Sept. 11 was one of the worst days in US history but the month or so that followed was one of our best, because as a nation we came together. We can do so again: Put aside our political differences and lock arms as neighbors, friends, and Americans. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/n...

Mamdani and Giuliani Shake Hands at Ground Zero on 9/11 (Gift Article)

The former mayor and the sitting mayor shared a few words at the anniversary ceremony on Friday.

nytimes.com

San Francisco chef reads mean Yelp review. The patron was incensed that their food arrived hot. www.instagram.com/p/Dczha2UtEYm/

Brenda's French Soul Food on Instagram: "We always appreciate y’all taking the time to leave us a review on Yelp. They’re usually sweet, sometimes helpful and, well… every now and then, a little funny...

3,099 likes, 280 comments - brendasfrenchsf on September 2, 2026: "We always appreciate y’all taking the time to leave us a review on Yelp. They’re usually sweet, sometimes helpful and, well… every no...

instagram.com

This music documentary about Oasis is surprisingly moving. It made me wish I was a superfan. If you like Oasis at all, don't miss it. www.imdb.com/title/tt3615...

25 years later: They knocked down our buildings but they couldn't bring down our nation. 🇺🇸💪

Fun post. How good is your team's backup QB? too-deep-zone.ghost.io/nfl-backup-q...

NFL Backup Quarterback Rankings 2026

Mac Jones. Anthony Richardson. Jameis Winston. Andy Dalton. Find out where your team's backup quarterback falls on the "We're probably screwed" to "We're UTTERLY screwed" continuum.

too-deep-zone.ghost.io

Decent analysis that lays out Carney's dilemma: Canadian tariffs on US products hurt Canadians but don't make much impact on the US. But Canadians want Carney to hit back harder. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/w...

Carney, at a Cabinet Retreat, Considers Further Trade Strikes Against the U.S. (Gift Article)

Canada’s retaliation this week against President Trump’s tariffs was met with more American tariffs and a closed U.S. border on some Canadian products.

nytimes.com

Yesterday I started my morning with a Zoom with someone in NYC. Me: "How's the weather?" Her: "Beautiful! It's 85 degrees, maybe the last warm day of summer." Me: "San Francisco is different. It's supposed to hit 85 degrees here. We're melting! We're all melting!"

Outstanding headline! Newspapers don't prize headline writing today because SEO is more important than being clever. But this one ... my compliments to the anonymous NY Times copy editor who came up with it.

Torpedo rays deliver powerful electric shocks underwater. I'm a scuba diver, but this species I haven't encountered (and I'm glad). dan.org/alert-diver/...

Torpedo Rays

Explore the incidents involving Torpedo Rays and their electric shock effects on commercial divers during deepwater inspections.

dan.org

Whiskey stays at the center of a rapidly escalating trade war between neighbors and former friends. Canada retaliates; Trump escalates. Now people in Texas won't be able to buy their favorite whiskey. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/09/us...

US Escalates the Great Booze War of 2026 | Wine-Searcher News & Opinion

The trade spat between the US and Canada has deepened, with Canadian spirits firmly in the firing line. Read the latest wine news & opinion on wine-searcher

wine-searcher.com

Drink your best wines now because The Terminator was a documentary. nypost.com/2026/09/09/t...

Anthropic researcher abruptly quits, chillingly warns AI ‘could kill us all’ — and current team leader agrees

A researcher for one of the largest and most valuable artificial intelligence companies has publicly quit — while raising the alarm that the technology “could kill us all by the end of the decade.&…

nypost.com

I don't know if Cab needs an advocate, but wine does, and Eric is a fine one.

Eric Asimov@ericasimov.bsky.social · 5d ago

Does cabernet sauvignon really need an advocate? I think so. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/d...

Interesting! Winemakers may not want to risk "natural" fermentations in a hotter environment. I don't know more than this single story. Does anyone have more info on this?

Jane Mayl🍷n 🍇@janetrad.bsky.social · 5d ago

Temperatures of up to 50°C at the heart of grape bunches, combined with a lack of rainfall, have severely impacted the levels of indigenous microflora present on the surface of the grapes. Half of the samples analyzed showed fewer than 100,000 yeast CFU per berry, 100 times less than in 2025.

Important reading before you go out to buy hamburgers. We can't trust the safety of imported beef in the US in 2026 because our government is corrupt at the very top. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/07/o...

Opinion | Why Did Trump Order Up 660 Million Pounds of Mystery Meat? (Gift Article)

On second thought, I’m not that hungry.

nytimes.com

For all the people smart enough to not attend Burning Man, this column sums up what you're missing: Hiking through sandstorms to look at trash, and trying to tell yourself it's an epiphany. www.sfgate.com/travel/burni...

