The Fifth Column, 02/10/26
Source: The Fifth Column
“One Hitter — Senator Rand Paul is Lonely (Members Only #301).” (02/10/26)
https://www.wethefifth.com/p/one-hitter-senator-rand-paul-is-lonely
War and “Covert Action” Are Not How to Deal With Iran
Source: The American Conservative
by Jakob Brown
“The prospect of President Donald Trump pursuing regime change in Iran has animated the most hawkish voices in the establishment. But American war-weariness has forced the usual suspects to refine the art of apologetics. Rather than calling for ‘boots on the ground’ to liberate the Iranian people, many now argue the same result can be achieved through covert methods. Some assert, without a shred of evidence, that a large-scale strike can topple Tehran’s rulers without American troops ever setting foot in the country. Others avoid the question of what regime change would look like altogether, fearful that Americans will not be pleased with the answer.” (02/11/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/war-and-covert-action-are-not-how-to-deal-with-iran/
Trump: Just Leave Venezuela Alone
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“President Trump and the U.S. national-security establishment had no business invading Venezuela, kidnapping the country’s president, and forcibly carrying him back to the United States to stand trial for supposedly violating U.S. drug laws and U.S. gun-control laws. They also had no business killing Venezuelan citizens and others on the high seas near Venezuela. But what’s done is done. The question is what should Trump, the Pentagon, and the CIA do now? They should leave Venezuela alone.” (02/10/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/02/10/trump-just-leave-venezuela-alone/
US FDA won’t review Moderna application for first mRNA-based flu vaccine
Source: Washington Post
“The Food and Drug Administration has declined to review Moderna’s application for the first mRNA-based flu vaccine, a decision that shocked the company and that comes as the agency plans to tighten federal vaccine approvals. The nation’s top vaccine regulator, Vinay Prasad, told Moderna that it lacked an ‘adequate and well-controlled’ study, the company said in a news release Tuesday. In a large clinical trial, the vaccine was compared with Fluarix, an approved standard-dose flu vaccine. Prasad’s letter did not detail concerns with the safety or efficacy of the vaccine, which Moderna was aiming to target for adults ages 50 and older. Moderna President Stephen Hoge said that the company had previously engaged with the FDA on the trial design and that the agency earlier indicated it would be acceptable.” (02/10/26)
The Editors, 02/10/26
Source: National Review
“Bad Bunny and Bad Maps.” (02/10/26)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/the-editors/bad-bunny-and-bad-maps/
Fountainhead Forum, episode 421
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Mollie Engelhart on how government regulates food to favor lobbyists.” (02/10/26)
Sensitive Places Require Government-Provided Armed Security
Source: Independent Institute
by Stephen P Halbrook
“History teaches that government must provide security if serious about a mandatory ‘gun-free zone.'” [editor’s note: As if government “security” should ever be trusted – TLK] (02/11/26)
Trump’s about to cancel Obama’s most outrageous power grab
Source: New York Post
by Judge Glock
“President Trump is on the brink of ordering a massive policy shakeup — ‘the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States,’ says Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin. When Trump’s EPA orders the end of a 2009 finding that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are a threat to public health, it will halt 16 years of federal efforts to mandate vast changes in American life without legal justification. The so-called Endangerment Finding led to a host of regulations whose estimated costs exceeded a trillion dollars. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Washington. Early in his administration, President Barack Obama tried to get Congress to pass an expansive climate change law. When the bill stalled, Obama charged ahead with executive action. The EPA’s December 2009 Endangerment Finding said greenhouse gases should be regulated under the Clean Air Act.” (02/10/25)
https://nypost.com/2026/02/10/opinion/trumps-about-to-cancel-obamas-most-outrageous-power-grab/
Canada: Ten dead after shooter opens fire at high school in rare massacre
Source: Reuters
“Ten people including the shooter are dead after an assailant opened fire at a high school in western Canada on Tuesday in one of the country’s deadliest mass casualty events in recent history. The attack brought to Canada the type of mass shooting more common in the neighboring United States, and was carried out by a shooter described as female, police said. Six people were found dead inside a high school in the town of Tumbler Ridge, in British Columbia, two more people were found dead at a residence believed to be connected to the incident, and another person died on the way to hospital, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.” (02/11/25)
FL: State employees kill prisoner
Source: United Press International
“Florida has executed a 64-year-old man for the 1989 murder of a traveling salesman, the state’s first execution and the nation’s second of the year. Ronald Heath was administered a three-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke on Tuesday evening and was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. EST, the state’s Department of Corrections said in a statement. Though Heath is Florida’s first execution of 2026, his death follows a record-setting 2025 in which the Sunshine State put 19 death row inmates to death, accounting for 40% of the 47 executions carried out nationwide that year.” (02/11/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/02/11/Florida-executes-Ronald-Heath/5201770787585/