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.

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.

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

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

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....]

Happy Mothers Day, to all.

I think The Good Wife series finale is tonight. I'm afraid to click on news because I don't want the ending spoiled, so I'll just turn on the TV in six minutes and find out. I hope it's a good ending to this very uneven season, especially since I'm interrupting my re-reading of the novel La Reina del Sur to watch it, and I'm at a really good part. (I've seen the series on TV at least three times, but I wanted to check some things Geraldo said about the lead character, Teresa Mendoza, and didn't have time to watch 63 episodes yet again. I started thumbing through my copy of the book, and got immersed in it again, so I went back to page 1 and am reading the whole thing again. At least my copy is in English.)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome -- TV related or not. (Update below.)

The tweet by Donald Trump depicting him eating a taco bowl in his office (made at Trump Tower Grill) and proclaiming his love of Hispanics in celebration of Cinco del Mayo is hilarious. It's been retweeted 73,000 times as of now, and "liked" by 85,000 people. (There's no dislike number, which for all we know, could be in the hundreds of thousands.

I think his account was hacked. Even he's not stupid enough to think anyone would believe he loves Hispanics or would eat that Taco bowl. I don't even believe he eats food from a restaurant in his building. Do you really think he doesn't have a private chef?

Best response I've seen so far: "Can we have the taco bowl for President instead of Trump?" [More...]

Everybody's got talent. In Vietnam, voting is open for "Vietnam's Got Talent" on its You Tube channel.

Check out Nguyen Trọng Nhân, a 9 year old boy drumming to Bon Jovi's "It's My Life." The song starts at 1 minute 10 seconds in, and after a sound glitch and some pretty non-impressive vocals by the singer, the boy takes over for the rest of the song. At around 2 minutes in, he really comes into his own. By 2 minutes and 15 seconds, he owns it. There's also an adult drummer, but he can't match the kid drummer. In the last 30 seconds, the adult drummer does a solo finale, but then Trọng Nhân closes, and he knocks it out of the park. The Judges' reaction is priceless. [More...]

Republicans are convening in Burlingame, CA this weekend. Updates here. There were Trump protests and a few arrests. Trump and Kasich spoke (Kasich is staying in.) Cruz and Fiorini will speak tomorrow.

Trump said it would be nice for Republicans to unify, but if they don't, he will still win and he doesn't much care:

Could I win without it? I think so, to be honest, I think so," he said. High-profile Republicans such as Jeb Bush, he continued, may not support him in the general, but he brushed that off as a minor issue. "Big deal, like I care. OK?"

"Again, ideally, we're going to be together," Trump said. "I think I will win even if we're not together. I mean there are some people, I honestly don't want their endorsement. I just don't want it ... It's not going to have any impact on whether or not we beat Hillary Clinton. It's not going to have any impact. But most of the party has to come together."

[More...]

Donald Trump laid out his foreign policy agenda today. It's being bashed by Republicans and Democrats alike. On the car radio, the CNN commentator I happened to hear criticized everything about it, from his halting delivery (his teleprompter skills are apparently not ready for prime time) to his use of the slogan "America First" (a throwback to the much criticized 1930's isolationist policy).

Trump’s use of an expression so dated and discredited reflects his willingness to dip into the past for catch phrases that, no matter their historical baggage, can still appeal to voters.

More on that era at the New York Times here. (The CNN commentator said the America First policy led us into WWII (a view espoused here) showing that Trump doesn't even understand the phrase.

Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright rips his points apart on Twitter. Former Trump rival Lindsay Graham: [More...]

The best TV show I saw this weekend: Viceland's States of Undress goes to Palestine (it's available On Demand on Comcast, or you can watch it online here.)

The Good Wife has just a few episodes left. There are so many characters on this show that I can't stand watching, I'm surprised I watch the show at all. Is it really going to go out at the same place it began, with Alicia's husband Peter indicted? Only this time, Alicia refuses to stand by his side? I hope the ending isn't as trite as that. But it's really gone downhill this season fast, so I won't be surprised if it is.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

It's just about sundown here, which marks the beginning of Passover. Best wishes to all observing.

The Obamas once again celebrated Passover with a White House seder. . (Here's an article explaining why.) The Washington Post says Passover is currently "having a moment". [More...]

Prince has died at his home in Minnesota at age 57. He cancelled a few concerts earlier in the week for medical reasons.

The singer – full name Prince Rogers Nelson – had a medical emergency on April 15th that forced his private jet to make an emergency landing in Illinois. But he appeared at a concert the next day to assure his fans he was okay. His people told TMZ he was battling the flu. Prior to his most recent appearance however, Prince had cancelled two shows due to health concerns.

His final days. R.I.P. Prince. Added: James Corden's heartfelt tribute to Prince.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.