Check out Mini-memeorandum for simple mobiles or memeorandum Mobile for modern smartphones.
12:15 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  Many are premature — or alternatively, out of date.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:
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.
Mike Pence / Wall Street Journal:
Biden Broke Our Deal With the Taliban  —  It's a foreign-policy humiliation unlike anything our country has endured since the Iran hostage crisis.  —  'The likelihood there's going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country [of Afghanistan] is highly unlikely," …
CNBC:
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.
David Rohde / New Yorker:
Trying—and Failing—to Save the Family of the Afghan Who Saved Me  —  Twelve years ago, Tahir Luddin helped us both escape after we were kidnapped by the Taliban.  Now I am struggling to get his family out of Kabul.  —  In the middle of March, I texted my friend Tahir Luddin …
Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:
Taliban Block Routes to Kabul Airport, Hampering Evacuations From Afghanistan  —  Residents in eastern city of Jalalabad stage first protest against Taliban rule  —  Afghans and Westerners stranded in Kabul after Sunday's Taliban takeover started trickling into the city's U.S.-controlled airport …
Quin Hillyer / Washington Examiner:
After epochal disaster in Afghanistan, Biden should step down  —  President Joe Biden should resign in disgrace.  —  Seriously.  As I have argued for decades , it is long past time for American politicians to adopt the Asian cultural model of resignations, as a matter of honor, for gross failures or derelictions.
Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Biden's approval rating drops below 50  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  SIREN: President JOE BIDEN's average approval rating is below 50% for the first time this year.  538: 49.8% ... RCP: 49.4%  —  The dip has been driven by a slow erosion among independents that seems tied …
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
A First Amendment Precedent  —  The Supreme Court may reconsider a major case concerning freedom of the press.  The Times's Adam Liptak explains why.  —  Four years ago, at his Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch indicated that a 1964 precedent protecting press freedom was secure.
Discussion: Insider and Raw Story
Chris Kahn / Reuters:
Biden approval drops to lowest of 7-month presidency after Taliban takeover
The Intercept:
The Taliban Have Seized U.S. Military Biometrics Devices
Reuters:
Biden's vow to airlift Afghan allies meets ticking clock, risky rescue
Washington Post:
Taliban strikes conciliatory tone, consolidates power as de facto leader returns to country
Devi Ruia / Data For Progress:
Voters Support Withdrawing Troops from Afghanistan and Providing Afghans With Special Immigrant Visas
Discussion: Democrats
Yahoo Finance:   Taliban Barricade Airport; Ghani Is in UAE: Afghanistan Update
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.
Discussion: Calculated Risk
RELATED:
Reuters:
U.S. reports more than 1,000 COVID deaths in single day  —  The United States reported more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, equating to around 42 fatalities an hour, according to a Reuters tally, as the Delta variant continues to ravage parts of the country with low vaccination rates.
al.com:
Alabama has net of only 2 ICU beds in state, hospital association says  —  As Alabama faces a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations due to a low vaccination rate and the more contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, the state has a net of only two ICU beds, the Alabama Hospital Association said Monday.
Cameron Jenkins / The Hill:
Arizona governor withholding grants to schools with mask mandates
Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and UPI
Anita Sircar / Los Angeles Times:
Op-Ed: As a doctor in a COVID unit, I'm running out of compassion for the unvaccinated. Get the shot
Discussion: NOQ Report
Patrick Svitek / The Texas Tribune:
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tests positive for COVID-19
HHS News releases:
Joint Statement from HHS Public Health and Medical Experts on COVID-19 Booster Shots  —  Today, public health and medical experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the following statement on the Administration's plan for COVID-19 booster shots for the American people.
RELATED:
New York Times:
The School Culture Wars: ‘You Have Brought Division to Us’  —  From mask mandates to critical race theory and gender identity, educators are besieged.  “You are just trying to keep everything from collapsing,” one official said.  —  July and August are supposed to be the quietest months of the school year.
Julie Barrett / The Federalist:
How To See If Critical Race Theory Is In Your Kids' School—And Fight It  —  If your school district is anything like mine, they don't call it critical race theory, and they insist people who use that term are crazy, right-wing conspiracy theorists.  We're not.
Discussion: Washington Examiner
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The hidden way Biden will salvage value from the Afghanistan debacle  —  A narrative is taking shape around the Afghanistan debacle that goes like this: The failure of our mission, and the terrible humanitarian consequences of the botched withdrawal, badly complicate President Biden's claim that “America is back.”
Discussion: Washington Times
CDC:
CDC Newsroom  —  Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is announcing a new center designed to advance the use of forecasting and outbreak analytics in public health decision making.  Once established, the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics …
Discussion: Bloomberg and Washington Post
- 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 …
 
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of memeorandum at 12:15 PM ET, August 18, 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: 
HuffPost:
The Behind-The-Scenes Campaign For The Next Social Security Commissioner
Wall Street Journal:
BuzzFeed Clashed With NBCUniversal as It Pursued SPAC Deal
Steven Allen Adams / Martinsburg Journa:
Progressive group launches ReplaceJoeManchin.com
Discussion: The Nation
Steve Israel / The Hill:
Do not underestimate Kathy Hochul
Ron Faucheux / Washington Examiner:
Are the wheels coming off the Biden administration?
Discussion: CNBC
 Earlier Items: 
Jesús A. Rodríguez / Politico:
What Kamala Harris' Law School Years Reveal About Her Politics
Democracy Docket:
Court Dismisses Right-Wing Group's Counterclaims in Georgia Voter Intimidation Suit
Zach Montellaro / Politico:
‘Center of the maelstrom’: Election officials grapple with 2020's long shadow
Kate Murphy / Raleigh News & Observer:
UNC Chapel Hill Journalism School Dean Susan King resigning
Discussion: The Progressive Pulse
Wall Street Journal:
The Democratic Food-Stamp Boom
Rudy Takala / Mediaite:
Twitter Says Taliban Spokesman Will be Allowed to Remain if He Doesn't Get Too Violent
 

 
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

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
Memo: WaPo's Matt Murray lays out plans for WP Ventures, the “third newsroom”; Krissah Thompson will be editor and Samantha Henig will be general manager

 
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