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5:50 PM ET, August 18, 2021

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
A primer on false narratives about Afghanistan  —  There are many alarmist headlines pronouncing with certitude what has occurred or will occur in Afghanistan.  Many are premature — or alternatively, out of date.  Others ignore information now available to us that debunks fanciful explanations …
RELATED:
Sarah Kolinovsky / ABC News:
Biden says he did not see a way to withdraw from Afghanistan without ‘chaos ensuing’  —  In an exclusive ABC News interview, Biden opens up on his decision to withdraw.  —  In an exclusive interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, and the president's first since the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban …
Discussion: NPR, CNN, The Guardian and Raw Story
Ahmad Massoud / Washington Post:
The mujahideen resistance to the Taliban begins now.  But we need help.  —  Ahmad Massoud is the leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan.  —  In 1998, when I was 9 years old, my father, the mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, gathered his soldiers in a cave in the Panjshir Valley of northern Afghanistan.
New York Times:
The Taliban respond with force to an outpouring of public anger.  —  Even as the Taliban took their first steps to create a functioning government, they faced the first street protests on Wednesday against their takeover of Afghanistan, with demonstrations in at least two cities.
NBC News:
Images of bloodied Afghans contradict Taliban's claims of moderation  —  PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Images of the Taliban cracking down on a protest and bloodied women and children beaten by fighters are contradicting the more moderate image the militant group has been trying to project as it tries to consolidate power in Afghanistan.
Tom Rogan / Washington Examiner:
US allies deeply concerned by Biden's detachment
Discussion: Fox News
Graeme Wood / The Atlantic:
This Is Not the Taliban 2.0  —  When the Taliban first sacked Kabul 25 years ago …
Discussion: CNN and Washington Examiner
U.S. Embassy / U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan:
Security Alert: U.S. Embassy Kabul (August 18, 2021)  —  U.S. government-provided flights are departing.  U.S. citizens, LPRs, and their spouses and unmarried children (under age 21) should consider travelling to Hamid Karzai International Airport.   You should plan to enter the airport at Camp Sullivan.
RELATED:
Becket Adams / Washington Examiner:
An evasive White House quietly hints that not all Americans will make it out of Afghanistan  —  The White House has little confidence it can evacuate all U.S. nationals from Afghanistan before the Taliban take full control of the country.  —  The administration said as much this week, although not in so many words.
Discussion: ABC News, Townhall and Power Line
Allahpundit / HotAir:
Fiasco: Embassy tells Americans in Afghanistan to “consider” heading to the airport — with no guarantees of safety
Discussion: ABC News, CNBC and RedState
Apoorva Mandavilli / New York Times:
Vaccines' protection against virus infection is waning, C.D.C. studies suggest.  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released three studies on Wednesday that federal officials said provided evidence that booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines …
Discussion: globalnews.ca, Reason and UPI
RELATED:
HHS News releases:
Joint Statement from HHS Public Health and Medical Experts on COVID-19 Booster Shots
Jeffrey Morris / Covid Data Science:
Israeli data: How can efficacy vs. severe disease be strong when 60% of hospitalized are vaccinated?  —  A surge involving the rapidly-transmitting Delta variant in heavily vaccinated countries has led to much hand-wringing that the vaccines are not effective against Delta, or vaccine efficacy wanes after 4-6 months.
RELATED:
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump promoted vaccines on Fox.  Then the host goaded him into bashing boosters.  —  Wednesday was a big day in the fight against the coronavirus.  It's the day the U.S. government launched its campaign to get Americans to take booster shots for the vaccines, amid the increasingly challenging situation brought on by the delta variant.
Discussion: Insider and Raw Story
Phil Helsel / NBC News:
Texas school district makes masks part of dress code to get around Gov. Abbott's order
Reuters:
U.S. reports more than 1,000 COVID deaths in single day
RELATED:
- Raheem J. Kassam / The National Pulse:
Stunning Poll Reveals Trump Would Win Election Held Today, As Nearly 1 In 10 Democrats ‘Regret’ Their 2020 Vote.  —  Stunning new poll numbers from Rasmussen Reports suggest nearly 1 in 10 Democrats regret their vote in the 2020 Presidential election, with 12 percent of ‘Moderates’ saying the same …
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
How Pelosi is trying to jam the rebels threatening to tank Biden's agenda  —  Incredibly, the nine conservative Democrats who have been threatening to derail passage of President Biden's $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill are still at it.  They're still demanding a vote only on the bipartisan …
RELATED:
Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Poll finds growing support for voter ID requirements
Discussion: Townhall and USAFeatures.news
Ian Millhiser / Vox:
Democrats have finally identified the greatest threat to voting rights — the Supreme Court
Discussion: Washington Examiner, The 19th and UPI
Fox News:
Biden's entire national security team should resign: Rep. Andy Barr  —  ‘Afghanistan has descended into chaos,’ Barr said  —  Gold Star wife ‘completely defeated’ by Afghanistan collapse  —  FIRST ON FOX: A prominent House Republican is calling for the resignations of every individual …
Discussion: The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Joy Pullmann / The Federalist:
Mark Milley Deserves To Be Fired And Court-Martialed For His Afghanistan Lies
Discussion: Washington Examiner and Israpundit
RELATED:
New York Times:
Kushner Friend Who Was Pardoned by Trump Is Charged in New York  —  Ken Kurson, the former editor of The New York Observer, has been charged with two felonies.  Prosecutors said he installed spyware on his former wife's computer in order to surveil her.  —  Seven months after he was pardoned …
Douglas London / Just Security:
CIA's Former Counterterrorism Chief for the Region: Afghanistan, Not An Intelligence Failure — Something Much Worse  —  While it's certainly convenient to depict the shock and miscalculation U.S. officials claim over Afghanistan's tragic, rapid fall to the Taliban as an intelligence failure, the reality is far worse.
FiveThirtyEight:
Latest Polls Of The California Recall Election  —  Voters will decide whether to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom and — if removed — whom to replace him with  —  Opponents of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California have gathered enough signatures to trigger a recall election for him on Sept. 14 …
RELATED:
Los Angeles Times:
Cox served with subpoena, Elder blasted for remarks on women at California recall debate
Ashton Pittman / Mississippi Free Press:
Mississippi Quarantines 20,000 With 5,993 Students Positive For COVID; Teen Deaths Rise  —  With both siblings wearing backpacks, Mkayla Robinson put her arms around her little brother, and the two smiled for a photo on Friday, Aug. 6., as they prepared to leave home to start her final year …
RELATED:
CNN:
Mississippi eighth grader dies a day after positive coronavirus test
Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story
Heather Long / Washington Post:
The U.S. could be on the verge of a productivity boom, a game-changer for the economy  —  Rapid adoption of robots and artificial intelligence during the pandemic combined with a rebound in government investment is making some economists optimistic about a return of a 1990s economy with widespread benefits
 
