Here are some of the stories the Moyers & Company crew are reading this morning.

First, Syria…

United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power speaks about Syria at the Center for American Progress in Washington, Friday, Sept. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

• German media reporting that Bashar al-Assad didn’t personally order chemical weapons to be deployed, according to Time Magazine.
• Secretary of State John Kerry has issued an ultimatum: Assad can avert a strike by handing over his entire stock of chemical weapons within one week. Patrick Wintour has the story for The Guardian.
• Kerry also says the Saudis – who are hardly unbiased observers — will back an attack, according to the WaPo.
• David Cloud reports in the LAT that U.S. war planners are now looking at a longer, more intense bombardment than originally planned.
• U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power pressed for strikes on NPR this morning calling them “necessary” and cites Kosovo as precedent.
• USA Today reports that only 22 senators and 22 members of the House have so far committed to supporting the Syria resolution.

Blood-boiling story –> If you need some Monday morning outrage, the WaPo’s Debbie Cenziper, Michael Sallah and Steven Rich detail how investors buy up small tax liens, run up a bunch of interest and fees, and then foreclose on the homes of people who are down on their luck.

Falling further behind –> At The American Prospect, Joe Hines reports that “on almost every measurement of well-being, low and middle-income families are worse off since the recession.”

Incarceration nation –> In the LAT, Paige St. John has a story of unintended consequences plaguing local jails as California tries to reduce its huge prison population.

Drones aren’t used to being the hunted –> Christian Science Monitor’s Patrik Jonsson on a Colorado town issuing “drone hunting licenses.”

Climate change deniers’ sea-ice delusions –> John Abraham and Dana Nuccitelli debunk the latest shoddy claims in The Guardian.

Here’s looking at you –> The WaPo’s Ellen Nakashima reports that the Obama administration had restrictions on NSA surveillance reversed in 2011.

What could possibly go wrong? –> Iowa issuing gun carry permits to the blind.

Good thing it’s dead –> Scientists say they’ve discovered a submerged, extinct volcano in the Pacific that dwarfs what was previously believed to be the earth’s largest. BBC with the story.

Stopped and frisked? –> On a lighter note, Buckingham Palace police stopped a suspicious figure walking the grounds and demanded that the man identify himself. He complied, identifying himself as Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and fifth in line for the British crown. We’re guessing someone’s getting fired.

What are you reading? Tell us in the comments!