Coffee and Provocation

Compared to What?
Hurricane Irma feels Biblical and punitive, but monsoon floods in India have devastated 34 million people, with over 1,000 already dead. We need to remember that as Americans we generally have options in a world where many millions of others do not.

Deep Legal Vetting I
Closer to home, here in Virginia, Donald Trump's legal team continues to be a complete and utter shit show. The latest is that the 53-year old wife of Donald Trump's ethics attorney was arrested for having sex in the backseat of a car with a 23-year old inmate who was a trustee at the Faquier County detention center. The car was in the detention center's parking lot.

Deep Legal Vetting II
Donald Trump's other lawyer, Ty Cobb, has tweeted to some random noodle-shop owner that he is "the adult in the room" when he meets with Trump. This statement was offered up in answer to the noodle-shop owner's trolling tweets about the lawyer being engaged in felatio with Trump (no I am not making this up). Trump's lawyer also tweeted: "I am on’t be here for long but will be I my piece against bullshit Russian bullshit."  We have no idea what this means, but it appears to have been translated out of the Russian.

Airlines Tell Us Who They Are
Jet Blue (remember that name fondly) dropped airline ticket prices for Miami hurricane evacuees, while other airlines price-gouged as much as $3,400 a ticket.  At least some airlines would not allow dogs on an airplane without a carrier, even though there were no carriers to be had. Result: people were forced to choose between staying to face a life-threatening storm or abandoning their pets.

The Blitz of London Started On This Day in 1940
The Brits were tough and brave. Recognizing that, America fed and armed Britain. We then went to Britain in order to stage the liberation of France and the rest of Europe. A headline from 77 years ago is appended below.