*RESPECT | Impastas | No Baby, No Cry

“Be your own artist, and always be confident in what you’re doing. If you’re not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.” – Aretha Franklin

RESPECT: The world has lost another legend with the passing yesterday of 76-year-old Aretha Franklin. She was so much more than just an amazing voice. Aretha started singing as a youngster in her father’s Detroit church. When she was six, her mother left the family, and died four years later. At 14, Aretha began recording gospel music and touring the gospel circuit with her father. She gave birth to the first of four sons at age 15; her second was two years later. She found real success at Atlantic Records in the mid-sixties as a soul and R&B singer. Her new backup musicians from Muscle Shoals, Alabama provided just the gritty, earthy accompaniment her bluesy voice needed, and from 1967 to 1968 Aretha had 10 Top Ten hits. Her songs like “Respect”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, and “Think” were not only huge sellers, they became anthems for social change, and part of the vernacular.

Franklin’s producer at Atlantic Records once said: “I think of Aretha as ‘Our Lady of Mysterious Sorrows’”, whose eyes could express inexorable pain. She certainly knew anguish in her life—growing up without a mother, two divorces, deep depressions—but that just imbued her music with an authenticity that spanned generations and ethnicities. Her sixty-plus-year career was also filled with incredible joy and reward. She was the first woman admitted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; she won 18 Grammys; she sang for presidents and royalty; she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Most of all, she had a lifelong commitment to civil rights and equal justice, and lent her talents to social causes into her seventies. Aretha Franklin leaves behind a large, loving family, iconic music, and fans who will never forget.

Yemen Bus Bomb: The war in Yemen is particularly heartbreaking, because most of the casualties are children. The airstrike on August 9th was no exception. Of the 54 killed that day, 44 were from a bus full of young boys who were on a field trip that day. This strike, like so many that have killed civilians at markets, weddings and funerals, has revived questions about the coalition’s tactics, and US support for the campaign. The US response is a bipartisan bill signed by President Trump Monday that will require Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to certify that the two countries leading the coalition, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are “taking steps” to prevent civilian deaths. (NYT)

Bye Bye Bum Bum: She desired a derriere like Kardashian or Minaj. So last month 46-year-old Lilian Calixto traveled 1,000 miles to the apartment of ‘Dr. Bum Bum’, aka Denis Furtado, a well-known Brazilian plastic surgeon. He injected her backsidewith 300 milliliters of PMMA, an acrylic glass filler substance. Unfortunately it didn’t sit well with her; Calixto died and Bum Bum disappeared. A few days later the doctor was arrested and charged with murder. (WaPo)

No Baby, No Cry: Not everyone wants kids… and it’s becoming increasingly obvious in South Korea, where more and more women are choosing not to marry.Partially caused by the South Korean work culture, in which women are often booted out when they become pregnant, the new social phenomenon has been labeled as the “Sampo Generation.” (BBC)

Going Postal: Palestinian citizens are about to be pre-approved for quite a lot of credit cards. For the last 8 years, Israeli occupying forces have been preventing the passage of mail through Jordan. But they have decided to finally release the 10 tonnes of postage to the Palestinian citizens. The postage includes family photos, letters, medicine, and even a wheelchair.

What Do You Call A Pastafarian Without An ID? An Impasta: Tensions in the Dutch Pastafarian community are really starting to boil over. The Dutch council of state has ruled that Pastafarianism is not a religion. Which means if you want to wear your traditional Pastafarian colander hat in your Dutch ID photo, you are out of luck. Pastafarianism started in 2005 as a response to Christianity and has since evolved into its own form of creative expression and protest. You can catch followers dressing as pirates, wearing colanders on their heads, and worshipping the invisible Flying Spaghetti Monster that floats above us all. Ramen. (Guardian)

Vox Potusli: On Thursday President Trump tweeted additional attacks on the media, which is nothing new. But this time he accused The Boston Globe of ‘colluding’ with newspapers across the country to publish editorials that champion freedom of the press. One tweet said: “Now the Globe is in COLLUSION with other papers on free press. PROVE IT!” Hard to know what that means exactly, but Senators were apparently concerned enough about all the president’s attacks to pass a resolution in support of press freedom, which included an affirmation “that the press is not the enemy of the people.” (NYT)

Time For Some Good News Bad News: Good News: US unemployment is at an all-time low. Bad News: US bosses now earn 312 times the average worker’s wages. (Guardian)

– “Are Job Ads Targeting Young Workers Breaking The Law?” Not if you ask employers. (NPR)

– “Brennan hits back at Trump and calls denials of Russian collusion ‘hogwash’” There is no Russian collusion, remember? Only newspaper collusion. (Guardian)

– “The three-year-old with an IQ of 171” She knows exactly where you went when you play peekaboo. (BBC)

– “Are other people’s sex lives better than yours?” The sex is always greener- wait. The grass is always sexier…? No. (BBC)

– “US Asians hire out cinemas to screen Crazy Rich Asians: What’s the best way to get a new film seen by as many people as possible? Give out free tickets, of course.” (BBC)

– “Whale hunt in Faroe Islands turns sea red with blood: Powerful pictures from the Faroe Islands show the sea turned blood red after dozens of whales were killed by islanders in preparation for the harsh winter months.” (BBC)

– “Why UNC’s Tommy Hatton walked away from football: Former North Carolina lineman ends his football playing career after suffering his fourth concussion in 2017.” (News&Observer)

– “The 30-Year Manhunt for China’s Most Elusive Serial Killer” (New Republic)

– “2 years of NFL protests, explained: Why a protest against racial injustice became a political hot potato.” We miss when football was less about politics and more about Papa John’s commercials. (Vox)

– “Tyson Isn’t Chicken: Its new CEO is pouring money into animal-free alternatives.” Is this headline about 90s boxing or soy protein? (Bloomberg)

– “The Big, Dangerous Bubble in Corporate Debt” Someone finally gets to the bottom of why corporate debt is bad. (NYT)

“We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It’s our basic human right.”- Aretha Franklin

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