Of course, everyone knows the results of last night's primaries in Oregon and Kentucky. One overlooked fact in Kentucky is that presumptive loser Hillary Clinton garnered 93% of the vote in Magoffin county and won >90% in several other counties, while John McCain has already secured the Republican nomination, but couldn't break 83%. In fact, he only received 50% in Webster county.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have reached a tentative deal and have at the very least delayed an all-out civil war. Hezbollah will receive veto power and 11 cabinet seats in the national government.

On this day:

Birthdays: Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer (1960), Actor Laurence "Mr. T" Tureaud (1952), and Comedian and aspiring politician Al Franken (1951).

The "White Night " riots occur after Dan White was convicted of manslaughter for killing San Francisco politicians George Moscone and Harvey Milk.

Primaries in Oregon and Kentucky are today. Post your predictions!

There is a close and interesting race for the Democratic nominee for US Senate. Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley is running against lawyer and activist Steve Novick . Novick stands at only 4'9" and was born without a left hand, but uses a prosthesis. Novick's self-effacing campaign style has garnered him some free press coverage. An early campaign slogan was "The fighter with the hard left hook." Ed. note: I recall Novick saying something to the effect of "[Current Senator] Gordon Smith is tall and looks good in a suit. I'm 4'9" and have a left hand made of stainless steel."

On this day:

Birthdays: Actor James "Jimmy" Stewart (1908) and Euthanasia activist Dr. Jack Kevorkian (1928). Ed. note: Dr. Kevorkian is running for congress in Michigan's 8th congressional district as an independent.

The Supreme Court finds Colorado "Amendment 2" unconstitutional by a 6-3 vote (Romer v. Evans ). The amendment blocked the state or local government from protecting GLB citizens from discrimination based solely on their sexual orientation. (1996)

Approximately 75,000 people showed up to see Barack Obama at a campaign appearance. Oregon and Kentucky are the next primaries on the 20th.

Nintendo is launching an exercise game for their Wii system. "Wii Fit" hopes to dispel the notion that console/computer gaming contributes to childhood obesity.

On this day:

Birthdays: Black Nationalist Malcolm Little aka Malcolm X and Communist Dictator Pol Pot (both in 1925)
Marilyn Monroe sings "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy. (1962) [Youtube ]

The California Supreme Court voted 4-3 to overturn a voter-initiated law that banned same-sex marriage in the state. A constitutional amendment by ballot initiative with the exact same language has already been underway. The court did not decide that there was an inherent right to same-sex marriages, but that excluding same-sex couples from marriage when opposite sex couples enjoyed the right ran afoul of equal protection under California law. Edit: I should also add that there is an explicit right to marry under California law.

Zimbabwean officials have decided a presidential runoff election will be held on June 27th. According to officials, opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai won a plurality of the vote, but not enough to avoid a runoff against President Robert Mugabe, who has held power since 1980.

Update 5/17: Sen. Ted Kennedy has been hospitalized after what seems to have been a stroke.

On this Friday:

Birthdays: Entertainer Wladziu Valentino Liberace (1919) and Author Louis "Studs" Terkel (1912).
Events: Kuwaiti women gain the right to vote. (2005)

ecDd1B Hey, thanks for the blog.Much thanks again. Really Cool.

Scandal-plagued Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann (D-OH) resigned yesterday . Dann will apparently return home to spend time with his family.

The House passed the farm bill by a veto proof margin, 318-106 . Food stamp programs were widely expanded in the bill. Update: The Senate passed the bill 81-15 , with none of the presidential hopefuls voting. Looks like Bush's imminent veto will be overridden.

On this day:

Fmr. Sec. of State Madeleine Albright was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). (1937)
Ironically, former NFL football players Emmitt Smith and Ryan Leaf were both born today. (1969, 1976) I say ironic because Smith ranks as one of the best running backs in NFL history while Leaf is known as the worst bust in NFL history and perhaps in all of professional sports.
The Red Army begins withdrawing from Afghanistan. (1988)

That's the simple and loaded question posed today at The Liberty Papers .

So who's worse for liberty, McCain or Obama?

Well, like I said in the comment thread over there, the first relevant question before answering is: What kind of liberty are we talking about? or "Freedom from/to what?"

Back from my interview...I think things went well.

Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama into a fine pulp in yesterday's West Virginia primary. Clinton won every county and even beat Obama by 80 points in Mingo County. Nearly a quarter of primary voters said that race was a factor in their decision.

The House voted 385-25 and the Senate voted 97-1 to suspend the filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. No Democrats voted against the measure in the House and only lame duck senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) voted against the Senate amendment.

On this day:

Communist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara is born in Argentina (1928).
The gentleman from North Dakota, Senator Byron Dorgan , is born in Dickinson, ND (1942).
Jamestown, VA is settled as a colony (1607).

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D-MI) is facing possible expulsion by the city council. They may vote to remove him, have Gov. Jennifer Granholm do it, or censure him.

