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

WE'RE GOING NUTS – FROM BLOOMBERG:  There’s good news for Americans who find themselves waking up in a cold sweat at 3 a.m. to check the latest polls: You are not alone.  More than half of you—on both sides of the aisle—say the 2016 election is a major source of stress, according to a new survey from the American Psychological Association. “Historically, work, money, and the economy are the top three,” said clinical psychologist Lynn Bufka, part of the APA’s Stress in America team, which has been conducting surveys of what freaks us out the most for 10 years. “Now it’s right up there.”   In addition to the overall pervasiveness of news about the presidential election—non-stop coverage for more than a year now—Bufka cites several potential reasons Americans are more worried this year. To start, there’s the tenor of the campaigns, which are arguably more negative and accusatory than any other in modern history. “In general,” she said, “humans like harmony.” Not a lot of that going around this year.  Most people I know just wish the campaign was over.  It's the most depressing and unsatisfying campaign I've experienced.  Just once I'd like to hear Ronald Reagan say, "Well, there you go again."  No need for hatred.

HOW ENCOURAGING – FROM LONDON'S DAILY MAIL:   Qatar, an Islamist state in the Persian gulf, gave former President Bill Clinton $1million for his birthday in 2012, according to emails released by WikiLeaks.  According to a message that was released in the leak of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's emails this week, Ami Desai, director of foreign policy for the Clinton Foundation, told several other staffers about the check.   '[Qatar] Would like to see WJC "for five minutes" in NYC, to present $1 million check that Qatar promised for WJC's birthday in 2011,' Desai wrote.  I'm sure it was all about warmth and charity.  Why, President Hillary won't even remember it.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK – FROM NEWSFIX:    HOUSTON -- A 911 operator is accused of intentionally hanging up on callers during emergencies simply because she was not in the mood to help, according to Houston police.  Crenshanda Williams has been charged with interference with an emergency telephone call.  Williams had been employed as a telecommunicator with the Houston Emergency Center since July 2014, and supervisors began to notice that her logs revealed an abnormally high amount of "short calls," with a duration of less than 20 seconds.  Supervisors investigated the recorded call logs, and found that thousands of calls had been disconnected by Williams between Oct. 2015 and March 2016.  At least one of the calls was for a robbery and homicide, and two were regarding speeding vehicles.  I wonder how many of those lives were lost, and how many mattered.

October 13, 2016