We all bury our dead. The Trump administration buries news of the dead. But it was nothing the United Nations General Assembly heard from him Tuesday as he spoke to the world.

“Veterans Administration throws suicide stats out the back door on Friday at 5 p.m.” is the Foreign Policy headline on a story by longtime defense expert Thomas Ricks, a onetime Washington Post mainstay.

Yes, there was a press release late Friday, or when governments at all levels think it’s just so slick to disclosed bad news. This news is very, very bad. Of course, many of the totalitarian regimes sitting before Trump near the East River don’t even put out belated releases of the sort. If some do, they’re inclined to jail those subsequently outraged journalists and other critics.

“Veterans are about 20 percent more likely than nonveterans to kill themselves, according to a Veterans Affairs press release issued on Friday afternoon at the close of business. (Traditionally, that’s when Washington public affairs types put out bad news they don’t wish to discuss. Mainly they hope to see it tucked into Saturday newspapers that no one reads.)”

Further, “The suicide rate for female veterans is 250 percent that for female non-vets.”

Ah, the more some things change. Trump bashed the Obama administration during the campaign for problems with Veterans Affairs. As president, he’s signed legislation to supposedly overhaul it. Maybe he should have sent note to the public affairs office about more time press releases.

In 2008 the department was accused of covering up suicide rates. (NBC) A 2013 Veterans Affairs study disclosed a higher suicide rather for vets. (Washington Post) Last year came word of a stunning 20 vets a day (yes, 20 a day) committing suicide in 2014. (USA Today)

This has gotten scant pick-up but those chiming in yesterday included the Associated Press with, “Suicide among military veterans is especially high in the western U.S. and rural areas, according to new government data that show wide state-by-state disparities and suggest social isolation, gun ownership and access to health care may be factors.”

“The figures released Friday are the first-ever Department of Veterans Affairs data on suicide by state. It shows Montana, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico had the highest rates of veteran suicide as of 2014, the most current VA data available. Veterans in big chunks of those states must drive 70 miles or more to reach the nearest VA medical center.”

When President Trump talked tough at the United Nations today, addressing the General Assembly, it was an inadvertent reminder of the many consequences of military force. Or threats to use force.

And, perhaps more fundamentally, Ricks told me, a reminder of this: “I think it says generally that vets get a lot of lip service from American society as a whole, but people really are not that interested in their problems or experiences.”

A CBS win Down Under over the Murdochs

It was late last night in the U.S. when CBS “received the emphatic blessing of creditors in its attempt to take over the Ten Network but the fierce battle with the rival bidder associated with the homegrown media moguls Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon is far from over.” (The Guardian)

Ten Network is an Australian broadcaster and “In the hours before the meeting CBS sweetened its offer to $40m in an attempt to stave off action by disgruntled creditors, particularly 20th Century Fox, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Staff were also strongly in favour of the CBStakeover.”

Oh, “Staff were overwhelmingly in favour of the CBS offer, because it offers a new owner and many are jaundiced by their experiences of Ten under the management of Lachlan Murdoch, who was acting chief executive and executive chairman for a substantial period during Ten’s decline.”