Source: The Hill
by Rosemary Kelanic
“Once again, President Trump is steering the U.S. toward a perilous and unnecessary confrontation with Iran. In January, Trump threatened to topple the Iranian regime for violently crushing protests. Now, as U.S. forces amass in the Middle East, his rationale for pressuring Iran has shifted. Trump is demanding new concessions from the regime, including caps on Iran’s missile program and the total removal of enriched uranium from the country. He is also threatening consequences ‘far worse’ than last June’s Operation Midnight Hammer. The president’s ultimate goals in the region remain unclear, as are the military measures he might adopt, which could include airstrikes, a naval blockade, or even regime change. The risks of escalation are grave, with each side poised to misjudge the other’s determination.” (02/12/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/5734208-trump-iran-conflict-escalation/
Source: The Anarchist Experience
“Rich, Lori, and Riley discuss the open secret of racism during the SuperBowl halftime show, does saying bigoted things make you a bigot, who should prevent trans people from transitioning and when should they do it, how much freedom should children really have.” (02/12/26)
https://theanarchistexperience.wordpress.com/2026/02/13/the-anarchist-experience-567/
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“In my earlier post I observed that the organizational costs of hierarchical coordination become larger as the size of the firm, the number of people being coordinated, increased. It occurred to me when I was writing it that there was also a pattern to the transaction costs of market coordination, that they decreased as the size of the market, the number of alternative sellers or buyers of the good being produced, increases. I did not have my thoughts on that subject well enough worked out at that point to include them in the post, hence this postscript.” (02/12/26)
https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/postscript-to-coase
Source: KMSP 9 News
“Gov. Tim Walz says he’s cautiously optimistic about the Trump administration announcing an end to the ICE [gang occupation of] Minnesota but is demanding the federal government take accountability for what happened during the surge, including ‘the incredible and immense costs.’ President Trump’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, announced Thursday morning that the surge would end. [Gang members] have already started leaving the state, but the drawdown will continue through next week. Homan cited several factors in ending the drawdown but primarily continued cooperation with local authorities. … Walz says the first thing he is focused on is economic recovery from the [occupation]. The topic of Thursday’s press conference was originally a budget proposal to help businesses impacted by the ICE [rioting]. Along with that proposal, Gov. Walz is pushing federal leaders to pay for ‘what they broke.'” (02/12/26)
https://www.fox9.com/news/end-ice-surge-gov-walz-says-feds-need-pay-what-broke-here
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“China’s Punishment of Jimmy Lai.” (02/12/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaR6JjdThm0
Source: Newsweek
“A highly classified whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stems from an intercepted conversation between two foreign nationals that referenced President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner and, in part, Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. The intercept, collected by a foreign intelligence service and shared with the United States, became a flashpoint inside the intelligence community after questions arose over how widely the report was distributed. The whistleblower alleged that Gabbard limited access to the intelligence and delayed broader dissemination within spy agencies and to Congress. … News of the complaint and its apparent stagnant status due to national security concerns raised further concerns that Gabbard had been blocking a thorough investigation into whatever claims were in the document.” (02/12/26)
https://www.newsweek.com/kushner-iran-intercept-gabbard-whistleblower-complaint-reports-11515873
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“Every aggressor would prefer that the other side yields everything without a fight, so it doesn’t mean anything when the president says that a deal is his ‘preference.’ No doubt he would also prefer that Denmark hands over Greenland without any resistance. Trump’s preference, as always, is for the domination and the humiliation of other nations. That is why his ‘good deal’ is a laundry list of things Iran will never accept. It is no accident that his diplomatic track record is extremely poor. Other governments have no interest in accepting Trump’s demands for their surrender. The president’s insistence on a ‘good deal’ is bad news for the U.S. and Iran.” (02/12/26)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-good-deal-lie
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Agency, AI, and the MAGA Impulse | Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov.” (02/12/26)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/69297
Source: United Press International
“Sales of existing homes greatly declined in January despite mortgage rates coming down, a report from the National Association of Realtors released Thursday says. Existing home sales, sales of homes that were previously owned and occupied, fell 8.4% in January on a seasonally adjusted annual rate. Sales were 4.4% lower than January 2025. The median sales price of existing homes was $396,800 for all housing types, nearly a 1% increase over a year ago.” (02/12/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/02/12/existing-home-sales-decline-january-2026/8131770930457/
Source: Independent Political Report
“Edward H. ‘Ed’ Crane III, co-founder and president emeritus of the libertarian Cato Institute and a former chair of the Libertarian National Committee, died Tuesday, February 10, 2026. He was 81. The Cato Institute announced Crane’s passing this week. Born in Los Angeles, California, on August 15, 1944, Crane played a significant role in both the institutional development of the modern libertarian movement and the growth of Cato into one of the country’s most prominent libertarian public policy think tanks. … As a member of the Libertarian Party, Crane was active from its earliest years.” (02/12/26)
https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2026/02/cato-co-founder-former-lnc-chair-ed-crane-dies-at-81/
