WaPo reports Friday evening that in July 2002 the military agency which provided information and advice on enhanced interrogation techniques to be used against terrorism suspects referred to the employment of tactics which caused “extreme duress” as “torture” and specifically stated that the use of such techniques would result in the attainment of “unreliable information”.
I’m writing this in part because of a slight disagreement I just had with a fellow liberal over what constitutes torture, and I’m really hoping this will open up a productive discussion.
The Department of Justice released four memos yesterday detailing the use of waterboarding and other drastic interrogation techniques. President Obama has called this “a time for reflection, not retribution,” and has stated that the CIA officials involved will not be punished.
Welcome to Tax Day, ladies and gentleman!
I hope everyone’s gotten their taxes finished. My identity was recently stolen (why on earth would anybody wanna be me?), so there are a few extra hoops for me to leap through this year. But that’s nothing compared to the trials and tribulations suffered by your average taxpayer under the Obama administration. With injustices raining down upon the American public from every angle, the boldest amongst us are taking to the streets. Today, all around the country, thanks to the organizational efforts of the ever fair, ever balanced folks at Fox News Channel, whiny Republicans who can’t get over having their asses handed to them last November oppressed citizens will be coming together at “FNC Tax Day Tea Parties” to protest President Obama’s outrageous fiscal policies.
[Note: This diary was written in the buff.]
With so much going on in the news today, from the G-20 Summit to Blago’s indictment, it appears that an event of significant import has largely fallen by the wayside. April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day.
I’m still trying to figure out how I missed this last week.
For those of us who had allowed the unfortunate continued existence of hatemonger Fred Phelps, Pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, to momentarily sink below our radar, his “organization” made itself all too visible on February 5, 2009 when anti-gay protesters descended upon Shawnee Mission East High School in Prairie Village, Kansas. The school was targeted because it has formed what it refers to as a “Gay and Straight Alliance,” and because the students elected an openly gay homecoming king in 2007. But this time, when Phelps’ dozen or so protesters appeared to shout and harass the public, they were not met by the Patriot Guard. They were confronted instead by hundreds of students, parents, and school staff who gathered outside the school to counter-protest.
Photo Credit: Tammy Ljungblad/The Kansas City Star
How did we get here?
When we were very young
The Motley Moose was born from the ashes of the 2008 Democratic primary
wars. The site was a joint effort by twenty-five active political
bloggers (a healthy mix of long-time Obama supporters, ‘Clintonistas’, centrists and even a couple former Republicans).The idea was to build a Post-Primary Democratic site that could move forward instead of looking back.
We tired of the incessant fighting and trollery on other political blogs 
The constant dramz was detracting from constructive discussion.
Here at the Moose, we value well reasoned discourse and have a fondness for snark and dry wit.
The
Moose promotes Progressive Democratic values and believes that fighting
for their institution will pave the way to a stronger more united
nation.
We chose Purple as our primary site color to express our support of Obama’s wish to move away from Red states and Blue states.
We have grown far beyond those original 25 bloggers, and they have blended into the Herd as the Moose Community has expanded. Motley Moose has found a niche in the political blog world and is earning a reputation for both well researched diaries and hard hitting snark. The focus on Community has allowed an informative yet funloving atmosphere to develop and we hope to continue to foster this as we move forward.
Diaries on the way to 1000
The Moose who write diaries for Motley Moose are a varied bunch. As such, the diaries they gift us with run the gamut. We have had diaries on the Election (before, during, after) and Obama, the Military, LGBT Rights and Women’s Issues to name but a few of the topics covered. We have also had lots and lots and lots of Snark filled writing from The Lounge.
Here are few blasts from the past that are Moose favorites.
Obama
Military
LGBT Rights
Women’s Issues
The Lounge
Lurkers!!
Hi lurkers, we know you’re out there.
We have an amazing community of regular diarists and commenters, but we know that there are so many of you out there yearning to join the Moose Herd. Sign up! Motley Mooses don’t bite, in fact, we LOVE new Moose.
Come out Lurkers…even if it is to taunt and naysay from the sidelines like Statler and Waldorf. We love that!
Where we want to go from here?
Discuss Quality
Discuss Community
Discuss Fun
We will soon be starting MA meetings. 
MARCO!!
We believe that one blog, one blogger, can make a difference. The ripple from one tossed pebble can a tsunami make.
Thank you all for making the first 6 months a smashing success!
-Motley Moose
~~Motley Moose…Progress Through Politics.
Come join the Herd!
MASSIVE UPDATE, including two blogosphere -Gates. The updated version of the previous diary was excruciatingly long, and I figure it might have been hell on some people’s computers. Much easier to just separate it out. I think this one’s more pictures than text, so it shouldn’t be as painful to read.
Jay Z-Gate, Parts I and II
Anyone here occasionally miss the Primaries? The spectacular array of scandalous -Gates was enough to excite the most docile of observers. So come on, who misses the amusement just a teeeeeensy bit? A lot of you probably don’t, but someone out there does. Be honest. Raise your hand.
Okay, I’ll fess to it. By the end of it, naturally, I was ready for it to come to a conclusion with a quickness, but for a while there, it really was a blast. Remember the passion — sometimes a bit overdone (…okay, more than a bit) — on both sides? Remember when DKos and MyDD were hard-fought battlefields? Remember back when we didn’t know what a “PUMA” was? (Don’t you wish we still didn’t?) Really, some of it was pretty fun. Certainly entertaining, if nothing else. It held our attentions well, didn’t it? Hell, a lot of us became friends during the Primaries — that’s at least where most of us first became familiar with one another.
According to Reuters, U.S. Army suicide rates are at their highest since the military first began tracking them in 1980. With 128 soldiers having committed suicide in 2008, and 15 additional deaths still under investigation, this is the first time the number of military suicides has been higher than the adjusted rate of suicide in the general civilian population since Vietnam.
A recent study conducted by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that global warming may already be irreversible, even in the event of significant and immediate reduction in carbon emissions worldwide. According to the study, the Arctic has already plummeted over a precipice and passed the point at which global warming might have been halted or substantially slowed.
