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

GREAT MOMENTS IN EDUCATION – From Time:   About 4,000 students living in the Virginia area recently received an email from the University of California at Santa Cruz congratulating them on admission—an impressive accomplishment, no doubt, considering they never applied to the school.  A regional admissions officer mistakenly sent an email invitation to a list of prospective students instead of admitted students, the Washington Post reported, citing university officials.  “Congratulations on your admission to UC Santa Cruz!” the email read. “To celebrate your achievement and to provide an opportunity to learn more about UC Santa Cruz, you and your family are cordially invited to a special reception in the Virginia area on March 28th, 2016.”  I think all those kids should show up at the reception and demand that UC honor its word.  The person responsible for this mess need only declare himself oppressed, and in need of a safe space.  He'll get a promotion.

MAYBE STICK TO SPORTS – From Mediaite:   The Twitter account for ESPN’s SportsCenter sent out a tweet Sunday about Fidel Castro’s love of sports that was criticized for painting the Cuban dictator in a positive light.  “Savior and scourge, Fidel Castro was many things to many people,” the now-deleted tweet read. “One thing all can agree on: He loved his sports.”  And that Adolf Hitler.  The way he loved dogs.  What a sporty guy.

MAJOR POLITICAL OPINION – From the New York Daily News:   Leonardo DiCaprio said China — the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases — could end up being the “hero of the environmental movement” for its work to combat climate change.  DiCaprio, who exhorted the world to fight climate change during his Oscar acceptance speech for Best Actor, praised China’s record during a trip to Beijing on Sunday to promote his movie “The Revenant.”  “As we all know, the United States and China are the two biggest contributors, and I think that China has made radical movements forward as far as alternative energy and ways to be sustainable,” DiCaprio said at a press conference in Beijing.  Well that does it for me.  I'm making a renewed commitment to wonton soup, just to show my appreciation.

NICE, HUH? – And this actually comes from a leading left-wing newspaper, Britain's Guardian:   Cuban police forcibly broke up a pro-democracy demonstration and arrested several dozen activists on Sunday, just hours before Barack Obama was to arrive in Havana to become the first US president to visit Cuba in almost 90 years.  The protesters, from the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) and other opposition groups, were bundled into buses and police vans after a shouting match with pro-Castro supporters during their usual weekly demonstration near the Santa Rita church.  Nothing to see, nothing to see.  Probably just members of the Tea Party in Cuban disguise.

March 20, 2016