Check out Mini-memeorandum for simple mobiles or memeorandum Mobile for modern smartphones.
1:35 PM ET, August 15, 2021

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Axios:
1 big thing: Biden's stain  —  Rarely has an American president's predictions been so wrong, so fast, so convincingly as President Biden on Afghanistan.  — Usually military operations and diplomacy are long; the outcomes, foggy.  Not here.  —  Just five weeks ago, President Biden assured Americans …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Taliban enter Kabul, await ‘peaceful transfer’ of power  —  KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban fighters entered Kabul on Sunday and sought the unconditional surrender of the central government, officials said, as Afghans and foreigners alike raced for the exit, signaling the end …
Susannah George / Washington Post:
Afghanistan's military collapse: Illicit deals and mass desertions  —  KABUL — The spectacular collapse of Afghanistan's military that allowed Taliban fighters to reach the gates of Kabul on Sunday despite twenty years of training and billions of dollars in American aid began with a series …
George Packer / The Atlantic:
Biden's Betrayal of Afghans Will Live in Infamy  —  There's plenty of blame to go around for the 20-year debacle in Afghanistan—enough to fill a library of books.  Perhaps the effort to rebuild the country was doomed from the start.  But our abandonment of the Afghans who helped us …
Discussion: USA Today and Associated Press
Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:
Taliban Enter Kabul as Panic Spreads in Afghanistan's Capital  —  Mass evacuations of Western diplomats and civilians under way, with insurgents preparing to assume power  —  KABUL—Taliban fighters on Sunday entered Kabul, freeing inmates at the city's main prison and triggering a massive effort …
Tara Palmeri / Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: How the White House wants to spin the fall of Kabul  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  President JOE BIDEN, July 8: “The Taliban is not ... the North Vietnamese army. ...  There's going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of ... the United States from Afghanistan.
New York Times:
A frenzied flight from Kabul as the U.S. evacuation accelerates.  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — As the Taliban stood at the gates of Kabul, completing the near total takeover of Afghanistan two decades after the American military drove them from power, a chaotic and frenzied evacuation of U.S. diplomats …
Discussion: Task & Purpose
ABC News:
Afghanistan updates: US Embassy says to avoid airport because it's taking fire  —  Taliban militants were ordered into Kabul, President Ghani has left Afghanistan.  —  Taliban militants have been ordered to enter Kabul, following earlier assurances by Taliban officials that they do not intend to take Afghanistan's capital by force
BBC:
LIVEAfghan President Ghani leaves country - reports  —  Summary  — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has left the country bound for Tajikistan, reports say  — A Taliban spokesman says their fighters have been ordered to enter the city to prevent looting
W. James Antle III / Washington Examiner:
Once an area of agreement, Biden and Trump trade blame on Afghanistan
Adam Weinstein / Responsible Statecraft:
20-year US intervention in ruins as Taliban enters Kabul
Michael R. Gordon / Wall Street Journal:   Biden's Afghanistan Exit Raises Questions About His Foreign-Policy Record
Sky News:
Afghanistan live updates: Taliban enters outskirts of Kabul - as Afghan government promise peaceful transition of power
Discussion: Telegraph and Page Array
Washington Post:
Taliban enters Kabul, leaving Afghan government on brink of collapse
ABC News:
‘This Week’ Transcript 8-15-21: Sec. Antony Blinken & Rep. Liz Cheney
Discussion: POLITICUSUSA
Liz Sly / Washington Post:
Afghanistan's collapse leaves allies questioning U.S. resolve on other fronts
Discussion: HotAir, Insider and Politico
The White House:
Statement by President Joe Biden on Afghanistan
Jessica Donati / Wall Street Journal:
Afghans Despair Over Long Visa Process as Taliban Close In on Kabul
Discussion: RedState
France 24:
Weapon seizures ‘massive boon’ for Taliban as cities fall
Associated Press:
Taliban capture key northern city, approach Afghan capital
Ashton Pittman / Mississippi Free Press:
Mississippi 8th Grader Dies With COVID Hours After Gov. Reeves Downplays Child Cases  —  An eighth-grade girl died this morning in Raleigh, Miss., mere hours after testing positive for COVID-19.  Multiple sources told the Mississippi Free Press that the student attended classes at the school …
CBS News:
California's vaccinated say unvaccinated are adding risk; strong support for mandates — CBS News poll  —  As Californians express widespread concern about the Delta variant, they overwhelmingly say the state's recent rise in cases was preventable, had more people gotten vaccinated and taken more precautions.
Discussion: CBS San Francisco and Yahoo News
The Daily Beast:
This Pro-Trump Lawyer Was a Rising ‘Stop the Steal’ Star.  His Firm Erased Him  —  WE DON'T KNOW HIM  —  In the months since Trump's failed coup, government documents have further revealed the extent of attorney Kurt Olsen's behind-the-scenes crusade to try to keep him in power.
Discussion: Raw Story
Erin Banco / Politico:
Inside America's Covid-reporting breakdown  —  There were too many cases to count.  —  Covid-19 was spreading rapidly throughout the United States, as cold winter weather began to drive people indoors, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was flying blind …
Maria Abi-Habib / New York Times:
Haiti Live Updates: Search for Survivors After Quake Kills More Than 700  —  The 7.2 earthquake was a devastating blow to a country still reeling from a presidential assassination.  The leadership vacuum has hampered aid and rescue efforts.  —  Here's what you need to know:
RELATED:
 
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of memeorandum at 1:35 PM ET, August 15, 2021.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 See Also: 
memeorandum: site main
memeorandum River: reverse chronological memeorandum
memeorandum Mobile: for phones
memeorandum Leaderboard: memeorandum's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
memeorandum RSS feed
memeorandum on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Catherine Kim / Politico:
NIH director sees ‘no signs’ of a Delta peak
Discussion: Fox News
New York Post:
Inflation keeps growing, but Dems won't stop spending
Washington Examiner:
Marriage and work are worth fighting for
Noah Pransky / LX:
Want to Curb Voter Disenfranchisement? Take These Steps to End Gerrymandering
Los Angeles Times:
One person stabbed as COVID anti-vaxxers and counterdemonstrators clash in front of L.A. City Hall
 Earlier Items: 
Hannah Allam / Washington Post:
‘Why Omaha?’: DHS bets on Nebraska as the future of terrorism research
Carlie Porterfield / Forbes:
FEMA Has Paid Out Over $1 Billion For Funerals Of Coronavirus Victims
Wall Street Journal:
New Covid-19 Hospitalizations for 30- to 39-Year-Olds at Record Rate
Aya Elamroussi / CNN:
‘This is starting to look really ominous in the South,’ expert says, as US is among nations with highest rate of new Covid-19 cases
Discussion: Insider
 

 
From Techmeme:

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Mark Zuckerberg says Threads is testing custom feeds for certain profiles or topics; the Threads' version seems easier to use than Bluesky's custom feeds

Financial Times:
Sources: xAI raised $5B at a $45B valuation, almost double its valuation a few months ago; SpaceX prepares a tender offer that would value the company at $250B+

Jibin Joseph / PCMag:
UK mobile operator Virgin Media O2 creates Daisy, an AI-generated “scambaiter” tool that mimics the voice of an elderly woman to waste scammers' time
 
Sister Sites:

Techmeme
 Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web
Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page