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People evacuate a neighborhood in west Houston on Monday, August 28.

Why Harvey's devastation is so severe

By Adam Sobel
We saw it coming, but couldn't quite take it in. And it will be days more before we really know the full extent of what Harvey has done. We are watching an enormous disaster in what feels like slow motion.
Caption:Handguns are displayed at the Ultimate Defense Firing Range and Training Center in St Peters, Missouri, some 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Ferguson, on November 26, 2014. Paul Bastean, owner of the range, told AFP that business had grown as a result of anxiety about reaction to the jury announcement in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Typical sales of five to seven guns a day have risen to 20 to 30 in the last week, while gun-handling courses for November and December are fast selling out. Violence erupted in the St Louis, Missouri suburb for a second night on November 25 over the decision by a grand jury not to prosecute a white police officer for shooting dead Brown, an unarmed black teenager. AFP PHOTO/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

How to end the scourge of gun violence? Open dialogue

By Joseph Sakran
A high school football game: a scene common in many of our memories. But for one young man, in his senior year, it was different. After watching a football game from the stands on a Friday night, a fight broke out as he was standing nearby. The sounds of gunfire punctured the night, and an errant bullet punctured his throat. As he lay on the ground with his blood pooling beneath him, veering toward losing consciousness, he could vaguely hear people shouting and sirens blaring.
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US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shake hands prior to a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 8, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / SAUL LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

The real China threat (Opinion)

By Minxin Pei
China may not pose a direct economic threat to the US. But if Trump makes good on his America First vows, it could dominate the Asia-Pacific, says Minxin Pei.
FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2016 file photo, then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was joined by Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of metro Phoenix, during a news Trump was just a few weeks into his candidacy in 2015 when came to Phoenix for a speech that ended up being a bigger moment in his campaign than most people realized at the time. And now Trump is coming back to Arizona at another crucial moment in his presidency. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Trump's Arpaio pardon: legal and disgraceful

By Paul Callan
With his pardon, the President has rewarded the law-breaking and unrepentant ex-sheriff for trashing the Constitution, and has slapped the federal judiciary in the face. History, and voters, will judge Trump harshly, writes Paul Callan.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 05: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks at a joint media conference at Government House on June 5, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. The Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) are the principal forum for bilateral consultations with the United States. The annual meeting brings together the Australian Ministers for Foreign Affairs and for Defence with the US Secretaries of State and Defense, along with senior officials from both portfolios. It is the first AUSMIN meeting with the new Trump administration and discussions will include North Korea, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and defeating Islamic State (IS). (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Tillerson's comments defy anything we've seen

By Aaron David Miller and Richard Sokolsky
Diplomacy is by nature a get-along business; and that applies in spades to a relationship between a president and his secretary of state. If there's any arguing to be done or daylight demonstrated, it takes place in private -- behind closed doors.
Neighbors are using their personal boats to rescue flooded Friendswood residents Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, in Friendswood, Texas. (Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Brinkley: What Houston could learn from Katrina

By Douglas Brinkley, CNN Presidential Historian
Flooded areas in Houston can't wait for DC support. Texans with boats need to spring into civic-minded action and make a People's Navy to save their fellow Houstonians--right now, writes Douglas Brinkley.
Texas residents are preparing for Harvey, which is expected to be a hurricane by the time it hits the Gulf Coast.

Hurricane Harvey: Now Trump has to rely on the 'swamp'

By Juliette Kayyem, CNN National Security Analyst
Hurricane Harvey is destined to be the first major homeland security and emergency management crisis the Trump administration has faced. And, ironically, it is at this moment that President Donald Trump will be judged on how well he lets a bureaucracy he so often maligns or denigrates actually do its job.
A White House military aide and member of the US Navy carries a briefcase known as the "football," containing emergency nuclear weapon codes, as US President Barack Obama departs on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House in 2012.

