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- CIA Renewed Contract With Psychologists Who Endorsed Waterboarding Weeks After Obama Took Office Before Firing Them
- Iran Election Live-Blogging (Sunday June 14)
- George Obama, President's Half Brother, Working On A Book
- Rio's Slums Walled In To Protect Trees But Poor Residents Feel Fenced In
- U.S. Home Equity May Be Down To About 20%
- Kobe Bryant, Lakers capture 15th NBA title
- Stewart Acuff: Collective Bargaining For America
| CIA Renewed Contract With Psychologists Who Endorsed Waterboarding Weeks After Obama Took Office Before Firing Them | Top |
| Amid the headlines about CIA director Leon Panetta's comments on Dick Cheney's motivations for his criticism of Obama, a much-bigger revelation was tucked into Jane Mayer's new story in the New Yorker. Weeks after Obama took office, the CIA extended its contract with the former military psychologists who have been called the architects of waterboarding before eventually firing them: In April, Panetta fired all the C.I.A.'s contract interrogators, including the former military psychologists who appear to have designed the most brutal interrogation techniques: James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen. The two men, who ran a consulting company, Mitchell, Jessen & Associates, had recommended that interrogators apply to detainees theories of "learned helplessness" that were based on experiments with abused dogs. The firm's principals reportedly billed the agency a thousand dollars a day for their services. "We saved some money in the deal, too!" Panetta said. (Remarkably, a month after Obama took office the C.I.A. had signed a fresh contract with the firm.) James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen were paid $1,000 a day by the agency to oversee harsh interrogation techniques used on terror suspects, reported ABC News . "The whole intense interrogation concept that we hear about, is essentially their concepts," according to Col. Steven Kleinman, an Air Force interrogator. Mitchell and Jessen appear to have closed down their business , which was located in Spokane, Washington. Mayer also reports that "most of the individuals who managed the secret interrogation program have since left the agency" except for CIA Deputy Director Stephen R. Kappes . Kappes was previously the deputy director for operations from 2002 to 2004, where he was responsible for the counterterrorism division that directed the interrogation program . | |
| Iran Election Live-Blogging (Sunday June 14) | Top |
| This is the archive of my Iran election live-blogging from Sunday, June 14. For the latest updates, click here . 12:01 PM ET -- Joe Lieberman weighs in. One of the first official statements from a member of Congress, via email: [T]hrough intimidation, violence, manipulation, and outright fraud, the Iranian regime has once again made a mockery of democracy, and confirmed its repressive and dictatorial character. We as Americans have a responsibility to stand in solidarity with people when they are denied their rights by repressive regimes. When elections are stolen, our government should protest. When peaceful demonstrators are beaten and silenced, we have a duty to raise our voices on their behalf. We must tell the Iranian people that we are on their side. For this reason, I would hope that President Obama and members of both parties in Congress will speak out, loudly and clearly, about what is happening in Iran right now, and unambiguously express their solidarity with the brave Iranians who went to the polls in the hope of change and who are now looking to the outside world for strength and support. As we've noted below, several Iranian American human rights groups have urged just the opposite -- here , for example, is Trita Parsi's National Iranian American Council: The Obama administration's approach to the election -- keeping its comments low-key and not signaling support for any candidate -- was exactly the right approach. While tempting, empty and self-serving rhetorical support for Iranians struggling for more freedoms serves only to aid their opponents. History has made Iran wary of foreign meddling, and American policymakers in particular must be sensitive to giving hardliners any pretense to call reform-minded Iranians foreign agents. That's why Iran's most prominent reformers, including Nobel-laureate Shirin Ebadi, have said the best thing the U.S. can do is step back and let Iran's indigenous human rights movement progress on its own, without overt involvement from the U.S-however well intentioned. 