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Labor Day strikers outside Portlands Nabisco plant.
Labor Day strikers outside Portland's Nabisco plant. Courtesy of Jamie Partridge

Good morning, Portland! After a three-day weekend marking the symbolic end of another strange, disappointing summer, we're back on that grind.

Here are the headlines.

• I am once again reminding you to pause your oreo consumption:

• The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to cause a blood shortage throughout the country, including here in the Pacific Northwest. If you're up for donating your blood (and eligible), the Red Cross of the Cascades region would appreciate it.

• Oregon experienced a terrible surge in COVID deaths this August, and new data from the Oregon Health Authority shows that about 80 percent of those fatalities were people who were either unvaccinated, or under-vaccinated.

• The Portland Marathon is coming up next month—but it'll be without a key sponsor this year. Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) pulled its sponsorship, citing the current COVID surge and full hospitals as its reason. "Participation in the marathon, as a runner or volunteer, is, of course, a personal decision for our members and the general public, but as Oregon’s academic health center and a public leader in health and science, OHSU will not be sponsoring this year’s event," reads a statement from OHSU.

• In case you missed this news on Friday:

• Last week's Supreme Court decision allowing Texas' six-week abortion ban to take effect was historic and devastating—but it's hardly the last we'll hear from the anti-abortion freaks. Six other red states are working on their own similar legislation, and it's likely they'll seek to control in-vitro fertilization and contraception next.

• The Taliban announced its new Afghan caretaker government Monday, and it's full of hardliners. Longterm Taliban member Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund will serve as interim prime minister.

• When the United States' multiple fucked-up issues collide:

• The 20-year anniversary of 9/11 is coming up this Saturday. A new poll from the AP shows that compared to sentiments 20 years ago, Americans are much more reluctant to allow government surveillance, and are also more concerned about domestic terror than about foreign threats.

• And here's some hopeful news: New studies suggest that some people who contracted COVID last year, and then were vaccinated against it this year, possess an almost "superhuman" immunity to COVID—including its variants.

• Finally, we'll end with this cat, who's asking you to just say NO to cigarettes: