The Morning Report — 2/20/26

Good morning kids. Once again we've got trouble at home and trouble abroad (hmm, sounds like the opening of a Grateful Dead ditty) Let's start off overseas with things heating up in and around Iran. The internal unrest inside that nation that we had all thought or hoped would at long last see the toppling of the Muallahocracy appears, at least from what I can tell, to have significantly quieted down. Of course the IRGC and other security forces have arrested and/or executed hundreds if not thousands of protesters at this point and hence the quieting down. That said, as the unrest was building, President Trump ordered a carrier battle group to take up station in the Mediterranean within striking range of Iran and now that it is in position, the saber rattling is reaching a fever pitch.

President Donald J. Trump warned that the U.S. could strike Iran if a nuclear deal is not reached within the next ten days. . . President Trump, world leaders attending the Board of Peace meeting, and Iranian officials involved in nuclear negotiations.. . February 19, 2026, during the inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington, DC.. . : “We may have to take it a step further, or we may not. Maybe we’re going to make a deal. You’re going to be finding out over the next probably ten days.” — President Donald Trump . . The U.S. military has mobilized assets in the Middle East, as nuclear negotiations with Iran remain ongoing.

I seriously do not understand what the hell this is all about. First, I thought we along with the Israelis took out Iran's nuclear capabilities with the bombing campaign a few months ago? And what's to negotiate? Why is allowing their heinous, evil government to remain in power an acceptable outcome for a promise that is not worth the paper it's written on?!

And this whole Board of Peace nonsense is a complete waste of time given the nature of Islam, despite the supposed phony moderation of some of the players involved. Islam has been on the march for close to a millennium and a half and it will not stop until it conquers the entire world, even if it means bringing about Armageddon to obtain that goal. And Armageddon is a central pillar of Shiite Twelverism (look it up) which is at the heart of the Iranian regime.

Until Islam reforms itself or is eradicated from the face of the Earth for all time, there will be no peace in the region and indeed the rest of the world where it is allowed to flourish.

So, dealing with the Mullahs is one thing, but back here at home, President Trump needs to park a carrier battle group up the sigmoid of the Judiciary:

On Thursday, a federal judge in California overturned a previous immigration court ruling that supported the Trump administration’s illegal immigrant detention policies. U.S. District Court Judge Sunshine Sykes, a Joe Biden appointee, criticized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for their characterization of detainees as the “worst of the worst.”“‘Worst of the worst’ is an inaccurate description of most of those affected by DHS and ICE’s operations,” Judge Sykes ruled. She argued that the administration’s language was designed to justify the scale of its actions against illegal immigrants.“Even though these press releases might contain an inkling of truth, they ignore a greater, more dire reality,” she claimed, adding: “Beyond its terror against noncitizens, the executive branch has extended its violence on its own citizens, killing two American citizens—Renée Good and Alex Pretti—in Minnesota,” Sykes wrote in her decision, adding, “The threats posed by the executive branch cannot be viewed in isolation.”The ruling, if upheld, could block mass deportations and ensure bond hearings for many non-convicted illegal immigrant detainees. Previously, DHS had denied bond hearings to migrants arrested by federal immigration authorities, even if they had been in the United States for years. Those who recently illegally crossed the border were also not guaranteed immediate bond hearings under the policy.

And yet, per Tom Homan:

” White House border czar Tom Homan said that there will be “mass deportation. . . “I will do whatever I can, because the president has made a promise to the American people, there will be mass deportation, but it’s going to prioritize public safety threats first. And that’s just the way we should be doing it. Targeted enforcement operations are a way to go. And for the people are going nuts is if you’re walking away from mass deportation. Look at the numbers. We already got record numbers to deportation but arresting the public safety threat first makes sense because you’re the biggest danger to the community. Prioritize public safety threats and national security threats doesn’t mean to forget about everybody else. I’ve said it from day one, if you’re in the country illegally, you’re not off the table. We’re looking for you, and we’ll remove you when we find you.”

So Mr. Border Czar, how does your declaration square with what Biden's hack in black has said and done.

Lots of other links to peruse and ponder, especially regarding socialism, it's embrace by more and more Americans, especially youth and what can be done to smack people upside the head before the bodies pile up in mass graves or freeze to death in the NYC cold or starve to death due to the raging success of Free Grocery Stores!!!!

Have a great weekend!

