SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:43 P.M. ET: 

ALERT – From Fox:  "EXCLUSIVE: The FBI is searching for a recent Army recruit believed to be planning a 'Fort Hood-inspired jihad against U.S. soldiers,' FoxNews.com has learned.  The alert, whose legitimacy was confirmed by military and law enforcement officials, stated that a man identified as Booker had told friends of his 'intention to commit jihad.' Booker, who is also known as Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, was recruited by the U.S. Army in Kansas City, Mo., in February 2014 and was scheduled to report for basic training on April 7. But he was discharged last week, apparently after law enforcement authorities learned of his alleged plan."  You mean they just let him go?  I want to know more about this.  Law enforcement or political correctness?

INCREDIBLE – From CNN:  "They were words heard around the world as investigators searched for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.  Weeks ago, Malaysian authorities said the last message from the airplane cockpit was, 'All right, good night.'  The sign-off to air traffic controllers, which investigators said was spoken by the plane's copilot, was among the few concrete details officials released in a mystery that's baffled investigators and drawn global attention since the Boeing 777 disappeared with 239 people aboard mid-flight on March 8.  There's only one problem. It turns out, it wasn't true.  On Monday, Malaysia's Transport Ministry said the final voice transmission from the cockpit of Flight 370 was actually 'Good night Malaysian three seven zero.'"  No explanation has been given for this remarkable discrepancy.  But it makes us wonder what other bad information has been broadcast by the Malaysian government.  This is a botched probe.

PROTEST – From Fox:  "Former American hostage Barry Rosen, held by student extremists at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran for more than a year, said Monday it would be an 'outrage' and 'disgrace' if Washington gave a visa to one of the militants recently named by Iran as its new U.N. ambassador.  'It may be a precedent but if the president and the Congress don't condemn this act by the Islamic Republic, then our captivity and suffering for 444 days at the hands of Iran was for nothing,' Rosen said. 'He can never set foot on American soil.'  Iran wants to send Hamid Aboutalebi to New York as its new U.N. ambassador. He may be a 56-year-old veteran diplomat, but it turns out that Aboutalebi was apparently a member of the hard-line Muslim student group that in 1979 took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran for 444 days and held American diplomats hostage."  I don't know what international law is on this, but I certainly think our government should raise hell.  Oh, wait, I just realized who the president is.  He'll probably welcome the guy with flowers.

THIS JUST IN – Regarding the final story we posted this morning, the Rutgers University student government has decided not to reject the university's selection of Condi Rice as commencement speaker.  Campus leftists are up in arms over the choice of Rice, whom they regard as a war criminal.  I'm sure the president of Iran would get a much warmer welcome.  Isn't it time we started looking closely at federal aid to colleges and universities? 

March 31, 2014