Tell us your conclusions before we grant you funding…

https://www.bespacific.com/new-executive-order-puts-all-grants-under-political-control/

New executive order puts all grants under political control

Ars Technica: “On Thursday, the Trump administration issued an executive order asserting political control over grant funding, including all federally supported research. The order requires that any announcement of funding opportunities be reviewed by the head of the agency or someone they designate, which means a political appointee will have the ultimate say over what areas of science the US funds. Individual grants will also require clearance from a political appointee and “must, where applicable, demonstrably advance the President’s policy priorities.” The order also instructs agencies to formalize the ability to cancel previously awarded grants at any time if they’re considered to “no longer advance agency priorities.” Until a system is in place to enforce the new rules, agencies are forbidden from starting new funding programs. In short, the new rules would mean that all federal science research would need to be approved by a political appointee who may have no expertise in the relevant areas, and the research can be canceled at any time if the political winds change. It would mark the end of a system that has enabled US scientific leadership for roughly 70 years…”

Too useful in too many areas to ignore.

https://www.bespacific.com/handbook-weapons-of-information-warfare/

Handbook “Weapons of Information Warfare”

The Center for Countering Disinformation, with the support of the EU Advisory Mission (EUAM) Ukraine, has created the handbook “Weapons of Information Warfare”.

• The handbook systematizes key methods used by the aggressor state in its information war against Ukraine.

• It includes sections on tactics and mechanisms of destructive information influence—such as the creation and dissemination of manipulative content that distorts perception and alters audience behavior—as well as soft power tools used by russia to control public consciousness through culture, education, sports, and more.

• The handbook visualizes manifestations of russian information aggression and offers practical ways to counter it.

The Center expresses its gratitude to EUAM for fruitful cooperation and will continue expanding collaboration with international partners to build a united response to the challenges of hybrid warfare and strengthen the resilience of the democratic world against hostile propaganda.

Perspective.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/08/opinion_column_osa/

Prohibition never works, but that didn't stop the UK's Online Safety Act

… Sure, the idea as presented was to make the UK "the safest place in the world to be online," especially for children. The Act was promoted as a way to prevent children from accessing porn, materials that encourage suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, dangerous stunts etc, etc.

To quote former Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan, "Today will go down as a historic moment that ensures the online safety of British society not only now, but for decades to come."

Yeah. No. Not at all.

In the real world, this has meant such dens of inequity as Spotify, Bluesky, and Discord have all implemented age-restriction requirements. Forcing internet services and ISPs to be de facto police means they're choosing the easiest way to block people rather than try the Herculean task of determining what's OK to share and what's not. Faced with the threat of losing 10 percent of their global revenue or courts blocking their services, I can't blame them.