The Truth Is Out on CIA and Torture
Milt Bearden, for The Washington Independent, writes: "But whatever the solution for getting US intelligence collection abroad back on track, it should begin with the formal denunciation by the next administration of the use of torture by any US agency -- including the CIA. It might also encompass a balanced investigation into past abuses, but this time with a top-down targeting rather than just throwing a few low-level suspects to the wolves."

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Obama's FISA Opportunity
Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's "Countdown": "The Democratic leadership in the Senate, Republican knuckle-dragging in the same chamber, and the mediocre skills of whoever wrote the final version of the FISA bill, have combined to give Senator Barack Obama a second chance to make a first impression. And he damned well better take it."

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People-funded Journalism Budding
J. D. Lascia reports for MediaShift, that efforts like Spot.us, where citizens fund stories at the community level, are important experiments that bear watching -- and, more importantly, sustained support.

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US Leads World in Substance Abuse
According to Reuters, "The United States leads the world in rates of experimenting with marijuana and cocaine despite strict drug laws, World Health Organization researchers said on Tuesday."

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For First Time, Congress Addresses Transgender Workers
Rob Hotakainen, McClatchy Newspapers, reports: "After getting hired as a national security analyst with the Library of Congress, David Schroer took his new boss out to lunch to share some news: On his first day of work, he planned to show up as Diane. The next day the job offer was withdrawn, and Schroer says it was a clear case of discrimination."

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It Was Oil, All Along
For Truthout, Bill Moyers and Michael Winship write: "Oh, no, they told us, Iraq isn't a war about oil. That's cynical and simplistic, they said. It's about terror and al-Qaeda and toppling a dictator and spreading democracy and protecting ourselves from weapons of mass destruction. But one by one, these concocted rationales went up in smoke, fire and ashes. And now the bottom line turns out to be ... the bottom line. It is about oil."

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