SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 A.M. ET: 

NO, AS OF THIS HOUR – From BBC:  "Scotland will vote to stay in the United Kingdom after rejecting independence, the BBC has predicted.  With 26 out of the country's 32 council areas having declared, the 'No' side has 54% of the vote, with the 'Yes' campaign on 46%.  By 05:15 BST (06:15 GMT), the 'No' campaign had more than 1,397,000 votes, with 'Yes' on just over 1,176,000.  A total of 1,852,828 votes is needed for victory in the referendum.  The BBC is predicting on the basis of the result declared so far that the 'No' side will win the referendum with 55% of the vote while 'Yes' will secure 45% of the vote."  The mayor of Chicago is offering to change the result in exchange for three cases of Scotch, well, you know what.

WEIRD – From the Washington Times:  "Mysterious 'interceptor' cellphone towers that can listen in someone’s phone call despite not being part of any phone networks have turned up near the White House and Senate.  A company that specializes in selling secure mobile phones discovered the existence of several of the towers in and around the nation’s capitol.  'It’s highly unlikely that federal law enforcement would be using mobile interceptors near the Senate,' ESD America CEO Les Goldsmith told the technology website Venture Beat on Thursday."  How could anyone hide a tower?

DEMS LOSING SOME WOMEN – From Newsmax:  "In a New York Times/CBS News poll, and a Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey, a shift in the traditional edge Democrats have over Republicans among women was noted.  In the Times/CBS News poll, for example, when asked 'If the 2014 election for United States House of Representatives seats were being held today, would you vote for the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate in your district?,' women picked Democrats over Republicans by just one point, 43 percent to 42 percent.  And in the Journal/NBC News survey, asked if they wanted the midterm elections to produce a Democrat- or GOP-led Congress, 47 percent of women chose Democrats while 40 percent preferred a Republican majority; a month earlier, women favored a Democratic Congress 51-37 percent."  A number of trends seem to be going our way, but there are no guarantees that these will translate into individual state victories.  We have to work as if we're 20 points down.

WARREN SPLITS ON SYRIA – From The Hill:  "Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Thursday voted against legislation authorizing President Obama to arm and train Syrian rebels, taking a stand that could distinguish her from Hillary Clinton in 2016.  She voted against legislation to fund the government until Dec. 11, which included a provision giving Obama Title X authority to equip Syrian militants in hopes they will fight violent Sunni extremists.  Warren has a thin foreign policy résumé but by voting against the authority Obama requested, she will earn points with members of the Democratic base who are skeptical about another military campaign in the Middle East."  No, that crowd is skeptical about national defense, period.

September 18, 2014