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

AND ANOTHER – FROM FOX:    One NYPD officer was killed and another wounded in a shootout in the Bronx Friday afternoon following a 911 call to report a home invasion. The gunman also was killed.  New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio identified the dead officer as Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo, a 19-year veteran of the force and father of two young children.  "The city is in mourning, the whole family of the NYPD is in mourning," De Blasio said.  The gunman was identified as Manuel Rosales, 35, who had 17 prior arrests.  Seventeen priors and still out on the street.  Insanity.  The number of  police officers murdered is up 48% this year.  I have to believe it's related to the war on police generated by the political left.

DON NEEDLES HIL – FROM THE DAILY MAIL:   Donald Trump attracted an estimated 11,000 people to a Pennsylvania hockey arena Friday night, and quickly boasted that unlike Hillary Clinton he didn't have to share top-billing with a singer to lure in the crowds.  'We are gonna win Pennsylvania big!' he said as he surveyed the nearly packed house in the famed chocolate town of Hershey. 'Look at this. I hear we set a new record for this building!'  'And by the way, I didn't have to bring J-Lo or Jay-Z – the only way she gets anybody,' the Republican presidential nominee boasted. 'I'm here all by myself. Just me. No guitar, no piano, no nothing.'  'But you know what we do have? And it's all of us. It's all the same. We have great ideas and great vision for our country.'  After we get through the bragging, we realize he's right.  Clinton needs major names to bring in the crowds.  Trump needs himself, and his crowds are much bigger.

GREAT MOMENTS IN EDUCATION – FROM COLLEGE FIX:   Most universities just give celebrities honorary degrees, but three years ago, Emerson College actually renamed its School of Communication after the mustachioed blowhard Ron Burgundy from the Anchorman movies.  The occasion was an appearance by actor Will Ferrell as his Burgundy character to promote the second installment of the series. (Emerson also offers a comedy minor.)  Some things have changed since then – the School of Communication is no longer prefixed by Burgundy (it was a one-day stunt), and Emerson College now has no tolerance for the word “anchorman.”  Sexist, it is claimed.  A list of forbidden words was published, a common practice at many notoriously politically correct colleges.  Not exactly great preparation for the adult world.

November 4, 2016