11:29 AM ET -- An Ayatollah dissents. Earlier this morning (9:42), I noted rumors that Grand Ayatollah Sanei, an influential Iranian cleric, had condemned the elections as unlawful. Now a reader of Andrew Sullivan's translates this article from Farsi: Grand Ayatollah Sanei in Iran has declared Ahmadinejad's presidency illegitimate and cooperating with his government against Islam. There are strong rumors that his house and office are surrounded by the police and his website is filtered. He had previously issued a fatwa, against rigging of the elections in any form or shape, calling it a mortal sin. 11:16 AM ET -- "A smash in the face, a kick in the balls and Long Live the Democrator." Robert Fisk reports from Tehran . 10:50 AM ET -- More details on the crackdown. From the New York Times : Dozens of reformist politicians were said to have been arrested at their homes overnight, according to news reports on Sunday and a witness who worked with the politicians. There were also reports of politicians and clerics being placed under house arrest. Meanwhile, some foreign journalists were apparently being told to leave the country. Reuters quoted a judiciary spokesman on Sunday as saying that the reformists had not been arrested but had been summoned, "warned not to increase tension" and released. When asked at the news conference about the whereabouts of his opponents, Mr. Ahmadinejad never answered directly but made vague references to those committing crimes deserving to be arrested. Witnesses reported that at least one person had been shot dead on Saturday in clashes with the police in Vanak Square in Tehran. 10:37 AM ET -- Stunning new video. A reader, Alex, emails over an incredible video -- riot cops riding motorcycles charge directly into a massive crowd that is packed into a street. Moments later, the video cuts to one of the bikes engulfed in flames. The video then shows one of the officers, bruised and exhausted, being helped through the crowd by a half dozen or so Iranians. It's unclear when this all took place -- the video was uploaded today, but it may very well have been from yesterday. Watch: 10:13 AM ET -- Mousavi's latest letter. An emailer, Robert, sends along the full translated version . One key graph: Today, I officially asked the guardian council (who oversees the elections in IR) in a letter to nullify the outcome of this election and I regard this (the nullification) as the only possible way for regaining the people's trust and cooperation with the government. I strongly urge you again to peacefully protest and defend your legal rights civilly and without confrontation and violence all over the country. 10:02 AM ET -- Tossing away the notebook. New York Times columnist Roger Cohen has a powerful report from Tehran : She was in tears like many women on the streets of Iran's battered capital. "Throw away your pen and paper and come to our aid," she said, pointing to my notebook. "There is no freedom here." And she was gone, away through the milling crowds near the locked-down Interior Ministry spewing its pick-ups full of black-clad riot police. The "green wave" of Iran's pre-election euphoria had turned black. [...] Majir Mirpour grabbed me. A purple bruise disfigured his arm. He raised his shirt to show a red wound across his back. "They beat me like a pig," he said, breathless. "They beat me as I tried to help a woman in tears. I don't care about the physical pain. It's the pain in my heart that hurts." He looked at me and the rage in his eyes made me want to toss away my notebook. 9:42 AM ET -- More elite opposition to election results? An emailer, Laleh, writes in with some information from a friend in Tehran. We don't have confirmation on either of these points, but have heard them several times now, so am forwarding on. 1) Grand Ayatollah Yousof Sanei , a major Iran scholar, has apparently declared the elections "haram" -- unlawful. 2) The restrictions on foreign reporters are growing more strict. Laleh relays this from his friend: "The foreign reporters, who most of them are staying at the Esteghlal Hotel, have been forbidden to leave the hotel. A contact who was at the hotel last night witnessed security forces keeping reporters from leaving the hotel and witnessing scenes of unrest nearby on Vali-Asr avenue." 9:31 AM ET -- Report: 160 arrests. "Deputy head of Iranian police says 160 arrested & denies Mousavi under house arrest -- as reported by Mehr news agency" -- from journalist Mina Al Oraibi on Twitter. 9:28 AM ET -- The new calculus. " Tiananmen + Twitter = Tehran ." IRAN: A Nation Of Bloggers from ayrakus on Vimeo . 