World
Feb 2026
Is Proton Leaving Switzerland? (No Longer Secure) (youtube.com)
Violence Is Part of the Job. But Nurses Say Supports Aren't There | The Tyee (thetyee.ca)
Cubans under siege as US stranglehold sets in (youtube.com)
Sweden wants to send inmates to Estonian prisons | Focus on Europe (youtube.com)
...
The Ganglord Running Venezuela's Slums (youtube.com)
An urban based quasi guerilla political group, based in 23 January barrio in Caracas, started out more in political guerilla roots, moved toward vigilante group, reported.
Saudi victory over UAE in Yemen means paying seperatists' salaries (youtube.com)
Cuba's president says he's prepared for peace talks or a 'state of war' (youtube.com)
Canadian delegation visits Greenland amid concerns over U.S. interest in the territory (youtube.com)
US strikes another alleged drug-trafficking boat in Eastern Pacific (apnews.com)
...
Colombia is producing it's own firearms at Indumil, giving it autonomy from Israel (Galin). Petro cut off buying arms from Israel as a reaction to Israel's actions in Gaza. Petro also halted buying guns from US after Trump's negative comments about Petro and Colombia. Indumil expects to do 80k units per year, but the expense of this raises doubts.
Gov. Gen. Simon, Anand open new consulate in Greenland (youtube.com)
Canada.
How Thailand Went From Asian Leader to Laggard (youtube.com)
Not a lot of innovation. GDP 2% since 2021. Neighbors more like 5%. Capital flight (net flight since 2022 or 2023). Highest income inequality (a few hundred people hold most of the power, Bangkok thrived while other regions did agriculture), and when money and power sit with the same small group of people, they resist changes that could shake up their monopolies and redistribute wealth. Thai household debt is high.
Tourism accounts for 1/5 of economy. Also manufacturing, food. Connects supply chain between China and SE Asia. Thailand produces less engineers, data scientists, skilled workers than other SEA countries, and has lower English proficiency. Thailand produces tech products like chips, but is using old tech to do so, and doesn't have any new products. Workforce percentage is shrinking since 2019.
Low certainty in government because there are coups etc. Constitution changes frequently.
...
Inside CARACAS, VENEZUELA in 2026 (Life after Maduro) (youtube.com)
Cuba to protect essential services • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Emergency austerity.
Medellín: habitantes de calle crecieron 130 % - Teleantioquia Noticias (youtube.com)
90% males.
Syria joining anti-IS coalition 'marks a new chapter' in global security, US envoy says (apnews.com)
Israeli drone strike kills 2 cyclists in Gaza as death toll mounts despite ceasefire (apnews.com)
'... adding that it also received the body of a woman who was killed by Israeli gunfire in central Maghazi refugee camp.'
'Gaza's Health Ministry on Tuesday reported 586 Palestinians had been killed since the start of the ceasefire, bringing the cumulative toll to 72,037 killed since the start of Israel's offensive. '
Mexican cartel authorizes attacks on border patrol agents | NewsNation Live (youtube.com)
NewsNation
Dual citizens must use U.K. passport to enter (youtube.com)
Strikes on 3 more alleged drug boats kill 11 people, US military says (apnews.com)
I doubt these headlines are even getting views now. Normalized?
Fico Slams Netherlands: "Smoke Marijuana, Recognise 70 Genders — But Don't Threaten Us!" | APT (youtube.com)
Is EU, Canada, UK, etc, afraid that if Eastern Europe doesn't do what EU is doing, they will have to be compared to these preserved homogenous countries?
Indonesia's marriage rates are falling | The World | ABC NEWS (youtube.com)
Utah leaders fume over Sundance decision to leave (youtube.com)
'It's become a second job for all of us.'
It is expensive to put on the festival, which brings in 10's of millions for the city's coffers.
How the "annoyance economy" affects our wallet and behavior (youtube.com)
Blackstone's Shocking Plan For New Mexico (youtube.com)
Should Vancouver kick ICE agents out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup? (youtube.com)
Comments turned off.
Trump Secures $17 Billion in Pledged Aid for Gaza Through Board of Peace (youtube.com)
Is joining an organization founded and led by Trump now anti reputation building? Like contrast if Obama had formed something like this right after his first election.
Canadians in Mexican state advised to remain indoors as violence breaks out (youtube.com)
Mexico's most wanted drug lord 'El Mencho' killed in military operation | BBC News (youtube.com)
Armed man shot and killed at Mar-a-Lago was never interested in politics or guns, cousin says (apnews.com)
Some 21 year old young man was shot at Trump's Mar-a-lago. He had driven 8 hours or so to get there, and his family (he lived with his mother in a trailer court) had reported him missing. His cousin said he was not at all violent or interested in guns ever. His homestate, NC, they do hunting a lot, but when he would go with people, he wouldn't even pick up a gun. He had recently started an online shop to sell pen drawings of gold courses, buildings and Roman architecture. He worked at a groundskeeper at a golf club. His family is all strong Trump supporters, but he wasn't interested in politics.
'Martin walked up to the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago early Sunday and went through a gate when it opened for employees to leave, a U.S. Secret Service spokesperson said Monday. Martin dropped a gas can and raised a shotgun at two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy who then opened fire "to neutralize the threat," said Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.' AP reported.
It isn't known where he got the shotgun.
...
Panama seizes 2 key canal ports from Hong Kong operator following Supreme Court ruling (apnews.com)
Protest held on Greek island against docked US aircraft carrier as Iran tension builds (apnews.com)
Cuba coast guard kills 4 on Florida-registered boat • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Why is the Appalachian Mountain Club buying large swaths of Maine land? (youtube.com)
Bogotá impulsa contenedores soterrados para mejorar la limpieza urbana | Medio ambiente (youtube.com)
For a while, it seemed like some cities were removing garbage cans so that they wouldn't have to clean them.
'The totalitarian surveillance state is already here, it has been since 9/11 and the Patriot Act, and they are manufacturing a crisis to present their solution: Palantir, kill chains based on machine decision-making, predictive policing, hidden scoring systems. A total control society designed to remove human autonomy by putting a policeman in every person's mind (and cybernetic extensions such as smartphones), fear of reprisal for even psychological rebellion. Surveil, prosecute, and exterminate.' Daliwali
The Department of War has Officially put Scouting America on Notice. (youtube.com)
Americans' sympathies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have shifted dramatically, new poll shows (apnews.com)
Reports have it that support for Israel amongst Americans went down in 2 years from like 50% to like 35%, regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since 2018, attitudes increasingly changed and now support is about even for each side, in terms of number of people supporting.
Kabul residents react after Pakistani strikes hit Afghanistan's capital (youtube.com)
Pakistan in 'open war' with Afghanistan, defence minister says (youtube.com)
55 Ghanaians killed on the battlefields of Ukraine • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
More drugs overdoses are happening inside public libraries across Canada (youtube.com)
Powering National Renewal and Reinvigorating the Grid (youtube.com)
*
VENEZUELA
We haven't heard about Maduro in the news since the day of his capture and the initial appearance at court a couple days later. He simply hasn't appeared in the news.
Apparently he's at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) Brooklyn. His next court date is March 17.
Venezuelans didn't migrate back. They're basically not expecting any change, since the VP became president, they released a dozen or a hundred political prisoners (302 reportedly, while 1000 remain), and US companies took greater control of Venezuelan oil production (now president Dacy Rodriguez signed a bill to allow foreig companies to take full operational control of oil projects), and after US took greater control of Venezuelan oil, the US government (Treasury) eased sanctions on Venezuela, and Venezuela will pay US 30 to 50m barrels of oil), and not much else, it seems. There is no US presense in Venezuela, and no security guarantees for Venezuelans. Not sure if maybe the current Venezuelan admin would be too afraid of US to persecute civil dissent now? The Venezuelan military is still loyal to the government there.
Venezuelans are fairly satisfied about the removal of Maduro, perhaps, and aren't really upset about the way it happened, and aren't sorry about the Venezuelan or Cuban soldiers killed in the attack. As for the Cubans, they may stand as evidence that Maduro wasn't even supported enough by his own people to trust an army made up of them, and the mercenary Cuban soldiers could possibly be seen as an anti Venezuelan (pro Venezuelan regime) force. They probably expect no real change. They probably would like there to have been more change in Venezuela.
Food is more secure in Venezuela, reportedly, because of the lifting of US sanctions. There is heavy police presense and the people don't dare speak openly or on social media, as before.
Is the word for Venezuelan government 'compliance'?
The Caracas Stock Exchange (ICB), which went up like 100% or 30% after the capture (not sure, have seen various figures, with some confusion because of the maybe 500% or 1000% inflation of their currency in a year), the country's $150b debt led to maybe 10% or so selling off in the later weeks of January.
Reportedly, Cúcuta has transformed from a migration hub to a militarized zone. Since Maduro's capture, thousands of ELN/FARC/etc guerillas have fled to Colombia.
MADURO
Argentina requests extradition of Maduro from the US on crimes against humanity charges (apnews.com)
'The case, filed in Buenos Aires in 2023 by human rights organizations representing the victims, relies on the principle of universal jurisdiction, a legal concept that allows for the prosecution in Argentina of anyone from any country who commits crimes like genocide or terrorism anywhere in the world.'
Jun 22 strikes on Iran, Feb 2026
LIVE: US & Israel strike Iran | BBC News (youtube.com)
At this point, is the US parking naval boats near your country an attack?
Regime change would require boots on the ground. What extent of change can be achieved purely with air strikes?
Trump encouraged Iranians to seize the government, so that might be the only possibility.
Almost no internet in Iran.
America & Israel Begin Missile Strikes on Iran! Over 30 Targets Hit (youtube.com)
Carney backs U.S. action against Iranian nuclear program (youtube.com)
UK stated they were not involved.
France said they were not advised.
"Maximum Pressure Kineticism." "Donroe Doctrine." "Decision advantage." "Law enforcement veneer ('arrest opreations', 'international policing'). "Lethal agility" instead of "nation-building", correlations with "Shock and Awe" (noted by CSIS). Colby School "strategy of denial", "limited but decisive force". ... Space force surveillance with cyber-disruption, disrupting radar, extreme focus on bunkers and command centers over civilian infrastructure. Quick results without "forever war" baggage (Venezuela attack cost $1.5b). Rejects messaging (messaging like Obama and Clinton did with non important targets), goes straight for weapons and people of consequence. Removal or displacement instead of deterrence and degradation. Higher risk tolerance (than Clinton and Obama). Legal framework of criminal indictments (within the US only) and self-defense justifications rather than UN resolutions or war powers. Friday nights.
Fire the government from above (Iran). Or come take the keys (Venezuela).
...
UN Security Council Emergency Meeting on Iran (youtube.com)
Melania Trump will preside over a UN Security Council meeting in a first for a first lady (apnews.com)
Is this an attempt to delegitimize?
South Sudan faces turmoil as former officials arrested in wave of detentions (apnews.com)
Russia condemns US-Israel strikes on Iran as 'unprovoked act of armed aggression' (apnews.com)
Edmonton transit ridership down 1.8 million in last three months 2025 (youtube.com)
Oscar-nominated doc 'The Alabama Solution' exposes state's deadly prisons (youtube.com)Violence Is Part of the Job. But Nurses Say Supports Aren’t There | The Tyee (thetyee.ca)
Cubans under siege as US stranglehold sets in (youtube.com)
Sweden wants to send inmates to Estonian prisons | Focus on Europe (youtube.com)
...
The Ganglord Running Venezuela's Slums (youtube.com)
An urban based quasi guerilla political group, based in 23 January barrio in Caracas, started out more in political guerilla roots, moved toward vigilante group, reported.
Saudi victory over UAE in Yemen means paying seperatists' salaries (youtube.com)
Cuba's president says he's prepared for peace talks or a 'state of war' (youtube.com)
Canadian delegation visits Greenland amid concerns over U.S. interest in the territory (youtube.com)
US strikes another alleged drug-trafficking boat in Eastern Pacific (apnews.com)
...
Colombia is producing it's own firearms at Indumil, giving it autonomy from Israel (Galin). Petro cut off buying arms from Israel as a reaction to Israel's actions in Gaza. Petro also halted buying guns from US after Trump's negative comments about Petro and Colombia. Indumil expects to do 80k units per year, but the expense of this raises doubts.
Gov. Gen. Simon, Anand open new consulate in Greenland (youtube.com)
Canada.
How Thailand Went From Asian Leader to Laggard (youtube.com)
Not a lot of innovation. GDP 2% since 2021. Neighbors more like 5%. Capital flight (net flight since 2022 or 2023). Highest income inequality (a few hundred people hold most of the power, Bangkok thrived while other regions did agriculture), and when money and power sit with the same small group of people, they resist changes that could shake up their monopolies and redistribute wealth. Thai household debt is high.
Tourism accounts for 1/5 of economy. Also manufacturing, food. Connects supply chain between China and SE Asia. Thailand produces less engineers, data scientists, skilled workers than other SEA countries, and has lower English proficiency. Thailand produces tech products like chips, but is using old tech to do so, and doesn't have any new products. Workforce percentage is shrinking since 2019.
Low certainty in government because there are coups etc. Constitution changes frequently.
...
Inside CARACAS, VENEZUELA in 2026 (Life after Maduro) (youtube.com)
Cuba to protect essential services • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Emergency austerity.
Medellín: habitantes de calle crecieron 130 % - Teleantioquia Noticias (youtube.com)
90% males.
Syria joining anti-IS coalition 'marks a new chapter' in global security, US envoy says (apnews.com)
Israeli drone strike kills 2 cyclists in Gaza as death toll mounts despite ceasefire (apnews.com)
‘... adding that it also received the body of a woman who was killed by Israeli gunfire in central Maghazi refugee camp.’
‘Gaza’s Health Ministry on Tuesday reported 586 Palestinians had been killed since the start of the ceasefire, bringing the cumulative toll to 72,037 killed since the start of Israel’s offensive. ’
Mexican cartel authorizes attacks on border patrol agents | NewsNation Live (youtube.com)
NewsNation
Dual citizens must use U.K. passport to enter (youtube.com)
Strikes on 3 more alleged drug boats kill 11 people, US military says (apnews.com)
I doubt these headlines are even getting views now. Normalized?
Fico Slams Netherlands: “Smoke Marijuana, Recognise 70 Genders — But Don’t Threaten Us!” | APT (youtube.com)
Is EU, Canada, UK, etc, afraid that if Eastern Europe doesn't do what EU is doing, they will have to be compared to these preserved homogenous countries?
Indonesia's marriage rates are falling | The World | ABC NEWS (youtube.com)
Utah leaders fume over Sundance decision to leave (youtube.com)
‘It’s become a second job for all of us.'
It is expensive to put on the festival, which brings in 10's of millions for the city's coffers.
How the “annoyance economy” affects our wallet and behavior (youtube.com)
Blackstone's Shocking Plan For New Mexico (youtube.com)
Should Vancouver kick ICE agents out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup? (youtube.com)
Comments turned off.
Trump Secures $17 Billion in Pledged Aid for Gaza Through Board of Peace (youtube.com)
Is joining an organization founded and led by Trump now anti reputation building? Like contrast if Obama had formed something like this right after his first election.
Canadians in Mexican state advised to remain indoors as violence breaks out (youtube.com)
Mexico's most wanted drug lord 'El Mencho' killed in military operation | BBC News (youtube.com)
Armed man shot and killed at Mar-a-Lago was never interested in politics or guns, cousin says (apnews.com)
Some 21 year old young man was shot at Trump's Mar-a-lago. He had driven 8 hours or so to get there, and his family (he lived with his mother in a trailer court) had reported him missing. His cousin said he was not at all violent or interested in guns ever. His homestate, NC, they do hunting a lot, but when he would go with people, he wouldn't even pick up a gun. He had recently started an online shop to sell pen drawings of gold courses, buildings and Roman architecture. He worked at a groundskeeper at a golf club. His family is all strong Trump supporters, but he wasn't interested in politics.
‘Martin walked up to the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago early Sunday and went through a gate when it opened for employees to leave, a U.S. Secret Service spokesperson said Monday. Martin dropped a gas can and raised a shotgun at two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy who then opened fire “to neutralize the threat,” said Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.’ AP reported.
It isn't known where he got the shotgun.
...
Panama seizes 2 key canal ports from Hong Kong operator following Supreme Court ruling (apnews.com)
Protest held on Greek island against docked US aircraft carrier as Iran tension builds (apnews.com)
Cuba coast guard kills 4 on Florida-registered boat • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Why is the Appalachian Mountain Club buying large swaths of Maine land? (youtube.com)
Bogotá impulsa contenedores soterrados para mejorar la limpieza urbana | Medio ambiente (youtube.com)
For a while, it seemed like some cities were removing garbage cans so that they wouldn't have to clean them.
'The totalitarian surveillance state is already here, it has been since 9/11 and the Patriot Act, and they are manufacturing a crisis to present their solution: Palantir, kill chains based on machine decision-making, predictive policing, hidden scoring systems. A total control society designed to remove human autonomy by putting a policeman in every person's mind (and cybernetic extensions such as smartphones), fear of reprisal for even psychological rebellion. Surveil, prosecute, and exterminate.' Daliwali
The Department of War has Officially put Scouting America on Notice. (youtube.com)
Americans' sympathies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have shifted dramatically, new poll shows (apnews.com)
Reports have it that support for Israel amongst Americans went down in 2 years from like 50% to like 35%, regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since 2018, attitudes increasingly changed and now support is about even for each side, in terms of number of people supporting.
Kabul residents react after Pakistani strikes hit Afghanistan's capital (youtube.com)
Pakistan in 'open war' with Afghanistan, defence minister says (youtube.com)
55 Ghanaians killed on the battlefields of Ukraine • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
More drugs overdoses are happening inside public libraries across Canada (youtube.com)
Powering National Renewal and Reinvigorating the Grid (youtube.com)
*
LIVE: US & Israel strike Iran | BBC News (youtube.com)
At this point, is the US parking naval boats near your country an attack?
Regime change would require boots on the ground. What extent of change can be achieved purely with air strikes?
Trump encouraged Iranians to seize the government, so that might be the only possibility.
Almost no internet in Iran.
America & Israel Begin Missile Strikes on Iran! Over 30 Targets Hit (youtube.com)
Carney backs U.S. action against Iranian nuclear program (youtube.com)
UK stated they were not involved.
France said they were not advised.
"Maximum Pressure Kineticism." "Donroe Doctrine." “Decision advantage.” “Law enforcement veneer ('arrest opreations', ‘international policing’). “Lethal agility” instead of “nation-building”, correlations with “Shock and Awe” (noted by CSIS). Colby School “strategy of denial”, “limited but decisive force". ... Space force surveillance with cyber-disruption, disrupting radar, extreme focus on bunkers and command centers over civilian infrastructure. Quick results without “forever war” baggage (Venezuela attack cost $1.5b). Rejects messaging (messaging like Obama and Clinton did with non important targets), goes straight for weapons and people of consequence. Removal or displacement instead of deterrence and degradation. Higher risk tolerance (than Clinton and Obama). Legal framework of criminal indictments (within the US only) and self-defense justifications rather than UN resolutions or war powers. Friday nights.
Fire the government from above (Iran). Or come take the keys (Venezuela).
...
UN Security Council Emergency Meeting on Iran (youtube.com)
Melania Trump will preside over a UN Security Council meeting in a first for a first lady (apnews.com)
Is this an attempt to delegitimize?
South Sudan faces turmoil as former officials arrested in wave of detentions (apnews.com)
Russia condemns US-Israel strikes on Iran as 'unprovoked act of armed aggression' (apnews.com)
Edmonton transit ridership down 1.8 million in last three months 2025 (youtube.com)
Oscar-nominated doc ‘The Alabama Solution’ exposes state’s deadly prisons (youtube.com)
Feb 2026, Olympics in Milan Cortina
The most spread out Olympics (Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Verona). 16 sports. The locations require half a days travel on busses and trains to commute. 'The 2026 Milan-Cortina-Bormio-Livigno-Tesero-Predazzo-Anterselva-Verona Winter Olympics’. The events are like 2 or 3 disciplines in each of 6 spots. Only the ice rink sports are in Milan. The snow and sled sports are spread out in the other 5 locations. (The 2030 games will also be held at a collection of locations in the French alps, and the 2028 Summer Games in LA will have softball and canoe slalom in Oklahoma.)
A few Russians, vetted by a board for not having published any statements in favor of Russia's war in Ukraine. Only one Russian lady's skater, Adeliia Petrosian (Аделия Тиграновна Петросян), three time Russian national champion, from Sambo70.
New event, ski mountaineering. Other, traditional sports have new team events.
Prices for hosting the Olypics started rising after Barcelona 1992, which improved the local economy broadly, based on the tourism and spending that happened around it. News of the economic effect caused bidding wars for subsequent Olympics, but that reduced the number of countries willing to bid. The events have increased in number, adding cost. This year, there will be 3500 at a winter games of 116 events (within 16 sports). Also, climate changes alter whether a location is suitable for a winter games, as temperature has risen steadily since the year 1900 in all former Winter Olympics spots.
The two celebrity sort of presenters/commentators/guests are Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog.
«Метод Тутберидзе» 1 серия (фрагменты об Аделии Петросян) ENG SUB (youtube.com)
‘I came to Eteri Georgievna after probably one of my most disasterous competitions, Moscow Championship 2019, after which I realized something had to change. Either I retire or I try to move forward somewhere else. My mom suggested to try CSKA, or to go to Eteri Georgievna. Mom said, ’You know, if she doesn't take you, that's it.' Now when I rewatch myself, I'm surprised they took me, because my jumps were so inconsistent. Not only was I not doing quads, my triples were just terrible, especially combinations. My technique wasn't like everyone else's in this team. I don't know what Eteri Georgievna saw in me. But it's been 5 years now.'
‘Our leader is Adeliya Petrosian.’
...
Will Snowboard Big Air eventually just not be wanted at the Olympics, because it's progressed to a natural outcome where you have to do a certain number of rotations to medal, so everyone just hucks a basic spin? It's a couple hours of guys just hucking a constant spin.
15 years ago the same happened in womens FS, where only the girl who did the quad would win, and is still that way, but still a lot of people compete who don't do quads (just they don't win, even if they are better skaters).
...
At least on the Canadian CBC broadcast of the Olympics, basically every segment between sports coverage was about ‘and women ...' even if there was nothing particular to say about women in the segment, and most commenting (all?) was women, pairs of women commentators, and not because they were good at it. Exhausting feminism on Canadian media.
Over a week after the start of the Olympics. No one watches. They turn it on sometimes. Some people have a sport the like. But it's a dud. The reason is the braodcaster, NBC. It's super boring to watch. They mostly show the more boring events, there are no athlete stories, there are no former champions who are interviewed or comment. The commentators are all young women who know little about sport, listening to them you can picture them reading the athlete's Wikipedia page. They say just a few things over and over, ‘positive’ things and very generic. NBC's commentators are not at the games, but are rather in a tiny room with just a desk in it in the States.
From the Olympic Comittee's perspective it's surprising they allow this. People are not going to be excited to watch the Olympics next time, because this time the Olympics seem so boring.
Part of the problem is streaming. 20 years ago (or 10?), people had cable tv, so they had like 3 or 5 or whatever options for watching. Now cable only has CBC in Canada, or NBC in the states (I guess). If you pay for extra, you get TSN and SportsNet. It would be good to take a more exciting approach to covering the Games. Like split or multiple screens, lots of special commentators, athlete profiles, coverage of home town locations and training vignetes, scenes of the athletes in other dress, like if they're models or do some other skill or job.
Another problem is the events. There are 16 sports, fine. Half of these a person maybe wants to watch. But some of these (not the most exciting ones), they have tons of divisions. It might be better to limit the top tier events to like 2 or 3 per sport, unless there is real demand (like figure skating events there are like 5 events but people want to watch all 5).
Behind the Olympics’ Noisy New Drones (youtube.com)
Japan’s Ami Nakai surges into Olympic lead after short program as US struggles at the Winter Games (apnews.com)
Pretty decent sports journalism at AP. Dave Skretta.
U.S. beats Canada 2-1 in overtime to win men's hockey gold (youtube.com)
US cleaned up this year. Alysa Liu also won gold in FS (without any competition from the Russians, as only Petrosian qualified and was there without much support). Liu didn't really comport herself very nicely though.
Norway got a lot of gold medals.
January 2026
Inside China's AI coders' 'village' (youtube.com)
Trump says U.S. struck dock in Venezuela linked to where alleged drug boats 'load up' (youtube.com)
Seniors relying on homeless shelters up nearly 50% since pandemic (youtube.com)
Canada.
Trump administration’s Tongan travel restrictions spark concern in Hawaii (youtube.com)
Highly skilled immigrants leaving Canada at rapid rate: report (youtube.com)
B.C. border crossings to Washington plunge (youtube.com)
Trump “considering using military” to take Greenland says White House | BBC News (youtube.com)
Canada joins Ukraine security pact (youtube.com)
China, Russia and Iran warships arrive in Cape Town amid rising tensions (youtube.com)
There should be a means by which the populace can vote to approve or disapprove any war the executive engages, and if they disapprove no citizens go to the battlefield, and they just send the politicians over there.
Ukraine's front lines are covered in a canopy of drone nets. Roads anyway.
Optical fiber bunches at the front lines, for remote control of drones.
US launches new retaliatory strikes against IS in Syria after deadly ambush (apnews.com)
Greenland project will let us control 50% of the rare earths market: Critical Metals (youtube.com)
ICE: America's Hunt for Migrants (youtube.com)
Gaza is entering the second phase of the ceasefire plan Trump helped broker, US says (apnews.com)
Dozens ships anchor outside irans ports us tensions rise (reuters.com)
Ukrainians endure freezing temperatures at home as crews rush to restore power (apnews.com)
‘The problem was “when the power comes back on, people turn on all the electrical equipment that is available in the house” as they dash to wash, cook or recharge their phones.’
‘“There are two types of heroes in Ukraine,” he said. “They are the military and energy workers.”’
Ugandas president museveni takes strong lead early election results (reuters.com)
Guatemala declares state of siege after deadly gang prison riots | REUTERS (youtube.com)
Gen Z tech entrepreneurs leaving Canada for easier access abroad (youtube.com)
China’s population shrinks for fourth straight year • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Looming water supply bankruptcy puts billions risk un report warns (reuters.com)
State department approves potential sale aircraft torpedoes singapore 23 billion (reuters.com)
Some european states rethink presence us backed gaza base diplomats say (reuters.com)
Mexico sends 37 more cartel suspects us amid rising tensions (reuters.com)
How israel moved its yellow line deeper into shattered gaza city neighbourhood (reuters.com)
Ukrainian capital under russian attack air defences operation (reuters.com)
Ivory coast president appoints brother vice prime minister (reuters.com)
Who will rule Gaza, if not Hamas? CSM
Restoring municipal services. ‘Security, schools, water supply, and trash collection in towns and refugee camps across Gaza.’ Hamas police to secure UN food trucks.
The French Foreign Legion Vs. Illegal Gold Mining Gangs (youtube.com)
‘Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is in the process of building 62 miles of new bike lanes.' The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)
'Thousands lose their homes as the 'Venice of Nigeria' is demolished, displacing families living there for generations.'
Decades memories swept away thousands lose homes venice nigeria is demolished (reuters.com)
EU vows stricter migration rules, faster deportations | DW News (youtube.com)
Rio's favelas become hot tourist destination as visitors seek cultural immersion (apnews.com)
Greenland, NATO, Expansionism Questions, January 2026
(40% of Republicans support it. About a percent of Democrats do.)
Denmark, U.S. ‘agreed to disagree’ on Greenland after White House meeting (youtube.com)
Cuba accept us aid washington warns against interference (reuters.com)
Davos live trump make speech davos tensions with europe grow over greenland (reuters.com)
Trump's European threats could cause lasting damage to US standing in the world (apnews.com)
NATO countries now see the US as a "possible agressor" • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Venezuela, Maduro Capture by USA, January 2026
After midnight sometime, Friday night, US bombed military sites in Caracas (and other cities, it seems). These were small, controlled explosions.
Among Venezuelans on SM, about 95% maybe were in favor. There were some dissenters, but actually most of those seemed to be Americans in America saying they didn't support this ('UN is sleeping').
In the morning, people woke to photos of Maduro wearing blacked out glasses and handcuffed (in front of body), wearing a capturee suit and holding a plastic bottle of water, aboard a US vessel with US soldiers guarding him.
Venezuelans seem to be basically 100% in favor of this. ‘Adelante Venezuela’. This is not surprising, as he has been the direct cause of suffering for many years, well beyond the amount of time you might say he still needed some time to make plans work out. For years, regular Venezuelans I know have hoped for this (or worse).
The attack and arrest was done swiftly. We still don't know the details. (Was the Caribbean attack a few years ago kind of a practice? I'm not sure why that comes to mind.)
But the attack and arrest were done at night, so there was the least disturbance, and little chance for forces to be mustered (and probably more people killed thereby). Americans didn't have time to respond. We don't know if Congress approved this.
The arrest was not done humiliatingly or dirtily. It was done soldierly. It was done publicly. They published appropriate photos right away, and the people everywhere can know what's going on. This is in marked contrast to the US government during Bin Laden, when no one trusted the government and the idea that they just moved Bin Laden to some island or something seems totally possible. Everything was secret, done in secret courts, carried out by secret forces.
I think the main feeling people might feel is jealousy. Trump's doing all the good things. Likely enough, no one even thought it was possible for America to do such a thing, just like it seemed impossible to get a peace deal in Israel.
The only caveat is the precedent. An America that thinks it can simply send it's military into any country and capture it's leader would be bound for misadventure. Trump may have a mind of his own and have no bosses to answer to, but it seems many US presidents aren't that way.
This will cheer the spirits of the miltiary corps. Enlistment will probably go up.
It is arguably a violation of the UN, but what is the UN for if it supports, basically, regimes like Maduro's?
All our law is not the highest law. Almost none of our illegal actions are absolute, such that in some cases they're not the appropriate or favored course.
So there are points on both sides of the ledger, but overall it doesn't seem too bad and will at least make life better for millions of people in Venezuela.
People also commented on how Xi would be taking note of how effective the US was at going into a country and grabbing a leader. But Shanghai is pretty different, and the Chinese are extremely proud of their country and support their government, as much as a citizens are known to do in our era. Some said Xi would be less likely to grab Taiwan but I feel like it's actually more likely. US is already on the way to not needing Taiwan for chips, Russia took it's land and peace talks are in the process of consolidating the annexation.
Nigerian leaders, however, probably aren't going to be sleeping so well.
US said they'd stay in Venezuela for a while to control things. US just had the Nobel prize given to Machado so it seems likely they'll install her.
Looks like Venezuela will have a year of quickly reinstalled facilities for oil and gas production and distribution, and maybe other projects. Will Venezuela stocks go crazy on Monday?
What the US Strike on Venezuela Means for Oil (youtube.com)
Chevron.
Cuba Condemns US Military Strike on Venezuela as "State Terrorism" BRICS News
BRICS News also... 'Brazilian President Lula da Silva has condemned US bombings and the capture of Venezuelan President Maduro as crossing "an unacceptable line" in international relations. ... Calling it a "grave affront to sovereignty," Lula warned that attacking countries is the first step toward a world where "the law of the strongest" prevails over multilateralism. Brazil has activated emergency protocols and convened extraordinary meetings with military representatives as the 2,000+ km border becomes a strategic flashpoint. Mexico and BRICS allies are rallying in condemnation, with many calling this a violation of the UN Charter.'
Many commented that countries like Brazil and Colombia would take away from this that government's ‘must have nuclear to defend themselves.’
