Colleges cancelling reopenings . . . After planning ways to reopen campuses this fall, colleges are increasingly changing their minds, dramatically increasing online offerings or canceling in-person classes outright. COVID-19 cases in much of the country are much higher than in the spring, and rising in many places. 

In many cases, the colleges had released plans for socially distant in-person classes only a few weeks ago, hoping to beat the coronavirus.

“Instead,” said Robert Kelchen, a professor of higher education at Seton Hall University, “the virus beat us.” USA Today

Police agencies back out of protecting Democratic convention . . . More than 100 police police agencies are withdrawing from agreements to send personnel to help bolster security at the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee next month. Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales tells WTMJ-TV that the police agancies are concerned with a new order barring the police use of tear gas and pepper spray at demonstrations. WTMJ Radio Wisconsin

 

 

Sneak photo suggests Kamala Harris is Biden's choice . . . Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has kept quiet on who he is going to pick to be his running mate, but a photo of his notes captured by an Associated Press photographer Tuesday has many suspecting his top candidate for the job is Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. The AP photographer grabbed a shot of Biden’s handwritten notes showing a section titled “Kamala Harris,” which was followed by a list of attributes. “Do not hold grudges.” “Campaigned with me & Jill.” “Talented.” “Great help to campaign.” “Great respect for her.” Fox News

 

Video || Biden forgets where he is again . . . I mean, he doesn’t go a lot of places. He should be able to keep track. Joe Biden Tuesday began remarks by saying how happy he was to be at the Kingswood Community Center in Wilmington. Biden was in fact at the William “Hicks” Anderson Community Center in Wilmington. Then he tried to pretend he was joking about where he was. Why would that be funny? Mistakes or not, he just does not sound sharp. Forget politics. However scared one if of President Trump, isn’t this scarier? This can only get worse. One day he’s going to make an appearance in Iowa and say, “It’s great to be here in China.” White House Dossier

 

 

CIA warned FBI about Steele Dossier . . . Documents declassified on Tuesday detail an intense debate between the CIA and FBI in late 2016 over the handling of information from Christopher Steele, with one CIA official telling the Senate Intelligence Committee that the former British spy’s allegations about Trump-Russia collusion were “very unvetted.” Despite the CIA’s concerns about Steele’s allegations, the FBI successfully lobbied to include his information in an Intelligence Community Assessment regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election. The bureau also continued using information from Steele to conduct surveillance against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. Daily Caller

 

 

Trump moves to limit DACA . . . The Trump administration announced a major rewrite of DACA on Tuesday, saying it will keep the program going — for now — but all new applications will be rejected and those renewing their status will be limited to just one year. At the same time, the administration will conduct a full legal review, with an eye toward determining whether to attempt another total phaseout of the program after the Supreme Court last month erased President Trump’s initial attempt. A senior official said the review “will have to take time,” so the program isn’t going anywhere yet. But it will be curtailed. Washington Times

 

Trump: "Nobody likes me" . . . President Donald Trump groused on Tuesday about medical expert Anthony Fauci’s high approval ratings and joked that “nobody likes me” as he struggles to improve his standing with voters for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. “It can only be my personality,” said Trump. Reuters

 

Twitter partially suspends Donald Trump Jr. account over post on hydroxychloroquine . . . Twitter temporarily suspended part of Donald Trump Jr.’s account after he shared a video of doctors talking about hydroxychloroquine. A couple of serious problems here. People are so afraid to say Trump might have been right about hydroxychloroquine that they’d rather people die of Covid than let the drug be established as a treatment. And secondly, Twitter, with its aching desire to stay politically correct and its leftist bias, is censoring legitimate speech. It is a monopoly and should suffer the consequences. It has too much power over the discourse. White House Dossier

 

Republicans fear losing seats in the House . . . A slew of dismal summer polls and a persistent fundraising gap have left some Republicans fretting about a nightmare scenario in November: That they will fall further into the House minority. Publicly, House GOP leaders are declaring they can still net the 17 seats needed to flip the chamber. But privately, some party strategists concede it’s a much grimmer picture, with as many as 20 Republican seats at risk of falling into Democratic hands. Politico

