Colombian Escort Speaks About Secret Service Scandal  —  CARTAGENA, Colombia — A Secret Service agent preparing for President Obama's arrival at an international summit meeting and a single mother from Colombia who makes a living as a high-priced escort faced off in a room at the Hotel Caribe …

Bam Bites Dog  —  The political perils of personal attacks.  —  One time Barack Obama went to an Indian restaurant and ordered the lassi.  Was he ever disappointed when the waiter brought him a yogurt drink!  —  We'll be here all week.  But seriously, folks, we have a man-bites-dog story for you today.

Jim Webb: Health-care law represents a leadership failure for Obama  —  President Obama's new health-care law will be his greatest liability as he attempts to once again win the critical swing state of Virginia, Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) warned Wednesday.  —  “I'll be real frank here,” Webb said at a breakfast organized by Bloomberg News.

The smartest choice Ann Romney made  —  There is no shame in marrying up  —  Mitt and Ann, serving a pancake breakfast.  —  As a thirtysomething, city-dwelling, hypereducated, independent-thinking woman, I suppose I should recoil at the idea of one day getting married …

The most amazing Supreme Court chart.  Maybe ever.  —  While browsing around the Pew polling site this morning — and, yes, we do a fair amount of that — we came across a chart on the Supreme Court that reminded us, for the billionth time, that assuming the average person follows …

U.S. troops posed with body parts of Afghan bombers  —  An American soldier says he released the photos to the Los Angeles Times to draw attention to the safety risk of a breakdown in leadership and discipline.  The Army has started a criminal investigation.

Romney: Obama is ‘in over his head’ on the economy  —  Mitt Romney said President Barack Obama is “in over his head and swimming in the wrong direction” when it comes to the nation's economy and that his policies are “putting in peril” America's future.  —  Speaking in Charlotte, N.C. …

TV and music pioneer Dick Clark dies at age 82  —  Dick Clark, the creator of “American Bandstand” and “Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve,” died Wednesday morning.  —  He was 82.  —  Clark suffered a massive heart attack after entering St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica on Tuesday night …

Vatican orders crackdown on American nuns  —  WASHINGTON — The Vatican has launched a crackdown on the umbrella group that represents most of America's 55,000 Catholic nuns, saying that the group was not speaking out strongly enough against gay marriage, abortion and women's ordination.

Whistleblower Alleges Top U.S. Official Got Blowjob On Roof Of Baghdad Embassy  —  State Department gadfly Peter Van Buren drops a bombshell on his blog.  He claims there's a sex tape.  —  A Foreign Service Officer who once posed for Playboy, according to State Departement official and blogger Peter Van Buren.

Gulf seafood deformities alarm scientists  —  Eyeless shrimp and fish with lesions are becoming common, with BP oil pollution believed to be the likely cause.  —  New Orleans, LA - “The fishermen have never seen anything like this,” Dr Jim Cowan told Al Jazeera.

What's with Obama?  His Falklands gaffe angers Brits, puzzles others  —  OK, picture this: President George W. Bush, he of the cast-iron Texas tongue, at a news conference concluding an international summit.  —  He's asked about a dispute involving Argentina and Great Britain …

MEDIA MATTERS' ERIC BOEHLERT DOWNPLAYED GENOCIDAL ANTI-SEMITISM  —  Two weeks ago, Media Matters for America (MMFA) quasi-parted ways with anti-Semitic Senior Foreign Policy Fellow MJ Rosenberg, who was fond of labeling pro-Israel Jews “Israel firsters.”  This PR maneuver was designed …

Mel Gibson Rage Rant in Costa Rica: ‘Filthy C—sucker Whore’ (Audio)  —  Mel Gibson shouted terrifying epithets at his houseguests during a rampage at his home in Costa Rica in December, according to a recording obtained by TheWrap.  —  Houseguest and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas provided the recording …

Catholic League Promises To “Mobilize” Religious Groups Against Jon Stewart  —  A bit about a “vagina manger” offends.  “We will not stop with a boycott,” the League's president writes.  —  A segment of The Daily Show skewering the media fervor over the “war on women” that recommended that women use …

Studies Question the Pairing of Food Deserts and Obesity  —  It has become an article of faith among some policy makers and advocates, including Michelle Obama, that poor urban neighborhoods are food deserts, bereft of fresh fruits and vegetables.  —  But two new studies have found something unexpected.

Secret poll: State senators favor Liljenquist in U.S. Senate race  —  SALT LAKE CITY — A secret poll of state senators found them favoring one of their former colleagues in the race for U.S. Senate.  —  Republican Dan Liljenquist came out on top in an informal poll conducted by the Office of the Legislative Auditor General.

CNN Poll: Republicans divided on VP choice  —  Washington (CNN) - Who should Mitt Romney choose as his running mate?  —  According to a new national poll, there's no consensus among Republicans.  But a CNN/ORC International survey released Wednesday does indicate there's an ideological split …

Ken Lester named new judge in Zimmerman murder case  —  The 15-year judge has experience in high-profile cases.  —  SANFORD - The new judge in the George Zimmerman murder case will be Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr., who's been on the bench 15 years.  —  The case passed to him today, but not before things got a bit complicated.