02/17 -- Bangladesh: PM Tarique Rahman, lawmakers sworn into parliament; ICE tyranny is what democracy looks like
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Thomas L. Knapp
Feb 17, 2026, 6:18:58 AMFeb 17
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 02/17/26
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Bangladesh: PM Tarique Rahman, lawmakers sworn into parliament
2) Jesse Jackson, 1941-2026
3) Israel: 28 arrested after ultra-Orthodox riot
4) Robert Duvall, 1931-2026
5) Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launch drills
6) Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension: FBI says it will maintain cover-up attempts
7) Apple starts testing end-to-end encrypted RCS messages on iPhone
8) Sudan: Strike on market kills at least 28 people, rights group says
9) ByteDance to curb AI video app after Disney legal threat
10) FCC finds no violations in Bad Bunny halftime show
11) Trump directs federal authorities to protect Potomac
12) Homan says “small” federal occupation force will remain in Minnesota
13) Cuba: Havana piles with trash as US chokehold halts garbage trucks
14) US, Hungarian regimes sign nuclear cooperation deal
15) LA: Biodegradable Mardi Gras beads help make Carnival season more sustainable
16) Nigeria: Regime Troops Repel Coordinated Islamist Attacks in Borno
17) Study: Intermittent fasting may make little difference to weight loss
18) US regime conducts first air transport of nuclear microreactor in bid to show technology’s viability
19) Abduction of Mexican mine workers raises doubts over touted security improvements
20) Ukraine: Former energy minister charged with corruption after attempt to flee
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) ICE tyranny is what democracy looks like
22) The Constitution is not a bargaining chip for a budget negotiation
23) The “F” Word
24) Media Freedom … if We Can Keep it!
25) “Kennedy’s Coup” signaled regime change doom loop for US
26) We celebrate civil rights heroes only after they stop making us uncomfortable
27) Georgia’s January 6 disbarment opinion sets an example for Republicans nationwide
28) AOC tries strategic incomprehensibility
29) The Venezuelan Pirouette
30) Report: The FBI Bent Its Own Rules To Spy on 1,100 “Sensitive” Targets
31) John Fetterman, the Last Moderate Democrat
32) US Economic Growth Looks Slow — Until You Compare It to Europe’s
33) The GOP Has Become a Single-Issue Party. The Issue Is Elite Impunity.
34) Anti-Intellectualism and Violence, Take 2
35) Why Not Eliminate All Foreign Aid?
36) Makers Are Building Back Against ICE
37) Big Tech built a digital drug, and our kids are hooked
38) First Gaza, Then the World: The Global Danger of Israeli Exceptionalism
39) Prison-Style Free Speech Censorship Is Coming for the Rest of Us
40) America’s Atomic Habits
41) No Plan for Mideast Peace Will Work, Without Recognizing Palestinians’ Full Humanity
42) A Great Un-Finding
43) Washington Post, RIP
44) The SAVE Act Presents Creates Paperwork Burdens for Some Voters
45) Marco Rubio delivers tough love to Europe, and overgrown teenage brats know “Dad” is right
46) It’s the Epstein Files, Stupid: Using Empire to Distract from Vice
47) Suing the federal government is ridiculously hard. It shouldn’t be that way.
48) Trump’s tariff tantrums show he’s losing his grip on the GOP
49) Real Talk About Lobbyists Buying the Justice Department
50) Reputation is Everything
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Political Orphanage, 02/16/26
52) Bulwark Takes, 02/16/26
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 02/16/26
54) Mean Age Daydream, 02/16/26
55) The Evil Within, Part 2
56) Gracearchy with Jim Babka, episode 154
57) EconTalk, 02/16/26
58) TechTank, season 5, episode 37
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 02/16/26
60) Fountainhead Forum, episode 425
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Bangladesh: PM Tarique Rahman, lawmakers sworn into parliament
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Newly elected Bangladesh lawmakers have been sworn into parliament, days after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) swept the first vote since the 2024 student-led uprising that expelled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Tarique Rahman will take the oath as prime minister later on Tuesday, as the BNP is expected to form a new government after securing more than a two-thirds majority in the elections last week. … The BNP won at least 212 seats in the 300-seat parliament, giving it a strong majority, while the Jamaat-e-Islami party won 77 seats. Hasina’s Awami League was banned from participating in the polls.” (02/17/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/17/incoming-bangladesh-pm-tarique-rahman-lawmakers-sworn-into-parliament
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2) Jesse Jackson, 1941-2026
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“The Rev Jesse Jackson, the civil rights campaigner who was prominent for more than 50 years and who ran strongly for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, has died. He was 84. … Jackson had had progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) for more than a decade. He was originally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He was also twice hospitalised with Covid in recent years. A fixture in the civil rights movement and Democratic politics since the 1960s, Jackson was once close to Dr Martin Luther King Jr.” (02/17/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/17/jesse-jackson-civil-rights-icon-dies
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3) Israel: 28 arrested after ultra-Orthodox riot
Source: Independent [UK]
“Israeli police arrested 28 people after a large mob of ultra-Orthodox men chased two female IDF soldiers through the streets. Chaotic scenes broke out in the city of Bnei Brak amid anger over conscription orders, with police using stun grenades to control the situation. Footage from Sunday afternoon shows two women being escorted away by police while a huge crowd of men chased after them, shouting and kicking wheelie bins along the street. The rioters injured five police officers, overturned a patrol car and set fire to a police motorcycle, reports say. … Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of the Degel HaTorah party, was forced on Sunday to deny that his rhetoric was responsible for inciting violence against Israel’s military forces. The rabbi ordered students at ultra-orthodox schools to ignore, on religious grounds, conscription orders to the IDF, an order usually received at the age of 18.” (02/16/26)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/idf-soldiers-ultra-orthodox-riots-israel-b2921402.html
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4) Robert Duvall, 1931-2026
Source: Hollywood Reporter
“Robert Duvall, the steely-eyed actor whose performances in the first two Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, Lonesome Dove and The Apostle made him one of the finest actors of any generation, has died. He was 95. Duvall, who received an Academy Award — one of his seven Oscar nominations — for his performance as an alcoholic country singer in Tender Mercies (1983), died Sunday at home on his Virginia ranch, his wife, Luciana, announced. … Duvall’s line in Apocalypse Now, ‘I love the smell of napalm in the morning,’ became the stuff of movie legend. With jets flying overhead and shells exploding nearby, the scene, shot in the Philippines, was done, amazingly, in one take.” (02/16/26)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/robert-duvall-dead-godfather-apocalypse-now-1236506861/
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5) Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launch drills
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) began on Monday a navy exercise in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, state media reported. The intensive drills, named ‘Smart Control of Hormuz Strait’ were being conducted by the IRGC naval forces, and under the supervision of the head of the IRGC, state TV reported. The drill aimed at testing the readiness of operational forces in the face of ‘possible security and military threats,’ the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. The exercise comes amid growing tensions with the US, both over Iran’s nuclear program and its deadly response to anti-regime protests last month.” (02/16/26)
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-launches-strait-of-hormuz-drills/a-75990650
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6) Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension: FBI says it will maintain cover-up attempts
Source: United Press International
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation informed Minnesota’s highest investigative agency that it will not share evidence and information related to the [murder] of Alex Pretti. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said in a statement that it was informed by the FBI on Friday it would not be sharing any information. … Pretty, 37, was shot multiple times by federal agents on Jan. 24, while observing their activities in the Minneapolis area. He was the second civilian [murdered] in the area by federal agents, weeks after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good. The FBI has also refused to cooperate with Minnesota authorities in the investigation into Good’s [murder] at the hands of federal agent Jonathan Ross.” (02/16/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/02/16/fbi-refuses-share-evidence-minnesota-alex-pretti/5001771264464/
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7) Apple starts testing end-to-end encrypted RCS messages on iPhone
Source: The Verge
“Apple is starting to test end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) RCS messages with the developer beta of iOS 26.4 released Monday. Apple announced plans last year to support the feature, and once fully available, it will let iPhone and Android users send encrypted RCS messages to each other across platforms. However, with this initial implementation, Apple is only testing RCS encryption between Apple devices. It’s ‘not yet testable with other platforms,’ Apple says.” (02/16/26)
https://www.theverge.com/tech/879792/apple-iphone-android-rcs-messages-end-to-end-encrypted
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8) Sudan: Strike on market kills at least 28 people, rights group says
Source: ABC News
“Strikes on a market in central Sudan’s Kordofan region killed at least 28 people and wounded dozens, said a rights group on Monday, as the war between the army and a paramilitary group nears its three-year mark. Emergency Lawyers, a rights group tracking violence against civilians, said in a statement that drones bombed a market in Sudri locality in North Kordofan province on Sunday, during a time the market was bustling with civilians, ‘exacerbating the humanitarian tragedy.’ The group said the number of casualties was likely to rise. … The fighting between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese military erupted into a full-blown war across the country in April 2023. So far, at least 40,000 people have been killed and 12 million displaced, according to the World Health Organization.” (02/16/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/strike-market-sudans-kordofan-region-kills-28-people-130210710
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9) ByteDance to curb AI video app after Disney legal threat
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Chinese technology giant ByteDance has pledged to curb a controversial artificial intelligence (AI) video-making tool, following threats of legal action from Disney and complaints from other entertainment giants. In the last few days, videos made using the latest version of the app Seedance have proliferated online. Many have been lauded for their realism. But the trend has also sparked alarm from several Hollywood studios that have accused the AI platform’s makers of copyright infringement. On Friday, Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance accusing it of supplying Seedance with a ‘pirated library’ of the studio’s copyrighted characters, including those from Marvel and Star Wars.” (02/16/26)
https://archive.is/NqjXj
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10) FCC finds no violations in Bad Bunny halftime show
Source: NBC Sports
“Many were triggered by the Bad Bunny halftime show at Super Bowl LX, largely because it became the latest fuel for the American outrage and counter outrage machine. Some complained to the FCC about the supposedly profane nature of the lyrics they loudly complained they didn’t understand anyway, because they weren’t in English. Whatever the language, an initial FCC review concluded that the show didn’t violate applicable decency regulations.” (02/16/26)
https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/fcc-finds-no-violations-in-bad-bunny-halftime-show
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11) Trump directs federal authorities to protect Potomac
Source: The Hill
“President Trump on Monday blamed local and state officials in Washington, D.C., and Maryland for the wastewater spill into the Potomac River and directed federal authorities to assist in recovery efforts. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the spillage, which stemmed from a section of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line in Maryland collapsing last month, is a ‘massive Ecological Disaster’ that is the ‘result of the Gross Mismanagement of Local Democrat Leaders, particularly, Governor Wes Moore, of Maryland.’ The president went on to say he is ‘directing Federal Authorities to immediately provide all necessary Management, Direction, and Coordination to protect the Potomac, the Water Supply in the Capital Region, and our treasured National Resources in our Nation’s Capital City.'” (02/16/26)
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5740548-trump-blames-potomac-spill/
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12) Homan says “small” federal occupation force will remain in Minnesota
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that more than 1,000 [federal gang members] have left Minnesota’s Twin Cities area and hundreds more will depart in the days ahead as part of the Trump administration’s drawdown of its [occupation]. A ‘small’ security force will stay for a short period to protect remaining [gang members] and will respond ‘when our agents are out and they get surrounded by [angry citizens] and things got out of control,’ Homan told CBS’[s] ‘Face the Nation.’ He did not define ‘small.'” (02/16/26)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/02/16/trump-border-czar-minnesota-ice-drawdown/
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13) Cuba: Havana piles with trash as US chokehold halts garbage trucks
Source: Reuters
“Garbage has begun to pile up on street corners in the Cuban capital of Havana, attracting hordes of flies and reeking of rotten food, in one of the most visible impacts of the U.S. bid to prevent oil from reaching the Caribbean’s largest island. State-run news outlet Cubadebate reported this month that Havana only 44 of 106 of its rubbish trucks were able to keep operating due to fuel shortages, slowing garbage collection.” (02/16/26)
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/cubas-havana-piles-with-trash-us-chokehold-halts-garbage-trucks-2026-02-16/
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14) US, Hungarian regimes sign nuclear cooperation deal
Source: CBS News
“The United States and Hungary signed a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement on Monday, as the Trump administration deepened bilateral ties with a controversial ally at a politically sensitive moment for Budapest. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Budapest for meetings with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and senior members of his government, during which Rubio and Orbán signed the pact. The deal comes two months before Hungary’s next parliamentary elections, which may determine whether Orbán can maintain his two-decade grip on power.” (02/16/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-hungary-nuclear-cooperation-trump-deepens-ties-viktor-orban/
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15) LA: Biodegradable Mardi Gras beads help make Carnival season more sustainable
Source: SFGate
“It is Carnival season in New Orleans. That means gazillions of green, gold and purple Mardi Gras beads. Once made of glass and cherished by parade spectators who were lucky enough to catch them, today cheap plastic beaded necklaces from overseas are tossed from floats by the handful. Spectators sometimes pile dozens around their necks, but many are trashed or left on the ground. A few years ago after heavy flooding, the city found more than 46 tons of them clogging its storm drains. The beads are increasingly viewed as a problem, but a Mardi Gras without beads also seems unfathomable. That is why it was a radical step when the Krewe of Freret made the decision last year to ban plastic beads from their parade.” (02/16/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/biodegradable-mardi-gras-beads-help-make-carnival-21355022.php
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16) Nigeria: Regime Troops Repel Coordinated Islamist Attacks in Borno
Source: US News & World Report
“Nigerian troops have repelled simultaneous assaults by Islamist militants on two military bases in Borno state, leaving an unspecified number of soldiers dead, the army said on Monday, in some of the fiercest clashes reported in the northeast this year. Borno, the epicentre of Nigeria’s 17-year Islamist insurgency, has seen Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters intensify attacks on both troops and civilians. The weekend’s coordinated assaults targeted Pulka, near the Cameroon border, and Mandaragirau in southern Borno, both long-contested fronts in the fight against Islamist militants. The military said the failed attacks highlight mounting pressure on the insurgents.” (02/16/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-02-16/nigerian-troops-repel-coordinated-islamist-attacks-in-borno-military-says
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17) Study: Intermittent fasting may make little difference to weight loss
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Intermittent fasting may not help people who are overweight or obese lose weight, a large review suggests. The researchers say the popular practice of fasting on some days of the week and eating normally on others ‘may make little to no difference to weight loss and quality of life’. But they say intermittent fasting could still improve overall health through helpful changes to some body functions, though more evidence is needed. Examples of intermittent fasting include the 5:2 diet and restricting eating to a short window – often about eight hours – every day. The research team looked at the results of 22 previous studies involving nearly 2,000 adults to find out if short-term intermittent fasting (over a period up to 12 months) was better at helping adults lose weight than standard dietary advice, or no advice at all.” (02/16/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4ge7n3pq62o
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18) US regime conducts first air transport of nuclear microreactor in bid to show technology’s viability
Source: Reuters
“The U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense on Sunday for the first time transported a small nuclear reactor on a cargo plane from California to Utah to demonstrate the potential to quickly deploy nuclear power for military and civilian use. The agencies partnered with California-based Valar Atomics to fly one of the company’s Ward microreactors on a C-17 aircraft — without nuclear fuel — to Hill Air Force Base in Utah. … The microreactor in Sunday’s event, a little larger than a minivan, can generate up to 5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 5,000 homes, according to Valar CEO Isaiah Taylor. It will start operating in July at 100 kilowatts and peak at 250 kilowatts this year before ramping up to full capacity, he said.” (02/16/26)
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-conducts-first-air-transport-nuclear-microreactor-bid-show-technologys-2026-02-16/
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19) Abduction of Mexican mine workers raises doubts over touted security improvements
Source: SFGate
“Deep in the coastal mountains above the sparkling Pacific resort of Mazatlan, towns spaced along a twisting road appear nearly deserted, the quiet broken only by the occasional passing truck. It was near one of these towns, Panuco, that 10 employees of a Canadian-owned silver and gold mine were abducted in late January. The bodies of five were located nearby and five more await identification. Most residents of these towns have fled out of fear as two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have been locked in battle since September 2024, said Fermín Labrador, a 68-year-old from the nearby village of Chirimoyos. Others, he said, were ‘invited’ to leave. The abduction of the mine workers under still unclear circumstances has raised fears locally and more widely generated questions about the security improvements touted by President Claudia Sheinbaum.” (02/16/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/abduction-of-mexican-mine-workers-raises-doubts-21356157.php
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20) Ukraine: Former energy minister charged with corruption after attempt to flee
Source: Politico
“Ukraine’s state anti-corruption agencies on Monday charged former Energy Minister German Galushchenko with money laundering and taking part in a criminal organization, a day after he was arrested at the Ukrainian border during an attempt to flee the country. The crackdown is part of the ongoing Operation Midas, which is investigating the $100 million corruption plot in Ukraine’s state nuclear energy sector that rocked the inner circle of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last year. According to the National Anti-Сorruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), Galushchenko and his family members became investors in a fictitious investment fund, created to launder the $100 million siphoned out of Ukrainian state nuclear energy company Energoatom.” (02/16/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-energy-minister-german-galushchenko-nuclear-corruption
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) ICE tyranny is what democracy looks like
Source: Orange County Register
by Ben Bayer
“As ICE tactics continue to undermine due process rights, the New York Times editorial board and kindred others have reflected on the role ICE plays in a broader challenge the Trump administration poses to democracy. Trump’s immigration policies are dramatically unjust. But meaningful reflection on what’s wrong with them means recognizing an uncomfortable fact: they are not ‘undemocratic’ but all too much a product of democracy. It’s an uncomfortable fact that Donald Trump won the 2024 election, not just in the electoral college but by 2 million in the popular vote. And he did it by loudly campaigning for his immigration policy. He promised to carry out ‘the largest deportation effort in American history,’ and his running mate suggested starting with deporting 1 million people. Remorseful Trump voters have no excuse for thinking they voted for something else.” (02/16/26)
https://www.ocregister.com/2026/02/16/ice-tyranny-is-what-democracy-looks-like/
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22) The Constitution is not a bargaining chip for a budget negotiation
Source: The Watch
by Radley Balko
“The downside of the budget impasse is that it has made police state tactics a point of negotiation. In any other era, if a local police department were doing what ICE and Border Patrol have done in Chicago, Portland, and Minnesota, a state attorney general or federal government would have launched investigations, and the architects of the policy — Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Corey Lewandowski — would be sweating out questions at oversight hearings. Instead, we’re talking about these abuses in the context of a budget fight. And that risks giving the impression that basic constitutional rights and restraints on police and executive power that date back to the Founding are, actually, negotiable. I guess we’ll see over the next couple weeks if the Democrats believe they really are.” (02/16/26)
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-constitution-is-not-a-bargaining
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23) The “F” Word
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“If you asked me to call it as I see it, I’d say President Trump is fasc-ish, fascist lite, or ‘semi-fascist.’ And until recently, writer Jonathan Rauch (whom I’ve long admired) would have agreed with my assessment. But in his Atlantic piece, ‘Yes, it’s Fascism,’ Rauch pulls a Jason Stanley. That is, he comes up with his own laundry list of purportedly fascist indicators to prove that President Trump is, indeed, a fascist, which suggests Trump is uniquely evil in American history. … In setting out to prove that Trump is a fascist, Rauch proves that the President is just an odd species of progressive and that past progressive presidents were fascist, too. Progressivism, after all, is a form of fascism.” (02/16/26)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/the-f-word
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24) Media Freedom … if We Can Keep it!
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul
“Big media and big government are in bed together and they hate the fact that we can communicate with each other without their filters and influence. They long for the days when they could shovel down our throats just what they wanted us to hear and believe. While we may be winning this battle for free expression, we must not fool ourselves into thinking that we have won the war. We must remember just a few years ago during COVID that all it took to have your platform wiped off the face of the earth was to dare question the ‘wisdom’ of Anthony Fauci. Even today there are forces seeking to use the power of the state to silence opinions they disagree with.” (02/16/26)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/media-freedomif-we-can-keep-it
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25) “Kennedy’s Coup” signaled regime change doom loop for US
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
“A look back at Diem’s assassination, setting off the Vietnam War — who says Washington isn’t led by the same self-destructive characters throughout time?” (02/16/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/diem-coup-assasination-vietnam/
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26) We celebrate civil rights heroes only after they stop making us uncomfortable
Source: Sacramento Bee
“Every February, Black History Month invites Americans to honor the giants of the civil rights movement. We commemorate them in speeches and street names, reassuring ourselves that their struggles belong safely to the past. But history tells a less comforting story. We tend to celebrate Black moral courage only after it has been stripped of urgency — after its disruptions have been neutralized and its challenges to power rendered harmless. The figures we now hold up as national icons were once dismissed as dangerous or destabilizing by moderates and institutions that claimed to support equality while resisting its consequences. This pattern is not accidental. It is structural.” (02/16/26)
https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/us-viewpoints/article314715171.html
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27) Georgia’s January 6 disbarment opinion sets an example for Republicans nationwide
Source: The Hill
by Steven Lubet
“The avatars of MAGA-land often appear to operate with almost boundless impunity. President Trump was granted nearly total immunity by the U.S. Supreme Court. He pardoned more than 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters. His officials reflexively defend masked immigration enforcement officials gunning down Minnesota protesters, rather than suspending or at least investigating them. There have been few if any lasting consequences for crimes or malfeasance in Trump world. It was, therefore, truly heartening to see a group of Republicans acknowledge that law-breaking must be meaningfully penalized, even if committed under the MAGA banner. Last month, the nine justices of the Georgia Supreme Court — eight of whom were appointed by Republican governors — unanimously stated that nothing less than disbarment was called for in the case of William McCall Calhoun, Jr., an attorney who had participated in the ‘violent takeover of the Capitol’ on Jan. 6, 2021.” (02/16/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/5738027-calhoun-capitol-insurrection-disbarment/
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28) AOC tries strategic incomprehensibility
Source: Washington Post
by Jim Geraghty
“Lest anyone think I am taking the words of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) out of context, here is, verbatim, her answer to a question during an appearance at the Munich Security Conference last week. … Asked, ‘Would and should the U.S. actually commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan if China were to move?,’ Ocasio-Cortez replied: ‘You know, I think that this is such a, you know, I think that this is a, this is, of course, a very long-standing policy of the United States. And I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point, and we want to make sure that we are moving in all of our economic research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise.’ This was a yes-or-no question, and Ocasio-Cortez did not answer it.” (02/16/26)
https://archive.is/ENaj3
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29) The Venezuelan Pirouette
Source: Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
“For a subcontinent known for holding ‘honor’ and ‘dignity’ in (disproportionately) high esteem, as seen in everything from pop culture, including soap operas, to political discourse, the turn of events in Venezuela is fascinating. The speed and ease with which the regime’s top figures (interim president Delcy Rodriguez, minister of the Interior Diosdado Cabello, minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino and the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez) have become the incarnation of everything they once despised should put the last nail in the coffin of the myth that the Latin American revolutionary left stands, well, for honor and dignity.” (02/16/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/02/16/venezuelan-pirouette/
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30) Report: The FBI Bent Its Own Rules To Spy on 1,100 “Sensitive” Targets
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“If the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wants to scrutinize a person or organization, it must meet certain legal standards demonstrating evidence to support suspicion of criminal activity before opening an investigation. Well, sort of. It turns out that if the feds can’t meet the bar to justify an investigation, they can move ahead by calling their surveillance efforts ‘assessments.’ Then, they can use the assessments to justify full investigations — assuming FBI agents care to follow the rules to begin with, which is not always the case. That’s led to the feds snooping on roughly 1,100 religious figures, journalists, activists, and public officials in recent years.” (02/16/26)
https://reason.com/2026/02/16/the-fbi-bent-its-own-rules-to-spy-on-1100-sensitive-targets/
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31) John Fetterman, the Last Moderate Democrat
Source: Town Hall
by Jeff Crouere
“Decades ago, the Democratic Party had leaders like Presidents Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy who were proud of our country and our citizens. These leaders would have never embarked on a foreign ‘apology tour’ like Former President Barack Obama or allowed our country to be invaded by millions of illegal immigrants like Former President Joe Biden. In the 1980’s, a coalition of moderate congressional Democrats known as the ‘Blue Dogs’ assisted President Ronald Reagan to pass historic tax cuts, which unleashed tremendous economic growth and enabled our country to exorcise the ‘malaise’ that another Democrat President, Jimmy Carter, had infamously described. The ‘Blue Dogs’ were essential for the Reagan agenda to succeed. Additionally, then-House Speaker Tip O’Neill (D-MA) and Reagan were friends and enjoyed occasional evening cocktails together. This relationship helped Reagan and Republicans pass their legislation in a Democrat controlled Congress.” (02/16/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/jeffcrouere/2026/02/16/john-fetterman-the-last-moderate-democrat-n2671349
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32) US Economic Growth Looks Slow — Until You Compare It to Europe’s
Source: The Daily Economy
by John Phelan
“Over the past decade, the United States has outperformed every other G7 nation. Key measures show why the US is not just getting bigger, but also growing richer.” (02/16/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/us-economic-growth-looks-slow-until-you-compare-it-to-europes/
-----
33) The GOP Has Become a Single-Issue Party. The Issue Is Elite Impunity.
Source: The New Republic
by Aaron Regunberg
“From protecting rapists to shielding Monsanto or helping Big Oil avoid climate change lawsuits, Republicans are showing their true agenda.” (02/16/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/206548/trump-epstein-oil-roundup
-----
34) Anti-Intellectualism and Violence, Take 2
Source: ProSocial Libertarians
by Andrew Jason Cohen
“I am sometimes inclined to believe that anti-intellectualism is new or, if not new, worse now than in the past. In my calmer moments, I don’t believe either claim. I think that what is different now is that we expect more people — perhaps everyone — to be literate and to keep up with national politics. That sounds like a great idea (to democratic theorists anyway) until you think about what people are usually like. Some people want to spend time considering political ethics and discussing the issues of the day or perennial issues. Some of those do so with deep concern and impartiality. Some do not. And, of course, some have no desire to do these things at all. … We can’t make everyone an intellectual. For many people, it would leave them unhappy.” (02/16/26)
https://prosociallibertarians.substack.com/p/anti-intellectualism-and-violence-89c
-----
35) Why Not Eliminate All Foreign Aid?
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Laurence M Vance
“The Trump administration’s turning off of the foreign aid spigot to some recipients of foreign aid should come as no surprise. Republicans have over the years called for foreign aid to be withheld from one country or another to punish them for doing something particularly egregious or to persuade them to follow a particular course of action. But Republicans have no philosophical opposition to foreign aid. Just like they have no philosophical objection to government grants to the arts unless it funds blasphemous or pornographic art, no philosophical objection to welfare as long as it has some work requirements, and no philosophical objection to antidiscrimination laws as long as they don’t include discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity. Republicans generally don’t even have any objection to government funding for Planned Parenthood as long as the funding is not used to provide abortions.” (02/16/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/why-not-eliminate-all-foreign-aid/
-----
36) Makers Are Building Back Against ICE
Source: Wired
by Boone Ashworth
“As the US government’s immigration crackdown expands across the country, anxious residents have mobilized to look out for each other. One way they’re doing that is by finding ways to build the tools they need to be resilient against the surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents empowered to kill with impunity. All over the country, makers are 3D-printing thousands of whistles to help people on the ground alert others to nearby ICE activity. But the whistles are far from the only tools being used to respond to the surge of federal agents. Protesters are DIY-ing a wide array of gadgets like camera mounts, mobile networking gear, and handheld eye washers to clear away pepper spray, tear gas, and irritants used to quell protests. Many of these efforts are coming from individual makers. Many of these projects are being made in hacker spaces.” (02/16/26)
https://archive.is/VI9t3
-----
37) Big Tech built a digital drug, and our kids are hooked
Source: Fox News
by Jillian Michaels
“In the 1990s, America watched tobacco executives raise their right hands before Congress and swear nicotine was not addictive. We now know they were lying through their teeth. Internal documents later proved cigarettes were chemically engineered to maximize dependency and deliberately marketed to children to create ‘replacement smokers’ for a dying customer base. Today, we are watching the same lie unfold in real time. Only now, the product is not Marlboro. It is the algorithm. A new class of titans – Meta, TikTok, Snap and Google – have built digital machines designed to addict our kids. The damage is not in their lungs. It is in the wiring of their developing brains. On Feb. 9, a landmark jury trial began in California Superior Court that could fundamentally reshape how social media is regulated.” (02/16/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jillian-michaels-big-tech-built-digital-drug-our-kids-hooked
-----
38) First Gaza, Then the World: The Global Danger of Israeli Exceptionalism
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ramzy Baroud
“While many nations occasionally resort to a ‘state of exception’ to deal with temporary crises, Israel exists in a permanent state of exception. This Israeli exceptionalism is the very essence of the instability that plagues the Middle East. The concept of the state of exception dates back to the Roman justitium, a legal mechanism for suspending law during times of civil unrest. However, the modern understanding was shaped by the German jurist Carl Schmitt, who famously wrote that the ‘sovereign is he who decides on the exception.’ While Schmitt’s own history as a jurist for the Third Reich serves as a chilling reminder of where such theories can lead, his work provides an undeniably accurate anatomy of raw power: it reveals how a ruler who institutes laws also holds the power to dismiss them, under the pretext that no constitution can foresee every possible crisis.” (02/16/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ramzy-baroud/2026/02/15/first-gaza-then-the-world-the-global-danger-of-israeli-exceptionalism
-----
39) Prison-Style Free Speech Censorship Is Coming for the Rest of Us
Source: The Intercept
by Jeremy Busby
“American prisons have never been much for the First Amendment, and now, the Trump administration is exporting prison-style censorship to the general population. In tactics that are easily recognizable to incarcerated people like me, they’re doing it in the name of ‘security.’ This includes claiming antiestablishment ideologies and literature must be punished because they pose nebulous risks to those with government-approved political views. It also includes the logical next step: criminalizing efforts to keep authorities from finding out that one holds those ideologies or reads that literature.” (02/16/26)
https://theintercept.com/2026/02/16/daniel-sanchez-estrada-prairieland-trial-zines/
-----
40) America’s Atomic Habits
Source: Law & Liberty
by Brian Pawlowski
“Thomas Jefferson enshrined our ideals in the Declaration of Independence with words every American recognizes: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ But he immediately followed that soaring statement with something just as important: ‘That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.’ Ideals alone were never meant to stand. They required durable forms capable of securing and sustaining them. Those forms were later prescribed in the Constitution.” (02/16/26)
https://lawliberty.org/americas-atomic-habits/
-----
41) No Plan for Mideast Peace Will Work, Without Recognizing Palestinians’ Full Humanity
Source: Common Dreams
by James Zogby
“When President Donald Trump convened his so-called Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland, a key item on the agenda was to endorse his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s extravagant (and, I might add, detached from reality) plan for a ‘New Gaza’. The rendering of Kushner’s scheme shows it to be more of a luxury resort for wealthy tourists than the foundation of a just future for the Palestinian victims of Israel’s genocide. But since the raison d’être of the Board of Peace was supposed to be dealing with the aftermath of Israel’s war on Gaza, the conversation, by necessity, had to address the needs of hundreds of thousands of now-homeless Palestinians. Thus, Kushner presented a proposal for a model Palestinian community (the ‘New Rafah’) he intends to build to house Palestinians in Gaza. The plans for this New Rafah have been circulated since the meeting.” (02/16/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/peace-palestinian-rights
-----
42) A Great Un-Finding
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“In 2009, President Obama and the EPA decided that the will‑o’-the-wisp of fine-tuning the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere fell under the agency’s purview. They introduced a not-so-thin wedge to pry open a vast new province of regulatory oppression. Obama had sought congressional legislation, but Congress had balked. So he proceeded without any new laws; or rather, as so often happens, told an agency to issue new laws. … Now things may change. Bigly. President Trump has ordered the EPA to un-find its 2009 ‘finding’ that it has blanket authority to regulate human emission of greenhouse gases. The change will be challenged in court. The Trump administration doubtless expects — perhaps even wants — the litigation.” (02/16/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/a-great-un/
-----
43) Washington Post, RIP
Source: The American Conservative
by Alan Pell Crawford
“No question, the Post has been a great newspaper, but, like other great newspapers, it has been hemorrhaging money for years, in part because it has been losing subscribers. It’s ironic that a lot of the people now bemoaning decisions made by the Post’s top brass are themselves no longer subscribing. After Bezos decided to pull the editorial board’s endorsement of Kamala Harris (ending a practice of endorsing presidential candidates, which it only began to do about the time [Bpb] Woodward was a Metro desk reporter), 250,000 high-minded subscribers bailed out. They did so no doubt unaware of how their decision might affect the paychecks of reporters about whom they are now expressing such heartfelt concern.” (02/16/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/washington-post-rip/
-----
44) The SAVE Act Presents Creates Paperwork Burdens for Some Voters
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye
“Several days ago, I wrote about some of the problems the SAVE Act. Specifically, I explained that the SAVE Act marks a radical shift for Republicans. When I was the vice president for legislative affairs at FreedomWorks, I attended meetings hosted by Republican leadership in 2019 in which they railed against House Democrats’ For the People Act. They complained that various aspects of the bill violated the core tenets of federalism and that others were unconstitutional. Although the SAVE Act isn’t as comprehensive as the For the People Act, it still encroaches on an area traditionally reserved for the states.” (02/15/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/the-save-act-presents-creates-paperwork
-----
45) Marco Rubio delivers tough love to Europe, and overgrown teenage brats know “Dad” is right
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine
“An American statesman was born on a German stage over the weekend. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s impressive performance at the Munich Security Conference gives us an alluring glimpse of the president he could be one day. Rubio drew a standing ovation from the assembled European heads of state, intelligence chiefs, and military leaders for a speech that was no less forceful or frank than VP JD Vance’s address that jarred the same forum last year, but was delivered with a mellifluous voice and calm humility that disarmed even the most arch Euro-socialist. Rubio was warm and reassuring rather than sneering and contemptuous. But that was no accident. He was playing ‘good cop’ to Vance’s ‘bad cop’, a strategy that paid off with the collective ‘sigh of relief’ that conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger expressed afterward, as he motioned to the audience to sit and praised Rubio’s ‘message of reassurance’.” (02/15/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/02/15/opinion/marco-rubio-delivers-tough-love-to-europe-and-the-overgrown-teenage-brats-know-dad-is-right/
-----
46) It’s the Epstein Files, Stupid: Using Empire to Distract from Vice
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“After months of empty promises to the toxic online manosphere largely responsible for the Donald’s post-January 6 rehabilitation, the fact finally became inescapable even for the most heavily deluded of MAGAloids that their hero was indeed the dog who didn’t bark and he wasn’t about to release the Epstein Files that prove it. Trump, misdiagnosing this flip flop as just another in a long line of broken campaign promises, essentially told his personality cult to chill the fuck out and get over it. This is when Trump’s approval ratings cratered and the people he had storm the Capitol began to call for his combover. And then Donald Trump began bombing dinghies in the Caribbean before pounding his chest over the footage of these war crimes on live television while barking ‘I am not a pedophile!'” (02/16/26)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/02/its-epstein-files-stupid-using-empire.html
-----
47) Suing the federal government is ridiculously hard. It shouldn’t be that way.
Source: Orange County Register
by Agustina Vergara Cid
“Looking at the history of the U.S. founding and how this country originated by defying overbearing authority, one would think that suing the government for rights violations would be rather straightforward. It is not. Instead, it’s a Kafkaesque nightmare that often leaves Americans unprotected and with untold damage left unrepaired in the face of government force. As the Trump administration continues with its mass deportations (a program that has swept up U.S. citizens as well), Americans are made to confront the harsh reality of our legal system: Suing the government is incredibly hard, and government actors wielding force inappropriately against individuals often go unpunished. This shouldn’t happen in America of all places.” (02/15/26)
https://www.ocregister.com/2026/02/15/suing-the-federal-government-is-ridiculously-hard-it-shouldnt-be-that-way/
-----
48) Trump’s tariff tantrums show he’s losing his grip on the GOP
Source: USA Today
by Chris Brennan
“Donald Trump’s second term as president is mired by two different anxieties, and he has put them on a collision course. Trump openly fears the Republican Party losing control of the U.S. House in November’s midterm elections, and now his free-falling approval ratings could also put control of the U.S. Senate in play as well. Democratic control means serious oversight for a president who seriously needs oversight. Impeachment could be on the table, too. But Trump also shows great concern about losing control of the Republican Party in Congress. He tosses telling tantrums whenever Republicans in either chamber dare to act like a coequal branch of government rather than subservient sycophants, like his party’s leaders in the House and Senate.” (02/15/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/02/15/republicans-trump-tariffs-canada-house-midterms/88646045007/
-----
49) Real Talk About Lobbyists Buying the Justice Department
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“I released a story last Thursday about MAGA lobbyists pushing the Justice Department to settle its monopolization case against Ticketmaster. By the middle of that day, Gail Slater, who was the head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, resigned, and it was clear that her choice was either to resign or be fired. A lot of reporting about this situation dropped almost immediately after the resignation (CBS, The Guardian, The Free Press, the Financial Times) regarding tensions between Slater and Attorney General Pam Bondi, internal insubordination, whether Vice President JD Vance would act as a shield for his former staffer Slater, what this means for the populist right, and more. As you might expect, I’m not wired into the inner workings of the Trump White House enough to generate one of these palace intrigue articles. But I don’t think they have as much value as the basic facts.” (02/16/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/02/16/justice-department-lobbyists-gail-slater-pam-bondi/
-----
50) Reputation is Everything
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kimberlee Josephson
“Spring school picture day arrives with predictable rituals — the combing of hair, the practicing of smiles, and the filling out of order forms that get crumpled up in backpacks. This year, it brings something else: scrutiny. America’s largest school photography company, Lifetouch, has landed in the headlines this month after newly surfaced Epstein-related ownership-chain disclosures triggered parental anger. The facts remain contested, but the reaction is revealing. For many families, the controversy isn’t just about one vendor. It’s about the uneasy feeling that they never had a choice to begin with. Regardless of order form submission, pictures are typically taken anyway.” (02/15/26)
https://fee.org/articles/reputation-is-everything/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Political Orphanage, 02/16/26
Source: The Political Orphanage
“How to Build a Commune: Samwise Rodriguez.” (02/16/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/how-to-build-a-commune-samwise-rodriguez
-----
52) Bulwark Takes, 02/16/26
Source: The Bulwark
"Is George W. Bush a Coward -- Or Just Wrong?" (02/16/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmneE9UIavk
-----
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 02/16/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Last Chance To Avoid War With Iran?” (02/16/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1YqxolldANlKv
-----
54) Mean Age Daydream, 02/16/26
Source: Lions of Liberty
“‘Bigger Than Watergate’ Epstein Scandal.” (02/16/26)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/madd-bigger-than-watergate-epstein-scandal
-----
55) The Evil Within, Part 2
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The National-Security State.” (02/16/26)
https://www.fff.org/freedom-in-motion/video/the-evil-within-part-2-the-national-security-state/
-----
56) Gracearchy with Jim Babka, episode 154
Source: Gracearchy with Jim Babka
“Five Things We Can Learn From The Epstein Files.” (02/16/26)
https://rumble.com/v75j2w8-154-five-things-we-can-learn-from-the-epstein-files-gracearchy-with-jim-bab.html
-----
57) EconTalk, 02/16/26
Source: EconTalk
“Seiko, Swatch, and the Swiss Watch Industry (with Aled Maclean-Jones).” (02/16/26)
https://www.econtalk.org/seiko-swatch-and-the-swiss-watch-industry-with-aled-maclean-jones/
-----
58) TechTank, season 5, episode 37
Source: Brookings Institution
“What to expect from the India AI Impact Summit.” (02/16/26)
https://shows.acast.com/tech-tank/episodes/what-to-expect-from-the-india-ai-impact-summit
-----
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 02/16/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Preparing for Sustained War on Iran, US Bombs Syria, Somalia, Boat in Caribbean, and More.” (02/16/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7489kzhfXR4
-----
60) Fountainhead Forum, episode 425
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Alec Egizi on working family-court and juvenile-court cases.” (02/15/26)
https://rumble.com/v75ryss-ff-425-alec-egizi-on-working-family-court-and-juvenile-court-cases.html
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Today's Freedom News:
1) Bangladesh: PM Tarique Rahman, lawmakers sworn into parliament
2) Jesse Jackson, 1941-2026
3) Israel: 28 arrested after ultra-Orthodox riot
4) Robert Duvall, 1931-2026
5) Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launch drills
6) Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension: FBI says it will maintain cover-up attempts
7) Apple starts testing end-to-end encrypted RCS messages on iPhone
8) Sudan: Strike on market kills at least 28 people, rights group says
9) ByteDance to curb AI video app after Disney legal threat
10) FCC finds no violations in Bad Bunny halftime show
11) Trump directs federal authorities to protect Potomac
12) Homan says “small” federal occupation force will remain in Minnesota
13) Cuba: Havana piles with trash as US chokehold halts garbage trucks
14) US, Hungarian regimes sign nuclear cooperation deal
15) LA: Biodegradable Mardi Gras beads help make Carnival season more sustainable
16) Nigeria: Regime Troops Repel Coordinated Islamist Attacks in Borno
17) Study: Intermittent fasting may make little difference to weight loss
18) US regime conducts first air transport of nuclear microreactor in bid to show technology’s viability
19) Abduction of Mexican mine workers raises doubts over touted security improvements
20) Ukraine: Former energy minister charged with corruption after attempt to flee
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) ICE tyranny is what democracy looks like
22) The Constitution is not a bargaining chip for a budget negotiation
23) The “F” Word
24) Media Freedom … if We Can Keep it!
25) “Kennedy’s Coup” signaled regime change doom loop for US
26) We celebrate civil rights heroes only after they stop making us uncomfortable
27) Georgia’s January 6 disbarment opinion sets an example for Republicans nationwide
28) AOC tries strategic incomprehensibility
29) The Venezuelan Pirouette
30) Report: The FBI Bent Its Own Rules To Spy on 1,100 “Sensitive” Targets
31) John Fetterman, the Last Moderate Democrat
32) US Economic Growth Looks Slow — Until You Compare It to Europe’s
33) The GOP Has Become a Single-Issue Party. The Issue Is Elite Impunity.
34) Anti-Intellectualism and Violence, Take 2
35) Why Not Eliminate All Foreign Aid?
36) Makers Are Building Back Against ICE
37) Big Tech built a digital drug, and our kids are hooked
38) First Gaza, Then the World: The Global Danger of Israeli Exceptionalism
39) Prison-Style Free Speech Censorship Is Coming for the Rest of Us
40) America’s Atomic Habits
41) No Plan for Mideast Peace Will Work, Without Recognizing Palestinians’ Full Humanity
42) A Great Un-Finding
43) Washington Post, RIP
44) The SAVE Act Presents Creates Paperwork Burdens for Some Voters
45) Marco Rubio delivers tough love to Europe, and overgrown teenage brats know “Dad” is right
46) It’s the Epstein Files, Stupid: Using Empire to Distract from Vice
47) Suing the federal government is ridiculously hard. It shouldn’t be that way.
48) Trump’s tariff tantrums show he’s losing his grip on the GOP
49) Real Talk About Lobbyists Buying the Justice Department
50) Reputation is Everything
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) The Political Orphanage, 02/16/26
52) Bulwark Takes, 02/16/26
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 02/16/26
54) Mean Age Daydream, 02/16/26
55) The Evil Within, Part 2
56) Gracearchy with Jim Babka, episode 154
57) EconTalk, 02/16/26
58) TechTank, season 5, episode 37
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 02/16/26
60) Fountainhead Forum, episode 425
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
1) Bangladesh: PM Tarique Rahman, lawmakers sworn into parliament
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Newly elected Bangladesh lawmakers have been sworn into parliament, days after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) swept the first vote since the 2024 student-led uprising that expelled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Tarique Rahman will take the oath as prime minister later on Tuesday, as the BNP is expected to form a new government after securing more than a two-thirds majority in the elections last week. … The BNP won at least 212 seats in the 300-seat parliament, giving it a strong majority, while the Jamaat-e-Islami party won 77 seats. Hasina’s Awami League was banned from participating in the polls.” (02/17/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/17/incoming-bangladesh-pm-tarique-rahman-lawmakers-sworn-into-parliament
-----
2) Jesse Jackson, 1941-2026
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“The Rev Jesse Jackson, the civil rights campaigner who was prominent for more than 50 years and who ran strongly for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, has died. He was 84. … Jackson had had progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) for more than a decade. He was originally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He was also twice hospitalised with Covid in recent years. A fixture in the civil rights movement and Democratic politics since the 1960s, Jackson was once close to Dr Martin Luther King Jr.” (02/17/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/17/jesse-jackson-civil-rights-icon-dies
-----
3) Israel: 28 arrested after ultra-Orthodox riot
Source: Independent [UK]
“Israeli police arrested 28 people after a large mob of ultra-Orthodox men chased two female IDF soldiers through the streets. Chaotic scenes broke out in the city of Bnei Brak amid anger over conscription orders, with police using stun grenades to control the situation. Footage from Sunday afternoon shows two women being escorted away by police while a huge crowd of men chased after them, shouting and kicking wheelie bins along the street. The rioters injured five police officers, overturned a patrol car and set fire to a police motorcycle, reports say. … Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of the Degel HaTorah party, was forced on Sunday to deny that his rhetoric was responsible for inciting violence against Israel’s military forces. The rabbi ordered students at ultra-orthodox schools to ignore, on religious grounds, conscription orders to the IDF, an order usually received at the age of 18.” (02/16/26)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/idf-soldiers-ultra-orthodox-riots-israel-b2921402.html
-----
4) Robert Duvall, 1931-2026
Source: Hollywood Reporter
“Robert Duvall, the steely-eyed actor whose performances in the first two Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, Lonesome Dove and The Apostle made him one of the finest actors of any generation, has died. He was 95. Duvall, who received an Academy Award — one of his seven Oscar nominations — for his performance as an alcoholic country singer in Tender Mercies (1983), died Sunday at home on his Virginia ranch, his wife, Luciana, announced. … Duvall’s line in Apocalypse Now, ‘I love the smell of napalm in the morning,’ became the stuff of movie legend. With jets flying overhead and shells exploding nearby, the scene, shot in the Philippines, was done, amazingly, in one take.” (02/16/26)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/robert-duvall-dead-godfather-apocalypse-now-1236506861/
-----
5) Strait of Hormuz: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launch drills
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) began on Monday a navy exercise in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, state media reported. The intensive drills, named ‘Smart Control of Hormuz Strait’ were being conducted by the IRGC naval forces, and under the supervision of the head of the IRGC, state TV reported. The drill aimed at testing the readiness of operational forces in the face of ‘possible security and military threats,’ the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. The exercise comes amid growing tensions with the US, both over Iran’s nuclear program and its deadly response to anti-regime protests last month.” (02/16/26)
https://www.dw.com/en/iran-launches-strait-of-hormuz-drills/a-75990650
-----
6) Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension: FBI says it will maintain cover-up attempts
Source: United Press International
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation informed Minnesota’s highest investigative agency that it will not share evidence and information related to the [murder] of Alex Pretti. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said in a statement that it was informed by the FBI on Friday it would not be sharing any information. … Pretty, 37, was shot multiple times by federal agents on Jan. 24, while observing their activities in the Minneapolis area. He was the second civilian [murdered] in the area by federal agents, weeks after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good. The FBI has also refused to cooperate with Minnesota authorities in the investigation into Good’s [murder] at the hands of federal agent Jonathan Ross.” (02/16/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/02/16/fbi-refuses-share-evidence-minnesota-alex-pretti/5001771264464/
-----
7) Apple starts testing end-to-end encrypted RCS messages on iPhone
Source: The Verge
“Apple is starting to test end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) RCS messages with the developer beta of iOS 26.4 released Monday. Apple announced plans last year to support the feature, and once fully available, it will let iPhone and Android users send encrypted RCS messages to each other across platforms. However, with this initial implementation, Apple is only testing RCS encryption between Apple devices. It’s ‘not yet testable with other platforms,’ Apple says.” (02/16/26)
https://www.theverge.com/tech/879792/apple-iphone-android-rcs-messages-end-to-end-encrypted
-----
8) Sudan: Strike on market kills at least 28 people, rights group says
Source: ABC News
“Strikes on a market in central Sudan’s Kordofan region killed at least 28 people and wounded dozens, said a rights group on Monday, as the war between the army and a paramilitary group nears its three-year mark. Emergency Lawyers, a rights group tracking violence against civilians, said in a statement that drones bombed a market in Sudri locality in North Kordofan province on Sunday, during a time the market was bustling with civilians, ‘exacerbating the humanitarian tragedy.’ The group said the number of casualties was likely to rise. … The fighting between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese military erupted into a full-blown war across the country in April 2023. So far, at least 40,000 people have been killed and 12 million displaced, according to the World Health Organization.” (02/16/26)
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/strike-market-sudans-kordofan-region-kills-28-people-130210710
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9) ByteDance to curb AI video app after Disney legal threat
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Chinese technology giant ByteDance has pledged to curb a controversial artificial intelligence (AI) video-making tool, following threats of legal action from Disney and complaints from other entertainment giants. In the last few days, videos made using the latest version of the app Seedance have proliferated online. Many have been lauded for their realism. But the trend has also sparked alarm from several Hollywood studios that have accused the AI platform’s makers of copyright infringement. On Friday, Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance accusing it of supplying Seedance with a ‘pirated library’ of the studio’s copyrighted characters, including those from Marvel and Star Wars.” (02/16/26)
https://archive.is/NqjXj
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10) FCC finds no violations in Bad Bunny halftime show
Source: NBC Sports
“Many were triggered by the Bad Bunny halftime show at Super Bowl LX, largely because it became the latest fuel for the American outrage and counter outrage machine. Some complained to the FCC about the supposedly profane nature of the lyrics they loudly complained they didn’t understand anyway, because they weren’t in English. Whatever the language, an initial FCC review concluded that the show didn’t violate applicable decency regulations.” (02/16/26)
https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/fcc-finds-no-violations-in-bad-bunny-halftime-show
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11) Trump directs federal authorities to protect Potomac
Source: The Hill
“President Trump on Monday blamed local and state officials in Washington, D.C., and Maryland for the wastewater spill into the Potomac River and directed federal authorities to assist in recovery efforts. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the spillage, which stemmed from a section of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line in Maryland collapsing last month, is a ‘massive Ecological Disaster’ that is the ‘result of the Gross Mismanagement of Local Democrat Leaders, particularly, Governor Wes Moore, of Maryland.’ The president went on to say he is ‘directing Federal Authorities to immediately provide all necessary Management, Direction, and Coordination to protect the Potomac, the Water Supply in the Capital Region, and our treasured National Resources in our Nation’s Capital City.'” (02/16/26)
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5740548-trump-blames-potomac-spill/
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12) Homan says “small” federal occupation force will remain in Minnesota
Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that more than 1,000 [federal gang members] have left Minnesota’s Twin Cities area and hundreds more will depart in the days ahead as part of the Trump administration’s drawdown of its [occupation]. A ‘small’ security force will stay for a short period to protect remaining [gang members] and will respond ‘when our agents are out and they get surrounded by [angry citizens] and things got out of control,’ Homan told CBS’[s] ‘Face the Nation.’ He did not define ‘small.'” (02/16/26)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/02/16/trump-border-czar-minnesota-ice-drawdown/
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13) Cuba: Havana piles with trash as US chokehold halts garbage trucks
Source: Reuters
“Garbage has begun to pile up on street corners in the Cuban capital of Havana, attracting hordes of flies and reeking of rotten food, in one of the most visible impacts of the U.S. bid to prevent oil from reaching the Caribbean’s largest island. State-run news outlet Cubadebate reported this month that Havana only 44 of 106 of its rubbish trucks were able to keep operating due to fuel shortages, slowing garbage collection.” (02/16/26)
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/cubas-havana-piles-with-trash-us-chokehold-halts-garbage-trucks-2026-02-16/
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14) US, Hungarian regimes sign nuclear cooperation deal
Source: CBS News
“The United States and Hungary signed a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement on Monday, as the Trump administration deepened bilateral ties with a controversial ally at a politically sensitive moment for Budapest. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Budapest for meetings with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and senior members of his government, during which Rubio and Orbán signed the pact. The deal comes two months before Hungary’s next parliamentary elections, which may determine whether Orbán can maintain his two-decade grip on power.” (02/16/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-hungary-nuclear-cooperation-trump-deepens-ties-viktor-orban/
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15) LA: Biodegradable Mardi Gras beads help make Carnival season more sustainable
Source: SFGate
“It is Carnival season in New Orleans. That means gazillions of green, gold and purple Mardi Gras beads. Once made of glass and cherished by parade spectators who were lucky enough to catch them, today cheap plastic beaded necklaces from overseas are tossed from floats by the handful. Spectators sometimes pile dozens around their necks, but many are trashed or left on the ground. A few years ago after heavy flooding, the city found more than 46 tons of them clogging its storm drains. The beads are increasingly viewed as a problem, but a Mardi Gras without beads also seems unfathomable. That is why it was a radical step when the Krewe of Freret made the decision last year to ban plastic beads from their parade.” (02/16/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/biodegradable-mardi-gras-beads-help-make-carnival-21355022.php
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16) Nigeria: Regime Troops Repel Coordinated Islamist Attacks in Borno
Source: US News & World Report
“Nigerian troops have repelled simultaneous assaults by Islamist militants on two military bases in Borno state, leaving an unspecified number of soldiers dead, the army said on Monday, in some of the fiercest clashes reported in the northeast this year. Borno, the epicentre of Nigeria’s 17-year Islamist insurgency, has seen Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters intensify attacks on both troops and civilians. The weekend’s coordinated assaults targeted Pulka, near the Cameroon border, and Mandaragirau in southern Borno, both long-contested fronts in the fight against Islamist militants. The military said the failed attacks highlight mounting pressure on the insurgents.” (02/16/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-02-16/nigerian-troops-repel-coordinated-islamist-attacks-in-borno-military-says
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17) Study: Intermittent fasting may make little difference to weight loss
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Intermittent fasting may not help people who are overweight or obese lose weight, a large review suggests. The researchers say the popular practice of fasting on some days of the week and eating normally on others ‘may make little to no difference to weight loss and quality of life’. But they say intermittent fasting could still improve overall health through helpful changes to some body functions, though more evidence is needed. Examples of intermittent fasting include the 5:2 diet and restricting eating to a short window – often about eight hours – every day. The research team looked at the results of 22 previous studies involving nearly 2,000 adults to find out if short-term intermittent fasting (over a period up to 12 months) was better at helping adults lose weight than standard dietary advice, or no advice at all.” (02/16/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4ge7n3pq62o
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18) US regime conducts first air transport of nuclear microreactor in bid to show technology’s viability
Source: Reuters
“The U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense on Sunday for the first time transported a small nuclear reactor on a cargo plane from California to Utah to demonstrate the potential to quickly deploy nuclear power for military and civilian use. The agencies partnered with California-based Valar Atomics to fly one of the company’s Ward microreactors on a C-17 aircraft — without nuclear fuel — to Hill Air Force Base in Utah. … The microreactor in Sunday’s event, a little larger than a minivan, can generate up to 5 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 5,000 homes, according to Valar CEO Isaiah Taylor. It will start operating in July at 100 kilowatts and peak at 250 kilowatts this year before ramping up to full capacity, he said.” (02/16/26)
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-conducts-first-air-transport-nuclear-microreactor-bid-show-technologys-2026-02-16/
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19) Abduction of Mexican mine workers raises doubts over touted security improvements
Source: SFGate
“Deep in the coastal mountains above the sparkling Pacific resort of Mazatlan, towns spaced along a twisting road appear nearly deserted, the quiet broken only by the occasional passing truck. It was near one of these towns, Panuco, that 10 employees of a Canadian-owned silver and gold mine were abducted in late January. The bodies of five were located nearby and five more await identification. Most residents of these towns have fled out of fear as two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have been locked in battle since September 2024, said Fermín Labrador, a 68-year-old from the nearby village of Chirimoyos. Others, he said, were ‘invited’ to leave. The abduction of the mine workers under still unclear circumstances has raised fears locally and more widely generated questions about the security improvements touted by President Claudia Sheinbaum.” (02/16/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/abduction-of-mexican-mine-workers-raises-doubts-21356157.php
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20) Ukraine: Former energy minister charged with corruption after attempt to flee
Source: Politico
“Ukraine’s state anti-corruption agencies on Monday charged former Energy Minister German Galushchenko with money laundering and taking part in a criminal organization, a day after he was arrested at the Ukrainian border during an attempt to flee the country. The crackdown is part of the ongoing Operation Midas, which is investigating the $100 million corruption plot in Ukraine’s state nuclear energy sector that rocked the inner circle of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last year. According to the National Anti-Сorruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), Galushchenko and his family members became investors in a fictitious investment fund, created to launder the $100 million siphoned out of Ukrainian state nuclear energy company Energoatom.” (02/16/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-energy-minister-german-galushchenko-nuclear-corruption
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) ICE tyranny is what democracy looks like
Source: Orange County Register
by Ben Bayer
“As ICE tactics continue to undermine due process rights, the New York Times editorial board and kindred others have reflected on the role ICE plays in a broader challenge the Trump administration poses to democracy. Trump’s immigration policies are dramatically unjust. But meaningful reflection on what’s wrong with them means recognizing an uncomfortable fact: they are not ‘undemocratic’ but all too much a product of democracy. It’s an uncomfortable fact that Donald Trump won the 2024 election, not just in the electoral college but by 2 million in the popular vote. And he did it by loudly campaigning for his immigration policy. He promised to carry out ‘the largest deportation effort in American history,’ and his running mate suggested starting with deporting 1 million people. Remorseful Trump voters have no excuse for thinking they voted for something else.” (02/16/26)
https://www.ocregister.com/2026/02/16/ice-tyranny-is-what-democracy-looks-like/
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22) The Constitution is not a bargaining chip for a budget negotiation
Source: The Watch
by Radley Balko
“The downside of the budget impasse is that it has made police state tactics a point of negotiation. In any other era, if a local police department were doing what ICE and Border Patrol have done in Chicago, Portland, and Minnesota, a state attorney general or federal government would have launched investigations, and the architects of the policy — Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Corey Lewandowski — would be sweating out questions at oversight hearings. Instead, we’re talking about these abuses in the context of a budget fight. And that risks giving the impression that basic constitutional rights and restraints on police and executive power that date back to the Founding are, actually, negotiable. I guess we’ll see over the next couple weeks if the Democrats believe they really are.” (02/16/26)
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-constitution-is-not-a-bargaining
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23) The “F” Word
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“If you asked me to call it as I see it, I’d say President Trump is fasc-ish, fascist lite, or ‘semi-fascist.’ And until recently, writer Jonathan Rauch (whom I’ve long admired) would have agreed with my assessment. But in his Atlantic piece, ‘Yes, it’s Fascism,’ Rauch pulls a Jason Stanley. That is, he comes up with his own laundry list of purportedly fascist indicators to prove that President Trump is, indeed, a fascist, which suggests Trump is uniquely evil in American history. … In setting out to prove that Trump is a fascist, Rauch proves that the President is just an odd species of progressive and that past progressive presidents were fascist, too. Progressivism, after all, is a form of fascism.” (02/16/26)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/the-f-word
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24) Media Freedom … if We Can Keep it!
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul
“Big media and big government are in bed together and they hate the fact that we can communicate with each other without their filters and influence. They long for the days when they could shovel down our throats just what they wanted us to hear and believe. While we may be winning this battle for free expression, we must not fool ourselves into thinking that we have won the war. We must remember just a few years ago during COVID that all it took to have your platform wiped off the face of the earth was to dare question the ‘wisdom’ of Anthony Fauci. Even today there are forces seeking to use the power of the state to silence opinions they disagree with.” (02/16/26)
http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/media-freedomif-we-can-keep-it
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25) “Kennedy’s Coup” signaled regime change doom loop for US
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
“A look back at Diem’s assassination, setting off the Vietnam War — who says Washington isn’t led by the same self-destructive characters throughout time?” (02/16/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/diem-coup-assasination-vietnam/
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26) We celebrate civil rights heroes only after they stop making us uncomfortable
Source: Sacramento Bee
“Every February, Black History Month invites Americans to honor the giants of the civil rights movement. We commemorate them in speeches and street names, reassuring ourselves that their struggles belong safely to the past. But history tells a less comforting story. We tend to celebrate Black moral courage only after it has been stripped of urgency — after its disruptions have been neutralized and its challenges to power rendered harmless. The figures we now hold up as national icons were once dismissed as dangerous or destabilizing by moderates and institutions that claimed to support equality while resisting its consequences. This pattern is not accidental. It is structural.” (02/16/26)
https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/us-viewpoints/article314715171.html
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27) Georgia’s January 6 disbarment opinion sets an example for Republicans nationwide
Source: The Hill
by Steven Lubet
“The avatars of MAGA-land often appear to operate with almost boundless impunity. President Trump was granted nearly total immunity by the U.S. Supreme Court. He pardoned more than 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters. His officials reflexively defend masked immigration enforcement officials gunning down Minnesota protesters, rather than suspending or at least investigating them. There have been few if any lasting consequences for crimes or malfeasance in Trump world. It was, therefore, truly heartening to see a group of Republicans acknowledge that law-breaking must be meaningfully penalized, even if committed under the MAGA banner. Last month, the nine justices of the Georgia Supreme Court — eight of whom were appointed by Republican governors — unanimously stated that nothing less than disbarment was called for in the case of William McCall Calhoun, Jr., an attorney who had participated in the ‘violent takeover of the Capitol’ on Jan. 6, 2021.” (02/16/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/5738027-calhoun-capitol-insurrection-disbarment/
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28) AOC tries strategic incomprehensibility
Source: Washington Post
by Jim Geraghty
“Lest anyone think I am taking the words of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) out of context, here is, verbatim, her answer to a question during an appearance at the Munich Security Conference last week. … Asked, ‘Would and should the U.S. actually commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan if China were to move?,’ Ocasio-Cortez replied: ‘You know, I think that this is such a, you know, I think that this is a, this is, of course, a very long-standing policy of the United States. And I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point, and we want to make sure that we are moving in all of our economic research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise.’ This was a yes-or-no question, and Ocasio-Cortez did not answer it.” (02/16/26)
https://archive.is/ENaj3
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29) The Venezuelan Pirouette
Source: Independent Institute
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
“For a subcontinent known for holding ‘honor’ and ‘dignity’ in (disproportionately) high esteem, as seen in everything from pop culture, including soap operas, to political discourse, the turn of events in Venezuela is fascinating. The speed and ease with which the regime’s top figures (interim president Delcy Rodriguez, minister of the Interior Diosdado Cabello, minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino and the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez) have become the incarnation of everything they once despised should put the last nail in the coffin of the myth that the Latin American revolutionary left stands, well, for honor and dignity.” (02/16/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/02/16/venezuelan-pirouette/
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30) Report: The FBI Bent Its Own Rules To Spy on 1,100 “Sensitive” Targets
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“If the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wants to scrutinize a person or organization, it must meet certain legal standards demonstrating evidence to support suspicion of criminal activity before opening an investigation. Well, sort of. It turns out that if the feds can’t meet the bar to justify an investigation, they can move ahead by calling their surveillance efforts ‘assessments.’ Then, they can use the assessments to justify full investigations — assuming FBI agents care to follow the rules to begin with, which is not always the case. That’s led to the feds snooping on roughly 1,100 religious figures, journalists, activists, and public officials in recent years.” (02/16/26)
https://reason.com/2026/02/16/the-fbi-bent-its-own-rules-to-spy-on-1100-sensitive-targets/
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31) John Fetterman, the Last Moderate Democrat
Source: Town Hall
by Jeff Crouere
“Decades ago, the Democratic Party had leaders like Presidents Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy who were proud of our country and our citizens. These leaders would have never embarked on a foreign ‘apology tour’ like Former President Barack Obama or allowed our country to be invaded by millions of illegal immigrants like Former President Joe Biden. In the 1980’s, a coalition of moderate congressional Democrats known as the ‘Blue Dogs’ assisted President Ronald Reagan to pass historic tax cuts, which unleashed tremendous economic growth and enabled our country to exorcise the ‘malaise’ that another Democrat President, Jimmy Carter, had infamously described. The ‘Blue Dogs’ were essential for the Reagan agenda to succeed. Additionally, then-House Speaker Tip O’Neill (D-MA) and Reagan were friends and enjoyed occasional evening cocktails together. This relationship helped Reagan and Republicans pass their legislation in a Democrat controlled Congress.” (02/16/26)
https://townhall.com/columnists/jeffcrouere/2026/02/16/john-fetterman-the-last-moderate-democrat-n2671349
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32) US Economic Growth Looks Slow — Until You Compare It to Europe’s
Source: The Daily Economy
by John Phelan
“Over the past decade, the United States has outperformed every other G7 nation. Key measures show why the US is not just getting bigger, but also growing richer.” (02/16/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/us-economic-growth-looks-slow-until-you-compare-it-to-europes/
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33) The GOP Has Become a Single-Issue Party. The Issue Is Elite Impunity.
Source: The New Republic
by Aaron Regunberg
“From protecting rapists to shielding Monsanto or helping Big Oil avoid climate change lawsuits, Republicans are showing their true agenda.” (02/16/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/206548/trump-epstein-oil-roundup
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34) Anti-Intellectualism and Violence, Take 2
Source: ProSocial Libertarians
by Andrew Jason Cohen
“I am sometimes inclined to believe that anti-intellectualism is new or, if not new, worse now than in the past. In my calmer moments, I don’t believe either claim. I think that what is different now is that we expect more people — perhaps everyone — to be literate and to keep up with national politics. That sounds like a great idea (to democratic theorists anyway) until you think about what people are usually like. Some people want to spend time considering political ethics and discussing the issues of the day or perennial issues. Some of those do so with deep concern and impartiality. Some do not. And, of course, some have no desire to do these things at all. … We can’t make everyone an intellectual. For many people, it would leave them unhappy.” (02/16/26)
https://prosociallibertarians.substack.com/p/anti-intellectualism-and-violence-89c
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35) Why Not Eliminate All Foreign Aid?
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Laurence M Vance
“The Trump administration’s turning off of the foreign aid spigot to some recipients of foreign aid should come as no surprise. Republicans have over the years called for foreign aid to be withheld from one country or another to punish them for doing something particularly egregious or to persuade them to follow a particular course of action. But Republicans have no philosophical opposition to foreign aid. Just like they have no philosophical objection to government grants to the arts unless it funds blasphemous or pornographic art, no philosophical objection to welfare as long as it has some work requirements, and no philosophical objection to antidiscrimination laws as long as they don’t include discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity. Republicans generally don’t even have any objection to government funding for Planned Parenthood as long as the funding is not used to provide abortions.” (02/16/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/why-not-eliminate-all-foreign-aid/
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36) Makers Are Building Back Against ICE
Source: Wired
by Boone Ashworth
“As the US government’s immigration crackdown expands across the country, anxious residents have mobilized to look out for each other. One way they’re doing that is by finding ways to build the tools they need to be resilient against the surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents empowered to kill with impunity. All over the country, makers are 3D-printing thousands of whistles to help people on the ground alert others to nearby ICE activity. But the whistles are far from the only tools being used to respond to the surge of federal agents. Protesters are DIY-ing a wide array of gadgets like camera mounts, mobile networking gear, and handheld eye washers to clear away pepper spray, tear gas, and irritants used to quell protests. Many of these efforts are coming from individual makers. Many of these projects are being made in hacker spaces.” (02/16/26)
https://archive.is/VI9t3
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37) Big Tech built a digital drug, and our kids are hooked
Source: Fox News
by Jillian Michaels
“In the 1990s, America watched tobacco executives raise their right hands before Congress and swear nicotine was not addictive. We now know they were lying through their teeth. Internal documents later proved cigarettes were chemically engineered to maximize dependency and deliberately marketed to children to create ‘replacement smokers’ for a dying customer base. Today, we are watching the same lie unfold in real time. Only now, the product is not Marlboro. It is the algorithm. A new class of titans – Meta, TikTok, Snap and Google – have built digital machines designed to addict our kids. The damage is not in their lungs. It is in the wiring of their developing brains. On Feb. 9, a landmark jury trial began in California Superior Court that could fundamentally reshape how social media is regulated.” (02/16/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jillian-michaels-big-tech-built-digital-drug-our-kids-hooked
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38) First Gaza, Then the World: The Global Danger of Israeli Exceptionalism
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ramzy Baroud
“While many nations occasionally resort to a ‘state of exception’ to deal with temporary crises, Israel exists in a permanent state of exception. This Israeli exceptionalism is the very essence of the instability that plagues the Middle East. The concept of the state of exception dates back to the Roman justitium, a legal mechanism for suspending law during times of civil unrest. However, the modern understanding was shaped by the German jurist Carl Schmitt, who famously wrote that the ‘sovereign is he who decides on the exception.’ While Schmitt’s own history as a jurist for the Third Reich serves as a chilling reminder of where such theories can lead, his work provides an undeniably accurate anatomy of raw power: it reveals how a ruler who institutes laws also holds the power to dismiss them, under the pretext that no constitution can foresee every possible crisis.” (02/16/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ramzy-baroud/2026/02/15/first-gaza-then-the-world-the-global-danger-of-israeli-exceptionalism
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39) Prison-Style Free Speech Censorship Is Coming for the Rest of Us
Source: The Intercept
by Jeremy Busby
“American prisons have never been much for the First Amendment, and now, the Trump administration is exporting prison-style censorship to the general population. In tactics that are easily recognizable to incarcerated people like me, they’re doing it in the name of ‘security.’ This includes claiming antiestablishment ideologies and literature must be punished because they pose nebulous risks to those with government-approved political views. It also includes the logical next step: criminalizing efforts to keep authorities from finding out that one holds those ideologies or reads that literature.” (02/16/26)
https://theintercept.com/2026/02/16/daniel-sanchez-estrada-prairieland-trial-zines/
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40) America’s Atomic Habits
Source: Law & Liberty
by Brian Pawlowski
“Thomas Jefferson enshrined our ideals in the Declaration of Independence with words every American recognizes: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ But he immediately followed that soaring statement with something just as important: ‘That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.’ Ideals alone were never meant to stand. They required durable forms capable of securing and sustaining them. Those forms were later prescribed in the Constitution.” (02/16/26)
https://lawliberty.org/americas-atomic-habits/
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41) No Plan for Mideast Peace Will Work, Without Recognizing Palestinians’ Full Humanity
Source: Common Dreams
by James Zogby
“When President Donald Trump convened his so-called Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland, a key item on the agenda was to endorse his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s extravagant (and, I might add, detached from reality) plan for a ‘New Gaza’. The rendering of Kushner’s scheme shows it to be more of a luxury resort for wealthy tourists than the foundation of a just future for the Palestinian victims of Israel’s genocide. But since the raison d’être of the Board of Peace was supposed to be dealing with the aftermath of Israel’s war on Gaza, the conversation, by necessity, had to address the needs of hundreds of thousands of now-homeless Palestinians. Thus, Kushner presented a proposal for a model Palestinian community (the ‘New Rafah’) he intends to build to house Palestinians in Gaza. The plans for this New Rafah have been circulated since the meeting.” (02/16/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/peace-palestinian-rights
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42) A Great Un-Finding
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“In 2009, President Obama and the EPA decided that the will‑o’-the-wisp of fine-tuning the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere fell under the agency’s purview. They introduced a not-so-thin wedge to pry open a vast new province of regulatory oppression. Obama had sought congressional legislation, but Congress had balked. So he proceeded without any new laws; or rather, as so often happens, told an agency to issue new laws. … Now things may change. Bigly. President Trump has ordered the EPA to un-find its 2009 ‘finding’ that it has blanket authority to regulate human emission of greenhouse gases. The change will be challenged in court. The Trump administration doubtless expects — perhaps even wants — the litigation.” (02/16/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/a-great-un/
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43) Washington Post, RIP
Source: The American Conservative
by Alan Pell Crawford
“No question, the Post has been a great newspaper, but, like other great newspapers, it has been hemorrhaging money for years, in part because it has been losing subscribers. It’s ironic that a lot of the people now bemoaning decisions made by the Post’s top brass are themselves no longer subscribing. After Bezos decided to pull the editorial board’s endorsement of Kamala Harris (ending a practice of endorsing presidential candidates, which it only began to do about the time [Bpb] Woodward was a Metro desk reporter), 250,000 high-minded subscribers bailed out. They did so no doubt unaware of how their decision might affect the paychecks of reporters about whom they are now expressing such heartfelt concern.” (02/16/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/washington-post-rip/
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44) The SAVE Act Presents Creates Paperwork Burdens for Some Voters
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye
“Several days ago, I wrote about some of the problems the SAVE Act. Specifically, I explained that the SAVE Act marks a radical shift for Republicans. When I was the vice president for legislative affairs at FreedomWorks, I attended meetings hosted by Republican leadership in 2019 in which they railed against House Democrats’ For the People Act. They complained that various aspects of the bill violated the core tenets of federalism and that others were unconstitutional. Although the SAVE Act isn’t as comprehensive as the For the People Act, it still encroaches on an area traditionally reserved for the states.” (02/15/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/the-save-act-presents-creates-paperwork
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45) Marco Rubio delivers tough love to Europe, and overgrown teenage brats know “Dad” is right
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine
“An American statesman was born on a German stage over the weekend. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s impressive performance at the Munich Security Conference gives us an alluring glimpse of the president he could be one day. Rubio drew a standing ovation from the assembled European heads of state, intelligence chiefs, and military leaders for a speech that was no less forceful or frank than VP JD Vance’s address that jarred the same forum last year, but was delivered with a mellifluous voice and calm humility that disarmed even the most arch Euro-socialist. Rubio was warm and reassuring rather than sneering and contemptuous. But that was no accident. He was playing ‘good cop’ to Vance’s ‘bad cop’, a strategy that paid off with the collective ‘sigh of relief’ that conference chairman Wolfgang Ischinger expressed afterward, as he motioned to the audience to sit and praised Rubio’s ‘message of reassurance’.” (02/15/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/02/15/opinion/marco-rubio-delivers-tough-love-to-europe-and-the-overgrown-teenage-brats-know-dad-is-right/
-----
46) It’s the Epstein Files, Stupid: Using Empire to Distract from Vice
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“After months of empty promises to the toxic online manosphere largely responsible for the Donald’s post-January 6 rehabilitation, the fact finally became inescapable even for the most heavily deluded of MAGAloids that their hero was indeed the dog who didn’t bark and he wasn’t about to release the Epstein Files that prove it. Trump, misdiagnosing this flip flop as just another in a long line of broken campaign promises, essentially told his personality cult to chill the fuck out and get over it. This is when Trump’s approval ratings cratered and the people he had storm the Capitol began to call for his combover. And then Donald Trump began bombing dinghies in the Caribbean before pounding his chest over the footage of these war crimes on live television while barking ‘I am not a pedophile!'” (02/16/26)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/02/its-epstein-files-stupid-using-empire.html
-----
47) Suing the federal government is ridiculously hard. It shouldn’t be that way.
Source: Orange County Register
by Agustina Vergara Cid
“Looking at the history of the U.S. founding and how this country originated by defying overbearing authority, one would think that suing the government for rights violations would be rather straightforward. It is not. Instead, it’s a Kafkaesque nightmare that often leaves Americans unprotected and with untold damage left unrepaired in the face of government force. As the Trump administration continues with its mass deportations (a program that has swept up U.S. citizens as well), Americans are made to confront the harsh reality of our legal system: Suing the government is incredibly hard, and government actors wielding force inappropriately against individuals often go unpunished. This shouldn’t happen in America of all places.” (02/15/26)
https://www.ocregister.com/2026/02/15/suing-the-federal-government-is-ridiculously-hard-it-shouldnt-be-that-way/
-----
48) Trump’s tariff tantrums show he’s losing his grip on the GOP
Source: USA Today
by Chris Brennan
“Donald Trump’s second term as president is mired by two different anxieties, and he has put them on a collision course. Trump openly fears the Republican Party losing control of the U.S. House in November’s midterm elections, and now his free-falling approval ratings could also put control of the U.S. Senate in play as well. Democratic control means serious oversight for a president who seriously needs oversight. Impeachment could be on the table, too. But Trump also shows great concern about losing control of the Republican Party in Congress. He tosses telling tantrums whenever Republicans in either chamber dare to act like a coequal branch of government rather than subservient sycophants, like his party’s leaders in the House and Senate.” (02/15/26)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/02/15/republicans-trump-tariffs-canada-house-midterms/88646045007/
-----
49) Real Talk About Lobbyists Buying the Justice Department
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“I released a story last Thursday about MAGA lobbyists pushing the Justice Department to settle its monopolization case against Ticketmaster. By the middle of that day, Gail Slater, who was the head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, resigned, and it was clear that her choice was either to resign or be fired. A lot of reporting about this situation dropped almost immediately after the resignation (CBS, The Guardian, The Free Press, the Financial Times) regarding tensions between Slater and Attorney General Pam Bondi, internal insubordination, whether Vice President JD Vance would act as a shield for his former staffer Slater, what this means for the populist right, and more. As you might expect, I’m not wired into the inner workings of the Trump White House enough to generate one of these palace intrigue articles. But I don’t think they have as much value as the basic facts.” (02/16/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/02/16/justice-department-lobbyists-gail-slater-pam-bondi/
-----
50) Reputation is Everything
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kimberlee Josephson
“Spring school picture day arrives with predictable rituals — the combing of hair, the practicing of smiles, and the filling out of order forms that get crumpled up in backpacks. This year, it brings something else: scrutiny. America’s largest school photography company, Lifetouch, has landed in the headlines this month after newly surfaced Epstein-related ownership-chain disclosures triggered parental anger. The facts remain contested, but the reaction is revealing. For many families, the controversy isn’t just about one vendor. It’s about the uneasy feeling that they never had a choice to begin with. Regardless of order form submission, pictures are typically taken anyway.” (02/15/26)
https://fee.org/articles/reputation-is-everything/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) The Political Orphanage, 02/16/26
Source: The Political Orphanage
“How to Build a Commune: Samwise Rodriguez.” (02/16/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/how-to-build-a-commune-samwise-rodriguez
-----
52) Bulwark Takes, 02/16/26
Source: The Bulwark
"Is George W. Bush a Coward -- Or Just Wrong?" (02/16/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmneE9UIavk
-----
53) Ron Paul Liberty Report, 02/16/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Last Chance To Avoid War With Iran?” (02/16/26)
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1YqxolldANlKv
-----
54) Mean Age Daydream, 02/16/26
Source: Lions of Liberty
“‘Bigger Than Watergate’ Epstein Scandal.” (02/16/26)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/madd-bigger-than-watergate-epstein-scandal
-----
55) The Evil Within, Part 2
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The National-Security State.” (02/16/26)
https://www.fff.org/freedom-in-motion/video/the-evil-within-part-2-the-national-security-state/
-----
56) Gracearchy with Jim Babka, episode 154
Source: Gracearchy with Jim Babka
“Five Things We Can Learn From The Epstein Files.” (02/16/26)
https://rumble.com/v75j2w8-154-five-things-we-can-learn-from-the-epstein-files-gracearchy-with-jim-bab.html
-----
57) EconTalk, 02/16/26
Source: EconTalk
“Seiko, Swatch, and the Swiss Watch Industry (with Aled Maclean-Jones).” (02/16/26)
https://www.econtalk.org/seiko-swatch-and-the-swiss-watch-industry-with-aled-maclean-jones/
-----
58) TechTank, season 5, episode 37
Source: Brookings Institution
“What to expect from the India AI Impact Summit.” (02/16/26)
https://shows.acast.com/tech-tank/episodes/what-to-expect-from-the-india-ai-impact-summit
-----
59) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 02/16/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Preparing for Sustained War on Iran, US Bombs Syria, Somalia, Boat in Caribbean, and More.” (02/16/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7489kzhfXR4
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60) Fountainhead Forum, episode 425
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Alec Egizi on working family-court and juvenile-court cases.” (02/15/26)
https://rumble.com/v75ryss-ff-425-alec-egizi-on-working-family-court-and-juvenile-court-cases.html
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