“Much of President Donald Trump’s economic policy rests on the idea that the United States doesn’t need global trade in order to prosper. A sizable portion of the rest of the world might be ready to put that sentiment to the test. Canada, Mexico, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and 11 wealthy nations across the Indo-Pacific region are taking the first steps toward a globe-spanning trade deal that would encompass nearly 40 nations and over 1.5 billion people …. Though it is a long way from a done deal, the attempt to link most of the world’s largest non-U.S., non-China economies into a single economic bloc is perhaps the most significant sign that the rest of the world is preparing for a future where America is no longer pushing for open markets and free trade. But it is not the only sign.” (02/17/26)
“You probably use a computer — in fact, you’re probably reading this column on a computer. For 72% of you, that computer is the ubiquitous ‘standard’ Windows PC or laptop. For 20% of you, it’s a Mac. The other 8% of you oddballs mostly use Linux or (Linux-based) ChromeOS. I know the 92% of you who use Windows or macOS get tired of the cool kids telling you this, but it should be the other way around. Almost everyone should be using Linux almost all the time. Instead of leading off with the technical reasons why, though, I want to hit you with the political, and personal financial, reasons for making the switch.” (02/17/26)
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by Scott Baldauf
“It’s not every day that a reporter gets an email from Ben Franklin. In the course of reporting a story on historical reenactors from the American Revolutionary War period, I was in regular email contact with two Ben Franklins, one George Washington, and an 18th-century tavern owner from the British colony of New Hampshire. One of the Bens invited me to read his Substack column. It reads exactly like Ben Franklin would have written it if he did, in fact, live in a society that had capitalized on the newly discovered energy source of electricity, taken a magical carriage ride through the Industrial Age to the computer age, and ditched typeset printing tools for digital publishing. Why would a Monitor reporter do any of this? The answer is right there in the headlines we read (or avoid reading) every day.” (02/17/26)
“The politics of immigration show how positions far outside the center can undermine achievable reforms. Public opinion currently opposes the Trump administration and ICE tactics, but most voters also don’t support dramatic departures from existing immigration laws, such as open borders or blanket protections for all undocumented immigrants. During the year of our last presidential election, polling suggested voters still prefer Republicans to Democrats on immigration. Voters seemed uneasy with the Biden administration’s policies, associated with limits on deportations and reduced interior enforcement.” (02/17/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Gabriel Giguere
“It’s not news to anyone that European governments love to over-regulate. But last year, worried about emerging AI technology, European lawmakers took their regulatory habit even further. In an act of economic self-sabotage, they implemented a ‘regulate first, innovate later’ approach to AI. Instead of waiting for technological innovations to emerge and then responding with appropriate regulation, the European Commission decided it would be the first major regulatory body to pre-empt the innovation and regulate it right away, sight unseen. If it weren’t so misguided, this self-parody would be laughable. In any case, it’s an approach Canada needs to avoid.” (02/17/26)
“Once upon a time, if you had described Donald Trump’s America to me (the second time around), I would have thought you mad as Alice in Wonderland‘s proverbial hatter — or, if you were a fiction writer, I would have considered your plot so ludicrous that, after reading a few pages, I would undoubtedly have tossed your book in the trash. And yet here we are, not once (yes, all of us can make a mistake once, can’t we?) but twice! And the one thing you should take for granted is that Donald Trump in the White House a second time around is the all-too-literal personification of imperial decline. In fact, decline is hardly an adequate word for it. We just don’t happen to have another word or phrase that would describe him and his crew aptly enough in all their eerie strangeness.” (02/17/26)
“The Left [sic] never (never) fails, daily, to produce something perverted, abnormal, violent, irrational, decadent, barbaric, and utterly, completely stupid. Let me share with you three recent examples I ran across: 1.) This first one is Canadian, a country that is farther gone (if that is possible) into leftism than many Americans. This is incredible! … Well, for the Left [sic], no, it’s not. Headline from the National Post: ‘Ontario resident who wants both a vagina and penis wins public funding for unique surgery; A court has ruled Ontario must pay for a penis-sparing vaginoplasty for a person who identifies as neither fully female nor fully male.’ Are there any words, in the tongues of men or angels, that can describe this?” (02/17/26)
“Have you ever wondered why people believe the moon landing was faked, vaccines secretly poison us, and Mercury in retrograde can ruin your love life? Why does irrationality seem so pervasive? A popular answer, beloved by academics and educators alike, points to fallacies — certain types of arguments that are deeply flawed yet oddly seductive. Because people keep falling for these reasoning traps, they end up believing all sorts of crazy stuff. Still, the theory offers hope: if you memorize the classic fallacies — ad hominem, post hoc, straw man — you will inoculate yourself against them. It’s a neat little story, and I used to believe it too. Not anymore. I’ve become a fallacy apostate.” (02/17/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“US empire managers have been making some surprisingly honest admissions in recent days, with Senator Lindsey Graham saying the wars of the future are being planned in Israel and Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for a return to old-school western colonialism. During a Monday press conference in Tel Aviv after a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, Graham said that ‘I’ve been coming here every two weeks whether I need to or not.’ Why is a South Carolina senator traveling to Israel every two weeks, rain or shine? The bloodthirsty warmonger answers this question in short order. ‘The wars of the future are being planned here in Israel,’ Graham said. ‘Because if you’re not one step ahead of the enemy, you suffer. The most clever, creative military forces on the planet are here in Israel.'” (02/17/26)