‘El fiscal general Tarek William Saab afirmó que el bombardeo de EE.UU. sobre Caracas dejó víctimas mortales y heridos, a quienes describió como “víctimas inocentes mortalmente heridas y otras asesinadas por este criminal ataque terrorista”. Sus declaraciones se produjeron en un contacto televisado tras la noche de explosiones y sobrevuelo de aeronaves militares en la capital venezolana. ’ Vision24
Lots of jokes about people buying the fit Maduro was pictured wearing with fashionable looking dark glasses. It's a grey tracksuit.
Presidente del Perú, José Jerí, sobre Venezuela: "Muchas familias podrán reencontrarse en su país, por eso daremos las facilidades para su regreso inmediato".
President Trump says US action will bring Venezuela President Maduro 'to justice' (youtube.com)
It might be that the fishing boat attacks, real or not, were to trigger Venezuelan military channels, part of planning and identification for this attack.
They captured Maduro's wife also, Cilia Flores. They were airlifted out and then put on the USS Iwo Jima, and they're bound for NY, and then either NY or Miami (for trial). Looks like some of the soldiers walking Maduro out of his building were wearing DEA badges (US law enforcement).
No American soldiers died in the attack. No US military equipment was destroyed. ‘There’s no equipment like we have,' said Trump. Sales might go up?
There will likely be a large remigration of all the Venezuelans in Colombia, Peru, Equador, Brazil, etc.
In his speech on Jan 3 morning, he talked about the Americans who are victims of drugs that come ‘mostly from Venezuela' and mentioned Tren de Aragua and other brutal gangs. ‘They were brutal, but they’re not so brutal now.' Trump said they were ‘sent by Maduro to terrorize America.’
‘The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we’ve superceded it by a lot, by a real lot. They now call it the ‘Donroe Doctrine.’
‘American dominance in the Western hemisphere will never be questioned again.’ Trump
‘We did something about it. We’re late, but we did something about it.' Trump.
Trump said Petro ‘have cocaine mills’, they're making cocaine and sending it into the US, so ‘he does have to watch his ass.’
‘Mr President, did you notify any members of Congress in advance?’ Immeditely, Trump said, ‘Marco, do you want to talk about that, because you were involved,’ and shifted away from the podium. Rubio said, ‘Sure. We called members of Congress, and this is not the kind of mission that you can do congressional notification on, it was a trigger based mission on which conditions had to be met, night after night we watched and monitored. ... Remember, at the end of the day, at its core, this was an arrest of two indicted fugitives of American Justice, and the Department of War supported the Department of Justice in that job...' Trump stepped back to the podium and said, ‘Can I just add one thing to that? Congress has a tendency to leak. This would not be good. ... But Congress will leak. And we don't want leakers.’
He said to Venezuelans, ‘You're gonna have peace. You're gonna have justice. You're gonna have a country. You're gonna have potentially a great country.'
‘I think Cuba is something we’re gonna end up talking about, because Cuba is a failing nation right now. And we want to help the people in Cuba, and also help the people who were forced Cuba and are living in this country.'
US MISSION
Apparently, they cut off power ‘due to an expertise [the US] have’.
Over the course of the night, aircraft (150 total) launched from over 20 bases around the western hemisphere, including fighters, bombers, recon, rotary wing. The extraction fleet included US law enforcement, and they flew 100ft above the water. Spacecom, cybercom and other members of the interagency created a pathway, with cover by the marines, air force, National Guard, and drones. As the extraction team neared Caracas, the joint air component began dismanteling and disabling the air defense in Venezuela. As the extraction team passed the last mountains, they realized they'd 'maintained totally the element of surprise.'
(Later, we were told the pilot of the main helecopter had been shot 3 times in the leg but was alright, which was compared with Abbotabad (Pakistan, bin Laden, 2011, Navy Seals, downed helicopter had to be destroyed to prevent losing intelligence advantage).
The birds landed (receiving fire and returning fire ‘with overwhelming force in self defense’) on Maduro's compound at 1:01 Eastern Standard (2AM Caracas local time), and the extraction force moved with speed to apprehend Maduro. The force remained protected by overhead tactical aviation. Maduro and wife gave up and were taken into custody by the Department of Justice assisted by the US military. Suppressive fire from the US forces shot at multiple Venezuelan engagements during extraction.
Maduro had been trying to make it into a safe place, all steel, but he wasn't able to make it, because the US guys were so fast, Trump said. But they would have had the steel opened nomatter how thick it was in about 47 seconds. ‘He made it to the door. He was unable to close it.’
So a successful mission, but an easy one. Looks good, but unlikely it really demonstrates anything about the US military (except perhaps their information gathering).
How US Captured The Venezuelan President? (youtube.com)
A later explainer video. The US warships parked off the coast of Venezuela for a month were a sort of diversion. The 150 aircraft created a sonic shield for the helicopters, flying low over buildings to avoid radar coverage, to drop Delta forces. 2AM Venezuela time the attack of missiles, destabilizing Venezuela air support, happened along with a blackout of Caracas. Communications blackout. Some helicopters layed cover fire (they were being shot at) while one/some landed on the compound building. Delta breached the building (how?) from the roof and went though the building. Assumed that CIA had spies in the compound for some time, and Delta had built a version of the compound they ran through until they knew it well. They used a blowtorch to open the doors. The helicopters went to the US warship parked offshore. The several large US warships plus 150 planes formed a command center that countered Venezuela's modern air defense. Venezuela only has like 20 or 30 Russian jets from 2008 plus 5 F16s, upgraded with Israeli parts since the repair parts are part of US sanctions.
Venezuela protects its land with Russian S300 missile systems, Chinese radar networks, integrated Russian air defenses and Shahid drones. Older F16s find this challenging (BUKs). F35s were used. From Puerto Rico, F35s flying at supersonic speeds can reach Venezuela in 1.5 hours. Puerto Rico is close enough to reach anywhere in Venezuela, but there are air fuel supply planes to support them in the Caribbean. From the US warships, F35s are 10 or 15 minutes away from Venezuelan targets.
'AOC Slams Operation To Capture Maduro: 'It's About Oil And Regime Change' | "It's not about drugs. If it was, Trump wouldn't have pardoned one of the largest narco traffickers in the world last month," AOC claimed'
AOC Slams Operation To Capture Maduro:
Where will ‘run Venezuela’ money come from? 'Well back in 2004, anyone who didn't agree with the blank check for Iraq reconstruction was an America-hating terrorist and possibly even French.'
'CIA: Wait, we don't need the whole charade stuff?!'
Trump said it'd be easy to keep helping Venezuela (occupying and running it) because a lot of money will come out of the ground.
Venezuelan people mobilize asking for Pres. Maduro to be released by U.S. (youtube.com)
World leaders react to Trump's attack on Venezuela, ousting Maduro (youtube.com)
Starmer seems like an office secretary.
Watch the moment convoy carrying Nicolas Maduro leaves New York jail (youtube.com)
Monday morning.
Venezuela: Govt. installs Council of Ministers No. 757 led by Delcy Rodríguez (youtube.com)
How unified is Europe when it comes to defending Greenland? | DW News (youtube.com)
Why Europe bows to US influence: "The Owned Continent" • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Venezuela Oil Too Heavy to be Desired, Analyst Says (youtube.com)
“Today Venezuela, Tomorrow Anyone”: Chile Sounds Alarm Over US Action | APT (youtube.com)
Slovak PM Robert Fico says today's superpowers do whatever they want and have erased international law. BRICS News
Trump has made the US a ‘rogue state’, says international relations expert (youtube.com)
Maduro pleads not guilty in first court appearance since capture (youtube.com)
“I was captured,” Maduro said (in Spanish) before being cut off by the judge. Asked later for his plea to the charges, he stated: “I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country.”
‘The stakes were made clear from the outset as Maduro, who took copious notes throughout the proceedings and wished a Happy New Year to reporters in court, repeatedly pressed his case that he had been unlawfully abducted.’ AP news
“I am here kidnapped,” Maduro said. “I was captured at my home in Caracas.”
Maduro says 'I was captured' as he pleads not guilty to drug trafficking charges (apnews.com)
As a head of state, is Maduro immune from prosecution? Was his capture a ‘military abduction’?
US government doesn't recognize Maduro as the legitimate head of state of Venezuela.
Maduro was indicted on working with cartels to facilitate shipping thousands of tons of cocaine to the US. Also of ordering kidnapping, beatings and murders in relation to the alleged drug trade.
‘Secretary of State Marco Rubio had tried to strike a more cautious tone on Sunday morning talk shows, saying the U.S. would not govern the country day-to-day other than enforcing an existing ” oil quarantine.”’ AP
Oil rose slightly Monday. Venezuelan oil ‘doesn’t matter,' many concluded.
“If we normalize the kidnapping of a head of state, no country is safe. Today it’s Venezuela. Tomorrow it could be any nation that refuses to submit. This is not a regional problem. It is a direct threat to global political stability,” Maduro Guerra, Maduro's son, stated.
At UN meeting, US defends Venezuela strike and likens Maduro capture to Noriega's (youtube.com)
Shocking Footage!US attacks VENEZUELA - MADURO out! (youtube.com)
Venezuelan immigrant speaks out following Maduro's capture; says hope has been restored (youtube.com)
‘I don’t care if you have a Masters Degree, or whatever, unless you've lived it in your own skin, and I think it's terribly disrespectful to the people...' The Americans who are against this, because it was because of oil, are not speaking from experience of Venezuela for 26 years of famine and oppression.
‘We are not free yet. We need America to stay in Venezuela until all of the other bad guys are out, but without America this wouldn’t be fathomable.'
In Venezuela, there's a ‘good amount of happiness and fear,’ panilazo, but the people who are moving into leadership are as bad as Maduro, and they are threatening people, so no one can show support for the Americans.
‘I think America is being smart about the way they are doing things, but to us, although it’s great, we are like 'Just don't hold back. Just send it all!' You've just stepped on the snake, and if you remove your foot from the head it's going to come back mad biting.
TUESDAY
Venezuela Regroups With New Leader, Old Repression Tactics (youtube.com)
Venezuelan stock market has surged 40% in a week and like 200% or 300% in a year (inflation adjusted), risk on, expectation Venezuelan banks might re enter the global system. Most of this is from before the Maduro capture. The market is very small. The market is rated as overbought.
MARGEN se REDUCE: OTAN hace DESPLIEGUE MASIVO en el ARTICO (youtube.com)
Venezuela Update: Geolocation of Helicopter Landing, Satellite Imagery, Destroyed Vehicles etc (youtube.com)
A bunker in the hills, not Maduro's palace as originally thought. One entrance is under a baseball diamond.
About 6 buildings completely detroyed by missiles (presumably), including a road checkpoint or entry gate.
Trump says Venezuela will be 'turning over' up to 50 million barrels of oil to US (bbc.com)
Trump says Venezuela will be 'turning over' up to 50m barrels of oil to US
This, combined with the killing of innocent soldiers, could be seen as robbery/extortion.
Planes parked across tarmac to impede landings at Venezuelan military airport | AFP (youtube.com)
Cubans brace for tougher times as Venezuela’s oil lifeline faces uncertainty (youtube.com)
Colombia vows to defend its sovereignty amid Trump’s military threats (youtube.com)
US Cyberattack Leading to Maduro's arrest (youtube.com)
The word ‘rogue’ started being used yesterday.
WEDNESDAY
US Seizes Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker Linked to Venezuela (youtube.com)
We Talk: Chinese resident on life in Venezuela after airstrike (youtube.com)
People afraid to go out.
‘War of choice.'
BREAKING NEWS: Rubio And Hegseth Give Update On U.S. Posture Towards Venezuela After Maduro Capture (youtube.com)
They, at least Hegseth, seem so proud of the military action and the seizure of tankers, not understanding that it is killing and theft?
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs : Venezuela and the Collapse of International Law (youtube.com)
‘Cannot be justified' under international or US law or the American Constitution.
‘This is a war, US has launched a war, to run Venezuela.'
‘Even kings of the past had more control and scrutiny than the US president.’
US is still part of the UN Charter. No country can use force or the threat of force. Gross violation.
‘A breakdown in our Constitutional order,' long in coming. ‘There are no checks on the president. The US has bombed 7 countries in the past year’, not one of these authorized by Congress. In the past few days, Trump has threatened with force at least 6 countries. Iran, Nigeria, Mexico, Denmark and Greenland, Colombia, Cuba.
‘A rogue state that will use brute force to achieve to achieve its hegemony and acquire riches’ probably near universal view in world. A few countries applaud this, like Israel. And there are some vassal states (most of Europe) who don't dare go against it. States that have US bases in them.
‘They view the United States as lawless.’
Contempt for Congress and the Constitution. ‘Almost sneering.’
‘How much can the US steal from Venezuela?’
Anya Parampil: Could the Venezuela Case Expose a CIA Narco-State? (youtube.com)
‘Their criminality is pretty naked for everyone to see. I don’t think anyone is taking this seriously, that this is actually about drugs or concerned with any legality.'
‘A collectivity of cowardice.’ ‘It changes all of the rules of international behavior.’
Gilbert Doctorow Explodes: Trump’s Maduro “Kidnapping” Is an Impeachable Crime (youtube.com)
All of the mainstream news agencies 'don't dare' say that Trump has crossed every red line of the American rules based order, has violated all international law. All of them sing the same notes, they all say the same thing, that it is a very bad thing because it signals to China and Russia that they can do what they want in their spheres, militarily. Global hegemony is the issue.
Ray McGovern : When “Foreign Policy” Crosses into Kidnapping (youtube.com)
US can't longer create agreements or contracts of any kind, because other parties don't trust it.
‘Let’s see if Trump is still completely captive to the CIA.'
Showed Trump's many past statements against regime change and nation building.
‘The media is the fly in the ointment.’ Puchin is more credible than the CIA, and certainly more credible than those that have won Pulitzer prizes for the New York Times.'
DICTATOR OF AMERICA? PRESIDENCY OUT OF CONTROL (youtube.com)
Russia, Iran, China, Cuba, what extra weapons do they have to give to Venezuela?
“Lawlessness”: Russia Accuses US of Neo-Colonialism in Venezuela at Blistering UN Session | AC1G (youtube.com)
‘How dare you lecture others on international law.’
Colombians protest Trump’s threats of military action (youtube.com)
Coast Guard Releases New Footage Showing Seizure of Russia-Flagged Tanker (youtube.com)
Colombia deploys 30,000 troops as Venezuela crisis threatens border spillover (youtube.com)
Los 5 momentos más importantes del ataque a Venezuela y la captura de Maduro | Noticias Telemundo (youtube.com)
‘All information points to many Venezuelans having participated in [the night capture of Maduro].
14 journalists and workers for news agencies were detained by Venezuelan police. 4 were later released. The others remain in a state of disappearedness.
Javier Milei en exclusivo: "La libertad está renaciendo en el continente" (youtube.com)
THURSDAY
‘Democracy not major “consideration” of US’
US military operation in Venezuela 'a clear violation of international law' • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Trump KIDNAPS Venezuela's Maduro, Imperial Democrat Party SHRUGS? (w/ Eugene Puryear) (youtube.com)
Trump pulls US from more than 60 international organizations (youtube.com)
PRIMERAS IMÁGENES | Liberación de presos políticos en Venezuela (youtube.com)
VENEZUELA I Ya son 7 los presos políticos que liberados (youtube.com)
Detalles de la llamada entre Petro y Trump | Noticias UNO (youtube.com)
COLOMBIA | Gustavo PETRO “Trump me dijo que estaba pensando hacer cosas MALAS en Colombia” | EL PAÍS (youtube.com)
‘Una construccion mentirosa.’
In these periods, do leaders question their actions? and think they should have done more for their people, for all the groups of people, for all the people wanted, especially in terms of protections and rights, liberty, so that in such periods they would have the absolute support and protection of the people?
Comments. ‘Este pobre diablo le tiene miedo a Donal Trump, porque su nivel de brutalidad es abismal’
EL LÍMITE DE SHEINBAUM: México se niega a enviar más crudo a Cuba pese a la crisis (youtube.com)
Trump Says US Will Begin Land Strikes on Cartels in Mexico (youtube.com)
President Claudia Sheinbaum: we have an agreement for joint work (youtube.com)
Seems like Americans might have to give up the idea they believe in or stand for anything like liberty, democracy, civil rights, law and order, checks and balances. They seem to have almost no qualms about executive actions here. I mean in general. The commenters show there is a lot of intelligent dissent and counter points, but the public seems unconcerned.
If that ever really was the project, maybe it isn't now.
A WEEK LATER
Full Breakdown of Maduro Raid - NEW Satellite Imagery Revealing Extent of Damage (youtube.com)
Maduro’s wife suffered ‘significant injuries during abduction’: Lawyer (youtube.com)
Venezuelan Survivor Says US Used Sonic Weapon During Maduro Abduction | WION News (youtube.com)
Guards dropped to their knees, bled from the nose, vomited blood, reportedly.
What Americans think about Trump's military intervention abroad, according to a new AP-NORC poll (apnews.com)
‘ 56% of U.S. adults think Trump has overstepped on military interventions abroad, while majorities disapprove of how the Republican president is handling foreign policy in general and Venezuela in particular.’ However, that's 86% Democrats and 18% Republicans. Independents 63% say he went too far.
LATER STILL IN JANUARY
Venezuela releases 100 political prisoners under US pressure • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Venezuela approves bill to open up oil sector | BBC News (youtube.com)
Politics
Feb 2026
Hootsuite’s ICE Contract Puts Employees in a Tough Spot | The Tyee
What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls (rasmussenreports.com)
Is the US Moving Toward State Capitalism? (youtube.com)
Rise of the Trump Loyalist (youtube.com)
EXPLOSIVE AUDIO: Epstein Pushes Palantir To Former Israeli PM
German authorities have arrested five over exports to Russian defense companies | DW News (youtube.com)
In 2025, the administration took a 10% equity stake in Intel and has negotiated similar "revenue-sharing" or equity arrangements with lithium and rare-earth metal companies.
Through the CHIPS and Science Act, the U.S. is essentially picking "winners" by providing billions in subsidies to specific semiconductor firms to ensure they survive and outcompete foreign rivals (specifically China).
US government offers tax breaks and market access as part of deals that focus trade toward those companies, not to everyone.
Discussion of a sovereign wealth fund. Discussion of government funds payed into accounts for children.
One argument is that USA can't compete with China, because China uses state power to dominate industries, unless USA government also intervenes. Supply chain also.
USA currently is more of a hybrid state capitalist government, where the executive just steers private companies.
What recent polls show about the challenges facing Trump this year (apnews.com)
Ed Martin removed as head of Justice Department's 'Weaponization Working Group' (apnews.com)
‘Break the law or lose your job’ A headline I saw about Trump's loyalists.
Pas de deux: Petro, Trump found a 'perfect sparring partner for their respective political agendas' (youtube.com)
Trump uses Petro as an example of what happens to Latin American countries when they don't comply. Petro is a critic of Trump's policies.
Mexican ambassador to U.S. rejects idea Mexico is weaponizing migration (youtube.com)
Japan's Takaichi rides youth-led craze into election (youtube.com)
Vance says the Olympics are 'one of the few things' that unite Americans (apnews.com)
Why millennials now prefer Harper over Trudeau
Abacus Data polling firm. The people who like him most are Millenials, the voters who came out in droves to elect Trudeau and give him a majority. Voter reform, legalizing marijuana, were Trudeau's success mandates. 50% like Harper and 30% like Trudeau now.
Canadian consulate in Greenland can boost Inuit exchange (youtube.com)
Trump's racist post about Obamas is deleted after backlash despite White House earlier defending it (apnews.com)
The Obama's faces are photoshopped onto the bodies of gorillas. Would it be racist if it was a different race? Would it be racist to put Trump's face on an orange ape, such as the orangutan?
Trump's aggressive tactics force a reckoning between local leaders and Washington (apnews.com)
We Found The Radical Solution To Skyrocketing Grocery Prices (youtube.com)
Government run grocery stores. The cheapest groceries today are offered by the military stores (commissary) (government run).
Encuentro con la diáspora colombiana en Washington D.C. (youtube.com)
Harper warns of Trump threat, says tariffs “must be reciprocated” (youtube.com)
Why Trump's racist video of the Obamas might have minimal consequences for the midterms | DW News (youtube.com)
What is racist about the tweet?
Trump threatens to block opening of new bridge between Windsor and Detroit (youtube.com)
Tech titans leave California after new wealth tax proposal (youtube.com)
Florida.
Politicians join community of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., in grieving massacre (youtube.com)
If there's one thing politicians love, it's a non political tragedy?
Rubio affirms trans-Atlantic ties with Europe at Munich Security Conference (youtube.com)
Isn't that nice?
200,000 estimated at Toronto rally against Iranian regime as Canada sanctions more officials
Over 350,000 people march through Toronto | CTV National News for Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026
Anyone asking quations about how that was organized?
Anthropic's Claude helped Pentagon raid Caracas and seize Maduro, US media report • FRANCE 24 (youtube.com)
WSJ. Claude used with Palantir.
Clara Mattei: capitalism is not natural - it’s enforced (youtube.com)
Why China's Newly Approved UK Embassy is So Controversial (youtube.com)
The New Fed Chair’s Plan to Reduce the National Debt (youtube.com)
New investigation claims immigration surge was strategic effort by top lawmakers (youtube.com)
The claim is that there is an industry in China for ‘birthright tourism’ where pregnant Chinese go to the US and their child born there is a US citizen and when he is 18 he can vote, even when he's not in the US.' Wouldn't he also have to pay taxes to the US?
Portugal’s Social Media Bill for Children Partly a Method to Levy Fines: Commentary (youtube.com)
Canada signs trade MOU with Mexico
Canada and Mexico have viewed each other through the lens of the US, but now maybe they'll look directly at trade with each other.
What to know about the removal of Peru's president — yet again — and what's to come (apnews.com)
‘A clause in Peru’s constitution enables legislators to remove presidents who are found to be “morally incapable” of conducting their duties. This clause has given legislators great leverage over Peru’s executive branch, which has also struggled in recent years to build congressional majorities. ... Peru has had seven presidents over the past decade — with only two of those elected by a popular vote. The others have been vice presidents who have stepped in for deposed presidents, and members of Congress who have been selected by their peers to lead the South American nation.’
To avoid state takeovers, Texas districts are spending millions to outsource struggling schools (youtube.com)
‘There was a lot of urgency.’ An 1882 Partnership. Third Futures (Colorado based) brings in their own staff, and their staff are apparently paid much higher. The money goes out of state though, out of Texas. There's no library, there's no athletics during the day, no band. Those are all after school activities. ‘It is highly structured.’ Students are told to be quiet as they're walked single file from class to class. Are they there to socialize, or are they there to learn? Better test schools. Do test schools mean ‘little to nothing?’ When Edessa, Texas did the same program, grades improved during Third Future's residency, but when they left the school's ‘grade’ went back down to a ‘D’.
Why Public Schools Are Going Broke In The U.S. (youtube.com)
Public school enrollment has been down for 5 years, and they need fewer teachers and staff, but teachers have added staff since the pandemic, and the pandemic required staff for its added services. Cali has people leaving the state, which is a shift because Cali has historically been net inflation in. That means kindergartens need less teachers, but high schools aren't affected yet. ... Schools don't want to cut salaries or reduce staff yet, but they have less students, so they take a gap between funding (usually state and local dollars, plus some pandemic money printing ‘relief funds') and expenses. During pandemic funding, schools could put off addressing their unsustainable spending, but when funding stopped their administration became apparent. ... In Texas, since 2014, staffing is up 16%, and enrollment is up 6%. ... US in genereral has seen a steady decline in enrollment since 2014. ... 90% of school expenditures are for personnel.. .. A lot of the new hires are not teachers but rather are like counsellors and ‘support staff’ for students.
Convicted Chinese spy tied to Los Angeles County mayor (youtube.com)
She wouldn't comment on the man she once referred to as her boyfriend and fiance. Mayor Wang, but she has not been accused of any wrongdoing in this and is not under investigation. She later contradicted her own statement, it seems, saying, ‘Whoever want to say he's my fiance, please prove it.'
She doesn't even speak good English.
CBS reported that Wang tracked the locaiton of the leader of Taiwan when she (the leader) was in town in 2023, ‘giving them real time updates about what she was doing and where she was.’
Commenter. ‘The only thing that surprises me is the fact CBSLA actually covered this.’ Response. ‘CBS is under new leadership and is no longer pushing leftist propaganda or hiding their dirt.’
...
Republican Steve Hilton surges ahead in California governor’s race (youtube.com)
UK defends Chagos Islands deal after Trump calls handover 'act of great stupidity' (bbc.com)
‘Washington last year gave its blessing to the deal, which gave the Indian Ocean islands to Mauritius but retained UK control of the Diego Garcia base under a 99-year lease.’
UK's reason was to not have to deal with the legal and diplomatic attacks keeping the island would invite.
Do UK's leaders sell Brits' heritage or property for personal benefits?
‘Not normal’: Trump directs DHS to investigate new citizens for ‘voter fraud’ (youtube.com)
Occasional Cortex AOC is a Degenerate Moron (THE SAAD TRUTH_1994) (youtube.com)
Even if he's not going to support many Democrats (and I don't know if that's the case), it doesn't say much about Dem's chances if their main popular leader is talked about this way.
Alberta premier to put immigration, Constitution questions on referendum (youtube.com)
Highlights: Trump says he’s enacted a 10% global tariff by executive order (apnews.com)
But, in the past few months, nations have had the opportunity to deal with eachother in ways they haven't during the period of good trade relations with the US. Canada might have been seen as disloyal if they had traded with China and Mexico without consideration or even against US interests before the tariffs.
Highlights: Trump says he’s enacted a 10% global tariff by executive order (apnews.com)
Trump has other tariff options after Supreme Court strikes down his worldwide import taxes (apnews.com)
Worldwide tax.
"It really does put a big limit on his negotiating power" • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Trump adds 10% global tariff after U.S. Supreme Court decision | CTV National News for Feb.20, 2026 (youtube.com)
Under Sec 122.
South Korea's ousted President Yoon found guilty of insurrection
Donald Trump to raise global tariffs to 15% after 'anti-American' Supreme Court verdict | BBC News (youtube.com)
This is the first time Trump in tariff news seemed weak. At first, he seemed forceful and it was surprises, no one expected it, and no one immediately knew what to make of it either. Then it sort of became ‘just Donald doing Donald’ and countries started to adapt by dealing outside the US to whatever degree. But he hadn't really come off as weak, perceptually.
Are people becomming more lighthearted about Trump? Those that used to be outraged, are they being more jocular?
“We’re Walking on Eggshells”: French Wine Makers React as Trump Raises Tariffs | APT
El Mencho: Mexico shuts down as wave of violence sweeps country | DW News (youtube.com)
People we know in PV said they are staying in their homes. The cartel is stopping vehicles, pulling people out of them, and torcihng the vehicles. No people are being injured.
Could you even find a person who would say this might improve peace and security in Jalisco or in Mexico? or is the question just, who will be the next boss? or will it fragment?
Images published from the area show cars and some buildings smouldering and dark smoke trails in the air.
El Mencho was ‘by far’ the most wanted man for Mexican police, reported.
...
Are Trump's followers ones who are ‘cultist followers blindly listen to whatever he says’? Someone wrote that.
Big Tech FREAKS After Activists KILL Data Center (youtube.com)
Greenland says 'no thanks' to Trump's hospital ship • FRANCE 24 English
Texas Rep. Gonzales resists calls to resign over allegations of an affair with an ex-staffer (apnews.com)
An allegation of an affair is enough for this kind of attack.
Trump's big speech will be delivered to a changed nation and a Congress he has sidelined
Cartel violence fuels doubts about FIFA World Cup games in Mexico (apnews.com)
US women's gold medal-winning team declines invitation from Trump to attend State of Union address
How Trump's pressure on Mexico led to the killing of cartel leader 'El Mencho' (youtube.com)
A continuation of violence in Mexico 'highly likely' after drug lord killing
US men's hockey team feted at State of the Union; Trump says women's team will be honored 'soon'
Venezuela says more than 3,200 people have been fully released since amnesty law took effect (apnews.com)
I saw a headline that said over 1000 people, including political prisoners, had been recently released.
Trump Calls Democrats 'Crazy' for Not Protecting Kids (youtube.com)
Senate committee recommends removing broad immigration powers from border bill (youtube.com)
Daliwali on Venezuela, ‘ The same old playbook of destablization in Latin America still works, what will follow is a drawn out looting and ransacking of the country to benefit the American empire.’
Thomas Massie, '“Previous presidents told us to go to war over WMDs, weapons of mass destruction, that did not exist. Now it’s the same playbook, except we’re told that drugs are the WMDs.”
“James Madison warned us that in no part of the Constitution is more wisdom to be found than in the clause which confides the question of war and peace to the legislature—not the executive.”
“The framers understood a simple truth: to the extent that war-making power devolves to one person, liberty dissolves.”
...
Vancouver councillor’s video denounced, removed
Accusing opposition candidates of using and distributing drugs, on WeChat. I wonder if they do?
DHS Assault Victim Aliya Rahman Arrested at State of the Union Address (youtube.com)
Elizabeth May Gives a Press Conference Outlining Consistent Abuse of Parliamentary Democracy.
Canada.
Callers to Washington state hotline press 2 for Spanish and get accented AI English instead
Trump Tells US Agencies to Stop Using Anthropic's Tech
Alberta budget brings property tax hike to Calgary
War powers debate intensifies after Trump orders attack on Iran without approval by Congress
San Diego volunteers detained, kicked out of federal building | NBC 7 San Diego (youtube.com)
Iranian leader Khamenei killed in U.S.-Israel air strikes (youtube.com)
Does this mean the Trump White House endorses just kidnapping or killing any world leader another country wants to?
Commenter. 'No, we don't have to agree that a surprise attack is okay (although we used to call that a SNEAK attack. See: December 7, 1941).'
A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator (youtube.com)
This is a parody video by the Norwegian Consumer Council, ie the Norwegian government.
66k likes on 500k views in 1 day.
They're going to send letters to people to try to get policy.
Lol, why bother. Just lead.
...
Leaked GOP bill would allow for electric companies to own nuclear (youtube.com)
Feb 2026 ICE
Joe Rogan, Natalie Portman and others speak out against immigration crackdown (youtube.com)
Federal agents drew weapons on unarmed woman in St. Peter, Minnesota (youtube.com)
ICE Surveillance: A Growing Digital Dragnet (youtube.com)
DW.
Artists absolutely destroy Donald Trump and ICE at Grammy Awards (youtube.com)
Does Trump have support among any part of the youth?
Portland man files legal claim against DHS after encounter with ICE agents (youtube.com)
US government shutdown ends, starting clock on ICE talks (youtube.com)
Montrealers protest ICE, Trump immigration crackdown (youtube.com)
Is Minneapolis under surveillance during ICE surge? We went there to find out (youtube.com)
700 immigration officers will immediately leave Minnesota (apnews.com)
Democrats demand 'dramatic changes' for ICE, including masks, cameras and judicial warrants (apnews.com)
Because of the demands of labor placed on her, it seems.
'Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Le was a probationary attorney.
'“This conduct is unprofessional and unbecoming of an ICE attorney in abandoning her obligation to act with commitment, dedication, and zeal to the interests of the United States Government,” McLaughlin said in a statement.'
ICE pulling 700 agents from Minnesota, but 2,000 will remain (youtube.com)
Oregon immigration attorney intervenes as ICE agents attempt to arrest asylum seeker (youtube.com)
ICE agents are in 5 Canadian cities. We asked what they do (youtube.com)
Anyone want to go out and make a wild guess that it's ‘act outside of the law’?
ICE have offices in 5 canadian cities. ICE has more than 90 offices in 50 countries, according to its website. A mandate to identify and stop crime before it reaches the US.
Reportedly, it's a different division of ICE than the one in the news. But what's the real difference? Is ICE a paramilitary for the White House? Is it acting with impunity? Is it a public safety concern?
