It's about time. Bernie is losing his halo among progressives.

A few days ago I wrote a post "Bitter Bernie" and it's still in my editing pile. I don't have time to edit it now, so I'll just post it. I named him "Bitter Bernie" because that's what I see when I watch him, and I can just imagine Trump using it.

Bernie Sanders grows more tiresome to me every day. His primary emotions are anger and bitterness. (See Kevin Drum on this.) He seems like a very unhappy, unfulfilled man. He's also tone-deaf to the best interests of Democrats, the very party whose nomination he wants and isn't going to get.

It may be over soon -- all except the street protests at the convention which will turn out to be a mess since his sore-loser supporters preach hate and intolerance. Sanders doesn't support hate and intolerance, but no one will know that since he refuses to criticize even the most unbecoming behavior of his supporters.

The reason it will be over soon: He's running out of cash, having spent his millions like a drunken sailor (or Jeb Bush, take your pick.) He's run through $40 million a month. Hillary has millions more than him. [More...]

President Obama is in Vietnam. He visited Ho Chi Minh's house. And he ended the arms embargo so weapons can now be sold to Vietnam.

What a pleasure to read Vietnam newspapers -- the ones I've seen don't have autoplay video. Here are some photos of the welcoming ceremony.

I'm sorry I haven't visited Vietnam. Here are ten reasons you really should go.

A Baltimore judge today found police officer Edward Nero not guilty in the death of Freddie Gray. From the Baltimore Sun:

The judgment, following a five-day bench trial, is the first in the closely-watched case. Nero, 30, faced four misdemeanor charges of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office.

Prosecutors had argued that Nero committed an assault by detaining Gray without justification, while the reckless endangerment charge related to Nero's role in putting Gray into an arrest wagon without buckling a seat belt. In closing arguments Thursday, Williams had skeptically questioned prosecutors about their theory of assault, which legal experts said was unprecedented.

Sorry for disappearing. I've been working -- or reading about El Chapo (as well as ISIS) -- all weekend. Now I have a lot of recorded TV shows to watch.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Besides fighting extradition through requests for writs of Amparo and Appeals, which could take one to three years, what other options does Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman have for avoiding life in a U.S. prison?

His lawyer says they have a lawyer in the U.S. and they are interested in resolving all of his charges (and not by going into witness protection.) Via Google translate:

Before the endorsement of the Government of Mexico for his extradition to the United States, Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, could plead guilty in Exchange for some benefit, said his lawyer José Refugio Rodríguez, in an interview with EL UNIVERSAL.

The defense of Guzman Loera said that they have not contemplated that will welcome witnesses protected in that country programme, but yes looking for a settlement with the US authorities that require it.

It's a jail day for me, at least it's in the mountains.

Here's an open thread for you, all topics welcome.

The only thing I have to say about Trump's meaningless list of persons he might consider for the Supreme Court is that it's instructive as to the quality of the advice he's getting: Poor to worthless to absurd. The list really isn't worth any more keystrokes than that.

The most ridiculous name on the list: 11th Circuit Judge William Pryor. I wrote about him extensively when he was nominated in 2003. GW Bush couldn't get him confirmed and had to use a recess appointment to get him through. (He was finally confirmed in 2005.)The Washington Post, in an editorial, called him Unfit to Judge. You can read all my posts here. [More...]

An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo dropped off the radar screen about 10 miles after entering Egyptian airspace. The Airbus 320 was over the Mediterranean Sea when it disappeared.

The plane lost contact about 3 hours and 40 minutes after leaving Charles de Gaulle airport, at 37,000 feet. There were 59 passengers and 10 crew aboard. (Other sources say 56 passengers, 3 security personnel and 7 crew members on board.)
EgyptAir is updating via its Twitter feed.

The Guardian is updating here.

The captain on flight has 6,000+ flying hours, including 2,000 on an A320.... there was no special cargo on the flight and no notification had been made to the captain of dangerous goods on board.

There was no distress call. So what happened to Flight MS804? Did it just fall into the sea or was it foul play? There have been several A320 incidents in recent years. But there was also Russia's Metrojet, an Airbus A321 that crashed in Sinai in October, 2015, killing 224 people. While Egypt disagreed, Russia and Western governments thought it was a bomb and ISIS claimed credit for it.

The head of Egypt's civil air agency says it probably crashed into the sea.

It's primary day in Kentucky and Oregon. Bernie won't win, says Vox. It's not just the super-delegates. It's the overall numbers.

From the New York Times: Trump is borrowing from the Sanders playbook.

Hillary airs her first anti-Trump ad.

Time for a new open thread.

I missed doing a Sunday Night TV and open thread last night -- mostly because I was busy watching Season 2 of the Swedish drama, 30 Degrees in February on Netflix. I only got through 1 episode of Season 1 -- it was just too depressing to watch. Then I read about Season 2 which just finished airing in Sweden, and started that. It was really good. I watched all the episodes in one day. This article does a good job of explaining the plot and characters. It's about some unhappy Swedes who move to Thailand to look for a better life. Lots of seemingly unconnected stories going on at once,n and it turned out to be very uplifting.

In welcome news from Telemundo today, Chema from last season's El Senor de los Cielos will be getting his own show in which he continues his role as a drug trafficker loosely based on Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. And Senor de los Cielos has been renewed for a 5th season. [More....]

A judge in Mexico has found a U.S. extradition request for Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to the Western District of Texas (El Paso) legally sufficient for extradition. El Chapo was one of more than 20 people indicted on charges ranging from drugs (cocaine and marijuana) to money laundering, firearms, murder and Continuing Criminal Enterprise.

It's not alleged that El Chapo committed the murders, but that he ordered his sicarios to kidnap and murder. One murder was of a Sinaloa drug dealer in 2009 who claimed to have lost a load of 670 kilos of marijuana. He was kidnapped in the U.S. and his tortured body was later found in Mexico. Another was a groom who was kidnapped at his own wedding along with some others and later tortured and murdered.

Mexico's announcement is here (in Spanish).

John Kerry announced today the U.S. supports training and equipping the military of the newly minted Libyan "unity" government so it can better fight ISIS.

Speaking in Vienna, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States and other major nations would back the Libyan government's attempt to win an exemption from a United Nations arms embargo.

Kerry said it was "imperative" for the international community to support the 6-week-old government in Tripoli, which he called "the only legitimate one in Libya and which must now start to work.”

The State Department's press release is here. The new Libyan government is 6 weeks old and arrived in Libya by boat from Tunisia. [More...]