hospitals and insurance companies said Thursday that President Obama had substantially overstated their promise earlier this week to reduce the growth of health spending.
RELATED:
David Brooks / New York Times:
Fiscal Suicide Ahead
Discussion: Commentary and Donklephant
Jason Rosenbaum / The Huffington Post:
That Didn't Take Long: Insurance Industry Breaks Promise To President Obama
Discussion: Hullabaloo and Left in the West
Bloomberg:
Obama Says U.S. Long-Term Debt Load ‘Unsustainable’
Alex Spillius / Telegraph:
New ‘prisoner abuse’ photographs emerge despite US bid to block publication  —  Graphic photographs of alleged prisoner abuse, thought to be among up to 2,000 images Barack Obama is trying to prevent from being released, emerged yesterday.  —  The shocking images of inmates in Iraq …
RELATED:
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Obama's kinder, gentler military commissions  —  [updated below - Update II - Update III (Obama's statement)]  —  It now appears definitive that the Obama administration will attempt to preserve a “modified” version of George Bush's military commissions, rather than try suspected terrorists …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Obama Planning to Keep Tribunals for Detainees
WNYW Fox 5 MyFoxNY.com:
Dead People Get Stimulus Checks  —  MYFOXNY.COM - This week, thousands of people are getting stimulus checks in the mail.  The problem is that a lot of them are dead.  A Long Island woman was shocked when she checked the mail and received a letter from the U.S. Treasury — but it wasn't for her.
Matt Smith / CNN:
Powell aide says torture helped build Iraq war case  —  (CNN) — Finding a “smoking gun” linking Iraq and al Qaeda became the main purpose of the abusive interrogation program the Bush administration authorized in 2002, a former State Department official told CNN on Thursday.
Tom Goldstein / SCOTUSblog:
Judge Sotomayor's Appellate Opinions in Civil Cases  —  Judge Sonia Sotomayor is an obviously serious candidate to serve on the Supreme Court.  We have been struck by how the amount of commentary about Judge Sotomayor has ignored the most accessible and valuable source of information: her opinions as an appellate judge.
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
SOME OF HIS BEST FRIENDS ARE JEWS.... Arkansas' Kim Hendren ran into a little trouble this week when he said he believes in “traditional values,” unlike “that Jew,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).  He later apologized, adding, “I shouldn't have gotten into this Jewish business because it distracts from the issue.”
Discussion: Alas, a blog
RELATED:
Jonathan Chait / The Plank:   Holy Joe  —  Arkansas Senate candidate Kim Hendren …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Empire of Carbon  —  I have seen the future, and it won't work.  —  These should be hopeful times for environmentalists.  Junk science no longer rules in Washington.  President Obama has spoken forcefully about the need to take action on climate change; the people I talk to are increasingly optimistic …
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
In Limbo: Dawn Johnsen's Nomination Stalls Thanks to Democrats  —  For several weeks—while torture revelations have dominated headlines and with the scandal still very much alive—Dawn Johnsen has been waiting.  She's Obama's pick to head the Office of Legal Counsel—the same Justice Department shop …
Discussion: Christy Hardin Smith and Moe Lane
RELATED:
Al Kamen / Washington Post:
In the Loop: The Not-So-Persuasive Liz Cheney  —  We now know at least one reason former vice president Dick Cheney was taking the Acela up to New York on Monday morning: He was going to attend a debate on U.S. policy on Iran where his daughter Liz Cheney, former principal deputy assistant secretary …
Victor Davis Hanson / Associated Press:
Hanson: President Palins First 100 Days  —  EDITOR'S NOTE: In these messianic times we have slouched into an acceptance of presidential worship, and we need to be reminded from time to time that the media's Obama standard is really no standard at all.  The following is a sequel to the recent “Bush Did It.”
Newt Gingrich / Washington Examiner:
Lets NOT meet the Uighurs  —  President Obama has heeded his generals and decided not to release more photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, and good for him.  Now he needs to put our national security ahead of politics once again and reverse his dangerous decision to release trained …
National Journal Online:
Political Insiders Poll  —  Q: Has Dick Cheney helped or hurt the Republican Party since leaving office?  —  Democrats (103 votes)  —  Helped 6 percent Hurt 92 percent  —  Both; neither; time will tell  —  (volunteered) 3 percent  —  Helped
Tania Branigan / Guardian:
China to open first sex theme park  —  Love Land in Chongqing aims to address taboo and improve sex education but many residents see it as vulgar  —  Maybe it was the giant revolving model of a woman's legs and lower torso, clad only in an unflattering crimson thong, or perhaps it was the oversized replica of a set of genitals.
Discussion: Jezebel and The Impolitic
 
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of memeorandum at 3:55 PM ET, May 15, 2009.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 Who's Hiring in Media? 
 
 See Also: 
memeorandum: site main
memeorandum River: reverse chronological memeorandum
memeorandum Mobile: for phones
memeorandum Leaderboard: memeorandum's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
memeorandum RSS feed
memeorandum on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Quin Hillyer / American Spectator:
Obama the Destroyer  —  If somebody were deliberately trying …
Discussion: Cold Fury
Israel Policy Forum / Mideast Peace Pulse:
IPF to Obama in Ad in NY Times: Take 5 Steps to 2 States
Discussion: The Huffington Post
August Cole / Wall Street Journal:
Blackwater-Affiliated Guards Involved in Kabul Shooting Incident
Discussion: MoJo Blog Posts
Jeremy P. Jacobs / The Hill:
Lieberman to pay $50K campaign finance penalty
Discussion: Politics Daily
Ryanteaguebeckwith / Raleigh News & Observer:
Cooper not running for Senate
Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …
John Koblin / New York Observer:
New York Times Considers Two Plans to Charge for Content on the Web
Discussion: New York Magazine and BuzzMachine
 Earlier Items: 
David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:
Memo to O'Reilly: Detainee-photo uproar a reminder that torture …
Mitch Daniels / Wall Street Journal:
Indiana Says ‘No Thanks’ to Cap and Trade
Discussion: Hot Air and Commentary
Bruce Bartlett / Forbes:
The 81% Tax Increase  —  To pay for government's promises on Social Security and Medicare.
Discussion: The Daily Dish
Conor Clarke / The Atlantic Business Channel:
Will Tax Increases Kill The Recovery?
Discussion: Grasping Reality …
Chris Isidore / CNNMoney.com:
GM notifies 1,100 dealers they're out
Discussion: BuzzFlash.org and Clusterstock
Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:
Dear Mr. Buffett: About Those Newspapers . . .
Discussion: BuzzMachine
 

 
From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered making a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

 
Sister Sites:

Techmeme
 Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web
Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page