Have you played the fool yet, today? Weird as the news sometimes is, I’m trying to check potential stories twice.

Here are some foolishness-vetted midday items:

* Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA “black sites” shows long pattern of torture, and lying about torture.

* Deal for release of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard said to be key to Netanyahu agreement to keep peace talks going.

* MoJo’s Ben Dooley pens long investigative report on Newsweek owner IBT’s links to a shadowy Christian community headed by ex-Moonie David Jang. Intriguing.

* Cass Sunstein posts a listicle of his top 8 SCOTUS Justices of all time–but no slideshow.

* March 2014 first month in more than a decade where no U.S. combat deaths reported.

And in non-political news:

* Tiger Woods bags Master’s appearance due to back injury.

As we break for lunch, here’s another injunction to be wary today: Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools.”

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Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.