Bloomberg Plans a $50 Million Challenge to the N.R.A.  —  Michael R. Bloomberg, making his first major political investment since leaving office, plans to spend $50 million this year building a nationwide grass-roots network to motivate voters who feel strongly about curbing gun violence …

Ukraine on the brink as troops take on rebels  —  Vladimir Putin denounces Kiev for mobilising forces against pro-Russian gunmen in east of country  —  Alec Luhn in Kramatorsk, Paul Lewis in Washington and Julian Borger  —  Ukrainian government forces launched their first significant military action …

Liberals in rose-colored glasses consider ObamaCare a ‘victory’  —  Ever since ObamaCare supposedly hit the arbitrary target of 7 million sign-ups by March 31, its supporters have been taking the most premature victory lap since conservative proponents of the Iraq War (like me) …

Americans increasingly prefer Democrats on healthcare: Reuters/Ipsos poll  —  (Reuters) - Americans increasingly think Democrats have a better plan for healthcare than Republicans, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after the White House announced that more people than expected had signed up for the “Obamacare” health plan.

Chemerinsky and Menkel-Meadow on curricular reform  —  In the New York Times, Erwin Chemerinsky and Carrie Menkel-Meadow offer a very sunny perspective on the current state of legal education.  At the end, they argue that what law schools really need these days is curricular innovation:

New York Drops Unit That Spied on Muslims  —  The New York Police Department has abandoned a secretive program that dispatched plainclothes detectives into Muslim neighborhoods to eavesdrop on conversations and built detailed files on where people ate, prayed and shopped, the department said.

Video shows large al Qaeda meeting in Yemen  —  Washington (CNN) — A new video shows what looks like the largest and most dangerous gathering of al Qaeda in years.  And the CIA and the Pentagon either didn't know about it or couldn't get a drone there in time to strike.

Source: Bag Detonated In Boston Contained Rice Cooker, Confetti  —  BOSTON (CBS) - On the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing, Boylston Street was evacuated and two bags were detonated by the Bomb Squad near the finish line.  —  One of the bags was being carried by a barefoot man …

House Democrats' committee sitting on $40M fund  —  WASHINGTON — Donors gave more than $10 million in March to the committee tasked with electing House Democrats and helped it amass a $40 million fund to fight skepticism that Republicans can be ousted from their majority in November.

UO law school prof angry about plan to use his raise for student fellowships  —  4/14/2014: Several members of the law school email lists (which included staff, secretaries etc.) have forwarded these two emails from professor Rob Illig (Law) about a plan apparently floated by Law Dean Michael Moffitt …

Fallin signs minimum wage hike ban in Oklahoma  —  OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Cities across Oklahoma are now prohibited from establishing mandatory minimum wage or vacation and sick-day requirements under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Mary Fallin.  —  Supporters say the measure would prevent …

Coalition of the Disappointed  —  Obama fires up racial and gender resentments to get out the vote.  —  You can tell it's an election year because so many noncrises are suddenly urgent priorities.  Real median household income is still lower than it was in 2007, the smallest share of Americans …

Matt Taibbi: ‘Hands Down’ Bush Was Tougher On Corporate America Than Obama (VIDEO)  —  Muckraking polemicist Matt Taibbi said that when it comes to the last two presidents, there's no question who did a better job of holding America's tycoons accountable.  —  The former Rolling Stone writer …

RNC to make convention site visit to Las Vegas on Thursday  —  Conventioneers in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center during CES on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014.  The Republican National Committee will be in Las Vegas on Thursday as part of the evaluation process as they decide among …

Obama, Biden to Announce $600M for Job Grants  —  Striving to show action on jobs, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are hitting the road to trumpet $600 million in new competitive grants to spur creation of targeted training and apprenticeship programs that could help people land well-paying jobs.

Rumsfeld Has ‘Absolutely No Idea’ If He Filed His Taxes Correctly  —  Donald Rumsfeld got his taxes filed in time.  Just don't ask him if they were done correctly.  —  In a letter sent Tuesday to the Internal Revenue Service, Rumsfeld said he has “absolutely no idea” whether his family's tax returns …

The $2.8 trillion question: Are health costs growing fast again?  —  A four-year slowdown in health spending growth could be coming to an end.  —  Americans used more medical care in 2013 as the economy recovered, new reports show.  Federal data suggests that health care spending is now growing …