Supreme Court Justice Souter To Retire  —  · NPR has learned that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the court's current term.  —  The court has completed hearing oral arguments for the year and will be issuing rulings and opinions until the end of June.

The CIA's $1,000 a Day Specialists on Waterboarding, Interrogations  —  The New Focus on Two Retired Military Psychologists Called the ‘Architects’ of the CIA's Techniques  —  As the secrets about the CIA's interrogation techniques continue to come out, there's new information about the frequency …

Bunning poised to retire  —  Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning, the most endangered Republican up for reelection in 2010, appears headed for retirement after giving his leading GOP rival the blessing to prepare to run for his seat next year.  —  Bunning's retirement would be a huge victory …

Ari Fleischer: Subpoena Me on Torture  —  Panelists Josh Rushing, Ari Fleischer, and Tina Brown, with moderator Gideon Yago.  Photo by Diane Bondareff/IFC.  —  What's the easiest way to get a roomful of media people together?  Offer them free lunch and a panel discussion on their favorite topic: themselves!

New GOP ad: Do you feel safer?  —  House Republicans are using images of the Pentagon burning on 9/11 and President Obama's “bow” to the Saudi leader in a video that accuses the president of making America less safe in his first 100 days.  —  But the new video has already created blowback …

An Affordable Salvation  —  The 2008 election ended the reign of junk science in our nation's capital, and the chances of meaningful action on climate change, probably through a cap-and-trade system on emissions, have risen sharply.  —  But the opponents of action claim that limiting emissions …

Top Conservatives On Twitter FAIL  —  Ok, quick twitter post and then back to...serious...business.  Several weeks ago, those of us who (for reasons unclear) communicate with friends, colleagues, and complete strangers on Twitter, began scratching our heads when we noticed various conservatives …

Senate Rejects Bankruptcy Bailout for Troubled Homeowners  —  ABC's Z. Byron Wolf reports from Capitol Hill: On the same day that the White House announced that overextended Chrysler would go into a “quick” bankruptcy — its loans rewritten by a judge to emerge for life another day …

Churchgoers more likely to back torture, survey finds  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new analysis.  —  More than half of people who attend services at least once a week …

Poll: Rising U.S. Support for Social Issues, Such as Gay Marriage  —  Republicans may not be able to rely on social issues as they try to rebound against a popular president and increasingly dominant Democratic Party, as a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows rising support for same-sex marriage …

Tipping Point?  —  I think most of us can see that despite some painful setbacks, and likely more to come, time is definitely on the side of marriage equality in the United States.  But are we hitting some sort of tipping point under a new administration and with a rush of recent successes in several states around the country?

Senate Refuses to Let Judges Fix Mortgages in Bankruptcy  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate handed a victory to the banking industry on Thursday, defeating a Democratic proposal that would have given homeowners in financial trouble greater flexibility to renegotiate the terms of their mortgages.

Memo to President Obama on Torture  —  This memorandum is VIPS' first attempt to inform you on a major intelligence issue, as we did your predecessor; thus, some background might be helpful.  —  Five former CIA officers established Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) …