SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:21 P.M. ET: 

RELIGIOUS BULLETIN – From International Business Times:  "A Saudi cleric named Saleh al-Fawzan has issued a fatwa against all-you-can-eat buffets in Saudi Arabia. He made the statement on a Saudi Quranic TV station.  Fawzan said the value and quantity of the food sold should be pre-determined beforehand.  'Whoever enters the buffet and eats for 10 or 50 riyals without deciding the quantity they will eat is violating Sharia (Islamic) law,' Fawzan was quoted on al-Atheer channel.  The fatwa attempts to add plate piling eateries to the long list of things outlawed by religious edicts. It has been the subject of condemnation and debate on social media channels."  About time someone took on this menace.  I'll sleep better tonight.

YOUTH ABANDONING OBAMA – From liberal writer Dana Milbank, at the Washington Post:  "An army of 15 million voters under 30 swept Obama past Hillary Clinton and John McCain and to the presidency in 2008. More than 12 million helped him return in 2012. But now his presidency is on the line — and the Obama youth are abandoning him in his hour of need.  The administration announced last week that only 1.08 million people ages 18 to 34 had signed up for Obamacare by the end of February, or about 25 percent of total enrollees. If the proportion doesn’t improve significantly, the result likely will be fatal for the Affordable Care Act."  For Republicans, the defection is an opportunity, but Republicans are not brilliant about capitalizing on opportunities.  The party must demonstrate to the new generation that GOP ideas will improve their lot.

THANKS SARAH AND MITT – From the Washington Times:  "The majority of Americans see Russia as a serious threat to the U.S. and about half think another Cold War could break out as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a poll released Friday found.  The CNN/ORC International poll reported that 69 percent of Americans see Russia as a serious threat to the U.S. — up 25 percent from 2012 and the highest in a decade."  When Sarah Palin said in 2008 that the Russians might invade Ukraine, she was laughed at.  When Mitt Romney said during the 2012 campaign that Russia was becoming our major adversary, he too was laughed at.  I hope the laughing has stopped.

FLASH – We are getting a preliminary report from AP that Malaysian authorities have concluded that the airliner that disappeared last week was hijacked and steered off course.  More on this tomorrow morning.

March 14, 2014