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War on Iran. From Newser: Trump: US Has Begun 'Major Combat Operations' in Iran. Trump, Netanyahu call for regime change. [Ed: a round-up of news.] From Moon of Alabama: U.S., Israel Are Waging War On Iran. [Ed: the real war starts when Iran hits back.] From Al Jazeera: Live updates, US, Israel attack Iran live: Trump announces ‘major combat operations’. From the Times of Israel: The Times of Israel is liveblogging Saturday’s events as they unfold.

From Zero Hedge: Israel Launches Wave Of Strikes On Lebanon In Precursor To Potential Iran War. All of Lebanon on edge... [Ed: I don't know how Russia will react to the Middle East/Iran erupting. Especially Iran. An important wild card.]

Iran Responds. From Mint: Explosions in Abu Dhabi, Dubai as Iran fires missiles after US-Israel attack; Middle East on edge of full-blown war. From Opinda: Iran strikes US military bases in Bahrain, Qatar, and UAE, missiles detected over Dubai and Abu Dhabi as conflict widens [Ed: real question is how long Iran can last, especially if not supported by Russia?] From Iran International: Iran says it is in full-scale war with US, Israel and Europe. [Ed: Europe as well.]

From CBS News: Pentagon official lashes out at Anthropic as talks break down: "You have to trust your military to do the right thing." [Ed: I am not used to big companies taking ethical stands.] From AP: Trump Orders Anthropic Tech Out of Government Agencies. Company was in a standoff with Pentagon over use of AI but still negotiating.

From ABC7: Snowplow Driver Saves Lost Dogs During Blizzard. He spotted them running down Long Island highway [Ed: watch on YouTube.]

Immigration. From Human Events: Sweden to mass deport criminal migrants under proposed law. "For far too long in Sweden, foreign criminals who have committed serious crimes in the country have been coddled," Minister for Migration Johan Forssell said.

From Reason: Iowa Officials Arrested This Guy for Criticizing Them—Twice. A Federal Judge Says They Are Liable. A mayor and a police chief "mistook their authority to maintain order for a license to suppress criticism," says U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose. [Ed: arrested twice for speaking out during the public comment period at a city council meeting.]

From YouTube: 17 Days Ago I wanted to Take You Home. [Ed: longer than most videos I post but it is wonderful to watch.]

ICE. From Human Events: Maryland is playing a dangerous game with drug cartels and public safety. [Ed: and ICE is playing a dangerous game with Constitutional rights.]

From Zero Hedge: Are You Being Watched By Smart Glasses? Here's How To Check. "... part of resistance against surveillance tech."

From the International Man: When Central Bankers Worry About Aliens, the Problem Isn't Aliens.

Epstein. From CBC: Hillary Clinton testifies she never met Epstein, slams Republican efforts to combat sex trafficking. [Ed: despite photo of Ghislaine sitting in a prime seat at Chelsea's wedding.] From C-Span: Rep. Comer Pledges to Release Hillary Clinton Deposition Quickly. [Ed: release the full deposition and air it on C-span. Sad to be released today.] From CBC: 'I saw nothing that ever gave me pause': Bill Clinton says he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes. From : Clinton asked about hot tub photo as he testifies he “saw nothing” of Epstein wrongdoing [Ed: this BBC page has extensive coverage of both depositions.]

From Newsweek: Woman Sees Abandoned Dog on Side of Road—24 Hours Later Everything Changed

From Zero Hedge: Democrats Slam Democrats For 'Rigging' Democrat Primaries. [Ed: dammit. I hope Dems get it together before the midterms. I am not pro-Dems but it would be good for someone/something to be an effective brake on Trump's power.] From Common Dreams: Trump Says He’s ‘Entitled’ to Illegal Third Term as Allies Draft Voter Suppression Decree
Extensions of presidential terms or abolition of limits are hallmarks of dictators and backsliding leaders of erstwhile democracies.

From Kevin Walmsley: China’s newest battery runs on salt, and powers vehicles in extreme cold climates

Netflix. From the BBC: Paramount set for $111bn Warner Bros takeover after Netflix drops bid [Ed: hmm. The day after the CEO visited the White House.] From the Post Millennial: Netflix LOSES bidding war for Warner Bros, releases statement backing out of negotiations. [Ed: has Netflix's statement. I wonder how much Trump influenced this decision?] From Hollywood Reporter: Paramount's Deal Isn't Guaranteed, California Says. Industry voices, including an actor, warn of the effects of such acquisitions. From Zero Hedge: Pentagon Picks OpenAI To Replace Anthropic. [Ed: sam Altman wins.]