Should Vancouver kick ICE agents out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup? (youtube.com)
AI images spreading confusion about ICE agents in Minneapolis, expert says (youtube.com)
SHOCKING: College Students Opinions On ICE! (youtube.com)
ProPublica Identifies CBP Agents Who Fatally Shot ICU Nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis (youtube.com)
Trump's immigration crackdown is straining federal courts. Judges are raising the alarm (apnews.com)
Hard hats and dummy plates: Reports of ICE ruses add to fears in Minnesota (apnews.com)
US immigration court blocks deportation of Tufts graduate student from Turkey, her attorneys say (apnews.com)
Why Trump Voters Are Torn Over Minneapolis (youtube.com)
Anonymous online forum offers insight into ICE officers’ experiences on the job (youtube.com)
Local ICE cooperation up 950%; Noem’s ties with Coast Guard strained | Media Miss (youtube.com)
‘Deploying the US Marines against US citizens should have been seen as a foreign invasion.’ Daliwali
Canadian man detained in ICE processing centre reveals grim realities (youtube.com)
A US permanent resident, working in oil and gas, flagged when returning from a business trip in Mexico, four months in ICE detention and counting. The reason was the man had a misdemeanor charge from high school for drugs, 20 years ago.
‘I don’t drink water from here without boiling it first.' Has to sleep on a floor without blankets, called ‘the ICE box’. 2 days with a bottle of water and a frozen waffle.
‘The worse they make it, the more likely [the incarcerated] is going to say, “Well, if I have to stay in here and fight this for 90 more days or I can't self deport and get out of here, then I'm going to self deport.”'
He said he was disillusioned from the idea ICE was going after the worst of the worst, because the people he's seen in detention with him are not like that.
The family is filing for unlawful detention.
...
‘While the riots are going on in Los Angeles about the ICE raids, a lot of people are in support of the police, National Guard, Marines deployed there. They need to manufacture approval for the totalitarian surveillance state, as long as they use their power against marginalized communities which are despised by greater society.’ Daliwali
Hawaiʻi can't control ICE. Here's what lawmakers want to do instead (apnews.com)
They really want something to work, so they're simultaneously doing 25 bills (instead of one omnibus) aimed at limiting the force the Federal government and its agencies have over the state's will. ‘As bills were amended or lost momentum, others could pick up some of the pieces that fell by the wayside.’ Last year, state lawmakers were forced to go ’in a direction they weren't willing to go.' Half the bills have not succeeded, but the other half carry the bulk of what those ones also carried.
‘One would generally prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing masks [amended so they could but only when doing undercover operations], another would bar police officers from stopping people to ask them about their immigration status and protect the right for the public to record police activities, and one would require state and county police agencies to advise people in custody of their rights before they are interviewed by federal immigration agents.’ Also ‘one to prohibit local law enforcement officers from helping federal agents exceed their authority or suppress First Amendment activity, such as protesting during ICE sweeps.’ Also, ‘local officials and police officers cannot stop federal agents from making arrests that are supported by judicial warrants. But various proposed bills would prohibit them from participating in enforcing civil violations of immigration law, which they are not required by law or authorized to do.’ Also, to ‘prevent local officials from cooperating with most enforcement around state-funded facilities such as schools, social service agencies and health services.’Also one ‘aimed at barring state or local law enforcement agencies from entering agreements with federal authorities that would allow them to join in immigration enforcement.’
“We had a year to see what this Trump administration was going to do, and it was clear that our more wait-and-see attitude wasn’t really going to work,” state Sen. Karl Rhoads said.
Several (immigration) bills introduced last year went no where, but this year similar bills have been passed. They have been urged along by advocates, including ACLU.
“It has become abundantly clear that the Department of Homeland Security is no longer an agency that abides by constitutional norms,” said Liza Ryan Gill, (Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights). “If Immigration and Customs Enforcement comes with a judicial warrant, there is nothing we can pass or do that can stop them from executing that warrant. This package of bills is meant to protect Hawaiʻi from being dragged down into the unconstitutional actions of a rogue agency.”
“Minnesota was a pretty crystallizing event,” said Rhoads, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
...
Takeaways from AP's report on the ICE detention center holding children and parents (apnews.com)
ICE detains Columbia student in dorm raid; Mamdani credits Trump for release (youtube.com)
January 2026
What parts of Canadian culture will be 'rebranded' in 2026? Here are our predictions (youtube.com)
Venezuela has detained several Americans as tensions with US rise (youtube.com)
2025 in Review: Is ICE in the US operating as secret police? (youtube.com)
China Asks Banks to Report Exposure to Venezuela After US Raid (youtube.com)
Is Trump going to invade Greenland just like Venezuela? (youtube.com)
INFILTRATED! - How the USA buys Greenland's elite (youtube.com)
European leaders react to Trump’s latest comment about annexing Greenland (youtube.com)
To convince them to spend on military?
Ontario court rules Premier Ford must hand over his personal phone for transparency (youtube.com)
US voters hate AI — and politicians are noticing (youtube.com)
Iran's ayatollah accuses protesters of acting on behalf of Trump (youtube.com)
Probably harder to do than on native soil, but seems possible to infiltrate protests to turn them into puppets for the three letters.
DeSantis: 93 flights carrying 2,900+ detainees have departed ‘Deportation Depot’ since its opening (youtube.com)
What did this cost? And what did it cost in terms of US workforce/business rehiring, retraining?
Sikh separatists protest Eby's trip to India (youtube.com)
BC, Canada.
Reporter Asks Trump: 'What Does Cuba Have To Do To Avoid The Same Fate As Venezuela?' (youtube.com)
Is Trump a neocon now? Jcal raised that. All-In's 2026 Predictions (youtube.com)
xAI, the startup behind Grok, said on Thursday it was Indonesia temporarily blocks access to Grok over sexualised images. Reuters
"The government views the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the security of citizens in the digital space," Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said in a statement.
'xAI replied to Reuters' email seeking comment with what seemed to be an automated response: "Legacy Media Lies". X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.'
Trump signs order protect venezuelan oil revenue held us accounts (reuters.com)
‘Aimed at blocking courts or creditors from impounding revenue tied to the sale of Venezuelan oil held in U.S. Treasury accounts, the White House said on Saturday.’ AP
Colombia’s FARC Rebel Leader Warns of US Intervention, Calls for Guerrilla Unity | APT (youtube.com)
‘It is the boot that seeks to trample on our sovereignty, our dignity, and our right to self determination.’
Colombia sees 'real threat' of US military action, president tells BBC | BBC News (youtube.com)
Nobel Institute says Venezuelan leader Machado can't give Peace Prize to Trump (apnews.com)
Nicaragua’s government says it’s freeing detainees after pressure from the US (apnews.com)
‘In recent years, the government has released hundreds of imprisoned political opponents, critics and activists. It stripped them of Nicaraguan citizenship and sent them to other countries like the U.S. and Guatemala.’
The end of Fed independence: Fed Chair Powell says he’s under criminal investigation, won’t bow to Trump intimidation
The end of Fed independence: Fed Chair Powell says he’s under criminal investigation, won’t bow to Trump intimidation
Commenter. ‘A weak USD is how you get manufacturing back to the US. If our products are more affordable to global markets then other countries buy more goods from us. Unfortunately this has huge implications for the rest of the US, really the world since the USD is so prevalent in global markets (petrodollar). There was a reason manufacturing was offshored and the US moved towards niche/specialized manufacturing and tech jobs. His base is just to fucking stupid to understand this. ’
'A second thing is, theoretically is promotes exporting rather than importing. With trump's previous rants about "trade deficit" it seems like he thinks the us should export more and import less. The new chAyna'
r/wallstreetbets - Reddit (reddit.com)
or
Statement from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell (federalreserve.gov)
Sen. Kelly sues the Pentagon over attempts to punish him, declaring it unconstitutional (apnews.com)
Young Americans are increasingly rejecting the Democratic and Republican parties, a new poll shows (apnews.com)
Warning troops.
Meta names former Trump adviser Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chairman (apnews.com)
Past three fed chairs decry unprecedented assault by trump powell (reuters.com)
Régimen de Daniel Ortega anunció la excarcelación de "decenas" de presos políticos en Nicaragua (youtube.com)
This is pretty regular though, and done for special occasions like Mothers' Day, so not sure how much might have to do with US politics. Also, if there were an invasion of Nicaragua like Venezuela, US wouldn't be able to make a headline by releasing a handful of political prisoners like they did in Venezuela, I suppose.
Hegseth speaks at F-35 facility in Texas, 'Arsenal of Freedom' tour (youtube.com)
Larry Johnson : Is the CIA Fueling Iran’s Chaos? (youtube.com)
Hollywood actors absolutely destroy Donald Trump at the Golden Globes (youtube.com)
Musk Moves Back Into Trump Orbit (youtube.com)
The CIA Has Been FUNDING The Academic Left (w/ Gabriel Rockhill) (youtube.com)
Adam Carolla on California’s Collapse: Fires, Failed Leadership, and Gyno-Fascism (youtube.com)
‘Gynofacism.' Looks like this might be how it happens. It's about 30 years, maybe 20, since feminism became seriously toxic (but caused problems for a decade or so before that on a lesser scale). Some people identified parts of this over the past decade or two. Looks like it might be going mainstream under this term.
'Everything they do is under the umbrella of safety. And they get a lot of applause and acolades for making things safer, but what they don't realize is they grind things to a halt.' Shutting schools down for Covid. Churchs, small businesses, too. Mostly Barbara Ferrer and other female city council. ‘They hide behind the shield of safety because it makes them sound noble.’ ‘It’s mostly women who buy into it, just like we scared all the moms durinc Covid, and then they make all the rules, and the rules are always more and it's always safer, and people sort of go along with it.'
He raised the example that if you have a boy who's going to pitch and which of his parents would make a fairer umpire for the game? He posits that the mother would be more likely to call a few balls and strikes in favor of her son, be a bit more protective of her son. More likely to pick a side, team up, and then root for.
Most of the staff on the NYT, the presidents of colleges, are women now.
More of an emotional process. That's also why they're better at being moms.
It's a fact that the marketing campaigns around vaccines and other things are all targeted at the moms, because that's who's going drive the action in the house, added Friedburg.
‘Race hustlers' who pretend it's the 60s and ignore that top figures include blacks, like Obama, Oprah, almost all kids including whites wanted to be Jordan in the 90s.
‘Self segregation' of responsible people moving away and leaving the people who want DEI.
...
Why are both the Venezuelan candidates accepted by Trump females and very similar types?
JPMorgan Says ‘Everything’ on Table to Fight 10% Credit Card Cap (youtube.com)
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs : An Unchecked Presidency (youtube.com)
Mexico is now Cuba's biggest oil supplier—and Trump is watching (youtube.com)
JD Vance Asked If U.S. Could Attack Iran — His Answer Raises New Questions | AC1G (youtube.com)
'"Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!... HELP IS ON ITS WAY," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, without saying what that help might be.'
'Russia on Tuesday condemned what it described as "subversive external interference" in Iran's internal politics, saying any repeat of last year's U.S. strikes would have "disastrous consequences" for the Middle East and international security.'
'Iran's authorities have taken a dual approach, cracking down while also calling protests over economic problems legitimate.' No sign of fracture in the clerical establishment, Reuters reported.
16k Iranians detained. 2 weeks of protest.
South Korean prosecutor seeks death sentence for ex-leader Yoon over martial law decree (apnews.com)
Iranian mp warns greater unrest urging government address grievances (reuters.com)
Irans traders frustrated by economic losses turn against clerics (reuters.com)
Davos begins new era grappling with global order shaken by trump (reuters.com)
"Who is going to be making the case for the rules-based international order?" said Daniel Woker, a former Swiss ambassador and foreign relations expert.
"To be very blunt, in a system where everyone is only looking out for themselves, it has no reason to exist. It's an event from the past."
Trump says Jamie Dimon Is Wrong to Criticize the Probe of Jay Powell (youtube.com)
"Argentina Moved BUCKETS!" - Milei SHOCKS Critics With $2.5B Loan Payback (youtube.com)
US banks didn't want to do it, asked for taxpayers to fund a stoploss for them. US government under Trump did it with the IMF. Milei only needed $2.5b of the $20b loan, it seems, and he paid it back already, and the taxpayer got millions back in interest payment from Milei. ‘This is intervention that works. It worked for Argentina, it worked for Milei, and it worked for the American taxpayer.'
Argentina had taken loans for decades and never paid it back. Everyone looked at them as that. Milei is a different politician, it seems.
It's the difference between taking out a loan where you need it to do something productive versus just taking a loan and you don't even know what to use it for, they said.
...
How vulnerable to annexation is Canada’s arctic region? (youtube.com)
...
Massive Somali Fraud in Minnesota with Nick Shirley, California Asset Seizure, $20B Groq-Nvidia Deal (youtube.com)
Coherent, closed communities (like Somali) can be used for votes, particularly Muslims, Shirley says, because they go to mosques and when there's a government vote the leader says Ok let's go vote for whoever. He notes that because of their faith you might expect them to vote conservative, but they usually vote democrat because that's who gives them more money.
The tax money is used by government to give to fake charity and social welfare programs (so no tax is paid by those who receive it). The communities behind these programs give those politicians exemption from their political use of racism claims (which is their immediate response to critics like Shirley), which protects them from lawyers and politicians and everyone else, because no one wants to fight against racism charges and it's just not worth it. Those communities send that money in cash to Somalia or wherever, sometimes from Dubai through money transfer. Some of that money, it seems, might fund terrorist groups, and some of it might make it back through campaign donations for the original politicians.
Another point Shirley raised was that Muslims can have 4 wives, so 3 could claim welfare.
Three (white female) liberal judges dismissed Somali fraud cases after juries convicted the Somalis.
‘Votes are being stolen. I believe elections are being stolen.’ Sacks said. He said there's way more fraud in California, and listed failed government projects that used tax money.
Elon's estimate was 20% of government spending is fraud, ‘essentially theft.’
‘Democrats denouncing waste is like Don Corlione denouncing the mafia.’ David Sacks
‘Fraudsters are doners, too. It’s all just political patronage.'
...
Five takeaways reuters interview president trump (reuters.com)
The president suggested that he follows his own compass. “A lot of times, you can't convince a voter,” he said. “You have to just do what's right. And then a lot of the things I did were not really politically popular. They turned out to be when it worked out so well.”
Trump said he didn't care about polls. He has a binder of his accomplishments.
'The president expressed frustration that his Republican Party could lose control of the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate in this year’s midterm elections, citing historical trends that have seen the party in power lose seats in the second year of a presidency. “It's some deep psychological thing, but when you win the presidency, you don't win the midterms,” Trump said. He boasted that he had accomplished so much that “when you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election.”'
...
Trump questions reza pahlavis ability garner support iran (reuters.com)
Trump says he has no plan fire feds powell despite investigation (reuters.com)
Venezuelan opposition leader Machado presents Trump her Nobel Peace Prize (youtube.com)
Senators launch a cross-party effort to end stock trading by lawmakers (apnews.com)
Trump says he’ll keep Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize, praises her as ‘a very fine woman’ (apnews.com)
Canada china set make historic gains new partnership says carney (reuters.com)
Us says canadas decision allow imported chinese evs is problematic (reuters.com)
Cia director ratcliffe meets with venezuelas rodriguez caracas nyt reports (reuters.com)
Nobel peace prize inseparable laureate award body says after trump gets medal (reuters.com)
Long lineups in central Alberta to sign petition for province to leave Canada
Long lineups in central Alberta to sign petition for province to leave Canada
Trump imposes 10% Tariff on 7 EU countries + UK which will increase to 25% by June if he doesn't get Greenland.
Trump imposes 10% Tariff on 7 EU countries + UK which will increase to 25% by June if he doesn
Taiwan will invest $250B in U.S. chipmaking under new trade deal (youtube.com)
Trump invites Carney and others to join ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza (youtube.com)
Trump Is Moving into 'Lame Duck Territory' says Treyz (youtube.com)
Bridgewater's Ray Dalio on 'capital war' fears: The monetary order is breaking down (youtube.com)
Did Trump Cross a Red Line on Greenland? (youtube.com)
Once the delicate holding of relationships and benefits that can be taken away from relationship particpants (countries) is removed by cancelling them all to try to force shortterm gains, all that remains would be military force and some economic market participation.
Trump’s Greenland threat is just the beginning of new world order - Peter Zeihan (youtube.com)
Trump shares messages frances macron offering g7 meeting after davos (reuters.com)
Thousands protest against trump immigration policies (reuters.com)
China never deliberately pursued trade surplus vice premier says (reuters.com)
Colombia says former FARC rebels have not kept promises to surrender cash and gold (apnews.com)
What is trumps board peace who has joined so far (reuters.com)
What the EU's 'trade bazooka' is and how it works (apnews.com)
‘The measures could include curtailing the export and import of goods and services, barring countries or companies from EU public tenders, or limiting foreign direct investment. In its most severe form, the bazooka would essentially close off access to the EU’s 450-million customer market.’ Takes 6 months to activate.
Sheinbaum Says U.S. Military Plane Landing In Mexico Was Pre‑Authorized Training | APT (youtube.com)
The rise of Britain’s MAGA-like movement (youtube.com)
The Bank of England's $5bn Venezuelan gold problem (youtube.com)
‘Blatant robbery by the UK’?
Trump rolls out his Board of Peace, but it's not clear how many leaders will join him (apnews.com)
Fcc says us late night daytime talk shows must offer equal time candidate (reuters.com)
'Until now, talk shows have qualified for the equal opportunities exemption as genuine news interviews, ever since the FCC's Media Bureau granted an exemption to the interview portion of Jay Leno’s "Tonight Show" in 2006. Networks have relied on the ruling as a precedent for recent interviews with political candidates.' FCC says they haven't shown any reason their interview portions of their shows qualify for an exemption.
Us set quit world health organization (reuters.com)
Why was French President Emmanuel Macron wearing aviator sunglasses at the Davos summit? #BBCNews (youtube.com)
‘Broken blood vessel in his eye’, reportedly.
Ecuador announces 30 percent tariff on Colombia over drug trafficking (youtube.com)
Both politicians pictured with sunglasses in the thumbnail.
How Canada’s Carney is taking on Trump | The Global Story Podcast (youtube.com)
Global National: Jan. 22, 2026 | Carney says Canadian values "must be fought for" (youtube.com)
Clarify what you mean by ‘fight’.
TikTok's US operations: Video platform finalises deal to avoid ban (youtube.com)
Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX.
India Is Turning Trump’s Trade Pressure Into Opportunity (youtube.com)
US Officially Exits World Health Organization (youtube.com)
Why Buffett now keeps his politics to himself (youtube.com)
Alberta First Nations chiefs denounce separation talks (youtube.com)
Never really considered disolving Canada as a method of polite withdrawal from paying for natives subsidy.
Trump threatens 100 per cent tariffs on Canada over China deal (youtube.com)
Trump praises uk troops brave warriors after widespread condemnation (reuters.com)
Greenland ukraine trumps centralized diplomacy creates whiplash allies (reuters.com)
Us presses bolivia expel suspected iranian spies harden approach militant groups (reuters.com)
Mexico weighs stopping oil shipments cuba amid concerns trump retaliation (reuters.com)
China investigating senior military officials zhang youxia liu zhenli says (reuters.com)
Who's on Trump's Board of Peace and who has said no (apnews.com)
‘A White House official has said about 30 countries were expected to join the board, without providing details, while about 50 had been invited.’
Countries that say they will join the board:
— Argentina
— Albania
— Armenia
— Azerbaijan
— Bahrain
— Belarus
— Bulgaria
— Egypt
— Hungary
— Indonesia
— Jordan
— Kazakhstan
— Kosovo
— Morocco
— Mongolia
— Pakistan
— Qatar
— Saudi Arabia
— Turkey
— United Arab Emirates
— Uzbekistan
— Vietnam
Countries that will not join the board, at least for now:
— France
— Norway
— Slovenia
— Sweden
— The United Kingdom
Countries that have been invited but remain noncommittal:
— Cambodia
— China
— Croatia
— Cyprus
— Germany
— Greece
— India
— Italy
— The European Union’s executive arm
— Paraguay
— Russia
— Singapore
— Thailand
— Ukraine
...
Imposing 100 per cent tariffs on Canada would be too costly for U.S. consumers: expert (youtube.com)
Not if you want maximum inflation, though?
Harper says he advised Carney's government to move away from the U.S. (youtube.com)
He was a pro US PM.
Why Israeli Weapons Are in Demand Despite Global Criticism (youtube.com)
Trump's 100% Tariff Threat Just Handed Canada the Perfect Victory (youtube.com)
Final phase myanmars election underway military backed party set win (reuters.com)
Ex-CIA Official on What Xi Jinping's Purge of Top Chinese General Reveals (youtube.com)
Nobody is safe chinas xi targets his close ally purge (reuters.com)
In Norway, more voices, better solutions (csmonitor.com)
‘To help patch up public faith in democracy, 40,000 people were picked at random from all walks of life, and then 66 were chosen to deliberate together over four months on a “citizens’ assembly,” ... called the Future Panel. ... This type of well-informed, civil, and participatory decision-making – across party lines and across age groups...’
“The idea was that we were different people from different parts of the country. My experience is that we had all the same fundamental values.”
When government promises are broken, how is trust restored? (csmonitor.com)
'I think the responsibility has to fall on federal authorities to protect communities that have been plundered, exploited by these large financial and even small financial institutions.'
Memphis’ different take on a federal surge (csmonitor.com)
‘A federal-local split over immigration policies, not to mention which branch of law enforcement should investigate the violent acts.’
'Should Minneapolis police, for example, always protect immigration agents from civilians who try to block enforcement? Should the FBI allow the state of Minnesota to join the investigation into shootings by federal law enforcement? A lack of mutual trust driven by policy differences can exacerbate such issues.'
Memphis D mayor allowed the 1500 ICE officers plus 1000 national guards in, partially due to a recent state law passed by a R led legislature mandating local government support the federal efforts. But mayor Young directed this force towards Memphis' gang crime, integrating them into police, required to report abuses. And National Guard can't intervene in crime, only notify police. The mayor later announced that ‘serious crimes’ were at a 25 year low.
Rebuilding two-way trust, city by city (csmonitor.com)
‘Participatory budgeting’ (1980s idea from Porto Alegre, Brazil). A group of citizens gets to decide/vote on where a chunk of the budget gets spent. Paris does $118m per year participatory budget, but receiving 21k ideas from the public each year, checking them for feasability, presenting 260 to the group, and the group chose 104. NYC does $30m decided by citizens (ages 10 and up).
Grassroots engagement, transparency, reduces bias against politicians decisions.
To keep Trump out of Greenland, Europe asks itself: ‘How far can we really go?’ (csmonitor.com)
The dangerous rise of Buddhist extremism: ‘Attaining nirvana can wait’ (theguardian.com)
'In countries such as Sri Lanka and Myanmar, where the conservative Theravada strain predominates, monks have emerged as central figures in movements that promote sectarian hatred, abandoning the teachings of the Buddha in favour of a more common and earthly goal: political power.' ‘... At the expense of minorities.’
‘These monks also illuminate a lesser-known dimension of Buddhism: its patriarchal structure.’
‘I don’t feel sad when bad people do bad things. I feel sad when good people don’t do anything.’ Geshe Lhakdor
'Seattle provides each adult resident with four $25 vouchers they can donate to local political candidates of their choice.' The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)
‘In Kansas City, the largest U.S. city to adopt a zero-fare transit policy, bus ridership is about 24 percent higher than in other similar cities.’
‘There are over 2,600 community-led seed libraries in the U.S., where people can “borrow” seeds, plant them, and later “return” them from their own crop in the next growing cycle.’
Minneapolis shooting scrambles Second Amendment politics for Trump (youtube.com)
Y Combinator no longer invests in Canadian firms (youtube.com)
Canadian companies face backlash for doing business with U.S. federal agencies (youtube.com)
What percentage of Trump's support is thugs now? You generally see politicians that outrage their citizens start with broad support, because that's how they got elected, there was a need for change and no better options. But then their flaws result in actions that alienate the more centrist, moderate, and scholarly parts of who voted for them, and then it slides further and further. So what point is it at now?
South Korea’s ex-first lady jailed for corruption (youtube.com)
SURPRISE: Nicki Minaj Called Onstage By Trump Calls Her Onstage—Then She Sends Message To The Haters (youtube.com)
She said she's ‘the president’s number one fan.' ‘The hate... actually motivates me to support him more.’
Minaj and Kevin Oleery.
Commenter. ‘Nicki trying to get her husband that pardon’
Commenter. ‘People forget he pardon lil Wayne.’ Commenter. ‘lil wayne also a hardcore republican.’
US embassy angers Danish veterans by removing flags • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
DRIPA'S GOLDEN $BILLIONS. From Tahltan to Kamloops. (youtube.com)
The New Westmininster Times?
Eby says Alberta separatists seeking help from U.S. is 'treason' (youtube.com)
Trump hangs a 'nice' photo of himself and Putin in the White House • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Germanys merz calls stronger nato within europe wants maintain us ties (reuters.com)
But no mention of civil rights yet in Europe?
Ai weiwei says west lacks moral authority criticise beijing rights (reuters.com)
Ukraine working with spacex stop russian drones use starlink kyiv says (reuters.com)
Violence surges right wing populist emerges frontrunner costa ricas presidential (reuters.com)
Drone backed militants attack nigerian army base several soldiers dead (reuters.com)
Trump says us decertifying bombardier global express until canada certifies (reuters.com)
New zealand declines invite join board peace (reuters.com)
Trump impose tariffs goods nations nations giving oil cuba white house says (reuters.com)
Burkina faso military government dissolves political parties (reuters.com)
New dutch government plans freedom tax fund defence spending (reuters.com)
Trump cabinet attends black carpet premiere amazonbacked documentary melania (reuters.com)
Memes said only one ticket was sold in Australia or something. Could be fake news.
Trump reshapes us historical cultural institutions (reuters.com)
Under the pretense or justification of prior installations being ‘anti American’. Slave exhibits, Confederate statues, calling for removal of anti American idiology, allegedly added in recent years, from Smithsonian, which presents ‘a false version of history.’
Democrats, White House strike spending deal that would avert government shutdown (apnews.com)
Donald Trump nominates Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair
Donald Trump nominates Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair (1200 comments)
‘Warsh is unambiguously the most ultra hawkish fed’: Hatfield on gold, silver prices sliding
Separatist Sentiment Resurfaces | Your Morning (youtube.com)
Tom Tillis (R, North Carolina) said that Noem and incompetent people in the White House, in positions of power, have taken an issue that everyone should be united on, that did unite Republicans and got Trump elected on it, that is, border security immigration, she/they have taken that issue and destroyed that for Republicans. Steven Miller on Greenland is doing also, on Greenland, calling people terrorists. ‘To feed a MAGA base that's not going to keep Trump in office' argued Jcal. ICE Chaos in Minneapolis, Clawdbot Takeover, Why the Dollar is Dropping (youtube.com)
ICE, Minneapolis, January 2026
Oglala Sioux Tribe says three tribal members arrested in Minneapolis are in ICE detention (apnews.com)
ICE raid on Minneapolis home “blatant constitutional violation” attorney says (youtube.com)
Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to end protests in Minneapolis (apnews.com)
Small minneapolis businesses hit hard by ice crackdown while corporations stay (reuters.com)
Amid ice raids some home depot investors want know how law enforcement uses its (reuters.com)
How Palantir Assists ICE | Interesting Times with Ross Douthat (youtube.com)
'JUSTICE IS COMING': Homan on who is funding anti-ICE protests (youtube.com)
2,500 Illegal Immigrants Arrested in Minneapolis Over 5 Weeks (youtube.com)
Ice broke into minnesota home dragged barely clothed man into snow (reuters.com)
Any reason to push a guy in his shorts out into the snow handcuffed?
Us subpoenas minnesota leaders criminal grand jury probe over opposition (reuters.com)
Vance's message in Minneapolis: Local officials must cooperate with the immigration crackdown (apnews.com)
Not only will they do it, but they will tell you you shouldn't disagree?
Minnesota DOC holds press conference on ICE detainers (youtube.com)
‘Now some sheriffs are being thrown under the bus by DHS as being uncooperative. That is just not true.’
Man dies after being shot by ICE agent in Minneapolis (youtube.com)
How ICE is using far-right subculture to recruit (youtube.com)
Hundreds gather at memorial for man fatally shot by a federal officer in Minneapolis (youtube.com)
ICE condemns "death cards" left in vehicles of Colorado residents detained by agents (youtube.com)
'Horrific moment': Natalie Portman condemns ICE (apnews.com)
Olivia Wilde condemns ICE after another fatal shooting in Minneapolis (apnews.com)
US Border Patrol agent fatally shoots a man in Minneapolis (apnews.com)
Video of event.
Minneapolis shootings put trumps immigration surge center election year fight (reuters.com)
Trump moved cut funding ice body cameras pared back oversight (reuters.com)
Can ice agents be prosecuted minneapolis shootings (reuters.com)
'DHS said Pretti approached with a handgun and violently resisted attempts to disarm him, though bystander videos verified by Reuters show Pretti - whom Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said carried a handgun lawfully - holding a phone as he tries to help protesters whom agents pushed to the ground.'
‘Minnesota’s use-of-force law permits state police to use deadly force only if reasonable officers would believe doing so was necessary to protect themselves, or others, from death or serious harm. Federal law has a similar standard, permitting use of deadly force when a reasonable officer would have probable cause to believe a person posed an immediate threat of death or serious injury.’
It looks unlikely a lawsuit against ICE or an ICE agent could be successful, even though probably the majority of Americans might support it, illustrating what Americans have complained about for years, police/federal official immunity, or even if they don't have total immunity, a situation where punishing them is basically impossible. ICE in the cases of the past couple weeks can claim they did it to protect their own or others' lives, as a constitutional part of their job. Neither of the two ICE shootings looks like it was necessary or reasonable, and it's be good to get a survey of Americans' perspective on this.
Alex Pretti committed “domestic terrorism” before being killed by federal agent in Minneapolis: DHS (youtube.com)
Les Black Panthers contre ICE aux États-Unis | Rad (youtube.com)
‘We can walk in any hood, any time. They love us.’
‘Tired of that s*** and actually ready to do something about it...’
‘They think they’re above the law, they can do what they want, because of Trump. Come on yall? How you gonna wage war on your own .... country?'
For the Panthers to attack, you have to attac them first, they said.
Under 100 Panthers in Philly.
‘Do you believe in non violent revolution?’ ‘It is possible but the threat of violence has to be there.’ (C'est possible, mais la menace de la violence doit etre la.)
‘If Trump sends like hundreds of ICE agents are you ready for that?’ ‘Yes absolutely. Send them.’
They walk around unbothered, with AKs, on the streets, on the trains, in Philly.
Rights for those who insist on having them?
...
Minneapolis shooting: video appears to show victim disarmed before being shot dead | BBC News (youtube.com)
Video is near the end of the segment.
Commenter on this BBC story. 'i don't want to hear another American try and gaslight us in the uk about rights.'
The most common description in the comments of most videos is ‘execution.’
George Conway on MN shooting: Trump administration is “a criminal organization” (youtube.com)
Minnesota official says federal investigators blocked access to shooting scene (youtube.com)
Minnesota BCA investigating shooting of Alex Pretti (youtube.com)
Alex Pretti shooting witness describes being detained by federal agents (youtube.com)
People who witnessed the shooting were then arrested and detained, and questioned. Several USCs (United States Citizen) in custody.
Inciting a riot, impeding, and assault on federal agents and death threats, are the things the guy was arrested for, but he said the only thing he had told the agenst was, ‘How would you like it if somebody killed you like that? That’s f****d up.'
Why not be afraid, be cautious, and comply, after seeing ICE shoot somebody? Because at that point, the guy said, ‘it’s not about me, it's about the cause.'
How do you find a sense of security? ‘By not being scared of them. I’m not going to be intimidated by them. My father always told me, Never be scared of a person that bleeds as much as you do.'
The news agency checked federal records and there are no federal charges against the man.
Commenter. 'Since we obviously don't have the rights we were taught that we have, it's time to renegotiate.'
Commenter. ‘Ground Zero in the fight for freedom.’
Commenter. 'Agents often detain agitators like Javier under "Investigative Detention" (Terry v. Ohio principles). They bring them to the Whipple Building to identify them, run their prints against federal databases, and remove them from the "riot zone" to prevent further incitement. By releasing Javier after a few hours, the DOJ avoids a "wrongful detention" lawsuit tf they held him without an immediate charge. Just because there are no "formal charges" doesn't mean a federal grand jury won’t be looking at him tomorrow for 18 U.S.C. § 111 (Forcible Obstruction): This is a felony. He has essentially handed the DOJ a signed confession of impeding a federal officer.'
...
NY Governor calls for resignation of Kristi Noem (youtube.com)
Noem is head of DHS.
Trump send border czar homan minnesota (reuters.com)
Alex Pretti shooting happened in 'fog of war': Former NYPD chief (youtube.com)
News Briefs (csmonitor.com)
‘Two former U.S. presidents issued rare rebukes. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama posted lengthy condemnations of the Trump administration’s immigration tactics ...’ CS Monitor
Border patrol commander to leave Minneapolis (youtube.com)
Trump signals change in Minneapolis after 2nd fatal shooting (youtube.com)
Protest works? Confrontation works?
Rahm Emanuel believes Trump has "lost the American people" (youtube.com)
Lawless mob ICE?
Chaos Erupts Outside Minnesota Hotel Suspected of Housing ICE Agents, 26 Arrested (youtube.com)
Small businesses win contracts to track undocumented immigrants (youtube.com)
Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino demoted (youtube.com)
Some reports say this is false.
Greg Bovino, some agents leaving Minnesota imminently | WHAT WE KNOW (youtube.com)
Smash Your Ring Camera (youtube.com)
‘Helping ICE’
US sending ICE agents to Winter Olympics in Italy for ‘security’ of its delegates (youtube.com)
FBI's Patel falsely claims Americans 'cannot bring firearms' to protests • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
'FBI director has been speading falsehoods.'
Local and national gun rights groups are pushing back against Patel. Patel later stated, ‘we fully support the Second Amendment...’
1st assistent attorney for Cali tweeted, ‘If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high liklihood they will be legally justified in shooting you. Don’t do it!'
Gun groups also clapped back at that statement.
France24 noted this attitude is inconsistent with the Trump/Republican's previous gun rights support.
...
Shooting of Alex Pretti unites left, centre and right of America: Lyons | ABC NEWS (youtube.com)
Nothing unites like an enemy?
AP explains the ICE units set to assist with Winter Olympics Security (youtube.com)
B.C. company criticized for potential ICE business deal (youtube.com)
Italy's interior minister responds to reports that ICE will be at Olympics (youtube.com)
Never?
Minneapolis bookstore sales climb after widespread photo of owner at demonstration (youtube.com)
‘This is the US government attacking its own people.’
Ban on deporting U.S. citizens removed from DHS funding bill, congresswoman warns (youtube.com)
Salman Rushdie on Minneapolis: 'Lies that have been told have found an audience' (youtube.com)
‘The success of authoritarianism is that the ... '
‘They have been telling their stories, which have found willing ears. We’re the keepers of the stories, and it's our job to tell better stories. ... We need to have the conversation and we need to get past it.'
‘The contant cycle of terrorism... that it seems we can’t get off the loop.'
B.C. Attorney General warns against doing deals with ICE amid pending Pattison sale (youtube.com)
Bruce Springsteen sings out against Trump in 'Streets of Minneapolis' (apnews.com)
France's finance minister demands tech firm Capgemini explain ICE contract (apnews.com)
California Democrats have new plans for confronting ICE: Taxes, lawsuits and location bans (apnews.com)
Laws to make it easier to sue ICE, to prohibit ICE wearing masks, to limit their access to hospitals and schools, courthouses without notice, seem difficult to pass.
Other ideas from Cali lawmakers. Prohibit law enforcement from taking a side job as a ICE. Currenty, “While you can’t collaborate with ICE while you are working in your police shift, you can take a second job with the Department of Homeland Security. And I don’t think that that is right.”
“The federal administration has created not just a secret police but a secret military at the expense of health care, social safety nets, and key benefits that the American people need and rely on to make it through the day. All of those resources have been rerouted to the unaccounted militarized force patrolling our streets and literally killing American citizens.”
“The issue is clear cut,” said Gómez Reyes about ICE showing up at courts and just arresting people. “One of the core responsibilities of government is to protect people — not to inflict terror on them. California is not going to let the federal government make political targets out of people trying to be good stewards of the law. Discouraging people from coming to court makes our community less safe.”
One idea was allowing them to attend court remotely.
Another idea was taxing (50%) profits made from detention centers. Almost 6000 people are being held in ICE detention in Cali, in 7 centers.
Another idea is ensuring those who face ICE trials get funds for lawyers.
Palantir/ICE connections draw fire as questions raised about tool tracking Medicaid data to find people to arrest
Palantir/ICE connections draw fire as questions raised about tool tracking Medicaid data to find people to arrest
Lawyer Records Screams From Women And Children In ICE Detention Center (youtube.com)
Federal officers push AP reporters back to their car as they document operation (youtube.com)
Watch: Dramatic Moment ICE Detains Man in St. Paul (youtube.com)
DOJ Arrested Don Lemon for Reporting on Church Protest (youtube.com)
Ice officers minnesota directed not interact with agitators new orders (reuters.com)
‘The new internal guidance reviewed by Reuters also orders U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to only target immigrants who have criminal charges or convictions.’
Ice appears shift gears minnesota amid mixed messaging trump (reuters.com)
Rebel loon becoming popular request at Twin Cities tattoo shops (youtube.com)
Former cnn anchor don lemon arrested cbs reports (reuters.com)
‘He is charged with conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights and violating a law that forbids obstructing access to houses of worship, according to a Justice Department official.’
‘FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested him in Los Angeles, according to his lawyer Abbe Lowell. The move occurred just over a week after a federal magistrate judge declined to issue an arrest warrant for Lemon.’
‘He had been under FBI surveillance for several days leading up to his arrest, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The FBI declined to comment.’
Lemon was fired from CNN in 2023. He was me too ed after comments about women which some powerful women said were sexist.
'Earlier this month, FBI agents with a search warrant seized laptops and other devices from the home of a Washington Post reporter who has extensively covered Trump's firing of hundreds of thousands of federal workers, saying it was an investigation into the leaking of secret government information.'
Journalists in the US get arrested sometimes by local governments (who generally don't understand or don't care about civil rights), but the Lemon arrest may be precedent setting.
Nationwide protests walkouts planned over fatal ice shootings minneapolis (reuters.com)
DOJ opens a federal civil rights probe into Alex Pretti's death in Minneapolis (apnews.com)
DHS ramps up surveillance in immigration raids, sweeping in citizens (apnews.com)
Protesters call for nationwide strike against Trump's immigration policies (apnews.com)
A shadow network in Minneapolis defies ICE and protects immigrants (apnews.com)
How ICE Already Knows Who Minneapolis Protesters Are (nytimes.com)
‘Agents use facial recognition, social media monitoring and other tech tools not only to identify undocumented immigrants but also to track protesters, current and former officials said.’
An ICE agent walked over to a woman in a car near where she worked and addressed her by name. They'd never met before. He said he had facial recognition and his body cam was on. She was one of seven people told by ICE that ICE had facial recognition of them. None had consented.
The facial recogntion tech is made by Clearview AI and Mobile Fortify. They use a database built by Palantir, which ‘combines government and commercial data to identify real-time locations for individuals they are pursuing’.
ICE's budget currently is $28b, the highest funding out of any law enforcement agency in the US.
‘Homeland Security Department awarded Palantir a nearly $30 million contract to build a system backed by artificial intelligence that would help find and track individuals for deportation.’
DHS uses Paragon (Pegasus), reportedly, and Penlink (Nebraska based).
At a protest, ‘Two photos captured fatigue-clad agents using cellphones to scan the faces of protesters in Minneapolis, while in one video, agents could be heard telling people that they were being recorded with facial recognition technology and that their faces would be added to a database.’ This tech was Mobile Fortify, created for Customs and Border Protection.
...
LIVE | Minneapolis Erupts in National Day of Action Against Trump ICE Policies | APT (youtube.com)
Anti-ICE march underway in downtown Minneapolis during nationwide day of action (youtube.com)
Economics
Feb 2026
Gold is now the largest share of holdings of central banks, no longer the USD.
Warsh Will Be The Crypto King (youtube.com)
What's behind the recent wave of job cuts | DW News (youtube.com)
New federal benefit badly needed: food bank (youtube.com)
Trump Launches $12 Billion Minerals Stockpile to Counter China (youtube.com)
Investors Hunt for Proof AI Delivering Productivity Gains (youtube.com)
Elon Musk joins his rocket and AI businesses into a single company (apnews.com)
Anthropic AI Tool Sparks Stocks Selloff (youtube.com)
Co'work tools.
Tech sector (median software companies) are revising expectations down, relative to broader market most since 2009. Daily Chartbook
These companies that provide SAAS were raising fees every year, and now their tech guys are like we can just build what we want.
Revenue still going up 20% a year. Market thinks it's not sustainable. Crowdstrike. cyber.
...
Housing, starting to become a buyers market. Average discount for listings is 8%. In 2022 people were paying 10% above.
Energy (led by oil and gas equipment), materials (metals and mining), aerospace, staples, tech hardware, top performing sectors over January. The opposite of the year before.
These Subscriptions Are Predatory (youtube.com)
Big Tech’s AI Vibe Shift | Prof G Markets (youtube.com)
Investors are paying less and less for software earnings these days, says Jim Cramer (youtube.com)
Gold and Silver tax drives Washington customers to Idaho (youtube.com)
Bitcoin down to $65k, Feb 5. Stocks largely down for a few days.
BRICS News page posted: 'Russia's international reserves have SURGED to $826.8 billion — Russian Central Bank. Compared to $786.9 billion on January 23, setting a new record. So, guess sanctions DON'T work?'
Europe struggles to remove tech rout, silver crashes again (youtube.com)
Former Chief Economist (BIS) on the Run on Fiat Currency (youtube.com)
Canadian consulate in Greenland can boost Inuit exchange (youtube.com)
Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman Calls Bitcoin 'Total Bust' (youtube.com)
About 80% of Amazon's 2026 capex spending likely AI-related: Deepwater's Munster (youtube.com)
Microstragety. Should it trade at a stlight discount to bitcoin, because it's ‘trapped AUM’?
Tether is also buying gold now. Have we had a new central bank enter the market?
Consolidation (fewer companies) of bitcoin holder companies expected, by William Quigley.
Could international boycotts of US brands indicate a decline in US cultural power? | DW News (youtube.com)
A ‘Trump’ reputational question?
Canada lost 25,000 jobs, unemployment rate down to 6.5% in January: StatCan (youtube.com)
Fundstrat's Tom Lee: Crypto looks like it is bottoming now (youtube.com)
Economía en 2026; Mucho gasto y poco rendimiento (youtube.com)
Mexico.
...
DDR4 Scarcity: Manufacturers have mostly stopped making DDR4 to focus on the newer DDR5. Since the T480s requires DDR4, you are fighting over a shrinking supply of "legacy" parts.
RAM for a laptop costs as much or more than the laptop itself, if you want to have like 32gb or more. 32 GB of RAM costs between $160 and $245.
Analyzable case of how improved tech can actually increase costs (inflationary tech advancements).
...
Alphabet Bets Big on 100 Years of Debt (youtube.com)
Planned too big to fail?
China Warns Banks to Rein in Holdings of US Treasuries (youtube.com)
UN is waiting to see how much the US intends to pay of the nearly $4 billion it owes (apnews.com)
Super Bowl Ad Rates Hit $10 Million for 30-Second Spot (youtube.com)
It doesn't matter if Adobe (or any tech company, which is expected to be involved in AI disruptible products) reports today. Investers are looking forward.
The rise and fall of Teen Jobs (youtube.com)
Canadian entrepreneurs look to Mexico to boost business (youtube.com)
Forcasted 20% GDP growth for the US.
Everything the tech sector is doing is disrupting their own industry. ‘Microsoft is both a hyperscaler benefitting from Ai and a disruptee.’ Josh Brown. They have no choice, if one of them goes into this capex experiment, they all have to. J Carlson. ‘We might end up like Blackberry if we don’t make the turn to whatever the next thing is.' Unlike NY and the investing community maybe, Silicon Valley and the West Coast isn't focussing on beating their numbers this Q, but instead they'd rather go big. ‘They’ve all said that.' Except Apple. While capex has gone almost parabolic for Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta, Apple's capex has maintained at around the same 5% as always. Apple said users are not going to have 2 devices, users are going to just use their phone. Apple may launch agentic (Gemeni powered) Siri this year, later than other companies but Apple usage isn't down, and that Siri will be able to do things across the apps on a user's phone.
Other global markets are outperforming US markets. S&P is down 8% versus other country's markets since Jan 1.
Over 5 years, Japanese stocks and international small caps are beating US stocks. No one knows. Name one company in the international small cap index. JB.
Lots of other countries, like the US, their top 10 companies make up most of the index, and some even more extreme, like South Korea where it's just like a couple companies, and SKorea's stock market is way outperforming other countries'.
...
How the AI sell-off ripped through software (youtube.com)
Food inflation spiked 7.3% in January | CTV National News at 5:30 for Feb.17, 2026 (youtube.com)
Plunging US Birth Rate Leaves Too Many Colleges With Too Few Kids (youtube.com)
Food inflation jumps in January (youtube.com)
All costs for restaurants are up, after stimulus checks ('tax holiday') allowed people to go eat out more. Maybe 4000 food service outlets will close this year.
Global Liquidity Has Peaked – What Happens Next for Gold & Financial Markets? | Michael Howell (youtube.com)
Is this the reason for the gold surge?
‘What you need to look at is debt to liquidity, because liquidity is used to roll over debt (debt is never paid back. Debt is only rolled). You need balance sheet capacity to refinance your debt. If the debt liquidity ratio is too high you get a financial crisis. If it’s too low you may get an asset bubble.' Japan got this during Abenomics, they monetized and printed money and the debt liquidity level came down. China is now printing lots of Yuan to bring down their debt to liquidity ratio. He said.
Hedge Fund Billionaire Chris Hohn’s TCI Profited By A Record $18.9 Billion In 2025 (youtube.com)
'“Hedge funds made $543 billion for their investors in 2025, the highest ever dollar gains generated by the group,” he said. “A combination of record high assets under management, strong equity and bond markets, and sizeable macro trading opportunities all contributed to this strong performance.”
‘The top firms continued to do the best. “In 2025, the top 20 managers have generated 41 percent of the gains made by all hedge fund managers. Yet they only represented 16.6 percent of the assets under management,” Sopher said. “The money weighted return of the top 20 in 2025 was 15.7 percent — far better than the rest of the hedge fund universe.” For comparison, the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index returned 12.6 percent last year.’
Why New Balance sales are soaring while Nike falls (youtube.com)
A couple years ago, Nike wanted to go soly DTC, selling directly from Nike stores or from online, and they took their shoes out of Footlocker and others, which left shelf space there (and where customers liked to go) and NB and others filled that spot. NB at that time also invested in innovation. They capitalized on trends, the 90s trend, shoes that look like parents would wear. They also partnered with major designers. NB is private, so we get an update only once a year and it's not detailed, on how the company is performing. They don't need to hedge or raise capital. NB wants to build on DTC, too, but seems to want to keep wholesaling.
‘The consumer is not loyal.’ They'll move to a brand that is providing what they're wanting.
Commenters also seem to say that materials and quality on Nike went down. That was my experience too, but I didn't shop much.
But some guessed that it was just because NB is currently trendy with young women, which adds to their continued popularity as an actually used running shoe.
...
OpenAI is Suddenly in Trouble (youtube.com)
Coldfusion.
Car costs continue to surge, leaving Chicago Auto Show attendees shocked (youtube.com)
Stocks Slip as Software Selloff Sparks AI Concerns | The Close 2/23/2026 (youtube.com)
Why AI won’t wipe out white-collar jobs | The Economist (youtube.com)
"It’s always heartbreaking": Multiple Okanagan wineries in foreclosure (youtube.com)
The Decline of Small Business in America | Ryan McMaken (youtube.com)
Can you name a bigger problem with a more simple solution?
Meta Enters Deal With AMD Worth 'Double-Digit Billions' of Dollars (youtube.com)
Dimon Sees Pre-2008 Crisis Parallels as Rivals Do ‘Dumb Things’ (youtube.com)
Citrini AI Report Co-Author Talks 'Scare-Trade' Selloff & Disruption (youtube.com)
This is the most read, subscribed to, economics/investing substack, which often researches macro themes. However, the market didn't sell off, not even the tech sector, by the close of day (he refers to a larger than expected selloff immediately after the publishing of the article, or maybe it was yesterday, which was red).
The writer's firm, he's a Lotus CIO, was short some of the names. They also own semis long.
They're bearish on intermediation companies for food delivery, software, payment processing, private credit, real estate. Bullish on semis and things upstream of semis (data centers). Brands, status goods that have moats.
Job market weak for white collar. Haven't generated (non government spending based) white collar jobs in 3 years in US.
Commenter. 'This is not a research paper. This type of prediction can't call research.' Reply. ‘They are selling a narrative.’
This Doomsday Article Is Causing Investor Panic (youtube.com)
Carlson disputes the thesis.
Could AI Disruption Fears Trigger a Software M&A Boom? | WSJ's Take On the Week (youtube.com)
Private Credit Default Rates Could Hit 15%, UBS Warns (youtube.com)
‘investing in companies that participate in the destruction of the social fabric’ Daliwali
Young Canadians moving away from RSPs to TFSAs (youtube.com)
Harvard’s Massive Bet on Land Hits Harsh Real Estate Reality
Netflix Drops Out of Fight to Buy Warner Bros. (youtube.com)
Media Mogul Tom Rogers: Netflix has a great path ahead after freeing itself from Warner Bros. deal (youtube.com)
Netflix and Paramount both up. Warner slightly down.
Data Centers Are the New Fracking | TCAF 231 (youtube.com)
MFS Creditors Warn of £930 Million Shortfall From Double Pledges (youtube.com)
Bridging loans, to finance it they borrow large amounts from traditional loaners on Wall Street, and then they have to service these loans. But allegation is that come money went to other bank accounts instead, maybe $200m.
Fraud is surfacing to the top, people pushed into corners of finance to get that extra return.
Where is Raja? How did this go down? What precipitated the event exactly? Who else is involved?
...
Hedge funds are degrossing, just taking less risk.
...
The ability to make things may exceed the ability to consume, for the first time. What does that mean for economy? Friedburg.
The new risk for residents of senior living communities (youtube.com)
‘when new owners took over, monthly maintenance fees skyrocketed to the point where they had to move out’
January 2026
Billionaires weigh leaving California over proposed wealth tax | Morning in America (youtube.com)
New bill would let Floridians dissolve their HOAs (youtube.com)
US 401ks have grown to the size that they swamp anything the VIX might be doing that day.
Most of the selloffs from recent years are some kind of short term liquidity event.
Cayman buying US treasuries.
Chinese vault system.
Mexico loses thousands of jobs as US tariff uncertainty hits factories (youtube.com)
Tesla no longer world’s bestselling electric vehicle maker as sales fall (youtube.com)
Why Is Income Inequality So High in Canada? | Your Morning (youtube.com)
Fed Just Injected $40 Billion in EMERGENCY LIQUIDITY into the US Banking System (youtube.com)
Bhutan’s Crypto Bet: How Bitcoin Helped Cut Poverty in the Himalayas | GRAVITAS (youtube.com)
Amazon has become dominated by AWS, as a valued business, which leaves it as a stock that almost doesn't care about it's core business, which is retail.
10 years from now these are the companies everyone will wish they owned (youtube.com)
Most venture capital deals are now AI (youtube.com)
How to Fight Communism in 2026 | WAYT? (youtube.com)
Do people really not understand that giving every person (or every 18 year old) the same amount of free money just means inflation at that level?
How France is becoming a ‘third-world’ economy (youtube.com)
‘When debt runs everything.’
Trump: I will not permit dividends or stock buybacks for defense companies (youtube.com)
Trump calls for US military spending to increase by 50% in 2027 • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Alphabet Overtakes Apple, Becoming Second to Nvidia in Size (youtube.com)
Exports to non-U.S. nations jumped to 15.6% (youtube.com)
Canada.
Canadian retailer Aritzia's quarterly sales break $1 billion for the first time (youtube.com)
Creators only get cost plus 10% from Netflix now, so they prefer to not work with Netflix.
Trump pushes a 1-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates and banks balk (apnews.com)
Just re raise an idea I posts about 10 years ago, that credit cards (or some credit cards) should limit interest to one year. In other words, you rack up $1000 on Jan 1, and that figure accumulates interest until New Year's Eve. Everything else is the same. There are no limits necessarily, just that interest is 1 year limited.
Mag7 have all been upward since April. Since the initial tariff announcements.
Google apple enter into multi year ai deal gemini models (reuters.com)
Chiles codelco expects lift copper output by 10000 tons this year (reuters.com)
The Rise of ETF Slop (youtube.com)
Why Mount Everest Became a Playground for the Ultra-Rich (youtube.com)
JPMorgan Earns $150 Million in Profit EVERY DAY | WAYT? (youtube.com)
"Trust Enables Transaction"- TraxNYC REVEALS The Jewish Code That CONTROLS The Diamond District (youtube.com)
"Argentina Moved BUCKETS!" - Milei SHOCKS Critics With $2.5B Loan Payback (youtube.com)
Interactive brokers says betting us midterm elections should juice growth its (reuters.com)
'The world just lost the horse of incremental supply': Nuttall (youtube.com)
Big Banks See Record Lending Haul as Low Yield Assets Roll Off (youtube.com)
NCAA basketball players and gamblers are charged for allegedly rigging games (apnews.com)
Americans are paying hundreds more rent (reuters.com)
Trump housing plan allow 401k money down payments adviser says (reuters.com)
Is US getting close to ‘state capitalism’, what China was/is?
Bondholders sue Oracle over OpenAI debt deals (youtube.com)
"Galloping inflation. Russian food prices rise markedly in 2026" writes Russian paper. (youtube.com)
The TSX has 35% fewer companies than a decade ago (youtube.com)
Sectors Up Close: 'Gold is becoming more risky than stocks' | REUTERS (youtube.com)
The Cost Of Living Like A Billionaire Hit A New High In 2025 (youtube.com)
Japanese Bond Rout Sends Yields to Record Highs (youtube.com)
Japan Bond Meltdown Sends Yields to Record High (youtube.com)
US 30 year is almost 5%.
China cant make consumers buy goods so it leans services drive economy (reuters.com)
Netflix, only new content views is up. Everything else has less views. They beat all the small players, and even Disney Plus, but now they have to compete with YouTube. Netflix needs more content, some say.
Consumer spending pushes US economy up 4.4% in third quarter, fastest in two years (apnews.com)
Sell america buyers europe piled into treasuries 2025 data shows (reuters.com)
Push to reinstate Vancouver living wage policy fails (youtube.com)
Vancouver rental units being subdivided again (youtube.com)
Three Las Vegas hotels now accepting Canadian dollar at par (youtube.com)
Tourism down because of negative sentiment about Trump government. $20b of US economy is Canadian tourism. Will the offer from the hotels make them change their mind?
Gold silver platinum extend recordsetting rally (reuters.com)
India slash tariffs cars 40 trade deal with eu sources say (reuters.com)
‘In North Carolina, the Healthy Opportunities Pilot provides assistance to nearly 30,000 low-income residents with deliveries of food, rides to doctors’ appointments and other services. Early research shows the state is spending about $85 less in medical costs per month for each person participating in the pilot.’ The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)
Langenegg's local currency.
Premodern (pre 19th century) economies used a domestic currency and another currency for foreign trade. National governments transitioned to a single central currency, to stabilize the economy and power.
Langenegg residents often drive past big supermarkets when they drive out of town to work, but they don't shop there as much, because 20% of the residents purposefully subscribe (they receive a set monthly amount) to a local currency as a means of not seeking maximum convenience, but maintaining the value of local businesses, as meeting points, keeping contact, togetherness. It costs 97 Euro to buy 100 Talente, and buying 100 Euro costs 110 Talente.
“I think people are now much more aware that they should spend their money locally, because it’s about more than just shopping.”
‘Far from being a neutral system of exchange, a currency is a tool to achieve certain goals, said Jochum-Müller: “We need different tools for different goals, but our monetary system makes us think that we only have this one tool. And there are many goals we can’t achieve with it.”’
Most national money (97% in UK) is created by banks while issuing loans.
Money is an infrastructure, Baringa theorized, it gives you access, and it's value is more when it is circulated more, the value is the transaction.
Local currency removes the hoarding tendency of ‘perceived inherent value and the interest rates.’
...
‘The ocean conservation nonprofit Force Blue works with more than 40 veterans to tackle everything from shoreline restoration and coral planting to turtle surveys and shipwreck assessments.’
‘The Port of Miami’s $125 million project to let cruise ships plug into onshore power has reduced annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 2,470 cars from the road.’
Why Florida’s Orange Industry Is In Free Fall (youtube.com)
Japan us eye synthetic diamond production under 550 bln investment plan (reuters.com)
Why Owning Nothing Is So Expensive (youtube.com)
SoftBank may invest $30 billion more in OpenAI, source says | REUTERS (youtube.com)
Canada to boost oil and gas exports to India (youtube.com)
Amazon cuts about 16,000 corporate jobs in the latest round of layoffs (apnews.com)
Should any company have 16k corporate jobs?
‘In its most recent quarter, Amazon’s profits jumped nearly 40% to about $21 billion and revenue soared to more than $180 billion.’
Can Anything Stop New York Subway Fare Evaders? (youtube.com)
Us stock index futures edge up markets digest big tech earnings (reuters.com)
Microsoft edges past cloud growth expectations (reuters.com)
Down over 10%.
Microsoft Drops Most Since 2020 (youtube.com)
Live updates trump nominates kevin warsh next fed chair (reuters.com)
Un chief guterres warns imminent financial collapse (reuters.com)
German unemployment remains unchanged january (reuters.com)
500 billion euro crisis fund could be used defence says esm chief (reuters.com)
Diplomacy & IR
Feb 2026
China overturns death sentence for Canadian (youtube.com)
Smuggling drugs into China. China will retry the case.
Shortly after Carney visited Beijing.
Cuba receives humanitarian aid from Mexico as Trump’s blockade bites (youtube.com)
Greek Air Force Colonel accused of spying for China (youtube.com)
Tennessee lawmakers push for constitutional right to grow food at home
France to revoke US envoy's government access after summons no-show • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
The US State Department's counterterrorism buereau tweeted that ‘Deranque was killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all. VIolent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in [the] death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety.' The US embassy in France retweeted it.
The French Foreign Ministry responded with, ‘In light of this apparent failure to grasp the basic requirements of the ambassadorial mission... the minister has requested that [the US ambassador to France, Kushner, the father of Jared Kushner] no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government.’
Commenter. 'I'm no clairvoyant, but I see more tariffs and another Trump tantrum in France's future.' Another. ‘Only the US would send out a criminal to be ambassador!’
Quite a lot of comments in favor of France, seeing the move as France standing up for itself, something it seems people feel countries haven't been doing as much as they could have been, as well as Americans apologizing for what their government was doing and saying they haven't forgotten history, as well as general dislike for Kushner. The word ‘Quislings’ was mentioned.
...
Finnish president explains why his country isn't joining Trump's "Board of Peace"
January 2026
'His conviction raised concerns about the curtailing of press freedom in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
'His case could also test Beijing’s diplomatic ties. The verdict drew criticism from foreign governments, including the U.S. and Britain. After the verdict, U.S. President Donald Trump, who had raised Lai’s case with China, said he felt “so badly.”' AP
Lai was convicted of conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security and with conspiracy to distribute seditious publications, which he pled not guilty to. The HK court said his actions caused a ‘constant invitation’ to the US to harm the Chinese government.
Six other Apple Daily execs pled guilty to conspiring with Lai for anti government purposes. They are expected to be sentensed to less than 10 years.
...
Mark Carney's Davos Speech Goes VIRAL, Netizens Say 'Canada Just Wrote U.S.' Obituary!' (youtube.com)
‘Living in a lie,’ Carney retold the story of a Polish store that placed a communist sign in its window, just to avoid problems, and so did everyone else, so everyone believed people supported communism.
Canada considers sending small number of troops to Greenland (youtube.com)
Ecuador announces 30 percent tariff on Colombia over drug trafficking (youtube.com)
Colombia suspends electricity sales imposes 30 tariff ecuador escalating trade (reuters.com)
Chinese ambassador urges quick action to deepen ties (youtube.com)
China wants to buy Oil from Alberta: industry leader | Alberta Primetime (youtube.com)
Colombia halts electricity sales to Ecuador, imposes tariffs | REUTERS (youtube.com)
Beijing welcomes first visit by UK prime minister in nearly a decade | ABC NEWS (youtube.com)
US Just Threatened Canada's Sovereignty Over Fighter Jets (youtube.com)
Syrian kurdish led sdf agree ceasefire phased integration deal with government (reuters.com)
Kurdish forces agree to merge with Syrian state, easing tensions (youtube.com)
US to expel South Africa ambassador as relations deteriorate
Law
Feb 2026
Canada.
Commenter. 'How is the city talking about our sidewalks being cleared to the pavement. When in this video you can see all the roads not even clean to the pavement. There's something clearly going on here....'
German authorities have arrested five over exports to Russian defense companies | DW News (youtube.com)
Violation of Russian sanctions.
Pricing Like This Should Be Illegal (youtube.com)
Best buy. $439.99. Save $290. Comp value $729.99.
It might be an idea to legally require stores to offer a product at a price for a certain amount of time (a couple days?) in order to be able to say they ‘reduced’ the price.
Detransitioner WINS landmark case (youtube.com)
You protested AI surveillance cameras & Austin wrote a law because of it! (youtube.com)
Rossman.
These types of laws are usually written with exemptions and carve outs in them, and they just use those exemptions and carve outs any time they want to do the thing, so the (protective) law doesn't actually have any effect. Bulldoze.
This law says that such 'exigent circumstances' can't be just for mere convenience, standard city goals, routine law enforcement. So they can't just declare an emergency and use the surveillance all the time. And when the actual emergency stops, the right to surveil stops, and they have to not share any of the data, and delete it. There's a ban on data harvesting.
Alberta Premier demands more say on judge appointments, threatens funding (youtube.com)
Lawmakers want OK Supreme Court to block driver's license date sharing (youtube.com)
German Activist Maja T. Sentenced To 8 Years In Hungary Over Antifa Attacks | APT (youtube.com)
German activist Maja T. goes on hunger strike in Hungary (dw.com)
'In June 2024, T. was extradited [unlawfully in EU, some say] from Germany to Hungary and has been in solitary confinement in a Budapest prison ever since.' 'The public prosecutor's office accuses the prisoner from Jena, in Germany's eastern state of Thuringia, of assaulting and seriously injuring several people in Budapest in February 2023. '
'At the start of the criminal proceedings, T. was led into the courtroom in handcuffs and shackles, and on a leash. The public prosecutor's office offered T. the opportunity to enter a guilty plea and accept 14 years in prison without further proceedings. However, T. declined and instead made a six-page statement containing clear criticism of Hungary: "It is a state that quite openly marginalizes and separates people because of their sexuality or gender. I am accused by a European state because I am an anti-fascist."'
Judge hears arguments after TSA confiscated $82K from woman at Pittsburgh airport (youtube.com)
This bill bans AI surge pricing in stores: SUPPORT THIS (youtube.com)
Rossman.
