More Bush-era torture documents could be forthcoming, if the Obama administration delivers on its promise to review more than 200 internal Bush documents, including a top-secret Defense memo outlining torture methods that authorities allegedly misplaced. The documents in question are part of a longstanding ACLU Freedom of Information Act request pertaining to the death, treatment, and rendition of detainees. The Bush administration had originally dismissed the now-scrutinized documents as irrelevant to the ACLU's request, but the Obama administration reversed such a decision. Special Prosecutor John Durham, who was tasked by the Bush administration to investigate the CIA's destruction of interrogation videos, could stand in the way if he claims that releasing the documents interferes with his case.

Somewhere, a Hill staffer is really kicking himself now: A confidential House ethics investigation report has been leaked to The Washington Post after it was accidentally placed on a public server. With this new data, the Post reports that more than 30 lawmakers and various aides are under scrutiny for activities related to defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, and includes details about already-troubled Charles Rangel (D-NY), powerful liberal Maxine Waters (D-CA), and high-ranking Financial Services Committee member Sam Graves (R-MO) The "Committee on Standards Weekly Summary Report," the leaked document, was prepared in late July and outlines ethics investigations of 19 lawmakers and a few staff members. Though many of the cases contained in the report are well known, the document indicates that the investigations are more sweeping than initially believed. Lawmakers on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee are being watched, as is the lobbying firm PMA Group.

Was a coverup in the works early on for alleged schemer Raj Rajaratnam? An internal document has surfaced showing that JPMorgan Chase, which gained exposure to the Galleon hedge fund when it acquired Bear Stearns in 2008, may have suspected the hedge-fund associates of wrongdoing as early as 2001, the Financial Times reports. The memo raises a red flag about Galleon founder Rajaratnam, who, along with five other associates, was charged this month with leading the largest ever insider-trading scheme involving hedge funds. The note was written by a JPMorgan Chase analyst, and alleges that Galleon members "liked to operate in the 'gray areas.'" The report went on to warn, “If these allegations are true, there are some serious issues about business conduct.”

Nancy Pelosi released the House's version of the health-care reform legislation Thursday, unveiling a bill with a significant Medicaid expansion and a public option. The reforms, which include raising Medicaid eligibility levels to 150 percent of the federal poverty level and negotiated government health-care rates, would cover some 96 percent of Americans, cost just below $900 billion dollars over a ten-year period, and will not increase the budget deficit for two decades. The public option, originally intended to provide reimbursement to doctors and hospitals based on Medicare rates, will instead have its rates negotiated between health-care providers and federal health officials—a plan Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said his Senate bill would also include. The $900 billion price tag is reduced from the previous cost of $1.04 trillion thanks to the Medicaid expansion, which is more cost-effective for covering the poor than subsidies would be; much of the money to pay for the bill would come from a surcharge on wealthy taxpayers as well as money-saving changes to Medicare and Medicaid. Despite the compromises on the public option and Medicaid, disputes between Democrats and Republicans over federal money for abortion and care for illegal immigrants remain unresolved.

Hillary Clinton isn't speaking softly on her trip to Pakistan: In an interview with Pakistani journalists, the secretary of State took an unusually blunt stance on Pakistan's stance on al Qaeda. Regarding al Qaeda leaders believed to be living within Pakistan's borders, Clinton said, "I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to." She then backed up and took a more diplomatic stance: "Maybe that's the case. Maybe they're not gettable. I don't know." The journalist had asked Clinton why America's war on terrorism focused so heavily on Pakistan. After pointing out that Indonesia, the Philippines, and other nations have suffered from al Qaeda's presence, Clinton said "the world has an interest in seeing the capture and killing of the people who are masterminds of this terrorist syndicate. As far as we know, they are in Pakistan." Clinton remained stalwart in this position at a town hall-style meeting at a Lahore university, but acknowledged that a student question about America's trustworthiness after its late-'80s abandonment of Afghanistan was "fair criticism."

