NPR News

Last year it was "carmageddon, schmarmaggedon."

This year, our friends at Southern California Public Radio are asking "carma-what?"

Once again, it seems, car-crazy Los Angelenos coped well with a weekend shutdown of a major freeway so that crews would demolish a no-longer-needed bridge.

Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- Bombing Kills At Least 14 In Afghanistan, Including Three NATO Troops.

-- With First Debate This Week, We Really Are In Campaign's Final Stretch.

Other stories in the news:

We're nearly to the last of the many milestones that come along during presidential campaigns.

The primaries? Long over.

The conventions? All wrapped up.

Labor Day, when voters supposedly start paying attention? That was four weeks ago.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some of the latest news from Afghanistan, including a grim milestone:

-- "A suicide bombing [today] in the eastern Afghan city of Khost has killed at least 14 people, three of them Nato soldiers, officials say." (BBC News)

The satirical news site reported a bogus poll: 77 percent of rural white voters would rather vote for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than President Obama. The Iranian news agency Fars did not understand it was a joke, and reported the survey as fact.

After raising more than $125,000 on Kickstarter, the synth-psych-rock group Black Moth Super Rainbow is set to self-release its fifth full-length record. The gritty, beat-heavy Cobra Juicy is due out on Oct. 23, but the band is giving fans an early taste now with the thick and dirty "Gangs in the Garden."

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

Day after day in Syria, people are being killed, but sometimes it takes a weekend like this past one to remind us just how horrifying the conflict is. Government troops were battling rebels were for control of Aleppo, Syria's largest such city. And as they fought, flames spred through a centuries-old market, burning huge sections to the ground.

The Impossible Project saved Polaroid film before it went off the market. It bought the last remaining factory and restarted production. And a gadget called the Instant Lab prints Polaroids from your iPhone.