9:23 AM ET -- Biden expresses doubts about Iran's election. Details from the Associated Press, and video is below that: Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday he had doubts about whether Iran's presidential election was free and fair, though the U.S. must accept "for the time being" Tehran's claim that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a resounding re-election. He said the Obama administration's interests regarding Iran were the same as before the disputed vote: persuading Tehran to stop development of a nuclear weapon and end its support for terrorism. Iran denies both allegations. The U.S. is trying to understand whether the vote accurately reflected Iranians' response to President Barack Obama's effort to open a dialogue after a nearly 30-year diplomatic freeze, Biden said during an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." "That's the question," Biden said, adding: "Is this the result of the Iranian people's wishes? The hope is that the Iranian people all their votes have been counted, they've been counted fairly. But look, we just don't know enough" since Friday's vote. While Ahmadinejad insisted the results showing his landslide victory were fair and legitimate, Biden simply said, "You know I have doubts." "It sure looks like the way they're suppressing speech, the way they're suppressing crowds, the way in which people are being treated, that there's some real doubt about that," Biden said. "I don't think we're in a position to say. What surprised me in that the assertion that he won by what 60 some percent of the vote, and so I think we have to wait and see. But it didn't seem on its face to be as clear cut." The vice president tried to follow a careful line, however, given the administration's attempts to engage Iran. Asked about recognizing Ahmadinejad's claim of victory over rival Mir Hossen Mousavi, Biden said, "We have to accept that for the time being. But there's an awful lot of questions about how this election was run. And we'll see. We're just waiting to see. We don't have enough facts to make a firm judgment." Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy 9:21 AM ET -- Mousavi urges supporters to continue protests. Reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi "urged his supporters on Sunday to continue with their protests, but in a peaceful and non-confrontational manner," AFP reports. "I again advise you to continue the civil and legal opposition throughout the country peacefully and in a non-confrontational manner," he said in a statement on his campaign website. 9:03 AM ET -- Still no sign of Mousavi. Ahmadinejad's main rival Mousavi has not been seen in public for over 24 hours. There have been varying accounts that he and other senior officials in his camp are under house arrest, though he has not addressed those charges in any of his statements thus far. 8:47 AM ET -- Iran shuts down Al-Arabiya bureau. CNN reports : Iranian authorities closed Al-Arabiya's Tehran bureau for a week without offering a reason, the Arabic network announced on its Web site Sunday in Arabic and English. The announcement came on the heels of the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who insisted Sunday his country had a free press. "There is close to absolute freedom here. (People) can say whatever they like. There are hundreds of dailies published in Iran," he said in a news conference marking his controversial victory over reformist Mir Hossein Moussavi. Foreign reporters have been blocked at every turn from covering the ensuing protests by Moussavi supporters who claimed ballot fraud. Meanwhile, CNN's Saeed Ahmed tweeted an hour ago : CNN producer Desta: Men in motorcycles with metal pipes chased after protesters beating them, also near Hotel Tehran ... Man approached cops to ask why they were shoving a woman. 4-5 cops beat him senseless near Hotel Tehran 8:35 AM ET -- Farce press conference. The AP notes, "Several Iranian journalists who asked questions first congratulated Ahmadinejad for his victory. When asked about the allegations of voting irregularities, the hard-line president brushed the claims off, calling them unimportant." Just now, a reporter shouted praise for Ahmadinejad and said he wanted to recite a piece of poetry in connection with the "celebrations" around the country. 8:12 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad declines to guarantee rival's safety. CNN's Christian Amanpour got into a bit of a verbal scuffle with Ahmadinejad during his press conference just now. Her questions were: "What is the situation with your challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi and will you guarantee his safety? And why have opposition reform individuals, officials, been arrested?" Ahmadinejad responded (CNN's translation): The situation in the country is in a very good condition. Iran is the most stable country in the world, and there's the rule of law in this country, and all the people are equal before the law. And the presidential election has witnessed people's massive turnout. As I said, even in a soccer match, people may become excited and that may lead to a confrontation between them and the police force. This is something natural. A person coming out of a stadium may violate the traffic regulations. He wil be fined by the police no matter who he is, an ordinary person or even a minister. So these are not problems for the people of Iran. 40 million people have participated in the election and these 40 million people will safeguard the elections, based on the Iranian culture. There is no | |
