Thread.

Happy Easter, to everyone celebrating today.

Does anyone have a Surface Book? Is it worth more than $2k? Does the 13.3 inch screen seem bigger because it has such a thin bezel (or for whatever reason) or is it wysiwyg?

There are so few computer stores around here (everything is online other than a small kiosk in two local malls)that you can't even test them out before you buy -- keyboard feel, screen size and weight matter a lot to many besides me, I'd bet.

For those of you online, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

At least 13 police raids took place in Brussels today. 9 were arrested, 5 have already been released.

I've seen four official ISIS videos (I'm not linking to them) of the Belgian attacks released in the last two days. One common theme is there is more to come.

The effect of Saturday's caucus and primary voting in WA, Alaska and Hawaii varies depending on the media source.

Those influenced by Sanders' peeps (shorthand for people)claim the results mattered. This Associated Press news article disagrees.

After noting that Hillary didn't expect to win in Washington, Hawaii or Alaska, and thus didn't spend any resources there, it reports Hillary retains a substantial delegate lead, which when added to super-delegate votes, makes it very, very tough for Bernie to have a chance at winning.

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How much do the Rolling Stones appreciate Cuba? Here's their message in Spanish.

At their historic free concert in Havana tonight, they opened with Jumpin Jack Flash. Cuban officials expected 500k to attend. The stage the Stones shipped to Havana for the concert was the length of a city block. Then there's the gear (which included 10 huge video screens by the stage):

Organizers told Billboard that the high-tech production meant importing gear in 61 sea containers and a packed Boeing 747.

The Cuban contribution to the technical side of the concert was decidedly lower-key. As nearly everywhere else in Cuba, there was no wifi signal at the sports complex, and as the crowds grew even cellphones stopped working.

No wonder there's been few live updates on Twitter -- few Cubans can access it, given their limited internet access.

The Pope, meanwhile, wanted the Stones concert halted because it was Good Friday. I'm glad he didn't prevail. (The article has the video of their plane landing and them disembarking. Pretty cool.) [More...]

A live press conference with Gen. Carter on Iraq and Syria with the Pentagon is taking place here. Carter says the tide is turning and we've blocked off the main routes between Northern Iraq and Syria. He says we targeted and killed top ISIS leaders.

American forces are there advising and supporting Iraqi. There will be increased support for Iraqis in Mosul. We will advise and enable.Carter and others will be asking Obama to increase the number of U.S. troops going to Iraq to "advise' the Iraqis.

Yet he denies it's a ground troops operation. Denies it's a fundamental shift. Reporters are skeptical and keep asking how this is different from a ground war. It's a pretty permanent position. The U.S. military is directly involved with the Iraqis. This is what we've been doing in the past months and what we'll be doing in the coming months. What started in Ramadi will continue to Mosul. This is our strategy.

He's arguing for an alternative prison to Gitmo saying it's not safe to release Gitmo

A reporter says there are 5,000 troops on the ground in Iraq. Carter says 3,800. The difference is in the counting techniques. There's more than 3,800 he admits.

To be more precise, another primary and caucus night. Arizona, Utah and Idaho (Dems only in Idaho) vote tonight. Polling has been sparse but the indications are Clinton and Trump are in good shape in Arizona and Cruz and Sanders are favored in Utah (Sanders favored in Idaho as well).

More than half of the delegates will come from Arizona so if form holds, Clinton and Trump should extend their delegate leads. We'll see.

Arizona is scheduled to close at 10 Eastern, but they closed like 70% of the polling locations so the lines are long. Most of the votes were early though. Utah and Idaho are caucuses so who the heck knows when they will report.

Will update later.

Update - Early vote from Maricopa (Phoenix) comes in big for Hillary 61-35. Trump. comfortably leads the GOP race. --- Trump projected winner.

Clinton wins Arizona big. Up 24 with 71% in.

Police are seeking the man above in connection with the Belgian attacks. They also are trying to catch Laachraoui Najim, aka Soufiane Kayal, a Belgian national, whom they suspect of involvement in the Paris Attacks. Najim was in Syria since 2013. He was the subject of an international arrest warrant since March 18, 2014. (Use google translate.)

ISIS-linked news A'maq News agency reported ISIS has taken credit for the attacks in Belgium. Then ISIS issued its own statement in several languages promising "dark days ahead" for those in countries that aid the Coalition. Here's the Official ISIS statement in French.

Why Belgium? The Guardian explains why Belgium is so vulnerable.

I'm way behind on news. I only heard about Brussels coming back from the jail. It's a really busy work week.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

NYT:

Brussels was virtually shut down on Tuesday after explosions rocked its main airport and a subway station in the heart of the city. The attacks occurred four days after the capture of Salah Abdeslam, who is suspected to be directly involved in the Paris attacks on Nov. 13.

President Obama and his family have landed in Cuba for a very historic visit. Who would not want to go to Cuba? I sure would.

What an achievement for his presidency. He is the first president to visit Cuba in 90 years. [More...]