Who needs moderation? Spouting polarizing points of view is the newest strategy for junior members of Congress vying to exponentially increase their status and influence. Florida Democrat Alan Grayson infamously summed up the Republican health-care plan in two words: "Die quickly." Meanwhile, Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann invoked high drama when she urged supporters to "slit our wrists" to protest health care. In the age of new media, these sound bites can receive a disproportionate amount of play in the insatiable 24-hour cable-news cycle and on the Internet—outrage goes viral. Time magazine argues that the new atmosphere encourages ideologues who once would have been marginalized in Congress. They lay out a three-step plan for "making a name in the 111th Congress": Find Your Niche, Drop Some Bombs, Cash In. The third step observes how devoted followers donate oodles of cash to their beloved stars; both Grayson and Bachmann have seen a flurry of booking requests. "It's all theater," said one congressman. "People have learned to speak in sound bites and look to generate headlines."

Taylor Swift may have gained sympathy from the public when Kanye West upstaged her at MTV’s Video Music Awards last month, but her latest scandal won't earn much pity. Swift was in attendance when Katy Perry’s 25th birthday party went from an all-white, Willy Wonka-themed affair to full-blown painting fest on Friday—and ended up arm-in-arm with a man who had painted a swastika across his chest. Thanks to 15 paint-toting Oompa Loompas, Perry's guests painted the town red—and blue and green and yellow and pink—and “went crazy” turning their bright white attire into multi-colored messes, reports The Mirror. During the melee, the country sweetheart managed to pose with an attendee with a bright red Nazi swastika splashed across his white T-shirt. Though the man's arm is around a smiling Swift’s waist in the photo, her rep says he was just one of 100 people she took pictures with that night. “She doesn't know who this guy is and she didn’t realize what was on his shirt,” the rep claims. Now would be a good time for Kanye to step back in.

Levi Johnston, the father of Sarah Palin's grandson, has finally confirmed in a statement that he will pose fully nude for Playgirl, saying that "everything's gonna hang out." The possible visibility of Johnston's anatomy had been the subject of much speculation since Playgirl announced that the hockey player and Alaska native would be a model. Johnston’s manager had recently said he was "90 percent sure" that Johnston would pose fully nude; the most recent statement goes the extra step: "We're talking full Johnson.” Johnston is hoping to shoot the photos—"athletic scene stuff," according to Playgirl, including "gyms [and] rinks"—on November 16, the same day Palin will be interviewed on Oprah—fully clothed.

Too much fame may cost the child stars of Slumdog Millionaire their windfall trust funds. After appearing in the Oscar-darling film, the two child actors from the slums of Mumbai shot to stardom and have since booked other film roles and commercials. Their busy schedules have diverted them from their studies, says a trustee, and now they're in jeopardy of losing the monthly stipend of $120 that director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson set up for them. Azhuraddin Mohammed Ismail's school-attendance record is at 37 percent, and co-star Rubina Ali's is a mere 27 percent. The rules of the trust stipulate that if their attendance falls below 70 percent, they must forfeit their monthly stipend. And if they don't finish their secondary education, they'll also be forgoing a "significant" lump-sum payment.

Students and teachers from Richmond High School, the San Francisco-area school where a 15-year-old girl was allegedly gang raped, said security and school officials saw a group of men and teens lingering outside the homecoming dance but did nothing about it. “I looked outside of the gym and I saw 12 to 15 guys, sitting there, with no [school] IDs,” student Kami Baker, who is friends with the victim, said at a school board meeting Wednesday night. “The officers, not only did they not check the IDs of those students or men sitting outside of our campus, but the security officers who are employed here did no checking either.” The school district’s spokesman, Marin Trujillo, said four police officers, three administrators, and a host of teachers were at the dance, but admitted, “Clearly we have to do something different.” Lieutenant Mark Gagan said he believes up to 20 additional people watched the reported attack, some of whom may have taken photos and video. Those who did witness the alleged rape without taking action could also face charges.

