SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:05 P.M. ET: 

FBI CRACKS TERRORIST'S PHONE – From Fox:   The U.S. Justice Department announced Monday it has successfully accessed data stored on the iPhone that belonged to the San Bernardino gunman without Apple's help, ending the court case against the tech company.  The surprise development effectively ends a pitched court battle between Apple and the Obama administration.  The government asked a federal judge to vacate a disputed order forcing Apple to help the FBI break into the iPhone, saying it was no longer necessary.  The court filing in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California provided no details about how the FBI did it or who showed it how. Apple did not immediately comment on the development.  I'm glad they got the data.  It's important that we know how terrorists operate.  But there should be some protocols for problems like this, so the government doesn't have to sue a company.

A VERY BIG DEAL – From The Hill  A new report says 147 FBI agents are involved in the investigation surrounding Hillary Clinton.  The Washington Post reports that the large number of agents have been deployed to run down leads in the investigation, citing a lawmaker briefed by FBI Director James Comey.  The Post reported that the FBI has accelerated its investigation as officials want to avoid potentially announcing any action close to the November election.  Comey has signaled that he is personally close to the probe into Clinton's personal email account used during her time as secretary of State that was revealed last year.   The Clinton side is starting to leak all kinds of arguments about this case, the latest being that we shouldn't divert all these resources to investigating Hillary in light of the threat of terrorism.  We are moved to see their sudden interest in national defense.

THE COST OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS – From London's Mirror:   A German train operator has announced it is introducing women and children-only train carriages amid fears over sex attacks in the country.  The Regiobahn line between Leipzig and Chemnitz will introduce the carriages to increase security for women.  The carriages will be next to the train conductor in a bid to make women feel more safe.  A spokesman for the railway said: “The local proximity to the customer service representative is chosen deliberately.”  Germany is still reeling from a a string of sex attacks in Cologne on New Year's Eve, allegedly carried out by dozens of migrants.  That's what it comes do.  But if someone suggests a change in immigration policy, he's called a racist, an Islamophobe, a hatemonger.  So-called "women's" groups have been generally silent on the rape epidemic, as they follow whatever leftist party line is fashionable.  Women are way down the list of priorities.

March 28, 2016