EXCLUSIVE: Fmr. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says Bush-era "enhanced interrogation techniques" were "lawful."

Former sex crimes prosecutor Linda Fairstein says the accuser of Dominique Strauss-Kahn will also undergo a "hard look."

James Traub and Irshad Manji discuss President Obama's Middle East speech, focusing on the role of American aid.

Today’s Number of the Day is $1 billion.

In his far-reaching speech Thursday on the momentous changes in the Middle East and North Africa, President Obama announced $1 billion in debt forgiveness for Egypt. He also said he was working with Congress to create a $2 billion investment fund for Egypt and Tunisia.

Obama stressed that economic development needs to accompany democratic political reforms. Egypt, an important strategic and business ally, is now under temporary military rule following President Mubarak’s resignation. The world is watching to see if they will hold free and fair parliamentary elections this September, and there are unconfirmed reports that the military may now be postponing them. FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s five OFF-SET questions is Stephen H. Phelps, Interim Senior Minister of Riverside Church in New York City.

Rev. Phelps worked in nationally recognized community-development projects before entering Yale Divinity School, where he earned the M.Div.  He has served as pastor to Presbyterian congregations since 1986. Riverside Church is an interracial, interdenominational and international church built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1927.

According to Harold Camping of Family Radio, a Christian broadcasting network based in Oakland, California, May 21, 2011 will mark the Day of Rapture and the start of Judgment Day–which, they say, will last five months. Those who are saved will be taken up to heaven, and those who aren't will endure unspeakable suffering. They predict earthquakes that ravage the Earth, and come October 21, they'll tell you, the entire world will end.

What do you say to those who believe that the predictions are true?

I say, Listen to what is great, not what is small.  Listen to Jesus from Matthew 24: “About that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” 

Listen to the great reformer Martin Luther, who said of God, “As you believe him, so you have him.”  Take care for what you are tempted to believe! 

The Bible is like a great cauldron filled with spiritual food.  If you pick from it one bone to chew on, and leave the rest, you will starve. FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s five OFF-SET questions is Cindy Hickey, the mother of Shane Bauer, one of the two Americans imprisoned in Iran in almost complete isolation for more than 21 months.

Hickey and Laura Fattal, the mother of Josh Fattal, began a hunger strike in solidarity with their sons today after Iran failed to bring them to court for a scheduled trial hearing.  The fast coincides with the anniversary of their brief visit to Tehran one year ago, the only time they have seen their sons since their arrest on July 31, 2009. 

Supporters and other family members, including Bauer’s fiancée Sarah Shourd–who was released from detention last September–will take over the hunger strike on May 21, one year to the day since the Iranian authorities made the mothers leave Tehran without their children.

According to their families, Bauer and Fattal, both 28, and Shourd, 32, were arrested by Iranian forces while they were hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan near the unmarked border with Iran.  Shourd has confirmed the three held several hunger strikes to protest their conditions before her release.   Bauer and Fattal were scheduled to appear in court on May 11 to answer charges of espionage,  but were not brought from Evin Prison to the hearing. Iran has given no reason for their absence.

Why go on a hunger strike? 

We are striking in solidarity with Shane and Josh who we have good reason to believe are hunger-striking.

We are desperate to have them home. We want to call the worlds attention to this unjust terrifying situation. We feel Shane, Josh and their families are being punished for something we have nothing to do with. Our families are being destroyed by this physical, emotionally and financially. This needs to end. FULL POST

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s five OFF-SET questions is David Eagleman, author of the book, "Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain."

Dr. Eagleman is the director and founder of Baylor College of Medicine's Initiative on Neuroscience and Law, which studies how new discoveries in neuroscience should infleunece the way we make laws, punish criminals, and develop rehabilitation. The project brings together a unique collaboration of neurobiologists, legal scholars, and policy makers, with the goal of building modern, evidence-based policy.

Dr. Eagleman also serves as a at the Criminal Justice Institute at the University of  Houston Law Center, as well as adjunct faculty at Rice University. As an undergraduate, Eagleman majored in British and American Literature before earning his PhD in Neuroscience. At night he writes fiction.

Police allege that IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn assaulted a New York City hotel housekeeping employee Saturday and chased her down the hotel hallway before heading off to board a Paris-bound flight. His attorneys say he is innocent. As a neuroscientist, what intrigues you as you consider the Strauss-Kahn story?

What all of us face is a battle between our interest in short-term gratification and long-term decision making. Because of the battling parties in our neuro-parliament, we battle with ourselves, get mad at ourselves and contract with ourselves and so on. It’s why we make the decisions we make in the short and long term.

What’s interesting is about DSK is that he has a lot to lose, yet the short-term temptations are so great to him, the balance of his battle tipped over in that direction. The fact that he has a strong sexual drive is not surprising, given that millions of years of evolution drive us toward reproduction. Nothing surprising about that.

But the point of socialization is to strengthen up brain circuitry that is able to override short-term temptation. FULL POST

PRESIDENT TO PUSH ARAB ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT – Obama will announce on Thursday several programs intended to increase U.S. and international investment, create jobs and spur economic growth in the two countries, the officials said. The goal is for Tunisia and Egypt to serve as models for a region undergoing change, so that other countries have incentive to undertake similar reforms, according to the officials.

On Wednesday Obama imposed tough sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and six other senior Syrian officials in an effort to stop the regime's fierce crackdown on protests, the U.S. Treasury Department said. FULL POST