Stephen Hawking hospitalized, reported very ill by Robert Barr LONDON (AP) — Famed mathematician Stephen Hawking was rushed to a hospital Monday and was seriously ill, Cambridge University said.The university said Hawking has been fighting a chest infection for several weeks, and was being treated at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, the university city north of London.
Obama gets euphoric CIA welcome by Agence France-Presse LANGLEY, Virginia – President Barack Obama Monday heaped praise on the CIA, telling employees not to be discouraged by his release of stunning details on the agency's harsh terror interrogations.The president got an enthusiastic reception as he gave a speech at the agency's headquarters, just days after releasing secret memos on Bush-era questioning of terror suspects derided by critics as torture.
AIG eats another $30 billion-ish by Stephen C. Webster Today, AIG agreed to sell the US government 300,000 preferred shares in exchange for a little vitamin shot by way of $29.835 billion. Why not just round it off and make it $30 cool? Well ...As it turns out, all that noise over AIG getting those big, ugly bonuses amounted to little more than a hill of beans.
Where’s Rev. Wright When You Need Him? by Chris Hedges Israel and the United States, which could be charged under international law with crimes against humanity for actions in Gaza, Iraq and Afghanistan, will together boycott the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Geneva. Racism, an endemic feature of Israeli and American society, is not, we have decided, open for international inspection. Barack Obama may be president, but the United States has no intention of accepting responsibility or atoning for past crimes, including the use of torture, its illegal wars of aggression, slavery and the genocide on which the country was founded. We, like Israel, prefer to confuse lies we tell about ourselves with fact.
Top House Republican: Idea that CO2 is harmful is ‘comical’ by Diana Sweet In a boisterous exchange with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, the top House Republican said that declaring carbon dioxide a pollutant was “almost comical” and repeated denials that humans are responsible for global warming.“George, the idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen that is harmful to our environment is almost comical,” House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) quipped. “Every time we exhale, we exhale carbon dioxide. Every cow in the world, you know, when they do what they do, you’ve got more carbon dioxide.
Rediscovering Human Rights in an Age of Torture(rs): Hayden and Mukasey, the point of law is principle by Raymond Budelman In a Wall Street Journal op-ed two former Bush administration officials, CIA director General Michael Hayden and Attorney General Michael Mukasey, assert that President Obama’s release of Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinions discussing the possible legality of the CIA’s proposed harsh interrogation methods was “unnecessary” and “unsound as a matter of policy.” According to Hayden and Mukasey, the techniques (which included the ‘attention grasp,’ ‘walling,’ facial holds, the ‘insult slap,’ cramped confinement, ‘wall standing,’ stress positions, sleep deprivation, “insects placed in a confinement box,” and waterboarding) “were applied only when expressly permitted by the [CIA] director” on an “as-needed” basis.
A Nation Where "the Drunken Driver Has the Right of Way" by Bill Gallagher "If waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture."-- Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair, after having himself waterboarded.Words do matter and the weasel words and phrases used to describe the torture and war crimes committed in the name of the American people with the blessings of Justice Department lawyers represent a sickening attempt to sugarcoat savagery.
Questions I'd like 'Teabaggers' to answer by Matt Taibbi So as could be expected I was deluged with mail this weekend, most of it from outraged Michelle Malkin readers, and nearly all of whom sounded the same basic theme: that I was a bad, bad person for issuing ad hominem attacks and should be discredited for "not having my facts straight" and for being too much of a coward to "debate the real issues."
CIA Waterboarded al-Qaida Suspects 266 Times by Matthew Weaver and agencies Torture technique outlawed by Obama was used extensively on 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and alleged terror commander Abu ZubaydahThe CIA waterboarded two al-Qaida terror suspects a total of 266 times, according to a report that suggests the use of the torture technique was much more extensive than previously thought.
Bomb materials found in Marine's baggage at Logan by Associated Press BOSTON (AP) -- State police and security officials say a U.S. Marine was arrested Sunday morning at Boston's Logan International Airport after screeners found bomb-making materials, a gun and ammunition in his checked baggage.Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Ann Davis says 22-year-old Cpl. Justin Reed, of Jacksonville, N.C., was booked on US Airways Flight 877 to Charlotte, N.C. Davis says Reed arrived in Boston on a flight from Las Vegas earlier Sunday morning. Davis says the TSA is trying to determine why the items were not detected during a screening in Las Vegas.
Gonzales ‘blocked prosecution of Democrat who helped keep lid on wiretapping story’ by John Byrne Update at bottom: NYT editor denies reportA powerful California congresswoman was allegedly caught by an NSA wiretap in 2005 pledging to intervene in an espionage case involving Israeli lobbyists, Congressional Quarterly’s Jeff Stein revealed Sunday.Quoting former senior Bush Administration officials, the article also alleges that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales conspired to drop criminal action against the then-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Jane Harman (D-CA), because he needed her help when a firestorm of criticism erupted in December 2005 after the New York Times published details about the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program.
Obama hold press conference after Summit of the Americas by Aimee Kligman The smile and the easy-going manner was back; perhaps it was because President Obama was talking to the press corps, and knew many of the participants; or because this had not been an easy summit for him. The adulation he received in Europe from both leaders and citizens alike was certainly missing here.
Erin Go Broke by Paul Krugman “What,” asked my interlocutor, “is the worst-case outlook for the world economy?” It wasn’t until the next day that I came up with the right answer: America could turn Irish.What’s so bad about that? Well, the Irish government now predicts that this year G.D.P. will fall more than 10 percent from its peak, crossing the line that is sometimes used to distinguish between a recession and a depression.
The Torture Memos by Robert A. Kezelis According the May, 30, 2005 "Torture Memo," penned by Judge Jay Bybee (Bush got him onto the 9th Circ. Appellate Court), we held and tortured 94 detainees, using waterboarding, stressed positioning, subjecting them to extreme temperatures while naked, even stuffing them into boxes.
Rediscovering Human Rights in an Age of Torture(rs): Hayden and Mukasey, the point of law is principle by Raymond Budelman In a Wall Street Journal op-ed two former Bush administration officials, CIA director General Michael Hayden and Attorney General Michael Mukasey, assert that President Obama’s release of Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinions discussing the possible legality of the CIA’s proposed harsh interrogation methods was “unnecessary” and “unsound as a matter of policy.” According to Hayden and Mukasey, the techniques (which included the ‘attention grasp,’ ‘walling,’ facial holds, the ‘insult slap,’ cramped confinement, ‘wall standing,’ stress positions, sleep deprivation, “insects placed in a confinement box,” and waterboarding) “were applied only when expressly permitted by the [CIA] director” on an “as-needed” basis.
Pot legalization favored by some to stem violence by Michael Gleeson A growing chorus of lawmakers is openly calling for the legalization of marijuana as a measure to stop the escalating violence along U.S.-Mexico border.The legislators who have endorsed legalization are Reps. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), and Ron Paul (R-Texas).
Obama will support credit card reform, hoping to spur increase in savings rate by Raw Story One of Americans' traditional financial foes – credit cards companies – may soon be more tightly regulated in favor of consumers.President Barack Obama is willing to sign a "credit card bill of rights" if it is passed by Congress, White House economic adviser Larry Summers said today on NBC's Meet the Press. The bill, under consideration by both the House and the Senate, would - among other things - limit the ability of credit card companies to raise interest rates on existing balances.
