Palin fakes out reporters at Gettysburg hotel  —  Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (CNN) - Sarah Palin pulled a clever bait and switch on reporters in Gettysburg on Tuesday, as her “One Nation” bus tour rolls into its third day.  —  The Palin family and a few members of her staff snuck out of their hotel early …

Too many coincidences in Weiner's tale  —  In the New York of the late 1800s, Boss Tweed famously complained about Thomas Nast cartoons: Though many immigrants in the city couldn't read, even the illiterate could understand “those damn pictures.”  Rep. Anthony Weiner and his staff now face a similar problem.

Cyber Combat: Act of War  —  Pentagon Sets Stage for U.S. to Respond to Computer Sabotage With Military Force  —  WASHINGTON—The Pentagon has concluded that computer sabotage coming from another country can constitute an act of war, a finding that for the first time opens the door for the U.S …

‘Birther’ book soars  —  (CNN) - A new book, now number six on the New York Times' Best Sellers list, is putting the so-called “birther” issue back on the national stage.  —  “Where's the Birth Certificate?” by Jerome Corsi, which debuted on the list out Sunday, argues President Obama …

Egyptian general admits ‘virginity checks’ conducted on protesters  —  Cairo (CNN) — A senior Egyptian general admits that “virginity checks” were performed on women arrested at a demonstration this spring, the first such admission after previous denials by military authorities.

Exploring the Hollywood Propaganda Machine  —  Hollywood matters.  —  It matters because we watch Hollywood product day in and day out.  Your children spend six or seven hours at school, and couple of hours with their friends, and a couple of hours with you.  They spend a full three hours with the television.

Growth Slowdown Becomes a Concern  —  Weakness in First Quarter Now Showing Signs of Persisting  —  The world's largest economy may be facing a growth problem.  —  After a disappointing first quarter, economists largely predicted the U.S. recovery would ramp back up as short-term disruptions …

Counterprotesters confront Westboro Baptist Church at Arlington  —  Washington (CNN) — Protesting members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church were met with an unlikely group of counterprotesters Monday at Arlington Cemetery.  —  Hours before President Barack Obama led the nation's Memorial …

It's Not About You  —  Over the past few weeks, America's colleges have sent another class of graduates off into the world.  These graduates possess something of inestimable value.  Nearly every sensible middle-aged person would give away all their money to be able to go back to age 22 and begin adulthood anew.

Bachmann Signs Top Pollster  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is taking another step toward making her presidential bid official, signing a prominent Republican pollster to conduct surveys for her campaign, sources tell The Hotline.  —  Bachmann will work with Ed Goeas, president of The Tarrance Group, several sources said.

Kloppenburg concedes election to Prosser  —  Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg said Tuesday that she was conceding the Supreme Court race to Justice David Prosser, ending what had been a contentious campaign that culminated in a rare statewide recount.

The Numbers Are Grim  —  A month ago, when an initial gauge of first-quarter economic growth came in surprisingly weak, many policy makers and economists expected the bad news to prove fleeting.  But when revised data were released last week, the growth estimate remained stuck at an annual rate …

Bangladeshi Woman Takes Attacker's Penis To Police  —  DHAKA, Bangladesh - A 40-year-old Bangladeshi woman cut off a man's penis during an alleged attempted rape and took it to a police station as evidence, police in a remote part of the country said Monday.

‘Double-Dip’ in Housing Prices Even Worse Than Expected  —  U.S. single-family home prices dropped in March, dipping below their 2009 low, as the housing market remained bogged down by inventory and weak demand, a closely watched survey said Tuesday.  —  The S&P/Case Shiller composite index …

CNN Poll: Obama's approval rating edges up thanks to foreign policy  —  Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama's performance on national security and international affairs and his image as a strong leader appear to be behind his rising approval rating, according to new national poll conducted …

Autocars And The Benefits Of Relative American Decline  —  It's unfortunate that the world “automobile” is already in existence and means “car,” since we really need a word for the idea of autonomously piloted robot cars which could have enormous benefits if they became widespread.

Medicare Plan for Payments Irks Hospitals  —  WASHINGTON — For the first time in its history, Medicare will soon track spending on millions of individual beneficiaries, reward hospitals that hold down costs and penalize those whose patients prove most expensive.

Al-Jazeera footage captures ‘western troops on the ground’ in Libya  —  Five of Gaddafi's generals are among latest defectors to rebels as South African president seeks to broker ceasefire  —  Armed westerners have been filmed on the front line with rebels near Misrata in the first apparent confirmation …

2nd banker in hotel sex bust  —  Another international moneyman has been busted for sexually assaulting a maid at a luxury Manhattan hotel, cops said last night.  —  Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar — the 74-year-old former chairman of Egypt's Bank of Alexandria — allegedly groped and “gyrated” …

When ‘coordinate’ is a dirty word  —  A pair of ads in New York cite the same line from a Wall Street Journal article.  POLITICO screengrabs.  —  Tuesday night was a good one for the Lapp family of Falls Church, Va.  —  John Lapp ran the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's …