Kasich, Trump and Cruz address AIPAC

AIPAC, American Israeli Political Action Committee.  I watched Kasich, followed by Trump, followed by Cruz address this Jewish pro Israel group.  All three of 'em said all the right things, and received lots of applause.  This is an important group, they represent most American Jews, who can be a decisive factor in American elections.  Most Jews back the state of Israel all the way, although they tend to vote democratic.  After 8 years of Obama trashing Israel, they might b ready to vote Republican.   

Parts per trillion

Apparently some chemical that I never heard of was detected is some water wells in some obscure NH towns whose names mean nothing to me.   They finally got a guy on from state Dept of Environmental Services who actually knew a few things.  Apparently the contamination is no worse than 100 parts per trillion.  Wow.  First time I have heard things quoted as parts per trillion.  Used to be one part per million was about the limit of lab work. 
   Then he said that the EPA limit for magic chemical (SFRA? something strange) was 400 parts per trillion.  In short the detected levels are still way below the limit. 
   Could the newsies be looking for something they can blow up into a Flint Michigan type scandal?

New Hampshire un employment rate down to 2.7%

Wow.  Best in the nation.  Labor utilization rate is 78%, best in the nation.  The NPR commentators were talking about business leaving the state 'cause they cannot find workers.
   Talk about a quick turnaround.  Things were so bad up here a couple of years ago  my youngest son had to go out the North Dakota to find work.   I'm sorta wondering if the unemployment rate is low because all the able bodied workers have already left NH to find work out of state.
   Then the NPR pundits started talking magic talk, like how commuter rail to Manchester would attract workers from out of state.  And how NH needs to do something (unspecified) to the NH schools to produce more "trained" workers. 

National Progressive Radio wants to give Gitmo back to Cuba

NPR ran a medium length piece about this this morning.  They dwelt on the history, Gitmo was war booty to us after the Spanish American war of 1898.  Which was a long time ago.  According to NPR the Cubans are still all hot and bothered about it, and we could make peace and goodness and light flow by giving it back to Cuba.
    Wanna bet The Donald could cut a better deal than that? 

So why is Obama making nice to Cuba?

Well, it looks good to the lefties in the Democratic party, but do ordinary Americans  approve? Or care?  I think most Cubans in the country are refugees from Castro, and would be happier to nuke Cuba than to recognize Cuba.  I suppose Obama will get some "legacy" out of it, but does the US as a whole, not just Obama and his cronies, get anything out of it? 

Where is Tom Clancy (and Jack Ryan) when we need them?

Say what you will about Tom Clancy's books, they were good action adventure, where the Americans are the good guys, and American ingenuity, courage, and advanced technology win the day in the end.  Clancy's hero, Jack Ryan, starting as a CIA operative in Hunt for Red October, works his way up to President of the US by the final stories.  Compared to the current flock of presidential wannabees, Jack Ryan looks pretty good, well read, well educated, brave, intelligent, a good shot, able to lead a team of top flight people, and able to take advice. In contrast to today's crop. 
   In Clancy's literary universe, America is a special country, faced with numerous low life overseas enemies.  And America manages to come out on top of them in every story.  Good fun reads.  Back in his heighday, Tom Clancy was selling more hardbacks than every other author, all put together.  Makes you feel good about being an American.  Too bad Clancy died a little while ago. 

Whither the Republican party?

Lotta handwringing going on.  The Donald is leading in pledged delegates right now.  He seems to pick up 35% of the primary vote every time.  Right now he has 600 and some delegates, only half what is needed to clinch the Republican nomination.  Ted Cruz is behind, but not impossibly far behind,  with maybe 400 and some delegates.  Maybe The Donald will pick up another 600 delegates by convention time, which will give him 1237, the amount needed to win out right.  And maybe he won't.  No body knows, and nobody really believes the polls.
   If The Donald gets enough delegates by convention time, he still has a problem.  Although 35% of the party likes him enough to vote for him, that leaves 65% of the party that doesn't like him, plus all the democrats don't like him.  Does not look good for The Donald to beat Hilliary.  The Republican establishment is scared out of their socks by these odds.  If The Donald leads the party to a resounding defeat in November, they will most likely get voted out of office themselves.  So they are going all out to get anyone besides The Donald nominated.  At this point, the only likely alternative is Ted Cruz.  All the other candidates have dropped out (except Kasich who doesn't have much in the way of delegates).  The Trump voters will be outraged by a convention that doesn't nominate their man and might do all sorts of bad things. 
   If  The Donald lacks the delegates by convention time, all sorts of things might happen.  Ted Cruz might be able to pull all the non Trump delegates behind him and get the nomination on a later ballot.  The establishment might try to slip in Romney or McCain, or some body, anybody else.  If they succeed they will outrage all the voters, which is a bad thing.  Some charismatic nobody might arise and sweep thru the convention on a wave of applause.  That happened, once, Wendell Wilkie back in 1940.  Hasn't happened since. 
   Or something else might happen.  Stay tuned.