And lastly, a quick shout-out and a huge thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY LINKS
• Douglas Murray: Where there was once flagrant distortion of the news, a number of the Big Tech companies are now doing things in a far more subtle and insidious way.
  How Apple News and other tech giants change the narrative for Democrats
  
• In recent years, multiple polls show that socialism has gained traction among America’s youth. This did not occur by accident. Rather, it happened because America’s public schools do not teach millions of students the truth about socialism. A new Heartland Institute Policy Brief titled “Teaching the Truth About Socialism in America’s Public Schools,” examines how we got here and what policymakers can do to rectify this troubling trend.
  Teaching the Truth About Socialism in America’s Public Schools (See also the related story in the Culture Wars section - jjs)
  
• Welcome to Moscow . . . 1965.
  New York’s First Free Grocery Store Opens

CIVIL WAR 2.0, LEFTIST PERSECUTIONS, DEMOCRAT PUTSCH, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION
• The Democrat congresswoman further revealed, “There is a lot of conversation about what the dismantlement of the Department of Homeland Security should look like.”
  Watch: Ilhan Omar Says Democrats Don’t Just Want to Abolish ICE, They Plan to Dismantle DHS
  
• Terrorists for dismantling counterterrorism.
  Rep-tilian. Bro-FO Omar Calls for Dismantling Department of Homeland Security

• Across the country, students have walked out of school to protest ICE, especially since Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers were involved in the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in January. Principal Daniel Weber addressed the students in a video posted on TikTok by a user known as othersideofanalia. (RELATED: ‘If I Had A Gun, I’d Pew-Pew Your Motherf*cking A*S!’: Students Assault, Threaten Journalists At Anti-ICE Walkout)
  Watch Principal Lay Down The Law To Students On Anti-ICE Walkout

  "DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST/GLOBALIST BORDER BLOODBATH," AMNESTY, IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY

• The ruling could block mass deportations and guarantee bond hearings for many non-criminal illegal immigrant detainees, though the Department of Justice (DOJ) is likely to appeal. (hat is this "non-criminal" bullshit? There mere presence on our soil is a criminal act! - jjs)
  Biden Judge BLOCKS Mass Deportation Powers.

• “I will do whatever I can, because the president has made a promise to the American people, there will be mass deportation, but it’s going to prioritize public safety threats first. And that’s just the way we should be doing it. Targeted enforcement operations are a way to go. And for the people are going nuts is if you’re walking away from mass deportation. Look at the numbers. We already got record numbers to deportation but arresting the public safety threat first makes sense because you’re the biggest danger to the community. Prioritize public safety threats and national security threats doesn’t mean to forget about everybody else. I’ve said it from day one, if you’re in the country illegally, you’re not off the table. We’re looking for you, and we’ll remove you when we find you.”
  Tom Homan: ‘There Will Be Mass Deportation’

• "When asked if he was remorseful, Hernandez Gonzalez stated he felt nothing."
  Biden Shielded Him From Deportation. He Was Just Arrested For Trying To Drown A Woman.
  
• The deportation flight signals a potential shift in immigration cooperation between the United States and Cuba.
  ICE Has Resumed Deportations to Cuba.
  
• They created a seismic mess and voters opted to have it cleaned up. There’s no easy way to do it. There’s nothing that can “traditionally” be done. There’s no “moderate” option. Either the people in the country leave voluntarily, or they’re removed by force.
  There Is No ‘Moderate’ Solution To The Extreme Immigration Problem Democrats Created

  DOMESTIC AFFAIRS, THE COURTS, WASTE/FRAUD/ABUSE

• “There is currently no impact to drinking water."
  Radical Left ‘Environmental Hazard’? Trump’s Potomac Sewage Dare To Dems
  
• The Transportation Department still has 97 schools under investigation.
  Duffy Orders Over 550 Commercial Drivers Licensing Schools to Close Over Safety Failures
  
• Somehow, they didn't foresee this happening when the billionaires fled the fleecing.
  Public employee unions that endorsed Mamdani watch as he raids their pension funds

• The project has sparked Democrat lawfare challenging its compliance with historic preservation laws.
  Fine Arts Commission Approves Trump’s White House Ballroom.

  WE-ALL-SLAM-FOR-I-SLAM

• There’s a difference between immigrants, who come seeking a better life and want to assimilate, and conquerors.
  Muslims behaving badly
  
• Mohammed was the original feminist.
  Moderate Taliban Urge Beating Women Without Breaking Bones
  
• “Disassociation” as deception.
  Muslim Federation’s CAIR Lie and a City That Looked the Other Way
  
• Standing up to Sharia.
  Is Texas Winning the War Against Islamization?

