Source: WESH 2 News
“Native American activist Leonard Peltier was released from a Florida prison on Tuesday, weeks after then-President Joe Biden angered law enforcement officials by commuting his life sentence in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents. For nearly half a century, Peltier’s imprisonment has symbolized systemic injustice for Native Americans across the country who believe in his innocence. The decision to release the 80-year-old to home confinement was celebrated by supporters. … After being released from USP Coleman, a high-security prison, Peltier planned to return to North Dakota, where he is expected to celebrate with friends and family on Wednesday.” (02/18/25)
https://www.wesh.com/article/indigenous-activist-leonard-peltier-released-florida-prison/63828731
Source: Students For Liberty
by Deirdre Nansen McCloskey
“Economics is easy. Thinking like an economist can be reduced to easy and even obvious principles. Consider two of them: (1.) Much of what we want is scarce. Having one such thing means giving up another. … (2.) Every act in society has two sides, at least.” (02/18/25)
https://studentsforliberty.org/blog/talking-economics/
Source: USA Today
“In the first major negotiations for a ceasefire in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion nearly three years ago, U.S. officials and their Russian counterparts met in Saudi Arabia after refusing to include Ukraine or other European countries in the talks. As the gathering wrapped on Tuesday, it was still unclear on what terms the bloody conflict could stop. And Ukraine and its European allies questioned whether a deal guaranteeing lasting security could be reached at all without the invaded country’s input. The meeting represented the first thaw in U.S.-Russia relations in years, even amid accusations that the U.S. was making concessions to Russia by holding direct talks in the first place. The negotiations covered security guarantees and territory, according to the U.S. delegation.” (02/18/25)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2025/02/18/us-russia-wrap-first-ukraine-negotiations/79067276007/
Source: Persuasion
by Jacob Mchangama
“Last week, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance shocked an A-list group of European political and military leaders at the Munich Security Conference in Germany with a blunt message: Europe has gone too far in restricting speech. … At a time when global free speech protections are eroding, Vance’s critique of Europe could have been a powerful call for realignment between the United States and Europe on advancing free expression. But America’s credibility as a defender of free speech is being undercut by the very government Vance represents. If he and the Trump administration are serious about championing free expression worldwide, they must recognize that the problem isn’t just in Europe — it’s at home, too.” (02/18/25)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/europe-has-a-free-speech-problem
Source: The New Republic
by Indigo Olivier
“Imagine a trillion-dollar publicly-traded company that was regularly in the news for corruption scandals, couldn’t account for a majority of its assets, and has never passed an audit. Shareholders would demand resignations. The SEC would launch investigations. Executives would be forced to resign. Yet, when it comes to the Pentagon, the largest line item in the federal discretionary budget, this persistent level of dysfunction has largely been met with indifference. … If the Trump administration is really serious about reducing wasteful spending, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency would have spent the last month at the Pentagon, not the U.S. Agency for International Development.” [editor’s note: Does someone want to tell this “pundit?” The DOD audit is still to come; “You said” was just the lowest hanging fruit. – SAT] additional editor’s note: Does someone want to tell SAT that the word “gullible” is written on the ceiling? – TLK] (02/18/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/191611/doge-targeting-wrong-agencies
Source: Politico
“The European Union is considering backing investments in overseas fossil fuel infrastructure and shifting to long-term contracts to cut the high energy prices damaging European industries, according to a leaked proposal seen by POLITICO. The move would mark a major change in the bloc’s energy policies, strengthening the continent’s links to the carbon-intensive liquefied natural gas it eventually wants to phase out. Currently, the EU only signs short-term LNG contracts and has worked to limit the use of public money to expand fossil fuel extraction. Notably, the plan also raises the prospect that European government funds could help finance American LNG projects — just as Brussels officials try to hammer out a deal with United States President Donald Trump to buy more American energy and avoid a trade war.” (02/18/25)
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-funding-foreign-lng-projects-lower-prices-draft-plan-commission
Source: The New Republic
“Trump-Musk Threats Darken as Their Anger at Enemies Takes Ominous Turn.” (02/18/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/191598/trump-musk-threats-darken-anger-enemies-takes-ominous-turn
Source: Reason
by Dan Alban & Elyse Smith Pohl
“Online shoppers can bid on a sleek black Camaro, a commercial fishing boat, silver coins, and other items at a first-of-its-kind government auction today. However, the news release announcing the event from Hawaii’s Department of the Attorney General does not tell the full story. The state is vague about where it got these items to be auctioned. Public records show the government took nine of the 15 vehicles available from people who were never convicted. Overall, only seven of the 26 people named in these cases were convicted of any crimes. Much or perhaps all of this property comes from civil forfeiture—a moneymaking scheme that allows the government to take and permanently keep cash, cars, and other valuables that are suspected to be connected with criminal activity without having to prove wrongdoing in criminal court.” (02/18/25)
https://reason.com/2025/02/18/hawaii-can-auction-off-your-car-without-ever-convicting-you/
Source: Liberal Currents
by Adam Gurri
“There is no question that Eric Adams is corrupt. In September, he was accused of, among other things, receiving unreported benefits from business people and a government official from Turkey, applying pressure to FDNY to skip a fire inspection on his patrons’ behalf, and defrauding the city of New York out of $10 million in public campaign fund subsidies. The top members of his administration clearly had no faith in either his innocence or that he had covered his tracks particularly well, because the moment they caught wind of an investigation they fled like rats from a sinking ship. … Trump is seeking to leverage the charges to control the executive branch of New York City.” (02/18/25)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/eric-adams-must-go/
Source: TomDispatch
by Joshua Frank
“In early January, Donald Trump Jr.’s private plane landed on a snowy airfield in Greenland. There was little fanfare upon his arrival, but his 14 million social-media fans were certainly tagging along. ‘Greenland coming in hot … well, actually really really cold!!!’ President Trump’s eldest son captioned a video he posted on X. It was shot from the cockpit of the plane, where a ‘Trumpinator’ bobblehead (a figurine of his father as the Terminator) rattled on the aircraft’s dashboard as it descended over icy blue seas. It was a stunt of MAGA proportions. Don Jr. was arriving in Greenland on behalf of his father who, along with his new buddy Elon Musk, had announced a desire to seize that vast Arctic landmass from Denmark through strong will or even, potentially, by force.” (02/18/25)
https://tomdispatch.com/the-heart-or-graphite-of-greed/