SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET: 

WARNING – FROM ZEROHEDGE:   One day after US intelligence sources warned that Al-Qaeda may be preparing for potential terrorist attacks in New York, Texas and Virginia, on Saturday the Islamic State called for the "slaughter" of U.S. voters on Election Day and demanded that Muslims not participate in the democratic process because "there is no difference between the Republican and Democratic parties in their “policies against Islam and Muslims."  Rita Katz, director of terrorist monitoring group SITE Intelligence Group, said Saturday on Twitter that the threats appear in an essay carried by the Islamic State's Al Hayat media center that declares militants "have come to slaughter you and smash your ballot boxes."  "May Allah make this year’s U.S. presidential election a dreadful calamity like no other to have struck America throughout its pathetic history," the seven-page manifesto, entitled "The Murtadd Vote," read.  Rita Katz, no relation to me, is one of the best sources for this kind of information.  We can only be vigilant, use common-sense security measures, and hope.  We are a free society and we conduct open elections.

STATESMANSHIP – FROM THE HILL:    Secretary of State John Kerry will visit an Antarctic research station next week, making him the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the world’s southernmost continent.  Kerry will meet with scientists at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica during a trip Nov. 10–12, the State Department announced on Friday.  While there, Kerry will discuss the impact of climate change on the continent and will visit the Ross Sea Region Marine Protected Area, which a group of 24 nations announced last month as the the world’s largest marine sanctuary.  When the marine area was established in October, Kerry praised it as one that “will safeguard one of the last unspoiled ocean wilderness areas on the planet — home to unparalleled marine biodiversity and thriving communities of penguins, seals, whales, seabirds, and fish.”  The penguins have promised Kerry a 21-chirp salute.

TRUMP SCARE – FROM THE DAILY MAIL:   Secret Service agents rushed Donald Trump offstage on Saturday evening during a rally in Reno, Nevada after they determined a protester in the audience might pose a threat to the Republican presidential candidate.  'Go! Go!' agents shouted as they whisked Trump away and a combination of local police and private security wrestled Austyn Crites, 33, to the ground in the front of the crowd.  Crites identifies as a Republican who supports Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, according to his Facebook page.   A senior Trump campaign official told DailyMail.com that the suspect, whom rally-goers already identified as an anti-Trump protester, caused a panic when he reached into his waistband.  At that point, the campaign official said, a voice called out: 'He's got a gun!'  No gun was actually found.  But the incident once again shows the risks of modern politics.  Hillary Clinton is known to have a poor relationship with those sworn to protect her.  Trump apparently has a good one.  Maybe Hillary will reconsider.

November 5, 2016