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

AND NOW MEXICO – FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES:  A powerful earthquake struck off the coast of Mexico early Friday and was felt as far away as Mexico City, reports said.  The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 8 and struck about 60 miles, or 96 kilometers, southwest of Pijijiapan, off the coast of Chiapas State, near the border with Guatemala.  The United States Geological Survey issued a tsunami warning right after the quake hit. The Associated Press reported that the quake was felt in the capital, Mexico City.  “I felt the earthquake in our neighborhood near downtown,” said Joel Petterson, a New York Times employee on vacation in Mexico City. “Our building started swaying about 20 minutes ago, and many people went out into the street.”  That's a powerful earthquake.  We'll be watching the story closely, as Irma makes its way to Florida.  Nature has become this weekend's big story.

SOMETHING ELSE TO KEEP US UP – FROM BLOOMBERG:  Equifax Inc. said its systems were struck by a cyberattack that may have affected about 143 million U.S. customers of the credit reporting agency, shedding light on one of the largest and most intrusive breaches in history.  Intruders accessed names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driver’s license numbers, Equifax said in a statement. Credit card numbers for about 209,000 consumers were also accessed, the company said. Equifax shares dropped more than 8 percent in after-hours trading.  "This is clearly a disappointing event for our company, and one that strikes at the heart of who we are and what we do. I apologize to consumers and our business customers for the concern and frustration this causes," Chief Executive Officer Richard Smith said.   We are incredibly vulnerable to this kind of hack, and yet I detect no sense of urgency in the American public.

SHE'S BAAACK...AND WON'T LEAVE US ALONE – FROM POLITICO:   President Donald  Trump may be the only person in politics truly excited about Hillary Clinton’s book tour.
Democratic operatives can’t stand the thought of her picking the scabs of 2016, again — the Bernie Sanders divide, the Jim Comey complaints, the casting blame on Barack Obama for not speaking out more on Russia. Alums of her Brooklyn headquarters who were miserable even when they thought she was winning tend to greet the topic with, “Oh, God,” “I can’t handle it,” and “the final torture.”  Hillary has been nationally famous for more time than Franklin D. Roosevelt was on the day he died.  And it's not enough for her.  Don't be shocked if she runs again.  The competition is pretty thin, and some of it is older than she is.

September 7,  2017