| George Obama, President's Half Brother, Working On A Book | Top |
| NEW YORK — Another Obama relative has a book deal. A memoir by George Obama, the president's half brother and a resident of Huruma, Kenya, will be published by Simon & Schuster in January 2010. George Obama, 27, shares the same father with his famous, older half sibling, although George and Barack Obama _ 20 years apart in age _ did not grow up together and did not meet as children. George is the youngest of the senior Obama's seven children and was born six months before his father died. Little is known about George Obama. The book, tentatively titled "Homeland" and to be written with author-journalist Damien Lewis, will tell of George Obama's fall into crime and poverty as a teenager and his eventual embrace of community organizing _ a passion shared by the president _ and of advocacy for the poor, an identification so strong that he chooses to live among them. "Even had George Obama not been our President's half brother, his story is moving and inspirational," David Rosenthal, Simon & Schuster publisher and executive vice president, said in a statement Sunday. "It is an object lesson in survival, selflessness and courage." Financial terms were not disclosed, but an official with knowledge of the negotiations said the deal was worth six figures. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the contract, spoke on condition of anonymity. Other Obama relatives are working on books, including a half sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng; and the brother of first lady Michelle Obama, Craig Robinson. Duke University Press is releasing the doctoral dissertation of the president's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, who died in 1995. Barack Obama has written a pair of million-selling books, "The Audacity of Hope" and "Dreams from My Father," in which he describes George Obama as "a handsome, roundheaded boy with a wary gaze." | |
| Rio's Slums Walled In To Protect Trees But Poor Residents Feel Fenced In | Top |
| RIO DE JANEIRO -- Luis Carlos da Silva is helping construct a 10-foot cinder-block wall around Dona Marta, the slum he calls home. | |
| U.S. Home Equity May Be Down To About 20% | Top |
| Blogger CalculatedRisk took a look at the Federal Reserve's latest estimate of the equity Americans have in their homes and found it overly optimistic on its face. And not by a little. The Fed's quarterly tally of U.S. households' aggregate balance sheet, issued Thursday, as usual included an estimate of homeowner equity -- the market value of houses minus mortgage debt owed. | |
| Kobe Bryant, Lakers capture 15th NBA title | Top |
| ORLANDO, Fla. — Kobe Bryant has the NBA title he needed most _ the one without Shaq. Bryant's seven-year chase of a coveted championship is over. He's got his fourth, and Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson his record 10th, a ring for each finger. One year after failing in the finals, Bryant and the Lakers have redemption, and all the rewards that go with it. They earned their 15th title on Sunday night as Bryant scored 30 points and Pau Gasol added 14 and 15 rebounds in a 99-86 win in Game 5 over the Orlando Magic, who ran out of comebacks. It took longer than Bryant expected, but he has stepped out of former teammate Shaquille O'Neal's enormous shadow _ at last. His fourth championship secured a strong case can be made for Bryant being the league's best player since Michael Jordan hung up his sneakers. O'Neal, now with the Phoenix Suns, was glad to see the Bryant win another title. "Congratulations kobe, u deserve it," O'Neal said on Twitter page. "You played great. Enjoy it my man enjoy it." Bryant's coach stands alone. Jackson, the chilled-out, bow-legged Zen Master who won six league titles in the 1990s with Jordan in Chicago, now has won No. 4 with Los Angeles and broke a tie with legendary Boston coach Red Auerbach as the winningest coach in finals history. "I'll smoke the cigar tonight in memory of Red," Jackson said. "He