Report: Abusive tactics were used to find Iraq-al Qaida link  —  WASHINGTON — The Bush administration put relentless pressure on interrogators to use harsh methods on detainees in part to find evidence of cooperation between al Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime …

Acting Freddie Mac CFO commits suicide  —  VIENNA, Va. — David Kellermann, acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac, committed suicide in his Hunter Mill Estates home Wednesday morning.  He hanged himself.  —  Fairfax County Police spokeswoman Mary Anne Jennings tells WTOP police responded …

Court Debates Strip Search of Student  —  WASHINGTON — The United States Supreme Court spent an hour on Tuesday debating what middle school students are apt to put in their underwear and what should be done about it.  —  Justice Stephen G. Breyer, for instance, said it struck him as …

$%^&*!!: Civility and tolerance in the Age of Obama  —  My syndicated column today looks at the outbreak of Obama-esque discourse across the country.  Couldn't even mention some of the misogynist sleaze prompted by the Tea Party movement because newspapers wouln't print it.  And they call us an “unhinged mob?”

WH communications director leaving  —  President Obama is losing a member of his press shop just shy of his first 100 days in office.  —  Ellen Moran, White House communications director, will become chief of staff for Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.  —  Mr. Obama issued a statement through …

Fidel Castro: Obama ‘misinterpreted’ Raul's words  —  HAVANA - Fidel Castro says President Barack Obama “misinterpreted” his brother Raul's remarks regarding the United States and bristled at the suggestion that Cuba should free political prisoners or cut taxes on dollars people send to the island.

Dems to brand GOP as party of Gingrich, Cheney  —  National Democrats are embarking on a new campaign to brand Republicans as a party led by widely unpopular faces like former Vice President Cheney.  —  The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday released a Web ad featuring Cheney …

Stopping Dem 60 ‘real hard,’ Cornyn fears  —  The man in charge of electing more Republicans to the Senate said it will be difficult to stop the Democrats from winning a 60-seat majority in 2010.  —  Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the new head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee …

Dozens of Prisoners Held by CIA Still Missing, Fates Unknown  —  Last week, we pointed out that one of the newly released Bush-era memos inadvertently confirmed that the CIA held an al-Qaeda suspect named Hassan Ghul in a secret prison and subjected him to what Bush administration lawyers called “enhanced interrogation techniques.”

Fuzzy Math  —  According to an MIT study, cap and trade could cost the average household more than $3,900 per year.  —  It's just another inconvenient truth: If Americans want any of the government remedies that would supposedly save a planet allegedly imperiled by global warming, it's going to cost them.

‘Deeper’ recession ahead says IMF  —  The global economy is set to decline by 1.3% in 2009, in the first global recession since World War II, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says.  —  In January, the IMF had predicted world output would increase by 0.5% in 2009.

High Unemployment States Have High Income Taxes or High Unionization or Both.  —  As the nation considers increasing marginal tax rates and facilitating greater union membership, I thought it might make sense to look at the states with the highest and lowest unemployment rates to see if there might be any relevant patterns.

Obama Blames America  —  Demonizing Harry Truman may not play well with voters.  —  The president of the United States has completed another outing abroad in his now standard form: as the un-Bush.  At one stop after another — the latest in Latin America, where Hugo Chávez expressed wishes …

Obama won, now what does Maddow's future hold?  —  The left-leaning host of an MSNBC show sees a ratings drop, but remains committed to asking the tough questions.  —  When MSNBC's “The Rachel Maddow Show” debuted during the historic campaign of Barack Obama, the program's ratings soared and made its host a breakout star on cable.

The Re-Education of Tim Geithner  —  In his worst moments, when the camera lights are ­burning and the doubt, the contempt, in the Capitol Hill hearing rooms become palpable, Tim Geithner has a look in his eye—at once wary and alarmed, even as he speaks quickly, sometimes interrupting, sometimes repeating his talking points.

Leahy Will Defy Obama to Pursue Bush-Era Torture Inquiry  —  ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports from Capitol Hill: Sen. Patrick Leahy pledged today that if he cannot get the votes to create a bipartisan commission to investigate U.S. torture policy under former President George W. Bush …

Rove claims prosecuting torture memo authors will turn Obama admin “into the moral equivalent of a Latin American country run by colonels in mirrored sunglasses”

New Guinea Tribe Sues The ‘New Yorker’ For $10 Million  —  They challenge a story depicting them as rapists, murderers and pig thieves.  —  In an April 21, 2008, New Yorker story, “Vengeance Is Ours,” Pulitzer Prize-winning geography scholar Jared Diamond describes blood feuds that rage …