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

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/

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

The gerrymander wars are just beginning

Source: Semafor
by David Weigel

“Last month, at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s conference in Indianapolis, Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts [proposed]: ‘When we have cities like Austin, or Nashville, or other capital cities whose local government is not representative of the will of the people, de-charter them and establish them as state municipal districts in the name of common sense.’ What do you do with cities that elect progressive Democrats, give sanctuary to illegal immigrants, and do not put enough criminals in jail? You don’t let them run themselves. You certainly don’t let them run the country.” (08/08/25)

https://www.semafor.com/article/08/08/2025/the-gerrymander-wars-are-just-beginning

GOP Attack “Idle” Poor, But Real Freeloaders Are the Rich [sic]

Source: In These Times
by Conor Lynch

“For decades, Republicans have promoted the stereotype of the shiftless and unscrupulous poor person — along with its quasi-mythical counterpart, the self-made businessman who bootstrapped his way out of poverty — to justify their reactionary economic project. That project, which is driven by the dual aims of dismantling the ​’welfare state’ and slashing taxes for the rich, has never been particularly popular with voters on its own terms. So conservatives have long cloaked it in populist rhetoric and presented it in terms that obscure class lines and turn working people against one another.” (08/07/25)

https://inthesetimes.com/article/big-beautiful-bill-gop-medicaid-snap-labor

WV: Homeowner shoots, kills armed intruder

Source: WCHS TV

“An armed man was fatally shot by a homeowner after he was found inside a home in Kanawha County on Friday, deputies said. The incident was reported just before 12:30 p.m. in the 300 block of Lick Branch Road in the Rocky Fork area, according to the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies said the homeowner was approached by the man, who was allegedly armed with a knife and a baseball bat, when he went to enter the home. A physical altercation eventually spread to the yard where the homeowner shot the man, deputies said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.” (08/08/25)

https://wchstv.com/news/local/deputies-ems-on-scene-of-reported-shooting-in-kanawha-county