Bill Clinton to Paul Ryan on Medicare Election: ‘Give me a Call’  —  ABC News' Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) reports:  —  The day after the stunning upset in the special congressional election in upstate New York, Rep. Paul Ryan is a man under fire.  —  But ABC News was behind the scenes …

Response to Ed Schultz  —  Re. the crude comments made about me by Ed Schultz on his radio program: First, I was surprised to learn that Ed Schultz actually hosted a radio show.  Is it only available online?  Second, I have to get back to recording the audio edition of my new book “Of Thee I Zing.”

Romney, Palin Lead Reduced GOP Field for 2012  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Mitt Romney (17%) and Sarah Palin (15%) now lead a smaller field of potential Republican presidential candidates in rank-and-file Republicans' preferences for the party's 2012 nominee.  Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich …

Key Jewish Donor Breaks With Obama  —  One of the most important Democratic donors in the past two decades, whose generous contributions helped pay for the DNC headquarters in Washington, D.C., has indicated that he will not contribute to President Obama's reelection campaign in 2012, because of the administration's stance on Israel.

US withdraws diplomats from Yemen amid clashes  —  Jeb Boone of the Yemen Times: “It feels pretty unstable” in Sanaa  —  The US has ordered all its non-essential diplomats and family members of embassy staff to leave Yemen as fighting there escalates.  —  Medical sources say 72 people …

How America's Building the 21st-Century Mall  —  Here's a conundrum for the American capitalist: How can malls, those decades-old bastions of shoppers everywhere, compete with the shopping technology and up-to-the-minute gratification of the Internet?  —  The simple answer is that they can't—yet.

Racism to blame for Obama's problems, key Democrat says  —  WASHINGTON — House Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, on Wednesday blamed most of President Barack Obama's political problems on racism.  —  Clyburn, who's from South Carolina …

Loughner found incompetent to stand trial  —  Jared Lee Loughner's “major mental illness” leaves him so delusional and psychotic that he is incompetent to stand trial, a federal judge ruled today.  —  U.S. District Court Judge Larry A. Burns viewed hours of videotape of Loughner, he said …

Why Not Let the Dead Pay for Medicare?  —  So here's an idea: why not reform Medicare by means testing it?  Conservatives should love this idea.  —  Here's how it works.  Basically, we leave Medicare alone.  Oh, we can still go ahead with some of the obvious reforms.

Walt Disney Surrenders to Navy's SEAL Team 6  —  Less than a month after a daring raid on Osama bin Laden's secret hideout, the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team 6 notched a victory over the Magic Kingdom.  —  Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that it would pull an application with the U.S. Patent …

The real unemployment...  Walt Whitman famously observed to a friend in 1863 that “the real war will never get in the books.”  Whitman knew what he was talking about, so the proposition can't be discounted.  But in the case of the Civil War, if the real war hasn't gotten into the books, it's not for lack of trying.

Obama Gets Big Bump In Florida, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Nelson Leads Gop Challengers, With No Clear Leader  —  President Barack Obama's job approval rating in Florida is 51 - 43 percent approve, a jump from his negative 44 - 52 percent score April 7, before the killing of Osama bin Laden …

Elderly patients dying of thirst: Doctors forced to prescribe drinking water to keep the old alive, reveals devastating report on hospital care  —  The measure - to remind nurses of the most basic necessity - is revealed in a damning report on pensioner care in NHS wards.

Obama court nominee Goodwin Liu withdraws after filibuster  —  UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu's decision is a victory for Senate Republicans.  The GOP said Liu would bring an expansive view of rights to an already liberal-leaning 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

China used prisoners in lucrative internet gaming work  —  Labour camp detainees endure hard labour by day, online ‘gold farming’ by night  —  As a prisoner at the Jixi labour camp, Liu Dali would slog through tough days breaking rocks and digging trenches in the open cast coalmines of north-east China.

Top Serbian War Crimes Suspect Caught  —  PARIS — Serbian President Boris Tadic announced at a news conference in Belgrade on Thursday that Ratko Mladic, the fugitive accused of masterminding the massacre at Srebrenica in 1995, had been captured but refused to give details.

An Affair to Remember  —  John Edwards was a cad, but that isn't why he may be indicted.  —  A onetime rival of Barack Obama may soon face criminal charges.  The Justice Department has “green-lighted” the prosecution of John Edwards, who finished second in the 2008 Iowa Democratic caucuses …

In Which I Swallow Hard and Defend Mitt Romney  —  Mitt Romney is getting a lot grief today over his flip-flopping on the Detroit bailout.  Talking about the Obama plan to rescue GM and Chrysler, his spokesman said, “Mitt Romney had the idea first.  You have to acknowledge that.

There's a Secret Patriot Act, Senator Says  —  You may think you understand how the Patriot Act allows the government to spy on its citizens.  Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) says it's worse than you've heard.  —  Congress is set to reauthorize three controversial provisions of the surveillance law as early as Thursday.