WPVI: The sand on the sides of the trench collapsed on him suddenly while the others in his group were nearby playing bocce ball, he told The Associated Press. As the sand pressed down on him, he wiggled his head to get a small pocket of air but then began to panic and lost consciousness after a few minutes. He realized no one could see what had happened because he had been hidden from view by the depth of the trench. “It was really scary. I thought I’d just die,” said Mina, who lives in Free Union, Va. “I didn’t […]

 THE ATLANTIC: A mysterious company funneled $1 million into a Super PAC supporting Mitt Romney and then dissolved just months later, reports NBC News’s Michael Isikoff.  The contribution represented one of the largest donations of this election cycle and, according to Isikoff, “provides a vivid example of how secret campaign cash is being funneled in ever more circuitous ways into the political system.” The firm W Spann LLC, formed by Boston estate tax lawyer Cameron Casey, dissolved in July after being formed in March. In between that period it made a $1 million contribution to the Super PAC Restore Our […]

THE GUARDIAN: A top-secret document revealing how MI6 and MI5 officers were allowed to extract information from prisoners being illegally tortured overseas has been seen by the Guardian. The interrogation policy – details of which are believed to be too sensitive to be publicly released at the government inquiry into the UK’s role in torture and rendition – instructed senior intelligence officers to weigh the importance of the information being sought against the amount of pain they expected a prisoner to suffer. It was operated by the British government for almost a decade. […] The document seen by the Guardian […]

[Click to enlarge] WHITE HOUSE BLOG:  Myth: President Obama caved. Fact: President Obama laid out key priorities that had to be part of any deal. Those priorities are reflected in this compromise. First, we avoided default which would have plunged the economy into a deep recession, imperiling the well-being of millions of Americans. Second, the initial down payment on deficit reductions does not cut low-income and safety-net programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Third, we set up a path forward that will put pressure on Congress to adopt a balanced approach. And finally, we raised the debt ceiling […]

?uestlove, Gary Clark Jr., Abstract Verses, LTC and Voss at The Blockley Pourhouse last night. Photos by MEREDITH KLEIBER.

SYDNEY GREENBERG: When presented with vivid descriptions of income inequality in America, people are deflated, rather than empowered to bring change. In surveys, they tell me that they think the politicians and the chief executives are “piggybacking off each other.” They think that the game is rigged and that the wealthy and big industries get policies that reinforce their advantage. And they do not think their voices matter.[…] What should Democrats do? The Democrats have to start detoxifying politics by proposing to severely limit or bar individual and corporate campaign contributions, which would mean a fight with the Supreme Court. […]

Bon Iver plays the sold out Tower Theater tonight. We’ll have a complete report tomorrow.

THE DAILY: With more than 350 cloudless days and less than 3 inches of rain per year, this boiling-hot border town is often billed as the driest, sunniest city in the nation. Now Yuma can add a grimmer distinction to the list: America’s most unemployed city. Local joblessness stands at 27.9 percent, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics — worse than the nationwide rate at the depth of the Great Depression in 1933. “This isn’t something you just see in the paper,” said Julie Engel, president of the city’s economic development corporation. “There isn’t a person in Yuma that hasn’t […]

From Fallon last night. They play Union Transfer Oct. 9th.

Allegheny & B, 11 AM Yesterday by JEFF FUSCO  *** SYD BARRETT: Vegetable Man