The David Frum Show, 02/18/26
Source: The Atlantic
“The End of Reagan-Era Republicanism.” (02/18/26)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/02/david-frum-show-mona-charen-conservatism/686036/
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
System Update, 02/18/26
Source: System Update
“Lindsey Graham’s Extreme Devotion to Israel on Full Display.” (02/18/26)
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/lindsey-grahams-extreme-devotion
Trump should step back from the brink with Iran
Source: Orange County Register
by Alexander Langlois
“One can be excused for wondering why the Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently beaten accusations of near-death since its inception in 1979. The regime in Tehran has held onto power through successive internal and external crises regardless of doomsday prophesizing in Washington or Tel Aviv. As the Iranian government faces one of the most difficult moments in its brief existence – both internally and externally — the question now, as the US sends a second aircraft carrier to the region is will this time be different?” (02/18/26)
UK: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office
Source: The Hill
“U.K. police arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Thames Valley Police, an agency that covers areas west of London, including Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home, said it was ‘assessing’ reports that the former Prince Andrew sent trade reports to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2010. The assessment followed the release of millions of pages of documents connected to a U.S. investigation of Epstein. Mountbatten-Windsor features a number of times in the documents. The police force did not name Mountbatten-Windsor, as is normal under U.K. law. But when asked if he had been arrested, the force pointed to a statement saying that they had arrested a man in his 60s. Mountbatten-Windsor is 66.” (02/19/26)
https://thehill.com/policy/international/andrew-mountbatten-windsor-arrested-jeffrey-epstein
Freedom Works with Paul Molloy, 02/18/26
Source: Freedom Works
“Jeremy Nighohossian, Competitive Enterprise Institute ‘FDA’s Flawed Moderna Decision.'” (02/18/26)
https://internetradiopros.com/freedomworks/?name=2026-02-19_zfw002182026.mp3
The Science of Politics, 02/18/26
Source: Niskanen Center
“Legislators are raising money instead of making policy.” (02/18/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/legislators-are-raising-money-instead-of-making-policy
Was It a Coincidental Traffic Stop or AI-Powered Surveillance?
Source: Reason
by Mattha Busby
“Seth Ferranti was driving his Ford pickup on a southeastern Nebraska stretch of the interstate in November 2024 when law enforcement pulled him over, claiming that he had wobbled onto the hard shoulder. As the Seward County sheriff’s deputies questioned Ferranti, a filmmaker who had spent 21 years in prison for distributing LSD, they allegedly smelled cannabis. Declaring this probable cause for a search, they searched the vehicle and discovered more than 400 pounds of marijuana. But were those the actual reasons for the stop and search? When Ferranti went on trial, his attorneys presented a license plate reader report produced by the security communications company Motorola Solutions. It revealed Ferranti had been consistently monitored prior to his arrest, including by the local sheriff on the day he was apprehended.” (02/18/26)
https://reason.com/2026/02/18/was-it-a-coincidental-traffic-stop-or-ai-powered-surveillance/
“No taxation without representation” must be non-negotiable
Source: spiked
by Ann Strickland
“Around this time last week, I was standing in the pouring rain in West Sussex, handing out leaflets to defend something that should never have needed defending: the right of local residents to vote. The TaxPayers’ Alliance had been out across the county campaigning against the Labour government’s plan to cancel elections in 30 local authorities across England. … taxpayers should never have had to rely on opposition parties, newspapers and campaign groups to defend the most basic principles of democracy. Holding regular elections should be the bare minimum we expect of the people in charge.” (02/18/26)
South Korea: Yoon sentenced to life for martial law attempt
Source: CBS News
“Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison for his brief imposition of martial law in a dramatic culmination to the country’s biggest political crisis in decades. Yoon fell from office after an ill-advised attempt to overcome an opposition-controlled legislature by declaring martial law and sending troops to surround the legislature on Dec. 3, 2024. Judge Jee Kui-youn said he found Yoon guilty of rebellion for mobilizing military and police forces in an illegal attempt to seize the liberal-led National Assembly, arrest politicians and establish unchecked power for a ‘considerable’ time. Yoon is likely to appeal the verdict.” (02/19/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/yoon-life-sentence-martial-law-former-south-korea-president/
Blaming Buildings for Sex Trafficking
Source: Reason
by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
“Can a building be a sex trafficker? Some lawyers seem to be hoping so. Apartment buildings, nightclubs, and hotels have been coming under fire for facilitating interactions that some say should have been tip-offs to sex trafficking or sexual violence taking place. Victims in these lawsuits describe some heinous actions by their alleged abusers. I’m not trying to minimize any such harm or suggest actual perpetrators of violence shouldn’t be punished. But in the push to hold more entities legally accountable for alleged sex crimes against women, these suits are setting up a system in which women are increasingly watched and their sex lives increasingly subject to questioning. The end result here isn’t likely to be a world in which women are safer but one in which they’re more surveilled.” (02/18/26)
https://reason.com/2026/02/18/blaming-buildings-for-sex-trafficking/