  
  SHAMPEACHMENTS, 2016 CLINTON/OBAMA COUP, CONGRESSIONAL PERSECUTION, SPYGATE, DEEP STATE, MUELLER DECEPTION

• As admitted by Toobin, Democrat-appointed judges have become a critical feature of the left’s evolving lawfare against Trump and his voters.
  NYT Accidentally Confesses There’s A Left-Wing Judicial Coup Against Trump

• Washington promised reform, yet one year into President Trump’s second term, Executive Orders abound while arrests, prosecutions, and structural change remain conspicuously absent.
  A Year Into Trump’s Second Term: When Does Accountability for the Deep State Begin?

  THE ECONOMY, STUPID

• The dramatic nine-month improvement suggests Trump’s tariff strategy is achieving its core objective of reducing America’s trade imbalance. March represented the peak of the deficit as importers rushed to bring in goods ahead of announced tariff increases, creating what economists call “front-loading.” The subsequent decline reflects both reduced import volumes and increased export competitiveness.
  U.S. Trade Deficit Nearly Cut in Half Since Liberation Day
  
• The current state of de-dollarization resembles a long-term structural drift rather than a financial rupture; danger is not imminent, and the dollar remains at the center of global payments, funding, and trade.
  Structural Shifts in a Still-Dollarized World
  
• Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are one of the most significant proposed shifts in modern currency. But...
  Trading Cash for a Government Digital Leash

  CRIME & PUNISHMENT, NON-DOSTOYEVSKY

• A thief allegedly stole the Oakland, California, mayor’s SUV after breaking into her City Hall office on Feb. 16.
  Oakland Mayor’s SUV Allegedly Loses Car In Brazen Robbery

  FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH

• The master anti-Israel manipulator pulls a cheap stunt.
  Crybully Tucker Carlson Claims Detained At Ben Gurion Airport – US Embassy and Israelis Deny
  
• The guide also bans the word 'Islamist' and stipulates that Taiwan 'is not a country'
  Inside Al Jazeera’s Style Guide, Which Forbids Reporters From Calling ISIS a ‘Terrorist’ Organization
  
• CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe learned a new concept Wednesday: facts. . .
  Ed O’Keefe’s Trump Derangement Is So Bad, Even The White House Press Corps Is Laughing At Him
  * * * * *

• The biggest threat isn’t AI, but genuine intelligence (GI) hosted by new technology.
  AI Is Artificial Instinct (Not Intelligence)

  RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, DEMOCRAT-LEFT WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS,

• The EPA’s retreat from regulating CO₂ as a pollutant reframes climate orthodoxy, arguing that carbon dioxide underpins modern prosperity as much as it complicates environmental debates.
  Waiting to Exhale?
  
• Repealing the EPA’s biofuel boondoggle ought to be a no-brainer—but can reformers overcome the “liquid pork” regime?
  A Simple Policy to Reduce Food Prices
  
• Green activists may be appalled by the Trump administration’s placement of economic growth, national security, and energy affordability ahead of fighting climate change -- but they don't have the final word. 
  President Trump Not an Outlier on Climate
  
• Green ideology is anti-Western at its core.
  The Trump Administration Takes on the Green Political Religion

  EDUCATION, AND WHAT PASSES FOR IT

• Not all Asians are narrow-minded grinders, nor are all non-Asians free-spirited risk-takers.
  What The ‘Asian Grind Culture’ Panic Gets Wrong About American Education
  
• Margaret Peters, the associate director of UCLA's Burkle Center for International Relations, accused the CBS editor in chief of weaponizing free speech against liberals (Burkle = Obama+Urkle? - jjs)
  UCLA Professor Threatens To Resign Leadership Role if Bari Weiss Gives Journalism Lecture

  THE 2020 and SUBSEQUENT ELECTION HEISTS , SHENANIGANS/FRAUD and AFTERMATH

• The talking filibuster is worth trying. It is worth a public accounting of whether this Senate, in this moment, for this American people, can deliver on its duties.
  Bringing Back The Talking Filibuster Could Do More To Save America Than Just Passing The SAVE Act

  L'AFFAIRE EPSTEIN

• Andrew allegedly gave Epstein confidential reports when the former prince served as a UK trade envoy between 2001 and 2011.
  Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Arrested Over Epstein Scandal
  
• Plaskett visited Epstein at Southern Trust Company office, two miles away from sex offender’s private island
  Dem Rep. Stacey Plaskett Visited Epstein at Office He Used To Scam Virgin Islands Government out of Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, Records Show

  DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST AND RINO SCANDALS, MESHUGAS, CHUTZPOCRISY, INSANITY

• This “Republican” vows to fight for mass amnesty.
  Attention California: Don’t vote for Chad Bianco
  
