Scoop - Manchin: Delay Biden plan to '22  —  Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is privately saying he thinks Congress should take a “strategic pause” until 2022 before voting on President Biden's $3.5 trillion social-spending package, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.

Biden to Push Global Plan to Battle Covid as National Gaps Widen  —  The U.N.-backed vaccine program is so far behind schedule that not even 10 percent of the population in poor countries is fully vaccinated, experts say.  —  WASHINGTON — Already grappling with divisions in his own country …

How the U.S. Helped, and Hampered, the Escape of Afghan Journalists  —  The secretary of state cites a “massive effort” by the government, but people involved in the evacuation instead describe bureaucratic snags.  —  As American news organizations scrambled to evacuate their Afghan journalists …

Bill Barr's Still Making a Mockery of Justice.  Merrick Garland's Letting Him.  —  WHAT A MESS … Letting Durham's weak case continue sets a bad, potentially dangerous, precedent for future abuses of prosecutorial power.  —  The investigation that former Attorney General William Barr ordered …

US to relax EU and UK travel restrictions for vaccinated passengers  —  Biden administration to announce new travel policy effective from November  —  Vaccinated passengers will be able to travel to the US from the EU and UK from November onwards, the Biden administration will announce on Monday …

Tate Reeves and the high cost of covid incompetence  —  When naming the poster child for irresponsible leadership on covid-19, there are plenty of governors to choose from.  You could make a strong case for South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee personally vetted Trump's fraud claims, new book says.  They were unpersuaded.  —  “Peril,” by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, reveals the lengths the two Republicans went to in examining the president's baseless claims.  —  Sen. Lindsey O. Graham agreed to hear Rudolph W. Giuliani out.

Peter Thiel's Origin Story His ideology dominates Silicon Valley.  It began to form when he was an angry young man.  —  Sometime around the spring of 1988, several members of the Stanford University chess team traveled to a tournament in Monterey, California, in an old Volkswagen Rabbit.

My Going Maskless Is Different, Says San Francisco Mayor, Because ‘I Was Feeling the Spirit’  —  The Mayor of San Francisco says that she shouldn't be criticized for breaking her own COVID rules, because, and I quote, “I was feeling the spirit and I wasn't thinking about a mask.”  CBS reports:

Covid Vaccine Prompts Strong Immune Response in Younger Children, Pfizer Says  —  Vaccinated kids aged 5 to 11 showed evidence of protection against the virus, the company said.  The data must be reviewed by the F.D.A. before children can be inoculated.  —  The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine …

Eric Adams' Townhouse Trouble: Tax Filing ‘Mistake’ and Blown-Off Buildings Inspector  —  Campaign says mayoral nominee will amend tax returns for a second time after THE CITY pointed out irregularities concerning filings on his Bed-Stuy residence.  Adams also overlooked …

This $100,000 Donation by Matt Gaetz Raises All the Eyebrows  —  Rep. Matt Gaetz' largest political donation ever went to a Chris Christie group for a very strange reason that's caught the attention of election law experts.  —  On the day Donald Trump's second impeachment trial began in the Senate …

The Case Not Made: A Response to Anne Applebaum's “The New Puritans”  —  All social relations create vulnerabilities and dependencies that are subject to abuse.  This is a fundamental fact about the social nature of humanity, a baseline from which all specific arrangements need to be judged.

'It's spreading': Phony election fraud conspiracies infect midterms  —  It started as one big, false claim — that the election was stolen from Donald Trump.  —  But nearly a year later, the Big Lie is metastasizing, with Republicans throughout the country raising the specter of rigged elections …

Trump won these counties big.  His supporters question the results there, too.  —  Former President Donald Trump won Mesa County, Colorado, by 28 points in last fall's election.  —  In Barry County, Michigan, he won by more than 32 points.  And in Lander County, Nevada, his victory was in excess of 61 points.

In the Heart of Nashville, Rolling Parties Rage at Every Stoplight  —  As Nashville's popularity has grown, so has the “transportainment” business — a motley assortment including old buses, farm tractors and a truck with a hot tub.  Many think it has gotten out of hand.

The Trump Organization Is Back In Court To Fight Tax Fraud Charges In New York … With multiple investigations still underway, attorneys involved with the tax fraud case against former President Donald Trump's family business and its longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg …

Threats against members of Congress are skyrocketing.  It's changing the job  —  A few months ago Rep. Norma Torres (D-Pomona) received an anonymous video of someone following her car.  The camera pans down to a 9mm handgun on the seat as a male voice says: “I see you.  I got something for you.”

Gabby Petito's Disappearance: a Timeline  —  The authorities said they had found human remains in Wyoming consistent with a description of Gabrielle Petito, 22.  The search continues for her fiancé, Brian Laundrie.  —  Here's what you need to know:

Norm Macdonald's Comedy Was Quite Christian  —  Mr. Walther is the editor of The Lamp, a Catholic literary journal, and a contributing editor at The American Conservative.  —  The relationship between Christianity and stand-up comedy has been going steadily downhill for half a century.

The Afghanistization of America  —  We are doing our best to become a Third-World country of incompetency, constitutional erosion, a fractious and politicized military elite, and racially and ethnically obsessed warring tribes.  —  The United States should be at its pinnacle of strength.