SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:

FINE ACTOR – From The New York Times:  "Leonard Nimoy, the sonorous, gaunt-faced actor who won a worshipful global following as Mr. Spock, the resolutely logical human-alien first officer of the Starship Enterprise in the television and movie juggernaut “Star Trek,” died on Friday morning at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles. He was 83.  His wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, confirmed his death, saying the cause was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease."  He has been beamed up.

THREAT FROM IRAN – From the Jerusalem Post:  "A senior Iranian cleric with close ties to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed on Friday that 'we will raise the flag of Islam over the White House' in response to the killing of Hezbollah and Revolutionary Guards operatives on the Golan Heights last month."  Fella, you don't have to.  It's already up.

MOSCOW'S WAY – From AP:  "MOSCOW (AP) — Boris Nemtsov, a charismatic Russian opposition leader and sharp critic of President Vladimir Putin, was gunned down Saturday near the Kremlin, just a day before a planned protest against the government.  The death of Nemtsov, a 55-year-old former deputy prime minister, ignited a fury among opposition figures who assailed the Kremlin for creating an atmosphere of intolerance of any dissent and called the killing an assassination. Putin quickly offered his condolences and called the murder a provocation."  Putin must know if it's a provocation, as he's the guy who probably caused it.  His "condolences" remind me of the old Mafiosos who sent huge wreaths to the funerals of the guys they whacked.

NO MORE TODDLIN' TOWN – From Reuters:  "CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago drew closer to a fiscal free fall on Friday with a rating downgrade from Moody's Investors Service that could trigger the immediate termination of four interest-rate swap agreements, costing the city about $58 million and raising the prospect of more broken swaps contracts.  The downgrade to Baa2, just two steps above junk, and a warning the rating could fall further still, means the third-biggest U.S. city could face even higher costs in the future if banks choose to terminate other interest-rate hedges against fluctuations in interest rates. All told, Chicago holds swaps contracts covering $2.67 billion in debt, according to a disclosure late last year."  I'm sure the president will fix things when his term ends and he returns to Chicago.  Stop laughing.

February 27,  2015