SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:51 P.M. ET: 

IRAN – As you know by now, the Iran nuclear talks have been extended by one day because, we are told (or sold) enough progress has been made to warrant the extension.  This is how the fate of millions of people is decided.  My guess is that they'll come up with some "understanding" that will allow more talks, and possibly ward off Congressional action.  Congress returns April 13th, and many members want to increase sanctions on Iran if a satisfactory deal is not reached by then.  Reports from inside the talks say that some items have been decided, but that the most important ones have not. 

ROTTEN APPLE – I'm a fan of Apple Computer, but not of its CEO, Tim Cook, who took over when Steve Jobs died.  Cook seems to be more interested in politics than in Macbooks.  This week he launched a vicious attack on the new Indiana religious freedom law because he thought it discriminated against gays.  But, as George Will pointed out on Fox News, Apple has been doing extensive business in Saudi Arabia, which sentences people to be lashed for being gay.  The hypocrisy flows.

PASSING – From Fox:  "Lt. Col. Robert Hite, one of the famed World War II 'Doolittle Tokyo Raiders,' died Sunday at 95.  Wallace Hite said his father died Sunday morning at a nursing facility in Nashville after battling Alzheimer's disease, according to The Associated Press.  'Today he decided to go home and be with his wife,' Wallace Hite said.  Hite was among 80 men aboard 16 B-25 bombers whose mission was to strike Japan in April 1942. While the attack inflicted only scattered damage, it was credited with boosting American morale while shaking Japan's confidence and prompting strategy shifts less than five months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor."  There are now only two Doolittle Raiders left. 

NO SURPRISE – From the Politico:  "Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse for MSNBC, along came the quarterly ratings reports.  In both daytime and prime time, MSNBC endured its lowest quarterly demo numbers in a decade, and its total viewership since the final quarter of 2007. Prime-time viewership was down 45 percent in the demo from the first quarter of 2014, while daytime viewership was down 39 percent in the demo. On Tuesday, while Fox News and CNN were boasting their own quarterly numbers -- Fox News remained dominant, CNN made major strides in the demo -- MSNBC chose to focus on the month of March instead, where it boasted gains in prime time and a victory for 'Morning Joe' over CNN's 'New Day.'  But things are still looking grim for MSNBC: Between the hours of 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Monday, for instance, more people were watching Al Jazeera America than MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, Thomas Roberts and 'The Cycle.'"  If MSNBC can't even beat Al Jazeera, maybe it's time to pack it in.

March 31, 2015