The U.S. economy appears to be recovering. According to the Commerce Department, the economy has grown for the first time in a year, with gross domestic product expanding at an annual rate of 3.5 percent during the quarter ended in September. The economy had contracted at annual rates of 0.7 percent and 6.4 percent in the second and first quarters respectively. The rebound derived from government spending, rising exports, and sales of consumer durables. However, the unemployed aren't likely to benefit from the recovery for several months. The poor job market has discouraged consumer spending and low consumer confidence has meant that companies are wary of hiring new employees, further compounding the problem.

Barack Obama likes his date nights with Michelle and doesn’t like when they become a political issue. He teases his wife by calling her “Flotus” (First Lady of the United States). He quotes Michelle in Oval Office meetings. Friends have spied them making out in the White House halls. But things weren’t always so picture perfect, Jodi Kantor reports in this week’s cover story for The New York Times magazine. When Barack first turned to politics, Michelle felt abandoned. “The bumps happen to everybody all the time,” Michelle said. “She was in a lot of ways a single mom,” a friend said of Michelle’s life when Barack first became a state senator, “and that was not her plan.” If their biographies more resemble those of Bill and Hilary Clinton than any other First Couple, their personalities often work in the opposite way. “She is really Bill,” a friend told The Times, “and he is really Hillary.”

Speaking on his radio show, CNN’s Lou Dobbs claimed that gunshots had been fired at his wife, his house, his driver, and himself, thanks to "unrelenting... propaganda" from his critics who object to his views on immigration. Saying that the shots, which he asserts came three weeks ago, are part of a "battle for the soul of this country," Dobbs lashed out at his critics for having "created an atmosphere" that puts him and his family in danger. "I'm not in the mood to put up with little fools like Geraldo Rivera," said Dobbs, referring to the TV host who took on Dobbs in a speech last week. "It's become part of a way of life—the anger, the hate, the vitriol," Dobbs declared, "but it's taken a different tone where they've threatened my wife." Dobbs told his listeners that "an investigation continues."

After a surprise trip to Dover Air Force Base late Wednesday night to honor Americans killed in Afghanistan, President Obama told reporters: “It was a sobering reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices that our young men and women in uniform are engaging in every single day... Michelle and I are constantly mindful of those sacrifices." Obama, who is weighing the possibility of a significant increase in troop levels in Afghanistan, said Thursday at the White House that he thinks of those sacrifices “each and every day." Obama’s visit to Dover coincided with the arrival of 18 fallen soldiers and DEA agents who were killed on Monday.

When Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Cambridge police Sergeant James Crowley had a beer with President Obama at the White House, they pledged to continue the conversation that had started when Crowley's arrest of Gates at his own home turned into a subject of national interest and controversy. Looks like they kept to their word: the Boston Globe reports that the two men were spotted "in deep conversation" at Cambridge bar River Gods Wednesday night—probably not talking about the Celtics' season-opening win. Despite the intense media focus on brew choice in the run-up to the original "Beer Summit" at the White House, the Globe had no word on what the two men were drinking.

In his new memoir, The Audacity to Win, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe dishes about the Jeremiah Wright controversy, Sarah Palin, and Obama's vice-presidential selection process. Evidently, Obama thought "seriously" about picking Hillary Clinton and she made the first two cuts. But Hillary disappeared during round three, probably because David Axelrod and Plouffe thought she presented too many complications. Plouffe also thought McCain's Palin pick was a huge mistake that "completely undermined his core argument against us" and "worse yet" made him look "inherently political." Plouffe recalls Obama saying: “I just don't understand how this ends up working out for McCain. In the long term, I mean. The short term will be good for them… I think we just need to sit back and play our game.”

