“On January 25, 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a U.S. naval ‘quarantine’ of Cuba. ‘If they are hungry,’ the president fumed, ‘they will throw Castro out.’ His ambassador to Cuba, Philip W. Bonsal, chided him with a moral reminder: ‘We should not punish the whole Cuban people for the acts of one abnormal man.’ If it was hard for the U.S. to hear that restraint then, it has become deaf to it now. For over 65 years, U.S. policy has been to employ an embargo to pressure Cuba until the regime collapses. … Despite the decades of economic and personal suffering, the policy has failed. The embargo has brought Cuba misery but not regime change. And yet, in the absence of a more promising plan, the Trump administration seems intent on simply intensifying the current plan. The result will not be regime change but more suffering.” (02/13/26)
“Three Ukrainian brothers, including an eight-year-old, were killed near the eastern front line and a Russian drone attack killed one person and injured six others at one of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports near Odesa, Ukrainian officials said on Friday. … The ports are Ukraine’s key maritime export arteries, crucial for its foreign trade and the survival of its wartime economy. Moscow has stepped up its attacks on both them and Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and Kyiv has targeted Russian oil facilities, as U.S.-led efforts to end the war stall. … The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority did not name the port, saying only that it was one of the three around Odesa and continued to operate despite damage to infrastructure.” (02/13/26)
“Let’s not pretend to be so naive to act like official deceit began on the June 2015 day that Donald Trump descended on that Trump Tower escalator. It was the late 1960s — the era of Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam ‘credibility gap’ — when the investigative journalist I.F. Stone famously wrote, ‘All governments lie.’ I became an opinion journalist because of my disgust over George W. Bush’s lies that drove the Iraq War. That said, the outrageous, Soviet-caliber falsehoods of the Trump regime feel much worse. These are not ‘plausible denial’ fairy tales to push an unpopular policy or cover up some dirty deeds, like Watergate, but a vast empire of Big Lies — easily disprovable, about everything from election results to economic statistics — with a much more ambitious goal of undermining the very notion of objective reality.” (02/12/26)
“Robby Soave delivers radar on Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) demanding answers from Attorney General Pam Bondi and others about Epstein files.” (02/12/26)
“The Department of Homeland Security is all but certain to run out of funding at the end of the day Friday as lawmakers left Capitol Hill Thursday with no deal in sight. Senate Democrats voted unanimously to block a DHS spending bill that was negotiated before the [murder] of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, saying it did not address their demands for reform at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. An effort by Republican Sen. Katie Britt to extend funding for DHS for two weeks to allow time for further negotiations also failed. The Senate has no further votes scheduled for this week and many senators were boarding planes to Germany for the Munich Security Conference. House members also left town. … ICE, however, will largely continue operating because of the $75 billion already approved by Congress in President Donald Trump’s so-called “one big beautiful bill” that was passed last summer.” [editor’s note: Unfortunately, most of DHS will “continue operating” for all practical purposes – TLK] (02/12/26)
“A few presidencies ago, Washington politicians used boundless political and intellectual chicanery to drag America into a ruinous war. Thousands of Americans died and scores of thousands of Iraqis perished due to the official myth of Saddam Hussein as the twentieth hijacker. Last November, Axios published new damning information on the role of Saudi government officials in bankrolling the 9/11 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon. Private lawsuits against the Saudi regime ‘unearthed evidence showing one Saudi official — who acknowledges aiding two men who became hijackers — made a drawing of a plane and a mathematical formula that allegedly could have been used to fly into the World Trade Center.’ That was only the latest stunning revelation in a coverup that will celebrate its twenty-fifth birthday this year.” (02/12/26)
“A federal judge has sided with Sen. Mark Kelly to stop Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from punishing the former Navy captain for advising troops not to follow illegal orders. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, in a Thursday ruling, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Pentagon’s effort to demote the Arizona Democrat’s rank and reduce his retirement pay. ‘This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees,’ Leon wrote. ‘To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government, and our Constitution demands they receive it!’ The decision is the second legal setback this week for the Trump administration’s campaign to punish Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers, who released a video last fall telling military personnel they [must not obey] illegal orders.” (02/12/26)
“The idea of credibility probably looms even larger in foreign policy than in economics. Everyone knows that you can’t trust other countries’ promises of good intentions, right? The reason, supposedly, is that national leaders are tirelessly scheming to advance their national interests — and will happily lie, cheat, and betray rival countries to do so. This, in turn, sustains the international deadlocks that dominate headlines decade after decade.” (02/12/26)
“The death toll from a crackdown over Iran’s nationwide protests last month has reached at least 7,002 people killed with many more still feared dead, activists said Thursday. The rise in the number of dead from the demonstrations adds to the overall tensions facing Iran both inside the country and abroad as it tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear program. A second round of talks remains up in the air as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed his case directly with U.S. President Donald Trump to intensify his demands on Tehran in the negotiations.” (02/12/26)