was a great guy." Bryant and Jackson, whose relationship strained and briefly snapped under the weight of success, are again at the top of their games. Together. Nothing was going to stop Bryant, who spent the postseason scowling, snarling, baring his teeth and all but breathing fire at anything in his path. For weeks, the All-Star has worn his game face, and only when the victory was his in the final seconds did the finals MVP allow himself to smile. After the final horn, he leaped into the air and was quickly engulfed by his teammates, who bounced around the floor of Amway Arena. Bryant then gave a long, heartfelt hug and shared a few words with Jackson before sweeping up his daughters, both wearing gold Lakers dresses, into his arms. Bryant had come up short twice in the finals before, in 2004 with O'Neal against Detroit, and again last season against the Celtics in the renewal of the league's best rivalry. The Lakers were beaten in six games, losing the finale in Boston by 39 points, a humiliating beatdown that Bryant and his teammates had trouble shaking. They went to training camp with one goal in mind. This was going to be their season, and except for a few minor missteps, it was. "It's so tough to win championships," Bryant said. "We started over from scratch. Here we are again. This really feels like a dream." After beating Utah in the first round, Los Angeles was forced to go seven games against Houston, which lost center Yao Ming to an injury. The Lakers then took care of Denver in six games, setting up a matchup with the shoot-from-their-hips Magic, who made their first visit to the finals since O'Neal took them there in 1995. Orlando will be haunted by moments in a series that swung on a few plays and had two overtime games. After losing Game 1 by 25 points, the Magic had their chance in Game 2 but rookie Courtney Lee missed an alley-oop layup in the final second of regulation. In Game 4, Dwight Howard clanged two free throws with 11.1 seconds, and the Magic allowed Derek Fisher to nail a game-tying 3-pointer to force OT. Howard, the Magic's super hero center, was hardly a factor in Game 5. He scored 11 points, took just nine shots and never got a chance to get going. Rashard Lewis scored 18 points, but was only 3 of 12 on 3s for Orlando, which after living on the 3, finally died by it. The Magic went just 8 of 27 from long range. Orlando was trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals. They had rallied to knock off Philadelphia and Boston, and then upset LeBron James and Cleveland in the conference finals. The Magic always felt they had a shot at history. Bryant, though, wouldn't be denied his place. Orlando's magical mystery tour came to a quick end. As teammates, Bryant and O'Neal were nearly unbeatable on the court. Off it, there were problems. The pair won three straight titles together from 2000-02, but the Bryant-O'Neal dynasty became dysfunctional as both fought for control with Jackson publicly siding with his All-Star center. It all eventually crumbled in 2004 when O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat. Bryant was blamed for the breakup, and as the years passed, his many critics said he couldn't win one by himself. He couldn't, but the addition of Gasol, who came over in a stunning trade from Memphis last season, filled O'Neal's massive void at center and gave Bryant help. Fisher, who has four rings himself, came back to L.A. after stints in Golden State and Utah and became a steadying force. If not for his two key 3-pointers in Game 4, this series would still be going. The Lakers were anything but The Kobe Show. They got help from their entire roster as Odom, Trevor Ariza and Andrew Bynum, who missed most of last season and the playoffs with a knee injury, came through. The Lakers began to separate from the Magic in the second quarter, and they did it by borrowing a page from Orlando's playbook _ shooting at will. Trailing 40-36, Los Angeles went on a 16-0 run, which included two 3-pointers by Ariza and one by Fisher. When Fisher got Howard to leave his feet and dropped a layup, the Lakers were up by nine and a sizable contingent of purple-and-gold clad fans began chants of "Let's Go Lakers!" They led 56-46 at halftime and kept their distance in the second half, forcing the Magic, who shot a finals record 63 percent in Game 3, into rapid-fire mode. This time, the shots wouldn't drop. The Lakers' shots weren't falling either early on, and if their field-goal percentage wasn't ugly enough, Bryant jammed the outside fingers on his shooting hand when he had the ball ripped away. During a timeout, Bryant, who has been bothered by a dislocated pinky for two seasons, kicked his feet in