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The use of so-called "harsh interrogation techiques" against suspected terrorists was approved by Vice President Dick Cheney, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and other high-ranking Bush administrations officials after they asked the Justice Department to sign off on their legality, the Associated Press and ABC News report.

The officials also took care to insulate President Bush from a series of meetings where CIA interrogation methods, including waterboarding, which simulates drowning, were discussed and ultimately approved.

A former senior U.S. intelligence official familiar with the meetings described them Thursday to the AP to confirm details first reported by ABC News on Wednesday. The intelligence official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the issue.

Between 2002 and 2003, the Justice Department issued several memos from its Office of Legal Counsel that justified using the interrogation tactics, including ones that critics call torture.

"If you looked at the timing of the meetings and the memos you'd see a correlation," the former intelligence official said. Those who attended the dozens of meetings agreed that "there'd need to be a legal opinion on the legality of these tactics" before using them on al-Qaida detainees, the former official said.

This week's best non-story: There's a reflection of a naked woman in Vice President Dick Cheney's sunglasses.

Here's a high-resolution version of the image by White House photographer David Bohrer.

So your idea of an entree isn't ice. Or juice. But in Boulder, that's all it takes to qualify as a restaurant - even if the featured female employees earn their keep by doffing their duds.

The city's Board of Zoning Adjustment has ruled that the Nitro Club, a strip joint located just of the 16th Street Mall, is a restaurant despite its meager menu offerings. The city had claimed it was an indoor amusement establishment, which would make it easier for the city to shut it down.

The owner, Michael Cobb, argued that his club falls under the distinction of "restaurant" -- because it offers ice, drink mixes and non-alcoholic beverages -- and that it isn't subject to a special use review.

After about two hours of discussion, the board voted in favor of the club, 4-1. But the Planning Board could still call up the decision and reverse it, as could the Boulder City Council.