SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET:

IRMA ON THE WAY – FROM FOX:  Florida Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in the state as rapidly growing Hurricane Irma, now a Category 4 storm, is expected to make landfall later this week.  The state of emergency has been issued for all of Florida’s 67 counties. Scott said that the state would “prepare for the worst and hope for the best” as Irma is expected to hit the state around Friday.  The governor tweeted Monday that he urges "all Floridians to remain vigilant and stay alert to local weather and news and visit FLGetAPlan.com today to get prepared."  CNN will no doubt blame President Trump for the storm, and suggest that he dreamed it up with Putin.

JAPAN PREPARES – FROM NIKKEI ASIAN REVIEW:  TOKYO -- As tensions on the Korean Peninsula reach new heights with Pyongyang's latest nuclear test, Japan is planning for a possible mass evacuation of the nearly 60,000 Japanese citizens currently living in or visiting South Korea.  "There is a possibility of further provocations," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a Monday meeting with ruling coalition lawmakers. "We need to remain extremely vigilant and do everything we can to ensure the safety of our people."  In response to North Korea's sixth nuclear test, Japan and the U.S. seek to ratchet up economic pressure on the rogue state through an oil embargo and other measures. But U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis on Sunday also said any threat to the U.S. or its allies "will be met with a massive military response -- a response both effective and overwhelming."  An unpredictable situation.  No one knows exactly what is in the North Korean leader's mind.  Don't be shocked, should tensions rise more, to see anti-American and pro-North Korean demonstrations on some American college campuses.  Extra credit will be given.

NO MORE STRANGE VOICES? – FROM BUSINESS TIMES:  [PARIS] Scientists have pinpointed a part of the brain where "voices" torment schizophrenia sufferers, and partially muted them with magnetic pulse treatment, a team reported on Tuesday.  More than a third of sufferers treated with magnetic pulses in a patient trial experienced "significant" relief, the scientists said in a statement.  "We can now say with some certainty that we have found a specific anatomical area of the brain associated with auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia," the team said.  "Secondly, we have shown that treatment with high frequency TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) makes a difference to at least some sufferers."  This will be great news for certain Washington politicians, network executives and college professors. 

September 4, 2017