The Daily Populous

Sunday July 12nd, 2020 morning edition

image for Trump Allegedly Suggested Selling Puerto Rico as Hurricane Maria Approached

For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones' newsletters.

Donald Trump’s initial reaction to the devastating hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico in 2017 were to suggest that the United States sell, or “divest” from the territory, a former acting secretary of Homeland Security said on Friday.

Duke was acting secretary when she signed off on ending the DACA protections—the program set up by the Obama administration to protect young undocumented immigrants, known as Dreamers, from deportation.

Duke told the Times that she agreed the program was illegal, but wasn’t ready to sign off on its closure, and that she was “ambushed” by Trump and his political allies at an August 2017 White House meeting.

Last month the Supreme Court ruled that the DACA program was improperly ended—giving the Dreamers a reprieve, but also opening the door for the Trump administration to try again.

Duke also described to the Times how as Hurricane Maria approached Puerto Rico in the fall of 2017—it would go on to devastate the island, leaving much of it without power for months—other Trump cabinet members derided her for trying to urge the president to take it more seriously.

Duke said that Trump did initially show concern for the suffering of Puerto Rican people after the disaster, but was disturbed by his first instincts on how to react:. »

Merkel says the coronavirus pandemic has exposed leaders who rely on 'fact-denying populism'

Authored by businessinsider.com

Angela Merkel says that the coronavirus pandemic has exposed those who rely on 'fact-denying populism' as she criticised world leaders who promoted 'lies and disinformation.'.

'We are seeing at the moment that the pandemic can't be fought with lies and disinformation, and neither can it be with hatred and agitation,' she said.

Angela Merkel has told a meeting of European countries that the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the limits of "fact-denying populism" as she criticised world leaders who promoted "lies and disinformation.". »

United States Coronavirus: 3,355,646 Cases and 137,403 Deaths

Authored by worldometers.info

(specimens awaiting testing) 100 TOTAL 337 As of Feb. 5: Number of U.S. States with PUI 36 Positive 11 Negative 206 Pending.

The last time the CDC had issued a quarantine was over 50 years ago in the 1960s, for smallpox.

On Jan. 31, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) affecting the 195 American evacuees from Wuhan, China. »

Phantom vibration syndrome: Up to 90 per cent of people suffer phenomenon while mobile phone is in pocket

Authored by independent.co.uk

Nine of 10 people suffer from “phantom vibration syndrome” - where they mistakenly think their mobile phone is vibrating in their pocket - it has been claimed.

Dr Robert Rosenberger, philosopher and assistant professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, said the phenomenon was caused by “learned bodily habits.”.

“We are more inclined to be jumpy and feel something in our pocket as a phantom vibration," he adds. »

Police search St. Louis mansion of couple who pointed guns at protesters

Authored by reuters.com

(Reuters) - Police in St. Louis, Missouri, searched the mansion of a couple who brandished guns at protesters marching outside their home last month in widely seen videos, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said.

The police arrived on Friday evening with a search warrant and seized a semi-automatic .223 caliber rifle, police said, apparently the same weapon wielded by Mark McCloskey during the June 28 incident.

McCloskey left a note saying he would sue the congregation if they did not remove all trace of the hives, it said. »