Source: The American Conservative
by Andrew Day
“No one really knows what goes on inside the mind of President Donald Trump. But judging by the significant, ongoing U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, one can make an informed guess: He thinks a big war with Iran is a good idea. If that’s the case, he’s wrong — dangerously so — and he needs a dose of realism. This administration already claims to be guided by a ‘flexible realism’ in foreign policy. But no variant of realism, however flexible, recommends a U.S. war on the Islamic Republic at this juncture.” (02/20/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/war-on-iran-is-the-opposite-of-realism/
Source: SFGate
“There are a few ways to get out of jury duty. Maybe you have a job you can’t leave, or caregiving responsibilities, or a prohibitively long commute. Or, in the case of an upcoming California trial, you could be one of the many people who despise Elon Musk. On Thursday, federal judge Charles Breyer slashed more than a third of a 93-person jury pool over their biases about the billionaire, according to multiple reports from the San Francisco courtroom. The civil trial is over Musk’s behavior during his 2022 purchase of Twitter. The investor plaintiffs allege that he violated securities law by omitting information from filings and making false statements to drive down the company’s stock price; Musk denies wrongdoing. All told, selection for the nine-person jury took about five hours.” (02/20/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/sf-jury-elon-musk-21369850.php
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Ramblings on Epstein Take Revealing Turn as MAGA Fury Boils Over.” (02/20/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/206819/trump-ramblings-epstein-take-revealing-turn-maga-fury-boils
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Price controls and regulatory burdens make the market unattractive for pharmaceutical companies.” (02/20/26)
https://reason.com/2026/02/20/canadas-government-dominated-healthcare-chokes-access-to-new-drugs/
Source: US News & World Report
“A federal judge rejected Tesla’s request to overturn a $243 million jury verdict over the 2019 crash of an Autopilot-equipped Model S, which killed a 22-year-old woman and severely injured her boyfriend. In a decision made public on Friday, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami said the evidence at trial ‘more than supports’ the August 2025 verdict, and Tesla raised no new arguments to set the verdict aside. Tesla, led by Elon Musk, is expected to appeal. Neither Tesla nor its lawyers immediately responded to requests for comment.” (02/20/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2026-02-20/us-judge-upholds-243-million-verdict-against-tesla-over-fatal-autopilot-crash
Source: Politico
“Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on what it’ll take to end the war.” (02/20/26)
https://traffic.megaphone.fm/POLL3481323202.mp3
Source: The Dispatch
“The FCC’s Fight with Stephen Colbert.” (02/20/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/dispatch-podcast/the-fccs-fight-with-stephen-colbert/
Source: Antiwar.com
“Trump Threatens Iran War at First ‘Board of Peace’ Meeting, US To Build Major Base in Gaza, and More.” (02/20/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkDKs0wpefQ
Source: The Chris Hedges Report
by Chris Hedges
“An aerial attack on Iran will not be like the 12-day assault last June against Iran’s nuclear facilities and state and security facilities. Then Iran calibrated its response with symbolic strikes on Al Udeid air base in Qatar in the hopes that it would not lead to a wider, protracted conflict. If an aerial assault is launched, Iran will have nothing to lose. It will understand that appeasing its adversaries is impossible. Iran is not Iraq. Iran is not Afghanistan. Iran is not Lebanon. Iran is not Libya. Iran is not Syria. Iran is not Yemen. Iran is the seventeenth largest country in the world, with a land mass equivalent to the size of Western Europe. It has a population of almost 90 million — 10 times greater than Israel — and its military resources, as well as alliances with China and Russia, make it a formidable opponent.” (02/20/26)
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-suicidal-folly-of-a-war-with
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Matt K Lewis
“While President Trump is busy working through his checklist for sabotaging the midterm elections, Republicans are already concocting the political equivalent of a shady insurance policy …. I’ll save you some time and explain that the drubbing Republicans are about to endure won’t be the result of Trump or his policies. Instead, it will be because the midterm elections were rigged for the Democrats. Or at least these claims are the GOP spin that’s already in progress. The predicate is being laid. … To prevent this, Republicans have invented a MacGuffin: the SAVE America Act — a plot device Republicans have introduced primarily to drive the story forward. That’s not to say the legislation would be meaningless. … But in light of recent events — say, Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results — any effort by Trump to nationalize or otherwise meddle in our election process should be met with immediate alarm.” (02/20/26)
https://archive.is/dSSN1