Woman wins malpractice lawsuit over gender surgery as minor (youtube.com)
John Deere's biggest excuse got destroyed by the EPA (youtube.com)
State of Iowa Hires Hackers to ‘Burglarize’ Courthouse (then the sheriff arrives) (youtube.com)
Local sheriff charged them and put them in jail, because he wasn't notified about the contract done by the state. The state didn't come in an release them, it seems, but basically the opposite, until they were proven innocent and they sued the state.
Claude Cowork for Law Firms: A Trojan Horse? (youtube.com)
Are people losing control of law?
Orlando commissioner claims texts, emails from police are 'harassment' (youtube.com)
Major retailer asks man to sign confidentiality agreement for refund (youtube.com)
Lowe's.
The NDA would have said he couldn't talk to the media (who he was talking to in this story), he couldn't talk to neighbors, post on any social media, or any public forum.
Lowe's responded to the news journalists by saying they don't require customers to sign NDAs, instead they gave him a form called a ‘release of all claims.’ Lowe's said the release of all claims form is voluntary, so you don't have to sign it to get a refund. The journalists say show Lowe's their story to help you not have to sign it.
‘They want to be able to resolve it and then keep it quiet afterwards,' a interviewee said.
The agreement, if you sign it, is legally binding.
...
DC sues ‘slumlord’ family operating real-estate empire, citing RICO (youtube.com)
Because the property owner ‘deceived lenders and let properties fall into disrepair,’ OAC alleges. But also that the property owner is running an enterprize/ponzi scheme with their (the family's?) 70 properties and defaulted the district $16m in housing programs.
But the OAC rep said ‘ponzi like scheme,’ the landlords ‘use falsified documents to trick lenders into giving them large loans to purchase primarily rent controlled properties under the guise of profitable redevelopment. They then rent these properties to tenants who receive housing subsidies, while allowing the properties to fall into disrepair. ... And while allowing so many apartments to become uninhabitable, they have decreased the overall housing supply.'
The lawsuit seeks to ban the family from owning any properties in DC, as well as pay back restitutions.
...
New York Moves to Protect Beloved but Illegal ‘Bodega Cats’ in Corner Shops | APT (youtube.com)
Behind Thailand’s Push to Recriminalize Cannabis | Big Take (youtube.com)
30 Years of the Telecommunications Act: What Did We Learn? (youtube.com)
What are some weird laws in your country that, actually, make a lot of sense?
What are some weird laws in your country that, actually, make a lot of sense?
No high heels at archaeological sites.
Process Servers Accused of Not Actually Serving People (youtube.com)
Your Smart TV Takes 7,200 Screenshots Every Hour (Texas AG Lawsuit) (youtube.com)
Supreme Court rules the Postal Service can't be sued, even when mail is intentionally not delivered (apnews.com)
Was part of the finding that the USPS would be a target for countless lawsuits if this one went through?
The woman in the suit, a landlord, alleges the particular postal worker didn't like that she was a black owner of multiple properties and didn't deliver her mail and her tenants' for that reason.
She sued USPS only after filing dozens of complaints with postal officials. 1946 Federal Tort Claims Act.
Trump administration sues New Jersey over restrictions on immigration arrests (apnews.com)
Ofcom Fines Overseas Adult Site £1.35M Under Online Safety Act (youtube.com)
This youtube lawsuit could kill yt-dlp, obs-studio, and every screen recorder you use (youtube.com)
Woman Lies, Innocent Man Arrested, 47 DAYS in Jail - LAWSUIT (youtube.com)
She put out her message, a warning to parents out there that there are people out there wanting to do this, after saying this man tried to kitnap her child and she had to tear her child out of his hands.
The lawyer said she's filed claims like this in the past, so it might not be her first lie. She's part of a class action alleging a Lyft driver tried to rape her, says the lawyer.
There is Walmart security camera footage.
He was actually there to buy medication. He asked the woman if she knew where the medication is located. She was driving on a skooter thing with her kids on it and one started to fall off and he grabbed the kid and kept it on the bike and then she told the guy where she thought the medicatin might be. After he finds the medication, he later walks by her and showed her and says thanks or something, and he leaves the store. Later, she called 911, the police arrived and talked to her, and they even walked the video footage, but they went after the man, arresting him 2 days later with a warrant, arrested him on the side of the road at gunpoint, having him lay face down on the cement of the road to cuff him, and put him in jail until a court found him innocent. During the trial, the prosecutor ‘couldn’t get the video to play.'
After his arrest, the story was on the TV news and she ‘told her story' to America. She said she played a ‘terrifying game of tug of war’ for like 10 seconds trying to get her baby. He had no bond, just kept in jail, because the charges were seious and he had ties outside the country. The police report says they watched the video footage before arresting him, and that the police said the footage supports the woman's claim.
Crime: being a male who interacts with a female in North America? Why do so many males just leave North America? Also, what is the state of justice in America right now, where claims of rape and of child abduction result in punishment for innocent people, as well as permanent and serious damage to their reps. The man could afford the best lawyer, so what if he couldn't? The prosecution wouldn't give the defense the video, and she had to subpoena it from Walmart directly, and she released it to the public and the public was outraged.
‘Frankly they should be in prison for what they did to this man. That’s how outrageous it is.'
Commenter. ‘The prosecutor who presented to Grand jury needs to be disbarred. The detective and police department along with the lying woman needs to be sued. The woman also needs some jail time.’
Are civil rights lawyers one of the main stars of our era?
...
Former NASA Engineer files lawsuit against HPD and women after sex assault charges dropped (youtube.com)
He's suing the city of Houston and the women who made the allegations. ‘Egregious miscarriage of justice.’ All kinds of authorities publicly spoke against him and his behaviour, meanwhile, according to his lawyer, as soon as a new DA took office they got a bunch of evidence that exhonerated him, which the old DA had been sitting on. They allege the police failed to turn over evidence to his defense that could help him prove his innocence, as well as ignoring contraditctory statements in the witness allegations. He claims the woman also created a group chat and conspired to get him proescuted.
He wants compensation for damage to his rep, future career prospects, and emotional distress. ‘The last few years of my life have been scarred by a justice department that was meant to protect me, turned against me.’
Commenter. 'His name is public. The womens' names are in the complaint. Why weren't their names in the story? Did KPRC try to reach them or their attornies for comment.'
I'm ending @TheDMCALawyer's career: Randall Scott Newman disgraces the bar (youtube.com)
Rossman
Chicago drivers could see $70M in refunds over city sticker tickets (youtube.com)
Why are companies allowed to call ingredients ‘chocolate candy’ when it isn't chocolate, and ‘peanut butter creme’ when it is not peanut butter? Why aren't they obliged to say ‘sugar with chocolate flavoring and peanut butter flavoring’?
Wrong Address Raid Results in $5.7 Million Jury Verdict (youtube.com)&pp=ugUHEgVlbi1VUw%3D%3D" target="_blank">Wrong Address Raid Results in $5.7 Million Jury Verdict (youtube.com)
US moves to legally control tanker and 2M barrels of oil seized off Venezuela's coast in December (apnews.com)
Is it ‘international piracy’?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9doso4EYNI
The events happened in 2018. SWAT raided the wrong address, and there were kids aged 4, 8, 11, and 13 in the house and the mother was forced outside in T-shirt and underwear while SWAT did its search. SWAT had a warrant but it was not a no-knock warrant so officers had to announce themselves before entry, which are considered to be more dangerous warrants. There was a civil trial first. They wanted the mayor to testify but the judge said he didn't have to, which some people see as a conspiracy to protect colleages from responsbility. The city had already been found to have not done anything for 50% of all misconduct complaints (ie they get a complaint and don't even investigate it).
Is it enough that ‘it’s an easy mistake to make' getting the wrong house?
Taxpayers pay. Everyone feels less secure and less confident in their police and their mayor, right?
...
Cops Bang on Guy’s Door and Refuse to Leave (so he calls the cops) (youtube.com)
VPD officers involved in Gray hearing say they were advised not to take notes (youtube.com)
MidnightBSD Responds to California's Age Verification Law by Excluding California (youtube.com)
'Dude, I Blew Zero!': Corrupt Cops and Mayor Lose AGAIN (youtube.com)
How safe Edmontonians feel downtown and on transit a year after new public behaviour rules (youtube.com)
Laws against panhandling and loitering.
January 2026
Like bodycam footage, dash cams, Ring cams, drones.
They do 200k cases per year at their District Attorney's office. They received 67k videos with 43k hours of footage this year, up almost 100% in a few years.
All 14k officers wear bodycams.
The departments have to buy multiple software licences just to view some of the data. Spending $200k a year for this already.
It also complicates discovery evidence (there are fines if it's not all presented in 30 days or something).
Fairfax County spends millions of taxpayer’s dollars to fight federal transgender laws (youtube.com)
Man wrongfully convicted of murder ordered to return more than $1M to state (youtube.com)
$50k per year of wrongful imprisonment is the state law, but then there was $7.5 from a lawsuit he filed against the city of Detroit, for officers falsifying evidence.
Canada's new grocery code of conduct takes effect (youtube.com)
The marketplace had become unpredictable/unfair. Distorted business practices.
This is not an actual law, it is a voluntary code agreed to by grocery stores. It has a dispute resolution formula. ‘If there’s a shortage of a product, there better be a shortage for everybody.'
REWIND | The Reversal of the Burden of Proof (youtube.com)
Man Who Tara Reid Was With At Hotel Bar Speaks Out (youtube.com)
San Diego family to receive the largest police settlement in US History (youtube.com)
'Ashley MacIsaac recently had their show cancelled because of an error on Google’s part.
'Apparently, a Google AI summary incorrectly said that he had been convicted of sexual assault, among other things. Naturally, when the concert venue saw it, they shut down the show outright.
'However, MacIsaac theorized to the Canadian Press that Google had mistaken him for some other person in Canada with those charges.
'Now that Google has effectively taken a paycheck out of his pocket and potentially sullied his reputation with misinformation, MacIsaac wants to sue. However, in his online statement, he did clarify that the lawyer would need to take the case on for free, all things considered. “If a lawyer wants to take this on (for free) … I would stand up because I’m not the first and I’m sure I won’t be the last.”
“You are being put into a less secure situation because of a media company – that’s what defamation is,” he continued. “I could have been at a border and put in jail. So something has to be figured out as far as what the AI companies are responsible for…and what they can prevent.”
'Ultimately, the stress from all of this has forced MacIsaac to regroup drastically. He hopes to reschedule the concert at some point. But right now, he’s keeping his head low and assessing how he wants to proceed with the AI situation. Additionally, he’s trying to explain the misinformation to his grandmother. “I’m telling you, this is not a nice place to be,” MacIsaac stresses. “I’m sitting outside my grandmother’s going in for Christmas. This isn’t a conversation I want to have today — ‘Oh, yeah, somebody called me a sex offender.’”
Noisy
New law bans 'Canadian experience' requirements in Ontario job ads (youtube.com)
X Enters Free Speech Fight Over Texas Bathroom Photo Case (youtube.com)
Whose consent matters in a womans only private space?
Victoria business owner frustrated after being redirected when calling 911 (youtube.com)
'No one verified the evidence': Woman says AI-generated deepfake text sent her to jail (youtube.com)
They say that prosecutors will have to use some due diligence about evidence before accepting it. ‘We are no longer going to be able to trust what we see in front of us.’
AI forensics.
AI detection software doesn't really detect AI generated.
New digital forgery laws (felony) in Penssylvania.
Dirty Divorce Attorneys Bringing More Civil Rights Lawsuits (youtube.com)
Sort of secret lawyers paid for by taxes. Their billing is under question. ‘Minors counsel’ have immunity and judicial powers, with no watchdog.
Judge shuts down horrible Texas age verification law (youtube.com)
To download apps, a law made it through the senate in Texas that you would have to age verify. Even school stuff, calculators, weather apps, could even apply to repos (like Debian). Also updates. Ie not just X rated apps. Under inclusive. Incentivizes over censorship.
‘Once we get into the conversation about Parental controls and Why don’t you just parent your children, it makes me wonder why are we doing this?'
Lawsuit against Surprise for arresting woman at public meeting will move forward (youtube.com)
Uk regulator launches investigation into x over grok sexualised imagery (reuters.com)
ICE and the National Guard Are Acting with Impunity (youtube.com)
Minnesota and Twin Cities sue federal government to stop immigration crackdown (apnews.com)
Teachers union says its leaving x calling ai images children the last straw (reuters.com)
Italy, a pioneer in regulating artificial intelligence • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
6 prosecutors in Minnesota resign over ICE shooting investigation (youtube.com)
Unless they've banded together to accion a lawsuit against ICE, didn't they just make it easier for ICE?
RCMP officer fired over group chat comments (youtube.com)
Lawmakers across the country are scrambling to create new rules for prediction markets (youtube.com)
Judge who called herself a 'new racist' vacates position after 7 investigation (youtube.com)
Grok blocked from undressing images in places where it's illegal, X says (apnews.com)
Michael Ben’Ary
How the Trump administration erased centuries of Justice Department experience (apnews.com)
California ag sends letter demanding xai stop producing deekfake content (reuters.com)
Former senator sued under so-called homewrecker law (youtube.com)
In NC, you can sue someone for breaking up a married couple, and 6 other states. ‘Alienation of affection’ claim.
Matthew McConaughey trademarks himself to fight AI misuse (youtube.com)
His legal team filed applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office, and they would have defined the scope of goods and services the trademarked persona wants to protect (entertainment, advertising, endorsements, training on AI models, voice cloning, deepfakes, licensing control). In US law you have to file in writing. TM fees are like $250 or $350 in the US.
Trump Says He Will Sue JPMorgan Chase Over Debanking (youtube.com)
Improperly cutting off Trump's access to his banking after Jan 6.
Emergencies Act Ruling Will Be Taught In Law School - CCF Lawyer Explains How They Won (youtube.com)
Did the Supreme Court Just Take Away Privacy in Your Home? (youtube.com)
AI-generated fake evidence is landing people in jail as courts struggle with new technology (youtube.com)
Her ex created a fake text that he used against her in a domestiv violence case. And then another fake one to show she ‘violated her no contact order’.
‘No one could show the metadata. No one could show the text in its original form. Everything was a screenshot.’
Another woman used AI to make a picture of a man she falsely accused of burglarizing and raping her.
AI videos, images, sound, are so real no one can tell, in court. How can judges decide someone's fate based on this? Also, the effect it might have on jurors. But that could go both ways. One, jurors can see something that makes them negatively inclined toward the depicted person, but also jurors could be like ‘I don’t believe any of this.'
AI halucinations also can show up in court. Misunderstanding information. 25% of info sometimes that comes from AI is misinformation.
Trump prosecutor smith condemn false narratives about probe house testimony (reuters.com)
Trump sues jpmorgan chase ceo dimon over alleged political debanking fox (reuters.com)
Ocasio-Cortez and Paris Hilton Lead Push Against Deepfake Pornography Threat | APT (youtube.com)
BC property owner faces $100,000 in bills after discovery of 2 skulls (youtube.com)
Claimed it was a ‘sacred site’, even though the remains seem to be in a pre 2004 dump of sand. Who would ever report anything to the government? All the commenters say you shouldn't report, for fear of what the government will force, and that already people don't report if they can help it. ... DRIPA, property owners responsible for ‘enormous, unpredictable costs.’ BC does keep a database of archeological sites but doesn't make it available to the public.
The property owner abandoned the project, saying it wouldn't be possible to do anything with this ‘legal limbo’ site. The province and the native band didn't respond to the news for comment.
...
Should Canada Ban X? (Lance from The Serfs) (youtube.com)
Doomed to Fail: Washington Lawmakers Don’t Understand 3D Printing (youtube.com)
Yves Engler Speaks Out After Being Found Guilty in Police Letter-Writing Case (youtube.com)
Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino and some agents expected to leave Minneapolis, AP source says (apnews.com)
‘The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was shot by an Immigration and Customs officer. The shooting of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol officer on Saturday has only added urgency to the case.’
Minnesota has over 3000 ICE officers in it.
European Union opens investigation into Musk's AI chatbot Grok over sexual deepfakes (apnews.com)
Meta tiktok youtube stand trial youth addiction claims (reuters.com)
Why Facial Recognition Is So Pernicious (youtube.com)
OpenAl Showed Up At My Door. Here’s Why They’re Targeting People Like Me (youtube.com)
AI watcdog and activist. Silence critics, no regulation.
Tech industry has set up a bunch of shadow groups/organizations, that do the lobbying for them, and when a bill comes up, they pour lots of money into lobbying, reportedly.
Zionism Deemed HATE SPEECH In INSANE Social Media Censorship (youtube.com)
WhatsApp Caught in Massive Encryption Scandal? (youtube.com)
Lawyers accuse Mexico of breaking law in sending cartel members to US without extradition order (apnews.com)
‘In a press conference on Monday, lawyers for the cartel members asserted they were denied due process because they were sent to the U.S. without an extradition order, which requires a lengthy legal process in Mexico.’
‘“Mexico is currently under intense pressure from the United States. This forces us to seriously question if these decisions are being used to show political results, even if it comes at the expense of due process or the rule of law.”’
London area police services opt out of assault-style firearms buyback program (youtube.com)
Trump administration unlawfully ended venezuelans legal status us court rules (reuters.com)
New bill could revoke passports for U.S. citizens | The D.C. Daily (youtube.com)
Civil Rights
Feb 2026
Have Quebec workers lost their right to strike? | News (thelinknewspaper.ca)
Quebec’s Law 14.
Versions of ‘1984’ and ‘Book of Genesis’ Banned in Alberta Schools | The Tyee (thetyee.ca)
Are Your Health Records Quietly Being Used for Commercial Purposes? | The Tyee (thetyee.ca)
Canada
Emails show Miami Beach mayor flagged critic’s Facebook post to police (youtube.com)
Privacy Isn't Supporting Criminals: Addressing the Backlash on My Protester Video (youtube.com)
KIRO 7 Investigates: Grocery loyalty programs sell shopper data for millions (youtube.com)
Michigan license plate cameras face backlash: Big help, or Big Brother? (apnews.com)
Smartglasses spark privacy fears as secret filming videos flood social media | Technology News
Smartglasses spark privacy fears as secret filming videos flood social media | Technology News
British Police Arrest Irish Comedian Graham Linehan at Heathrow Over Online Posts | APT (youtube.com)
Is UK the new China?
Breakdown of University of Lethbridge Totalitarianism (youtube.com)
Canada.
Humble Request to Louis Rossmann (youtube.com)
From a channel called ‘Deflock Colorado.’ Video has 200k views.
Media Exclusion Zone during Vancouver decampment 'unlawful,' report finds (youtube.com)
April 2023 tent city, news media kept out of area, traffic cameras shut down. VPD ordered it while they cleared out a homeless encampment. The police spokesperson said ‘reporters were there’ and that they put in a pool camera, but not in a way that's not industry standard, was put in by the police themselves, and was only put in half an hour after the operation started, countered the Human Rights Commissioner.
Spain Social Media Ban: a ProSurveillance Trojan for Censorship
Spain Social Media Ban: a ProSurveillance Trojan for Censorship
'Yeah there's no real privacy here in Spain. You have to give out your NI (identity) number frequently. Deliveries for example (some)' ... To receive your $5 dongle from Amazon.
Houston-area districts confirm A.I. monitoring tools on student devices as privacy questions grow
Houston-area districts confirm A.I. monitoring tools on student devices as privacy questions grow
Venezuela critic tests limit of free speech after Maduro's ouster (youtube.com)
I-TEAM: Man jailed for 20 hours on stolen gun charges; gun was legal (youtube.com)
Parents cleared of neglect allegation after letting child ride scooter alone (youtube.com)
Cypress residents pay tolls to leave neighborhood (youtube.com)
'China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters at a daily briefing that Lai is a Chinese citizen, calling him a major planner and participant in a series of anti-China destabilizing activities in Hong Kong. Lin said the judicial cases are purely Hong Kong’s internal affairs, urging “relevant countries” to avoid interfering in those or in China’s internal affairs. Beijing’s office in Hong Kong affairs said Lai’s sentence reflected Hong Kong’s determination in safeguarding national security.'
EU lawmakers agree on migration policies easing deportations, drawing criticism (apnews.com)
Discord Goes Into Damage Control Mode Over New Age Verification Requirements, Promising There’s Nothing To See Here For ‘Vast Majority’ Of Users
Discord Goes Into Damage Control Mode Over New Age Verification Requirements, Promising There’s Nothing To See Here For ‘Vast Majority’ Of Users
Ring ends partnership with surveillance firm after backlash from Super Bowl commercial (youtube.com)
Ring said the technology can find lost dogs only and has ‘no capability to find people’.
Definitely Only for Dogs: Ring's Superbowl Commercial (Parody) (youtube.com)
This is the parody ad. From 3 days ago and it has 150k views.
Jon Stewart DESTROYS Palantir As TERRIFYING Leak Goes Public (youtube.com)
350,000 demonstrators rally in North York in support for Iran (youtube.com)
Discord's Disturbing Ties to Global Surveillance | ID Verification, Palantir, & Thiel (youtube.com)
How To Get Flock Cameras Out Of Your City: The Eugene Playbook (youtube.com)
This Just Cost Them Everything.. (youtube.com)
Mass school walkouts protesting ICE.
‘Leave The EU’: Paris Rally Blasts Macron Over Alleged Online Censorship | APT (youtube.com)
'I call it censorship by procurement. States seek to say, under the threat of perquition (legal search), fine, what you may say or not say, and thereby control what you will have access to as information to your users.
‘I ask that all light be shed on this situation.'
Tens of thousands flood Vancouver to show solidarity with Iranian people (youtube.com)
Toronto Police scandal reveals: Your personal info is not safe with the cops (youtube.com)
Police have data on people, and they use it to sell to criminals so criminals can do crime on those, and use it to find women to try to have relationships with, spy on exes and their families, misusing Covid19 portals' data.
This is why you don't want to allow carding (stopping citizens who are not doing anything criminally suspicious and demanding they give info or their card), the guy argues.
If any police office has info to your data, it's likely they all have access.
Major retailer asks man to sign confidentiality agreement for refund (youtube.com)
The NEW Ruling Cops Use to Search Your Home WITHOUT a Warrant (youtube.com)
Part time cop gets fired for testing algorithm using Flock database (youtube.com)
KIRO 7 Investigates: Grocery loyalty programs sell shopper data for millions (youtube.com)
Some Colorado residents carrying additional ID amid federal immigration enforcement (youtube.com)
Latinos carrying their passport, because they get challenged regularly or questioned about their citizenship.
The expert said what people are regularly seeing is ICE agents ‘just bulldozing through those protections [that Americans don’t need to carry or show ID to police] around reasonable suspicion and probable cause, to just handcuff people and sweep them away.'
‘You feel angry. You feel disappointed.’
...
'Farm Bill' threatens First Amendment rights, critics say (youtube.com)
Florida Farm Bill. Financially punish anyone who criticizes or speaks about (including journalists) agricultural companies. 'If you post about a (agricultural) product, that you don't like it, it absolutely could open you up to liability.' In a lawsuit, the companies would be able to recover attorney fees if they are sued, but if the defendent (regular person or journalist) wins, he has to cover his own costs.
Texas teen accused in race-based bullying case awarded $3.2M in damages by jury (youtube.com)
A 13 year old black student made claims that a white student did degrading things to him (including illegal acts outside any consideration of racism), and BLM groups got involved and called it race based bullying. Upon investigation things didn't seem to add up, the white student was never charged. The white student brought a civil suit against the mother of the black student. Intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
At the time, the 13 year old felt scared and little, and like no one would listen to him. Now he feels like people will help him. But he said, shaking his head, ‘No I don’t feel that my reputation's been restored. I don't know when it will. I don't know if it ever will. But the people heard me, and they fought for me, and all we can try to do is get it restored now.'
They did do (potentially considered) degrading things to the black student, but it was a group of friends and the black student fell asleep first and they'd said whoever falls asleep gets pranked. No racism in it. There is video of the black student drinking the urine/apple juice drink but afterwards laughing it off and the group continued as friends. One of the friends videoed it, too, and the black student didn't know about the video, it seems ... After a video game argument, one of the students shared the video which was reshared many times and made its way to the black student's mother, who went to the school and wanted the white student expelled.
The black student's mother appeared on Good Morning America and other shows, hundreds of people marched to the white student's house to demonstrate.
The father of the white student wanted to get his voice out there, but in a way that wouldn't be ‘trial by social media.’ In the trial, the lawyer of the white student's family had the chance to 'go step by step with the jury through the process of what really happened, what the investigation shows, the actual facts, and then how those facts were spun for publicity and profit by [the mother of the black student and their lawyer].
In order for the white student's family to win their case, the jury had to find that the black student's mother and their lawyer ‘took facts that were not true and cast in false light, and did it for a reason in order to cause him severe emotional distress.’
The mother of the black student made a statement pointing out that the case doesn't involve slander or defamation of character, and that she will appeal.
The white student's family's lawyer commented that the reason defamation wasn't in the trial was that Texas' short statute of limitations ruled it out but that it was part of the events. He said that the black student's camp continued to push a false narrative of racism that they know did not exist.
Jury rules mom, lawyer must pay millions to teenager they accused of racial bullying (youtube.com)
...
His point was, ‘You are for free speech. Ok, where is the role of ’free algorhythm'?' He wants a transparent road for how speech is arranged and presented, but he also does make anti-free speech statements. He said ‘I want, by the way, to have sort of public order. I want to avoid racist speech, hate speech.’
He made a comment also about wanting platforms to include multiple languages (not just English and Chinese), because that is the best way to avoid hegemony of ideology and ethnocentrism (my words) .
Police don’t want you to know about this facial recognition trial (youtube.com)
Judge scolds Mark Zuckerberg's entourage for sporting Meta glasses with cameras in court (youtube.com)
Comments are not in support on him.
Zuckerberg 'combative' during initial testimony at social media addiction trial (youtube.com)
Legal Analyst: Microsoft sued over Teams voice data collection (youtube.com)
COVID travel ban considered by Supreme Court: Was it a win for freedom? (youtube.com)
No general right to move around freely in Canada (subject to government's approval).
Freedom.gov: US Website to Bypass UK & EU Online Safety Laws (youtube.com)
Some US states have also tried bringing in ‘age verificiation’ de anonymizing internet usage.
Governments usually enforce internet rules, he notes. Yeah, so if they do that around 99% of the time, what do you think you should look for in this action which might not be the superficial part?
Various internets for various countries.
Denver auditor refuses to sign city's current surveillance cameras contract with Flock (youtube.com)
TSA Precheck, Global Entry suspended at all airports | Morning in America (youtube.com)
Your Smart TV Takes 7,200 Screenshots Every Hour (Texas AG Lawsuit) (youtube.com)
Why all Canadians’ rights are at stake in the Supreme Court challenge of Quebec’s Bill 21 (youtube.com)
Quebec used the constitution to force some Canadians to not wear some religious symbols at work. (Canada is known for it's Federal government having an ‘anti-religion’ ‘secular’ purpose, with no mandate for this from the citizens).
Florida Deputies Detain Everyone For NOTHING And Get EXPOSED On Camera (youtube.com)
BAFTAs: Why was a racial slur aired while ‘Free Palestine’ comment was cut? (youtube.com)
Big Tech FREAKS After Activists KILL Data Center (youtube.com)
These Cyberpunk Artists Are Thwarting Surveillance Technology (youtube.com)
They Want To Age Verify Our Computers Now... (youtube.com)
Department of War CTO on X (x.com)
Lethalitymaxxing, the US government against enemies of the state, both domestic and foreign? Daliwali
‘National, provincial, and even local governments are hostile, belligerent organizations that are humiliating and impoverishing their own people. ’
‘There has been a lot of uproar about DHS tracking dissidents and critics of ICE, Discord requiring ID verification, but none about how bullshit the existing NSA surveillance programs are.’ Daliwali
Russia opens criminal investigation against Telegram app founder Pavel Durov (apnews.com) on charges of “aiding terrorism.”
“A sad spectacle of a state afraid of its own people,” Durov commented.
‘The move triggered a rare wave of public outcry, including widespread criticism from pro-Kremlin military bloggers, who warned that Telegram was widely used by Russian troops fighting in Ukraine and restricting its service would derail military communications.’
Federal Court judge rules in favor of Newton man arrested at city council meetings (youtube.com)
Speaking against, criticizing, police and mayor in a city council meeting, including using the word ‘fascist’, and he was arrested for disorderly conduct and violating the city's rule against derogatory comments. They violated his Constitutional rights, the court found. The rule against derogatory comments is also unconstitutional.
Denver Metro Audits uses anti-piracy law against critic after copyright strike fails (youtube.com)
Rossman.
Man FINED $750K for Saying There are 2 Genders SPEAKS OUT | Barry Neufeld (youtube.com)
Charges withdrawn for Ontario man accused of assaulting intruder (youtube.com)
Slotkin: This should send a chill down your spine... (youtube.com)
Sen Slotkin channel.
It seems Anthropic wanted to have 2 conditions, that their tech not be used to make weapons that have no human oversight, and that it not be used to mass surveil Americans, and she says Hegseth got angry at this. She asked, Why wouldn’t Hegseth be like fine, we're never going to use this for mass surveillance of Americans? Why wouldn't he be fine with that?
He would give no answers about whether the government can or is surveilling Americans. He ‘deferred.’ He just said that he couldn't speak to those questions, ‘in this particular forum.’
...
Toronto man's credit card frozen after paying off balance
He paid off his large balance all in one go (even though the amount was only 80% of his credit limit on that card), and that was suspicious for the bank, so they froze his credit, wihle he was on vacation in Portugal. CIBC bank. He only travels with one card. It was frozen for 14 days. He also uses that card for preapproved regular payments, which would also not go through.
He found out when he tried to pay $5 for something. He had to log in and discover for himself. He called them.
He's spoken to CIBC five times 'and their response is “Tough luck.”’
Shortly after the news reported on it, the card was reactivated.
He said he'll be taking some action when he gets back, he said. Will he, though, because all Canadian banks are bad and have been for a long time, if you go on any online forum and read what people have to say you'll see this.
...
The argument for AI regulation after Tumbler Ridge (youtube.com)
Canadians welcome the surveillance state?
Private member's bill to abolish B.C.'s Human Rights Code shut down (youtube.com)
‘Repeal the Human Rights Code that the Left is using to punish and profit from anyone who doesn’t adopt their views.' Armstrong stated, citing the $750k fine levied against a BC school board trustee for making comments about gender identity. BC premier Eby called out Conservatives for voting for the bill. Conservatives said that even though they voted for the bill it doesn't mean they agree with it (which, maybe, because it's traditional for everyone to vote for a bill on first reading regardless).
That line, ‘Repeal the Human Rights Code that the Left is using to punish and profit from anyone who doesn’t adopt their views,' does that rhyme with historical tyrannies?
...
Attorney general announces indictment against 30 more people who protested at a Minnesota church (apnews.com)
“YOU CANNOT ATTACK A HOUSE OF WORSHIP. If you do so, you cannot hide from us — we will find you, arrest you, and prosecute you,” she wrote in the post. “This Department of Justice STANDS for Christians and all Americans of faith.”
‘In total, 39 people have been charged over the church protest and all are charged with conspiracy against religious freedom and interfering with the right of religious freedom.’
Don Lemon arrested: Footage of Minnesota church protest against ICE tied showed scenes before arrest (youtube.com)
This video shows footage of the church protest. Did the protesters impede movement of people? or could the people leave but just more slowly because there were simply people standing there?
The reason they chose that church is that one of the pastors was identified as a field office directory for ICE.
License plate readers hidden along roadways across San Diego, Imperial Counties (youtube.com)
Disguised as trailers or construction barrels, cones. Not known which federal agency is operating them. Border areas. State-owned roads.