obvious pain as he sat on the bench. At halftime, one of the team's trainers yanked on his hand and Bryant turned down an offer of ice. "I want to feel the pain," he said. On this night, he wanted to savor it all. Notes: Ariza and Hedo Turkoglu went forehead-to-forehead _ literally _ in the second quarter before they were separated by Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy and Magic assistant Patrick Ewing. Both players were called for technicals. ... Celebrity row was sparse with only tennis star Serena Williams and rapper 'Lil Wayne notable. ... Jackson's contract is up and he's hinted at retirement. Bryant doesn't believe it. "I think he's just more amused by everybody thinking that he's thinking that, if that makes any sense," he said. | |
| Stewart Acuff: Collective Bargaining For America | Top |
| After trillions of dollars in federal spending to lift our economy out of the greatest economic crisis in 75 years, we now know that besides financial deregulation and insatiable greed, the biggest cause of our crisis is 30 years of stagnant and declining wages. We also know that we cannot get out of this economic mess without increasing consumer demand. Thirty years of stagnant and declining wages are the result of the systematic, intentional, strategic destruction of the freedom of American workers to form unions and bargain collectively. That is why we are working so hard to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. But, corporate America did not erase these freedoms by itself. Radical right wing Republicans like those in Congress and the now disgraced Bush Administration did all they could to destroy collective bargaining. They removed millions of workers from coverage of any labor laws including graduate workers at universities, misnamed and ill-defined supervisors, some disabled workers, and others. But, it is in the federal government itself that the Bush Administration really concentrated on destroying collective bargaining. They destroyed collective bargaining for 160,000 workers at the Department of Homeland Security including 40,000 screeners in the Transportation Security Administration. They tried to destroy collective bargaining for almost a million workers in the Department of Defense. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and a coalition of AFL-CIO unions stopped the assault at the Department of Defense. And AFGE has waged a remarkable creative, strategic and energetic campaign to give TSA workers collective bargaining and organizing freedoms. In the absence of collective bargaining AFGE has organized a union of TSA workers to demand and campaign for collective bargaining rights. Now AFGE has introduced legislation called the Transportation Security Workforce Enhancement Act (HR 1881) to grant TSA workers the same collective bargaining rights and workforce protections as other federal workers and end TSA's flawed personnel rules that have denied their workers thousands of dollars in increased wages. It is critical that the Democratic Congress and the Obama Administration pass HR 1881 and reverse the Bush Administration's assault on collective bargaining in the federal workforce. It should be abundantly clear and obvious by now that unions and collective bargaining are not economic culprits but are essential to long term, sustainable economic well being. Collective bargaining is by far the best, more efficient and cost effective way to increase consumer demand by allowing workers to negotiate a fair share of the fruits of their work and productivity. Collective bargaining is the only way to build, expand, strengthen, and deepen the American middle class. The destruction of collective bargaining freedoms is the reason we all feel the squeeze on the middle class. And unions are the most effective counterweight to Corporate Power. The thirty years assault on workers and their unions are the major reason that Corporate Power is out of control in America. The cozy relationship between the Radical Right wing Republican Party and Corporate Power brought us a war in Iraq and billions of dollars to Dick Cheney's Halliburton Corporation and KBR in sole source military contracts, a deregulated financial services sector, insatiable corporate greed, a corrupt you're on your own business and government ethos, the destruction of the notion of the common good, our deep, painful economic crisis, and the consequent loss of trillions of dollars of U.S. wealth. At least in part change we can believe in, means changing where the nation's wealth and bounty goes. As 1000 business owners have shown, everyone benefits when working families have more to spend. | |
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