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 …

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 …

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.

EXC: Joe Biden's State Dept Halted A Trump-Era ‘Crisis Response’ Plan Aimed At Avoiding Benghazi-Style Evacuations Just MONTHS Before Taliban Takeover.  —  Joe Biden's State Department moved to cancel a critical State Department program aimed at providing swift and safe evacuations of Americans …

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 …

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 …

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.

“A Smile With Sharp Teeth”: Mike Richards's Rise to ‘Jeopardy!’  Host Sparks Questions About His Past  —  The ‘Jeopardy!’ host search is finally over.  New reporting reveals that concerns about Richards and the show's selection process remain.  —  One day in the fall of 2013, Mike Richards called Ken Jennings.

Biden to require nursing homes get staff vaccinated or lose federal funds  —  Surgeon general on Covid-19 boosters: The time is now  —  (CNN)The Biden administration will direct all nursing homes to require their staff be vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to continue receiving Medicare …

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.

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.

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 …

Larry David ‘screamed’ at Alan Dershowitz at grocery store over Trump ties  —  It seems that Alan Dershowitz's ties to the Trump administration have made him persona non grata among the Martha's Vineyard elite — including Larry David.  —  A Page Six spy spotted the Harvard Law professor …

Socialist Publication Current Affairs Fires Staff for Doing Socialism  —  “We were fired by the editor-in-chief of a socialist magazine for trying to start a worker co-op,” five fired staffers wrote in a letter posted on Tuesday.  —  Lauren Kaori Gurley  —  Nathan J. Robinson …

Ousted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani resurfaces in UAE after fleeing Kabul, Emirati government says  — Ousted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled his country as its capital Kabul was being overtaken by Taliban fighters, is now in the United Arab Emirates.

Chris Rufo more than held his own in this NY Times interview on Critical Race Theory  —  Afghanistan is still taking up all the oxygen in the room but there are other stories out there.  Today the NY Times published a podcast/interview with CRT opponent Christopher Rufo hosted by Jane Coaston.

The Biden administration will use a federal civil rights office to deter states from banning universal masking in classrooms.  —  The Biden administration, escalating its fight with Republican governors who are blocking local school districts from requiring masks to protect against the coronavirus …

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