Israel’s Activist Court
Source: Law & Liberty
by Daniel J Samet
“Yonatan Green’s book shows in exhaustive detail how Israel’s highest court has assumed undue powers and threatens democratic rule.” (02/12/26)
South Africa: Regime will deploy troops to fight illegal mining, gang violence
Source: ABC News
“South Africa’s president said Thursday that the country would send its troops into communities to help police fight the scourge of illegal mining and gang violence in its two provinces with the two biggest cities. According to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, ‘organized crime is now the most immediate threat to our democracy,’ endangering both economic stability and public safety, particularly in Gauteng and the Western Cape. … Authorities in South Africa have long struggled to prevent gangs of miners from entering some of the 6,000 closed or abandoned mines in the gold-rich nation to search for remaining reserves.” (02/12/26)
The Fifth Column, episode 544
Source: The Fifth Column
“The Great American Mustache Ride (w/ John Bolton).” (02/12/26)
https://www.wethefifth.com/p/the-global-mustache-ride-w-john-bolton
The Postliberal Mind Virus
Source: Law & Liberty
by Michael Lucchese
“For several months now, controversy has swirled over Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts and his strange defense of Tucker Carlson against charges of antisemitism. A wave of staffers have resigned from Heritage in protest, as well as a number of high-profile trustees. More interesting than the daily drama of open letters and leaked team meetings, though, is the way the controversy has become a proxy fight for the battle to define the future of the conservative movement. Many of Roberts’s most passionate and vocal supporters come from the so-called ‘postliberal’ camp. … These new ideologues of the right seem far less interested in preserving the particular arrangements and commitments of the American Republic (and the philosophical truths they incarnate) than in promoting some abstract sense of, to use Howting’s term, ‘Western identity.'” (02/12/26)
Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, 02/12/26
Source: Politico
“Targeting Trump’s tariffs.” (02/12/26)
Radical ideology replaces competence at the NYC Health Department
Source: Fox News
by Steve Forbes
“New York City is facing serious public health challenges. Drug overdoses are surging. Mental illness is rampant. Emergency rooms are under strain. Life expectancy in parts of the city has declined. So what are some employees at the New York City Department of Health reportedly studying? The effects of ‘global oppression’ on health. This is not a joke. It is a disturbing example of how ideology has displaced competence in city government — and how taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill. A public health department has a straightforward mission: protect people from disease, respond to health emergencies and ensure basic safety standards. It exists to prevent outbreaks, combat addiction, improve maternal health and keep food and water safe. It is not a political theory workshop.” (02/12/25)
Cuba: Two Mexican Navy ships laden with humanitarian aid dock, as US blockade sparks energy crisis
Source: SFGate
“Two Mexican Navy ships laden with humanitarian aid docked in Cuba on Thursday as a U.S. blockade deepens the island’s energy crisis. The ships arrived two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country selling or providing oil to Cuba, prompting the island to ration energy in recent days. The Mexican government said that one ship carried some 536 tons of food including milk, rice, beans, sardines, meat products, cookies, canned tuna, and vegetable oil, as well as personal hygiene items. The second ship carried just over 277 tons of powdered milk. Yohandri Espinosa, a 34-year-old engineer, observed the ships arrive with his daughter and took pictures. ‘This is incredibly important aid for the Cuban people at this moment,’ he said. ‘We are living through difficult times of great need and uncertainty, and we don’t know how long we will be like this.'” (02/12/25)
The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 02/12/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Threat to Rig 2026 Grows with Damning Report on FBI Georgia Raid.” (02/12/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/206502/trump-threat-rig-2026-grows-damning-report-fbi-georgia-raid
A genius for friendship
Source: Power Line
by Scott Johnson
“Abraham Lincoln stands not only as America’s greatest president but also as its greatest lawyer. At the time of his election to the presidency in 1860 he was the most prominent practicing lawyer in the state of Illinois. As a politician and as president, Lincoln was a profound student of the Constitution and constitutional history. Perhaps most important, Lincoln was America’s indispensable teacher of the moral ground of political freedom at the exact moment when the country was on the threshold of abandoning what he called its ‘ancient faith’ that all men are created equal. How can it be that lawyers know so little of the giant of their profession?” (02/12/26)
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/02/a-genius-for-friendship-12.php
1953 Redux — Neocons Want To Saddle Iran With the Son of the Persian Stalin
Source: Antiwar.com
by Charles Goyette
“It’s getting a little old at this point, but as the Deep State log rolls for another U.S. attack on Iran, it is promoting a new Iranian national savior, one with a familiar name. Here’s a graphic seen on X, much like others showing up on social media, championing Reza Pahlavi as ‘the legitimate national leader of Iran.’ Because Pahlavi calls for more U.S. intervention in Iran including airstrikes, his champions are a midnight choir of failed voices from prior regime change calamities: Richard Perle, Michael Ledeen, James Woolsey. He is featured frequently in the warmongering of the Empire’s lapdog press, in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and on Fox News. Pahlavi’s only claim to legitimacy is that he is the son of the late-Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who was driven from Iran in the 1979 revolution.” (02/12/26)