NBC polls: Obama edges Romney in three key battleground states  —  President Barack Obama holds a narrow advantage over presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney in three of the most pivotal presidential battleground states — Florida, Ohio and Virginia — according to new NBC-Marist polls.

Man implicated himself in Etan Patz disappearance: Commissioner Kelly  —  A man is in custody for the 1979 disappearance of Etan Patz, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly confirmed this morning.  —  Kelly issued a release stating that the man made statements to NYPD detectives implicating himself in the boy's disappearance.

Democrats stiffen spine on sequester  —  Power in Washington these days is most defined by saying “no,” which helps explain why Speaker John Boehner felt compelled last week — in the middle of May — to bring up a wintry debt ceiling fight more than six months away.

Indelible Image of Boy's Pat on Obama's Head  —  WASHINGTON — For decades at the White House, photographs of the president at work and at play have hung throughout the West Wing, and each print soon gives way to a more recent shot.  But one picture of President Obama remains after three years.

Bill Clinton's glamorous fundraiser called “worst party ever” by angry guests  —  An exclusive event hosted by Bill Clinton and attended by a host of celebrity friends has been criticised after guests who paid up to £1,000 for tickets were left queuing outside for hours.

Why Tuesday's Democratic Primaries Matter  —  Tuesday night, President Obama continued his streak of poor primary performances in culturally Southern states.  He received 58.4 percent of the vote in the Arkansas Democratic primary against token opposition, and 57.9 percent of the vote …

Romney Talks  —  In a 36-minute Wednesday Manhattan interview with Mark Halperin, Romney pushes back on President Obama's Bain attack, predicts he can drive unemployment down to six percent by the end of his first term and says he wants Washington to sit still during the lame-duck session.

Paul Fussell, Literary Scholar and Critic, Is Dead at 88  —  Paul Fussell, the wide-ranging, stingingly opinionated literary scholar and cultural critic whose admiration for Samuel Johnson, Kingsley Amis and the Boy Scout Handbook was balanced against his withering scorn for the romanticization of war …

Ukip's new deal  —  /article_images/articledir_15729/ 7864578/1_listing.jpg  —  Nigel Farage is relishing the chance to sow discord in Tory ranks  —  Nigel Farage looks round with mild disgust at the antiseptic Westminster restaurant in which we're meant to be having lunch.

'Those of us who've spent time in the real world ...'  —  The Obama campaign has tried in a number of ways to define Mitt Romney as a guy who's out of touch with the reality most Americans experience, and at a campaign event in Denver last night the president trotted out this Mitt-just-doesn't-get-it line:

Wasserman Schultz On Verge of Being Cancelled at Temple Israel  —  The blowback from Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz' political tactics that the Shark Tank first reported on last week has resulted in a unprecedented public outcry and political pressure being brought to bear on the Trustees …

‘He Has No F-king Soul’  —  Today there is a massive Memeorandum aggregation about convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin, including one on an article by my filmmaker buddy Ladd Ehlinger Jr.:  —  What Did Barbara Streisand Know ...  And When Did She Know It?

Colin Powell endorses gay marriage  —  Former Secretary of State Colin Powell supports same-sex marriage — and he doesn't necessarily believe the issue should be left up to states.  —  “I have no problems with it,” Powell, who served under George W. Bush, says in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer …

Youth Unemployment: One In Eight Global Youths Will Be Unemployed This Year, Report Says … FOLLOW:  —  Unemployment, Video, Unemployment, Global Unemployment Among Youth, Global Unemployment Youth, Global Youth Unemployed, Global Youth Unemployment, Unemployed Youth Global …

Europe Girds for Greek Exit  —  Leaders Plot Contingencies as They Find Little Compromise; Euro at 2-Year Low  —  BRUSSELS—European officials are stepping up contingency planning for a possible Greek exit from the euro zone, even as Europe's leaders struggled to overcome differences …

New Orleans Paper Said to Face Deep Cuts and May Cut Back Publication  —  The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which distinguished itself amid great adversity during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, is about to enact large staff cuts and may cut back its daily print publishing schedule …

Air Force Academy Graduates First Openly Gay Cadets  —  COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Eight months after a repeal of the military's “don't ask , don't tell” policy, the U.S. Air Force Academy today graduated its first group of openly gay cadets.  —  As President Obama addressed the graduates, no rainbow flags could be seen on display.

Welcome End of a Pseudotheory  —  Many opponents of giving equal rights and protections to gay Americans — at the workplace, in the military, in marrying and forming families — make the claim that homosexuality is a chosen way of life.  They have long seized on the work of a towering figure in psychiatry to justify their position.

State, local officials seek audit of MPD crime numbers  —  State and local leaders on Wednesday called for independent audits of the Milwaukee Police Department's crime numbers, citing a Journal Sentinel investigation that found more than 500 cases in which serious assaults were misclassified as lesser offenses.

President Obama Denounces Republican ‘Wild Debts’: I'm Not an Over-Spender  —  COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — At a fundraiser for his re-election campaign in Denver tonight, President Obama set out to upend conventional Republican wisdom that his administration has been defined by excessive government spending.

Romney Calls Education ‘Civil Rights Issue of Our Era’ and Urges Shift  —  Lamenting that millions of American children receive “a third world education,” Mitt Romney on Wednesday called for poor and disabled students to be able to use federal funds to attend any public, private or online school they choose.

Ban on plastic bags at L.A. markets is approved  —  Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation Wednesday to approve a ban on plastic bags at supermarket checkout lines, handing a major victory to clean-water advocates who sought to reduce the amount of trash clogging landfills, the region's waterways and the ocean.