Pakistan has completed its interviews of Osama bin Laden's wives and children and declared them free to leave Pakistan and travel freely.

The Pakistani Commission also recommended that a physician who worked with the CIA to conduct a fake vaccination program designed to obtain DNA from the citizens of Abbouttabad be charged with treason.

The vaccination ruse has been widely criticized by aid agencies, which have said it could harm legitimate immunization programs in Pakistan. The vaccination team was reported to have gained access bin Laden's house in Abbottabad, but that it didn't confirm bin Laden's presence there.

The U.S. wants Pakistan to allow the doctor to live in the U.S.

The jury has been selected in the trial of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. There was an interesting twist, as after the jury was picked, the Judge dismissed juror #321, a woman from Nigeria. The judge didn't explain why she dismissed the juror, who is president of a Nigerian cultural association in Metro Detroit.

During jury selection Wednesday, the woman said she has lived in the United States since 1994 and has relatives in Nigeria. She did not know Abdulmutallab's family. The Nigerian woman also said if she rendered a guilty verdict, it would not create a problem back home but she did not want her identity revealed.

She was replaced Juror 277, a female retired Secretary of State supervisor. [More...]

Open thread.

Go Yanks!

Apple oc-founder Steve Jobs has passed away. He was 56. From Apple's website:

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

What a loss. How very sad. R.I.P. Steve Jobs, and thank you for so generously sharing your amazing talents with us. (Update below):

The IRS has now jumped into the fray of medical marijuana businesses -- including dispensaries operating legally under the laws of their states.

The IRS is asserting that dispensaries cannot deduct ordinary business expenses like salaries, rent and security costs.

Here are the letters the IRS has sent. Its position: [More...]

Raffaele Sollecito, the co-defendant of Amanda Knox who was also acquitted of murder this week by the appeals court, alleges the police treated him violently and with coercion after his arrest. Amanda Knox has said in the past she was assaulted and browbeaten by police.

Ms Knox has also claimed that she was assaulted during questioning and that the verbal and physical intimidation caused her to wrongly claim that an innocent man, the bar owner Patrick Lumumba, committed the killing. [More...]

Claudio Pratillo Hellmann, one of the two judges advising the jury suggested in an interview today that perhaps Amanda and Raffaelle know who was involved in Mereditih Kercher's killing.

Sarah Palin says she's not running for President in 2012.

Let's just hope she means it.

Rick Perry is going down in flames. Michelle Bachmann's 15 minutes appear to be over. Herman Cain protested the n-word. No one knows what Newt is doing. Ron Paul, well, Ron Paul. Big Man Christie knows he can't win. What's left for Anybody But Romney? Ed Kilgore suggests it may be Palin time:

[I]s there any doubt a certain universally known, beloved-of-the-base politician will hear her name on the restless wind and give fresh consideration to the prospect of "going rogue" and running for president? Yes, this could be Sarah Palin's moment to confound her critics, to send the GOP establishment types she hates even more than liberals into frantic hysteria, and most of all, to gain the attention she craves.

I agree. It's time for Sarah Barracuda. And I betcha Mitt Romney would make a donation. He is running out the clock now, knowing he beats the current field easily. Palin would soak up all the oxygen, but not the votes the Mittster needs.

Via Chris Bowers, great line from Elizabeth Warren in last night's Massachusetts Dem Senate primary debate:

Forbes magazine named Scott Brown Wall Street's favorite senator. I was thinking that's probably not an award I'm going to get.

Running against Wall Street and the filthy rich is good politics. Yep, the "class warfare" thing.

Romney attacks Occupy Wall Street as "class warfare":

Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney on Tuesday compared the current anti-Wall Street protests to “class warfare.” “I think it’s dangerous, this class warfare,” Romney said to an audience of about 50 people in response to a question about the protests over such issues as high unemployment, home foreclosures and the 2008 corporate bailouts.

Given Romney's own income stream, he seems to be standing up for his own wealth as well:

Citizens for Tax Justice, a progressive-leaning group, estimated Romney’s 2010 tax rate at 14%, based on public records of his income.

Running against Wall Street and the filthy rich is a political winner in case anyone is wondering. Yep, the "class warfare" thing.

I have not read Tom Friedman in a long time, but keysdan pointed this funny one out to me:

Obama’s decision to respond to G.O.P. extremism and the failure to conclude a Grand Bargain, by moving to the left rather than to the center, was a huge mistake. It means, as Cowen noted, that the country has no credible, long-term fiscal option before it now. Rather than shift back to his base with a weak fiscal plan, Obama should have taken his idea of a Grand Bargain to the country.

Heh. But the really funny part was Friedman's concept of Chris Christie as Joe Dimaggio (a Nation turns its lonely eyes to you):

Why was Christie popular among G.O.P. moderates and independents? Because he seemed ready to tell hard truths that Obama has started to shrink from.

Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, Christie realized that the GOP was in no mood for a "moderate" and he would be crushed. And now all Friedman has left is Unity 08, I mean, Americans Elect 2012. Maybe he and Matt Miller could run as a ticket. Tom Friedman, a Nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

Via Jed Lewison, actually they do:

Barack Obama has jumped to a 15-point lead over the Republicans in Congress in trust to handle job creation, a sign the beleaguered president’s $450 billion jobs package has hit its mark in public opinion. Fifty-two percent support the plan – and most say it just might work.

For background, see this and this.