Midday open thread

• The most offensive political ad of all time:

• With friends like this ...

  Pakistan?s top military spy agency has arrested some of the Pakistani informants who fed information to the Central Intelligence Agency in the months leading up to the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden, according to American officials. [...]

  Some in Washington see the arrests as illustrative of the disconnect between Pakistani and American priorities at a time when they are supposed to be allies in the fight against Al Qaeda ? instead of hunting down the support network that allowed Bin Laden to live comfortably for years, the Pakistani authorities are arresting those who assisted in the raid that killed the world?s most wanted man.

• Puke:

  At a campaign stop in New Hampshire, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was posting for a photo-op with several female waitresses at a diner, and decided to "tease" them by pretending one of them had grabbed his ass

• Pennsylvanians still don't like Rick Santorum:

  It may be his home state, but a new poll indicates that Rick Santorum is not on top in Pennsylvania in the fight for the GOP presidential nomination.

  And the Quinnipiac University survey of Keystone state voters released Wednesday also indicates that President Barack Obama's re-election numbers are on the rise in the crucial battleground state.

  According to the poll, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads the Republican field at 21 percent, followed by Santorum at 16 percent and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at 11 percent. No one else was in double digits and 17 percent are undecided.

• The attack of the lesbian nuns:

  [Michele] Bachmann, then a state senator, had already been caught hiding in the bushes of a gay rights event and campaigned against gay marriage. But she refused to talk about the issue at a constituent forum, and when said ex-nun and lesbian constituent came into the bathroom to politely take it up with her, she lost it:

  Suddenly, after less than a minute, Bachmann let out a shriek. "Help!" she screamed. "Help! I'm being held against my will!" Arnold, who is just over 5 feet tall, was stunned, and hurried to open the door. Bachmann bolted out and fled, crying, to an SUV outside. Then she called the police, saying, according to the police report, that she was "absolutely terrified and has never been that terrorized before as she had no idea what those two women were going to do to her." The Washington County attorney, however, declined to press charges, writing in a memo, "It seems clear from the statements given by both women that they simply wanted to discuss certain issues further with Ms. Bachmann."

• An anti-foreclosure program that works:

  In response to a widespread foreclosure crisis, Philadelphia instituted what?s known as a mortgage mediation program. Under the program, banks are required to meet face-to-face with a borrower before foreclosing, to attempt to come to an agreement that would keep the borrower out of foreclosure. There is no requirement that the two sides come to an agreement, only that they meet.

  In 2007, the year before the program began, 27 percent of homeowners in foreclosure lost their homes. That fell to 14.5 percent in the six months after the program began, then to 5.7 percent thereafter, Goldstein found. In the first year of the program, 5,000 homeowners took advantage of it, according to data released in June 2009. Of agreements reached through June 2009, 733, or 84.6 percent of 866 ho
  

• Proving once again that being "pro-life" stops at the delivery room door:

  Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved an amendment by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) that would immunize the tobacco industry against many FDA regulations preventing them from making tobacco more addictive and marketing it to children.  According to a joint statement by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:

  [T]he amendment would curtail the Food and Drug Administration?s (FDA?s) authority to regulate the contents of tobacco products. It would severely limit the kind of evidence FDA could consider in regulating tobacco and other products and eliminate the FDA?s ability to stop tobacco companies from adding ingredients that make their products more attractive to children and minorities, or more addictive and more difficult to quit using. . . .

• Penny wise, pound foolish:

  Detroit Public School Emergency Manager Roy Roberts has ordered the closure of Detroit?s school for pregnant girls and teen mothers but teacher Nicole Conaway says the move could be costly. [...]

  Pregnancy is the number-one reason women drop out of school. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, 70% of teen moms do. However, for more than 20 years, Detroit has had one the nation?s best resources for teen mothers. Now it is on the verge of being taken away.

• Union busting or providing jobs for sheep?

  According to a report from The Patriot-News, cutting the grass around Wilson Middle School?s field of solar panels used to take workers 6 hours a week ? and throughout the year, the cost of lawn maintenance really added up. But now, thanks to the appetite of a herd of 30 or so sheep, they?ve cut that figure down to virtually nothing.

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