Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Torture Chamber?

A Pakistani man being held in Guantanamo Bay is claiming he was tortured and his family hounded by U.S. authorities. According to the Associated Press — the father of Majid Khan claims his son was tied to a chair, beaten and deprived of sleep.

But a transcript of a hearing last month reveals what Khan defines as "mental torture" he says he endured at Guantanamo. Khan says was forced to use unscented deodorant and shampoo, had to play sports with a ball that did not bounce, had his baby pictures taken away, was not given a DVD player, and the people who cleaned his cell left marks on the walls.

This information was not in the AP story. Last month's hearing was to determine whether Khan was rightly classified as an enemy combatant.

Hosting Fundraiser

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman — the Democrat who ran and won re-election as an independent last year after losing his party primary — is drawing the ire of some fellow Dems by hosting a fundraiser for a Republican colleague.

The Washington Post reports Lieberman and Republican Arlen Specter are teaming up to stage a benefit for Maine Republican Susan Collins. This is despite the fact that Collins is one of the prime targets on the Democrats' hit list for next year.

The Lieberman effort is payback — because Collins was one of the few senators to campaign for him last year.

Sting Operation

Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles is threatening to sue a student pro-life activist who recorded an abortion clinic worker advising her to lie about her age so she could avoid reporting a statutory rape and obtain an abortion.

Lifenews.com reports the student posed as a 15-year-old, pregnant by her 23-year-old boyfriend. She recorded a nurse practitioner and counselor at the UCLA health center telling her to "figure out a birth date that works" — and told her how to get the state to pay for the abortion.

Cybercast News reports Planned Parenthood is now demanding the girl turn over the video and stop her undercover investigation — which was for a student-run newspaper.

Dueling Promoters

The man who organized the "Live Aid" concerts to help feed the hungry back in 1985 is not happy with Al Gore's plan to stage his "Live Earth" concerts this summer to fight global warming.

Bob Geldof tells a Dutch newspaper that while the names are similar, too similar, he says, there's one big difference — the Gore concerts have no specific purpose.

Geldof says: "Why is Gore actually organizing them? To make us aware of the greenhouse effect? Everybody's known about that problem for years. We are all ... conscious of global warming."

Geldof says he would only organize the shows if there was something important to announce. Otherwise, he says, "it's just an enormous pop concert."

—FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.