Swamp Gas, December 11, 2007

by Frank James

A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important, most interesting, or both, Washington-related stories.

Two bombings killed at least 45 in the Algerian capital of Algiers today, with one explosion apparently targeting the U.N. while another was near the nation's constitutional courts. A group linked to al Qaeda immediately came under suspicion.

The Supreme Court gave federal judges more flexibility in sentencing drug offenders, particularly those whose convictions involve crack cocaine who have generally received stiffer penalties than other cocaine offenders, resulting in minorities receiving longer sentences.

A former CIA agent said that waterboarding resulted in gaining vital intelligence information from Abu Zubaida, the first high-ranking al Qaeda member captured after 9/11, that likely saved lives but that he now regards the technique as torture.

Budget negotiations between President Bush and House Democrats and Republicans fell apart after Democrats accused Republicans of not compromising.

A new poll reinforces what has been observed for months on the campaign trail—Democratic voters are far happier with their choices for the presidential nomination than their Republican counterparts, with many GOP members unable to find a candidate. But the problem now is that the Iowa caucuses are only three weeks away.

Economists say the risk of a recession is growing and that the Federal Reserve Board needs to continue to cut key interest rates in order to prop up the economy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chose a young protégé, Dmitry Medvedev, as his successor, while Medvedev said that Putin should become the next prime minister.

The pharmaceutical industry is laying off thousands of chemists as the once secure field falls victim to changes in how new drugs are developed, which involves a greater emphasis on biotechnology methods.

Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden faces two days of intense questioning on Capitol Hill, with the recently disclosed destruction of terrorist-interrogation videotapes expected to be at the center of the closed-door sessions.

The Army may reduce its order for the mine resistant ambush protected vehicles in part because of the declining violence in Iraq. The Marines have indicated that they would ask for fewer vehicles.