the big story (late edition)

Obama to reinstate Abu Ghraib MP unit to return to Iraq

The 372nd, the MP unit convicted of abusing Abu Ghraib prisoners, returns to action with the shadow of torture following it

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — The Army Reserve unit tarnished by the Abu Ghraib detainee-abuse scandal has been mobilized to return to Iraq in its first deployment since photographs of naked, humiliated prisoners surfaced more than six years ago, the Army said Friday.

The 372nd Military Police Company of Cresaptown will leave April 29 for one to three months of training at Fort Bliss, Texas, followed by a planned deployment to Iraq, said Sgt. Darius Kirkwood, a spokesman for the 200th Military Police Command at Fort Meade. Few members of the unit remain from when the detainee photographs were taken, due to normal turnover, he said.

Kirkwood said the group's final destination could change, depending on the military's needs.

The 130 to 170 MPs could be assigned to guard or transport prisoners, provide security for an installation or convoy, or perform general police functions, Kirkwood said.

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earlier:

Recovery?!? There's No Recovery! The U.S. Is Completely Screwed!

In Howard's view, nothing has changed. The US is still careening down the road toward fiscal instability, over-indebtedness, ballooning budget deficits and interest payments, and declining living standards

Retail analyst Howard Davidowitz of Davidowitz & Co. has always been one of our viewers' favorite guests. Howard's flamboyant bearishness won hearts and minds all through the financial crisis, and we--and you--never get tired of hearing from him.

But Howard has been bearish for a year now--all through one of the most amazing bull runs in history. Against all odds, the U.S. economy appears to be gathering steam by the day, charging out of the worst recession since the Great Depression and heading toward a strong recovery.

So what does Howard think about that? Has he changed his tune? Was he completely wrong?

NO WAY!!!

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*15 Mind-Blowing Facts About Wealth And Inequality In America

CoOlDiGgY news (late edition)

Elena Kagan - Justice Stevens More Conservative Replacement

Elena Kagan, President Obama's solicitor general, is rapidly emerging as a frontrunner to replace retiring Chief Associate Justice John Paul Stevens. Kagan is widely praised as an accomplished and intelligent attorney, but is far more conservative than Stevens and could shift the political dynamic of the high court.

Conservatives are responding favorably to the potential of a Justice Elena Kagan while liberals worry that, by choosing her, the administration would miss the opportunity to elevate a genuine progressive.

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*Pope stalled 1985 pedophile case

*US government 'abused rights' of Hurricane Katrina victims

*Obama Administration Missed Chance To Get Tougher On Unsafe Mines

*America: The Grim Truth

*MSNBC’s Ratigan Breaks Down Banking Scam

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

*New York Times Insists Economy in “Recovery”

*Soros Dems Say American People Rank IRS Over Tea Party

*Consortium To Prolong Global Financial Recession For Another Year

earlier:

Justice John Paul Stevens to Retire From Supreme Court

A Liberal Voice for 34 Years, Stevens Clears Way for Obama's Second Nomination

Justice John Paul Stevens, 89, who served on the high court for a near record breaking 34 years, announced his retirement today, giving President Barack Obama his second chance to name a Supreme Court justice.

"Having concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the Court's next Term, I shall retire from regular active service as an Associate Justice," Stevens wrote in a letter to the president, stating his retirement would be "effective the next day after the Court rises for the summer recess this year."

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*Mining Company Has History Of Safety Violations

*Study: Insurance Firms Heavily Invest in Fast-Food Industry

*Forget Gold, Here Are The Commodities That Could Have Made You A Killing This Year


*Wal-Mart Just Killed The Dream Of Pricing Power

*ACORN Staffer Reported Prostitution Claims to Police

*Congressman Stupak to Retire. Can the tea parties claim victory?

