* Before Labor Day was all beach selfies and the death of white jeans, it was about the social advancement of common people. * Chinese government creates full-court anti-Japan press, going so far as to create angry national holidays. * Employing history of early Islam and the original caliphs, Islamic State
* Happy Labor Day: Hourly wages have flatlined over the past five years. * Sweden becomes the first Nordic country with a case of suspected Ebola—UPDATE: It's been ruled out. * About half of the Syrian population has been displaced by the nation's civil war. * South Africa attempts
* Obama takes flak for wearing a tan suit, but taupe need not be sad, nay can be sexy, shows Ryan Gosling. * The recent, relentless waves of bad news lead people to overestimate the world’s awfulness. * Russian bank offers two-hour cat loans to customers taking out a mortgage. * Tennessee
* Pro-Israel group may be losing support in Congress. * Interviews and satellite imagery show the Yazidi religious minority in Iraq is still stranded on a mountain. * The Islamic State appears committed to the destruction of cultural heritage, archaeological finds, and, in fact, Aramaic. * Since 1997, 1,400 girls were sexually
* Ceasefire appears to hold in Israel and Hamas's war of attritition—"an opportunity, not a certainty." * Russia and Ukraine to restart stalled gas talks, pleasing Europeans. * Endgame for Putin. * Analysis of Mein Kampf reviewers on Amazon finds many admirers with praise for Hitler. * Study finds users
* As a second strain of ebola breaks out, Japan announces it has an experimental flu drug that could treat Ebola. * After receiving ZMapp treatment and showing signs of recovery, a Liberian doctor dies of Ebola. * Ferguson's largely young, black, male protesters. * Following two high-profile tragedies, many Malaysia
* Excellent Nathan Thrall analysis of how Israel and Hamas reached their current, undesired war. * Venezuela soon to begin fingerprinting customers at grocery stores. * Four men develop a nail polish to detect date-rape drugs. * Catalog of weapons used against Ferguson protestors. * Black Ferguson experiences post-Michael Brown political awakening. * Since
* Russia rolls back some of its self-imposed bans on Western food—including vitamins, supplements, and lactose-free dairy products. * Because of Missouri's self-defense laws, convicting Darren Wilson is an unlikely outcome. * The Royal Canadian Mounted Police acquires military-grade vehicles, assures citizens they're only
* Surowiecki: "The lack of an Ebola treatment is disturbing. But, given the way drug development is funded, it's also predictable." * How America's no-ransom policy contributed to James Foley's death, and why a new policy could be in order. * Related: Al Qaeda
* American journalist James Foley, kidnapped in Syria in 2012, beheaded on camera by the Islamic State. * See also: The story of Foley’s kidnapping along with Austin Bennett Tice. * The Islamic State are "extreme sadists with a conventional army and nation-building aspirations." * LAPD cop asks that we