The talk is about privacy concerns and also that the device placement bypasses state laws which protect state residents from the federal government by prohibiting that local law enforcement share that data with the federals. They can't control what they do with the data, but they can (other than this) control what happens on state property.
CBP and DEI puchased ones that fit these designs, so locals can only guess that's whose they are.
January 2026
Seattle woman finds hidden camera in her yard | FOX 13 Seattle (youtube.com)
State Sup Ct Says You Waive 4th Amendment Rights When Using Google (youtube.com)
Flock Safety Loses Another City After CEO’s Email Backfires (youtube.com)
Placer County detective spots hidden camera near home (youtube.com)
This City Just Banned Backyard Swim Lessons (youtube.com)
Grocery market 'Wegmans' stores customer biometrics
[ Removed by moderator ]
Surrey councillor proposes giving SPS access to traffic camera system (youtube.com)
Nearly half of Britons watch porn on unregulated sites since age verification crackdown, warns charity
Nearly half of Britons watch porn on unregulated sites since age verification crackdown, warns charity
Aaron Maté : When Law Dies, Freedom Follows - MURDER in Minneapolis (youtube.com)
Search Once. See Everything? Inside Flock NOVA (youtube.com)
DHS Invokes Immigration Enforcement To Justify Gathering Americans' DNA
DHS Invokes Immigration Enforcement To Justify Gathering Americans
Anti-ICE protesters assemble across the US after shootings in Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon. AP
Anti-ICE nationwide protests in photos
Anti-ICE nationwide protests in photos (apnews.com)
As protests rage, Iran pulls the plug on contact with the world (apnews.com)
Fatal ice shooting minneapolis activist sets stage national protests (reuters.com)
What mades a Nazi in 1940 included a belief that the in group race was the superior race, racism (antisemitism), totalitarianism, and that the homeland (Germany) needed to expand its territory into Eastern Europe to provide land and resources for the superior race.
Protesters clash with border patrol outside ICE facility in Minneapolis (youtube.com)
When the government (agents always) violate the people's rights, it goes smoothly and progresses so long as there is no resistence. When anyone stands up, they're usually hurt or suffer persecution, but everyone who sees their mistreatment has to make a real choice, and many people chose to fight back.
For public figures, it's more immediate. People like podcasters and influencers, as well as politicians, are asked and must come up with their answer about a very specific event, and their choice is between the government (agents) and the people (often protesters or activists, or someone who encountered an agent), generally. If they come out for the government, they will lose half their fans, sometimes. But in any case, it's hard to sit on the fence, which is what many of them try to do.
Vance: 'WHO TOLD PROTESTERS TO SHOW UP?' (youtube.com)
Instagram Data Leak Exposes Sensitive Info of 17.5M Accounts [Updated] (cybersecuritynews.com)
Tesla workers shared sensitive images recorded by customer cars (reuters.com)
LA County landscapers say they were almost taken by ICE despite having documentation (youtube.com)
Connecticut legislators plan to ban biometric surveillance (facial recognition) in retail environments
Connecticut legislators plan to ban biometric surveillance (facial recognition) in retail environments
California rolls out the DROP platform... residents can now request data brokers delete their personal info (health data) from a single portal
California rolls out the DROP platform... residents can now request data brokers delete their personal info from a single portal
California bans data broker reselling health data of millions
Plane used in boat strike off Venezuela was painted to look like a civilian aircraft, AP sources say (apnews.com)
US military aircraft disguised as civilian. ‘Appears to be at odds with the Pentagon’s manual on the laws of war.’ Perfidy. ‘...Also was carrying munitions in the fuselage, rather than beneath the aircraft, raising questions about the extent to which the operation was disguised in ways that run contrary to military protocol.’
‘The Navy’s manual explains that “attacking enemy forces while posing as a civilian puts all civilians at hazard,” and sailors must use offensive force “within the bounds of military honor, particularly without resort to perfidy.”’
US (Hegseth) also won't release the full unedited video of where he supposedly bombed shipwrecked civilians.
“There’s an ongoing question whether the use of military can be for bringing a person to justice,” Welch said.'
...
Trump administration says it is ending deportation protections for some Somali migrants (apnews.com)
Us revoke citizenship naturalized migrants convicted fraud trump says (reuters.com)
ICE Agents Drag People Out of Cars in Front of Protesters (youtube.com)
Border Patrol Agents SMASH Window and Drag Man from Car in Minnesota Chaos (youtube.com)
Miami Beach woman outraged after police question her over Facebook post criticizing mayor (youtube.com)
The police at her door said ‘We are just trying to prevent somebody else getting agitaged or agreeing with the statement. We’re not saying it's true or not.' The idea was that it was an incitement to violence or something. There was a question of ‘safety implication’ for the police, reportedly.
The video shows the post she made and it was a regular, political, ridiculous post.
She wants to know what led to the officers showing up at her door.
...
Vancouver women secretly recorded using smart glasses (youtube.com)
Washington Moves to Ban 3D Printing (youtube.com)
ICE Is Using a Terrifying Palantir App to Determine Where to Raid
'Everybody is in privatized geo-located databases now apparently
‘The app’s “Geospatial Lead Sourcing Tab” allows ICE agents to select targets based on a number of criteria, including “Bios & IDs,” “Criminality,” “Location,” and “Operations,” the user guide shows. Using the app, ICE agents can select individual targets or multiple targets at once by drawing a shape around a selected area. During a sworn deposition earlier this month about a “dragnet” raid in Woodburn, Oregon, an officer with ICE’s Fugitive Operations Unit said that agents used the app to find target-rich areas.’
Scott Ritter : FREE Speech & Me - I've been de-Banked! (youtube.com)
Federal government loses Emergencies Act appeal
and
Federal Court of Appeal to rule on Liberals
‘[470] The most egregious problem with the Economic Order, in our view, is that personal banking information belonging to individuals who were suspected of having committed offences under the Regulations could be shared with the RCMP and CSIS without a warrant or any form of prior authorization, which information could well have provided evidence of offences under the Regulations.’
Commenter. 'The ultimate outcome here will almost certainly be a re-writing of the emergencies act to make it easier to use. While I mostly agree that the court's ruling is probably correct, the people who sued will do nothing but make the act more applicable as the government looks at it ad broadens its language to make it applicable to more situations.'
Commenter. 'I am very thankful that the rule of law prevailed against political will. To be honest, when this whole thing began, I wasn't sure it would.' Reply. ‘People were so burnt out and bloodthirsty two years into the pandemic with an “out group” in their crosshairs. I think the madness has passed and now everyone can look at the situation a bit more clearly.’
Google asks us judge defer order forcing it share data while it appeals (reuters.com)
Manitoba's justice minister says province won't support federal gun buyback program
Manitoba
Starlink updates Privacy Policy to allow AI model training with personal data
Starlink updates Privacy Policy to allow AI model training with personal data
You can opt out Starlink Privacy Policy - Starlink Help Center (starlink.com)
1. Click the Edit Profile button
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and remove the check next to “Share personal data with Starlink’s trusted collaborators to train AI models.”
3. Click the Save button.
How would they if the data are encrypted E2E? They'll probably just train on what they can - SNI, IP addresses, DNS, etc.
Tesla's FSD (Full Self Driving) feature will be subscription-only from February 14
Tesla
Banning hate groups in Australia (youtube.com)
Confiscation Launches Now! We Should Be Asking These Questions. (youtube.com)
Canada.
Are random police stops constitutional? Canada’s top court will decide (youtube.com)
Cash makes a comeback in Sweden as digital payments face backlash (youtube.com)
Vietnam’s New Social Credit is INSANE! (copies China!!) (youtube.com)
'Your freedom is dependent is controlled by a number inside an app controlled by someone else. A score for being a bad citizen.' Your digital money could have an expiry date. You could be banned from travel.
ICE agents are being told they can enter homes without a judge's warrant (youtube.com)
Legally force entry without a warrant, with just an administrative warrant required.
Hong kong begins national security trial tiananmen vigil group (reuters.com)
KSU students express privacy concerns over AI surveillance devices on campus (youtube.com)
President Trump sues JPMorgan Chase and CEO Jamie Dimon for $5B for alleged debanking (youtube.com)
The Exact Moment Surveillance Becomes Illegal Stalking! (youtube.com)
Palantir kills people? But Who's Really Pushing the Buttons? (youtube.com)
Minnesotans hold 'economic blackout' to protest ICE crackdown (youtube.com)
Also, the Mineapolis FBI agent who was investigating the ICE agent who shot Rene Good, had been pressured to drop the investigation, and then he recently resigned, NYT reported.
Why are passports of American citizens flagged by the government? (youtube.com)
By error, people's passports are flagged as ‘lost or stolen’ by Interpol. They take off fine, but when they arrive at a new country they're not allowed to enter the country and are detained until they're back on US soil. The guy in the video, his new passport was flagged as lost before he even received it. Technically, the only person who can flag it as lost or stolen is the passport owner, and he didn't do that.
Microsoft will assist the FBI in unlocking your Windows PC data if asked
Microsoft will assist the FBI in unlocking your Windows PC data if asked
Microsoft Starts Sharing Your Location With Your Employer
Microsoft Starts Sharing Your Location With Your Employer
TikTok US venture to collect precise user location data
TikTok US venture to collect precise user location data
Pakistani human rights lawyers jailed for 17 years over social media posts (apnews.com)
Washington wants your 3D printer to spy on you - here's the bill (youtube.com)
New lawsuit alleges Meta can read WhatsApp chats despite claims of end-to-end privacy
New lawsuit alleges Meta can read WhatsApp chats despite claims of end-to-end privacy
Access denied: why Muslims worldwide are being ‘debanked’ | Oliver Bullough (theguardian.com)
paid
Microsoft Gave the FBI BitLocker Keys! Should You Worry? (youtube.com)
By default, the keys are uploaded.
Your City Is Recording Your Voice (Flock’s New AI System) (youtube.com)
Minnesota Secretary of State tells Bondi 'no' after AG requested voter data (youtube.com)
French firm supports ICE in tracking immigrants • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Google settles google assistant privacy lawsuit 68 million (reuters.com)
Facial recognition to be rolled out nationwide in major police reforms (standard.co.uk)
UK
Nearly half of Women Veterans Council resigns in protest (youtube.com)
5 women, that is.
iMessage Is Secretly Sharing Your Data — TURN OFF These iPhone Settings (youtube.com)
House overrides Mills' veto on 'right to repair' bill (youtube.com)
Windows 11 is a Federal Wiretap (youtube.com)
Bitlocker.
Privacy issues block Carthage PD grant for FLOCK cameras
Privacy issues block Carthage PD grant for FLOCK cameras
The $2M AI surveillance contract Austin keeps trying to pass - here's how to stop it (youtube.com)
Rossman
WHAT THE TECH? iPhone settings to change now (youtube.com)
Mainstream tv news.
Meta’s GDPR compliance: Pay for privacy or accept data collection - Is this the future of ‘consent’?
Meta’s GDPR compliance: Pay for privacy or accept data collection - Is this the future of ‘consent’?
EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE: Professor arrested at UBC for speaking out against a leftist MOB (youtube.com)
Google cripples IPIDEA proxy network: Millions of Android devices were secretly used as residential proxies without user consent.
Google cripples IPIDEA proxy network: Millions of Android devices were secretly used as residential proxies without user consent.
Data Privacy Week with Senator Josh Becker and Executive Director Tom Kemp . (youtube.com)
Public release of man’s confession sparks legal concerns (voanews.com) (Kurdish)
Analysts see flaws in Syria's temporary constitution (voanews.com)
UN: Iran using drones to enforce hijab law (voanews.com)
Homeland Security, rights group to meet in court over migrants at Guantanamo Bay (voanews.com)
Under what circumstances can a US green card be revoked? (voanews.com)
Journalism
Feb 2026
Thompson Reuters seems to be trading down, along with tech stocks.
...
Volusia man arrested for fraud, theft crimes he did not commit (youtube.com)
Journalists did weeks of digging to uncover the reciepts that proved his innocence.
The warrants the police had were for the man, with his photo. For using stolen credit cards at hotels.
The place he worked (and punched his timecard the day of the hotel stay) fired him after his arrest. But HR did supply investigators with his timecard showing he had punched in.
The actual fraudster tried to use the cards again or something, and was banned by Universal Studios for trespassing, and police came and gave him his ban, and there is bodycam footage showing the man is not Burges. The journalists requested this bodycam footage and received it after 2 months. Burges's timecard showed he checked in that day too.
‘... they didn’t do no kind of investigation, and just charged me, because it looks so like me.'
The police chief said facial recognition AI wasn't used in this.
The same day the news agency received the body cam footage from the city, the state attorney's office filed a no information notice in Burges's case.
Burges said he felt hopeless before he shared his story with the news agency, WESH2 Investigates.
...
SNEAK PEEK: Rebel News goes undercover in Communist Cuba!
News Literacy Week: Rebuilding trust in the age of AI
AI dominates SM.
This news agency does real interviews, but uses an AI to write web articles, and uses a real editor to check those articles. It puts a note at the bottom of the article saying it was written by AI. They double check. They also run their scripts (articles) through a scripts articles guidelines AI to make sure it looks fair and unbiased.
...
‘ICE Chasing’ Teen Brothers Risk Their Lives To Expose Agents | 10 News+
Been teargassed and peppersprayed like 7 times. They offer up their video footage free for anyone who wants it.
‘ICE observers.’
Videoed an ICE agent walking up and pepperspraying the face of a man who was already pinned down by several other ICE agents. Videoed an US citizen torn out of her car and carried away.
A lot of ICE aren't even wearing body cams, and when they are, the cameras aren't rolling, and when they're rolling the video doesn't get released. Citizens persistently videoing them breaks the narrative they want to put out.
...
Fans highly anticipate what songs Band Bunny will perform during half time show
CTV headlines.
Ex-media tycoon Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in Hong Kong security case - AP Explains
Lai is 78. Two counts of national security law crimes, and a count of sedition (inciting the publishing of seditious materials). Other Apple Daily workers got between 6 and 10 years. Lai was arrested 5 years ago.
Kneecap manager's explosive speech on the Israel lobby, music industry and BBC
The Biggest Threat to Journalism? Journalists.
Who dis shill?
Only a fourth of Americans only have even a bare shred of trust in media? Do you think that's because of journalists or because of corporations who own all the newspapers, even local ones?
How Jeff Bezos Broke The Washington Post
‘Destroying trust is the currency of autocrats.’
This month, WP closed the Sports department, reduced International and Metro (laid off a reporter in the middle of a war zone. ("We will continue to have a strategic overseas presence in close to a dozen locations.'), cut the books department, closed the dialy news show (The Post Reports).
Cut staff by 1/3 (after already a few staff reductions recently also).
The WP is expected, by the masses, to expertly monitor people in power. It's importance isn't limited to the city. It's one of 2 large news publishers in Washington.
When Bezos bought, he seemed to many like he wanted to be a serious champion of the paper. He increased staff, and hired engineers for the digital side of the WP.
He took a stand against Trump personal attacks in Trump 1.0, and this increased WP subs and WP even was profitable for 2 years. In 2014 Bezos declined to go through with a planned endoresement of Kamala Harris, and 250k people cancelled WP subscriptions. During the Trump campaign Bezos maintained his standard donations to both parties, but after Trump won Amazon donated $1m to Trump (the January 20 2025 inauguration) plus $1m in kind by streaming the ceremony on Prime Video. Bezos was one of many (most?) tech leaders who fell in line and congratulated Trump publicly and met with Trump do discuss deregulation and the economy. Amazon also bought the Melania Trump documentary at a price above market rate.
‘We need to have a newspaper that doesn’t sully itself with presidential endorsement.' Bezos also cut some opinions from the Opinions of WP, ‘We will cover other issues besides personal liberties and free markets but we will not be running any opinions that are in opposition to those.’ It became clear, the reporter says, within months, that he was shifting the Opinion more to the Right. The WP shifted to a powerful force of contraint on any administration to the WP being perceived to have fallen in line with political whims. ‘Bezos knows that digital industries tend to focus around one big winner. Amazon.com is the perfect example of this.’ We went from having many small shops everywhere to one giant that dominates the retail business and 'doesn’t allow much else to thrive outside of it in a lot of cases.'
In February 2026 Wp laid off 30% of its workforce.
Is this a stellar example of why CEOs/owners of large companies shouldn't be allowed to buy newspapers? Outside of a monopoly (Amazon's legally unrecognized monopoly or effective whatever close to it), companies would all be too small for this to be worthwhile, but for a company that big, it would make financial sense even to buy WP for a few hundred million dollars. In 2013, Amazon made $74b gross and $274m net (last year it net $78b).
Every contract the government allows or denies a company as big as Amazon is worth the negotiating value of newspaper like the WP and the editorial cooperation with the current Federal administration or many state or local admin.
At the time, $250m was 1% of Bezos' net worth and is 0.1% of his current net worth. $250m inflation adjusted for today would be $340m (but official inflation is lower than real, many believe).
...
Berkshire opened a position in NYT, after exiting newspaper companies in 2020. But he had said that NYT and WSJ had a digital moat.
NYT's digital subscription revenue is up 14% in the most recent Quarter, and digital advertising up 25%.
The main argument is ‘trusted source’ in a AI generated news environment, and licencing real information to Microsoft et al to train their LLM services. This is high margin revenue if it comes from only a few sources.
...
Speaking of Seattle: Who Tells Seattle’s Story? Local Media in a Broken News Economy
January 2026
2. Transparency: Blacklock's Documents (youtube.com)
Canada.
'Blacklock's Reporter has requested 576 pages that will reveal the discussions between the government and the Kamloops Indian Band about the excavations that were paid for with $12.1 million in public funds.'
YouTube Journalist Nick Shirley Drops BOMBSHELL Opening Statements on Minnesota FRAUD (youtube.com)
The most important journalism done in recent years is by a 19 year old with no education, who can barely string sentences together. Probably can't spell. Doesn't really have any understanding of libel law, its seems from his recent interview on All In. Is tied in with Trump White House, it seems, at least he was in the White House at meetings a while ago. Why is this the type of person doing journalism that makes headlines? No fear because no understanding of fear? or because he's aligned or protected by the armed party?
California Post brings brash New York-style tabloid news to the West Coast (apnews.com)
Topics of interest to Californians include ‘homelessness, affordability, technology and law and order, said the editor. It will have a flashy front page, which is the most famous part and calling card of the NY version, and a Page 6 gossip column.
The Cali version, like the NY version, is expected to be unprofitable but useful against political enemies and in getting relationships with Right wing politicians, AP reported.
AP put a little summary of news this year in their article.
'It launches at a volatile moment for the industry
'However bold its intentions, the venture is being launched into a turbulent atmosphere for the news business, particularly print papers. More than 3,200 of them have closed nationwide since 2005, according to figures kept by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. The online world spawned new information sources and influencers, changed news consumers’ tastes and habits, and upended the advertising market on which newspapers relied.
'California, with a population of nearly 40 million, still has dozens of newspapers, including dailies in and around Los Angeles and other major cities. But the nation’s second-most-populous city hasn’t had a dedicated tabloid focused on regional issues in recent memory. Meanwhile, venerable institutions like the Los Angeles Times have been hit with major layoffs.
'The launch of a paper edition of the Post “defies logic” as news outlets in major metro areas are rapidly shrinking their print footprint, said Ted Johnson, a media and politics editor for Deadline in Washington, D.C., who reported in Los Angeles for 28 years.
‘“But Rupert Murdoch, his first love is print,” Johnson said.’
Commenter. 'They may be surprised at how many people read the new Calif. Post. It will appeal to conservatives and it can't possibly have more fake news than the main stream media.'
...
‘Fresh brewed news’: Community café offers locals a chance to sip with reporters (csmonitor.com)
‘Locals were unsurprised that the newspapers were struggling – and there was little pushback to consolidating the publications into one newspaper.’
“I think a lot of where we are today is due to the perception that there are editors and writers away in this tower who are covering issues, but they’re not fully connected with readers,” Ms. Capetta says. “We’re trying to shift that perspective.”
“I don’t think brewing coffee every morning is necessarily going to solve all of the audience trust issues out there,” she says. “I do think for a local audience, the ability to attach a physical location and names to faces, to personalities, to people who are in their community, they shift the dynamic a little bit.”
There's also a Silent Reading Club.
We published explosive stories about the president of El Salvador. Now we can’t go home – podcast (theguardian.com)
Originally in El Faro English.
Positive News launches podcast about people turning ideals into action (positive.news)
“Whether they’re rewilding landscapes, building inclusive communities or reshaping transport, each pioneer is guided by a belief that work can and should be a force for good,” she said. “They’re not focused on growth for its own sake, but on asking better questions about impact, responsibility and the legacy they want to leave behind.”
'At a time when we are constantly told we need to hustle harder and chase growth at all costs, it’s refreshing to hear from leaders who are focused on solving real local, national and global problems. They’ve achieved a version of success that goes far beyond a strong balance sheet.'
‘Not only informs but empowers.’
Journalists flag Samoa’s draft media protocol (globalvoices.org)
‘The bill would require background checks on journalists and mandatory approval of questions during press briefings.
'Up to 5,000 people tune in every week to a Norwegian news magazine program made by and for people with learning disabilities.’ The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)
Doors for discussions with Meta remain open: Feds (youtube.com)
Canadian news on Facebook.
Information
Feb 2026
Google is killing authentic websites & I made it worse (youtube.com)
When Google deranks the best companies (Luis Rossman's computer repair shop) for whatever reason (whether just political, things specific to website, whatever), even though they have higher reviews earned over several years with a large staff which they've increased their salary of), it means that people start bringing Rossman lower quality jobs, like they bring Rossman (ranked 100 now instead of in the top 10) the computer or disk after they already took it to the number 6 ranked, less competent, shop has already done an attempt to fix it which just made it worse or currupted it more or whatever, so overall the entire repair market is worse, and the products people have are worse.
But anyway, Rossman redid his website, and it went down to like 100 rank. He asked Gemeni why, and Gemeni suggested using sterile, computer shop speak terms and phrases, instead of the regular language he's perfected over 20 years of doing business or whatever. He made those changes and the website rose steadily, within weeks, to top 10. He had Gemeni reword each page and those pages started ranking way better.
Now his website reads as the opposite of all the honest statements, based on experience with choices about tech repairs, and it ranks much better. In other words, what will be in the top 10 of Google, or will rank at all, will be insincere, keyword termy, information that can be produced by a chatbot instead of an experienced person. And information that is not true or honest, but says a certain set of algorhythmically approved things. Just do CTRL C and CTRL V, don't write your own content. Something organic can't rank.
‘The thing that made the most difference was just sitting there and typing ‘How would you reword this so that Google likes it?’' Not changing the code, making it faster, etc.
Same with taking his voice and turning it into a Gemeni voice that Google likes.
Google is taking away the incentive structure to be authentic, it seems.
Discussion in many places has been replaced by reddit and Twitter.
He also said he regularly searched for and read some website abot Space. But recently he can hear the AI generated end dashes and things while he reads the new content. The videos have 500k or 1m views, the channels are doing great. People are using the AI stuff because it works.
Need another internet. Not end the current one, which is owned by Google. Have a Gemeni created website there, but have a real website on the other internet. Have real videos on the other internet, and make AI versions automatically generated to post on the Google internet.
For sure, content on Google internet will get worse and more streamlined to be compliant with AI approval, and no one will make anything they actually value. That will open up a massive space for a better internet to compete.
He expressed some shame that in the past, he modified what he wanted to say to be more successful. That he realized he had a principle, and gave up that principle because he had to chose between firing 6 staff or editing his website to be somethign he's sort of ashamed of, he's chosing the latter. He's giving up principles in one area to not have to fire people. ‘Who is going to chose to lose out on business?’ ‘I hate doing this. It makes me sick to my stomach, to change my wording choices, to placate an algorhythm. I want to have my voice come through. If you want to do business, great, if you don’t they don't.'
...
DOJ Epstein files dump fuels 'broader political schism surrounding elites vs. the people' - Analyst (youtube.com)
Daily Mail: Epstein's 'sex empire' was 'honeytrap' directed by the KGB • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
France24.
Government says it's fixing redactions in Epstein-related files that may have had victim information (apnews.com)
Epstein files: AI photos circulate of Zohran Mamdani’s mother at party • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Clintons reverse course, agree to testify in House Epstein inquiry | Elizabeth Vargas Reports (youtube.com)
The dark side of the 2016 Challenge (youtube.com)
Clintons finalize agreement to testify in House Epstein probe, bowing to threat of contempt vote (youtube.com)
Rep. Lieu Says Epstein files Have Allegations of Trump Raping & Threatening to Kill Children (youtube.com)
CSPAN. No other headlines or statements (allegations by others) on this topic for the day.
Epstein Files Claim Adolf Hitler Lived in Shelter Funded by Wealthy Families in Vienna | APT (youtube.com)
APT
Did this billionaire lie about getting s*xually assa*lted? (feat. @AnaPsychology ) (youtube.com)
Autobiography.
Fans race to learn Spanish before Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show (apnews.com)
Users accuse TikTok US of censoring content in the United States | DW News (youtube.com)
Indonesia: Growing threat from far-right radicalization | DW News (youtube.com)
What is ‘White supremacy ideology,' DW?
Retail Stores always want my email (youtube.com)
How new rules are changing the way Alberta teachers deliver sexual health education (youtube.com)
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick talks about briefly visiting Epstein's island (youtube.com)
Ghislaine Maxwell refuses to talk unless granted clemency by Trump (youtube.com)
RCMP, media, government all lying about horrific BC shooting: Ezra Levant (youtube.com)
It seems that in Canada there's generally a few days of censorship by government/police when there's this type of event. Been that way for years. It goes as far as giving false information, it seems.
At police press conference. ‘We identify the suspect as they chose to be identified in public and in social media. I can say that Jesse was born as a biological male who ... approximately 6 years ago began to transition to female....’
The issue is that the government warning message pushed out to people's phones (emergency message service you can't turn off in Canada) warned of a ‘female’ shooter. So how are people supposed to be on the lookout? Some other information agencies said ‘female identifying’ which is more descriptive.
Manifestos are frequently covered up by police, reportedly and seemingly.
From TikTok to Deportation: The Pipeline EXPOSED (youtube.com)
AI's rapid development sparks resignations from industry heavyweights | ABC NEWS (youtube.com)
AI generated article that depicted an argument betwen the news presenter and a bank CEO. The fake article has him tearing off his mic and storming off the set. The article was shared on SM.
You Don’t Own Your Narrative Anymore — Naomi Klein and Yanis Varoufakis (youtube.com)
Who owns you?
How are companies using sponsored ads to divert customers from local businesses? (youtube.com)
There's a local company called Waterloo Appliance Services, a legit long time company. But someone else outbids them for the Google search term ‘Waterloo appliance service’ and they put ‘same day service’ on their ad, and everyone searches and clicks this, but the website just diverts to another company that charges a bigger fee and doesn't even fix the appliances, reportedly.
Google's ad business is so profitable they won't change (fix) this issue, the expert said. The best way for the legit company to fix this is to either pay more money to get the top ad rank or to change their name.
...
French police raid Arab World Institute over ex-minister’s Epstein ties • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
At what point does it just become an excuse to look for other things?
US DOJ says it's released all required Epstein files: What's missing? | DW News (youtube.com)
1 Billion KYC Records Exposed — Age Verification Data Leak Explained (youtube.com)
EYC. Expose Your Customer.
Epstein Files Special: Prince Andrew Arrested, Global Network, Mythology, Reid Hoffman Files (youtube.com)
The Epstein economy/industry is talked about here. That news and bloggers are incentivized to publish the opposite of journalism for clicks. That $1b has been paid to purported victims who are ‘allowed to just reimagine things that happened to them 20 years before, as an adult, not as a child, and call themselves a sex trafficking victim, and then they can secure a couple million dollars tax free from JPM and the media will hail them as these brave survivors without doing a single thing to check the veracity of any of their claims.’ The redactions could be to protect disruption of the Epstein industry. ... Government propaganda unthinkingly regurgitaded, that there are 1000 or thousands of victims, based on July 6 FBI DOJ memo. The revelations 'reveal that this number is a fraud' and includes a total number of possible victims and their family members. ‘The government deceiving the public about it.’
At another point he talks about how someone wrote a book making accusations, which was the basis for the beginning of the news cycle (like 10 years ago and still ongoing), a book which later had to be like withdrawn or admitted as not factual by her (the writer's) lawyers, and there were all kinds of settlements paid by people who may not have even done anything but just didn't want the negative publicity (and you can see why).
He likens the news story and the hysteria to the 80's Satanic Sex scare which imprisoned regular men and women, which was also based on nothing more than some unchallenged claims and took over the whole nation. I wrote a paper about this in college, actually, and also likened these things to the Salem (and other) witch trials. (Later in the video, David Sacks also mentions the comparison with Salem witch trials.) Will this be the same? People in general, even intelligent ones, will just hear something, believe it is true, partially because they're overexcited by the sexual content, commit to it with statements and also with their enjoyment of the theme, and then not admit the contradictory facts until they are forced to do so, after which they'll try to never talk of it again, and since they are 98% of the population, this will be effective. He uses the same word, ‘moral hysteria.’ ‘Witch hunts.’ ‘Feeding frenzy.’
When Epstein died, Michael Tracy says, libel laws no longer applied, so all kinds of people came out to make any kind of claims they wanted. Epstein's estate was supposed to be around $600m, and an organization was set up to (non adversarially, ie no argument, and confidentially) evaluate claims and pay money. Then there were other funds set up by banks who were accused of not showing enough due dillegence when Epstein withdrew his money or something. JPM paid $290m (lawyers got 30%, not a contingency fee, but rather a judge approved payment to the attorneys) and Deutche Bank was $80m. Add that to the Epstein $120m.
‘Speculation has replaced fact’ and people ‘just end up believing things that are totally false' because they just sort of ‘ambiently absorb’ retold stories.
‘People think a lot of dumb things. Like, is there any evidence at all that would tie Reid Hoffman to some kind of c**** s** c****? No. So if people think that’s being covered up, they should be disabused of that fallacious notion, rather than countenancing the notion and allowing the mass hysteria proliferating unhindered.'
‘What are we talking about here? Ultimately, we’re like in this other domain of like, who can establish the most damning guilt by association even though nobody can spell out what the guilt is supposed to be tied to.'
Tracy also described what a lot of people have said over recent years, ‘What is trafficing?’ it can mean anything nowadays and basically means nothing, like ‘terrorism' (he didn't mention tihs).'Trafficking is an incredibly nebulous concept. It's very much open to the whims and discretion of prosecutors who seek to fit some fact pattern to a desire to prosecute somebody for some sort of sexually related offense. If it involves simply the movement from point A to point B. So if adult women consentually flew on an airplane to go visit a luxury island in the Caribbean and over the course of that visit maybe they engage in some consentual ... act, and then 20 years later they can retroactively classify it as trafficking and that will entitle them to millions of dollars in tax free settlement money, are we going to take at face value that that constututes trafficking? Because I don't.'
It can also not be used as the ‘number one political battering ram against your enemies.’ Democrats are using it to undercut Trump, almost like the new Russiagate. Also International, ravaging Norway, UAE, UK royals, political figures forced to resign just for having emailed with the guy.
Tracy said he was facinated with ‘just how people come to believe such mythological things.’ And ‘the journalistic malfeasance.’ Without any ‘counterveiling point of view.’
‘It’s probably the most explosive thing to tell the mass public, in terms of what it might incite particular people with a particular mental instability to do, and that's just one of the potentially detrimental effects of all of this, that I think it should be rationally countered to the maximum extent possible, and I think we're going to be beset with this issue for the forseeable future. ... We should be cognizant of the real world ramifications, intead of just speaking of it in the abstract...'
‘The mob does not like being accused of being a mob,’ commented Sacks. ‘And their defence mechanism seems to be to accuse anyone who points out some of these problems in the logic of basically somehow being involved...'
