The condition known as Gulf War syndrome is said to affect 25 percent of Gulf War veterans, and is characterized by memory loss, lack of concentration, fatigue, neuropathic pain and depression. The Defense Department has argued for years that it is not, in fact, a treatable physiological condition, but rather a "form of combat stress." But scientists have just proven the opposite: It's conclusively the result of brain damage due to exposure to sarin nerve gas.

25-year-old Katherine Goldberg is in a bit of a pickle, it would seem, after getting a little hammered on a Virgin Airways flight from South Africa to London. Well, "a little" might be underplaying it. Goldberg, who works in education, consumed "50 centilitres" — or about a pint — of whisky on the flight, the Telegraph reports. But she hadn't yet broken any laws.

Far-right presidential candidate Rick Perry dined with self-appointed "godfather of politics" Donald Trump last night. What did they do afterwards? Partied with pageant queens, Kardashians, and Kathie Lee Gifford at the Sheri Hill fashion show in the Trump Tower. Update: Page Six reports that Perry "made a beeline backstage" to hang out with the models, including Kathie Lee's daughter Cassidy.

11 Points has a list of gay-rumor-plagued presidents, in increasing order of likelihood. They make a compelling case for Clinton: "You find yourself involved in enough threesome, foursomes, ninesomes and dodecasomes and eventually you're going to cross swords with someone."

Here we have the booking photos (click to enlarge) of eight men from the Swartzentruber Amish sect, all of whom were ordered arrested and jailed on Monday by a Kentucky judge. Their crimes?

Here's a little forensics test for the Encyclopedia Browns among you. A woman is dead. The killer is a McDonald's soda fountain. That's all we know — so how did it happen? (No cheating. And no helping the others if you already know!)

Sometimes Rebecca likes to type Clark's email address into her Gmail search box, pulling up hundreds of old messages and chats, laughs and apologies, acute pain and faint hope. What she shares of this trove is worth reading. [Image: marema/Shutterstock]

After making noise during its federally mandated quiet period and after taking heat for a farcical accounting metric, Groupon might still be able to IPO next month. The online discounter's CEO just has to prove to the feds that he's not a liar.

Welcome to our weekly catwalk-contest quip fest. This is the place where we chatter together while watching the latest episode of Project Runway. Why not join us, if you haven't before? It's as easy as falling off a runway!

Today we shook our heads in dismay at how dumb the kids these days really are. So dumb. Just so, so dumb. But wait. Is that actually such a bad thing? No it is not, says one commenter.

That soft galloping you hear is the clack of a million pairs of high heels marching off into the distance. Yes, fashion week is ending. And while we'll miss our time in its glamorous thrall, we think we'll survive until February.

A rare ginger-colored seal pup has been discovered on Russia's Tyuleniy Island, hiding under a pile of logs, hungry and alone. Its seal family abandoned it, likely for being albino. 61-year-old nature photographer Anatoly Strakhov tells the shocking tale of seal colorism to The Daily Mail:

Think Team Trump wouldn't use his meeting with Rick Perry last night to greatly and farcically exaggerate his power over the Republican presidential contest? No, of course you didn't think that. Anyway, we just want to confirm that it happened.

Jay Shells is the New York guerrilla artist famous for his unofficial subway etiquette posters. For his latest project, he's put up urban etiquette signs across the city. Got himself an interview on Fox News today! You'll want to watch all the way through to the end of this clip, when he tells the Foxbot about his aborted plans for a "Fox News Lies" sign. She is miffed! Jay, how could you??

Gen X's favorite son needs to eat, after all, so he's headed (back) to television. Also today: Valerie Plame switches agencies, Up All Night had quite a, um, night, and some exciting Hunger Games newz.

Here's a rediscovered clip showcasing Rick Perry's religiosity, as he explained it on a Trinity Broadcasting Network program just last year. He describes the "supernatural" events — no rain, then lots of rain — that ping-ponged him between careers in farming and piloting as a young man.

Tofu-loving Tennesseean Whitney Calk has teamed up with PETA to protest being denied a vanity license plate that says ILVTOFU (I love tofu) because state bureaucrats misread it as I LV TO FU, which they found offensive, because fucking. Which is odd, since I find tofu more offensive than fucking, but that's beside the point.

Leave it to seasoned mogul Barry Diller to have the smartest take on the cashiering of TechCrunch founder Mike Arrington: AOL "destroyed" TechCrunch's voice, the IAC chairman said, and editorial director Arianna Huffington should have been told to "shut up and go back to your room" when she raised concerns about Arrington's ethics.

Well, it's not really a new song, it's "The Lady Is a Tramp," the classic Rogers and Hart standard. Oh, I do love a misleading headline. That's why this lady is a tramp. But Lady Gaga croons the song with Tony Bennett and it's really good!

Shawn Stevens is nothing but a good old 12 year-old boy. An American boy. He has a touch of autism, but he's American, and that's what matters. He's a young man who just wanted to carry a flag. An American flag. The stars and stripes. The banner of freedom. A simple desire to hold Old Glory in his very own hands. To carry that flag around, at the school, that taxpayers paid for, to let everyone know that the American dream lives. It lives in the mind of a boy. An American boy. Named Shawn Stevens.