Israeli Troops Fire as Marchers Breach Borders  —  JERUSALEM — Israel's borders erupted in deadly clashes on Sunday as thousands of Palestinians — marching from Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank — confronted Israeli troops to mark the anniversary of Israel's creation.

Shadow Stat Misery Index Highest on Record  —  John Williams, over at Shadow Stats, compiles economic data for inflation and unemployment the way it used to be calculated pre-1990.  Based on that data, the CPI inflation rate is over 10%, and the unemployment rate is over 15% (see charts).

Newt Tacks Left, Slams Ryan's Medicare Plan  —  Newt Gingrich's appearance on “Meet the Press” today could leave some wondering which party's nomination he is running for.  The former speaker had some harsh words for Paul Ryan's (and by extension, nearly every House Republican's) plan to reform Medicare, calling it “radical.”

Union whistleblowers: We were beaten and harassed after they accused bosses of looting  —  Unionized phone company employees say they were beaten or threatened after they accused their labor bosses of looting their coffers through various scams.  —  One member of Communications Workers …

Soul-Searching in France After Official's Arrest Jolts Nation  —  PARIS — The arrest in New York of one of France's leading global figures and a possible next president, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, on charges of attempted rape produced an earthquake of shock, outrage, disbelief and embarrassment throughout France on Sunday.

How Drudge Has Stayed on Top  —  For most big news Web sites, about 60 percent of the traffic is homegrown, people who come directly to the site by dint of a bookmark or typing in www.latimes.com or www.huffingtonpost.com.  The other critical 40 percent comes by referrals …

Patterico Criticizes Google; Gets Locked Out of Gmail  —  Over the last day or so, I have written several posts criticizing Google's treatment of Ann Althouse.  So did my guest blogger Aaron Worthing.  —  I collected several examples of people getting locked out of their Google accounts …

Newt Gingrich Proposes Reviving “Poll Tests” Of The Sort Outlawed In The Civil Rights Era  —  Ta-Nehisi Coates heard the dog whistle loud in clear in Newt Gingrich's proclamation last night that Barack Obama is “the most successful food stamp president in modern American history.”

The NYT Doesn't Understand Marginal Tax Rates  —  The NYT ran a column asking whether people who make more than $250,000 are really rich.  It told readers that the richest 2 percent of the population face money problems also, suggesting that those near this cutoff for tax increases by President Obama might be unfairly victimized.

Major Delusions  —  THIS month American college seniors will don caps and gowns.  As they await receipt of their diplomas, they will absorb lessons handed to them by the accomplished men and women who deliver commencement speeches.  More often than not the speakers will be outliers: rare individuals who made it against all odds.

Mike Huckabee casts big shadow over early primary states in 2012 elections  —  The fight for the Mike Huckabee voter is now under way.  —  Huckabee's decision not to run for president is already scrambling the battle for the GOP nomination, triggering a competition for both his social conservative …

The Other Torture Debate  —  IT wasn't long after Osama bin Laden's killing that the arguing began: did the Bush administration's torture policy produce essential intelligence that led the United States to Bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan?  —  Bush administration figures weighed in “yes” …

Gates: Obama made a ‘gutsy’ call  —  President Barack Obama made a “very gutsy call” to send Navy SEALs into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden, outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview broadcast Sunday.  —  “I worked for a lot of these guys.

Senate GOP Embarrasses Dems Over Boeing  —  Senator Mike Enzi and Boeing lawyer Michael Luttig show up the Dems at their own hearing.  —  At a hearing held this past week by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, it was amusing to watch the Democratic majority …

Ryan will decide soon on Wisconsin Senate race  —  House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said on Sunday he'll decide this week if he'll run for the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Herb Kohl.  —  “Herb just announced this Friday,” Ryan said on CNN's “State of the Union.”