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Trump’s internal security force is wielding power that cannot and should not exist in a democracy

Trump’s internal security force is wielding power that cannot and should not exist in a democracy

Jamelle Bouie writes: The United States is no stranger to the use of military or quasi-military force against protesters. During the Whiskey Rebellion, a tax revolt of farmers and distillers in western Pennsylvania that culminated in 1794, President George Washington raised a federal militia to meet insurgents in the field. To break the Pullman Strike of 1894, during which workers shut down rail traffic in much of the country, President Grover Cleveland deployed federal troops to Chicago, sparking a confrontation…

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Who actually wants Trump to send in the feds? Police unions

Who actually wants Trump to send in the feds? Police unions

The Daily Beast reports: Leaders of cities like Portland and Chicago publicly say they don’t want federal law enforcement policing protesters. But as President Donald Trump threatens to send in the troops to a handful of America’s largest cities, some of those same locales’ police unions appear to be circumventing elected officials to work with the feds. On Monday, Trump indicated a desire to send federal law enforcement to New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, and Oakland, apparently to crush…

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Former DHS secretary Tom Ridge says department ‘was not established to be the president’s personal militia’

Former DHS secretary Tom Ridge says department ‘was not established to be the president’s personal militia’

Pennsylvania Capital-Star reports: The nation’s first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security had sharp words for his former agency Tuesday, condemning the Trump administration’s decision to send federal officers into the streets of Portland, Ore. to quell protests, saying it was “counterproductive,” and that it was not the agency’s mission to act as domestic law enforcement. “The department was established to protect America from the ever-present threat of global terrorism. It was not established to be the president’s personal…

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Oxford University coronavirus vaccine triggers immune response, trial shows

Oxford University coronavirus vaccine triggers immune response, trial shows

The Guardian reports: Hopes for a vaccine to address the global spread of coronavirus have been raised after Oxford University’s experimental version was revealed to be safe and to generate a strong immune response in the people who volunteered to help trial it. After intensive research, Prof Sarah Gilbert, from Oxford’s Jenner Institute, said they were more than happy with the first results, which showed good immunity after a single dose of vaccine. “We’re really pleased that it seems to…

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EU reaches ‘truly historic’ deal on pandemic recovery after fractious summit

EU reaches ‘truly historic’ deal on pandemic recovery after fractious summit

Reuters reports: European Union leaders clinched an “historic” deal on a massive stimulus plan for their coronavirus-throttled economies in the early hours of Tuesday, after a fractious summit lasting almost five days. The agreement paves the way for the European Commission, the EU’s executive, to raise billions of euros on capital markets on behalf of all 27 states, an unprecedented act of solidarity in almost seven decades of European integration. Summit chairman Charles Michel called the accord, reached at a…

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How Earth’s climate changes naturally (and why things are different now)

How Earth’s climate changes naturally (and why things are different now)

Howard Lee writes: Earth has been a snowball and a hothouse at different times in its past. So if the climate changed before humans, how can we be sure we’re responsible for the dramatic warming that’s happening today? In part it’s because we can clearly show the causal link between carbon dioxide emissions from human activity and the 1.28 degree Celsius (and rising) global temperature increase since preindustrial times. Carbon dioxide molecules absorb infrared radiation, so with more of them…

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What you need to know about the battle of Portland

What you need to know about the battle of Portland

Robert Evans writes: The city of Portland, Oregon is currently in the national spotlight after video evidence of federal agents driving rented vans and abducting activists went viral. This footage was taken in the early morning hours of July 15, and an Oregon Public Broadcasting article published on the 16th brought the matter out of the local social networks of Portland activists and on to the national stage. As I write this, mainstream media personalities are beginning to parachute into…

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A Navy vet asked federal officers in Portland to remember their oaths. Then they broke his hand

A Navy vet asked federal officers in Portland to remember their oaths. Then they broke his hand

The Washington Post reports: He came to the protest with a question. He left with two broken bones in a confrontation with federal officers that went viral. Christopher David had watched in horror as videos surfaced of federal officers in camouflage throwing protesters into unmarked vans in Portland. The 53-year-old Portland resident had heard the stories: protesters injured, gassed, sprayed with chemicals that tugged at their nostrils and burned their eyes. David, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and…

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From antifa to mothers in helmets, diverse elements come together in Portland protests

From antifa to mothers in helmets, diverse elements come together in Portland protests

The New York Times reports: Angela Foster started showing up in the early days of the protests in Portland as one of the novice activists standing off to the side with no gear to protect herself. Roughly 40 demonstrations later, she has moved toward the front, wearing a mask, goggles and a helmet, and bracing for law enforcement officers to charge at her. “We’re not leaving,” Ms. Foster said in an interview on Sunday. While President Trump on Sunday described…

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Trump’s stormtroopers heading for Chicago

Trump’s stormtroopers heading for Chicago

Chicago Tribune reports: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is crafting plans to deploy about 150 federal agents to Chicago this week, the Chicago Tribune has learned, a move that would come amid growing controversy nationally about federal force being used in American cities. The Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, agents are set to assist other federal law enforcement and Chicago police in crime-fighting efforts, according to sources familiar with the matter, though a specific plan on what the agents…

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DHS authorizes domestic surveillance to protect statues and monuments

DHS authorizes domestic surveillance to protect statues and monuments

Lawfare reports: You might not imagine that the U.S. intelligence community would have much stake in local protests over monuments and statues. You’d be wrong. A document provided to Lawfare on July 19 from the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Intelligence & Analysis (I&A) describes personnel as “collecting and reporting on various activities in the context of elevated threats targeting monuments, memorials, and statues”—and it gives legal guidance concerning the “expanded intelligence activities necessary to mitigate the significant…

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Lack of clear plans for Republican National Convention makes security ‘not achievable’ says local sheriff

Lack of clear plans for Republican National Convention makes security ‘not achievable’ says local sheriff

Politico reports: The sheriff of Jacksonville, Fla., said he can’t provide security for the Republican National Convention because of a lack of clear plans, adequate funding and enough law enforcement officers. “As we’re talking today, we are still not close to having some kind of plan that we can work with that makes me comfortable that we’re going to keep that event and the community safe,” Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams told POLITICO. “It’s not my event to plan, but…

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Babies’ mysterious resilience to coronavirus intrigues scientists

Babies’ mysterious resilience to coronavirus intrigues scientists

Shannon Hall writes: As the new coronavirus continues to burn through populations, studies are beginning to shed light on its impact on infants. And so far the findings have been promising for parents and researchers alike. The initial data suggest that infants make up a small fraction of people who have tested positive for COVID-19. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released in April reported 398 infections in children under one year of age—roughly 0.3 percent of all…

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The U.S. is the accidental Sweden, which could make the fall ‘catastrophic’ for Covid-19

The U.S. is the accidental Sweden, which could make the fall ‘catastrophic’ for Covid-19

STAT reports: With the Covid-19 pandemic rampaging across the U.S. in April and 20 million people filing for unemployment in that month alone, libertarians thought there was a better way. The Heritage Foundation praised Sweden for “preserving economic freedom.” The Cato Institute said Sweden’s response to Covid-19 “may prove to be superior from a public health perspective.” In early May, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said at a committee hearing that the U.S. “ought to look at the Swedish approach.” The…

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