memeorandum: This Time Lapse Video of the Very Large Telescope At Work is the Coolest Thing You'll See Today (Clay Dillow/Popular Science)

1:40 AM ET, May 28, 2011

Top Items:

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

McConnell: I Won't Agree To Raise The Debt Limit Without Medicare Cuts — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says substantial Medicare cuts must be part of a spending and deficit cut package to get his support to raise the debt limit. — In a Capitol briefing with reporters Friday …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Firedoglake, Outside the Beltway and The Raw Story

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

McConnell puts Medicare in the ransom note — The Republican debt-ceiling strategy hasn't been subtle: GOP officials are threatening to cause a recession, on purpose, unless Democrats give them the spending cuts they want. It's Hostage Taking 101. — The trick has been identifying the ransom.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Are Dems drawing hard line on Medicare after all?

Discussion: Hot Air and Daily Kos

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
A Cornered Animal Is A Dangerous Animal

Discussion: Booman Tribune and The Moderate Voice

David Brooks / New York Times:
Medicare Survival Guide

Discussion: National Review, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, The New Republic and DailyHowler.com

The Hill:
McConnell: Saying Medicare is off the table is ‘silly talk’ and ‘nonsense’

Discussion: The Politico, The Note and FrumForum

Lymari Morales / Gallup:

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.

Discussion: Althouse, The Last Tradition, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Towleroad News #gay and Outside the Beltway

Karl Smith / Modeled Behavior:

Asking People About Statistics — As you can see 52% of US adults answered that more than 20% of Americans are gay or lesbian. — About 3.5% of Americans identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. — By contrast roughly 2.2% of Americans are ethnically or religiously Jewish and 4.8% of Americans are Asian.

Discussion: Mother Jones

Clay Dillow / Popular Science:

This Time Lapse Video of the Very Large Telescope At Work is the Coolest Thing You'll See Today — Your Universe (As Seen From the Home Planet) ESO/Stephane Guisard and Jose Francisco Salgado — There's very little we can write to preface the imagery below, so we'll just set the scene and get out of the way.

Discussion: Yourish.com and Questions and Observations

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:

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.

Discussion: The Raw Story and Election Law Blog

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
Judge strikes down corporate donations ban

Discussion: Associated Press, Gawker and Moe Lane

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: Republican Judge Strikes Down Ban On Corporate Contributions Directly To Candidates

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars and Taegan Goddard's …

Matthew Barakat / Associated Press:
US judge rules against corporate contribution ban

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, Patterico's Pontifications, Hot Air, Firedoglake and Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Kevin Hall / The Iowa Republican:

Bachmann's Debacle — “This is a disaster,” said one prominent Polk County Republican. An elected official called it “an embarrassment”. The embarrassing disaster was the result of Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann's last minute cancellation of her appearance at the Polk County GOP's Robb Kelley Dinner.

Discussion: Mediaite

videocafe.crooksandliars.com:
Bachmann's Iowa Debacle

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

The Politico:
Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann size each other up

Discussion: The Note, Jezebel, CNN, Ben Smith's Blog, REPUBLICAN REDEFINED, Washington Post and Pirate's Cove

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:

Rudy Giuliani leads new national poll — Here we go again, Rudy Giuliani edition. — A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll shows the former New York City mayor atop the slow-forming Republican primary field. — The survey shows Giuliani getting 16 percent of independents and Republicans …

Discussion: Fox News

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

CNN Poll: GOP 2012 field still up in the air — Washington (CNN) - Call it a sign of how unsettled the GOP presidential field remains: Two of the three people at the top of new national poll in the battle for the Republican nomination may not even run for the White House.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post, Gothamist, The Note, Washington Wire, Mediaite, GOP 12, Outside the Beltway, The Politico, FrumForum, USA Today, TPMDC, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, The Last Tradition, Daily Kos, Taegan Goddard's … and New York Times

Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:

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 …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and Weasel Zippers

Edward Lewine / New York Times:

Inside Meghan McCain's Bachelorette Pad — The famous daughter of the famous senator shows off her 1,100-square-foot bachelorette home in West Hollywood. — LEAST-REPUBLICAN PIECE OF CLOTHING: My black studded Christian Louboutin heels. They are hard-core. My friend nicknamed them my dominatrix heels.