Burning Man’s trash fence captures strange garbage and stranger people

My unusual journey around Black Rock City's far-flung perimeter.

sfgate.com

Occasionally it seems my role on BlueSky is to represent the world outside BlueSky.

Sommelier is another job that is being replaced by AI. (Yes, I'm well aware wine journalists are next.) www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/09/yo...

Young Generation Prefers AI to Somms | Wine-Searcher News & Opinion

Younger wine drinkers are getting their information from their devices rather than from the traditional channels, a report claims. Read the latest wine news & opinion on wine-searcher

wine-searcher.com

Coyote v Acme is great. Hilarious and smart. Support artistic expression: see it in the theater.

Bought some tri-tip and I'm going to drink a 25-year-old Napa Cabernet tonight, because I have a few around. Haven't decided which yet. Anticipation is delicious.

"In Penedès, we cannot simply grub up grapevines—we have no alternatives; otherwise, the fields will turn into forests, industrial parks, or housing estates." (Those sound like alternatives to me.) www.meininger.de/en/news/cava...

Cava Slides into Crisis | Meininger's International

Grape purchase prices are falling to as low as 25 cents per kilogram, while overall demand for Cava continues to decline. Reading time: 1m 30s

meininger.de

Instead of writing about wine today, I played hooky (sssh!) and saw Coyote v Acme. Highly recommended! Best courtroom movie I've seen in a long time. (We did publish the story below about wine yesterday.) www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/09/na...

Napa Tastings Struggle to Hit the Spot | Wine-Searcher News & Opinion

As cost-of-living bites, tourists to Wine Country are becoming more selective on where and how they taste wine. Read the latest wine news & opinion on wine-searcher

wine-searcher.com

Here's a Northern California harvest report from Bedrock owner/winemaker Morgan Twain-Peterson. morgantwainpeterson.substack.com/p/first-look...

First look at Vintage 2026

Early, Light AND Cool.

morgantwainpeterson.substack.com

Many winery tastings are too expensive AND too lengthy now for the people the industry needs most -- people who actually buy wine. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/09/na...

Napa Tastings Struggle to Hit the Spot | Wine-Searcher News & Opinion

As cost-of-living bites, tourists to Wine Country are becoming more selective on where and how they taste wine. Read the latest wine news & opinion on wine-searcher

wine-searcher.com

Province-by-province listing of where you can and cannot buy American wine and whiskey in Canada. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

To shelve or not to shelve: How the American alcohol response varies widely by province | CBC News

As the trade dispute with the U.S. drags on after a recent deal fell through, the availability of American alcohol in Canada remains largely unchanged. While it's sometimes reported there's a countryw...

cbc.ca

This (last) week's wine news: 🍷 Cava nears crisis 🍷 Cognac growers sue Sazerac 🍷 Alsace vineyard reduction 🍷 Argentina wine exports up and down 🍷 Police give thumbs-up to German wine fair 🍷 North Italy deals with early harvest 🍷 Wine and sexuality in Mendoza www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/08/ca...

Cava Growers Enter Crisis Mode | Wine-Searcher News & Opinion

A collapse in grape prices in the Cava region of Spain has many growers despairing for the future. Read the latest wine news & opinion on wine-searcher

wine-searcher.com

If Silicon Valley wants to do something useful, how about creating an automatic "No I do not want notifications, I'm just here at this website to read one story" widget?

As the personal focus on the Cambridge hiring scandal has died down, we should look at the use of "auto-ethnography" in sociology. It's not science; it's autobiography, which is literature. But it's an accepted practice. Which means sociology itself is not science.

Last year's Pickett Fire did at least $65 million in damage to Napa County agriculture. So far only one company has received any compensation -- the winery co-owned by California governor Gavin Newsom. www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/08/ca...

California Governor gets only Fire Payout | Wine-Searcher News & Opinion

Plenty of wineries were impacted by last year's Pickett Fire in California, but only one has received any compensation. Read the latest wine news & opinion on wine-searcher

wine-searcher.com

Make your favorite film sound as boring as possible without giving away the title: Dead people try to go shopping.

"Produce scares are nothing new. It took years for spinach sales to recover after a deadly E. coli outbreak in 2006." Tough times for lettuce farmers, and yet another development that California farmers don't need. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/29/u...

With Shoppers Wary of Illness, Farmers Destroy Millions of Heads of Lettuce (Gift Article)

After a drop in demand driven by a nationwide outbreak of cyclosporiasis, California growers are plowing lettuce back into the soil and laying off workers.

nytimes.com