• Cherfilus-McCormick, an embattled lawmaker first elected to the House in a January 2022 special election, is facing up to 53 years in prison for allegedly stealing $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) overpayments among other charges. A recent House ethics subcommittee report found that a “substantial amount” of the funds were laundered in support of her special election campaign and subsequent November 2022 reelection bid.
  Democrats Stay Mum On Keeping Indicted Lawmaker’s Campaign Cash
  
• Omar’s sudden, inexplicable rise in wealth.
  Bro-Fo Omar’s Under Investigation (incestuous relationships, literal and figurative! - jjs)
  
• A powerful and wealthy politician is desperately trying to hide behind victimhood.
  Newsom Lied About Dyslexia, Used it to Get a Pass in College

  POLITICS

• Trump’s disapproval rating sits at 46 percent.
  One of 2024’s Most Accurate Pollsters Puts Trump at 50 Percent Approval
  
• A Virginia judge has just blocked an April referendum on the Democrats’ egregious gerrymandered map for the state.
  Judge Halts Virginia Gerrymandering
  
• Wilson, a self-described socialist, has been widely compared to socialist Democrat New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. She received poor reviews on her address, which began with technical difficulties and touched on city issues, including crime, homelessness and affordability, according to The Center Square. (RELATED: Seattle Mayor Proudly Admits She Is Not Seeking Probe Into Somali Scammers)
  Seattle’s New Democrat Socialist Mayor Bombs Major Address
  
• Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), who is seeking to unseat incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the Republican primary, is launching a new satirical ad highlighting Cornyn’s record of partnering with Democrats on gun control and immigration legislation — arguing that if the senator “votes like a Democrat” and “acts like a Democrat,” then “he must be a Democrat.”
  Exclusive: Wesley Hunt Unveils ‘Don’t Vote Democrat’ Ad Blasting Cornyn’s Gun Control, Amnesty Record

  IRAN ON the BRINK?!

• The U.S. military has mobilized assets in the Middle East, as nuclear negotiations with Iran remain ongoing.
  Trump Gives Iran 10-Day Ultimatum to Reach Nuclear Deal.
  
• Iranian spokesman Capt. Hassan Maqsoudlou said the Iranian units participating in the joint exercises included “special operations units” from the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated terrorist organization.
  Iran Holds Joint Naval Drills with Russia, Fearing U.S. Strikes Imminent
  
• Profile of a madman. (Meh, typical Islamic male - jjs)
  Khameini the Psychopath

  ISRAEL vs IRAN & GAZA/HAMAS . . . AND LEFTISTS

• Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said the pope "will not participate in the Board of Peace due to its particular nature, which is clearly not that of other states.”
  Vatican rejects 'Board of Peace' invite from Trump, appeals to United Nations to handle matter

  FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL

• All in all, it represents one of the most remarkable under-the-radar diplomatic achievements in recent history. When President Trump’s Russia-Ukraine peace plan reached a dead end, he turned around, cut a deal with India, and strangled the Russian economy overnight. Along with the economy of Russia’s petro-partner, Iran, which is trapped in gunboat diplomacy. (Venezuela, of course, was already dealt with.) And now China — ludicrously heralded by the BBC as a “Green Superpower”(!) despite Chinese greenhouse emissions exceeding all developed nations combined — will now eat the higher cost, too. All of America’s strategic rivals were caught flatfooted.
  Trump Defeats Russia, Wins War for Ukraine: The Shocking Story Behind the Diplomatic Coup of the Century
  
• The meeting was a momentous occasion that, as Marco Rubio said at the event, "the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, has both an ability and a willingness to use the power of his office to think outside the box."   He's right, and Trump is having fun doing it.   
  Firing Rubio? Trump's Got Jokes, and He's Having a Darn Good Time.
  
• The investigation was one of several criminal procedures against the former president launched following his loss in the 2022 presidential election to socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted on spurious charges of attempting to stage a coup following Lula’s election, linking Bolsonaro to a riot that occurred in Brasilia in January 2023 when the ex-president was in the United States.
  Jair Bolsonaro Gets Court Win: Pandemic-Era ‘Genocide’ Charges Shelved
  
• The British government is reconsidering the transfer, which would have seen Britain cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while paying large sums of money to continue leasing Diego Garcia, which hosts the military base.
  UK Pauses Diego Garcia Deal After Trump Intervention, But Blocks U.S. From Using Base Against Iran.
  