Paul Chandler, whose yacht was hijacked on Friday off the coast of Somalia, spoke briefly on the phone today to ITV News from the container ship where he and his wife are being held hostage. His brother-in-law confirmed that the voice was his. "I was asleep and men with guns came aboard," Chandler said. The pirates had Chandler and his wife Rachel sail toward Somalia, at which point the two were placed aboard the container ship Kota Wajah, which had been seized by pirates earlier this month. The pirates took "everything of value on the boat" and "kept asking for money," Chandler said, though they had not yet officially asked for ransom. Chandler was asked how he and his wife were being treated, but the connection was lost before an answer came. Some local fisherman said they had seen the Chandlers being taken to a village in Somalia.

Sony and Michael Jackson fans around the world might want to start an Oscar campaign. With high acclaim from both fans and critics, the posthumous concert film This Is It could possibly be nominated for a best picture Academy Award if its backers submit the nomination in time. Though too late for a slot in the documentary nominations, the movie—edited together by director Kenny Ortega from hundreds of hours of rehearsal footage shot before Jackson's death—has earned enough praise that it might be considered a contender, especially since the Academy has expanded its best picture nominations from 5 to 10. Ortega, speaking about Jackson’s Oscar odds, simply says: "He deserves one. Come on, people."

Strange and tragic news out of Canada: Taylor Mitchell, 19, a rising star of the Canadian folk music scene, died on Wednesday in a Halifax hospital after being mauled by two coyotes in a national park in Nova Scotia. Mitchell had been hiking alone on a scenic trail in Cape Breton Park, when the usually shy animals attacked. Hikers who heard her screams summoned park rangers, who shot one of the animals, although both of the coyotes managed to escape. By the time paramedics arrived, Mitchell was in critical condition, with multiple bite wounds all over her body that were bleeding profusely. Mitchell had been nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award as young performer of the year.

Advertisers, beware—must-see-TV Thursday has evidently been replaced by Sunday. According to AdAge, for at least three TV seasons, Sunday has been more expensive to advertise on than Thursdays. This fall, it cost $2.23 million to buy prime-time ads on all the broadcast networks on Sunday, compared to $2.03 million to do the same on Thursday. Currently, Sunday Night Football is the most expensive television show to advertise because it's essentially DVR proof. That doesn't mean Sunday's the only way to go, though. One advertising expert said that it's really dependent on what you're selling. Thursday is the only night of the week for retailers and movie studios, while Sunday is the best night to push new goods and services.

The hardest part of performing in a play isn't nailing the character, it's memorizing the lines. During this week's previews of Matthew Broderick in the Off Broadway play Starry Messenger, Broderick called out for lines from a prompter sitting in the first row. He's not the only one. Angela Lansbury used an earpiece to stay on cue during her Tony Award-winning role in Blithe Spirit last season, while the legendary Vanessa Redgrave asked for a prompter during 2002's Long Day's Journey Into Night. As the 84-year-old Lansbury put it, "It’s not something you ever want to do, but if we’re going to play important roles at our age, where our names are above the title on the marquee, we’re going to ask for some support if we need it." After all, without dialogue, how can the show go on?

Hollywood wild child Lindsay Lohan is joining the ranks of celebrities with causes. She's teamed up with the BBC to make a pilgrimage to India next month, where she'll front a documentary about child trafficking. The starlet recently met with billionaire and philanthropist Richard Branson in Dubai. "I like to support charities," Lohan said, adding, "I think it's important to kind of have a voice when you can have one, and make a difference." Lohan is still on probation for a 2007 DUI arrest, and has been reprimanded for missing court-appointed rehabilitation programs.

Self-parody can be fun, or in the case of “Octomom” Nadya Suleman, creepy. Suleman, mother of fourteen, including octuplets born in January, dressed up as a pregnant nun during a Halloween outing with the kids. If that wasn't sinister enough, she garbed the octuplets in identical red devil costumes—suggesting a spooky parentage?—as she pushed them in two giant strollers decorated with fake spiderwebs. Suleman, who gave birth after IVF treatments, is set to star in her own TV reality show with the kids.

