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 …

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?

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 …

Our Obligation to Investigate  —  In President Obama's inaugural address, he declared that “we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.  Our founding fathers, faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man …

NRSC abandoning Toomey?  —  The National Republican Senatorial Committee is recruiting Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) to run for the Senate because it views Pat Toomey as unelectable against Sen. Arlen Specter, according to Gerlach's lead consultant.  —  According to Gerlach consultant Mark Campbell …

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 …

Tapper to Gibbs: Can you clarify Biden's moronic comment about subways?  —  Funny but mean in that it's a question designed simply to make Gibbs squirm.  No one can “clarify” what Greasy Joe said because what he said was perfectly clear: He's freaked out about swine flu — needlessly …

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) …

Obama's 100 Days Press Conference Draws 28.8M Viewers  —  Last night's primetime press conference to mark Barack Obama's 100th day in office was viewed by 28.8 million people in the U.S., according to The Nielsen Company.  The event pulled an 18.8 household rating on 10 TV networks.

Scientists see this flu strain as relatively mild  —  Genetic data indicate this outbreak won't be as deadly as that of 1918, or even the average winter.  —  As the World Health Organization raised its infectious disease alert level Wednesday and health officials confirmed the first death linked …

Petraeus: Next Two Weeks Critical to Pakistan's Survival  —  Gen. David Petraeus said he is looking for concrete action by the Pakistani government to destroy the Taliban in the next two weeks before determining the United States' next course of action.  —  FOXNews.com

McLeroy confirmation blocked  —  The confirmation of State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy is dead in the water, Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, said Thursday.  —  Jackson, chairman of the Senate Nominations Committee, said McLeroy will be left pending in committee …

Candidate for Georgia governorship says he'd kill his own son to secede  —  A longshot Georgia candidate for governor who's already admitted having sex with a mule before finding God says he's ready to sacrifice his own son in an effort to get his state to secede from the union.

A Chrysler Creditor Finds Himself Torn  —  Geoffrey Gwin is wrestling with the knowledge that the retirement plans of some 80,000 Americans may rest in his hands.  —  “I am in turmoil,” says Mr. Gwin, principal of the Group G Capital Partners LLC hedge funds in New York.

Pew: Church-Goers Like Torture More  —  They were told not to damage the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.  They were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them …

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.