SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET:

INSANITY – FROM DAILY CALLER:    Charlotte Marine veteran Allen Thornwell, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, was fired by Time Warner Cable for lowering the company’s flag to half-staff on Memorial Day. Thornwell was employed in technical support after serving as a radio operator in the Marine Corps from 2005-2014.  A manager at the veterans placement company who arranged the job for Thornwell said Thornwell’s “passion for the flag and political affiliation” disturbed Time Warner. The company confirmed to the Charlotte Observor Thornwell was “no longer under contract” but declined any further comment.  In response to the incident Thornwell told the Charlotte Observor, “I’m not even mad right now” elaborating “I don’t know what kind of moral compass you need to fire a veteran on Memorial Day for lowering the flag.”  I hope this Marine veteran gets a load of job offers.  I hope Time Warner gets a load of letters.

KNOWLEDGE EVERYONE NEEDS – FROM THE WASHINGTON POST:   People don’t take hurricanes as seriously if they have a feminine name and the consequences are deadly, finds a new groundbreaking study.  Female-named storms have historically killed more because people neither consider them as risky nor take the same precautions, the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concludes.  Researchers at the University of Illinois and Arizona State University examined six decades of hurricane death rates according to gender, spanning 1950 and 2012. Of the 47 most damaging hurricanes, the female-named hurricanes produced an average of 45 deaths compared to 23 deaths in male-named storms, or almost double the number of fatalities. (The study excluded Katrina and Audrey, outlier storms that would skew the model).  Why do I think the truth here lies somewhere else?  I mean, how stupid do they think people are?  Have you ever heard anyone minimize a hurricane's threat because it's named Linda?  Call me skeptical.

IT'S ABOUT TIME – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   US and Cuban officials are reportedly discussing an exchange that could bring New Jersey cop killer Joanne Chesimard back to American soil.  The talks between the two countries, which have normalized diplomatic relations, could also send notorious Cuban spy Ana Montes back to the Caribbean nation, according to NBC.  “Cuba has been a haven for US fugitives,” a federal law-enforcement official told NBC.  Chesimard, a former Black Panther and an aunt of hip hop legend Tupac Shakur, escaped prison in 1979 after she was convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper. She has been hiding out in Havana since the mid-1980s.  Getting Chesimard back should have been achieved before we agreed to normalize relations.  We got nothing from that agreement.

June 4, 2016