How to keep Trump's thumb off the nuclear button

By David A. Andelman
David Andelman: It's terrifying that any one individual has the awesome power to launch a nuclear attack; Congress should require that key officials be alerted before Trump opens the nuclear football.
LAS VEGAS, NV - AUGUST 26: (L-R) Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor trade punches during their super welterweight boxing match on August 26, 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Mayweather vs. McGregor: Worth every penny

By Mike Downey
That thing in a boxing ring Saturday night in Las Vegas turned out to be totally real. Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor was a genuine, honest-to-goodness fight.

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                QAQORTOQ, GREENLAND - JULY 30: Calved icebergs from the nearby Twin Glaciers are seen floating on the water on July 30, 2013 in Qaqortoq, Greenland. Boats are a crucial mode of transportation in the country that has few roads. As cities like Miami, New York and other vulnerable spots around the world strategize about how to respond to climate change, many Greenlanders simply do what theyve always done: adapt. 'Were used to change, said Greenlander Pilu Neilsen. 'We learn to adapt to whatever comes. If all the glaciers melt, well just get more land. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
                QAQORTOQ, GREENLAND - JULY 30: Calved icebergs from the nearby Twin Glaciers are seen floating on the water on July 30, 2013 in Qaqortoq, Greenland. Boats are a crucial mode of transportation in the country that has few roads. As cities like Miami, New York and other vulnerable spots around the world strategize about how to respond to climate change, many Greenlanders simply do what theyve always done: adapt. 'Were used to change, said Greenlander Pilu Neilsen. 'We learn to adapt to whatever comes. If all the glaciers melt, well just get more land. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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                  QAQORTOQ, GREENLAND - JULY 30: Calved icebergs from the nearby Twin Glaciers are seen floating on the water on July 30, 2013 in Qaqortoq, Greenland. Boats are a crucial mode of transportation in the country that has few roads. As cities like Miami, New York and other vulnerable spots around the world strategize about how to respond to climate change, many Greenlanders simply do what theyve always done: adapt. 'Were used to change, said Greenlander Pilu Neilsen. 'We learn to adapt to whatever comes. If all the glaciers melt, well just get more land. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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                The most important number you've never heard of

                By John D. Sutter, CNN
                If the world warms more than 2 degrees Celsius, we're all in a lot of trouble. See how you can get involved below.

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                      Bill Nye March for Science

                      Bill Nye: Science made America great

                      By Bill Nye
                      The US has become the most powerful nation on Earth and among the greatest in history, because it has long respected and promoted science. Science is being actively undermined by ideological forces motivated to maintain the status quo rather than advance the nation's long-term interest, says Bill Nye.
                      george takei allegiance japanese american internment camps intv nr_00002005

                      George Takei: I hear terrible echoes of the past

                      By George Takei
                      On the 75th anniversary of the order that led to the internment of 120,000 Japanese-Americans, George Takei warns that Trump policies targeting Muslims and immigrants risk ignoring a painful lesson from America's past.
                      Steve Bannon, chief strategist for Donal Trump, leaves after the motorcade of US President-elect arrived at Trump Tower on December 10, 2016 in New York.

                      David Axelrod: I woke up this morning as an alternative fact

                      By David Axelrod, CNN Senior Political Commentator
                      Contrary to what Sean Spicer said, former Obama adviser says he and Robert Gibbs did not regularly attend the most sensitive National Security Council meetings. Including adviser Steve Bannon in those meetings is unprecedented.
                      ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - NOVEMBER 11: U.S. President Barack Obama makes remarks in the Memorial Amphitheater on Veterans Day after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on November 11, 2016 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images)

                      David Axelrod: Obama's legacy can't be erased

                      By David Axelrod, CNN Senior Political Commentator
                      Obama's former senior advisor says he's grateful to have been along for some of his friend's amazing journey--and whatever happens next, Obama's accomplishments won't be forgotten.

                      CNN Opinion's Best of 2016

                      By CNN Opinion
                      It's been quite a year -- here's a look back on 2016 with twenty of CNN Opinion's most popular articles.
                      Official portrait of President Barack Obama in the Oval Office, Dec. 6, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.

