In Afghanistan, an Unceremonious End, and a Shrouded Beginning  —  The last American flight from Afghanistan left behind a host of unfulfilled promises and anxious questions about the country's fate.  —  The end of the United States' longest war was unceremonious — trash blowing across …

The Hard Covid-19 Questions We're Not Asking  —  Dr. Allen is the director of the healthy buildings program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and has studied how Covid-19 spreads in indoor spaces.  Dr. Jenkins is an associate professor at Boston University School of Public Health and an infectious-disease epidemiologist.

Forest Service officials confirm all California national forests to temporarily close  —  All of California's national forests will be closed beginning late Tuesday.  —  The closures will go into effect at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday and stay in place until the same time on Sept. 17 …

The Density Divide and the Southernification of Rural America  —  The Old North/South Split Lives on in the Urban/Rural Divide  —  When I was a kid, the accents changed.  Driving north from central Iowa through the corn toward Minnesota, the dialect would gradually get a little Fargo …

Partisan divides in media trust widen, driven by a decline among Republicans  —  In just five years, the percentage of Republicans with at least some trust in national news organizations has been cut in half - dropping from 70% in 2016 to 35% this year.  This decline is fueling the continued widening …

Laurence Tribe: If Garland doesn't prosecute Trump, the rule of law is “out the window”  —  Eminent constitutional law expert: If Biden and Garland won't go after Trump, country is in “desperate trouble”  —  If American democracy were a hospital patient, the diagnosis would be “critical”.

FBI: Texas shooter possibly inspired by foreign terrorists  —  GARLAND, Texas (AP) — Investigators are looking into whether a Texas man was inspired by foreign terrorists when he killed a Lyft driver in a Dallas suburb and later opened fire in the police station of another suburb where officers fatally shot him.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn falsely suggests elections are ‘rigged,’ says there will be ‘bloodshed’ if system continues on its path  —  Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) on Sunday falsely suggested that elections in the United States are “rigged” and said there will be “bloodshed” if the country's electoral system continues on its current path.

Twitter Permanently Bans Former NYT Journalist Alex Berenson  —  We previously discussed how Twitter's growing censorship program has targeted former New York Times journalist and author Alex Berenson who is an outspoken critic of the government's scientific claims and response to the pandemic.

Federal judge throws out Trump administration rule allowing the draining and filling of streams, marshes and wetlands  —  A federal judge on Monday threw out a major Trump administration rule scaling back federal protections for streams, marshes and wetlands across the United States …

Los Angeles Magazine Gives Union President the Profile She's Earned  —  Something's spreading through newsrooms and it's not the coronavirus.  —  Soon after Emma Green of The Atlantic challenged the well-worn talking points of NEA President Becky Pringle, we get Jason McGahan of Los Angeles Magazine …

Hurricane Ida Is a Manmade Disaster  —  “The wind is tearing Pointe-Aux-Chenes apart,” Albert Naquin told me Sunday afternoon.  He was standing in his carport, watching as the first eyewall of Hurricane Ida passed over the bayou where he has lived for almost his entire life.

No, the Taliban did not seize $83 billion of U.S. weapons  —  “ALL EQUIPMENT should be demanded to be immediately returned to the United States, and that includes every penny of the $85 billion dollars in cost.”  — Former president Donald Trump, in a statement, Aug 30

AOC, Tlaib, Pressley call on Biden to dump Powell as Fed chair  —  Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley on Monday called for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to be replaced, stepping up the pressure on President Joe Biden as he draws closer to a decision on the government's most important economic post.

Afghans confront economic meltdown after Taliban takeover … Prices of everyday essentials such as flour, cooking oil and fuel have surged.  Salaries have stopped being paid.  Residents in pursuit of cash queue outside banks and at automated teller machines.