 

Top GOP senator fears China could defeat US in East Asia . . . American forces deployed to the Pacific are "highly vulnerable" to attacks from China, according to a senior GOP lawmaker who fears that Beijing could instigate and win a conflict with the United States. “The first thing that you'd have to do with certain pieces of our equipment is leave the area if China were to escalate this way,” said Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations subcommittee for East Asia and the Pacific. “That’s not exactly a position of strength,” he said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. What equipment does he have in mind? “The Navy,” he replied. “You would basically end up in a situation where all of our planning, all of our equipment, all of our systems basically vacate.” Washington Examiner

 

Chinese hack the Vatican . . . Hackers working for the Chinese Communist Party allegedly accessed the private computing network of the Vatican for several months ahead of a September meeting to discuss the appointment of bishops in the Asian country. Analysts with Recorded Future, a Massachusetts-based cybersecurity company, said they had detected an attack on Vatican computers in which Chinese infiltrators accessed communications between high-ranking officials in the church, who openly discussed upcoming negotiations pertaining to the pope's role in confirming bishops to the heads of Chinese churches. Washington Examiner 

 

GDP likely plummeted at record pace in second quarter . . . The unprecedented collapse that the U.S. economy suffered in the second quarter as the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the nation will be laid bare Thursday, with a report projected to show a record 35% annualized drop in gross domestic product.

As states shut down restaurants, stores, factories and other businesses to contain the virus’s spread, nearly every corner of the economy was hammered, analysts say, including consumer spending, business investment, housing, trade and government outlays. USA Today

 

Trump hands $765 loan to Kodak to make pharmaceuticals . . . President Donald Trump officially announced that his administration is giving camera brand Eastman Kodak a $765 million loan to start producing pharmaceutical ingredients in the country, so the U.S. is less reliant on foreign supply chains amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

'It's a great name when you think about it. Such a great name. Was one of the great brands of the world. Then people went digital and Kodak didn't follow, but now under very extraordinary leadership they are following and they are doing something that's a different field,' Trump said from the White House podium Tuesday. Daily Mail

 

White House negotiating exit from Portland . . . The Trump administration has initiated talks with the Oregon governor's office about withdrawing federal agents deployed to quell protests as Portland officials reveal the city is fining the government $500 every 15 minutes for erecting an unauthorized fence around its courthouse. The White House said it would agree to draw down the presence of troops if the state stepped up its own enforcement, an anonymous senior White House official told AP Tuesday. Daily Mail

 

Federal agents pull out of Seattle . . . U.S. agents deployed to Seattle to protect federal property have left the city after local officials complained their presence was escalating tensions, Seattle’s mayor said on Tuesday. U.S. tactical forces arrived in Washington state’s largest city last week and were on standby to protect federal facilities after attacks on a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon. Mayor Jenny Durkan rejected the deployment, saying it did not have the consent of local officials and could incite the property damage it was supposed to prevent. Reuters

 

 

Blood test for Alzheimer's almost 100% accurate and detects disease early . . . A simple blood test can diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, sometimes decades before symptoms even begin.

Scientists revealed a protein involved in the damage of brain cells accumulates in the blood of patients up to 20 years before memory declines. P-tau217 clumps abnormally in the brains of Alzheimer's patients — and some tiny fragments can leak into the bloodstream.

Researchers found a blood test that measured levels of the protein was 98 per cent accurate at identifying people with the memory-robbing disease. Daily Mail

 

Don't plant those mystery seeds you got from China . . . Police believe they may have solved the mystery of unsolicited seed packages being sent to U.S. addresses from China - a bizarre phenomenon reported in at least 31 states. The packages may be be tied to a fake product review scam, known as 'brushing', police said. 'We have done some researching and it does appear that these seeds are tied with an online scam called 'brushing',' the Whitehouse police department in Ohio said. 'A brushing scam is an exploit by a vendor used to bolster product ratings and increase visibility online by shipping an inexpensive product to an unwitting receiver and then submitting positive reviews on the receiver's behalf under the guise of a verified owner.' Daily Mail