“The militarization of American cities by ICE is being addressed, or not addressed, around constitutional, moral, and practical questions familiar to Americans from sixty years of debates over ‘law and order.’ Does ICE’s deployment follow the law? What kind of deference is law enforcement due? Is the force deployed by ICE proportional to the threat? And, in general, is it appropriate to oppose the fact that a duly-elected president who was put into office on a promise of deporting illegal immigrants is actually fulfilling that promise? All of these are worthy questions on which reasonable people can disagree. But they are not the most relevant questions, and their relative irrelevance is why they have been embraced so enthusiastically by both political parties and their corporate media outlets.” (02/18/26)
“Thanks to Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Nick Fuentes, there has been a Vesuvian eruption of antisemitism on the American right. Fierce controversy has ensued in and around Trump world over how to address it — and how to deal with the swelling segment of MAGA supporters, especially younger people, who go in for it. Especially fascinating is the MAGA subset1 of self-professed ‘national conservatives,’ not least because their impresario, Yoram Hazony, is himself Jewish. Crosswinds have been blowing him hither and thither. The trouble is that some of the closest allies of his aborning ideology of national conservatism have become America’s most prominent antisemitic voices.” (02/18/26)
“Cameo, the platform where celebrities sell short, personalized videos, has scored a preliminary win in a trademark lawsuit against OpenAI. A California judge has ruled that the AI company’s video generation tool Sora cannot use the term ‘cameo’ or any variation likely to cause confusion. A temporary restraining order in the case was originally granted in November of last year. The suit was first brought in response to a feature available within the Sora app at launch called ‘Cameo’ that allowed users to add any likeness to videos they generated. Cameo claimed the use of the term in this setting was likely to cause confusion and could dilute their brand. OpenAI then carried on with the feature despite the suit.” (02/18/26)
Source: The American Conservative
by Dr. Anton Friesen
“After the end of the war in Ukraine, what would be the nature of a European order that included Russia instead of marginalizing it? What is the future for Europe in an increasingly multipolar world? How should such a European order be institutionalized so that peace, freedom, democracy, and effectiveness are ensured and Europe’s own identity is protected? These are questions that cannot wait to be asked until the guns finally fall silent in Ukraine. In the present context, these questions can only be outlined sketchily in the space of a few pages. Nevertheless, it is worth trying to find an alternative for Europe.” (02/18/26)
“On the day after Trump’s efforts to censor Stephen Colbert blew up in his face, I have fresh reporting on why Netflix is not likely to be successful in taking over Warner Bros. Discovery, which opens the door to Paramount-SkyDance owning Warner. That would mean that Trump, Bari Weiss, and company would control not just CBS News but CNN, HBO, and other properties, and Trump would increase his stranglehold over old media. So let’s first talk about the cowardice of CBS executives.” (02/17/26)
“Les Wexner’s long-time friendship with Jeffrey Epstein will be the subject of a closed-door congressional deposition in Ohio on Wednesday, where the billionaire retail magnate is expected to face questions about new revelations contained in the latest release of Justice Department documents related to the late sexual predator. Wexner, 88, the retired founder of L Brands, has said he plans to cooperate with a subpoena from Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. As one of Epstein’s most prominent former friends, Wexner has already spent years answering for their decades-long association. In court documents, prominent Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre claimed that Wexner was one of the men Epstein trafficked her to.” (02/17/26)
“When Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, last week announced that ICE’s ‘surge’ in Minnesota would wind down, it marked a significant victory for the thousands of Minnesotans who have fought back against the federal forces terrorizing their state; resistance forced the Trump regime to change its plans. But nothing is ramping down when it comes to the deportation machine at large. When billions of dollars are spent to turn industrial spaces into detention camps, authoritarian desires meet market logic: The warehouses must be filled. Local communities are nonetheless pushing back, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable federal forces with unlimited funding, abetted by powerful private interests who stand to gain from this carceral build-out.” (02/17/26)
