Strategic Alliance: Fighting from their last trench, Ted Cruz and John Kasich announced last night that they are teaming up to deny the Republican presidential nomination to Donald Trump. It’s a rare political collusion, particularly for Cruz who has bitterly criticized the third place Kasich for staying in the race.

Cruz’s campaign manager, Jeff Roe, said in a statement that the campaign would “focus its time and resources in Indiana and in turn clear the path for Governor Kasich to compete in Oregon and New Mexico.” Kasich’s people issued a similar statement.

Speaking yesterday, before the Cruz/Kasich announcement, Trump was already whipping up fury about the possibility of being denied the nomination. He told a crowd, “If a guy that is losing by all those millions of votes, I’ll tell you, we’re going to have some people that are very, very angry.”

Cyberwar: The US is opening a new combat front against the Islamic State. It’s in cyberspace.

The Pentagon’s Cyber Command has been ordered to attack the Islamic State’s computer network to destroy the terrorist organization’s ability to recruit, deliver orders, and handle its finances, including paying its fighters. ISIS has been clever about using social media and the internet to build and run its operation. Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said, “We are dropping cyber bombs.”

At the same time, President Obama is sending about 250 more military personnel to Syria to join the fight with 50 special operations troops already there.

Politics: Billionaire Libertarian Charles Koch said on ABC that there’s a chance he would support Hillary Clinton for president. “We would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric.” He’s not impressed with the Republicans, about whom he said the same thing.

Clinton was quick to turn down any help from the Kochs. She tweeted that she’s “not interested in endorsements from people who deny climate science and try to make it harder for people to vote.”

Police Blotter: Investigators have found marijuana-growing operations on the rural farms where eight members of a family were killed execution style in rural Ohio last week. Marijuana grows were found at three of the four shooting locations.

Most of the victims appeared to have been shot while they were sleeping. Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said, “This was very methodical. This was well planned. This was not something that just happened.” The killer — or killers — have not been found.

Travel and Resorts: In a graduation speech at Jackson State University, First Lady Michelle Obama pleaded with graduates to get out and vote or risk losing long fought for civil rights. Referring to the state’s new legal discrimination law she said, “We see it right here in Mississippi — just two weeks ago — how swiftly progress can hurtle backward, how easy it is to single out a small group and marginalize them because of who they are or who they love.”

Mississippi and North Carolina both have begun to see a backlash because of their new “religious freedom laws” that allow discrimination on religious grounds and regulate what gender gets to use which public bathroom. The tourist industry in both states has already been hit by cancellations. Conventions are cancelling plans or dropping consideration of both states as potential locations.

The list of musical acts that have cancelled shows includes Pearl Jam, Boston, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, and Annie DiFranco.

Darwinian Theory: A long-distance runner who tried to run from Florida to Bermuda inside a plastic bubble has been picked up by the Coast Guard. Reza Baluchi set out from Pompano Beach Saturday, despite a Coast Guard warning not to make the attempt. A similar attempt in 2014 ended when Baluchi was picked up 70 miles east of St. Augustine. In the rescue business, this is known as “interfering with natural selection.”

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