Four today

1. Media companies making billions by convincing the masses to whitewash their fences - for free. NYT

2. Glenn Greenwald doesn't like Jim Rainey telling Anderson Cooper not to use the word "liar". Salon

3. Jimmy Orr, former internet strategist for President George W. Bush, was promoted to managing editor, online, at the Los Angeles Times. LAO

4. Huffington Post writer Jason Linkins says he gets a paycheck and has deadlines, so there's no need to pay the bloggers. HuffPo

JPL privacy lawsuit fails at Supreme Court

A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal government's right to conduct extensive background checks on contract employees, rejecting a suit brought by employees at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada-Flintridge that said the checks violated privacy rights.

The Washington Post has the story here.

Digression: I once had the pleasure of interviewing the lead plaintiff in the case, JPL image analyst Robert Nelson, about his Quixotic effort to get national media attention for his analysis of Bush's infamous bulge (the one on his back in his 2004 debate with John Kerry. Here's a Salon story for reference). My article got spiked, and then erased from the computer system, by former San Gabriel Valley Tribune executive editor Tal Campbell for being too political. Memories.

Architects of harsh

Scott Shane profiles the two psychologist who helped develop the "harsh" interrogation tactics used in the early days of the war on terror. NYT

In case you missed it...

President George Bush said this today: I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq.

Countdown

How long, oh Lord, how long?

Here's how long.