Don't Scorn Paul Ryan  —  I hadn't realized until I met him on Tuesday that Paul Ryan had been a protégé of Jack Kemp.  But the minute I heard him talking about his late mentor, everything suddenly made sense.  —  Kemp — the former pro football quarterback …

U.S. Adults Estimate That 25% of Americans Are Gay or Lesbian  —  Those with lower incomes, the less educated, women, and young people give the highest estimates  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. adults, on average, estimate that 25% of Americans are gay or lesbian.

Gil Scott-Heron, Poet And Musician, Has Died  —  Gil Scott-Heron died Friday afternoon in New York, his book publisher reported.  He was 62.  The influential poet and musician is often credited with being one of the progenitors of hip-hop, and is best known for the spoken-word piece “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”

Comedy Gold: Meghan McCain Blames Her Lousy Dating Life on Sarah Palin  —  America's Most Famous Dumb Blonde:  —  Jay Leno: Are you dating anyone?  —  Meghan McCain: No. I'm in, like, dating Babylon.  Like, I go on dates with men and, literally, like Sarah Palin will come up in like the first 20 minutes …

John Edwards: A jerk, not a felon  —  As far as I'm concerned, John Edwards is pond scum.  Last I checked, that's not a crime.  —  We can stipulate, I think, to the pond scum part.  The man cheated on his wife — and defended himself by noting that her cancer was in remission at the time.

Shale Boom in Texas Could Increase U.S. Oil Output  —  CATARINA, Tex. — Until last year, the 17-mile stretch of road between this forsaken South Texas village and the county seat of Carrizo Springs was a patchwork of derelict gasoline stations and rusting warehouses.

Weinergate: Congressman Claims ‘Facebook Hacked’ as Lewd Photo Hits Twitter  —  Hacked or hung?  —  Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY 9″) finds himself in a late night online pickle.  —  This evening a photo surfaced on Congressman Weiner's yfrog account and in his verified Twitter timeline of a man in his underwear with an erection.

Iran reportedly aiding Syrian crackdown  —  U.S. officials say Iran is dispatching increasing numbers of trainers and advisers — including members of its elite Quds Force — into Syria to help crush anti-government demonstrations that are threatening to topple Iran's most important ally in the region.

By blocking its leader, GOP constrains consumer bureau  —  Republicans might have found a way to constrain the power of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: make it an agency without a leader.  —  The increasingly bitter fight over whether Elizabeth Warren should head the new agency might …

Forget the debt ceiling and focus on debt  —  On May 15, the US hit its “debt ceiling” of $14,300bn, covering publicly owned debt held by the Federal Reserve and government trust funds, and Washington is in a furore.  While budget debates are often more talk than action, this one needs more talk - but of a different kind.

Rolling Thunder: Sarah Palin not invited  —  By Andrea Mitchell and Lauren Stephenson, NBC News  —  WASHINGTON — One day after Sarah Palin announced her bus tour, a group sponsoring a Memorial Day weekend event she plans to attend said they never invited her.  —  “She wasn't invited.

Is “Now Hiring” the new “We do our part” sign of the Depression?  —  Why are there “Now Hiring” signs in front of so many businesses these days when so many people are complaining about not finding a job?  Everywhere I go in Knoxville, there are generic “Now Hiring” signs from the hotels …

WikiLeaks accused Bradley Manning ‘should never have been sent to Iraq’  —  Guardian exclusive: Soldier held over US intelligence leak was known to be mentally fragile and unsuited to army life  —  The American soldier at the centre of the WikiLeaks revelations was so mentally fragile …

Judge Voids Ban on Campaign Donations by Business  —  A federal judge in Virginia has declared unconstitutional a century-old law banning political contributions from corporations, a ruling that, if upheld, could have major implications for the rules governing campaign fund-raising and spending.

Wikileaks: Speculators Helped Cause Oil Bubble  —  When oil prices surged to a ridiculous $147 a barrel in the summer of 2008, conventional wisdom held that normal supply and demand issues were the cause.  Both the Bush administration (in the form of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission) …