GOP senator vows to slow-walk $1T infrastructure bill, sparking standoff  —  A standoff over the roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill is poised to drag out the Senate's debate for days, with GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty (Tenn.) vowing he will block attempts to speed up passage of the legislation.

‘Ugh’: Life at Andrew Cuomo's Hometown Newspaper  —  The Times Union's strait-laced, minimal-schmooze, no off-the-record principles put it on a collision course with the notoriously press-controlling governor of New York.  —  Casey Seiler, editor in chief of The Albany Times Union …

Conservative Fellow Travelers: Tucker Carlson Drops In On Viktor Orban  —  This week, the talk show host has been in Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban hopes to set up an ideological center for a global conservative movement.  —  BUDAPEST — It's been a meeting of conservative fellow travelers …

Highly Vaccinated States Keep Worst Covid-19 Outcomes in Check as Delta Spreads, WSJ Analysis Shows  —  Variant has driven up U.S. cases, but hospitalizations and deaths have risen more slowly in areas with more vaccinations  —  Every state with a higher hospitalization rate than the country overall has a lower vaccination rate.

Former Acting Attorney General Testifies About Trump's Efforts to Subvert Election  —  The testimony highlights the former president's desire to batter the Justice Department into advancing his personal agenda.  —  WASHINGTON — Jeffrey A. Rosen, who was acting attorney general during …

Die Hard Trump Supporters Increasingly Demand Violence If He Isn't Reinstated, Homeland Security Warns  —  “Conspiracy theories associated with reinstating former President Trump have included calls for violence if desired outcomes are not realized,” a bulletin sent to states from the Department of Homeland Security said

Texas Democrats continue holdout, don't show for new session  —  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats still refused to return to the state Capitol Saturday as Gov. Greg Abbott began a third attempt at passing new election laws, prolonging a monthslong standoff that ramped up in July …

Fake Covid Vaccination Cards Are on the Rise in the U.S., Europe  —  Vaccine mandates have fueled an increase in demand for fraudulent certificates as sellers flourish online  —  MILAN—As Covid-19 vaccine mandates proliferate in the U.S. and Europe, so are swindlers selling bogus vaccination certificates.

Security Alert U.S. Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan (August 7, 2021)  —  The U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately using available commercial flight options.  Given the security conditions and reduced staffing, the Embassy's ability to assist U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is extremely limited even within Kabul.

College Was Supposed to Close the Wealth Gap for Black Americans.  The Opposite Happened.  —  Black college graduates in their 30s have lost ground over three decades, the result of student debt and sluggish income growth  —  Black millennials thought college would help them get ahead.

The Kindergarten Exodus  —  As the pandemic took hold, more than 1 million children did not enroll in local schools.  Many of them were the most vulnerable: 5-year-olds in low-income neighborhoods  —  PHILADELPHIA — On a sweltering July afternoon, Solomon Carson, 6, jumped off the stoop …

US now averaging 100,000 new COVID-19 infections a day  —  The U.S. is now averaging 100,000 new COVID-19 infections a day, returning to a milestone last seen during the winter surge in yet another bleak reminder of how quickly the delta variant has spread through the country.

Secret Donors to Nonprofit Pushing Trump's “Big Lie” Election Conspiracy Revealed … An organization linked to a major hub of efforts to undermine the credibility of the 2020 U.S. presidential election was funded to the tune of millions of dollars by several right-wing donors, according to a tax document obtained by The Intercept.

Rebekah Jones, Propaganda Tool of the Chinese Communist Party  —  The Chinese Communist Party, writing through its propaganda organ, the Global Times, is now using one of the many falsehoods that have been spread by former Florida DOH dashboard designer Rebekah Jones in order to cast aspersions …

Angels, demons, and videotape  —  What happened in Central Park last year and what it tells us about journalism (plus the usual smorgasbord of brain food).  —  Any Cooper, in a still from Christian Cooper's video taken in Central Park, May 2020.  —  In 1986 the Guardian made an ad for itself …

Anti-Vax Radio Host Who Called Fauci a ‘Power Tripping Lying Freak’ Dies of COVID  —  On his deathbed, Dick Farrel changed his tune, telling his friends to get vaccinated.  —  A anti-vaccine right-wing radio host in West Palm Beach, Florida died Wednesday from COVID-19 complications.