...
PA florist says sponsored ad used her business name without permission (youtube.com)
They heard from customers who had done a Google search for her business had got a Google result that looks like Scentiment's Floral, because that is the big blue name displayed in the result (she has a screenshot), but that is for the domain for Burkittsfloral, a competitor in the area, linked to Bloomex.
The expert advises to go below the sponsored results to get real results. However, seems pretty fair to say regular people aren't going to do that, especially since Google is known to provide best results and the top result looked like what they would be looking for.
OpenAl Showed Up At My Door. Here’s Why They’re Targeting People Like Me (youtube.com)
CIA offers tips to potential informants in Iran as Trump considers military action (apnews.com)
Spending their resources? How many countries are going to continue using the tech (phones and apps) that allow a hostile nation to manipulate data gleaned from their citizens against them?
Meta-Smartness: Infinite Advantage in a World of Cheap Intelligence (youtube.com)
Problem identifying and communication to an AI. How to not scale wrong, since AI scales mistakes. Epistemic discipline, verification, sceptical. Execution, managing other people and fears, translating into outcomes. Quality, refined, curation, avoidance of low quality high output. Systems built around AI, not just use of AI, turning AI into production of results. Overcoming political, logical constraints in audience.
‘Ask for assumptions explicitly’ before starting. Verify and plan what can be done in the period of work.
...
Thomson Reuters reports CoCounsel has 1 million users, shares soar (youtube.com)
An AI platform for feduciaries, model agnostic (rn it's Claude). They also made their own Thompson model.
He says the results are feduciary grade, not the unacceptable 95% correct that most models do.
...
BREAKING: Hillary Clinton Said She Was Asked About UFOs, Pizzagate During Epstein Probe Testimony (youtube.com)
First time Hillary has been interesting in the news in years? She comes across here as a normal person in America, basically, which was refreshing sort of, and which may show that people are at their best when they're on the defensive and when a powerful authority is unjustly against them.
She said it was ‘disappointing they wouldn’t hold a public hearing so I wouldn't have to be out here characterizing it for you, you could have seen it for yourself. We had asked for that. ...'
However, when a reporter asked if she'd do her own public hearing, she said, ‘Oh, I’m not going to do it again. They had a chance to do it in public, and I wish they'd done it in public.' And there went any sympathy anyone might have had with her for the first 5 minutes of her podium? Same old Hillary.
She said they'd agreed upon rules for the hearing but one member violated the rules, which suggests ‘they might violate other of our agreements.’
She said they asked him repetitively the same questions, and she had to just give the same answer over and over. No Republican member asked any Epstein/Maxwell questions of any other person they'd deposed, Hillary said.
What about Bill Clinton, photos, etc, a reporter asked. She said the chronology ended before 2008.
...
OpenAI says Tumbler Ridge shooter bypassed ChatGPT ban with 2nd account | Hanomansing Tonight (youtube.com)
Now they'll notify police about peoples accounts even if they don't say anything explicitly threatnening.
Experts warn against sharing driving habits with insurance companies (youtube.com)
They want you to allow them to track you.
Hungary election campaign shows risks of AI ads | DW News (youtube.com)
The misuses might not be people who risk stable politics but politicians who risk stable people?
January 2026
Deepfakes flooding your feed: Why AI videos are dangerous — and how to spot them | DW News (youtube.com)
Yanis Varoufakis: Deepfakes of me are taking over YouTube (youtube.com)
‘The most deepfaked man on YouTube.’
Can We (Still) Trust Economic Data? (youtube.com)
Small Number of Samples Can Poison LLMs of Any Size, reported. 250 malicious documents can create a backdoor.
Reddit user uses AI to fool the internet in a viral posting (youtube.com)
Retouched images of Netanyahu's wife, distributed by the state, ignite a fiery ethics debate (apnews.com)
'We Have Audio Recordings…': Iran Minister Stuns Israel & USA, Demolishes Trump Plan To 'Intervene'? (youtube.com)
‘We have audio recordings’ Iran.
Bill and Hillary Clinton refuse to testify to Congress about Epstein (youtube.com)
‘Rraising new questions about the limits of congressional power to compel testimony.’
Clintons refuse to testify in House Epstein probe as Republicans threaten contempt proceedings (apnews.com)
Free Starlink access for Iran seen as game changer for demonstrators getting their message out (apnews.com)
Or for US to manipulate the SM and information streams shown to Iranians?
Beijing tells chinese firms stop using us israeli cybersecurity software sources (reuters.com)
Chinas customs agents told nvidias h200 chips are not permitted sources say (reuters.com)
‘Chinese government officials also summoned domestic technology companies to meetings on Tuesday where they were explicitly instructed not to purchase the chips unless necessary, two of the people and a third source said.’
Sales of the chips to China were only approved by the US government this week.
Massive Data Breach Hits 750,000 Canadian Investors (youtube.com)
Phishing. Subset of data copied away, they say, collected during compliance reviews.
Full names, dob, phone numbers, SIN numbers, government IDs, annual income, investment ID numbers and account statements.
Banking should involve a government issued fake ID, a security layer between scammers and customers.
...
Wikipedia inks AI deals with Microsoft, Meta and Perplexity as it marks 25th birthday (apnews.com)
Palantir Works for Every President (youtube.com)
45 million French records exposed in massive privacy breach — what we know so far
45 million French records exposed in massive privacy breach — what we know so far
Supreme Court Lets Stand ‘Unreviewable’ Code Fines In New York City (youtube.com)
American TikTok users claim app is censoring 'Epstein' and ICE criticism • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Rob O’Neill Finally Admits He Lied in the Bin Laden Debrief (youtube.com)
‘once you.lie, everything else becomes suspicious’ Commenter.
Trumps justice department releases new cache jeffrey epstein files (reuters.com)
DOJ says all women besides Ghislaine Maxwell redacted from Epstein files (youtube.com)
Sanibel Police Dept Refuse Open Records Request on Flock Safety Cameras (youtube.com)
Technology
Feb 2026
Google is killing authentic websites & I made it worse (youtube.com)
‘Drone chasers unite’
Night only, large drones, no explanation what they are.
She created a 'community drone watch.'
‘More than devastating’: Locked out Meta users accused of ‘vicious’ acts (youtube.com)
Should phones have a physical keyboard? (youtube.com)
TikTok: Known for "collecting everything." This includes keystroke patterns, biometrics (face/voiceprints), and even drafts you never post. Following its 2026 ownership shift to a US-led venture (Oracle/Silver Lake), it has updated terms to collect more precise location and financial info.
UpScrolled: Markets itself on Privacy by Design. They claim a "No Data Selling" policy and do not build shadow profiles or train AI on your content. Their revenue model is intended to be community/creator-driven rather than an "attention-for-ads" auction.
Ruse?
Issam Hijazi (Founder & CEO): A Palestinian-Australian technologist, Hijazi is the singular face of the company. He is currently the person accountable for the app's "no censorship" policy and the technical infrastructure. He has recently faced public scrutiny for the app's "light" moderation, which critics say has allowed nudity and hate speech to proliferate during its 1,500% growth spike in early 2026.
Recursive Methods Pty Ltd: This is the Australian-based parent company that owns the app. As an Australian entity, it is legally accountable to the eSafety Commissioner in Australia, which has some of the world's strictest laws regarding the removal of "abhorrent violent material."
UpScrolled App Review - Legit or Scam? (youtube.com)
Yes, TikTok Competitor UpScrolled Is Going To CENSOR YOU! (youtube.com)
...
Data Poisoning: The Fatal Flaw in Mass Surveillance (youtube.com)
Social media users feel lockouts applied to accounts are unauthorized (youtube.com)
Accused of posting inappropriate material, often false accusations. But many people use Facebook to keep in touch. At what point is a communication platform a utility?
DistroKid Is Selling... That's A Bad Sign (youtube.com)
Chile launches open-source AI model designed for Latin America (apnews.com)
Anthropic's Claude helped Pentagon raid Caracas and seize Maduro, US media report • FRANCE 24 (youtube.com)
WSJ. Claude used with Palantir.
Say it's part of company policy it won't be used for violance. Then sign a huge contract with the military. ‘What did they think that it was going to be used for?’
Mass surveillance, particularly of Americans, and making autonomous weapons.
‘It's Anthropic that's used in classified missions because of its deal with Palantir.'And it's also Anthropic that's pushing back against the demands of the military. Anyone believe that's sincere?
A few days before the story broke a top guy at Anthropic resigned, with a message that a warning that ‘the world is in peril.’
This type of event will show us where the AI companies really stand, when they're forced to act.
Chinese Hackers Hijack Notepad++ Updates
Will OpenAI Tank OpenClaw? | E2251
24 days since the opensource OpenClaw launched, it has been bought by ‘Open’AI.
Solopreneur $1b company?
After Ofcom: UK AI Firm Dissolved Following Online Safety Action
European Governments Move Away From U.S. Tech Platforms | Your Morning
Zuckerberg Says ‘Difficult’ to Enforce Instagram Age Limits (youtube.com)
Age Verification Vendor Persona Left Frontend Exposed — What We Know (youtube.com)
What Peter Thiel has to do with Germany’s drones | Berlin Briefing Podcast (youtube.com)
Hegseth threatens to blacklist Anthropic over AI-controlled weapons (youtube.com)
‘Everyone hates AI.’
Google Is Closing Android. 37 Orgs Are Fighting Back. (youtube.com)
More evidence why people shouldn't allow governments to allow giants like Google to run the only, locked down, locked in, OS on all phones (50% of phones, the other 50% being iPhones where the same issue is).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK6ry4Nmhok
Step one, Pentagon gives outlandish $$ contract to AI company, with an understanding the company is still making its own decisions and can have restrictions on use of its tools. Step 2, demand the company give the Pentagon unrestricted use of company technology for military use or else lose the contract plus threaten designating the company as a supply chain risk (government blacklist) or even throw the Defense Protection Act (used before during Covid, energy supplies, medical supplies) at the company.
Commenter. 'Anthropic has restricted its AI from being used for fully autonomous weapons or mass domestic surveillance. Mass domestic surveillance is illegal. Domestic surveillance has to be specific and authorized by a court. Not sure why they would object to the UAVs using AI. Many of them are already fully autonomous without AI. The AI just permits more complex functioning. Anthropic's technology is already deeply embedded in classified defense infrastructure so I wonder what safety guardrails Hegseth wants them to remove?.'
...
'Furthermore, I think that LLMs will do far more harm than good, because it will be used for the total surveillance of society, crushing dissent, and killing people. Companies like Palantir already do so, and aren't even afraid of admitting it (I Worked At Palantir: The Tech Company Reshaping Reality (youtube.com) It will also be used to defer human decisions to a machine, which reinforces the idea that humans serve the machine, not the other way around...' Daliwali
Pentagon shoots down CBP drone; Anthropic rejects AI ultimatum | Unbiased Updates (youtube.com)
Border protection drone.
US military used laser to take down Border Protection drone, lawmakers say (apnews.com)
‘The U.S. military used a laser Thursday to shoot down a “seemingly threatening” drone flying near the U.S.-Mexico border. It turned out the drone belonged to Customs and Border Protection, lawmakers said.’
Ie they made a mistake and shot it down on their wrong assumption.
‘[T]he result of incompetance’, as Congressmen worded it.
... AI Chatbot encouraged man to try and KILL the Queen - BBC
Trump Tells US Agencies to Stop Using Anthropic's Tech (youtube.com)
Sam Altman: Tonight, we reached an agreement with the Department of War to deploy our models in their classified network.
Sam Altman: Tonight, we reached an agreement with the Department of War to deploy our models in their classified network.
Timeline today for Sam Altman at OpenAI:
Sam Altman aims to 'help de-escalate' tensions with Pentagon as OpenAI employees voice support for Anthropic
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told staffers late Thursday that he would like the company “try to help de-escalate things” between rival Anthropic and the Department of Defense.
“We have long believed that AI should not be used for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons, and that humans should remain in the loop for high-stakes automated decisions,” Altman wrote in a memo that was viewed by CNBC. “These are our main red lines.”
Trump admin blacklists Anthropic as AI firm refuses Pentagon demands
President Donald Trump said Friday that he was ordering every U.S. government agency to “immediately cease” using technology from the artificial intelligence company Anthropic.
Quotes from Hegseth’s x post:
I am directing the Department of War to designate Anthropic a Supply-Chain Risk to National Security.
Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic.
Quotes from Anthropic statement:
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth shared on X that he is directing the Department of War to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk.
We believe this designation would both be legally unsound and set a dangerous precedent for any American company that negotiates with the government.
No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. We will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court.
OpenAI Reaches Agreement With Pentagon to Deploy AI Models
OpenAI said it has reached an agreement with the US Department of War to deploy its models in their classified network.
OpenAI ssssssnags deal
January 2026
A post-American, enshittification-resistant internet (a speech at 39C3 in Hamburg on Dec 28, 2025) (youtube.com)
A project worth working on?
Cyber Warfare: How to Destroy Entire Nations with a Single Click! | ENDEVR Documentary (youtube.com)
TikTok Saga Sputters Toward Understated Ending (youtube.com)
Iran throttles internet, threatens death penalty over anti-regime protests (youtube.com)
The internet is not free.
UNIX v4 program found cleaning out an office at the University of Utah (youtube.com)
Stalking your ex is SO much easier now! (youtube.com)
Nvidia Partners With Eli Lilly on AI Drug Laboratory (youtube.com)
Apple calls on Google to help smarten up Siri and bring other AI features to the iPhone (apnews.com)
Us eases regulations nvidia h200 chip exports china (reuters.com)
Did Iran find Starlink off button?
Toronto start-up, Kepler, launches data relay satellites (youtube.com)
The Pentagon Is Spending Millions On AI Hackers (youtube.com)
Americans given NDAs from AI data center company (youtube.com)
U.S. government obtains device possibly tied to mysterious "Havana Syndrome" (youtube.com)
How the World is Learning to Defeat the Drone | Photo Evidence | Daily Mail (youtube.com)
How To Turn the Internet Off to an Entire Country (youtube.com)
Uk navy launches new crewless helicopter counter north atlantic threats (reuters.com)
Musks starlink faces high profile security test iran crackdown (reuters.com)
The hidden information in your photos | Nikhil Behari | TEDxMIT (youtube.com)
Shadows (current AI systems have a hard time reasoning about shadows). Reflections, LiDAR infrared which helps the phone's camera judge distance (counting photons time delay) to do auto focus. LiDAR bounces around a room, multiple times.
Cash makes a comeback in Sweden as digital payments face backlash (youtube.com)
Online scams and fraud. Swish payment and bank ID app. Cyber attacks and freezing digital payments.
Still, many businesses won't let you pay with cash, although grocery stores will. But legistlators are planning to force businesses to accept cash.
Eu phase out high risk tech targets huawei chinese companies (reuters.com)
SBA enlists Palantir to investigate alleged Minnesota fraud (youtube.com)
Ben Affleck & Matt Damon on The Limits of AI in Movie Making (youtube.com)
It's going to be a tool, like VFX, said Afleck.
Trump says US used secret weapon to disable Venezuelan equipment in Maduro raid (apnews.com)
Which means it probably wasn't because of any secret weapon, right?
How Israel failed to anticipate Hamas: Intel trusted tech over people (csmonitor.com)
‘A $1.1 billion above-and-below-ground fence along its 40-mile border with Gaza – equipped with radar devices, cameras, surveillance sensors, and remote-controlled weaponry...'
Hamas used cheap drones and tractos to knock out the defenses, and hang gliders to sail over the wall.
'Technology is very tempting... which also relies too much on technology'
‘For strategic assessments, you need more than innovation; you need the basics of the craft, which is ‘Know your enemy.’ So if dealing with Hamas, you should learn the history of the Palestinian people, of Hamas, of Islam.’
‘... AI translation do not convey tone, context, or the emotion...’
‘It’s very easy to fire people, but once those positions are canceled you lose capability, and it takes time to build it again.’
'In 2022, a noncommissioned female officer, referred to in Israeli media reports as V, warned her military intelligence unit that Hamas had plans to execute a broad attack on southern Israel. But her assessment was dismissed. It did not mesh with the assessment made at higher levels that Hamas had been placated, in part by the millions of dollars a month it was receiving from Qatar, reportedly with Mr. Netanyahu’s encouragement.' CSM reported. If there had been a few blacksheep like V, not just one, it might have made a difference.
‘This is a difficult topic to address briefly, but the majority of those engaged in intelligence assessment simply do not truly know or understand the enemy – neither the Arab adversary nor the Iranian one. It is obvious that more individuals proficient in the enemy’s language, religion, and culture are needed.’
‘Within the intelligence community, information obtained through technology tends to be considered more valuable' but 'When you are looking at the information with incorrect lenses, the technology is not going to help.’
...
Taiwan Is a NIGHTMARE for Drones - My Experience (youtube.com)
Triple canopy rolling mountains (distance gauging more difficult), need repeaters ever 2km, mesh networks, difficult to get low enough for a strike. Ukraine is flat farmland. Verdant, 5.8gH drones (5.17cm, microwaves) doesn't go through wet canopy of leaves that are the same size. Typhoons. Drone recovery only within 15m of drone, so need close security team. Drone equipment harder to move into location.
Jammers also can't reach as far, for same reasons. Use more intentional, valleys.
Bombers more likely.
...
'England’s National Health Service has begun transporting urgent blood samples between London hospitals by drone, cutting journey times down from 30 minutes to just two minutes.' The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)
‘In 2005, the Clear Lake Water Authority in southeast Houston bought a former golf course and created five massive detention ponds to hold 100 million gallons of stormwater. This saved 200 houses in the immediate area from flooding when Hurricane Harvey passed through in 2017.’
‘City-supported farms are making St. Louis more absorbent, and have kept nearly 100 million gallons of wastewater out of the Mississippi River.’
European reliance on US software: A digital sovereignty challenge • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Windows is Ruining New Laptops. (youtube.com)
The End of an Era: Windows Media Player Stops Identifying CDs (youtube.com)
How This $800 Satellite Dish Intercepts Government Data (youtube.com)
I Got Inside the Signal Chats Used by Anti-ICE Extremists in Minnesota (youtube.com)
Group chats.
Ukraine working with spacex stop russian drones use starlink kyiv says (reuters.com)
How Replacing Developers With AI is Going Horribly Wrong (youtube.com)
Mesa AT&T clerk sent himself a customer's nude, police say (youtube.com)
Elon Musk Announces Tesla's Pivot To AI (youtube.com)
How Iran and China Silenced 10,000 Starlink Terminals — Why Russia Launched Zorky (youtube.com)
RF and Microwave Jamming: Iranian security forces utilized high-powered Radio Frequency (RF) and microwave jammers to target the specific frequencies Starlink uses for communication. Packet Loss and Blackouts: These jamming efforts resulted in total packet loss and a complete communication blackout across the network. GPS Desynchronization: The attack also caused GPS desynchronization, which is critical for satellite terminals to maintain a lock on moving low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites. The blackout cost the Iranian government approximately $1.56 million USD per hour to maintain.
Russia is building Rasvet and China is building Guowang, targetting disruption of non national internet signals.
Science
January 2026
Not much information though.
‘About 50 percent of the data in Australia’s biodiversity database now comes from citizen scientists — everyday Australians sharing photos on the platform iNaturalist.’ The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)
Nature
January 2026
AI? Sophisticated behavior.
Witnessing a new ocean forming that will split Africa in two (youtube.com)
‘A school in Houston has planted nearly 20 acres of native prairies and grasses, which can absorb three to four times as much water as manicured grass.’ The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)
‘Yemen now has an estimated 1.3 million beehives, some 100,000 more than three years ago. ’ https://reasonstobecheerful.world/year-in-cheer-2025/
‘A year after a dam in Washington state was removed, the water temperature transformed from 75 degrees — lethal to baby salmon — and returned to what it should be: Mid-50s in fall and spring, and about 62 degrees in the summertime.’
Health
Feb 2026
43% of Americans are growing their own food to eat?
They want to create an amendment, not just pass a law, in Tennessee. Tennessee did a similar thing with the right to hunt and fish. Some places have tried (and succeeded) preventing people from growing food on their lawns.
Lots of comments about HOAs.
‘We dont need permission from the govt to grow our own food. HOAs should be shut down’ ... Reply. ‘They should, they are unconstitutional’
‘To heck with the right to grow. Just ban HOAs, that is the real problem’
...
Canadians may soon see cloned meat on grocery shelves (youtube.com)
About 100% of comments are strongly against this, so how is is possible the government allows it?
Apparently, it's not even required to be labelled.
It appears the ‘consumers we found are OK with the idea’ by this news organization contrast starkly with the comments.
January 2026
French food safety agency finds forever chemicals in more than 90% of tap water • FRANCE 24 (youtube.com)
Dangerous, drug-resistant fungus is spreading across hospitals, nursing homes (youtube.com)
Supercharging a New FDA: Marty Makary on Science, Power & Patients (youtube.com)
New diet guidelines say to double up on protein, but nutrition experts are wary (apnews.com)
Many patients may keep off lost pounds after stopping glp 1 us data suggests (reuters.com)
Mass UK study debunks Covid vaccine myth (positive.news)
‘A mass study finds that the Covid infection carries a higher risk of heart complications than the vaccination’
Human Interest
Feb 2026
‘Local clubs in India are providing education and helping communities turn the humble ‘game of kings’ into a route out of poverty.’
The US said a Marine could not adopt an Afghan girl. Records show officials helped him get her
These two women are trying every sport in the Winter Olympic Games
January 2026
Portland's oldest skateboard shop under new ownership by longtime customer (youtube.com)
A doctor in Panama’s jungle builds trust among Indigenous groups (csmonitor.com)
“I realized early on that introducing Western medicine into a region where traditional medicine is the preferred method of treatment involved a spiritual and religious component. Instead of focusing on the differences ... I looked for things the two [methods] had in common.”
‘For example, he says he worked to use inclusive language that shows respect for Indigenous traditions, and he never says one approach is “right” or better than the other.’ ‘Dr. Gantes is likely one of the first here “to focus attention on the importance of involving traditional healers, midwives, and artisans in HIV testing and treatment,” she says.’
‘A gang tattoo removal clinic in San Diego serves more than 50 unique clients per year, helping them start fresh, while also training the next generation of dermatology students.’ The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)
...
Toronto shoe cobbler back on his feet after customers fundraise for new machine (youtube.com)
Halifax residents can vote on official tartan (youtube.com)
Crime
Feb 2026
Police, FBI find possible 'biological lab' at Las Vegas home (youtube.com)
What happens when Mexican cartels and influencers collide (youtube.com)
Police shut down license plate reader cameras after federal agencies accessed data without permission
Police shut down license plate reader cameras after federal agencies accessed data without permission
B.C. premier says Surrey residents need more information on extortion-related violence (youtube.com)
Surrey community advocate reacts to new B.C. anti-extortion group (youtube.com)
Seven Toronto police officers arrested in major organized crime investigation | FULL (youtube.com)
7 Toronto officers charged in police corruption, organized crime investigation (youtube.com)
York Regional Police presser details historic level of police corruption for Toronto (youtube.com)
GPS tracking devices found on vehicles, police warn (youtube.com)
7 Toronto Cops Charged, Accused Of Helping Organized Crime, Tipping Off Hit Men (youtube.com)
Schools in B.C.'s Coquitlam School District placed under ‘hold and secure’ for third day (youtube.com)
‘Some sort of threats’ against the schools.
Louvre employees and guides among the arrested | DW News (youtube.com)
Louvre ticket scam.
Wedding’s ‘right-hand man’ acts as FBI informant in drug ring takedown (youtube.com)
Government “hate line” now targets OFFENSIVE JOKES (youtube.com)
‘Snitch line’.
...
Uber driver steals SoCal man’s identity, couple dealing with fallout (youtube.com)
Central Florida man wrongly arrested after Orlando police used facial recognition (youtube.com)
Beverly Hills woman evicted as homeowners dispute millions in property liens (youtube.com)
Missouri City sues state to withhold photos from 13 Investigates (youtube.com)
Missouri police department suing state of Texas to keep photos hidden about a water leak in the department's evidence room that destroyed case evidence in 2024. The destroyed evidence was then thrown out without proper procedure.
The police answered by saying they wouldn't show photos because it would violate the privacy and constitutional guarantees of the people involved in any cases the photos would show. The journalists asked why the police couldn't just blur the sensitive information?
They've submitted several public records requests and Missouri ‘fought’ them on several, reported.
The journalists did get photos of the room, anyway.
Residents only found out because of the news, weeks after it happened, because that's when the news found out. The leak was caused by a humidifier.
One employee was fired, one suspended, and another retired.
...
Toronto officer accused of GPS tracking victim as part of corruption probe (youtube.com)
CEO of Orlando company arrested in alleged $328M cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme (youtube.com)
RCMP warning of circulating email scam (youtube.com)
The email appears to be from the RCMP and says ‘you have committed crimes, viewed prohibited websites and shared nude images of minors (punishalbe by imprisonment for 5 to 15 years or payment of a mandatory fixed fine).’
There is also grammar and language problems.
This same issue causing problems everywhere.
The RCMP says do not reply. The email address is very similar to the RCMP's real address, only difference is a hyphen.
...
FBI raids LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho's home, office (youtube.com)
Two possibilites come to mind for most people? One, it's something really serious, like espionage, chemical lab, or murder. Second, the same old thing men go down for every day, dividing up the nations.
Frank Stronach accuser admits she lied on the stand at sex assault trial (youtube.com)
Billionaire business mogul, alleged a rape happened in 1983 (the man is now 93). The defense says the crown may have improperly coached complainants before they took the stand. The judge said she was surprised.
The woman had given pretty hardcore testimony about what the man had done to her. Even though even in that testimony she said she didn't do or say anything to stop the encounter.
Usually, complainants don't suddenly say they lied in their testimony.
The woman said she should have just said she didn't know when the prosecution asked her questions, but she ‘tried to answer the questions.’ The defnse said though that she probably knows exactly how things happened but was embarassed by the sexual encounter, and has regret.'
Commenter. ‘When the moneys there, sometime you lie, i guess.’ Not sure which side this was about, though.
...
Father and daughter mistakenly caught up in human trafficking investigation (youtube.com)
A father and daughter went to a coffee shop. Some other customers were suspicious of their relationship and called police. The city police shared the video all over SM, asking people to help them find the pair, and it was seen by 10's fo thousands of people, reported. Police questioned them about human trafficking.
The father seems to be no better than the strangers, as he was fine and even commended the actions of those who reported and shared his image.
The young man who called it in was smiling when he talked to these reporters talking about what he did. ‘Just to be safe than sorry...’
Hysterical citizenry primed by the media? unhinged by respect for other people.
...
Feb 2026, Romance Scams
Romance scam playbook uncovered as Valentine’s Day approaches (youtube.com)
Women are talking about this daily too. The Chinese have referred to this type of interaction as ‘pig butchering’ because the scammer fattens up the target with affection.
Here is a text version of the whiteboard.
Company Mission Statement
As a staff of this Company our work is mainly Find Customers From dating App's or Social media and Build Relation and Build Trust with them.
PART 1 TAKES PLACE IN THE ORIGINAL DATING APP OR SM
Step 1 - Find Customers
Dating App’s
Face Book - IG
Matrimony
Step 2 - Filtering [filtering for good targets]
Age above 40+
Profession
Photo’s, Cars, House
PART 2 TAKES PLACE IN A PRIVATE MESSAGING APP
Day 1 (there is only this one day in the dating app)
Greeting's
Understand Basic details each other
Must ask these questions:
What are you looking for
How long are you using this [app]
Are you met any one Before here. [this question is not asked often by non scammers]
How the app treating you.
Phase 2: [isolate the target]
Move to WhatsApp (convince target to leave the SM you met her on and go to a private app. This is important because, since these apps aren't allowed to scan the messages (even if they secretly do), they will avoid build in scam detection filters that dating apps might have. Scammers will get banned if their behaviour triggers algorhythmic detection for scam or spam behavior.) The scammer will not want to video chat and will have reasons like being shy, military restrictions, government restrictions, etc, but with current AI filters to appear like other people the scammer may be willing to video chat]
Day 1
Hobbies, Interest
Education.
Must ask client’s photo
Day 2
Family
Profession
ask about day
Day 3
About Relationship
childhood Experience
Emotional stories [the hook] [forced intimacy, trigger instinct to reciprocate personal information, which scammer will use later to manipulate the target]
Past Relationship
Financial Issues
Family Matters
Day 4
Normal chat
Build Relationship
Future plan
Day 5
Give First hint about Trade [to spark curiousity in the target]
I am going to Collect some Financial Data
I have some market analysis & Trading
Send Graph and profit chart pic
Day 6
Build a Relationship strong
Discuss about Financial
Do a trade & Send profit chart [social proof, make it appear safe and lucrative]
Create a story about profit
Normal push
Day 7
Normal chat
Make More Trust
Talk more about Financial things & Their Benefit's
Share profit chart
Talk about Importance of Money in life
Final Stage
Hard Push [after target trusts scammer emotionally] [pressure to ‘test’ the investing platform with a small amount like $1000 and then target will see ‘profit’ and will be pushed to invest a larger amount}
FINISH
January 2026
RCMP lockdown a Sask. First Nation after a shooting leaves one dead and three injured (youtube.com)
Parents will face charges after roughly 400 teenagers cause chaos at Atlantic Station (youtube.com)
Cops Set-up and BUSTED! - Illegal Raid On Fake Grow House! (youtube.com)
ICE agent fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis (youtube.com)
Noem says woman killed by ICE was engaging in 'domestic terrorism'
Protesters were following ICE agents around as they were carrying out their work.
Minnisota state officials decided to open an investigation, but then FBI said they will be leading the investigation, Minnisota won't have a role to play and won't have access to scene evidence, case materials, investigative interviews. Noem said Minnisota state officials have no jurisdiction in this investigation, and she also denied the state officials were ‘cut out’ of the investigation.
‘They intentionally took a kill shot. They could have shot a tire’ as she was attempting to drive away, said the civil rights lawyer interviewed.
Walz: Trump admin has denied state a role in Minneapolis shooting investigation
State investigators say FBI won’t let them get at ICE shooting evidence (youtube.com)
BREAKING: U.S. Treasury Secretary Updates on Minnesota Fraud Fund Recovery | AC15 (youtube.com)
"What Are You Hiding?" Minnesota AG Keith Ellison Says ICE Killing Must Be Investigated (youtube.com)
Federal agent shoots 2 people in Portland as hundreds flood streets in protest (youtube.com)
Minneapolis mayor says ICE is driving crime up and is 'bad for business' (youtube.com)
Shocking Footage From ICE Agent’s Own Phone Shows Confrontation and Shooting of Renee Good (youtube.com)
Commenter. ‘“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”’
The commenters don't seem to be fooled.
ICE shooting: Minneapolis officials want access to FBI investigation, say they have jurisdiction
Man Arrested After Attempting To Rescue Dog From Steep Cliff (youtube.com)
The good samaritan endangered himself and others, law enforcement said.
DHS announces attacks on federal agents EXPLODING
From Title 1, U.S. DOJ Policy on Use of Force:
“Firearms may not be discharged solely to disable moving vehicles. Specifically, firearms may not be discharged at a moving vehicle unless: (1) a person in the vehicle is threatening the officer or another person with deadly force by means other than the vehicle; or (2) the vehicle is operated in a manner that threatens to cause death or serious physical injury, and no other objectively reasonable means of defense appear to exist, which includes moving out of the path of the vehicle.”
Slow Motion video of Renee Nicole Good turning the steering wheel AWAY from the ICE officer when leaving
Reddit Law commenters seem to be pretty condemning of the agent, while on YouTube there are a lot of comments that are more vacilating.
Homicide rate declines sharply in dozens of US cities, a new report shows
Barron Trump called police in London to report alleged assault of a friend (youtube.com)
Doesn't seem like he can even get assistance from what they have in the UK? They just want more information from him on ‘how he knows her’ and seem to call Barron ‘rude’ for not answering that more promptly.
