Former Prince Andrew Arrested in Epstein Case
Thursday, February 19, 2026
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Public Occurrences February 18, 2026
Thomas L. Friedman:
Netanyahu plays Trump and American Jews for fools — again
Let’s stop beating around the bush: Israel’s far-right government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is spitting in America’s face and telling us it’s raining. It’s not raining. Netanyahu is playing President Donald Trump and American Jews for fools. And if the U.S. lets him get away with it, we are fools.
While keeping Trump focused on the Iranian missile and nuclear threat — which, though reduced, is still very real and will have to be dealt with diplomatically or militarily — Netanyahu is fundamentally threatening broader U.S. interests in the Middle East, not to mention the security of Jews all over the world. In what way? I cannot put it any more succinctly than Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, did.
“A violent and criminal effort is underway to ethnically cleanse territories in the West Bank,” he wrote in an essay in Haaretz this month. “Gangs of armed settlers persecute, harm, wound and even kill Palestinians living there. The rampages include burning olive groves, houses and cars; breaking into homes; and physically assaulting people.” He continued, “The rioters, the Jewish terrorists, storm Palestinians with hate and violence with one objective: to force them to flee from their homes. All this is done in the hopes that the land will then be prepared for Jewish settlement, en route to realizing the dream of annexing all the territories.”
Israel’s accelerating attempts toward annexation of the West Bank and to permanently remain in the Gaza Strip — and deny Palestinians political rights in both areas — are as morally reckless and demographically insane as would be the U.S. annexing Mexico.
If it were just Israelis who were going to be hurt by the crazy fantasy that some 7 million Israeli Jews can control about 7 million Palestinian Arabs in perpetuity, I might be tempted to say that if Israel’s leaders want to commit national suicide, I can’t stop them.
But the effects will not be confined to Israel. I believe that this messianically driven endeavor will make today’s Israel permanently indistinguishable from apartheid South Africa and will have seriously detrimental implications for U.S. interests and the interests and security of Jews all over the world.
If Netanyahu’s government stays on this course, it will rip apart Jewish institutions everywhere as members of the Jewish diaspora are forced to decide whether to stand with or against an apartheidlike Israel. It will also accelerate the trend begun by Israel’s devastation of Gaza wherein growing numbers of young Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. are turning against Israel and, at the fringes, against Jews in general.
A poll by the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project, conducted by YouGov in November, found that 51% of Republican voters younger than 45 said they preferred to support a candidate in the 2028 presidential primary who favored reducing taxpayer-funded weapon transfers to Israel. Only 27% favored a candidate who would increase or maintain weapon supplies. Democratic candidates today who do not describe Israel’s war in Gaza as a genocide face real headwinds with young progressive voters.
At the Munich Security Conference last week, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was asked if she thought “the Democratic presidential candidate in the 2028 elections should reevaluate military aid to Israel.” She answered, “I think that, personally, the idea of completely unconditional aid, no matter what one does, does not make sense. I think it enabled a genocide in Gaza.”
As I said when I began, Netanyahu has played Trump for a sucker, as well as the pro-Israel lobby led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and many other so-called American Jewish leaders. He has gotten them to focus on Iran and ignore the fact that everything he is doing in Gaza, in the West Bank and inside Israel will strain ties between the U.S. and its major Middle East allies, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Qatar.
Yes, Iran remains a reduced but very real nuclear threat after Israeli and U.S. airstrikes hit its nuclear enrichment and ballistic missile facilities in June. It has already largely rebuilt its stock of ballistic missiles that could do real physical damage to Israel if war resumes. I take that very seriously.
But focusing exclusively on the external threat from Iran ignores the internal threat Netanyahu’s government poses to Israel and its standing as a rule-of-law democracy and unified society. Netanyahu has been engaged in a three-year effort, even during the war in Gaza, to carry out a judicial coup that would all but eliminate the separation of powers in Israel — one that enables its Supreme Court to check the excesses of the governing political party. Is Iran responsible for that? No.
Has Iran been engaged in a relentless effort to purge or disempower Israel’s courageous, independent attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara? No, but Netanyhu has. That attorney general, backed by the Supreme Court, is the only thing standing in the way of further assaults on a rules-based government: the dismissal of Netanyahu’s corruption trial but also Netanyhus’s efforts to politicize civil service appointments and a wholesale exemption from military service for the ultra-Orthodox Jews who keep him in power.
Has Iran blocked establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into the incredible intelligence and leadership failure before Hamas’ murderous Oct. 7, 2023, invasion? No, but Netanyhu has. That invasion not only happened on Netanyahu’s watch but was clearly caused in part by his efforts to prove to the world that Israel could have peace with the Arab states without making peace with the Palestinians.
Hamas grew in strength thanks to Netanyahu’s long efforts to prop up Hamas with Qatari money so the Palestinian leadership would always be divided between Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. That way, Netanyahu could tell every U.S. president that he was so sorry that he had no unified Palestinian peace partner to negotiate with.
Did Iran nominate Netanyahu cronies with inexperienced backgrounds to run Israel’s most important security organizations — the Shin Bet and Mossad? No, Netanyahu did.
What prompted Trump to publicly demand that the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, pardon Netanyahu — even before a verdict — for the corruption charges he has been indicted on? It would be a terrible blow to the rule of law in Israel. It certainly was not Iran.
And here is what is truly crazy. Israel today has never been more militarily feared and technologically admired by its Arab neighbors, because of the blows that it dealt Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. If Netanyahu engaged in negotiations for a two-state solution with the Palestinian Authority — on any reasonable terms — it would pave the way for peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
The whole neighborhood, and the whole Muslim world beyond it, would open up to Israel; Iran would be totally isolated. Israeli technology and Arab energy would create an amazing synergy for the age of artificial intelligence.
That would be a huge boon to U.S. interests. While some complications would surely persist, the Middle East would essentially be making peace under a U.S. umbrella. And the reduction in tensions between Israel and the Arab world would allow the Trump administration to do what the past several U.S. administrations have craved doing: reduce its military presence in the region and shift its focus to counterbalancing China in Asia. Unfortunately, Netanyahu has other priorities.
The annexationist ambitions of the Netanyahu Cabinet directly clash with Trump’s 20-point plan, which imagines a two-state solution one day. The Board of Peace, which Trump created to oversee that plan, is holding its inaugural meeting in Washington on Thursday, but Netanyahu is skipping it.
Netanyahu'ss Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Tuesday that after elections this fall, he would in his next term be “encouraging the migration” of Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, all of America’s key Arab allies and Turkey, which are central to Trump’s Gaza ceasefire deal, got together on a statement strongly condemning Israel’s decision to designate land in the occupied West Bank as Israeli state land.
When Israel is engaged in de facto annexation, with what human rights groups describe as ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank, it is turning itself into a major contributor to permanent conflict in the region. None of that is in America’s interest, but it is greatly appreciated by Iran.
Iran’s Islamo-fascist rulers pose a very real threat to Israel. They lead a terrible regime whose downfall would be a blessing to its people and the region. But please — please — spare me the nonsense that Iran is the only threat to Israel today.
Iran is not the greatest threat to Israel as a democracy governed by the rule of law. It is not the greatest threat to U.S.-Israeli relations. It is not the greatest threat to the unity and security of Jews around the world. It is not the reason so many talented Israeli technologists, engineers and doctors are moving away. And it is not the biggest reason Israel is becoming an apartheid state not only by refusing to try anymore to create a separate Palestinian state but also by working instead to make that impossible.
That title goes to the government of messianic zealots, Arab-hating nationalists and anti-modern ultra-Orthodox Israelis put together by Netanyahu to keep himself in power.
10:50 PM:
Things are getting BAD!
7:26 PM
Trump meets with top Iran advisers as war threat grows
Why it matters: The Trump administration is closer to a major war in the Middle East than most Americans realize.
...
Both Axios
Nine People Killed in Lake Tahoe Avalanche
Truth in Advertising
I clicked on an Arsenal (drew at Wolves) podcast or something, I don't know what it is, "That's Football", and before the vid started there was an ad threatening immigrants from..."Christine Gnome".
Gnome, Wikipedia: "typically depicted as small humanoids who live underground."
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Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Hem's Way
Why was he so negative? Why does no one ever live happily ever after in his books? Some people really do live happy lives of noodle salad. Why were there never any winners? There are winners in life, yet one of his own collection of short stories he titled...Winner Take Nothing. God damn the pusher, Hem, lighten the fuck up whydontja.
Why did he seek out danger and pain and death, tragedy and unhappiness? Was his life in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of a physician, so maddeningly, stultifyingly boring that he had to volunteer in wars and revel in bull fights where--guaranteed!--an animal is going to get tortured and be killed or his torturer is going to be gored?
By all accounts, he had friends who liked him, children who adored him, wives who loved him, people who were not just celebrity "pilot fish", real friends, real women who loved him and whom he loved. Agnes von Kurowsky. In Farewell to Arms she is Catherine Barkley. Agnes did not die in childbirth along with her and Hemingway's son. She wrote Hemingway a Dear John letter--ooh, that is tough. She was his first love and he was much the younger. Yes, crushing. But both Agnes and Ernest moved on. People do that too you know. Agnes married twice, Ernest fo' times. People never move on from loss and tragedy in Hemingway's semi-non-fiction fiction.
Why do you have to "bleed" to write really well?
He was a total success in writing--won the fucking Nobel Prize!
What is there in Ernest Hemingway's life to be unhappy about? Okay, his father blew his brains out, BIG DEAL. Seriously, Hemingway moved on from that...until he didn't. Let me put it differently: Hemingway had fun, he was funny, he was movie star handsome, he was loved, he was an artistic and financial Winner by writing of soo much pain. I don't understand why he deliberately chose that path.
Winners and Losers, I love Ernest Hemingway's books. Can't get enough of them. Hemingway is the best writer I have ever read. His sentences are as pure and precise--and as cold as a snowflake. His books, I can't choose one there are so many brilliant ones, are second only to Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past as the greatest I have ever read. I also think I would have liked Hemingway personally, if I had known him. But why did he write so brutally? I don't know.
Fat Cuban Horse on Tanking
Mark Cuban almost always has a different take on issues, any issue. Thoughtful and ingenious, he should be taken seriously on this.
Mark Cuban
@mcuban
Why the NBA should embrace tanking -
The NBA has kate [I have no fucking idea what "kate" means here.] been misguided thinking that fans want to see their teams compete every night with a chance to win. It’s never been that way that way.
When I got into the nba, they thought they were in the basketball business. They aren’t. They are in the business of creating experiences for fans.
Few can remember the score from the last game they saw or went to. They can’t remember the dunks or shots. What they remember is who they were with. Their family, friends, a date. That’s what makes the experience special.
Fans know their team can’t win every game. They know only one team can win a ring. What fan that care about their team’s record want is hope. Hope they will get better and have a chance to compete for the playoffs and then maybe a ring.
To me, that is the best point of his tweet and it is telescopic. To bring "hope" into the foreground, what fans want when they pay money to go to a game is reason-based hope that their team will win the fucking game. You can have a special experience with someone for a lot less money. Hope for the future, near-term and long-term, is important in the midground and background. Fans need all three dimensions of "hope" as any Miami "Heat" fan can tell you. "Heat" fans get the single-game experience, they're team always has a reasonable chance to win a game. It is the two hopes out of the foreground that some "Heat" fans, I and a growing number, have given up on. It's (currently) 44-38 every year.
The one way to get closer to that is via the draft. And trades. And cap room. You have a better chance of improving via all 3 , when you tank.
We didn’t tank often. Only a few times over 23 years, but when we did, our fans appreciated it. And it got us to where we could improve, trade up to get Luka and improve our team.
The nba should worry more about fan experience than tanking. It should worry more about pricing fans out of games than tanking.
You know who cares the least about tanking , a parent who cant afford to bring their 3 kids to a game and buy their kids a jersey of their fave player
Tanking isn’t the issue. Affordability and quality of game presentation are
10:04 AM · Feb 17, 2026
·1.4M Views
Monday, February 16, 2026
Google query, Google AI answer: ""what would be the effect of a prc seizure of TSMC?"
A PRC seizure of TSMC would be "absolutely devastating" to the global economy, likely triggering a depression and massive tech supply chain collapse. As the source of 92% of the world's leading-edge chips, TSMC's capture would paralyze global tech, halt manufacturing...
Global Economic and Technological Impacts:
Tech Sector Shutdown: Global technology production could come to a standstill, as the majority of advanced chips used in AI, smartphones, and defense come from TSMC.
Economic Depression: The disruption would likely cause a global economic crisis exceeding the 2008 recession and COVID-19.
Supply Chain Halt: The world would lose access to advanced semiconductors for 15-20 years.
A PRC seizure of TSMC would be catastrophically disruptive to the global economy, as TSMC produces over 90% of the world's most advanced chips. It would halt global technology production, cost trillions in revenue, break critical supply chain
Potential Global Impact
A PRC seizure of TSMC would likely trigger a global economic depression. Since TSMC produces over 90% of the world's most advanced chips, a disruption would cause massive supply chain failures for everything from smartphones and AI to military hardware.
Query: biden policy prc invasion taiwan, meaning of "unprecedented attack"
During his presidency, Joe Biden repeatedly stated that the U.S. would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion. These remarks were consistently qualified by the White House as not representing a change in the official U.S. policy of "strategic ambiguity".
Meaning of "Unprecedented Attack"
The phrase "unprecedented attack" was used by Biden during a September 2022 CBS "60 Minutes" interview to define the condition under which U.S. forces would defend the island. While the administration did not provide an official technical definition, analysts and context suggest several meanings:
A Full-Scale Invasion: When asked to clarify if "unprecedented attack" meant U.S. men and women would defend Taiwan in the event of a "Chinese invasion," Biden responded, "Yes".
Departure from Historical Norms: An attack that goes beyond past skirmishes or "gray zone" tactics, such as the 1950s Taiwan Strait Crises or recent military drills and drone incursions.
Direct Military Confrontation: It specifically implies an overt, large-scale military operation by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) rather than diplomatic or economic coercion.
Summary of Biden-Era Taiwan Policy
Strategic Ambiguity: While Biden's personal rhetoric leaned toward "strategic clarity" (openly stating the U.S. would fight), the official stance remained ambiguous to deter both a Chinese invasion and a Taiwanese declaration of independence.
One China Policy: The administration maintained the U.S. One China Policy, which recognizes Beijing as the legal government of China but allows for unofficial relations and arms sales to Taiwan.
Defense Capabilities: Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. continued to provide Taiwan with defensive weaponry to maintain a "porcupine" strategy, making the island too costly to attack.
Query: if prc seizes TSMC what should u.s. do?
If the People's Republic of China (PRC) were to seize TSMC, the U.S. response would likely involve a combination of immediate economic statecraft, military deterrence, and long-term industrial shifts. Because the U.S. maintains a policy of strategic ambiguity, there is no single pre-set script, but experts and officials have identified several key levers of response:
1. Immediate Economic and Technical Sanctions
Cutting Off the Ecosystem: TSMC cannot function as a "standalone" entity. It relies on a global ecosystem of U.S. chip design software (EDA), Japanese chemicals, and Dutch lithography machines (ASML). The U.S. would likely lead a global embargo to halt these critical upstream inputs, rendering the seized fabs inoperable for advanced production within a few years.
Invalidating Coerced Sales: U.S. authorities could invalidate any forced transfers of TSMC shares to PRC-linked entities. U.S. investors hold a significant portion of TSMC's equity (over 60% of ADRs), and the SEC could freeze these assets to prevent Beijing from gaining financial control.
2. Technological Denial (The "Poison Pill")
Remote Disabling: Both ASML and TSMC reportedly have the capability to remotely disable the most advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines if they are seized by force.
The "Broken Nest" Policy: Some U.S. and Taiwanese strategists have proposed a "poison pill" or "broken nest" strategy—the intentional destruction of TSMC's facilities to ensure they do not become a "silicon windfall" for the PRC. While controversial, this remains a discussed deterrent.
3. Military and Diplomatic Responses
Deterrence and Defense: Under the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), the U.S. is committed to maintaining the capacity to resist force that jeopardizes Taiwan’s security. A seizure could trigger a U.S. military intervention to break a blockade or respond to an invasion, though this carries the risk of direct conflict with a nuclear-armed power.
Global Coalition: The U.S. would likely rally allies like Japan, South Korea, and the Netherlands to implement a unified front of sanctions and diplomatic isolation against the PRC.
4. Long-Term Strategic Shifts
Accelerated Reshoring: The U.S. is already working to reduce reliance on Taiwan through the CHIPS and Science Act, which provides billions in subsidies to build domestic manufacturing.
TSMC Expansion in the U.S.: TSMC is significantly expanding its footprint in Arizona, with a fourth plant recently announced. In a seizure scenario, the U.S. would likely prioritize the rapid completion of these facilities and potentially evacuate key Taiwanese engineering talent to staff them.
Potential Global Impact
A PRC seizure of TSMC would likely trigger a global economic depression. Since TSMC produces over 90% of the world's most advanced chips, a disruption would cause massive supply chain failures for everything from smartphones and AI to military hardware.
###
My take from this is that the Biden "strategic clarity" response, full-scale commitment of U.S. troops in defense of Taiwan is the only answer. The bullshit alternatives rely on "deterrence" when the question assumes that deterrence has failed.
Sunday, February 15, 2026
AIPAC: Israel First, the Dual Loyalty "Libel" Admitted, Unapologetically*
*Update
The American regime's top diplomat, Little Marco Rubio, in Bratislava, Slovakia today:
"We don't want Europe to be dependent on us, we're not asking Europe to be a vassal of the United States." We already have a vassal of the United States, Israel.
- Feb 14, 2026, 11:33 pm:
- Endorsements of 2020 Election Objectors: In the 2022 midterm cycle, AIPAC's political action committee endorsed and funded over 100 Republican members of Congress who voted against the certification of the 2020 election results. [Google search query "aipac gave money to 2020 election deniers"]
The who attempted to thwart American democracy and endorsed for reelection by AIPAC include two active participants, Jim Jordan and Scott Perry.
...
There are many important issues on which Americans disagree – but Israel should not be one of them.
I would say "There are many important issues on which Americans disagree--but arithmetic should not be one of them". AIPAC is backing those who flunked and passed arithmetic equally--as long as they can give Israel nine figures every year.
...
...We have friends from from every state and every region. ...We have friends in Congress who are
skeptical of foreign aid for any nation – except for Israel. We have friends who are pro-choice and pro-life... those who are liberal on immigration and those who want to tighten our borders, and yes, those who disagree strongly on issues surrounding the 2020 presidential election.
These disagreements are not minor. They are, in many respects, critical to the future of America. But [But you don't care. Your concern is that...] they do not determine the fate of America’s enduring commitment to the State of Israel.
...
This is no moment for the pro-Israel movement to become selective about its friends. ...
And you have not! And that's admirable of you, a little chin-leading in a bout with George Foreman but you seem confident that you can absorb the sledgehammer blows.
The one thing that guarantees Israel’s ability to defend itself is the enduring support of the United States.
Thank you for confirming Israel's vassal status to the U.S., unapologetically.
When we launched our political action committee last year, we decided that we would base decisions about political contributions on only one thing: whether a political candidate supports the U.S.-Israel relationship. Not on any other issue – just this one.
Can't make that much clearer! God, you have cleared away so much antisemitic smoke that I can see so clearly your Israel First dual loyalty.
...Israel needs America in its corner, always. ...
Yes, because Izvassal could not survive on its own. She's too weak and too comfortable having Big Bad America fight her fights for her. Wise!
Our job today, as it has always been, is to bring more people to Israel’s side...We can never let the things that divide Americans politically determine whether the United States will support Israel.
Of course you couldn't. Let American Democracy survive or not, but your First country, and its survival with unequivocal American support whether America is Democratic or authoritarian is the KEY!...You sure about that Aipie?
We must be willing to stand with those who stand with Israel.
Could you at least, as good faith in truth in labeling, call yourselves the Israel American Political Action Committee and register as an agent of a foreign government? No. They actually play a shell game with the names of their PACs to avoid being caught.]
Of course, all members of the pro-Israel community are free to set their own individual political priorities, and support candidates who meet their other political tests. That’s not only acceptable, it’s the nature of a healthy democracy.
But our organization and our PAC will not make those judgments or do that work.
Regardless if it weakens and threatens Democracy in America: not our job!
We will pool our energy, resources and support behind candidates on one single issue, regardless of any other priority. That’s why we exist, and that’s why we are successful.
Wail, Aipie, that successful biz has hit a bumpy patch, ain't it?
...
Our job is to make America’s friendship with Israel so robust, so certain, so broadly based, and so dependable that even the deep divisions of American politics never imperil that relationship and the ability of the Jewish state to defend itself.
How's that going?
Betsy Berns Korn
AIPAC President
Howard Kohr
AIPAC Chief Executive Officer
]Thank you Ko-Ko for clarifying where the Israeli Jews in America who are members of your anti-American group really stand. How's the future look for Israeli Jews like you in America? You confident, secure, safe? You sure?
###
A few years ago, a major controversy was stirred when Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, at an appearance in Washington, said “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country” a statement which was taken as evidence of Omar’s supposed antisemitism. Yet AIPAC itself is openly saying that its sole concern is what it sees as best for “the U.S.-Israel relationship”... https://www.972mag.com/aipac-republicans-capitol-riot-israel/
That's all accurate, isn't it Ko-Ko?
...
...in 2011, the Center for American Progress (CAP), a centrist think tank closely associated with the Democratic Party, was the target of a campaign aimed at its news blog, ThinkProgress. The charge was led by Josh Block, a former AIPAC spokesman, who would later go on to head the right-wing group, The Israel Project.
Further back in 2011, the Center for American Progress (CAP), a centrist think tank closely associated with the Democratic Party, was the target of a campaign aimed at its news blog, ThinkProgress. The charge was led by Josh Block, a former AIPAC spokesman, who would later go on to head the right-wing group, The Israel Project.
In defending his attacks on ThinkProgress, Block wrote to a reporter, “Those who accuse pro-Israel advocates and American Jews of having “dual loyalties” and being “Israel Firsters” are engaged in anti-Semetic (sic) hate speech. Period. These are age-old canards and anti-Semetic (sic) smears that go back centuries, suggesting that Jews are disloyal, alien and cannot be trusted. This kind of rhetoric has no place in civil dialogue and anyone’s politics, but especially among progressives.” In Block’s telling, no substantive proof is required to back allegations of placing Israeli interests ahead of American ones:
Well by jiggered Jo-Blo, Ko-Ko CONFIRMED the "smear" 11 years later!
The tactic was effective. Not long after the campaign against ThinkProgress was launched, most of the targeted writers left CAP. As one of them, Ali Gharib, put it later, “CAP’s positions moving forward from the attacks — including but not limited to virtually banishing criticisms of Israel and Netanyahu from our writings and, in at least one case, needlessly censoring a piece after publication — were guided by how to return to AIPAC’s good graces, often in coordination with AIPAC itself.”
I detect that Israeli American Jews are not reading from the same page of the Torah. I detect their heads are lodged somewhere in their nether regions where the air is spare and malodorous. But so far since 2024, I want to encourage all the Jo-Blos and Ko-Kos to keep on keeping on. You're learning us goyem and it is very inn-teresting, to quote Bugs Bunny.
Public Occurrences February 25, 2026
"I come from a country that ranks second in the freedom of speech index, and for me to hear lectures about free speech from a country that ranks 58th in that same index is… interesting."
European Union top diplomat and former Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas, responding to U.S. regime false claims that the EU has to improve press freedom.
European Union top diplomat and former Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas, responding to U.S. regime false claims that the EU has to improve press freedom.
Saturday, February 14, 2026
Public Occurrences February 14, 2026
Russia Murdered Alexei Navalny with Poison from Dart Frog
The foreign ministries of the U.K., France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands said analysis in European labs of samples taken from Navalny’s body “conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine.” The neurotoxin secreted by dart frogs in South America is not found naturally in Russia, they said.
A joint statement said: “Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison.”
The five countries said they were reporting Russia to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention. There was no immediate comment from the organization.
For All the World to See, This is Who the American People Are
And on...
[Trump's racist Obama meme is] something which had, for many years, been confined to the dustbin of history, while still very much a part of the vocabulary of white supremacists.
But something has changed.
Maybe it's social media, maybe it's something else, but something has changed. We are in a new reality where, for more than 12 hours, Trump's White House thought this was OK.
sky.com (UK)
Trump: "I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine. Nobody knew that that was at the end."
Trump said he looks at "thousands of things" when he spoke to reporters on Air Force One en route to Palm Beach.
Friday, February 13, 2026
Public Occurrences February 13, 2025
A Pilot Fired Over Kristi Noem’s Missing Blanket and the Constant Chaos Inside DHS
Thursday, February 12, 2026
Insulting Trumpists in the language of Trump
Mama Mia, Southern Dago Pamel Jo Bimbobondi on the rag spewing blood from all of her orifices! Calls Rep. Jamie Raskin "washed up loser-lawyer". Some Angry Ladies Fight On PMS! Be quiet, piggie.
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
FT High Seas 111 High Cs 123
High Ceilings enter the all-star break with a low ceiling, 29-27, .518-->4240.
Queens Rule! FT 110-107 Pigeons
Shout out and blushes to Sensitive City. Their ignore-November-and-December strategy has paid off. They blew out the Tanking Lizards 138-113 tonight in the Pawn Shop. They have won 10 of 11 now that the games "just mean more", traded for James Harden at the deadline and have home court advantage in the Least as the fourth seed. 👏Well done.
USMLE Today
We worked 4 hour straight today, no breaks, on the most miserable subject to me, endocrine. I thought I was rid of that for good but, because of a tutor's advice, we left some questions deliberately undone and had to go back to finish. It had been like six months so, of course, our results suck, but Dr. Ana studied her asphalt off. I about nodded off. Fortunately, Ana was a rigorous scholar today and really learned. I was extremely impressed and told her so. There are no bad days when you learn.
A spy?
Aren't spies supposed to be secretive? This was out in the open, flagrantly, flamboyantly public. Parties! Crime parties!
What intel did Epstein, rumored Mossad spy, give to Israel?
Kompromat? Are there recordings of secret trysts? If it was kompromat, what did Epstein get? A jail cell and cremation. If Epstein was a Mossad spy and former Israeli PM Ehud Barak trained him, did Barak go to Epstein's HOUSE in New York 30 times to give spook-refresher courses? Aren't they supposed to meet in a safe house and pass messages in pumpkins? Was this a clever Mossad ploy, an Inspector-Clouseau-hiding-in-plain-sight house all but illuminated SPY HOUSE! in neon?
The spy angle does not make any sense to me.
Et tu, Ehud?
Why did former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak meet with Jeffrey Epstein 30 times in four years--after Epstein had been convicted in the Florida case?
The motives of Epstein on the one hand and the other men who he let in on his crimes is opaque. But the Israeli Connection stands out in bold.
Public Occurrences February 11, 2026
Hiring increased sharply at outset of 2026,
blowing past economists' expectations
blowing past economists' expectations
Wednesday's jobs report provided a key barometer of the U.S. economy.
...besting sluggish performance from the previous year.
The U.S. added 130,000 jobs in January, according to the report, which marked a sharp increase from 50,000 jobs added in the previous month.
The unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in January from 4.4% in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said. Unemployment remains low by historical standards.
Google AI on my questions
Search query: "was epstein a mossad agent":
Based on documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI files in early 2026, allegations that Jeffrey Epstein worked for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad have gained significant attention, though they remain unverified claims rather than proven facts.
Here is a breakdown of the evidence and claims:
FBI Files and Informant Reports: A 2020 FBI report from the Los Angeles field office included in the Epstein files cites a confidential informant who became "convinced that Epstein was a co-opted Mossad agent". The source alleged Epstein was "trained as a spy" and that his connections to U.S. and allied intelligence operations were facilitated through his lawyer, Alan Dershowitz.
Links to Ehud Barak: The documents detail a long-running, close relationship between Epstein and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who visited Epstein's New York townhouse over 30 times between 2013 and 2017. The informant suggested Epstein was trained under Barak.
Brokerage Activities: Reports indicate Epstein played a role in brokering deals for Israeli intelligence, including security agreements between Israel and other nations (such as Mongolia and Côte d'Ivoire) and establishing a backchannel to the Kremlin during the Syrian civil war.
Ghislaine Maxwell Connection: Speculation often points to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's close associate, whose father, Robert Maxwell, was widely suspected of having ties to Mossad.
Denials and Counterarguments: Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has called the accusations "categorically and totally false". Benjamin Netanyahu also dismissed the claims, arguing that Epstein's relationship with his political opponent, Ehud Barak, actually disproves the notion that Epstein worked for the Israeli state.
[There is no "counterargument" there, just denial.]
Lack of Direct Proof: While the FBI documents detail these accusations, they rely on informant testimony rather than direct, confirmed evidence of a formal employment relationship between Epstein and Mossad.
In summary, the claims that Epstein was a Mossad agent are based on FBI records of confidential informants, circumstantial evidence of his network, and his close ties to Israeli political figures, but they are officially denied by Israeli officials and not conclusively proven.
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
GOP senator on Epstein files: ‘Now I see what the big deal is’
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said Monday she now understands “what the big deal is” after reviewing unredacted files tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I’ve not been one of the members who has glommed on to this as an issue,” Lummis said in an interview with journalist Pablo Manríquez. “I’ve sort of intentionally deferred to others to find out about it. But 9-year-old victims … wow.”
“Well, initially, my reaction to all this was, ‘I don’t care. I don’t know what the big deal is.’ But now I see what the big deal is, and it was worth investigating. And the members of Congress that have been pushing this were not wrong. So that’s really my only reaction.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said today that he personally did a search of the unredacted files that only Congress has access to and search term "Trump, Donald, Don" returned over 1M entries. "...wow."
Questions, cont.
Epstein raped sex dozens or hundreds of beautiful underage females. Why would he want even one man, much less dozens or hundreds to know of and share in his crimes with his victims? That he did is beyond a reasonable doubt, but why? Why would he spread that knowledge and those crimes around and drastically increase his risk of detection, arrest, prosecution, conviction, imprisonment and suicide, all of which also happened beyond a reasonable doubt? It wasn't extortion; it wasn't money at all. When he hanged himself in gaol, he was worth $600M. I don't get the mind of this criminal. I can get the mind of many criminals, but not this one. If I, speaking as another man, was daily, weekly, and monthly raping women, i wouldn't tell a single soul, much less tell double or triple digit souls. It happened, All of it happened beyond a reasonable doubt, but I don't see Epstein's motive to involve so many other men for no reason apparent to me.
I have a question...
Why did Jeffrey Epstein share his statutory rape victims with so many other men?
Monday, February 09, 2026
Ees and Effs...
I have been a "Heat" fan for all of their existence. I had season tickets for years. I was in my season seat, midcourt, 12 rows up for the first game. I was there at every home game of the season-beginning 17-game losing streak; every home game of that inaugural 15-67 season. So with that 36-year history of following, passionately, this franchise, I believe that under the circumstances, tonight's loss was the worst, the most revealing, and the most humiliating of those 36 years.
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