Salmagundi on Saturday-Sunday

Nevada and South Carolina are in the news this weekend.

Primary caucuses are being held in Nevada on Saturday. Weeks ago word was that Hillary Clinton had a clear advantage in the state, but lately it's being reported that the race has "tightened", as Bernie Sanders appears to have caught up considerably. There's a whiff of change in the air these days, I'm anxious for it to grow, and Nevada's result will be a guide as to the depth and breadth of that whiff of change. On the Republican side it'd seem Nevada with glitzy Las Vegas embedded would be a shoe-in for Donald Trump. The area though, glitzy as it is, has a huge working class population who cater to the tourist industry.

Las Vegas, Nevada has more hotel rooms than any other city on earth. Of the top 25 largest hotels in the world, 15 are in Las Vegas.

State of Nevada has voted for the winning presidential candidate 96 percent of the time since all Lower 48 states first voted in the Election of 1912. During the past 100 years, Nevada has voted for the winner in every election except for 1976 when Jimmy Carter lost the Silver State by a narrow margin. (Ohio is the only state that has voted for the winning Presidential candidate in each Presidential election in the last 50 years)
(HERE)

South Carolina holds its Republican primary Saturday too, Democrats must wait until next Saturday for their SC primary. Will Donald Trump retain his lead...will Ted Cruz make gains? I know nothing at all about South Carolina, except that one of my favourite movies Prince of Tides is partly set there. Reportedly Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump still hold big, possibly insurmountable, leads in this southern state.

In other news

The mystery of MH370 lingers on...and on ...and on

From news.com.au

10 weeks until the search for the plane is expected to end after a year-long mission. If officials fail to find the wreckage, it throws up the possibility that a rogue pilot was controlling the aircraft at the end.

According to The Times, Australian officials are preparing to change their theory of what actually happened before it disappeared.

The 60,000sq km search area, which is almost the size of England, was calculated on the assumption that the plane was a “ghost flight” and that its pilots were either incapacitated or dead at the time it crashed. In this scenario the aircraft flew on autopilot until its fuel ran out and it crashed into the Indian Ocean.

But if the plane is not found in this area, it may suggest someone was controlling the flight at the end and managed to glide the aircraft for up to 160km, beyond the bounds of the search area. The “rogue pilot” theory suddenly comes back into play.

Unfortunately, if the plane is not found in the next few months, the world may never know what happened to flight MH370. Australia, Malaysia and China agreed last year to end the search if they reached the end of the zone without finding the plane.

On a lighter note

From husband's vintage photos "Talking Pictures" section at Flickr



Husband's caption:
Earle Smith and Vera at the 828 house.
Vera wore her pointed paper hat of invisibility. Earle kept his club ready, just in case. He knew all her tricks, he thought.

Alternative caption suggested by Michael Donovan
"So, he wants to make you his common-law wife, does he? Well, I've give him some common-law wife right up the you-know-where if he shows his ugly mug around here again!"

Another alternative by Debbie Irwin
He knew the little pest would be back. Those pointy headed fairies had had their way with him for the last time. He had the idea that this club in his hand was not the "fairy chaser" the dealer had convinced him it was. In time, he would build his own. He feels the victory is near. It is his time, by God. IT IS *HIS* TIME!!!

And from the always chuckle-worthy Wrong Hands by John Atkinson (borrowed after the hopefully adequate donation of a tip for requested "cup of coffee"):

I'm going with:
EDGY - ALIEN - TIME TRAVELS - SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
(Thereby hangs a tale?)