From the New York Post: ‘Dangerous’ Somali trucker busted driving wrong way on Missouri highway couldn’t read road signs, failed English test

From Newser: Pakistan Declares 'Open War' With Afghanistan' Both sides claim to have killed dozens in cross-border clashes

From AOL: ‘Miracle dog’ returned to family after staying with owner who died hiking.

From FOX News: Social Media Erupts After Stephen King Makes False Claim About Trump’s Family: ‘What Is This Sh--?' [Ed: Trump Derangement Syndrome is just that--actually derangement as in a total schism with reality. Hell, I'm no Trump fan but the man doesn't make me block out reality.]

From Garden & Guns: The Tree Feist. An eager hunter known for chasing squirrels, climbing trees, and catching Faulkner’s eye

Big Picture Economics. From VBL: Lindy Effect: Why Gold is the Ultimate Store of Value. Lindy’s Law as a Survival Heuristic..From Piie: How will Trump’s new 15 percent tariff fare in court?

From CBS: We Asked Scientists What They Think We’ll Learn From the Government’s UFO Files Here’s What They Said From the Garber Files: The Pentagon's UFO Psyop. [Ed: I have no idea what to think about any of this.]

Iran. From Caitlin Johnstone: If You Think the US Wants To Bring Democracy to Iran, Watch What They’re Currently Doing to Iraq. "giving a nation the freedom to do what Washington tells them to do and elect the leaders that Washington allows them to elect. " [Ed: I, for one, am sure it has nothing, nothing to do with oil.] From Zero Hedge: Iran's Nuclear Complex: A Post-12-Day War Refresher. With U.S.-Iran talks ongoing and satellite imagery showing repair and hardening efforts, here is a site-by-site status update on the major facilities... From the New York Post: Iranian diplomats believed to have arrived in Geneva for indirect US nuclear talks. [Ed: American negotiators are believed to be already there. Israel will not be pleased.] Meanwhile...From the Middle East Eye: Iran Rushes To Load Oil Onto Ships In Anticipation Of US Strikes. "...loading almost three times amount it normally does onto tankers in the Persian Gulf."

From Pupvine: South Carolina Kayaker Spots Tiny Shapes On The Shore And Realizes They Need Help Immediately

SOTU Fall-Out. From Zero Hedge: Watch: Dems Double-Down On Refusing To Put Americans First After SOTU Meltdown. Top Dems label Trump’s pledge to prioritize Americans over illegal aliens as “revolting”... [Ed: it was a shocking moment when the Dem side of the room refused to stand on prioritizing the lives of Americans.] AND Fetterman Slams Dems For 'Yelling And Screaming' During SOTU. For me, you know, I, I never checked to see what, what the rest of people in my party would stand up and clap for... From Politico: The SOTU moment that Republicans hope saves the midterms. [Ed: when the Dems refused to stand on the statement "The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”]

From the Babylon Bee: Cheer Up, Canada: Here Are 7 Things You're Still Better At Than America.

Immigration/ICE. From NBC News: Judge: 'Third Country' Deportation Is Unlawful. He says deportees are not given 'meaningful notice' or opportunities to object. [Ed: Supreme Court ruled in the administration's favor last year on this, pausing judge's previous decision.] From Mother Jones: ICE Took Their Papers—and Won’t Give Them Back. Immigrants are being released from detention without documents proving their status.

From the Washington Examiner: Los Angeles is now fining people whose homes burned down. {Ed: for brush-clearance penalties, even tho' the people have no houses, no brush.]

From the International Man: Doug Casey on Rising Capital Controls, Tighter Borders, and What You Can Do About It.

Epstein. From the Telegraph: Revealed: The contents of Epstein’s secret storage locker. Video tapes and sex manuals among items paedophile wanted to keep hidden from police. [Ed: I suspect I will hearing about Epstein for the rest of my life. An exaggeration...but not by much. And, so far, it is all words, little-to-no action] From Politico: The Clintons are in the hot seat — and lawmakers are hungry for Epstein-related prosecutions. They face questions about what, if anything, they knew about Jeffrey Epstein's illegal activities. "“I think what you’re seeing in Britain is, the charges against Prince Andrew and the former ambassador weren’t sex-related crimes. They were more with respect to treason..." [Ed: legal enforcement in Britain is embarrassing law enforcement in the U.S. UPDATE: Hillary Clinton says she has no new information on Jeffrey Epstein in testimony excoriating Republicans. Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to sit for a similar deposition Friday, today.] AND Larry Summers will resign from Harvard amid Epstein fallout. From the Boston Herald: World Economic Forum head Børge Brende steps down following pressure over Epstein links

From Lovely Animal World: Smart Dog Walks To A Pet Store All By Himself. Moments Later, People Can’t Stop Laughing When He Brings This Out. [Ed: no, not a toy. And the video is hilarious.]