*Could the U.S. Lose Its Base in Kyrgyzstan?

the Girls of CoOlDiGgY tm

(coming soon)

the fairer sex

This Weekend - Top 10 Best & Worst Celebrity Feet

Comment and let us know your opinion. Eva Mendes (below) is just the beginning

girl blurbs (late edition)

*Never too old to catch jungle fever: Elizabeth Taylor is engaged for the 9th time

*She's fat but you're a D-bag: Mischa Barton's ex calls her "one of the fattest people in the world"

*In other O.C. news: Rachel Bilson dresses in the dark. Still sexy

*W.W. Xenu D? Ask Juliette Lewis

*Eli Roth's Hostel 3, er, girlfriend Peaches Geldof

*Heidi Montag is fun to look at




earlier:

*Why we never caught Twilight fever: True Blood Season 3 promo pics

*Demi Moore is Miley Cyrus' mother or something

*Agents will screw you, and everyone else: Garcelle Beauvais calls out her cheating CAA agent hubby

*Not Without My (step)Daughter: Sandra Bullock has Jesse's kids

*White(trash)power: Michelle "Bombshell" McGee is a not a Nazi, she 's NEO-Nazi


(editor's note: notice the "White Power" magnet on the fridge that her kids use AND the a swastika tattoos near her concentration camp, er, coochie)

the random

Happy 36th birthday, Jenna Jameson

CoOlDiGgY tech & media

NASA Maps Plans for Revamped US Space Program

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA fleshed out plans on Thursday for a revamped U.S. space program that will focus initially on developing technology needed to send people to Mars.

The new program also aims to promote the development of commercial space taxi services and to ring the planet with satellites to monitor climate change.

The plans come as NASA prepares to end its space shuttle program later this year, which is expected to cost thousands of contracting jobs tied to the space program.

NASA officials said work on the new program would be spread out across the agency's 10 field centers, with the Johnson Space Center in Houston taking responsibility for a $6 billion, five-year program to oversee technology demonstrations.

The Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be in charge of a $5.8 billion, five-year effort to help private companies develop orbital transportation services.

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*Did Apple just exile Adobe from iPhone OS 4.0?

*The dangers of growing DNA databases


*The Internet’s Last Hope

*The Anti-Google: Normal People Tell Us What They Still Use Yahoo For



*Who would benefit most by buying Palm?

*Murdoch offers big ad discounts in war on the New York Times

*MSNBC Prez Rips David Shuster: "Not Moral, Ethical, Or Professional"

sports & health

USA Swimming Coaches Molested, Secretly Taped Dozens of Teen Swimmers

In a sex abuse scandal that some victims compare to what happened in the Catholic Church, at least 36 swimming coaches have been banned for life by the USA Swimming organization over the last 10 years because of sexual misconduct with teenagers they coached.

The coaches have molested, fondled and abused dozens of swimmers, according to court records and interviews conducted by ABC News for reports Friday on "World News with Diane Sawyer" and "20/20."

One coach, Brian Hindson of Kokomo, IN, secretly taped teenage girls he coached in two high school pool locker rooms, one in which he directed girls to a "special" shower room where he had a hidden camera inside a locker.

"It was a sense of betrayal," Indiana swimming star Brooke Taflinger told ABC News chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross for a report to be broadcast Friday on "20/20."

Taflinger's parents later identified Brooke for the FBI as one of the girls who was taped naked in the locker and shower area.

"I gotta tell you, it hurt," Brooke's father, Bruce Taflinger, told "20/20." "My wife only had to look at one picture before she turned away in tears," he said.

FBI agents became aware of the pictures after a North Carolina woman bought the coach's computer on E-Bay and discovered a video clip of a young girl in a locker room appearing to be taped without her knowledge. A subsequent search of Hindson's home turned up more locker room footage and a large selection of child pornography.

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*DA to announce decision on Roethlisberger case

*Earl Woods' words in TV ad weren't originally directed at Tiger

the frivolous

David Cross: Arrested Development Movie Not Happening

The Bluth family will not be reuniting on the big screen, David Cross says. Despite recent reports that a screenplay for the long-hoped for 'Arrested Development' movie was in the works, Cross says too much time has passed since the show ended in 2006.

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