How 9/11 launched a new era of security spending

After the 9/11 terror attacks, federal defense spending surged. The Wall Street Journal explains how the funding increase transformed the national-security industry and paid for a vast surveillance system. The News-Times reports on how families of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting victims are working to block a move by Remington’s lawyers to subpoena the school records of some of the students and educators killed. As the NFL season kicks off, FiveThirtyEight releases its football projections. Many gardeners think talking to plants helps them grow. The BBC looks at research on the controversial question of whether plants might be able to listen and even talk back.