SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:18 P.M. ET: 

AUTOMATED ARMY?  From Britain's Telegraph:  "The US Army is considering replacing thousands of soldiers with robots as it deals with sweeping troop cuts.  A senior American officer has said he is considering shrinking the size of the Army’s brigade combat teams by a quarter and replacing the lost troops with robots and remote-controlled vehicles.  The American military is still far from fielding armies of Terminator-type robotic killers though.  Ideas under discussion instead include proposals to see manned lorries and transporters replaced by supply trains of robots vehicles."  Imagine R2D2 as the next star West Point quarterback.  Nah.  Guys are better.

SAD – He once was a bright light in the Republican Party.  From the Washington Examiner:  "Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were charged with illegally accepting gifts from a businessman who sought special treatment, the Associated Press reported.  Peter Carr, a spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department, says McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were indicted Tuesday. The 14-count indictment includes conspiracy, wire fraud and other charges.  The charges come from the couple's relationship with Jonnie R. Williams Sr., a former CEO of dietary supplement maker Star Scientific.  Authorities alleged the McDonnells lodged frequent requests for money, clothes, vacations and other gifts, the Washington Post reported. In exchange, the couple lent the prestige of the governorship to Williams' struggling company."   They're innocent until proved guilty, but this sure doesn't look good.

THE VERY LATEST SOCIAL NEWS – From the New York Post:  "France’s first lady has lost the love triangle battle with President Francois Hollande’s new girlfriend and Hollande is 'in negotiations, including legal ones' to end their nine-year relationship, it was reported Monday.  Elysee palace sources told Britain’s Telegraph that Valerie Trierweiler wanted to remain a couple with Hollande but the president was insistent.
When word Hollande’s secret affair with actress Julie Gayet broke earlier this month sources close to Trierweiler said she wanted to weather the storm with him in the fashion of Hillary Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.  Trierweiler was recovering from the shock at a Paris hospital last Thursday when Hollande told her he 'needed time,' according to Paris Match, which employs Trierweiler as a writer."  The French do scandal with so much more style than we do.  They make it a regal event.  So we'll have Julie Gayet at the upcoming White House state dinner for the French president.  Don't tell Michelle.

DISGRACE – From CNS:  "A record 20% of American households, one in five, were on food stamps in 2013, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).  The numbers also show there was a record number of individuals on food stamps in 2013 and that the cost of the program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), was at an all-time high.  The USDA says that there were 23,052,388 households on food stamps in the average month of fiscal 2013, an increase of 722,675 from fiscal year 2012, when there were 22,329,713 households on food stamps in the average month."  The economic recovery is really blazing.

January 21, 2014