In recent elections, the pro-western Democratic Party won big by securing 38% of the vote . Their main opposition, the nationalist Radical Party received 29%. Both parties believe they can form a governing coalition.

HSBC has set aside another $3.2 billion for bad loans Ed. Note: (is that what they call a writedown?) due to continuing fallout of the mortgage crisis and increased credit card delinquencies. Five percent of mortgages were in arrears by 60 days or more.

On this day:

Lots of celebrity birthdays:
Comedian George Carlin (1937)
Libertarian Sci-fi Author L. Neil Smith (1946)
Punk/New Wave Singer Ian Dury (1942)
Baseball players Felipe Alou (1935) and Yogi Berra (1925)

Fourth generation NASCAR driver Adam Petty died in an accident during practice at the age of 20 (2000).

Texas Democrats flee the state in order to prevent Republicans from proceeding with redistricting plans . Democrats were needed in the chamber to constitute a quorum. (2003)

Hurray for the weekend! (at least for us wage jockeys!)

First Daughter (or was she second?) Jenna Bush is getting married at a private ceremony at her father's Crawford, TX ranch. Congratulations to Jenna!

Hezbollah rebels have taken over western Beirut and driven out the legitimate government. Fears are that this is a prelude to all out civil war in Lebanon.

On this day:

Former AG and US Senator John Ashcroft was born in Chicago, Illinois (1942).
Edith Rodriguez died in an Los Angeles hospital after being refused treatment (2007).
The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opened formal impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon (1974).

Also, I received my $300 in economic stimulus today. Who else has and what do you plan to do with it?

The situation in Myanmar continues to deteriorate and the estimated death toll continues to rise.

In a turn of events that surprised nobody, Putin has been confirmed as Prime Minister of Russia.

Good day for Kobe Bryant, who won the MVP and then went on to help the Lakers beat Utah for a 2-0 series lead. Open thread -- what's happening?

zACYTt I really liked your article post.Really looking forward to read more. Great.

On the local election scene, Indiana Democrat Jill Long Thompson eeked out a victory over Jim Schellinger for the party's nomination for Governor. She will face the rather unpopular incumbent Mitch Daniels.

Otherwise it's a slow news morning due last night's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. Next up are the Clinton strongholds of West Virginia (5/13) and Kentucky (5/20), while a close race seems to be shaping up in Oregon (5/20).

On this day:

Journalist Tim Russert was born (1950).
Black supremacist Hulon Mitchell Jr. AKA Yahweh ben Yahweh , leader of the Nation of Yahweh, dies from cancer (2007).
A German U-boat sinks the RMS Lusitania (1915).

Crossposted at DKos

We interrupt this primary day to bring you one of those fun ethical puzzles.

A researcher at MIT conducted some experiments to see gauge situational ethics -- basically to see under what conditions people might steal something or cheat.

In Ohio news, Attorney General Marc Dann is rebuffing calls from members of his own party to resign -- including Gov. Ted Strickland. Assembly Democrats say they will start impeachment proceedings today. Note: For those not from Ohio, the Republicans control both the Ohio House and Senate, the latter by nearly a 2-1 margin. I have a feeling Republicans will be the ones starting impeachment proceedings.

The Indiana and North Carolina primaries are today. North Carolina looks like it's in the bag for Obama, while Indiana will be a lot closer. Of course, what really matters is delegate allocation, not the popular vote in each. Here are projected delegates for Indiana and North Carolina . I have family in Indiana ... I wonder if my conservative stepfather will be voting insincerely in the Democratic primary and if my Mom finally figured out which candidate she liked best.

I'll also be experimenting with the format today by adding a born/died/event that happened on this day x years ago.

Psychiatrist Sigmund Freud was born in the present-day Czech Republic (1856).
Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn died at the hands of an animal rights activist (2002).
Paula Jones filed a sexual harassment suit against Bill Clinton (1994).

On Saturday, Don Cazayoux (D-LA) won a special election in a very red district . This pickup by the Democrats reduces the number of Republicans in the House to less than 200. A special election was also held for Gov. Bobby Jindal's (R-LA) old district , which was easily won by Steve Scalise (R-LA).

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison received $192.9 million in executive compensation last year. I wonder if he would be willing to check his couch cushions for a few hundred thousand dollars for us regular folks.

Today is the birthday of Karl Marx . Anyone in London today may want to pay their respects or urinate on his grave. Happy Birthday, Karl!

Obama winning Guam so far.

Kentucky Derby is today .

The University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Marshall University, and Johnson C. Smith University all agreed to make "Atlas Shrugged" required reading for certain curricula in exchange for charitable donations. Should universities be changing the curricula based on charitable donations? Does it make any difference if the university is state-funded?

Universal health care could create budget surpluses? That's what the CBO and Joint Committee on Taxation say. The plan calls for private insurance subsidized for those up to 400% of the poverty level and tax changes including a 3%-26% tax on employers.

Across the pond, the Tories crushed the Labour Party in local elections. In fact, the Liberal Democrats are likely to beat Labour in terms of votes cast, but not council seats won.

Be happy! It's FRIDAY!!!