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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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.