Look out Glenn Beck: There's a new crier in politics, and this one's a lefty. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) broke into tears several times on the House floor Wednesday while reading letters from people who say their loved ones died due to their lack of health insurance. The testimonies were from Grayson's Web site namesofthedead.com, which he unveiled on the House floor last week as a way to draw attention to the human cost of inaccessible health care. The Web site’s name also reigniting his first high-profile foray into health reform's limelight, when his accusation that the GOP wants ailing Americans to "die quickly" drew national uproar. After his teary testimony, Grayson said, "For god's sake, I look forward to a time when we have finally done our jobs" securing universal health care in America.

J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon is a man with many titles—"Obama hanger-on, savior of Wall Street, and irritable dick," according to Gawker—but just one pair of pants. Evidently, Dimon loves tight jeans, an obsession that dates back to high school, as showcased by his 1974 senior yearbook page. He even rocked the look during last year's bailout meeting with the Treasury office. According to the biography Last Man Standing, Dimon failed to lose the look once the 1970s ended. He spent business school in jeans and a blue leather jacket and "his classmates actually remember that of the 75 students in their year, Dimon was the absolute worst dresser." Of Dimon's weekend style—tight black jeans and a black t-shirt, one executive quipped, "Jamie was dressed like Johnny Cash," adding, "I guess he thought he looked cool. But he didn't."

Hundreds of terminally ill people have been helped in ending their lives at Switzerland's Dignitas clinic, which offers a fatal combination of drugs to its customers. But with foreigners flocking to the country to make use of its services, Swiss officials are considering regulating the death business more tightly or shutting it down altogether to avoid harm to the state's reputation, the Times of London reports. Under new laws being considered, patients would have to present proof from two doctors' that their illness was terminal and that their mental state was sound. Dignitas' founder, Ludwig Minelli, is less than pleased about the proposal. “By cutting off assisted suicide for chronically or psychologically ill people who are capable of informed choice the government will promote lonely suicides on train tracks,” he told the Times.

After the first swine flu outbreak this spring, the makers of Tamiflu decided to focus on manufacturing the pill form of the drug, which allows the company to produce 25 times as much of the medicine. But for children, and their parents, that decision has been a tough pill to swallow. It has resulted in a shortage of liquid Tamiflu, a syrupy, easy-to-swallow form of the medicine that children can easily ingest. Children are the most vulnerable to the H1N1 virus, and the medicine is most effective when administered within the first 48 hours. Spot shortages are sending panicked parents rushing from one pharmacy to the next. The government, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control are suggesting that pharmacies mitigate the shortage by coming up with a homemade concoction: cracking open the tablets themselves and mixing them with a syrup.

Litte Miss Sunshine is going to Broadway: Oscar-nominated child star Abigail Breslin is bringing her talents from the silver screen onto the big stage. The 13-year-old has been cast as Helen Keller in the Broadway revival of William Gibson's "The Miracle Worker," which won the Tony for best play in 1960. Breslin's costar will be another award contender, Tony nominee Alison Pill. Hilary Swank starred in a 2003 version of the play, which was killed before it made its way to Broadway. Breslin's revival debuts March 3.

As American lawmakers look to shore up the United States' ailing health-care system, Chinese officials are dealing with an even more immediate health crisis. Over 300 million of China's 1.4 billion people lack any health insurance whatsoever, the legacy of market reforms in 1980 that set the stage for explosive growth but cut off millions from government health care. According to the Washington Post, while quality of care has improved rapidly in that period, there are huge gaps between rich and poor and out-of-pocket expenses for Chinese patients in 2005 were over 100 times what they were in 1980. Chinese authorities are divided on how to confront the problem: some have suggested encouraging more private spending from the wealthy to boost doctors' incomes and encourage more medical students. But others say such an approach would lead doctors to ignore poorer patients in favor of rich ones.

