Michael Brown Spent Last Weeks Grappling With Problems and Promise  —  FERGUSON, Mo. — It was 1 a.m. and Michael Brown Jr. called his father, his voice trembling.  He had seen something overpowering.  In the thick gray clouds that lingered from a passing storm this past June, he made out an angel.

Who Should Be Banned as Panelists For the New “Meet?”  —  So the “vision” NBC president Deborah Turness has (according to an interview with the New York Times' Bill Carter) for the new, Chuck-Todd-moderated Meet the Press could just as easily be interpreted as a blast from the past:

The Problem With Bombing ISIS  —  Striking the jihadists in Syria is reckless without allies on the ground.  —  In my heart, I'd love to see the Obama administration pursue ISIS into Syria.  First, because stopping genocide is a good justification for war.

More White House officials at Michael Brown's funeral than Thatcher's  —  People begin to line up to attend the funeral for Michael Brown, Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in St. Louis.AP  —  The White House sent three officials to attend Monday's funeral for Michael Brown in St. Louis …

Reid calls legislators ‘cowards’ over prostitution  —  U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., speaks during the Asian Chamber of Commerce's monthly lunch at the Gold Coast casino-hotel in Las Vegas Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014.  (Erik Verduzco/Las vegas Review-Journal)  —  U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. …

Cornel West: “He posed as a progressive and turned out to be counterfeit.  We ended up with a Wall Street presidency, a drone presidency"  —  Exclusive: Cornel West talks Ferguson, Hillary, MSNBC — and unloads on the failed promise of Barack Obama  —  Cornel West is a professor …

News Feed FYI: Click-baiting  —  Today we're announcing some improvements to News Feed to help people find the posts and links from publishers that are most interesting and relevant, and to continue to weed out stories that people frequently tell us are spammy and that they don't want to see.

Fort Lee issues all clear after ‘enraged’ soldier shoots herself  —  FORT LEE, Va. — Fort Lee was on lockdown Monday morning after officials say a female soldier went on a rampage in an office before shooting herself.  —  Officials said that first responders were dispatched to the Army post …

Wrong Way Nation  —  Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is running for president again.  What are his chances?  Will he once again become a punch line?  I have absolutely no idea.  This isn't a horse-race column.  —  What I'd like to do, instead, is take advantage of Mr. Perry's ambitions to talk …

Future of Export-Import Bank Is Wild Card in Key Senate Races  —  WASHINGTON — In North Carolina, Senator Kay Hagan, a Democrat, is siding with big business in her support of the Export-Import Bank of the United States and attacking Thom Tillis, her Republican challenger who opposes the bank but is endorsed by big business.

Video Spurs Questions Of Arresting Methods After Deputies Tase Man Inside Walmart  —  An arrest Saturday led to some witnesses thinking the arresting officers went a little far.  —  In a video sent to 7 On Your Side, you can see a man lying on the floor of the Walmart on Whitehorse Road and the deputies attempting to arrest him.

A LETTER FROM JIM: All letters Jim wrote to his family during his captivity were confiscated by the jailers.  So, Jim devised a better approach this last June: he asked a fellow hostage about to be released to commit a letter to memory.  Very soon after his release, this hostage called Diane and dictated what follows.

France thrown into political turmoil after government dissolved  —  Manuel Valls told to form new government after crisis triggered by minister calling for end to austerity policies imposed by Germany  —  France has entered uncharted political waters after the prime minister, Manuel Valls …

Quinn nixes Uber bill, says it would be a disservice to consumers  —  SPRINGFIELD - Inviting a likely override attempt, Gov. Pat Quinn Monday vetoed legislation pushed by the state's clout-heavy taxi industry to impose a new, statewide regulatory framework on commercial ridesharing services like Uber.

DesJarlais Wins by 38 Votes, Jim Tracy Concedes  —  Rep. Scott DesJarlais has officially won his primary, barely squeaking past state Sen. Jim Tracy, who conceded Monday after more than two tense weeks following Tennessee's Republican primary in the 4th District.

The Surveillance Engine: How the NSA Built Its Own Secret Google  —  The National Security Agency is secretly providing data to nearly two dozen U.S. government agencies with a “Google-like” search engine built to share more than 850 billion records about phone calls, emails, cellphone locations …

71 days to midterms - CLINTON LIBRARY to spill new secrets - RISING-STAR DEMS buck administration — MARK FABIANI joins Perry legal team - DSCC targets McConnell on shutdown  —  5 YEARS AGO TODAY, Sen. Edward Moore Kennedy, the Lion of the Senate, died at his home in Hyannis Port, at age 77.

Club Med for Terrorists  —  THE hostilities in Gaza between Israel and Hamas persist and the diplomatic war at the United Nations continues, also without resolution.  While there is no shortage of opinions on the way forward, the most obvious solution is strikingly absent …