• Fred Fleitz: Trump reduced the North Korean threat through pressure and diplomacy. Biden’s passivity reversed those gains, deepened hostile alliances, and left a more volatile nuclear standoff.
  Solving the North Korea Mess That Biden Left Trump
  
• Under the agreement, Southeast Asia’s largest economy will eliminate tariffs for 99% of American goods while the U.S. will maintain tariffs on most Indonesian goods at 19%, the White House said. That is the same rate the U.S. has set for Cambodia and Malaysia. Indonesia also agreed to address non-tariff barriers to U.S. goods and to remove restrictions on exports to the U.S. for critical minerals and other industrial commodities, the White House said.
  Indonesia’s president reaches a trade deal with US while in Washington for Trump’s Board of Peace
  
• Merz’s short meeting with Newsom, staged for the press, suggests that Berlin sees a high probability of Newsom becoming the Democrat presidential candidate in 2028. 
  Newsom and Merz in Wonderland

  HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE

• Former head Jim O’Neill has been tapped to lead the National Science Foundation.
  Trump Names NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya as Acting CDC Director
  
• Vinay Prasad, the head of the FDA’s vaccine and biologics division, initially refused to review the vaccine because of an inadequate clinical trial.
  
• The executive order invokes the Defense Production Act to safeguard the domestic production of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides, according to a White House fact sheet. Trump wrote in the order that “ensuring an adequate supply of” both is “crucial to the national security and defense” of the U.S., “including food-supply security, which is essential to protecting the health and safety of Americans.”
  Trump Ignites Political Firestorm With Executive Order Backing Notorious Pesticide

  ACTUAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY

• This is a cool discovery, because it tells us there is much out there hidden in the darkness we will always find difficult if not impossible to detect.
  The dimmest galaxy yet found
  
• I pulled these images from the New Horizons’ archive specifically because I don’t remember ever seeing them publicly released by the science team. More important, they show a surface far more alien than other more well-known New Horizon pictures.
  Pluto’s splotched surface

  FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY

• People who gravitate toward gender ideology are already struggling psychologically. They are offered the false promise that affirmation, hormones, and surgery will heal their distress.
  Trans Ideology KILLS—we have to stop pretending it doesn’t

• "Women and girl’s private spaces will be protected from biological men."
  Battle Over Women’s Bathrooms Delivers A Biological Reality Check
  
• Publicizing the harm of transgender surgery will vilify the procedures and further isolate them.
  Another ‘Detransitioner’ Is Suing Her Pro-Trans Therapist For Malpractice
  
• The EU Parliament has done great harm. This is far more than progressive virtue signaling. We hear warnings of transhumanism.
  EU Parliament Says Men Are Women And Anyone Can Get Pregnant
  
• A new poll confirms growing public skepticism of these practices—even “when deemed medically necessary.”
  Is Gender Medicine Diminishing Trust in Doctors?

  
  CULTURE WARS, NATIONAL SUICIDE

• After all, capitalism is based on competition, risk-taking, and ultimately, rewards to those who produce the most value for others. It produces winners—and losers. Socialism, on the other hand, gives partisan and flawed government officials vast authority over economic decision-making, minimizes head-to-head competition, and eliminates real winners and actual losers (or “disparity in outcomes,” to use one of today’s preferred euphemisms). For the fearful, fragile, and timid—those who seek security, rather than progress—socialism (in theory) provides a ready tonic to all of our anxieties.
  Gen Z’s Embrace Of Socialism Shouldn’t Surprise Anyone (See also the related story Above the Fold - jjs)
  
• Christian Toto: Aging rockers ignore facts for very good reason, and it's not about justice
  Here’s Why U2, Springsteen Joined Anti-ICE ‘Resistance’
  
• Once his lie was exposed, he looked like a fool.
  Colbert Cries Censorship, But The Joke’s On Him

• But the move, first reported by the LA Times, allegedly had nothing to do with the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act. . . “Steven’s move to the East Coast is both long-planned and driven purely by his and Kate Capshaw’s desire to be closer to their New York-based children and grandchildren,” spokeswoman Terry Press said.
  Legendary director Steven Spielberg is latest billionaire to flee California in another blow to state

  HITHER & YON

• Earlier Thursday, Trump chastised former President Barack Obama for saying aliens are “real” in a recent interview. “He gave classified information, he’s not supposed to be doing that,” the president told reporters on Air Force One. “I don’t know if they’re real or not, but I can tell you he gave classified information.”
  Trump to release government UFO and ‘extraterrestrial life’ files: ‘Extremely interesting and important’

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posted by J.J. Sefton at 07:30 AM

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