Michigan feels the Bern; Trump feels the power. Iran and North Korea feel feisty. It’s Wednesday, and here are the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
CAMPAIGN 2016
As far as sequels go, Super Tuesday II lived up to the hype. It featured an upset, a dominant performance and an epic collapse:
Berning it up: Bernie ain’t going nowhere. The Vermont senator won the Dems’ Michigan primary, providing heartburn for Hillz, who’s seemed more focused on November than March lately. Clinton’s consolation: she still ended the night with more delegates, thanks to her mega Mississippi win.
Trump towers: The #DumpTrump crowd has just a week to kick The Donald to the curb. His dominating performance last night doesn’t help their cause. Trump won in Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii, just when many thought his momentum was starting to stall. If The Donald takes Ohio and Florida next week, it’s game set match..
The biggest loser: Marco Rubio. That tick, tock sound you hear is the clock ticking for him.
GEORGE MARTIN
While my guitar gently weeps: His influence on the greatest band that ever lived was so great, he was known as the “fifth Beatle.” Sir George Martin died yesterday at his home in England. No superlative is too grand to describe his influence. He took four scruffy lads from Liverpool, helped them realize their musical vision and in the process, redrew the boundaries of popular music. Martin was 90.
FREDDIE GRAY
The witness is not excused: Looks like Baltimore police Officer William Porter is about to spend a lot of quality time on the witness stand. Porter, one of a group of Baltimore cops charged in the death of Freddie Gray, can be forced to testify against his fellow officers, a Maryland appeals court ruled yesterday. Porter’s legal team so didn’t want that because info from his testimony could come back to bite him later. Porter’s own trial ended in a mistrial back in December. But prosecutors have planned a sequel for later this year.
IRAN AND NORTH KOREA
Up to their old tricks: Two charter members of the axis of evil are busy maintaining their reps again. Iran — you know, the folks we gave millions in sanctions relief to in that nuke deal? — has spent the past two days firing off ballistic missles tests that are — surprise — probably in violation of U.N. sanctions. Meanwhile, fellow axis member North Korea says it has miniaturized nuke warheads to fit on ballistic missiles. Sure, the North has made this claim before, but this time they’ve got pictures. So it must be true, right?
CAMPAIGN 2016
From Gem State to Beltway: The man suspected of shooting Idaho Pastor Tim Remington was arrested last night in Washington D.C. — outside the White House. Kyle Andrew Odom was allegedly throwing flash drives over the White House fence. This is the weird part: Odom apparently flew from Idaho to D.C. after the weekend shooting, despite a felony warrant against him. How does that happen? We’re sure the TSA wants to know. Cops want to know why Odom shot the pastor and had a manifesto with the names of several lawmakers.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.
Quote of the day:
“Tammy Duckworth has a sad record of not standing up for our veterans”
A deleted tweet from the National Republican Senatorial Committee criticized Rep. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, who’s running for a Senate seat. Um, Duckworth is a vet — an Army helicopter pilot who lost both legs in Iraq.
Change you can believe in
An Alabama man is headed to the pokey for nabbing $196,000 — in quarters. OK, they’re shiny quarters from the Federal Reserve, but still.
Dental damn!
Four out of five dentists agree: You cannot mutilate the mouths of your patients. The fifth goes on trial in France.
Ch-ch-changes
Notice something different about your Kraft macaroni and cheese? Apparently no one else did either, but Kraft did change its recipe.
Yeah, we went there
Important Campaign 2016 political question: Do small hands mean small penis size? (Asking for a friend)
Back to the future
The next big thing in computers is … the desktop. No, really. A super bright guy has a genuinely good idea.