Today has really turned into “pick on the Pentagon” day around here, hasn’t it? MORE »

This is not satire: MORE »

Last week’s guessing game involved the anonymous sources quoted in Jane Mayer’s New Yorker article about Alberto J. Mora and the stand he took against torture. Earlier today, we shared some guesses with you about two of the three sources mentioned. This item remains outstanding: MORE »

Last week, we asked for your guesses about the identities of the anonymous sources quoted in Jane Mayer’s intriguing New Yorker article about Alberto J. Mora, the former general counsel of the U.S. Navy who took a stand against what he viewed as torture of detainees. We received some interesting speculation — some of which appears after the jump.

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* Over 1,300 Iraqis have died in the past week due to the sharp uptick in violence. Asks one Iraqi, “And they say there is no sectarian war? What do you call this?” [WP]
* 70% of Americans are against the Dubai port deal, including 58% of Republicans; Bush’s approval rating slips to 34% in NYT-CBS poll. [NYT]
* Coast Guard assessment cited “many intelligence gaps” in Dubai port deal. [WP, NYT, USAT, WT]
* Senate drafts bill to curb earmarks. [WP]
* India meets Bush with a new sense of empowerment. [NYT]
* Intelligence agencies remain in bureaucratic disarray. [NYT]
* Administration will oppose new United Nations panel on human rights. Kofi Annan: “I think we should not let the better be the enemy of the good.” [WP]

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A little, thoroughly vaccinated birdie told us today that buried deep within the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill — which is otherwise noteworthy for the steps taken to fund avian flu preparedness — is some language that piques curiosity even as it strongly claims to be oh, ho, apropos of nothing. MORE »

Reuters reports that the Department of Defense and the Federal Trade Commission have dispatched recruiters to the annual Las Vegas Defcon summit of computer hackers. Knowing how to manipulate the attendees’ addiction to intrigue, the recruiter-infiltrators cunningly assembled at a panel called “Meet the Feds.” FTC panelist Don Blumenthal says that his participation serves a dual purpose: “I’m learning while I’m here but I’m also getting the names of people I can maybe call on later so we have a better understanding as cases go along.” One such potential contact: a young man who “waved a pages-long manifesto before the panel” and demanded to know “why the federal government, and especially some of the law enforcement agencies, are destroying this country.” MORE »