Colombian Escort Speaks About Secret Service Scandal  —  CARTAGENA, Colombia — A Secret Service agent preparing for President Obama's arrival at an international summit meeting and a single mother from Colombia who makes a living as a high-priced escort faced off in a room at the Hotel Caribe …

Big Lead With Women Gives Obama An Edge On Romney, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Christie, Rubio, Ryan Top GOP Running Mate List  —  President Barack Obama holds a thin 46 - 42 percent lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.

TPMDC  —  Obama To GOP: Abide By Debt Limit Deal Or Else Face A Govt Shutdown Right Before The Election  —  In a major escalation of a slowly building fight over funding the government, the White House has warned House Republicans, in no uncertain terms, that the government will shut …

Obama camp tries to diversify  —  President Barack Obama's team is looking to hire more African-Americans, a search that has stirred a debate among black Democrats about Obama's record on diversity and its implications for his reelection.  —  Stefanie Brown, director of the campaign's African …

Vatican orders crackdown on American nuns  —  WASHINGTON — The Vatican has launched a crackdown on the umbrella group that represents most of America's 55,000 Catholic nuns, saying that the group was not speaking out strongly enough against gay marriage, abortion and women's ordination.

How Mitt Romney Learned To Love Twitter  —  “Twitter is as it happens, and Facebook is the next day, and you optimize everything else for Google the day after,” says a Romney aide.  Another Republican worries you can win the day, but lose the week.  —  Source: s3-ec.buzzfed.com

Why the U.S. Economy Is Biased Against Men  —  That women earn 77 cents for every $1 earned by a man is a popular refrain.  But look closer.  Prejudice against guys in the economy is real and widespread.  —  You've just landed on Planet Zuto.  —  The Intergalactic Equal Employment …

The most amazing Supreme Court chart.  Maybe ever.  —  While browsing around the Pew polling site this morning — and, yes, we do a fair amount of that — we came across a chart on the Supreme Court that reminded us, for the billionth time, that assuming the average person follows …

The Business of Ending a Presidential Campaign  —  Hours after dropping out of the presidential race this month, Rick Santorum fired off an e-mail to supporters asking for “one more” contribution: “I am planning to do everything in my power to bring a change about in the White House,” he wrote.

OWS Celebrates Holocaust Day w/ Antisemetic Cartoons  —  To give them their due, there are a lot of people in the comments pissed off about the picture.  But, there are also 43 likes and 59 people sharing the photo (as of this writing).  —  So, is this a one-offer that we who already …

Letter details allegations of sexual harassment at N.C. Democratic Party  —  A former staffer accused the Democratic Party's executive director of showing him a picture of a penis, caressing his leg and discussing his sexual exploits, according to a new document obtained by The News & Observer.

Perry Interested In Another Run For President  —  PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - Governor Rick Perry's first campaign for President did not finish as he planned.  But during a one-on-one interview with CBS 11 News reporter Jack Fink in Plano on Wednesday, it sounded like he wants to give a run for the White House another try.

Jobless data suggests slowdown in job creation  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits for the first time fell only slightly last week, dampening hopes of a pick-up in job creation in April after March's slowdown.  —  Initial claims for state …

Rep. West doubles down on Communist ‘ideology’ of progressive caucus  —  Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) on Thursday maintained that the “the strategy, the tactics, the ideology” of progressive caucus members in Congress are the same as that of the Communist Party.

Dick Clark: 10 Ways He Changed Pop Culture Forever  —  Will anyone be as influential over pop culture as Dick Clark was?  Not likely.  —  Yes, musicians like Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson revolutionized popular music, and TV owes its very bones to innovators such as Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin.

Morning Jay: Obama the Underdog  —  Sean Trende has an important column that connects presidential job approval to reelection results.  You really should read the whole thing, but here is the big take home point: … This is exactly right, and something I have been discussing for some time now.

New York Times Co. Reports Gain in Net Income  —  The New York Times Company reported on Thursday a large gain in first-quarter net income, driven largely by the sale of its regional newspapers, the sale of part of its stake in a New England sports group and an increase in circulation revenue at its flagship newspaper.