“Washington’s moral pronouncements about combating drug trafficking collapse when confronted with geopolitical convenience. The officials America partners with to wage the War on Drugs are often the very people facilitating the traffic. The prosecutions come only after these allies cease to be useful, and sometimes not even then.” (02/09/26)
“Tanzania’s opposition leader charged with treason appeared in court for the first time in months on Monday, but the hearing was adjourned yet again after he opposed the prosecution’s plan to have secret witnesses appear in a special enclosed cell. Opposition leader Tundu Lissu has been in prison for 10 months after he was arrested following an opposition rally in which he called for constitutional and electoral law reforms before last year’s disputed election. Lissu, who is representing himself in the case, said the punishment for treason is death and that secret witnesses in enclosed cells pose a huge risk and are likely to result in an unjust outcome for the case.” (02/09/26)
“Numerical targets predictably distort enforcement priorities, ignoring local knowledge, undermining both public safety and economic stability.” (02/09/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Laurence M Vance
“The federal government is so large and spends so much money that it is almost impossible to know or keep track of how many departments, agencies, bureaus, corporations, commissions, administrations, authorities, and boards it actually has; how many Americans actually work for the federal government; and how much money the federal government actually spends.” (02/09/26)
“The Trump administration is seeking to overturn former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress conviction. In filings to the district court and Supreme Court, the Justice Department said the government has determined ‘that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice.’ The filings did not elaborate further. Bannon defied a congressional subpoena demanding he testify about the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. President Donald Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bannon and others as political, including the approximately 1,600 people he pardoned for charges related to the attack. A dismissal of Bannon’s case would avoid the need for Trump to pardon him, too. At the end of his first term as president, Trump pardoned Bannon as he was awaiting trial in Manhattan for a different case: fraud charges tied to a border wall fundraising effort.” (02/09/26)
“An anarchist group claimed responsibility on Monday for sabotaging rail infrastructure in northern Italy on Saturday and disrupting train traffic on the first full day of the Winter Olympic Games. Police reported three separate episodes at different locations early on Saturday which caused delays of up to 2-1/2 hours for high-speed and regional services, particularly around the city of Bologna. No one was injured and no trains were damaged. In a statement circulated online, an anarchist group said a progressive crackdown on demonstrations by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had made confrontation on the streets ‘ineffective’ and meant they had to find other forms of protest.” (02/09/26)
“A couple of years ago, in my book, A Heretic’s Manifesto, I envisioned a situation where Iran’s female warriors against theocracy might one day come to the West only to find themselves branded ‘Islamophobic.’ In my dystopic foretelling, these valiant hijab-burners would be accused by the pious pricks of the woke of such blasphemous sins as ‘hijabophobia’ – a real word, meaning ‘hostility to the hijab.’ They might look to the West for refuge and wind up not being celebrated but being shouted down, charged with the thoughtcrime of Islamophobia. Well, now it’s happened.” 902/09/26)
“Air Canada says it is suspending service to Cuba effective Monday as the Caribbean island’s major airport warns it will run out of jet fuel. Over the following days, the airline will fly empty planes to pick up approximately 3,000 customers already in Cuba and return them home, Air Canada said Monday in a statement. … In an official notice called a NOTAM posted to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) website Sunday, Havana’s José Martí International Airport warns ‘Jet A1 fuel not available’ as of Tuesday, with the warning running until March 11.” (02/09/26)
