“A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld an order limiting federal immigration enforcement at eight houses of worship affiliated with three faith groups, saying religious activities at the sites could be hindered by the operations. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with eight houses of worship from the Quaker, Sikh, and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship traditions in finding that a policy President Donald Trump’s administration adopted likely violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The case is one of a number of similar legal challenges that religious groups have filed nationally. The Trump administration had argued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s policy did not prevent the plaintiffs from conducting worship or ministry services, and said the plaintiffs could not establish it would lead immigrants to choose to not attend their religious services.” (08/18/26)
“Challenger Dan J. Sullivan’s run against the incumbent with the near-identical name, one Dan S. Sullivan, doesn’t quite pass the smell test. He sure appears to be gaming the election. Still, the rigging occurred when the state went to an open primary where anyone — regardless of party membership — can vote for anyone on the ballot. … Alaskans should go the opposite direction, allowing — no, requiring — political parties to privately select their candidates. And at their party’s expense, not the taxpayers’.” (08/18/26)
“The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo now exceeds 5,000, government data showed late on Tuesday, as health officials warn that response efforts are failing to contain the deadly disease. Congo’s 17th Ebola epidemic turned into the biggest in the country’s history in terms of number of cases in late July and over the weekend the death toll hit 2,378, the public health institute said, surpassing the previous worst outbreak in 2018-2020. The institute has so far logged 5,021 cases, according to its latest situation report, making it the second-worst outbreak globally, behind only the 2014 to 2016 epidemic in West Africa in both infections and deaths.” (08/19/26)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Pattern recognition need not give an unambiguous result. The same black and white picture can be seen either as a vase or as two faces. A paranoid may have a picture of the world that fits all of the data available to him, with apparent inconsistencies explained by the plots of his enemies.” (08/18/26)
“Last week, the State Department revoked the visa of ‘Andy’ López Beltrán, son of former Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). The move is the latest escalation between the Trump White House and the Mexican government of President Claudia Sheinbaum of the Left-wing Morena party. We’ve seen other signs of stealth-conflict: a car crash killing two CIA agents in Mexico – who may have been involved in an alleged CIA assassination campaign against cartel operatives; the indictment by US authorities of Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya, a member of Sheinbaum’s Morena party, over alleged drug ties. Finally, the State Department revoked visas in June for Morena Govs. Alfonso Durazo and Américo Villarreal, stating that both were under investigation. All of this has come amid conflicting statements from Trump officials.” (08/18/26)
“The U.S. Department of Justice plans to send about 1,000 poll monitors to elections this fall, including some Tuesday in Florida and Wyoming primary races. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, told Bloomberg News that the number of poll monitors is ‘probably going to be a historic number for a Republican administration.’ ‘Election monitoring is an ongoing priority for this office,’ Dhillon said in a press release. ‘Nondiscriminatory monitoring ensures all elections remain free, fair and accessible to all.'” (08/18/26)
