For The GOP Convention, Could North Dakota Be The Swing State? LOL -- But ... May 1, 2016

The National Review is reporting that Cruz delegates are starting to waver:

Donald Trump’s romp through the Northeast last Tuesday abruptly changed the subject, the political world was captivated — and Trump supporters were infuriated — by the Cruz campaign’s successful effort to elect large blocs of friendly delegates at a series of state-party conventions. 

But friendly delegates are as subject to shifts in the race’s momentum as anyone else, and Cruz’s strength with some of these crucial first-ballot convention voters may be overstated — particularly in North Dakota, where his campaign declared victory after filling 18 of 25 unbound delegate slots with its chosen candidates at the April 3 convention. 

Those delegates are vital to Cruz’s quest to deny his rival the 1,237 delegates he’ll need on the first ballot in Cleveland. But as they’ve watched Cruz struggle to tread water in a primary increasingly dominated by Trump, many of them, wary of a bitter convention battle that could rend the party at its seams, are rethinking their commitment to the Texas senator.

And if there is one thing NoDaks don't like is anything that "could rend something at the seams."

We like it homogeneous, smooth, and like Obama, "no drama."

*************************

Count Me Among The Disappointed

The New York Times on the Stephen Colbert show:

Things could be worse. Mr. Colbert still places second in overall audience — behind Jimmy Fallon on NBC, and ahead of Jimmy Kimmel on ABC.

But Mr. Kimmel has been beating Mr. Colbert among the younger viewers advertisers covet. And as Verne Gay of Newsday wrote, Mr. Colbert is lagging in the new currency of viral videos shared through social media.

Beyond that, there is the growing consensus that things just aren’t clicking.

I haven't watched Stephen Colbert since the first week it aired.

At 11:30 p.m. folks no longer want to listen to politics. Especially with a Rachel Maddow overlay.

****************************

Count Me Among The Unsurprised

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that an $18,000 solar panel investment will save Texans $177/year. I can't make this stuff up.

Solar power is an unknown for most homeowners.

Ask Jim Lord of Duncanville.

He listened to a salesman from Global Efficient Energy of Fort Worth. On its website, the company teases that a reduction in energy consumption between 20 percent and 100 percent is possible. Wow.

The salesman talked Lord into buying five panels for his roof. He promised at least a 20 percent savings. Lord also paid for a radiant barrier, attic fans and window and door weather stripping. The whole enchilada.

Lord paid the $18,000 bill with a finance plan that calls for monthly payments of $300.

After a full year, Lord pulled out his electricity bills from pre-solar and post-solar to compare. He was surprised to see that his savings is only 10 percent, half of what was promised.

In one year, Lord says he saved about $177.

At that rate, his new system will pay for itself in another … (pause) … 93 years.

And then get this:

[The CEO of the company] patiently explained to me that energy savings is a two-way street. His people make the structural changes, but a homeowner must live an energy-efficient lifestyle, too.

But that doesn’t always happen. Because of that, he says, “We’re not doing any guaranteeing anymore. You can’t control what people do and how they live. That’s the biggest lesson we’ve learned as we’ve grown.”

And so it goes, from the sunny state of Texas.

*********************************

Count Me Among Those Who Don't Make Plans For The Day

Texans prefer not to make plans for the day because, when they do, the word premeditated starts getting thrown around in court. 

Speaking of which, the most common sign seen on retail store doors throughout California is the sign warning customers that cancer-causing substances are on the premises, a Proposition 65 requirement.

In Texas: "open carry not allowed" and they are not talking about booze.