POLITICO Playbook: Youngkin's crowds dwarf McAuliffe's on election eve  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  TERRY MCAULIFFE wanted GLENN YOUNGKIN and DONALD TRUMP to campaign together so badly that when it didn't happen, McAuliffe simply invented a Youngkin-Trump event that didn't exist.

Facebook, Citing Societal Concerns, Plans to Shut Down Facial Recognition System  —  Saying it wants “to find the right balance” with the technology, the social network will delete the face scan data of more than one billion users.  —  Facebook plans to shut down its decade-old facial recognition system …

Manchin didn't sign off on framework, no ‘rush’ to get deal  —  Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said he didn't sign off on a framework for a $1.75 trillion social spending and climate bill before it was released from the White House, and that he didn't think there was a “rush” to get a deal.

Scoop: FEC lets foreigners finance U.S. ballot fights  —  The Federal Election Commission has ruled foreign donors can finance U.S. referendum campaigns, opening the door to foreign spending on fights over high-profile policy issues, Axios has learned.  —  Why it matters: Foreign nationals …

9,000 Unvaccinated N.Y.C. Workers Put on Unpaid Leave as Mandate Begins  —  Mayor Bill de Blasio said thousands more did get the shot and that the first day of the vaccine mandate went smoothly, without significant service disruptions.  —  Hundreds of firefighters called in sick in what appeared to be an organized protest.

Sen. Josh Hawley says liberals' attacks on manhood are driving men to pornography and video games  —  Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley on Sunday night told fellow conservatives they must stop liberals from attacking masculinity and creating a nation of “idle men” who watch pornography …

Actor Kristy Swanson, Who Spread Virus Misinformation, Is Hospitalized With COVID-19  —  The pro-Trump actor, best known for her titular role in “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” said she's developed pneumonia.  —  Actor Kristy Swanson, the original “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” …

Breitbart has outsized influence over climate change denial on Facebook, report says  —  A new report suggests 10 publishers, including Russia Today and the Federalist Papers, are responsible for nearly 70 percent of interactions with climate change misinformation on the platform

Poison in the Air  —  Mapping Cancer-Causing Industrial Air Pollution … From the urban sprawl of Houston to the riverways of Virginia, air pollution from industrial plants is elevating the cancer risk of an estimated quarter of a million Americans to a level the federal government considers unacceptable.

House GOP demands answers from all 93 US attorneys on Garland's controversial school boards memo  —  House Republicans are demanding answers from all 93 U.S. attorneys about what steps they've taken since Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo ordering them to help police parents angry at their local school boards.

Yale Law Diversity Director at Center of ‘Traphouse’ Controversy Got an Anti-Semite Invited to the Yale Law Journal  —  The Yale Law School administrator caught on tape pressuring a student to apologize for an allegedly racist party invitation pushed the Yale Law Journal to host a diversity trainer …

A Homeless Man Has Spent 800 Days At Rikers After Stealing Cold Medicine.  Now His Prison Sentence May Be Beginning.  —  Blind in one eye and at risk of losing vision in the other, 58-year-old Reginald Randolph is now on the verge of being sent to state prison to serve out a maximum of four years.

Galaxy Brain Is Moving!  —  (Not going to the metaverse...yet)  —  Before I get extra self-indulgent, I'll lead with the news.  I'm moving Galaxy Brain from Substack over to The Atlantic.  The newsletter will exist in the same form with the promise of the same amount of editorial freedom.

Photos show QAnon believers gathering in Dallas — where they believe JFK Jr. will reveal he's still alive  —  On Monday night, believers in the QAnon conspiracy theory congregated for a mass gathering at the AT&T Discovery Plaza in Dallas, Texas.  —  According to reporter Steven Monacelli …

The NRA's ‘First Lady’ Thought Donald Trump Owed Her a Favor.  Here's How That Went  —  A new book chronicles how Wayne and Susan LaPierre used his gun lobbying job as their ticket to high society, bizarre elephant hunting safaris, and millions in questionable spending

Georgia official: Trump call to ‘find’ votes was a threat  —  ATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump was threatening Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger when he asked him to help “find” enough votes to overturn his loss in Georgia to Democratic President Joe Biden, Raffensperger writes in a new book.

Fact Sheet: President Biden Tackles Methane Emissions, Spurs Innovations, and Supports Sustainable Agriculture to Build a Clean Energy Economy and Create Jobs  —  Today, President Biden is announcing bold actions consistent with his vision that tackling the climate crisis is not just an imperative …