“New Mexico lawmakers launched an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s former Zorro Ranch Tuesday over allegations the late convicted sex offender trafficked and sexually abused girls and women at the nearly 10,000-acre property outside Santa Fe. It’s ‘critical’ that the first full investigation into what happened at the ranch provides a platform to ‘uncover the truth’ about what happened there and for survivors to see justice, state Rep. Andrea Romero (D) tells Axios. … A goal of the committee will be to gather information that could be used in a court of law, according to Romero. Romero noted that the statute of limitations may have passed in some instances related to the case, but said state lawmakers were already looking at changing legislation in regards to this ‘to help survivors see justice.'” (02/17/26)
“Washington sent warships this month to deploy ‘gunboat diplomacy’ while the island nation continues its freefall of violence and corruption.” (02/17/26)
“While inflation ranges may offer technical advantages, they risk blurring accountability and weakening confidence in the Federal Reserve when clarity is most needed.” (02/17/26)
“In many ways the Trump administration’s hostility to vaccines is similar to its hostility to clean energy, which I wrote about yesterday. Both policy swerves will kill Americans. If Trumpists succeed in forcing the U.S. to burn more coal, thousands will die from air pollution. Only a year into the Trump 47 administration, there is already a resurgence in almost conquered diseases due to the anti-vax MAGA crusade. Both these sudden policy serves are economically destructive: A 2024 report from the Centers for Disease Control estimated that each dollar spent on childhood vaccination has saved around $11 in societal costs. Moreover, the Trumpists aren’t content with just cutting off federal funding — they’re determined to stop anyone else from doing the right thing.” (02/17/26)
“We don’t usually comment on day-to-day price developments as a) our interpretation of events may well be wrong, and b) by the time we’ve shared them with readers, the markets have moved on in any case. But the magnitude of the moves in the prices of gold and silver on 30th January warrant some further analysis. The financial media were quick to report, firstly, the apparent end to the precious metals ‘bubble’ and, secondly, to blame the new nominee for Fed chairman, Kevin Warsh, for its climactic explosion. Well, as the noted law enforcer ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan once opined, opinions are like assholes — everybody’s got one.” (02/17/26)
