Confidential State Department Cable in July Warned of Afghanistan's Collapse  —  About two dozen State Department officials in Kabul sent an internal memo to Secretary of State Antony Blinken  —  WASHINGTON — About two dozen State Department officials serving at the embassy in Kabul sent …

Elder's ex-fiancee said he brandished a gun at her  —  PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Alexandra Datig, the former fiancee and longtime radio producer for California GOP gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder, says she broke off an 18-month engagement with the conservative talk show host in 2015 …

Wicker Office Statement on COVID-19 Diagnosis  —  WASHINGTON - The Office of Senator Roger F. Wicker Communications Director Phillip Waller today issued a statement after Senator Roger F. Wicker tested positive for COVID-19:  —  “Senator Wicker tested positive this morning for the COVID-19 virus …

If North Texas runs out of ICU hospital beds, doctors can consider a patient's vaccination status  —  This would be a big change in health care, but doctors have yet to announce it.  So The Watchdog does it for them.  —  North Texas doctors have quietly developed a plan that seeks to prepare …

Police identify suspect who surrendered after claiming to have a bomb near US Capitol  —  (CNN)A suspect who claimed to have an explosive device in a truck near the US Capitol has surrendered to authorities and is in custody, US Capitol Police said Thursday.  —  Police have identified the suspect as 49-year-old Floyd Ray Roseberry.

Planes, guns, night-vision goggles: The Taliban's new U.S.-made war chest  —  About a month ago, Afghanistan's ministry of defense posted on social media photographs of seven brand new helicopters arriving in Kabul delivered by the United States.  —  “They'll continue to see a steady drumbeat …

OnlyFans to Block Sexually Explicit Videos Starting in October  —  OnlyFans is getting out of the pornography business.  —  The company will prohibit users from posting any sexually explicit conduct, starting in October.  Creators will still be allowed to post nude photos and videos …

Ron DeSantis has ‘made a monumental mess of masking in public schools’ |  Column  —  Several school districts are doing the right thing despite the governor's threats, writes columnist Mac Stipanovich.  —  Ron DeSantis is a governor uninterested in actually governing …

Texas House reaches quorum after Democrats had blocked voting bill for weeks by leaving state  —  AUSTIN — The Texas House reached a quorum Thursday for the first time since July, clearing the way for new voting restrictions to pass after a record-breaking Democratic boycott had stalled the bill for weeks …

Something Is Wrong with the President  —  What's Going On with President Biden?  —  After making no public appearances for four days — during a major foreign crisis — President Biden read a 20-minute speech off a teleprompter on Monday afternoon and took no questions.  He immediately returned to Camp David.

What I Learned While Eavesdropping on the Taliban  —  When people ask me what I did in Afghanistan, I tell them that I hung out in planes and listened to the Taliban.  My job was to provide “threat warning” to allied forces, and so I spent most of my time trying to discern the Taliban's plans.

There is a blueprint to win for Democrats in 2022  —  It's hard to believe that we're on the precipice of another campaign season, but the influx of fundraising emails we've been receiving the past several weeks to “help get X re-elected” tells the story.  —  The midterms for a first-term president are historically bad for his party.

Republican Rep. Diana Harshbarger failed to properly disclose more than 700 stock trades worth as much as $10.9 million in violation of federal transparency law  — Harshbarger disclosed hundreds of stock trades weeks or months after a federal deadline.  — The tardy trades could invite an ethics investigation and fine.

Are You Ready for Sentient Disney Robots?  —  Some of the animatronics at Disney's parks have been doing their herky-jerky thing since the Nixon administration.  The company knows that nostalgia won't cut it with today's children.  —  GLENDALE, Calif. — I was en route to meet Groot.

Almost all eligible Georgians are registered to vote, data shows  —  Federal election report: 95% of voting-age Georgians registered  —  Georgia now has one of the highest voter registration rates in the nation, with 95% of citizens over 18 years old signed up to vote, according to federal election data released this week.

Greenville County GOP leader Pressley Stutts dies from COVID-19  —  Greenville County Republican Party leader Pressley Stutts died Thursday morning after battling COVID-19 for nearly a month.  —  Stutts death was confirmed by Dan Harvell, who represents the Anderson County Republican Party …

Conspiracy-filled House hearing held on vaccine mandate ban  —  A GOP bill to preemptively prohibit mandatory employee vaccinations saw the light of day Thursday, in a House committee hearing saturated with COVID-19 conspiracy theories and anti-vaxxer rhetoric.

Cable News Military Experts Are on the Defense Industry Dole … Jack Keane has had a busy week.  —  The retired four-star general has been making the cable news rounds, offering scathing criticism of the White House in wake of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.

Charm offensive: What the Taliban said as they escorted me out of an Afghan city  —  MAZAR-I-SHARIF — Under the full tilt of the afternoon sunshine, two Taliban commanders with weathered, expressionless faces beckoned me into their tiny car - their eyes dropping to the floor so as not to make contact with a woman.

Nazi salute, insults hurled at chaotic Birmingham schools meeting over mask mandate  — Screenshot of of a Birmingham Board of Education meeting in which parent Nicole Humphrey said she's removing her daughter from school because the mask mandate.  —  Police are investigating a man …