SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:41 P.M. ET:

SUPPORT FOR VOTER I.D. – From Rasmussen:  "A federal judge last week upheld the right of states to require proof of citizenship before allowing someone to register to vote. Voters continue to overwhelmingly support such a requirement.  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 78% of Likely U.S. Voters believe everyone should be required to prove his or her citizenship before being allowed to register to vote. That’s up from 71% a year ago. Just 19% oppose that requirement."  Common sense.

WILL BROOKLYNITES STILL CHEER? – From AFP:  "Moscow (AFP) - Russian billionaire businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, owner of the Brooklyn Nets basketball franchise, said Monday he was transferring its ownership to Russia.   As one of the richest Russians with assets abroad, Prokhorov could be vulnerable if the Western powers escalate economic sanctions against Russia over its takeover of Crimea.  'I am doing all that I can to own the basketball club through a Russian company,' Prokhorov told journalists, quoted by the Interfax news agency."  Sign of things to come?  Can we keep the Yankees?  Buffalo Bills?

EDUCATION REVOLT – From Fox:  "INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana has become the first of 45 states to opt out of the national education standard known as Common Core, and critics of the controversial K-12 program say the move could 'open the floodgates' for others to follow.  Growing criticism over costs imposed by the program, as well as fears that by setting a national education standard the program has already begun dictating curriculum, has made Common Core an increasingly polarizing issue. Although the program has both Republican and Democrat supporters, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence predicted his state will be the first of many to rethink participation.  "I believe when we reach the end of this process there are going to be many other states around the country that will take a hard look at the way Indiana has taken a step back, designed our own standards and done it in a way where we drew on educators, we drew on citizens, we drew on parents and developed standards that meet the needs of our people," Pence said.  Good statement.  Be very concerned about national "standards," especially in subjects like history.

THEORY ON AIRLINER DISAPPEARANCE – From Reuters:  "The pilots of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 may have deliberately crashed the jetliner into the Indian Ocean as part of a suicide mission, sources close to the investigation told the British newspaper Telegraph on Tuesday.  There is a growing belief within the team investigating the mysterious disappearance of the Boeing 777 that the plane was flown in a 'rational' manner and that it was not a technical or structural malfunction of the aircraft that led it to fall out of the sky, according to the Telegraph.  Analysts are basing the 'suicide mission theory' on the routing, signaling, and communications data transmitted from the aircraft. 'This has been a deliberate act by someone on board who had to have had the detailed knowledge to do what was done,' the Telegraph quoted a source close to the investigation as saying."

March 25, 2014