                      Barack Obama: America will take the giant leap to Mars

                      By Barack Obama
                      One of my earliest memories is sitting on my grandfather's shoulders, waving a flag as our astronauts returned to Hawaii. This was years before we'd set foot on the moon. Decades before we'd land a rover on Mars. A generation before photos from the International Space Station would show up in our social media feeds.
                      MADISON, WI - JUNE 28: A research specialist at the AIDS Vaccine Research Labs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison processes blood samples taken from pregnant rhesus macaque monkeys infected with the Zika virus on June 28, 2016 in Madison, Wisconsin. Researchers at the University released a study today detailing how research at the facility has found the Zika virus persisted in the blood of pregnant monkeys for 30 to 70 days but only around 7 days in others. The study also found that monkeys previously infected with the virus were resistant to a second infection, which suggests the animals have a naturally occurring immunity. Health professionals in the United States are preparing for the possibility of an epidemic of Zika which can be transmitted by mosquitoes. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

                      Could Zika be the next HIV?

                      By Laurie Garrett
                      Global health expert Laurie Garrett evaluates the very real risk that Zika, like HIV or Ebola, will become widespread as a sexually transmitted disease
                      An all-gender restroom at Santee High School in Los Angeles, California.

                      'We need a restroom revolution'

                      By John D. Sutter, CNN
                      Before I launch into the argument for making all restrooms in the United States gender neutral -- that is, removing "men's" and "women's" labels -- I want to show you a photo.
                      LAS VEGAS, NV - FEBRUARY 02: Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before endorsing Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at the Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas February 2, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Romney came in first in the Florida primary on January 31 and is looking ahead to Nevada's caucus on February 4. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

                      The four big questions about Donald Trump

                      By Michael D'Antonio
                      Now that he's likely GOP candidate, voters must scrutinize Trump's claims of success, his political beliefs, temperament and character, says Michael D'Antonio.
                      President Richard Nixon meets with Elvis Presley on December 21, 1970 at the White House.

                      Which generation has it worse?

                      Editor's Note: Generation whining has become nearly a national pastime. Millennials say they have it the worst. Generation X feels neglected. Baby boomers are tired of being called narcissistic. In articles and cartoons everywhere -- from CNN to The New York Times to Gizmodo and beyond -- critics call out this generation's sense of entitlement, that generation's self-absorption. We invited writers, activists and CNN contributors from different generations to hash it out.
                      Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The distance is 2500 kilometers from the surface of the planet, with the scale being .6km/pixel. The mosaic is composed of 102 Viking Orbiter images of Mars. The center of the scene (lat -8, long 78) shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system, over 2000 kilometers long and up to 8 kilometers deep, extending form Noctis Labyrinthus, the arcuate system of graben to the west, to the chaotic terrain to the east. Many huge ancient river channels begin from the chaotic terrain from north-central canyons and run north. The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red spots), each about 25 kilometers high, are visible to the west. South of Valles Marineris is very ancient terrain covered by many impact craters.

                      Is it ethical to colonize Mars?

                      By Brian Patrick Green
                      With the recent NASA announcement of liquid water flowing on Mars and the movie "The Martian" making a splash at the box office, we might well ask whether humans should go to Mars.

                      Why can't America have high-speed trains?

                      By Michael Smart
                      Imagine being able to travel from New York to Los Angeles without having to step on a plane, yet be able to do so in a fraction of the time it would take to drive. On the surface, that tantalizing prospect took a step closer with the news last month that a Japanese maglev train had reached a top speed of close to 400 mph, breaking its own world record in the process.

                      Ready for the marriage apocalypse?

                      By Carol Costello, Anchor
                      The marriage apocalypse may be coming. Talk to any millennial and you can envision an America virtually marriage-free, with everyone happily single.
                      Beautiful clouds over the sea

                      Why you don't need God

                      By Ryan Bell
                      Atheists are accused of having no source of meaning in their lives, but it is popular Christian theology that saps the meaning from our daily experiences.
                      Powerful businesswoman standing with back with business team at background.

                      Why more women choose not to marry

                      Pepper Schwartz
                      Some revolutions happen in a single day; others over decades. The rise of the voluntarily single woman has been happening in Western societies slowly, over time, concomitant with well-paying jobs, legal protection from economic or physical abuse, reliable birth control and the possibility of fulfilling careers and adventures.