R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Aretha Franklin: 1942-2018.

Thank you, ma'am.

great news: Thai cave rescue: boys found!

venezuela on my mind

For weeks, Venezuelans have been flocking by the busload to San Antonio del Tachira, a border town of some 62,000 residents, fleeing as President Nicolas Maduro consolidates autocratic power. The Simon Bolivar International Bridge is the avenue for an outpouring unprecedented in the history of this oil-rich nation. Crowds stream toward the bridge, attended by street hawkers selling juice, fried pastries and bus tickets and men who ferry their meager possessions to a new life. According to Colombia’s migration authority, the number of foreigners entering Cucuta, the first major city across the bridge, more than doubled this summer. Over 50,000 came in August, up from 22,700 in June. The numbers don’t reflect dual nationals returning to their homeland, or thousands simply crossing into Colombia without passing official checkpoints.

- Bloomberg

my thoughts are with Texas

Sending my love and best wishes to my family and friends in Texas as they face catastrophic circumstances.

More photos of the Hurricane Harvey disaster at CNN.

eclipse 2017

More great photos from CNN.

fareed's take

One of his most profound statements ever.

força barça

I, too, stand with our Spanish friends. Força Barça!

naked is the new black

Learn more about naturism at Paya Bay Resort.

"the only morally justifiable reaction is disgust"

Tuesday was a great day for David Duke and racists everywhere. The president of the United States all but declared that he has their backs.

When a white supremacist stands accused of running his car into a crowd of protesters, killing one and injuring 19, Americans of goodwill mourn and demand justice. When this is done in the context of a rally where swastikas are borne and racist and anti-Semitic epithets hurled, the only morally justifiable reaction is disgust. When the nation’s leader does not understand this, the nation can only weep.

- Washington Post Editorial

internet meme of the day

The latest meltdown. My maternal grandfather's merchant ship was torpedoed in the Caribbean by white supremacists during WWII. Although he's now transcended, Mr. Evans Cooper survived to tell the story. We must all act to smother and suffocate fascism wherever and whenever it begins to manifest its evil head. History is counting on us.

happy 150th birthday, Canada!

As my Canadian buddy Ryan puts it: "Equality and respect for all!"

oui, monsieur le président!

I'm really liking Monsieur Emmanuel Macron a lot! Vive la France!

i'm with her!

Perilous times for Our Mother.

my thoughts are with manchester

Heartbreaking news.

wow

"I think in many ways our institutions are under assault both externally -- and that's the big news here is the Russian interference in our election system -- and I think as well our institutions are under assault internally," Clapper told anchor Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union." Pressed if he meant US institutions were under assault internally from the President, Clapper responded, "Exactly." Clapper called on the other branches of the federal government to step up in their roles as a check on the executive. "The founding fathers, in their genius, created a system of three co-equal branches of government and a built-in system of checks and balances," Clapper said. "I feel as though that is under assault and is eroding."

-  Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CNN

"a declaration of war"

We’re already past the point, probably, of reversing what climate change has done to this planet. Some say we’re on the precipice, some say we’re too late, some say we’re going to be too late very soon. For him to tear up every single regulation instituted by President Obama on climate change and for him to say that that will no longer be a concern when they make their decisions, is not just a fuck you to the rest of this world, but it’s a declaration of war against the actual planet.

- Michael Moore

I-85 bridge collapse In atlanta

I drove this section of the I-85 expressway to and from work every weekday when I lived in Atlanta. I was one of the 200,000 commuters (plus another 50,000 intrastate and interstate drivers) who use it pretty much daily. It's mind-boggling to think one of the busiest stretches of interstate highway in the U.S. (in the heart of one of its largest, most-vibrant cities) will be closed for MONTHS while it is repaired. I feel the pain of the residents of my former home city who will have to deal with a horrid traffic nightmare this spring and (maybe) summer. Oy vey!

this is America!

THIS is America!

"'Take your broken heart, make it into art.'"

priceless

My California soul sibling has been up to some mischief!

the dangers of fascism

I don't think there will be fascism in America, but we have to do everything we can to fight against it. As the Germans know better than we do, disaster can take a nation by surprise, slowly, and then all at once. My deep sense of alarm has to do with his seeming lack of fealty to constitutionalism. He seems to think it is within his rights to trample the First Amendment, to disdain the press, to punish protesters or flag-burners, to ban ethnic categories of immigrants, and so on. He has myriad conflicts of interest. He appoints people of low quality, to say the least. He lies with astonishing frequency and in stunning volume. His temperament and character is precisely what you would hate to see in your children, much less your president. We can wish all these things will magically change once he is in office, but will they? I've lived through terrible presidents, we all have. I lived through the Nixon administration, which prolonged a horrific war for years and ran a criminal operation out of the White House, and I lived through the years with George W. Bush. And I lived for years in the Soviet Union and have seen the promise of democratic development turn, with Putin, into an authoritarian state. So yes, I think we should be alarmed, watchful, and, as journalists, rigorous and fearless. I think we should be alert.

- David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker (Der Spiegel interview)