Update: 12:00 am: Unbelievable. He's going to fight for every vote in Washington DC's primary next week and keep fighting until Philadelphia. He was not even gracious enough to acknowledge Hillary has won the delegate votes necessary for the nomination. When he did mention that she called him tonight to congratulate him on how well he's done, his supporters booed at the mention of her name. He didn't stop them.

Update 11:43 pm. Here's Bernie finally, fist raised. Smiling. The rally music is Power to the People and Talking About a Revolution. He tells everyone they are part of the political revolution. He's recapping his campaign accomplishments- touting his 10 million votes and the support of "young people." He's optimistic about the future of the country. There he goes -- acting like he invented social justice, economic justice, environmental justice. His young fans love it.

He says we will not allow right wing Republicans like Donald Trump dictate our future. The American people will never support a candidate whose major theme is bigotry. Who insults Mexicans, Muslims and African Americans. We will not allow Donald Trump to become President of the United States. But wait, here it comes: "Our mission is more than defeating Trump, it is transforming our country." [More...]

Great speech. Great moment.

Oh BTW, I predicted this moment in November 2008.

Just sayin.

It's just about over. After her win this weekend in Puerto Rico, Hillary Clinton is expected to reach the magic number tomorrow and become the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party.

As for Bernie, I hope he goes off for a long overdue nap.

The LA Times endorsed Hillary, but not Donald Trump. The Times calls Trump "an astoundingly unqualified candidate." It refused to make a Republican endorsement.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's spokesman confirmed that Arnold, who will be succeeding Trump as host of Celebrity Apprentice, mailed in his ballot with a vote for John Kasich.

This thread is for all things election-related.

It was June 7, 2008 that Hillary Clinton withdrew from the Democratic presidential nomination race. I remember it well, since I was in Aspen for a NORML legal seminar and watched the speech on TV there.

Sanders, apparently, is not dropping out. No matter. He could win California and it still won't matter.

A whopping total of 475 delegates are at stake, but if it’s as close as the polls suggest, the winner stands to net a mere 20 or 30 delegates. Using this excellent delegate calculator, let’s go through all the remaining races and then circle back to the big prize, bearing in mind that right now, among pledged delegates, it’s Clinton up by 268, 1,769 to 1,501.

[More...]

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." RI.P. Muhammad Ali.

Authorities say Prince died of a self-administered Fentanyl overdose.

Weldon Angelos, who was sentenced to 55 years for marijuana, has been released after 12 years. He lost in the 10th Circuit and the Supreme Court. His clemency petition dangled for 3 years. Ultimately, his lawyer says, a prosecutor put in motion events to set him free.

He had no criminal record before he was convicted of selling $350 worth of marijuana to a police informant three times.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

We close comments at 200, so please don't hog the thread. (No one should be commenting 30 times in a single thread.)

Where has this week gone? I've am just swamped with work and have a lot to do before I can focus on the news and blogging. Hopefully, I'll catch up over the weekend.

In the meantime, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Today we justly honor the many men and women who died while serving in our Armed Forces.

This year, more than most, I'm struck by the fact that war is not a distant memory, or an occasional event, but an ever-present condition.

In war news, Iraqi forces stormed Fallujah early this morning, backed by U.S. aircraft, to retake the city from ISIS. In Baghdad yesterday, ISIS suicide bombings claimed the lives of more than 20 people.

Meanwhile more than 700 migrants, including children, may have died in sea crossings this week.

Hopefully, some of you have something cheerful to write about, even if it's just how you spent your weekend. This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Donald Trump has all the delegates he needs. Bernie Sanders does not. But Bernie's trying to stay relevant by debating Donald Trump. Yes, some polls have Hillary and Bernie in a dead heat in California. Others have Hillary with a wide lead. Others say there's a backlash against Bernie brewing.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I've had enough of the election for a while. I'm not particularly interested in Trump protests or Bernie Sanders' latest maneuvers. Or reports on Hillary's email.

Here's an open thread to discuss the election.

Some new developments in the extradition efforts against Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman:

His lawyer Jose Refugio was refused permission to meet with El Chapo when he went to the Prison.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to give his lawyer, Andres Granados Flores, a copy of its extradition orders. It said it had given the certified copies directly to El Chapo.[More...]

All four of the brutal British prison guards of ISIS's foreign hostages known as the Beatles have now been identified. Here's an interview with the mother of the 4th one, El Shafee Elsheikh, identified a few days ago by the Washington Post and BuzzFeed.

All are believed to have been part of Amr Al Absi's group, a story I've summarized numerous times (see here and here) and who was killed in a US air strike recently. [More...]

President Obama and his family have picked a house to rent in D.C. after he leaves the White House. (They aren't going back to Chicago right away because daughter Sasha is still in high school.)

Check out the stunning photos of the home, which has more than 8,000 square feet (9 bedrooms.) The house belongs to former Clinton press spokesman Joe Lockhart who is now living in New York.