SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 7:16 P.M. ET: 

IS MARCO GAINING IN FLORIDA? – From The Hill:   Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has cut Donald Trump's lead in Florida to single digits, according to a Monmouth University Poll released Monday.  Trump leads Rubio by 8 points in the senator's home state, 38 percent to 30 percent.  It's a significant shift from earlier polls that found Trump with a double-digit lead.  In a Public Policy Polling survey released last month, Trump held a 20-point lead. Similarly, he held in a 20-point lead in a One America News Network and Gravis Marketing poll released last month.  Florida is a must-win state for Rubio, who would not have much of a path to the GOP nomination without a victory in his home state.  Late deciders have tended to decide against Trump and in favor of either Rubio or Cruz.  The strongest argument against Trump should the Republican convention be contested is that he can't get out of the mid-thirties.  We'll watch Michigan tomorrow, where observers also say that the race seems to be tightening.

WARNING FROM BRITAIN – From Reuters:   LONDON- Islamic State fighters want to carry out "enormous and spectacular" attacks against Britain and the Western lifestyle in general, Britain's most senior anti-terrorism officer said on Monday.  London Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said the threat from the group which has taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq was evolving, and that it was keen to repeat elsewhere incidents such as last year's Paris shootings and suicide attacks that killed 130 people.  "What we are now seeing in recent months...is the broadening of that threat, more plans to attack Western lifestyle...going from that narrow focus on police and military and symbols of the state to something much broader," Rowley told reporters.  "You see a terrorist group that has big ambitions for enormous and spectacular attacks, not just the types that we've seen foiled to date."  Anyone listening?  I'm afraid we won't wake up again until the next tragic event occurs.

MAJOR CULTURAL NEWS – Fox:   A proposal to ensure pork remained “part of the food on offer in public canteens as well as schools and kindergartens” failed to pass the parliament in a northern German state, according to English language German news site The Local.  Lawmakers in Schleswig-Holstein who supported the plan argued that pork had been removed from menus across the region in order to conform to Islamic customs. Germany has seen an influx of Muslims among the refugees streaming in from Syria and other wartorn parts of the world. Devout Muslims are forbidden from eating pork.   “More and more canteens, kindergartens and schools are taking pork out of their menus so as to cater for religious custom,” Christian Democratic Union parliament leader Daniel Gunther said.  But many in opposing parties mocked the measure.  I'm sure ISIS will appreciate the cultural sensitivity.  No beheadings for an hour.

March 7, 2016