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A note from...
Naomi Schalit
Senior Editor, Politics + Society
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When communities declare themselves “sanctuaries” – places that give special protection to gun owners or the unborn – they often claim that federal laws or court rulings don’t hold power within their city or state limits. They’re usually making a political statement, more than a legal one, writes constitutional scholar John E. Finn at Wesleyan University.
Finn explains how the “sanctuary cities” movement is challenging the legitimacy and role of the federal government in the lives of Americans.
Also today:
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Top story
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The Waskom City Council passed a sanctuary city ordinance in June 2019.
Screenshot, NBC6 Studio
John E. Finn, Wesleyan University
Sanctuaries that protect everything from gun rights to the unborn are popping up across the country. They challenge federal law and the shared understanding of its power and role in the US.
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Politics + Society
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John P. Koch, Vanderbilt University
Debates may help voters identify which candidate shares their views but they do not help them think critically about those views. That's because presidential debates don't live up to their name.
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Sarah Burns, Rochester Institute of Technology
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is known as a master of Senate rules. If the House impeaches President Trump, what could he do to influence the process – and outcome – of a trial?
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Science + Technology
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David Lindsay Roberts, Prince George's Community College
As the country grew, each census required greater effort than the last. That problem led to the invention of the punched card.
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Mengying Zhang, University of Washington
These tiny nanoparticles might provide a new way to see what's happening in the brain and even deliver treatments to specific cells – if researchers figure out how to use them safely and effectively.
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Environment + Energy
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Faith Kearns, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Max Moritz, University of California, Santa Barbara
Two fire researchers argue that recent fires in Northern and Southern California show why health and social equity need to be part of fire preparedness.
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Economy + Business
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Mary-Hunter McDonnell, University of Pennsylvania
The National Basketball Association's difficulty dealing with a tweet in support of Hong Kong protesters shows the challenges of having values and expanding into new markets.
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Arnab Bhattacharjee, Heriot-Watt University; Mark Schaffer, Heriot-Watt University
Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer win the Nobel Prize for Economics 'for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.'
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From our international editions
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Marcus Tomalin, University of Cambridge; Stefanie Ullmann, University of Cambridge
Artificial Intelligence can perpetuate existing social imbalances in a harmful manner. Can this undesirable scenario be avoided?
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Scott Lear, Simon Fraser University
New research claiming that people do not need to reduce their consumption of red and processed meat says more about the conduct and evaluation of research than it does about beef.
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Medadi Ssentanda, Makerere University
Uganda's English language policy is at odds with the situation on the ground in the country's rural schools.
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Today’s chart |
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David Lindsay Roberts
Prince George's Community College
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