Megabills Didn't Break the Economy Before and Won't Now
The reason markets are not responding more to the 870-page bill is that they see it for what it is — just another in a very long line of very big bills that add to the debt but won't break the economy, at least not soon.
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Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Editorial: Count 'em all — Trump has no authority to muck with 2030 Census Bureau count
Not caring about the U.S. Constitution is a regular refrain for President Donald Trump, who now wants to exclude undocumented people from the 2030 census count — a nonstarter as much else is in this bizarro world we now inhabit, promulgated via a screed on his Truth Social platform — is both a terrible idea and certainly a rehash. Trump attempted something similar during his first term in office as the 2020 census closed in, deciding to suddenly include a citizenship question in the count, a move promptly blocked by the courts. Now Trump's trying to go whole hog and exclude the undocumented altogether, in doing so going against the plain language of the Constitution, which unambiguously mandates the count 'of the whole number of persons' in each state. The chief executive certainly seems to care less about the letter of the law and the orders of judges this time around, though these will still slap him down. It's worth noting, though, that even if and when a judge makes the easiest ruling of a career and strikes down any directive to exclude from the census anyone based on citizenship or immigration status, that's not necessarily mission accomplished. Trump and Stephen Miller's all-out campaign of shock and awe and terror against immigrants around the country is designed at least in part to create an environment of fear and concern that will discourage people from participating in all facets of civic and public life, including the mandated decennial count. The Census Bureau itself found that it probably failed to count up to millions of noncitizens, largely because many declined to participate out of a fear that it would put them on the administration's radar and target list. So Trump was able to accomplish some of his aims, even without the directive technically being in place, and that was in an environment less hostile than now. New York infamously lost a House seat because it came up just 89 people short in the 2020 count, which is almost certainly a partial result of Trump's meddling last time around. That extra seat could have made a real difference in a House of Representatives that is so narrowly controlled by the GOP, which itself seems to understand itself as a mere arm of the Trump administration. Neither Trump, nor his top echelon of grifters and ideologues are going to be personally conducting the census count, though. That is left to a small army of temporary public servants overseen by career officials within the Census Bureau, and these folks will hopefully recall that their responsibility is to this important constitutional mandate and not to Trump. The one-time real estate promoter is fully incapable of seeing anything except in terms of monetary or political gain, and probably sees an attempt to exclude the undocumented from the census as good red meat for the base. However, the census guides everything in the United States — not just apportionment and representation in the Congress and the Electoral College, but disaster planning, disease preparedness, allocation of federal resources, and all manner of private-sector uses like demographic data for business development and so on. Ironically, huge chunks of those that would go uncounted under Trump's illegal decree would be in the red states like Florida and Texas, which Trump claims to want to support. The whole idea is pointless, damaging and unconstitutional. _____
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Former top general says reviewing medals for Afghan vets a 'no-brainer' for Carney
OTTAWA — A former top general who led the military during the Afghanistan conflict is urging Prime Minister Mark Carney's government to revisit the files of soldiers who served there to see if any of their awards should be upgraded to the Victoria Cross. Rick Hillier said that despite the failure of recent attempts to trigger such an independent review, he thinks the odds are better now that Ottawa is bent on revitalizing the Canadian Armed Forces. "I am more optimistic right now. I think for the government, this should be a no-brainer," Hillier, chief of the defence staff from 2005-2008, told The Canadian Press. Hillier is part of the civil society group Valour in the Presence of the Enemy, which has been pressing Ottawa to consider awarding veterans of the 2001 to 2014 Afghanistan campaign the country's highest military honour. He said commendations awarded to Afghanistan veterans should be examined in light of new information to see whether any of them qualify for the Victoria Cross. "Let's do an independent review, not committing to anything, which is right and appropriate," he said. "And if we should find that one or two or more individuals are deserving of the Victoria Cross, what a shot in the arm that would be for our soldiers and aviators and sailors." In 2022, former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole pushed to have a the House of Commons endorse the creation of a review panel that would take a second look at military decorations. Hillier said it may have been a strategic error to have the former leader of the opposition bring that proposal forward, since it "almost guaranteed" that the governing Liberal party would oppose it. The issue is being brought to the fore again through a parliamentary petition sponsored and endorsed by Liberal MP Pauline Rochefort which also calls for a review panel. Twenty Stars of Military Valour — Canada's second-highest military award — and 89 Medals of Military Valour were awarded to soldiers who served in Afghanistan. No serving Canadian soldier or veteran has been awarded the Victoria Cross since the Second World War. The Government of Canada says just 81 Canadians have ever been awarded the Victoria Cross — 4 from the Boer War, 64 from the First World War and 13 from the Second World War. Gen. Walter Natynczyk, chief of the defence staff from 2008 to 2012, ordered a review in 2012 of the 20 Stars of Military Valour awarded for the Afghanistan conflict. Ottawa has resisted calls in recent years for another review. Department of National Defence spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin said in an emailed statement the awards process is designed to be insulated from political influence and public pressure. "All honours for the Afghanistan mission have been processed and the time limits for such nominations (two years between the action and the nomination for Military Valour and Bravery Decorations) have now elapsed," she said. "These time limits ensure events are judged by the standards and values of the time, are compared with other contemporary examples, past decisions are not second-guessed and history is not reinterpreted." Many have cited the case of Jess Larochelle of North Bay, Ont., as one that deserves a closer look. The late army private's supporters maintain he should be awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroic actions in holding off a 2006 Taliban attack on an observation post after sustaining serious injuries. Hillier, who chaired the committee that awarded Larochelle his Star of Military Valour, said details of his story that came to light in the years since make his case worth a fresh look. "I don't think we made a mistake, but having done something doesn't mean that it's cast in stone forever and ever," he said. Hillier said new details about "how badly injured" Larochelle was during the battle, and the fact that he volunteered to take the position, should merit a reappraisal of his case. Retired lieutenant-general Omer Lavoie suggested the Department of National Defence may be reluctant to reopen awards files because it would be a complex project that would stir up grim memories of the conflict — and because it could quickly give rise to claims of unfair treatment if veterans of other wars aren't also honoured. Hillier also observed that Canadians tend to be hesitant about lavishing praise on individual acts of greatness. "We in Canada have forever been loath, reluctant, slow to recognize the very top acts of courage and valour," he said. "Throughout our history, we seem to have this sort of group-thought process sometimes, where it keeps people all in one level." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2025. Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Exclusive-US embeds trackers in AI chip shipments to catch diversions to China, sources say
By Fanny Potkin, Karen Freifeld and Jun Yuan Yong SINGAPORE/NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. authorities have secretly placed location tracking devices in targeted shipments of advanced chips they see as being at high risk of illegal diversion to China, according to two people with direct knowledge of the previously unreported law enforcement tactic. The measures aim to detect AI chips being diverted to destinations which are under U.S. export restrictions, and apply only to select shipments under investigation, the people said. They show the lengths to which the U.S. has gone to enforce its chip export restrictions on China, even as the Trump administration has sought to relax some curbs on Chinese access to advanced American semiconductors. The trackers can help build cases against people and companies who profit from violating U.S. export controls, said the people who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. Location trackers are a decades-old investigative tool used by U.S. law enforcement agencies to track products subject to export restrictions, such as airplane parts. They have been used to combat the illegal diversion of semiconductors in recent years, one source said. Five other people actively involved in the AI server supply chain say they are aware of the use of the trackers in shipments of servers from manufacturers such as Dell and Super Micro, which include chips from Nvidia and AMD. Those people said the trackers are typically hidden in the packaging of the server shipments. They did not know which parties were involved in installing them and where along the shipping route they were put in. Reuters was not able to determine how often the trackers have been used in chip related investigations or when U.S. authorities started using them to investigate chip smuggling. The U.S. started restricting the sale of advanced chips by Nvidia, AMD and other manufacturers to China in 2022. In one 2024 case described by two of the people involved in the server supply chain, a shipment of Dell servers with Nvidia chips included both large trackers on the shipping boxes and smaller, more discreet devices hidden inside the packaging — and even within the servers themselves. A third person said they had seen images and videos of trackers being removed by other chip resellers from Dell and Super Micro servers. The person said some of the larger trackers were roughly the size of a smartphone. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export controls and enforcement, is typically involved, and Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, may take part too, said the sources. The HSI and FBI both declined to comment. The Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment. The Chinese foreign ministry did not have immediate comment. Super Micro said in a statement that it does not disclose its 'security practices and policies in place to protect our worldwide operations, partners, and customers.' It declined to comment on any tracking actions by U.S. authorities. Dell said it is 'not aware of a U.S. Government initiative to place trackers in its product shipments.' Nvidia declined to comment, while AMD did not answer a request for comment. CHIP RESTRICTIONS The United States, which dominates the global AI chip supply chain, has sought to limit exports of chips and other technology to China in recent years to restrain its military modernization. It has also put restrictions on the sale of chips to Russia to undercut war efforts against Ukraine. The White House and both houses of Congress have proposed requiring U.S. chip firms to include location verification technology with their chips to prevent them from being diverted to countries where U.S. export regulations restrict sales. China has slammed the U.S. exports curbs as part of a campaign to suppress its rise and criticized the location tracking proposal. Last month, the country's powerful cyberspace regulator summoned Nvidia to a meeting to express its concerns over the risks of its chips containing "backdoors" that would allow remote access or control, which the company has strongly denied. In January, Reuters reported the U.S. had traced organized AI chip smuggling to China via countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and the UAE — but it is unclear if tracking devices were involved. The use of trackers by U.S. law enforcement goes back decades. In 1985, Hughes Aircraft shipped equipment subject to U.S. export controls, according to a court decision reviewed by Reuters. Executing a search warrant, the U.S. Customs Service intercepted the crate at a Houston airport and installed a tracking device, the decision noted. U.S. export enforcement agents sometimes install trackers after getting administrative approval. Other times they get a judge to issue a warrant authorizing use of the device, one source said. With a warrant, it is easier to use the information as evidence in a criminal case. A company may be told about the tracker, if they are not a subject of the investigation, and may consent to the government's installation of the trackers, the source added. But the devices can also be installed without their knowledge. People involved in diverting export-controlled chip and server shipments to China said they were aware of the devices. Two of the supply chain sources, who are China-based resellers of export-controlled chips, said they regularly took care to inspect diverted shipments of AI chip servers for the trackers due to the risks of the devices being embedded. An affidavit filed with a U.S Department of Justice complaint regarding the arrests of two Chinese nationals charged with illegally shipping tens of millions of dollars' worth of AI chips to China earlier this month describes one co-conspirator instructing another to check for trackers on Quanta H200 servers, which contain Nvidia chips. It said the English language text was sent by a co-conspirator, whose name was redacted, to one of the defendants, Yang Shiwei. 'Pay attention to see if there is a tracker on it, you must look for it carefully," said the person, who went on to call the Trump administration by an obscenity. "Who knows what they will do." Sign in to access your portfolio
