U.S. Adds 290,000 Jobs in April; Rate Rises to 9.9%  —  The American economy added an unexpectedly strong 290,000 jobs in April, while the unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent, the government said Friday.  —  Analysts had expected a gain of about 190,000 in the month.

Brown ‘respects’ Clegg-Tory talks  —  Gordon Brown has said he “respects” the right of the Lib Dems to talk to the Tories about forming a government.  —  But he said he was still PM and, if talks failed, would open negotiations with the Lib Dems, after the election resulted in a hung parliament.

Obama's Court pick is imminent — POTUS to seek line-item veto — Britain sorting out ‘hung parliament’ — Did Dow tank on ‘fat finger error’?  — Palin + Facebook = Yahtzee  —  DRIVING NEXT WEEK — Look for President Obama to name his Supreme Court pick Monday, and look …

Senate Votes For Wall Street; Megabanks To Remain Behemoths  —  What's Your Reaction: … A move to break up major Wall Street banks failed Thursday night by a vote of 61 to 33.  —  Three Republicans, Richard Shelby of Alabama, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John Ensign of Nevada …

High-Speed Trading Glitch Costs Investors Billions  —  The glitch that sent markets tumbling Thursday was years in the making, driven by the rise of computers that transformed stock trading more in the last 20 years than in the previous 200.  —  The old system of floor traders matching buyers …

Things Rekers Said To Lucien When He Didn't Think We Were Listening  —  Anti-gay activist George Alan Rekers contends in an earlier post on Riptide that he did not hire a young gay escort named Lucien as a prostitute.  But what the minister — who hasn't returned calls seeking comment …

Signs of Neanderthals Mating With Humans  —  Neanderthals mated with some modern humans after all and left their imprint in the human genome, a team of biologists has reported in the first detailed analysis of the Neanderthal genetic sequence.  —  The biologists, led by Svante Paabo …

Bill Targets Citizenship of Terrorists' Allies  —  WASHINGTON — Proposed legislation that would allow the government to revoke American citizenship from people suspected of allying themselves with terrorists set off a legal and political debate Thursday that scrambled some of the usual partisan lines on civil-liberties issues.

Graham Says He Could Vote for Climate Bill, but Oil Spill Requires a ‘Time-Out’  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham sees himself as a possible 60th vote on the comprehensive energy and climate bill.  —  But the South Carolina Republican doubts the debate will even get that far, at least …

A Money Too Far  —  So, is Greece the next Lehman?  No. It isn't either big enough or interconnected enough to cause global financial markets to freeze up the way they did in 2008.  Whatever caused that brief 1,000-point swoon in the Dow, it wasn't justified by actual events in Europe.

Goldman, SEC Discuss Settlement  —  Sides Remain Far Apart as Criminal Probe, Deal Structure Pose Hurdles; Shareholder Meeting Today  —  Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lawyers met this week with representatives of the Securities and Exchange Commission in a first step toward a potential settlement …

The ‘Woodstock’ of Tea Parties planned for 9/11 anniversary.  —  Last year, the Tea Party movement gathered in Washington, DC for a widely publicized rally on Sept. 12.  Fox News host Glenn Beck, the brains behind the march, implored people to attend by saying that they “may be the only thing that stands between freedom and slavery.”

Regulator Deferred to Oil Industry on Offshore Rig Safety  —  WASHINGTON — Federal regulators warned offshore rig operators more than a decade ago that they needed to install backup systems to control the giant undersea valves known as blowout preventers, used to cut off the flow of oil from a well in an emergency.

Poll: Lincoln leads Halter; Boozman leads both Democrats  —  LITTLE ROCK — A new poll commissioned by the Arkansas News Bureau/Stephens Media shows U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., with a 12-point lead over Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, the chief Democratic challenger to Lincoln's re-election bid.

Oil riggers on ship that exploded in Gulf of Mexico describe fateful night  —  BELLE CHASSE, LA. — Before the explosion, the oil spill, the declarations of “environmental crisis” or the emergency visit by President Obama, 126 oil riggers were passing another quiet night on the Gulf of Mexico.

KCCI POLL RESULTS - MAY 2010  —  DES MOINES, Iowa — The Research 2000 Iowa Poll was conducted from May 3 through May 5, 2010.  A total of 600 likely voters who vote regularly in state elections were interviewed statewide by telephone.  —  Those interviewed were selected by the random variation …