Worried about heavy investments in bailed-out corporations, the federal government has outgrown the moniker “big brother”—and is now a helicopter parent. Lawmakers are citing it as their "patriotic duty" (as Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg put it) to butt into business affairs at GM, Chrysler Group LLC, and Bank of America. “The simple fact is, when GM took federal dollars, they lost some of their autonomy,” Rehberg explains. Congressmen have pushed for caps on executive pay, forced out top managers, been vocal critics of business decisions—and, sometimes, promoted local agendas. For instance, both Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords convinced GM to rescind closure orders for dealerships in their regions, while others push for pet technologies or processes that bolster their districts. Executives complain that the government's heavy-handed involvement is rocking the boat and interfering with business, which is one reason some have rushed to return their money to Washington. GM has received the brunt of this unwanted attention, and the Journal details dozens of D.C.-initiated ideas and business decisions in its report.

The Philadelphia Phillies dominated the first game of the World Series with a 6-1 victory over the Yankees. Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee delivered a masterful performance, pitching a complete game and making an impact with his defensive play. At one point he caught a ball behind his back to make an out. ''To be honest I really never have been nervous in the big leagues. This is what I wanted to do my whole life. This is what I take pride in. For me there is no reason to be nervous,'' Lee told reporters after the game. Chase Utley provided the offensive spark for the Phillies with two home runs while Ryan Howard added two doubles and drove in the final run.

Modern-day slavery is thriving in Pakistan and, at a delicate time for U.S.-Pakistan relations, the Obama administration must decide what to do about it. Time reports that the majority of Pakistan's one million landless peasants are living under conditions of debt slavery. Since last September, at least three landlords have held as many as 170 peasants at gunpoint on their estates since after they dared to bring suits against the landlords for using debt to force them to work. A third of the hostages are children, some of them as young as four months old, forced into debt slavery for amounts averaging about 1,000 Pakistani rupees, or $12. Landlords have already killed one hostage, and area threatening to kill others if the case isn't dropped. Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has made his concerns known to Pakistan's U.S. ambassador, and on the eve of Hillary Clinton's visit, diplomats urged Pakistan to resolve the issue.

New York's 23rd Congressional District's three-way race has become a national proxy war for the future of the Republican Party, but Mitt Romney, one of the leading likely contenders for the 2012, has decided not to fight. Sarah Palin and Gov. Tim Pawlenty have both endorsed third-party candidate Doug Hoffman over moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava, which could hand the election over to Democrat Bill Owens if the right-leaning candidates split the vote. Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich has earned the enmity of the Republican base in recent days for aggressively defending Scozzafava from their attacks. "I have chosen not to endorse the Republican in the 23," Romney said on Wednesday, ABC News reports. While the move may be a tacit criticism of Scozzafava, it's nonetheless a much less overt entry into the race than either Palin or Pawlenty.

An armed man entered the parking garage of a North Hollywood synagogue and opened fire Thursday morning, wounding two men who were heading to a prayer service, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The gunman, wearing a black hoodie, walked into Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic Synagogue’s parking garage shortly before 6:20 a.m., the LAPD reports. He fired on two men before fleeing, while witnesses called 911. While both victims are in local hospitals in good condition, detectives are looking to identify the gunman, who some believe was motivated by hate. Police made one arrest an hour after the shooting, but they do not believe they have found the appropriate suspect. Detectives are also trying to determine whether or not he acted alone and have alerted nearby temples.

In an unannounced midnight trip, President Obama visited Dover Air Force base in Delaware on Wednesday to meet a plane returning with war dead from Afghanistan. The 18 soldiers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents in the coffins on board were killed this week.  October was the deadliest month for American forces since the war began in 2001 and Obama is weighing whether to deploy as many as 40,000 more troops requested by General Stanley McChrystal in an effort to turn back Taliban gains. According to the Washington Post, the president is looking at province-by-province intelligence assessments of the the country in order to determine a viable plan.