Discussion: Wonkette and Gawker

Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:

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) …

Discussion: Pacific Views, Firedoglake and naked capitalism

Neil MacFarquhar / New York Times:
Saudi Arabia Scrambles to Limit Region's Upheaval

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Newshoggers.com and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Amazon.com:

Amazon.com Reveals the Most Well-Read Cities in America — Cambridge, Mass., tops the list with the most books, magazines and newspapers purchased per capita of any city in the United States — (NASDAQ: AMZN)—Just in time for the summer reading season, Amazon.com announced its list of the Top 20 Most Well-Read Cities in America.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and The New Editor

Daoud Tyler-Ameen / NPR:

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.”

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Daily What, Balloon Juice and Notes From Underground

Reuters:

G8 leaders omit mention of 1967 borders in Middle East statement — Diplomats say that Canada objected to a specific mention of the 1967 borders in statement issued by world leaders calling for resumption of Israel-Palestinian peace talks. — Group of Eight leaders had to soften …

Discussion: The Lede and Washington Post

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Wow!... Canada Defends Israel From Obama Administration - Blocks 1967 Line From G8 Statement

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, Power Line and The Lonely Conservative

The Note:

Rolling Thunder Riders Praise Sarah Palin's Participation in Rally — ABC News' Sheila Marikar [@sheilaym] reports: For the riders of Rolling Thunder, the news that Sarah Palin will participate in their national rally on Sunday came as a surprise. A welcome surprise.

Discussion: Mediaite, Fox Nation, Weasel Zippers, Ben Smith's Blog, Washington Post and msnbc.com

The Politico:

Spotlight takes toll on first lady's staff — Less than three years into the job, first lady Michelle Obama is on her third chief of staff and third social secretary. She is on her second communications director, the White House chief usher recently departed, and her press secretary's last day is Friday.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and Weasel Zippers

Jason Embry / Austin American-Statesman:

Perry says he will consider White House run — Gov. Rick Perry today gave his strongest indication yet that he may run for president. — “I'm going to think about it” after the legislative session ends Monday, Perry said. — For years, Perry has said that he would not run for president and that he had no interest.

Discussion: CNN, Fox News, The Note, Pajamas Media, Proof Positive, Ballot Box, Wake up America, The Daley Gator, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Big Government, The Politico, Ben Smith's Blog, Swampland, The Gateway Pundit, Fox Nation and Weasel Zippers

Dr. Helen:

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 …

Discussion: alicublog

Stogie / Saberpoint:

Soquel High School Students Suspended for Wearing White T Shirts (They're Signs of “White Supremacy") — Soquel, California — on the Central Coast: — Several high school seniors wore white t shirts to their class's group picture last Wednesday and were suspended for doing so.

Discussion: kionrightnow.com, Five Feet of Fury, Left Coast Rebel, Wake up America, Moonbattery and The Daily Caller

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Breaking: Several Jewish Dems in Congress back Obama on Israel, characterize his stance accurately — Since it's being widely reported that many leading Democrats in Congress are criticizing Obama's stance on the pre-1967 lines, it's perhaps also worth mentioning that a few Jewish Congressional Dems have stepped forward to defend him.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and New York Times

BREITBART.COM:

Lech Walesa snubs Obama, fellow Nobel winner — Lech Walesa, Poland's Solidarity-era legend, ex-president and 1983 Nobel Peace Prize winner said Friday he would not accept an invitation to meet with fellow Nobel winner US President Barack Obama. — “It's difficult to tell journalists …

Discussion: Nice Deb, The Gateway Pundit, Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers, Fox News and Ironic Surrealism

ESeifert / Democracy Corps:

New York's 26th is not Alone — Republican leaders and conservative pundits have spun Democrat Kathy Hochul's upset win in New York's 26th Congressional District as exceptional - with peculiar ballot lines, Tea Party independents, quality of the candidates, and Democratic message discipline.