Why Would a Most Wanted Fugitive Turn Himself In? (youtube.com)
He walked into the US embassy in Mexico and surrendered, reportedly.
Accused drug kingpin Ryan Wedding pleads not guilty (youtube.com)
The video of Wedding outside the consulate to surrender was a fake photo made by AI, reportedly.
"International crime": Surrey calls on Ottawa to declare state of emergency after latest BC shooting (youtube.com)
‘Many people feel our criminal code isn’t protecting them right now.'
Project Pantry leads to dozen arrests at Ottawa grocery (youtube.com)
School Psychologist Turns IEP Meeting Into Interrogation, Then Calls COPS on CHILD! (youtube.com)
China executes 11 members of Myanmar-based syndicate in crackdown on scam operations (youtube.com)
NBC 5 Investigates: Prosecutors detail stunning plot to kill judge and his wife (youtube.com)
Culture
Feb 2026
Should parents be more worried about sports betting? | BBC Global (youtube.com)
Adbusters is forcussing on “The Re-enchantment: Birth of a New Mythology”, targetting GenZ, past "dry politics" and into "mythic struggle." They're pushing Digital Detox and breaking algorhythmic chains of Silicon Valley, and psychic breaks from Northern (American) dominance of latin america. They frame the Mexican Yankees Out and Colombian's recent protests as a part of this.
Late Night DESTROYS Melania’s Documentary | Kimmel, Colbert, Meyers, Desi Lydic & More (youtube.com)
Late night hosts.
Amazon paid total $75m for it? Three times the offer of the next highest bidder?
Bolivia kicks off school year with ban on cellphones (apnews.com)
Fans race to learn Spanish before Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show (apnews.com)
The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics get underway: Action in photos (apnews.com)
People meet each other on the socials, and talk a while, then they meet and it's not like they thought.
'I Can't Let My Children Watch This': Hawley Sounds The Alarm On Netflix's Woke Agenda (youtube.com)
Mending the vestiges of jihadism (csmonitor.com)
Still 50k prisoners in camps in Syria include 8000 from other countries. Reports that Middle East attitudes have shifted, towards separation of faith and politics, and to democracy (‘as dignity, prioritizing social and economic outcomes over procedural features such as elections') over autocracy.
'“True religious leaders are not spokespeople for power. Rather, they are guardians of virtue and justice, and advocates of dialogue and peace.”'
Lack of snow allows Grouse Grind to open months early (youtube.com)
First at Five: Dating Dilemma (youtube.com)
People dating less because of pricetag of activities.
성추행 의혹 문화유산학과 교수 정직 3개월 (youtube.com)
China.
Why Are So Many American Men Converting To The Russian Orthodox Church? (youtube.com)
What does this say about the differences between conditions for men and for women?
Bad Bunny takes the stage at the Super Bowl. He faces a polarized America. (csmonitor.com)
Prediction markets are booming. Why are their ads banned from the Super Bowl? (csmonitor.com)
A superbowl with politics, and the politics is the views of the musicians chosen.
Europeans push back at US over claim they face 'civilizational erasure' (apnews.com)
The discussion is in international politics now. Only took 20 years or so.
...
‘Cry bullies’.
‘Is America too feminine?’
Harvey C. Mansfield: How Intellectuals Replaced Priests (Ep. 6) (youtube.com)
Extortions on agenda during Carney visit | CTV Your Morning Vancouver for Feb. 19, 2026 (youtube.com)
Does the rest of Canada even care about this? or do they see it as a South Asian issue in a South Asian city in Canada?
Don’t touch your phone when you wake up, monk says — try this instead (youtube.com)
‘Make your bed, shower without your phone, write an intention (“Today will be my peaceful day”), and read it out loud. His point: your day doesn’t have to be hijacked by distractions’
Is Canada Becoming More Corrupt? | The Rundown (youtube.com)
The bold French dance collective rewriting the rules of ballet | Arts in Motion (youtube.com)
(LA)HORDE('la aud') is a choreographic collective took over and running the National Ballet of Marseille.
Overtly sexual. Couples dance.
Don't seem to have anything really impressive in their dance or their performance though.
Concerns are growing over chatbots causing users to go into 'delusional spirals' (youtube.com)
Is the social media era coming to an end? (youtube.com)
The growing backlash against woke authoritarianism (youtube.com)
Larry Summers is to resign from Harvard because he was friends with Epstein, it's being reported.
Lyon: Killing of far-right student rocks French politics (youtube.com)
The Cybernetic Loop of Cognitive Warfare (youtube.com)
One of the few videos I'd recommend everyone watch, and watch slowly, with pausing and reading. Anyone who uses any social media.
It targets your (emotional) state and cognitive capacity. He details a five phase loop in wihch the tools you would normally use to protect against manipulation are disabled.
First, the system measures you, your vulnerabilities, how you handle uncertainty, which emotions override your thinking, what matters to you most. SM ‘knows you’. What makes you break.
Mild content is pushed away, to map your boundaries (your defenses).
Once your vulnerabilities are known, the system system selects the right script for your state.
This is why counterarguments fail. You're attacking the message with your counterargument, but their attack was never about the message. It was about triggering a specific emotional state that bypasses your analytical mind. ‘You’re playing chess while the system's playing neuroscience.'
'The controller doesn't create the states. It just traps you inside them.'
Then there's the Rewiring Stage. ‘First step, destroy your confidence in your own perception.’ (Is this why SM don't seem to mind fakenews?) People who doubts everything they see will grab onto anything that promises certainty. Includes Gaslighting, Firehose of Falsehood, and Cognitive Dissonance (introducing conflicting information that demands resolution becaues it is stressful). ‘A disoriented mind doesn’t seek truth. It seeks relief.'
The there's the Re-encoding Phase, with Framing, where information is presented in specific perspective that inevitably leads to the desired conclusion. It also has a Big Lie (so big no person thinks anyone would lie about something so significant, or is too big to process), and constant repition. Authorities and avatars enforce this. Part of the new code involves Appeal to Prejudice (so it seems intuitive), Oversimplification, Rationalization (with logical sounding excuses), and Foot in the Door trival requests which lead to dangerous demands.
Phase 4 is the Output, the trap springing shut. The person becomes a Golem, a weaponized asset. The person doesn't need convincing anymore, he is set about convincing himself. Once he makes a SM post or confronts a neighbor unpleasantly, the Sunk Cost Fallacy becomes real. The moral inversion completes, ‘This action was necessary. They deserved it. I’m brave for doing it. You're not defending the action. You're defending yourself through the action.'
At this stage the person polices his own thoughts, does work to enforce the ideas internally. ‘Pre-emptively self correct. Punish your own doubt. The surveillance is inside you now. The system doesn’t need to watch you anymore.'
‘Each phase disabled the tool you’d need to resist the next one.' ‘By the end, escape feels impossible.’
‘The system loses power when you see the control layer.’ ‘Keep diverse sources available. Keep the cost of verification low. Keep dissent socially tolerable. Not because you need to hear both sides, but you need to preserve exit routes from controlled gradients.’ ‘Deny action under pressure. ... Manipulated action requires urgency to bypass reflection' so wait 48 hours. ‘Awareness is the first layer of defense. You don’t need to be invulnerable. You just need to see when you're being played.'
The current era seems digested now, at least by some outliers and to a degree even by the commons.
...
'The support of ICE by "conservative" 2A types has got me to understand that most people don't actually believe in anything, even the words coming out of their mouths. If ICE can go door-to-door in search of illegal aliens, the ATF can search you for illegal firearms (yes that should be an oxymoron given the 2A says that right to bear arms should not be infringed). The DEA can search you for illegal substances, or the FBI can search all your digital storage for child abuse content they they themselves planted. They invent the crime, they make the rules because they were the first to break them.' Daliwali
We are dealing with fake people, fake feelings, fake connections youtube.com)
'The interests of states are diverging from those of their citizens': Author Rana Dasgupta (youtube.com)
The Nation-State in question.
He Drops The Mic On White Guilt & Anti-White Racism (youtube.com)
Fake Concern as a Humiliation Ritual (youtube.com)
How concern (true or fake) is weaponized, particularly in humiliation rituals and gangstalking. Within controlling systems and relationships. Using concern to reduce another person's feeling of safety or status within a system. Monitoring (socially) and pressure, usually covert, to make the person look less credible and be more controlled. These are hiding and controlling techniques.
The concern is the prextext, like a landlord ‘smelling gas’ in your apartment. They can break down the door, they don't need to wait for your consent or wait for the fire department. There is an intrusion but it's justified because there is a concern. Humiliation rituals are used to gain access to you.
At work, you disagree with someone more powerful than you or just anothe employee who is aligned with the powerful people, or maybe you disclose privately or secretly some problem you or someone has, and your boss asks you, ‘Oh, are you OK?’ in front of everybody (or maybe privately but documented?). ‘You don’t usually sound this way. Are you out of it or angry?' Is there something in question about your safety (not just physical but emotional)? It makes you look like you don't have good judgement at that time. You are less credible. Each time they do it to you, it adds to the narative that ‘Uh oh, this person really needs help.' Maybe they need to share your private details. Maybe they need to monitor you, or at least watch you for other things. It makes you look like the problem. It makes you the problem.
It can be at church (where addresses and names are just published and handed out, there aren't the same privacy boundaries as commonly are found at work) or in the home. What if you do counselling or just talk to someone about addiction. Or maybe someone say you one day and you looked a mess.
It makes the scapegoat look less credible.
It may be not that they want to control you specifically, but the person might just want to throw his weight around and you're available.
...
The Social Media "Gender Wars" Are a Product: Stop Buying It (youtube.com)
Mexican filmmakers aren't waiting for Hollywood — they're making movies now (youtube.com)
Government incentives.
$230b contributed to Mexican economy by film industry.
Metro selling 'Ride the D' shirts (youtube.com)
This is the metro of the city. KTLA.
...
Small, approachable actions are the key to a nonprofit push for greater civic engagement among Gen Z (apnews.com)
‘activities such as calling elected representatives, volunteering locally or hosting public conversations with neighbors of differing backgrounds’
‘The effort counters popular narratives that members of Generation Z, born roughly between 1997 and 2012, are unengaged or resigned.’
“Gen Z wants to do it fast, they want to do it authentic, they want to do it right now,” Sirangelo told The Associated Press last month. “They don’t have time -- no patience for institutions or signing up.” ... 'The biggest barriers to civic participation, according to C&S, are that young people don’t know where to begin and don’t believe they can make a difference.' ... ‘But Vinnakota emphasized that these actions can’t come from the “top down” and that older leaders must let their younger counterparts’ ideas percolate.’
“This is a generation that actually sees the problems and actually wants to try to solve them,” Vinnakota said. “And we need to create the means, the tools and provide the capacity for them to do it.”
‘The intent, whether it’s in the classroom or at work, is to bring interested young people together in-person — not remotely — and show them that their peers share a desire to deepen their community commitments.’
“Civic actions that don’t take a lot of effort initially but start to build something that we call agency,” Vinnakota said, “and start to get the flywheel moving. That’s what this is about. How can you create the spark?”
...
The Ivy League and Similar Institutions have been Subjecting our Warriors to Woke Indoctrination. (youtube.com)
Department of War USA channel.
January 2026
20% of YouTube videos shown to new users are AI, reported.
Victor Davis Hanson: Beware—AI Is Putting Words Into My Mouth (youtube.com)
the chronically online will become a new underclass (youtube.com)
The Death of Art Institutions, Neoliberalism, and Intellectual Traitors (youtube.com)
'Kevin Parker of Tame Impala revealed that he actually seeks out negative reviews of his music. Different social media platforms have each become their own little bubbles of differing opinions. Parker said that he’ll see conflicting reviews depending on where he’s looking.' Noisy
VHS making a comeback in Edmonton (youtube.com)
No more culture wars in 2026! We the people are Tired! (youtube.com)
Several ads, aiming to be cutting edge, have people posing as animals, like dogs or generic animals, or as subservient positioned people (poses of subs). Mainstream level. So yeah, maybe we're that stage of culture.
Difficult dance: Cambodian tradition under threat | AFP (youtube.com)
Matchmaker EXPOSED Why Women From NYC Can't Find Love (youtube.com)
He ghosted you and is being all weird and isn't texting you like he used to? He can't afford you. He saw what you cost, for dates, and said I can't keep doing this after a week. If you want that, you might have to date a higher age range.
The people who more often get to be in long term relationships are those that can distinguish between what is a long term value and what is superficial and nonsense, which you don't actually need to be happy, for example, where they went to school, how they look, height, status and money. Better things to look for are a shared value system, mutual respect, healthy communication, a shared vision, connection and chemistry.
‘Qualifiers are actually disqualifiers.’
Do women love useless things and useless people?
HoeMath talked about that.
Back to textbooks: Denmark rolls back digital learning • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Public Domain Day 2026 Is Coming: Here's What to Know
What Percent of American Women are On OnlyFans? (youtube.com)
‘The patriarchy isn’t what's making you unhappy. Online feminism is.' Seeing posts like this recently. It would be interesting to read a study on how some ideas/paradigms create what feeds themselves and perpetuate.
Irish matchmaking festival goes viral (youtube.com)
Why relationships are declining across the world (youtube.com)
M.I.A. Instagram Live 11.09.2025 (youtube.com)
MIA compares the Liberal West (Vancouver) with China where there is no identity politics. In Vancouver, the staff will get to helping you when they feel like it, basically. They'll love you because you're brown, and they'll say ‘Namaste’ and whatever, but you won't get your bag because they don't care about it, she says. They don't want to take orders. What you get is chaos. So even if the Left wins, and there is 100% Left and no more Right, the country's not going to function.
In China, people move out of the way and listen when you speak, they do what you need them to do. You get a service for your money and the service is impecable. And they also know the karmic values of things.
If you join up all of the European peoples, you get a billion people, and can they go up against how organized China is? No, they cannot. Europe has got history, some shared culture. The lifestyle costs so much more and what you get is so much less. The freedom in your mind, and not having hate at your front door, and to have to be subjected to such things, and have to compute and have to explain that to your child, and to reframe who you are within this context, and figure all this out. And to live in it, you almost have to build this box for yourself. And when you leave, you don't have to have this box. ‘And I have to keep reminding my child that this is not reality, and cheer on people, if you want leaders, it's just facts, you cannot have people that are not intelligent running any type of country.'
‘I’m not saying China is paradise. It' just that it's functioning.'
She points to that China doesn't have multiculturalism, so they don't have the many wheels turning at the same time. They have a collective base, where they're starting from.
‘That thing we used to champion as liberal or progressive or tolerant...’
‘They don’t care about feelings.'
‘Overreactions to things is what funnels this entire side of the world.’
SM, requires content creation, but then everyone's talking all the time, and then not everyone's pleased, which leads to we have to talk in a different way. That noise doesn't exist there.
‘Everyone’s triggered about something.'
‘Individuality still needs to be placed within a context of just a few basic things, like respect for people, allow discourse, don’t do this to people, don't shoot people because you don't like their opinion. ... Individuality means you need to know yourself, who you are.' But first go ‘heal yourself, have a better purpose, have a purpose to step in ... but in order to do that, do it from a position of a healed good person, because hurt people hurt people, and trauma repeats itself.’
‘And we've stopped asking for proof that [influencers or ‘inspirers’] have had the life that they say they had to warrant them to have that say.
‘Can I say I hate the Chinese government? Yeah, we experimented. We said that. We said that really loud everywhere, and I didn’t get arrested. But I still respect that I'm in China. ... How to behave.
China doesn't have narcotics, weed, which we in the West have.
Study finds teens are dating A.I. | FOX 5 News (youtube.com)
Stefan fatsis words that defined (reuters.com)
Rage bait, slop, parasocial (imagined relationships with our celebrities), six seven, tradwife, agentic.
'What I am a little surprised about is that they steered away from the chaos and the political tumult that we've experienced in America this past year. There were no words of the year about ICE or immigration or deportations. There were no words of the year about tariffs or the economy. We have seen dictionaries lean into those critical political moments in the last decade. And this year, for some reason, there was a reluctance to go there.'
Dictionary.com’s 2025 Word of the Year Is… | Dictionary.com (dictionary.com)
Canada's Decline: What Happened to My Hometown? Documentary 2025 White Rock/South Surrey, BC (FULL) (youtube.com)
We talked about this 15 or 20 years ago, and got called racist by everyone. We talked about how by the time people said this, or realized it, it would be over.
School resumes tents under shadow gazas yellow line (reuters.com)
Venezuela's furious street forces ready to 'fight' after US raid | AFP (youtube.com)
Loyalist collectivos (established under Chavez).
‘Betrayal is everywhere. We cannot point the finger at anyone, until the authorities say how things happened, how they went down. It was impossible that our president could be taken away like that... They would have needed inside help.'
‘No one here is bowing their head. We’re not afraid of anyone.'
Academia Is Breaking: AI Papers, Mass Retractions, and Funding Cuts (News Updates) (youtube.com)
Hollywood Isn't Dying For Writers, Here's What's Happening Now - Corey Mandell (youtube.com)
WSJ Opinion: Did DEI Produce a Military Recruitment Recession? (youtube.com)
Biden et all, stressing DEI (which everyone calmly re repeated constantly, as if it was applying to all minorities equally), but an inclusion that really just meant race, sex, and sexuality. He wanted to increase enrollement in the military by appealing to gays and other races. But they didn't increase that type of enrollment after all, and it alienated straight white men in the process, and enrollment is now 30k people lacking.
Also, there were public criticisms of right wing extremists in the military (white nazis, supremicists), or something. This sounded immediately ridiculous and strange to everyone who actually had experience in the military.
It's nice that people can even say the words ‘white male’ on msm (outside of critical, general, basically ignorant statements). That hasn't been possible for years.
Garett Jones: How does immigration change host countries? (youtube.com)
Young People Have Realised Feminism is the Problem (youtube.com)
But until recent developments provided an example, they coundn't really have known why.
[SPECIAL] ZeroHedge Debate - America First on Trial — Dave Smith vs. Dinesh D’Souza (youtube.com)
Woke ideology eroding trust in Canada's institutions: Amy Hamm (youtube.com)
Emergencies Act Ruling Will Be Taught In Law School - CCF Lawyer Explains How They Won (youtube.com)
Letter writing enjoys a revival as fans seek connection and a break from screen time (apnews.com)
We Need Diverse Books launches Unbanned Book Network to fight school bans (apnews.com)
Feminism’s Buzzwords: How Women’s Studies Rewrote Reality (youtube.com)
‘How academia taught women to hate men.’
The War on Privacy (youtube.com)
White House AI Czar says Europe's censorship creating 'divergence' from US on free speech (youtube.com)
NGOs are basically promoting censorship in Europe. In UK 12k people per year arrested for basically speech crimes.
Sacks.
On the other hand... Former Google boss CRASHES OUT when confronted over censorship in Davos (youtube.com)
Kindness at work can mean giving honest feedback, limiting meetings and bending rules (apnews.com)
Tucker Explains the Purpose Behind White People Being Eliminated (youtube.com)
‘As long as you’re encouraging identity politics, why do Whites not get to have it?'
He speculates the big reason behind politicians going against Whites is ‘emotional rather than a kind of rational calculation.’
Has capitalism only really worked in English speaking countries? Is there a cultural underpinning? Is there a meta network?
The ‘malign influence of the Wall Street Journal editorial page, a whole generation of business people actually believe all this nonsense. It's very hard to get out of their heads cause they're never allowed criticism of immigration on the editorial page.'
Is that the point at which culture can turn? When a new, beurocratic/political/fake idea starts being used in the culture, successfully, people practice it but no one believes in it, it's kind of just expedient, the costs of truth just not worth it on that little point, but once a new generation is raised on it, they believe it so unshakeably, that they don't compensate for it's fakeness while practicing it the way that the former generation did, knowing it was nonsense not to be really acted on or built upon? This generation is weak and ignorant, and that's apparent, even obvious, to the third generation.
The reason the third generation, while raised in the idea just like the second generation was, is able to see it as false and ridiculous, while the second generation can't, is that the second generation lived in a time when the idea was said and superficially practiced but it's harms were not great because people knew it was fake and compensated for this.
...
Mob Mentality at UBC (youtube.com)
Trump's tariffs force Canada's lumber industry to switch to metric system (youtube.com)
How Woke Victim Culture KILLED Free Speech | John Cleese (youtube.com)
‘You must not offend.’
Social media addiction's surprising challenger? Anti-doomscrolling influencers (apnews.com)
‘Yokubonis is part of a growing group of content creators who make videos encouraging viewers to close out the app they’re on.'
‘Reclaim their focus.’
“Thoughtless about the way (they’re) intaking information.”
...
This Spanish town welcomed migrants. Integrating them is harder. (csmonitor.com)
‘While there are no secret formulas for social cohesion, Dr. Fortes adds, “If we can find a way to recognize the humanity of each person who is living together with us in society, that goes a really long way.”’
Language learning, available accomodation (limited, and then on top of that they don't like renting to blacks), social services burden (wait times), dependence on government subsidies (which may change), and residents can't voice their concerns publicly for fear ‘their small businesses to be affected by negative comments.’ They may speak, but privately and in hushed tones.
‘“It’s nice to say, ‘We are such good people; everyone is welcome. If they want to preserve their customs, they can, but we have ours, too, and we aren’t going to change for them.”’ 130 migrants in a town of 2000 citizens, and most of the 130 haven't found a job. They want to save to bring their families to Spain, too.
One retired teacher in the town gave some of the migrants jobs in her garden, chatted with them about their stories, gave them lunch and taught them to make traditional Galician prawns and fish in her kitchen. This is an uncommon attitude.
...
‘Many Western democracies are worried about far-right parties’ popularity. But some are finding that letting them into government actually brings them back to earth.’ CS Monitor
Inside Canada's Indian Invasion... (youtube.com)
TikTok Feminism is Not Your Friend (youtube.com)
‘Having a boyfriend is embarassing now?’
‘In Awra Amba, Ethiopia, the community pays for young people to study at universities in cities. The college graduation rate is six times higher than that of the general population in Ethiopia.’
The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)
‘Chattanooga, Tennessee, has transformed empty public school classrooms into 12 child care “micro-centers” for the children of school teachers and other staff.’
‘A mental health peer mentor program in Great Falls, Montana, is responsible for a 95 percent decrease in the number of sixth graders struggling with depression and anxiety that are presenting to the ER.’
‘An immersion center in North Carolina is printing its own books to combat the loss of the 85 symbols that make up the Cherokee syllabary.’
‘82 percent of participants in a program promoting weekly conversations reported feeling less lonely, and 100 percent reported feeling a sense of community. Some said it was the first time they’d felt heard in years.’
‘‘Plastic Cup’ competitions are cleaning up rivers in Hungary. Afloat on boats they built themselves, teams of volunteers have removed over 450 tons of plastic waste from the Danube River and its tributaries.’
‘To give new asylum seekers a meaningful way to spend time and connect with the community, a group of Austrian locals and refugees convinced a municipal government to give them a 2.5-acre plot of land abutting a refugee center for an intercultural garden where folks can cultivate flowers and friendships.’
Australia day marked by invasion day rallies anti immigration protests (reuters.com)
The Real Reason Beauty Standards Changed — And Why Men Pay the Price (youtube.com)
Most women on dating apps get hundreds of swipes and think they're doing well, and therefore don't work on developing the types of qualities that sustain longterm relationships. Women feel overwhelmed by attention, and post memes about the standards they want. In films, a type of average woman is cast as the heroine, who the superhero man falls for, but she may be not the type men would really fall for. ‘They’ve turned the absense of beauty into some sort of moral achievement.'
When men say what they actually find attractive (Syndey Sweeny), ‘bad for women,’ ‘problematic’, ‘male gaze,’ and ‘racist.’
Women are told that if men don't find the normal typecast attractive, the men are weak, shallow, etc. ‘Most average men are rejected so relentlessly, no wonder they turn to p***... and we bully them... Their lonliness is bound to show up somewhere. At least have the decency to acknowledge the root cause.’
The erotic market has classic female beauty, and the other is a female status market where women reward each other.
‘All this we call unfair beauty standards, for women.’ 150 year long war on male sexuality. 1830s Sarah Grimke female desire is virtue and male desire is vice, a bunch of other people denegrating male sexuality, sometimes as pathology.
How Social Media Creates Super Delusional Women @RebelCapitalistChannel (youtube.com)
This is almost in the mainstream now. It's like on the edges of the mainstream, where people posting about it have hundreds of thousands or millions of views, there's some chat on news and philosophically raising the questions (although not seeing them through, perhaps) on tv shows and news.
The age of female rage • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
British Propagandists Smears Amelia as Far-Right | Authoritarians are Panicking (youtube.com)
Is it that because UK has made protest and even critical speech illegal and has arrested, reportedly, thousands of people for like social media posts and things, people are giong to create avatars to serve as leaders for rebellion?
People
January 2026
Samo's 2025 Bismarck Brief
7 New Insights From 2025 at Bismarck Brief (substack.com)
AI progress isn't about just compute. It requires scientists with math, computer science, and software. This is why other countries can catch up to US.
Prestige and fashion are seemingly intrinsic but depend on conscious marketing and rituals, and exclusionary practices. Hermes, De Beers, based on imaginations.
Large institutions contain several live players (even if the organization is not or is no longer a live player), not just the founder. Google distributes funds to several disparate project areas.
Space is being militarized. Defense contractors, China trying to match SpaceX, which opened up a new phase. Can a middle power enter?
‘Progressive philanthropy and activism is increasingly shaped by none other than tech billionaires. ’ Personal mission of liberal tech billionaires to oppose Trump, perhaps more an engine for the Democrats than politicians.
‘Judges and bureaucrats are resilient to populist groundswells.’ Hungary. Some politicians in some EU and North American countries enabled by the internet. But these can't overpower the supreme courts.
...
FBI executes search warrant for 2020 election files in Fulton County (apnews.com)
Paris Hilton Helped Pass Legislation in D.C.; Talks 20 Years of "Stars Are Blind" and Motherhood (youtube.com)
Sydney Sweeney could face legal trouble after Hollywood Sign bra stunt (youtube.com)
JUST IN: Trump Asked, 'Do You Feel Like There's A Civil War Brewing?' Amidst Minneapolis Unrest (youtube.com)
Trump presents his case here. Lowest crime rate, enforced in cities by National Guard and soldiers. Removing 2000 criminals from Washington. New Orleans crime down 50%.
2% of the population causes over 90% of the crime, so if you remove that 2%...
He called the protesters in Minneapolis ‘really insurrections and agitators’ and said they were being paid. Professionally made signs, brand new wood, leather handles. ‘These are people that are handed signs'. He said the White House pretty much knows who's paying them.
‘Elections have consequences. The people want law and order.’
Products
Feb 2026
Record gold prices push Italian jewellers to make leaner designs (reuters.com)
Thompson says Plan 9 "the best operating system out there" but will "never make it, ever, ever." (youtube.com)
It doesn't have the apps. Doesn't have browser.
Vimeo Has Been Gutted (youtube.com)
Sold for $1.3b, lots of staff fired,
Why Toronto is shutting down this 70-year-old yacht club (youtube.com)
Don’t Say Epstein! (youtube.com)
‘Drone chasers unite’
Night only, large drones, no explanation what they are.
She created a 'community drone watch.'
UpScrolled: Fast‑growing, censorship‑free TikTok and Instagram alternative (youtube.com)
AJ
A billboard on Vancouver Island is begging Pamela Anderson to go to Finland (youtube.com)
In advertising news...
Nearly $8 to use an ATM in Thailand now!?
Nearly to use an ATM in Thailand now!?
Scientists develop unsinkable metal tubes using water-repelling technology | The Optimist Daily (optimistdaily.com)
‘Modified the inner surface of aluminum tubes by etching it with lasers. The process creates micro- and nano-scale pits that make the metal extremely water-repellent. When the treated tube is submerged, this textured surface captures a stable air pocket inside, acting as a built-in flotation system.’ Chunlei Guo led.
I made a plugin, Meta parameter manipulator for any VST3/AU in any DAW. It is wild.. (youtube.com)
Will your Chinese-made EV spy on you? (youtube.com)
He (Accidentally) Built the Amazon of Manufacturing (youtube.com)
Send cut send.
Why did Netflix buy an old army base in New Jersey?
India kicks off AI summit, first in the Global South • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
I Built a M/Year Factory in a 600sqft Shop
His shop cost $10k instead of $250k but he built it himself.
1 Passport, 9 Countries, 400M People: Meet MERCOSUR (youtube.com)
New record store set to open in Memphis mall
Repair, don't replace: Inside Winnipeg’s new fix-it café (youtube.com) How MIT's New Concrete Stores 10x More Energy (youtube.com)
The Ridiculous Engineering Of Short Form Content (youtube.com)
Why Vegas Doesn't Care If You Visit Anymore (youtube.com)
MPF.
How I Brought In $789K Selling Landline Phones In 6 Months (youtube.com)
The Internet, Reinvented. (youtube.com)
Burger King president takes customer calls for two weeks (youtube.com)
A Web Revival: the Internet didn't die, you're just not on it (youtube.com)
‘Indie web revival.’ ?
The Schools that Break Children - BBC World Service Documentaries (youtube.com)
No One Is Using CoPilot... (youtube.com)
How Brazil Built the Perfect Payment System (youtube.com)
Pix?
Why PCB Motors Are Replacing Traditional Motors (youtube.com)
Apple's Mandatory ID... GrapheneOS is the Exit (youtube.com)
Canada's First Fully Automated Greenhouse | Your Morning (youtube.com)
King City, Ontario.
Only needs 4 people, versus 100 people in sometihng non super automated.
Canada imports 90% of greens from US. Long winters.
2022 to 2023 greenhouses went up 10% in Canada.
Tevel (Israel) wired drone harvest trucks harvesting apples also shown in the video.
January 2026
Zipper company upgrading the zipper after 100 years (youtube.com)
No tape. Special sewing machine to attach it.
Sword-wielding man offers 'squatter removal' service in Bay Area (youtube.com)
At-home STD tests offer new options for screening and treatment (apnews.com)
'Some home-based tests still require outside input to get the results.'
Plunging US Birth Rate Leaves Too Many Colleges With Too Few Kids (youtube.com)
For craft beer, the party may be over (youtube.com)
X Announces Writers' Contest, Prize Money Rivals Nobel for Literature | WION News (youtube.com)
Best performing (solely performance based, and only in US, reportedly) piece in X's articles section. He wants quality, longform (at least 1000 words) on X.
Why Retail Brands Are Racing To Open In-Store Coffee Shops (youtube.com)
Why Americans Are Returning to Vinyl, Books and DVDs (youtube.com)
Chinese navy ship offers medical aid in Brazil in Latin American tour (youtube.com)
‘While the US sends warships to the region, China sends a humanitarian mission. I think this is a great lesson about cooperation, harmony, and coexistence among peoples.’
You Can Prove Your Age Without Revealing Your Identity (youtube.com)
This is a New Kind of Wireless (youtube.com)
A parallel 3giga LoRa band, 300kbps. Meshtastic going from texts to voice.
Insurers don’t want to cover AI (youtube.com)
‘Fresh brewed news’: Community café offers locals a chance to sip with reporters (csmonitor.com)
Silent Reading Club, too.
New Project Announcement: Brax Open_Slate - Android/Linux Tablet (youtube.com)
China's accidental 'crying horse' plush toy goes viral • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)
Local Coffee Shop Blends Drinks, Social Issues and Community | Living St. Louis (youtube.com)
‘I wanted to [locate] where the problems are. I wanted to come where brothers and sisters that were addicted to drugs, that were struggling, I wanted to provide' a location within that.
They have a banned books library also. She wants uncomfortable conversations. ‘I just wanted to be where nobody else wanted to be.’