Nate Silver: Polls are failing us  —  Nate Silver fared terribly in Thursday's UK election: In his pre-election forecast, he gave 278 seats to Conservatives and 267 to Labour.  Shortly after midnight, he was forecasting 272 seats for Conservatives and 271 for Labour.

Bill Simmons and ESPN Are Parting Ways  —  Bill Simmons, who built a personal empire at ESPN and is one of America's most influential sports personalities, will leave the media giant when his contract expires in the fall.  He and the company were unable to reach an extension after months of talks.

BBQ joint to host ‘White Appreciation Day’  —  MILLIKEN, Colo. — The Hispanic owners of a barbecue restaurant in Milliken say they plan to host a “White Appreciation Day” next month.  —  What started as a joke is now on the calendar.  Edgar Antillon and Miguel Jimenez recently purchased Rubbin Buttz BBQ on Broad Street.

Messina trounces Axelrod in British elections  —  The British Conservative Party's electoral victory “stunned the world,” Jim Messina said Friday, commenting on results that defied the dead heat that most polls had predicted.  —  With the Tories securing a surprisingly decisive victory …

Maverick candidate Ben Carson's ‘no-brainer’ offer  —  Can Dr. Ben Carson succeed in politics?  —  CNBC's John Harwood talks with Republican presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson about his political aspirations, belief in self-reliance and the current economic and racial tensions facing the country.

Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, Senators Both, Lead Republican Attacks on Congress  —  WASHINGTON — His voice exuding disgust, Jeb Bush could have been describing a blistering rash.  —  “I'm not a United States senator — thank God,” he told a ballroom full of people here the other day.

America's poor are ‘envy of the world,’ says richest Congressman  —  Darrell Issa, the richest man in Congress, said America has made “our poor somewhat the envy of the world.”  —  Asked by CNNMoney whether he feels personally responsible to address income inequality in the United States …

Detroit TV anchor upsets Muslim community in Michigan for ISIS comment  —  UPDATE: Harlan apologized on Thursday saying: “In no way did I mean to imply that because of our community's make up, there was a higher risk of ISIS threats.”  —  (DEARBORN, MI) — WDIV-TV Local 4 news anchor Carmen Harlan upset …

Insiders say Bush shouldn't ignore Iowa  —  His poor poll numbers there, they say, are mostly caused by a lack of attention to the Hawkeye State thus far.  —  Jeb Bush's failure to invest time in Iowa is the main explanation for his seventh-place finish in the latest poll of likely Republican caucusgoers.

America's Most Wasted: A wake-up call for Congress about out -of-control spending  —  Unnecessary, wasteful government spending is today putting America on a dangerous path, as we burden future generations with a mounting national debt - now totaling more than $18 trillion.

McConnell sets up first trade vote  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday teed up the Senate's first vote on fast-track trade legislation, setting up a test vote for one of the Kentucky Republican's top policy priorities.  —  The Senate will take a procedural vote Tuesday …

No, there's no “hate speech” exception to the First Amendment  —  I keep hearing about a supposed “hate speech” exception to the First Amendment, or statements such as, “This isn't free speech, it's hate speech,” or “When does free speech stop and hate speech begin?”

U.S. Economy Added 223,000 Jobs in April; Unemployment Rate at 5.4%  —  The American job market rebounded in April, the government said Friday, as employers added 223,000 positions and the unemployment rate decreased to 5.4 percent.  —  The April figures from the Labor Department came …

Record number of Americans abroad giving up citizenship  —  A record 1,335 Americans living overseas renounced their citizenship in the first three months of 2015, according to the Internal Revenue Service.  —  That number is 18 percent higher than the previous record, according to Bloomberg.

Is Matt Drudge the second most influential man in America?  —  While as a liberal, I do not suggest the following with a great deal of pleasure, but Matt Drudge is by far the single most influential person in the American media, and it is fair to ask: Is he the second most influential man in America?

The dawn of artificial intelligence  —  Powerful computers will reshape humanity's future.  How to ensure the promise outweighs the perils  —  From the print edition  —  “THE development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” Stephen Hawking warns.

‘Shawshank’ prison escape ends 56 years later with cinematic stakeout  —  A man convicted of manslaughter who escaped from an Ohio prison farm in 1959 was arrested in Florida Monday.  But a friend says she hopes 79-year-old Frank Freshwater won't be sentenced.  (AP)

U.S. Government Designated Prominent Al Jazeera Journalist as “Member of Al Qaeda”  —  The U.S. government labeled a prominent journalist as a member of Al Qaeda and placed him on a watch list of suspected terrorists, according to a top-secret document that details U.S. intelligence efforts …