From the Guardian: Minnesota's Reimbursements for Medicaid Are Frozen: Vance, Oz says action is to stop fraud, while Walz calls it retribution. [Ed: first cut off of Medicaid to a state; more are said to be in the works.]

Ukraine-Russia-U.S. From BBC: Orban steps up oil accusations against Ukraine after vetoing EU loan to Kyiv. "...vetoed a €90bn (£78bn) EU loan to Ukraine and blocked the 20th package of sanctions on Moscow." [Ed: he is ramping up the rhetoric because he is behind in polls re: the upcoming election.] From Politico: What happened after Elon Musk took the Russian army offline. From a Ukrainian listening post, our reporter heard it happen: Starlink terminals went dark, leaving Russian soldiers along the front unable to coordinate. From AP News: An interactive map of the Ukraine war.

From AP News:

From the Daily Bell: Loonie Left: Canada Provides Aid To Cuba Because “Orange Man Bad”. From the Epoch Times: US Treasury To Allow Resale Of Venezuelan Oil To Cuba to Ease Island's Fuel Crunch. The new policy is designed to bolster humanitarian and commercial support for Cuban people amid fuel shortages related to Maduro’s overthrow. "...with the goal of supporting the island’s private sector and bolstering humanitarian efforts amid ongoing fuel crises."

From Wired: The Long History of Frogs as Protest Symbols. [Ed: for those wondering why there are frog suits at protests, including at Trump's SOTU.]

Netflix Merger & Susan Rice. From Deadline: Netflix’s Acquisition Of Warner Bros Bad For America, GOP Attorneys General Tell Feds. [Ed: funny how this comes after Trump tells Netflix to drop Susan Rice from the Board of Directors.] From Politico: Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos to visit White House Thursday to discuss Warner Bros. bid. Top of the agenda: Netflix’s bid for the media giant and President Donald Trump’s demand that Netflix fire board member Susan Rice. [Ed: Thursday as in yesterday. Announcement pending?]

From Creators: The Price of Perfect Nihilism by Judge Andrew P. Napolitano

From Inspire More: Man Spends 7 Restless Nights In Animal Shelter To Help Dog Who’s Been There 400 Days.

From X, James Hartline: Interestingly, one of the best exposes (in four parts) that I have ever read about the CIA infiltration and takeover of the Democratic Party was published in 2018 on the World Socialist Web Site. Series here.. From X, Data Repoublican: Spanberger is part of a cohort of 50+ military-intelligence veterans that have been recruited to run as Democratic candidates starting in 2018. A Democrat retires. A CIA member takes over. [Ed: all this is new to me, but interesting enough to present for thought.]

From FOX News: Newsom ripped over 'racist' viral clip telling Black mayor 'I'm like you' before touting poor SAT score

ICE. From Reason: ICE Whistleblower Says Training Is 'Deficient, Defective, and Broken'. An attorney and former ICE training instructor testified before Congress that changes to the training program “can and will get people killed.” [Ed: I am reading more and more reporting on this problem, including ones on funding cuts to training.] From the Post Millennial: IRS can share data with ICE for immigration enforcement: US appeals court.. [Ed: constant erosion of IRS's supposed privacy guarantees.]

From Garden & Gun: Ghost Dog. In the wilds of Old Florida, a strange dog from a foreign land proves canine loyalty knows no bounds

Tariffs. From the Volokh Conspiracy: New in City Journal: "Trump's Tariff Loss Is the Worst Judicial Defeat in Presidential History". "From Jefferson to Lincoln, Nixon to Bush, no president’s agenda has been so thoroughly undercut by the Supreme Court." [Ed: City Journal piece here.] From NBC News: Trump’s Global Tariff Takes Effect at 10%, Despite Announcement of 15%. [Ed: tariffs commenced on Tuesday.] From Scheer Post: Jeffrey Sachs: President Trump: Give Back the Money and Stop Grabbing More.

Ukraine-Russia-U.S. From the Libertarian Institute: Sergei Lavrov is Right: America is ‘Agreement Incapable’. [Ed: yes, Lavrov is correct, as usual. No, not a fannish statement. Just a statement of fact.]

