'Don't you ever forget that name': Biden's tough meeting with grieving relatives  —  President Biden made his way on Sunday around a quiet room at Dover Air Force Base, a chamber filled with couches and chairs, with dignitaries and grieving families huddling together as the president came …

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

Joe Biden's Critics Lost Afghanistan  —  A month ago I thought I was a cynic about our 20-year war in Afghanistan.  Today, after watching our stumbling withdrawal and the swift collapse of practically everything we fought for, my main feeling is that I wasn't cynical enough.

Joe Biden ended the war in Afghanistan after 20 years.  That's a BFD.  —  OK, I'll say it again: I was wrong about Joe Biden.  —  During the 2020 presidential primaries, I was aghast at the prospect of an Iraq War supporter winning the Democratic nomination.

The New Puritans  —  “It was no great distance, in those days, from the prison-door to the market-place.  Measured by the prisoner's experience, however, it might be reckoned a journey of some length.”  —  So begins the tale of Hester Prynne, as recounted in Nathaniel Hawthorne's most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter.

Trump acolytes poised to push out Senate dealmakers  —  If Senate Republicans seem conservative now, just wait until next year.  The 2022 midterms could usher in a wave of full-spectrum MAGA supporters who would turn the GOP conference an even deeper shade of red — and make the Senate a lot more like the fractious House.

Axios-Ipsos poll: Vaccine hesitancy may be crumbling  —  Vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. is showing signs of crumbling, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.  — Fewer adults than ever now say they won't take the shot, and in the past two weeks …

Independence MO says positive case traced to public hearing |  The Kansas City Star  —  Two weeks after Independence leaders rejected a proposed mask mandate promoted by the city's own health advisers, the city is encouraging anyone who attended that public meeting to get tested for COVID-19.

GOP Congressman Says He Wants to Bust Out Jan. 6 ‘Political Prisoners’  —  When Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn was asked about what he's doing to help the hundreds in jail awaiting trial for their roles in the violent January 6 riots, he called them “political prisoners”—and said he wanted to “bust them out.”

Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump Rule Governing Water Pollution  —  The rule allowed fertilizers, pesticides and industrial chemicals to flow into small streams, marshes and wetlands.  The judge warned of environmental harm.  —  WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday struck …

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 …

Biden Waived Congressional Mandate for Report on Afghanistan Withdrawal Risks  —  President Joe Biden waived a mandate in June that would have forced the Pentagon to provide a detailed report to Congress about the risks of leaving Afghanistan.  —  Under the federal statute …

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 …

The Intolerable Wait for a Kids' Vaccine  —  Julie Swann, an engineer who studies health systems and models infectious disease at North Carolina State University, leads a team of researchers who recently tried to simulate how the Delta variant of the coronavirus could move through schools in various scenarios.

What Voters in a California Swing District Say About Afghanistan  —  In a battleground district, even some Trump voters said they were hesitant to hold President Biden accountable for the casualties and chaos in the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan.  —  HACIENDA HEIGHTS, Calif. …

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.

Biden brings the world closer to nuclear war  —  Over the past six months, the world has edged closer to nuclear war than it has been since the Cuban Missile Crisis.  The Doomsday Clock is ticking toward midnight.  The global power balance has been dramatically reshuffled …

Why France was more clear-eyed about Afghanistan than the US  —  Paris, which started evacuating Afghans and staff in May, had ‘more dispassionate’ assessment of same intelligence  —  In May — three months before the fall of Kabul to the Taliban — France began evacuating Afghans working …

Trump's pick in a key Senate race touts his agriculture ties.  He doesn't mention his role in a bankruptcy that cost farmers millions.  —  As Rep. Ted Budd launched his campaign for a pivotal U.S. Senate seat earlier this year, the North Carolina Republican pitched himself as a staunch ally of farmers.

Democrats in This Red State Learned to Fight Back Over COVID-19  —  Cities, counties, and school boards are defying the governor and legislature—and mandating masks and other public-health measures.  —  Coronavirus infections are on the rise.  Vaccination rates are lagging.

Afghan folk singer taken from his house and killed by the Taliban  —  (CNN)Afghan folk singer Fawad Andarabi was dragged from his home and killed by the Taliban in a restive mountain province north of Kabul on Friday, a local journalist told CNN, raising fears of a return to the militant group's harsh rule …

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 …