 
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 More Items: 
Noah Bierman / Los Angeles Times:
Kamala Harris has touted her role on Afghanistan policy. Now, she owns it too
Discussion: Breitbart
Wall Street Journal:
Will the IMF Bankroll the Taliban?
VICE:
We Spoke to the Family of the Afghan Teenager Who Fell to His Death From a US Military Plane
Timothy Noah / Washington Monthly:
Nobody Cares Who Lost Afghanistan
Kathy Frankovic / YouGov:
Biden's approval drops to its lowest rating yet amid his handling of Afghanistan withdrawal
 Earlier Items: 
Laura Davison / Bloomberg:
U.S. Households Paying No Income Tax Hit 61% of Total Last Year
Discussion: TaxVox
Bojan Pancevski / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Officials in Germany Hit by Havana Syndrome
Discussion: Politico and Political Wire
Jan Hoffman / New York Times:
Sacklers Threaten to Pull Out of Opioid Settlement Without Broad Legal Immunity
BUSR:
2022 Florida Gubernatorial Poll
Kate Brumback / Associated Press:
Georgia board to review Fulton elections, takeover possible
New York Times:
The School Culture Wars: ‘You Have Brought Division to Us’
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
A deep dive into Paramount's sale to Skydance; sources: Skydance may integrate Pluto into Paramount+, and CBS head George Cheeks is expected to be head of TV

Bloomberg:
A look at the challenges facing Crunchyroll, as current and ex-staffers say its management is out of touch, amid Disney and Netflix's expansion into anime

Ankush Khardori / Politico:
Trump may erode press protections but the ABC case is not evidence of that as the decision to settle appears reasonable given Stephanopoulos' imprecise remarks
 
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