Trump is right: US census is a disgrace, but rushing a new one is worse

Source: New York Post
by Rich Lowry

“President Donald Trump wants a new census. If by this he means a snap-census before the scheduled 2030 survey, he’s demanding that the federal government undertake a gargantuan task with minimal planning and no discernible source of funding. In statistical terms, it’d be like launching D-Day with a month’s lead time. If the White Queen believes six impossible things before breakfast, that the Census Bureau could pull this off would qualify as one of them. The agency couldn’t even competently conduct the last, regularly scheduled census in 2020. Given that conducting the census is a core function of the federal government — indeed, mandated by the Constitution — it is outrageous that the last survey missed so badly. It undercounted Florida and other red states (as well as Illinois) and overcounted New York and a number of blue states (plus, Ohio and Utah).” (08/08/25)

https://nypost.com/2025/08/08/opinion/trumps-right-about-the-census-but-rushing-one-is-worse/

Steve Trinward

Putin gives Trump envoy award for CIA official’s son killed fighting in Ukraine

Source: BBC News [UK State Media]

“President Vladimir Putin has presented US President Donald Trump’s special envoy with an award to pass on to a senior CIA official whose son was killed fighting with Russia in Ukraine. Putin gave the Order of Lenin to Steve Witkoff during his trip to Moscow this week to discuss a plan to end the Ukraine war, sources familiar with the matter told the BBC’s US partner CBS. Michael Gloss, 21, who was killed in Ukraine last year, was the son of Juliane Gallina, who is the CIA’s deputy director for digital innovation. Reports of the award emerged as it was confirmed that Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska next Friday to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine. Neither the Kremlin nor Russian foreign ministry has publicly acknowledged posthumously bestowing the Order of Lenin, a Soviet-era award recognising outstanding civilian service, on Gloss.” (08/09/25)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04rd19e5epo

Steve Trinward

Uganda: Court denies bail to political prisoner

Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]

“A Ugandan judge has refused to grant bail to veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, who has been in jail for nearly nine months on treason charges. Judge Emmanuel Baguma said on Friday that the 180-day maximum period before mandatory bail is granted only began when he was remanded in the civilian court on February 21, which means he falls short by 12 days to meet the requirements to secure bail. His lawyers argued he should be automatically released on bail because he has spent more than 180 days in jail without his trial starting. The case has raised concerns among government critics, including opposition leader Bobi Wine and rights groups, about a crackdown ahead of Uganda’s national election early next year in which President Yoweri Museveni, 80, is seeking re-election.” (08/09/25)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/9/uganda-court-denies-bail-to-opposition-leader-kizza-besigye-in-treason-case

Thomas L. Knapp

Heavy Machinery and Patriotic Demolition in the Service of Genocide

Source: Antiwar.com
by Anthony Fulton

“Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv is a well-respected holy man in Israel with some devoted followers. He is a dayan, a judge in the rabbinical courts of Tel Aviv, dispensing wisdom in matters of religion and Jewish law. He’s also a reservist in the Seyeret Givati brigade of the IDF and is currently serving in Gaza. There, he has earned a degree of fame for his skills as an operator of the Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer, the IDF’s tool of choice for the erasure of Palestinian homes. He claims to average more than 50 demolitions a week. According to Zarbiv, his unit has learned to ‘play the D9’ like a musical instrument. Rabbi Zarbiv is part of the wider effort to lay waste to Gaza and render it uninhabitable for Palestinians.” (08/08/25)

https://original.antiwar.com/anthony_fulton/2025/08/07/heavy-machinery-and-patriotic-demolition-in-the-service-of-genocide/

Thomas L. Knapp

Trump executive order gives politicians control over all federal grants, alarming researchers

Source: SFGate

“An executive order signed by President Donald Trump late Thursday aims to give political appointees power over the billions of dollars in grants awarded by federal agencies. Scientists say it threatens to undermine the process that has helped make the U.S. the world leader in research and development. The order requires all federal agencies, including FEMA, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, to appoint officials responsible for reviewing federal funding opportunities and grants, so that they ‘are consistent with agency priorities and the national interest’. It also requires agencies to make it so that current and future federal grants can be terminated at any time — including during the grant period itself. Agencies cannot announce new funding opportunities until the new protocols are in place, according to the order.” (08/08/25)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/trump-executive-order-gives-politicians-control-20809475.php

Steve Trinward