Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 02/16/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Preparing for Sustained War on Iran, US Bombs Syria, Somalia, Boat in Caribbean, and More.” (02/16/26)
Suing the federal government is ridiculously hard. It shouldn’t be that way.
Source: Orange County Register
by Agustina Vergara Cid
“Looking at the history of the U.S. founding and how this country originated by defying overbearing authority, one would think that suing the government for rights violations would be rather straightforward. It is not. Instead, it’s a Kafkaesque nightmare that often leaves Americans unprotected and with untold damage left unrepaired in the face of government force. As the Trump administration continues with its mass deportations (a program that has swept up U.S. citizens as well), Americans are made to confront the harsh reality of our legal system: Suing the government is incredibly hard, and government actors wielding force inappropriately against individuals often go unpunished. This shouldn’t happen in America of all places.” (02/15/26)
Tiny Triumphs
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Sites online have posts about the genius trick that … . Mostly they aren’t genius, a label much misused, but that started me thinking about small changes in what you do that are clear improvements, typically when you realize that what you were doing was stupid.” (02/15/26)
Abduction of Mexican mine workers raises doubts over touted security improvements
Source: SFGate
“Deep in the coastal mountains above the sparkling Pacific resort of Mazatlan, towns spaced along a twisting road appear nearly deserted, the quiet broken only by the occasional passing truck. It was near one of these towns, Panuco, that 10 employees of a Canadian-owned silver and gold mine were abducted in late January. The bodies of five were located nearby and five more await identification. Most residents of these towns have fled out of fear as two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel have been locked in battle since September 2024, said Fermín Labrador, a 68-year-old from the nearby village of Chirimoyos. Others, he said, were ‘invited’ to leave. The abduction of the mine workers under still unclear circumstances has raised fears locally and more widely generated questions about the security improvements touted by President Claudia Sheinbaum.” (02/16/26)
Hideki Sato, 1950-2026
Source: PC Gamer
“As reported by VGC and Japanese gaming outlet Beep21, Sega console designer Hideki Sato has died. The engineer and former Sega president was 77. Sato’s career with Sega began in the 1970s — SegaRetro.org lists his earliest projects as the arcade games MonacoGP, Turbo, and Star Jacker. Sato’s most notable contribution to gaming history, however, would be leading the engineering teams behind every Sega home console from 1983 to the company’s exit from the hardware business in 2001.” (02/15/26)
How to Fix It with John Avlon
Source: The Bulwark
“David Frum: The GOP Didn’t Drift Into Trumpism — It Chose It.” (02/15/26)
Trump’s tariff tantrums show he’s losing his grip on the GOP
Source: USA Today
by Chris Brennan
“Donald Trump’s second term as president is mired by two different anxieties, and he has put them on a collision course. Trump openly fears the Republican Party losing control of the U.S. House in November’s midterm elections, and now his free-falling approval ratings could also put control of the U.S. Senate in play as well. Democratic control means serious oversight for a president who seriously needs oversight. Impeachment could be on the table, too. But Trump also shows great concern about losing control of the Republican Party in Congress. He tosses telling tantrums whenever Republicans in either chamber dare to act like a coequal branch of government rather than subservient sycophants, like his party’s leaders in the House and Senate.” (02/15/26)
Real Talk About Lobbyists Buying the Justice Department
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“I released a story last Thursday about MAGA lobbyists pushing the Justice Department to settle its monopolization case against Ticketmaster. By the middle of that day, Gail Slater, who was the head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, resigned, and it was clear that her choice was either to resign or be fired. A lot of reporting about this situation dropped almost immediately after the resignation (CBS, The Guardian, The Free Press, the Financial Times) regarding tensions between Slater and Attorney General Pam Bondi, internal insubordination, whether Vice President JD Vance would act as a shield for his former staffer Slater, what this means for the populist right, and more. As you might expect, I’m not wired into the inner workings of the Trump White House enough to generate one of these palace intrigue articles. But I don’t think they have as much value as the basic facts.” (02/16/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/02/16/justice-department-lobbyists-gail-slater-pam-bondi/
Ukraine: Former energy minister charged with corruption after attempt to flee
Source: Politico
“Ukraine’s state anti-corruption agencies on Monday charged former Energy Minister German Galushchenko with money laundering and taking part in a criminal organization, a day after he was arrested at the Ukrainian border during an attempt to flee the country. The crackdown is part of the ongoing Operation Midas, which is investigating the $100 million corruption plot in Ukraine’s state nuclear energy sector that rocked the inner circle of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last year. According to the National Anti-Сorruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), Galushchenko and his family members became investors in a fictitious investment fund, created to launder the $100 million siphoned out of Ukrainian state nuclear energy company Energoatom.” (02/16/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-energy-minister-german-galushchenko-nuclear-corruption
Fountainhead Forum, episode 425
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Alec Egizi on working family-court and juvenile-court cases.” (02/15/26)
https://rumble.com/v75ryss-ff-425-alec-egizi-on-working-family-court-and-juvenile-court-cases.html?