The protesters, Israeli Jews of Ethiopian origin, were demonstrating on Sunday against what they said was police racism and brutality after a video clip emerged last week showing policemen shoving and punching a black soldier. Demonstrators overturned a police car and threw bottles and stones at officers in riot gear at Rabin Square in the heart of Israel's commercial capital.

While the self-labeled Democratic Socialist poses no nomination threat to Clinton, he may be able to act as a further-left counterbalance to Hillary’s more moderate impulses, particularly in the debates. Though he probably won’t run on his folk-singing voice, one subject Bernie will definitely highlight will be thesurging dominance of big money in American politics, an easy contrast with Clinton’s robust support from Wall Street. He’s also a proponent of single-payer health care, spending a trillion dollars on infrastructure, reining in the NSA, and, of course, raising taxes on the rich. In addition, like Obama in 2007, he’ll get to highlight his opposition to the Iraq War (and other foreign interventions) with Hillary’s more hawkish record

This article gives several opinions on what he will bring to the election.  Good read and well balanced. 

Sanders, an independent who describes himself as a "democratic socialist," will follow a statement with a major campaign kickoff in his home state in several weeks. Two people familiar with his announcement spoke to The Associated Press under condition of anonymity to describe internal planning.

Sanders will become the second major Democrat in the race, joining Clinton. He has urged the former secretary of state to speak out strongly about issues related to income inequality and climate change. The former first lady and New York senator is viewed as a heavy favorite in the primary and entered the race earlier this month.

 Give them hell Bernie! It is time to pull this party to the left. He is a Old Fashion New Deal Populist. It is time to put some excitement into this election and take it up a notch to the left. 

Instead of asking students to shoulder the burden of improving society themselves through the dubious project of finding meaningful work, we should see that overwhelming student debt burdens have left students with little room to maneuver. Our debt-based education system reflects the neoliberal belief that college exists so its graduates will earn more: College is an “investment,” a crude financial term, rather than enrichment. We tell students to study what they find interesting and not what will make the most money, but we don't believe it. We still rank colleges by how much their students earn and expect students to pay back thousands in student loans no matter what happens to them financially. 

(I find this piece compelling and disturbing, but I hope the good Dr. C will put it in perspective for me.)

The vote was 56-43

Can't raise a sober law abiding son but can run a country? Does the kid rob liquor stores too?

LEXINGTON, Ky., April 22 (UPI) -- William Paul, the 22-year-old son of 2016 presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was cited for driving under the influence of alcohol Sunday. Police in Lexington said William was in the driver's seat of a 2006 Honda Ridgeline that struck the back of a parked vehicle.....He's had other run-ins with the law in the past, including an October 2013 citation for possession of alcohol by a minor and a January 2013 arrest for alleged simple assault of a flight attendant, consuming alcohol while underage, disorderly conduct, and being intoxicated and disruptive. He was arrested when his US Airways flight reached the gate at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina.

Rand and Rand Jr. (William)

LÜNEBURG, Germany —Seven decades after the liberation of Auschwitz, a 93-year-old former SS member at the Nazi death camp shuffled into a German court on Tuesday to answer charges of complicity in the murder of 300,000 mostly Hungarian Jews in two months during the summer of 1944.

The worst terrorist attack on our country prior to September 11, 2001 happened twenty years ago today.

Nothing earth-shattering, just a good read on a Saturday evening. An interesting life with tales to tell ...

She went to London to collect her prize wearing borrowed stockings and cardboard in the soles of her shoes. There, as flashbulbs exploded, she became an international celebrity —the factory worker who had come into a fortune.

Ever-so-slightly eccentric ...

Mrs. Nicholson took pains to wear an outfit that matched whatever car she was driving. (Sometimes she bought the outfit to match the car and sometimes she bought the car to match the outfit, her son said.) And whether those cars were pink, green or any other hue, her beehive hairdo was likewise dyed to match.

If you wonder how the story ends, or are curious about the rest of the in-between, take a few minutes to read about Vivian.

Paul Krugman explains that personalities of the candidates aren't important in this election cycle for president.

In any case, there has never been a time in American history when the alleged personal traits of candidates mattered less. As we head into 2016, each party is quite unified on major policy issues — and these unified positions are very far from each other. The huge, substantive gulf between the parties will be reflected in the policy positions of whomever they nominate, and will almost surely be reflected in the actual policies adopted by whoever wins. 

He is dreading the next 18 months of punditry. 

IS THIS NEWS?

I caught this at Huffpo of all places, even though I read Mediamatters twice a day. hahahah

It just caught me, kind of like a line from Mike M or Q. hahahahah

There is now a book attempting to demonstrate what a lying sombitch this Irish Catholic really is.

I cannot stop laughing.

Okay, that's it.

http://http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/07/media-matters-oreilly-killing-truth-e-book_n_7019488.h