3. I spent the afternoon pulling back damp carpet in my wife’s parents home in the Meyerland neighborhood in southwest Houston. An inconvenience compared to what many of my fellow Houstonians are going through. It hurts my heart to read some of the comments that have been written on the various stories about the flood. The jokes, the politics, and the denigration of Texas and Houston. There are human souls here who are hurting. May you never have to go through a tragedy in your own life. But if you do, your political affiliation or your state of residence will not determine whether I will have compassion for what you are going through. To the many people who have sent kind words, thank you.
4. I am a survivor of Katrina and unless you’ve been there, you can only realize how much this means. Thank you, sir.
— Peyton Bullard on The Times’s Facebook page, reacting to a video about Jim McIngvalen, otherwise known as Mattress Mack, a mattress-store owner in Houston who opened his store to hurricane victims and their pets.
N.A.A.C.P. Issues Travel Advisory Against Missouri
5. Born and raised [in Missouri] and am a Black Lady who quickly moved after college. I concur with the N.A.A.C.P.; [it] is just as bad as any Southern state. No surprise since state admittance of Missouri was as a slave state under the Compromise of 1820. The racist mind-set has not changed. I abhor coming there for family celebrations.
— Delois Hopgood on The Times’s Facebook page, responding to an article about the N.A.A.C.P. warning African-Americans against travel to Missouri.
6. And many of us in Kansas City are puzzled. Kansas City is mighty inclusive.
— David W. Jones on The Times’s Facebook page.
President Trump Pardons Joe Arpaio
7. I am a member of Trump’s base. A die-hard Republican that loved the pardon of Sheriff Joe Arpaio! I have nothing against Mexicans, but I am against illegals entering the U.S. for economic gain at our expense. I am against paying my tax dollars for education, health care, food stamps and states giving illegals the same higher education breaks that Americans have earned. Sheriff Joe? He gets it. The law is the law.
— Lynn Tobin in Florida, reacting to an editorial about President Trump’s pardon of Joe Arpaio, a former Arizona sheriff who was convicted in July of criminal contempt of court.
8. Arpaio was convicted of contempt of court. In pardoning him, Mr. Trump shows his contempt of our judicial system.
— Susan Hoff in Port Jefferson, N.Y.
North Korea Fires Missile Over Japan
9. We got the emergency alert at 6 in the morning. We were tired and a bit delirious and unsure — all it said was a missile was launched by North Korea and to seek shelter in a sturdy building or underground. But how much time realistically is there? Where do we go? Is it even safe to travel outside? We ended up staying in and waited for a tense 10 minutes before the next alert came saying the missile had passed. About seven minutes of waiting, it’s like “How long does it take? Shouldn’t it have hit by now? Where is it?”
It was really a surreal experience.
— Elaina Olmo on The Times’s Facebook page, responding to a reader callout related to an article about whether Japan, in the wake of North Korean aggression, has begun to question the pacifist clause inserted in its constitution following World War II.
Pumpkin Spice: A Blessing, or a Curse?
10. Pumpkin spice is a horrible disease inflicted on the American palate by capitalism.
— Rebecca Stanton on The Times’s Facebook page, responding to an article about pumpkin-spice-flavored foods and beverages, traditionally a harbinger of autumn, appearing on store shelves earlier this year.