To receive the morning chatter by email, let us know at editors@globalpost.com.
Need to know: Two psychologists found a business opportunity selling interrogation and training services to the C.I.A. in 2002. They had never carried out a real interrogation. They had no relevant scholarship; their Ph.D. dissertations were on high blood pressure and family therapy. The psychologists’ subsequent fall from official grace has been as swift as their rise in 2002.
Want to know: Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has announced that he has swine flu. "Apart from the fever and a sore throat, I feel well and in good shape to carry out my work by telecommuting," the 68-year-old said in a statement.
After years of obscurity and a few months in jail, Ameruddin Askarzai is about to be recognized for helping save Afghanistan's gold. The WSJ recounts how he thwarted the Taliban's attempt to loot a hoard of ancient gold.
Dull but important: Russia is to spend almost $500 million next year reinforcing its military bases in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, said PM Vladimir Putin. Moscow is rapidly establishing facts on the ground in Abkhazia following last year's war with Georgia.
Just because: Sights and sounds of the Edinburgh's annual arts festival, from Shakespeare in a swimming pool to a lesson with Miss Jean Brodie, Tao samurai drummers to nude feminist dancing.
Wacky: It had long been assumed that glaciers removed the top soil from the Burren in Ireland, leaving arctic plant life. Now new research using animal dung has established that trees were cleared or burned by farmers and the arctic flora survived the clearances.
http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/general/090812/chatter-what-were-hearing