“Erik Prince, whose company, Blackwater Worldwide, is for sale and whose former top managers are facing criminal charges, has left the United States and moved to Abu Dhabi, according to court documents.” [NYT]

“The Supreme Court has upheld a $20,000 fine against a leader of the movement challenging President Barack Obama’s citizenship. The high court on Monday refused to block a federal judge’s October 2009 ruling that required California lawyer and dentist Orly Taitz to pay the $20,000 fine for filing a ‘frivolous’ litigation.” [AP/TPM]

And here’s the Las Vegas Sun with the play-by-play:

In the warehouse of a family-owned clean diesel manufacturer in Sparks, Angle delivered a three-minute speech on her desire to permanently repeal the estate tax. When invited by the final speaker to stay and answer a few questions, she turned on her heel and rushed out a back door with a small cadre of staff members.

Reporters, including one who is six months pregnant, chased after her, calling out questions on unemployment benefits and other topics she has largely refused to address.

We’d love to say that’s a white Ford Bronco she escaped in, but life doesn’t always meet our narrative requirements.

Sharron Angle addresses media for 3 minutes on taxes then bolts [Las Vegas Sun]

[Video from the Nevada Democratic Party, via TPM]

“Like maybe I’m having a clandestine affair with Ricky Martin,” [Lindsey Graham] said. “I know it’s really gonna upset a lot of gay men — I’m sure hundreds of ’em are gonna be jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge — but I ain’t available. I ain’t gay. Sorry.” [NYT, via Benedick]

Rand Paul showed up at the Christian Homeschool Educators of Kentucky conference on Friday. If you have better things to do than sit through a nine-minute clip — and who doesn’t? — the fun begins right at the start:

Question: “How old is the world?”

Answer: “I’m going to pass on the age of the Earth.”

Thank you, Dr. Science.

Remember: He’s not a real opthamologist!

Rand Paul refuses to say how old the earth is [Barefoot and Progressive]

Texas lobbyists start clamoring for Golden Tickets:

To avoid getting delayed behind noisy schoolkids waiting in line to pass through new metal detectors at the state Capitol, lobbyists are signing up for concealed handgun permits exempting them from the security checkpoints.

Visitors to the Capitol also now are subject to inspections of purses, bags and briefcases by Department of Public Safety officers.

The only people exempted are lawmakers, properly identified state employees or Texans who carry a pistol with a concealed handgun license — or just the license itself, which allows them to bypass the security lines for an express lane reserved for “CHL: Holders.”

“Every lobbyist in Texas is going to become a card-carrying member or a gun-carrying member,” lobbyist and former state lawmaker Pat Haggerty said. “We’re going to have more damn guns in here than we know what to do with.

We don’t know about you, but the next meeting of the House Committee on Pensions, Investments & Financial Services is going to be interesting.

Lobbyists turn to gun permits to skip lines at Capitol [Houston Chronicle, via Political Wire]

Coochie Ken relents: “I cannot believe that joking with my staff about Virtue being a little more “virtuous’ in this antique version has become news. This is simply a media-made issue that has become distracting to the work of my office. I am going to end this distraction by discontinuing future use of the pin.” [ThinkProgress]