WASHINGTON — Senior White House officials played a central role in deliberations in the spring of 2002 about whether the Central Intelligence Agency could legally use harsh interrogation techniques while questioning an operative of Al Qaeda, Abu Zubaydah, according to newly released documents. In meetings during that period, the officials debated specific interrogation methods that the C.I.A. had proposed to use on Qaeda operatives held at secret C.I.A. prisons overseas, the documents show. The meetings were led by Condoleezza Rice, then the national security adviser, and attended by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Attorney General John Ashcroft and other top administration officials. The documents provide new details about the still-murky early months of the C.I.A.’s detention program, when the agency began using a set of harsh interrogation techniques weeks before the Justice Department issued a written legal opinion in August 2002 authorizing their use. Congressional investigators have long tried to determine exactly who authorized these techniques before the legal opinion was completed. The documents are a list of answers provided by Ms. Rice and John B. Bellinger III, the former top lawyer at the National Security Council, to detailed questions by the Senate Armed Services Committee, which […]
CLEVELAND, Ohio – – A recent study shows that a loss of antioxidants in the endothelial cells that line blood vessels in the lungs contributes to the loss of vasodilator effects and, ultimately, to the development of pulmonary hypertension. The findings appear in Clinical and Translational Science. The study, led by Serpil Erzurum of the Cleveland Clinic, evaluated antioxidant activities in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH), a fatal disease characterized by progressive increase in pulmonary artery pressure and vascular resistance. Erzurum’s study found that the inactivation of these oxidants inside the cell is achieved mainly by the cell’s own line of defense against oxidants. Additionally, the researchers determined that this process may contribute to low levels of nitric oxide, identified in IPAH and a fundamental component in the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension. According to Dr. Erzurum, there is a potential long-term benefit to the care of patients with IPAH due to the study’s findings. ‘Antioxidant augmentation in patients might be used to increase nitric oxide vasodilator effects, reduce pulmonary artery pressures and potentially improve clinical outcomes,’ she said.
WASHINGTON – Over the objection of the White House, the House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed legislation to curb what its sponsors regard as abuses and unfair practices in the credit-card industry. By a vote of 312-112, The Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights Act sailed through the House amid a new political climate of increased regulation and oversight of the credit and finance industry. However, the legislation faces an unclear future in the Senate, where members are focused on crafting and passing the financial bailout. The White House is seeking quick passage of the Wall Street rescue measure before Congress adjourns on Friday, which would make action on the credit-card legislation unlikely in the near future. Travis Plunkett, legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America, said he hasn’t given up hope, however. ‘We urge the Senate to include credit-card reform as part of legislation it passes to rescue banking firms,’ Plunkett said. ‘Cash-strapped consumers shouldn’t continue to be gouged by excessive credit-card rates and fees by many of the same financial institutions that will benefit from the bailout.’ The Credit Card Bill of Rights, sponsored by Democratic Reps. Carolyn Maloney of New York […]
The sun has reduced its output of solar wind to the lowest level since readings became available, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientists announced Tuesday. ‘With the solar wind at an all-time low, there is an excellent chance the heliosphere will diminish in size and strength,’ said JPL researcher Dave McComas, citing data from the Ulysses spacecraft, a joint NASA-European space agency mission. In this graphic illustration released by NASA to Reuters Sept. 23, 2008, the heliosphere that is created by solar winds is depicted as a bubble surrounding the solar system. Measurements from the spacecraft Ulysses show the wind’s pressure has dropped 20 percent since the mid-1990s. As the solar wind weakens, the heliosphere is expected to dwindle in size and strength as well, allowing more cosmic radiation — super high-energy electrons and protons zipping through interstellar space — to reach the inner solar system. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) ‘If that occurs, more galactic cosmic rays will make it into the inner part of our solar system,’ said McComas, principal investigator of Ulysses solar wind instrument. ‘The sun’s million mile-per-hour solar wind inflates a protective bubble around the solar system. It influences how things work here on earth […]
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted overwhelmingly for a package of tax breaks for businesses and individuals that totals over $100 billion, setting up an end-of-session showdown with the House over whether to find new revenue or cut spending to offset the cost fully. The Senate voted 93-2 for the bill, which provides tax breaks for renewable energy, prevents the alternative-minimum tax from hitting millions more people this year and extends expiring tax provisions sought by businesses. Action now moves to the House, where Democrats strongly favor fully offsetting the cost of the legislation, as required by Congress’s pay-as-you-go budget rule. House leaders say they will bring their version of the legislation with the offsets to the floor in coming days. The legislation is just one of several items lawmakers are trying to complete before their planned adjournment at the end of the week. All are being overshadowed by top lawmakers’ work on a financial-rescue plan urged by the Treasury Department. David Obey House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D., Wis.) announced a deal on the $600 billion temporary plan that would fund the government until early March 2009. The so-called continuing resolution would allow a ban […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