Cuba. From Naked Capitalism: Russia Just Denied Claims It Is Planning to Break the US’ Oil Blockade of Cuba, Albeit Only Partially. [Ed: confusing.] From Orinoco Tribune: Analysis: What does the US really want of Cuba? [Ed: historical background and context.] From International Viewpoint: In defence of Cuba against the neocolonial blockade and starvation imposed by Trump.

From Inspire More: Teeny Yorkie Picks Biggest Toy In Store & We Can’t Stop Laughing Seeing Her Carry It.

Newsom, the Racist? From the Post Millennial: Cornel West slams Gavin Newsom for saying he can relate to black Americans because he performed poorly on his SATs. "...when he thinks of Black people, he brings up low SAT scores. That mindset sits at the core of white supremacy." From Townhall: Gavin Newsom Doubles Down on His Racist Comments: It's 'Fake F**king Outrage' [Ed: he knows how badly he slipped up on the Atlanta townhall.And how viral it has gone.] From the Blaze: 'F**k off': Newsom’s team erupts with profanity at reporter doing her job

From Euronews: UK government to release confidential documents on former prince Andrew's appointment as trade envoy. [Ed: aimed as much at the royal family as at Andrew. No free pass.]

From Politico.EU: Orbán’s gambit to revive his election hopes: A battle against the EU. The Hungarian leader wants to portray his main rival, Péter Magyar, as a stooge of his traditional bogeymen: Brussels and Kyiv. But Magyar is proving hard to typecast. [Ed: re-election prospects do not look good for Orban.]

From the Babylon Bee: Trump Hires Team USA Goalie To Guard Southern Border.

Ukraine. From Real Clear Defense: Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine Has Permanently Altered U.S. and European Security From Politico.EU: EU gets ready for Russian attacks on power grids after Ukraine’s winter of blackouts. Moscow’s prolonged assaults on Ukraine’s electricity network have focused minds in Europe on the growing threat. From Gilbert Doctorow: Zelensky: Ukraine is definitely not losing the war: News X World, 21 February. "My advice to Chancellor Merz...is that he should tune in to Russian television and he would find that the Russians are ready to wipe Germany off the face of the earth if this hostility continues. It might sober him up." From Simplicius: As Russia's SMO Heads Into Its Fifth Year, the Struggle Lives On.

Upcoming Elections. From Politico: The state of the Democratic Party is … split. Democratic groups staging counter-programming events offered a snapshot of a party divided over how best to approach the midterms. [Ed: there were so many counter events going on (5) that the Dem's message was diluted and, sometimes, contradictory.]

Politicizing Hockey. From the Post Millennial: NYT runs hit piece on US Olympic gold medal hockey heroes because Trump.

Iran. From the Diplomat: Why China Doesn’t Want the US and Iran to Make Peace. While Beijing publicly advocates restraint, sustained tensions between the U.S. and Iran serve its strategic interests. From ABC News: Iran pushes back against Trump ahead of Geneva talks in face of major deployment. Iran has pushed back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s pressure tactics ahead of critical talks in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear program. [Ed: the nuclear program will be Iran's red line. I don't know if Trump has any negotiating room--at least, any he will offer.] From Glenn Greenwald: War Propaganda and Iran: The Exact Script Used for Every Failed US War Is Hauled Out Again. From Vietnam to Iran and every U.S. war in between, the same propaganda narratives are deployed, no matter how discredited and debunked they are from all the prior times they were exposed as lies.

From Pupvine: Missouri Rescue Team Responds After Police Find Lonely Stray Searching For Human Connection.

State of the Union Reflections. From Reason: Trump's Tariffs Are Not Going To Eliminate the Income Tax. And that's especially true if the tariffs are illegal. AND 3 Bogus Economic Stats in Trump's State of the Union. President Donald Trump tossed out a bunch of economic statistics during his State of the Union address. Here are three that are just plain wrong.

From the Libertarian Institute: The Gaza Plan’s ‘Sick Kind of Detachment’ and its Dangers for America "352 days after his announcement of a plan for America to “Raze and Rebuild Gaza” and the day he launched his “Board of Peace” to “oversee” Gaza." [Ed: whenever I feel sympathetic to a Trump policy, I remind myself of Gaza.]

From Outside Online: Meet Cami, the Very Good Dog Whose Cuddles Saved Her Owner’s Life. Cattle dogs are known for their intense intelligence and limitless loyalty, so it should come as no surprise that one named Cami is credited with saving her owner’s life. Did we just find our good dog of 2026?

From AOL: Mamdani's ‘Warmth Of Collectivism’ Didn’t Save The 20 New Yorkers Who Froze To Death During Cold Snap