Strong language alert!
Monday, February 16, 2026
IHIP News: The Epstein Élite Are Fighting to Keep Power and Pam Bondi Botching Cover-up for Trump
Strong language alert!
French Police Launch Murder Inquiry after Far-right Activist’s Death in Lyon
THE GUARDIAN: Quentin Deranque, 23, who was on sidelines of a protest, died from a brain injury after attack that has fuelled political tensions
French police have launched a murder inquiry after a far-right activist died in hospital having been beaten up in an attack that has fuelled political tensions in France.
Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old mathematics student, died from a severe brain injury at the weekend. The Lyon prosecutor, Thierry Dran, said Deranque was assaulted by at least six masked individuals. Police were working to identify suspects and no arrests had been made, Dran said.
Deranque was attacked on Thursday on the sidelines of a protest against a university conference attended by Rima Hassan, a European member of parliament for Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s leftwing party, La France Insoumise (LFI).
The anti-immigration Nemesis collective, which is close to the far right, was protesting against the conference. Nemesis said at the weekend that Deranque had been present to protect its members as security and was assaulted by anti-fascist activists. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Monday, February 16, 2026
French police have launched a murder inquiry after a far-right activist died in hospital having been beaten up in an attack that has fuelled political tensions in France.
Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old mathematics student, died from a severe brain injury at the weekend. The Lyon prosecutor, Thierry Dran, said Deranque was assaulted by at least six masked individuals. Police were working to identify suspects and no arrests had been made, Dran said.
Deranque was attacked on Thursday on the sidelines of a protest against a university conference attended by Rima Hassan, a European member of parliament for Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s leftwing party, La France Insoumise (LFI).
The anti-immigration Nemesis collective, which is close to the far right, was protesting against the conference. Nemesis said at the weekend that Deranque had been present to protect its members as security and was assaulted by anti-fascist activists. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Monday, February 16, 2026
Steve Schmidt: Kristi Noem Will Answer to America
Kristi Noem is a wicked, evil woman. Under Trump and his band of MAGA thugs and ‘thugesses’, America has been sucked down the sewer into the abyss. — © Mark Alexander
Who Had the Most Contact with Jeffrey Epstein?
Friedrich Merz’s Powerful Full Speech at the Munich Security Council: Iran, UK, EU-US Relations & International Tensions
Zelenskyy Yet Again Launches Fiery Assault on 'Pro-Putin' Viktor Orbán at Munich Security Conference
”God Is With Us” — Extraordinary Art Exhibition in Moscow
Democracy Now! Top US News & World Headlines
Democracy Now! can be supported here.
It looks as if America will soon be doing again what it does best: wage war! – © Mark Alexander
IHIP Next: Trump Ramps Up Fascism as He Grows Weak; Expert Breaks Down Why He Will Fail! | Reupload
'Can't Go Alone': Germany Defence Minister Fires Back At Rubio, Shows Mirror to Trump over Greenland
Three American Speeches at Munich, and Plenty of Confusion
THE NEW YORK TIMES: As the U.S. message veered from shared heritage and values to shared interests and back again, Europeans wondered what kind of alliance they were left with.
In the space of just a year, European leaders have heard three descriptions of how the Trump administration is reimagining the American relationship with its allies. Each strikes a bit of a different tone, but all are intended to push them into a new era in which Washington’s commitment to defend them faces new limits.
One was delivered by Vice President JD Vance last year, a blistering condemnation of European-style democracy, arguing that waves of immigrants and Europe’s restrictions on its own far-right parties pose a greater threat to the continent than Russia’s aggression.
The second was a far easier-to-swallow version of a similar message from Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday. He described a hazy and sometimes idealized cultural history shared by Europe and the United States and argued that each faced “civilizational erasure” unless it figured out a way to control its borders.
Then, at the same conference, the most senior defense official to attend, Elbridge Colby, the under secretary of defense for policy, offered a classic American national-security message about shared interests, not values, recommending that both sides focus on “nuts and bolts kind of stuff.”
If the Europeans emerged a bit confused, it’s understandable. » | Steven Erlanger and David E. Sanger | Steven Erlanger and David E. Sanger write about American and European diplomacy and security. They reported from the Munich Security Conference. | Sunday, February 15, 2026
In the space of just a year, European leaders have heard three descriptions of how the Trump administration is reimagining the American relationship with its allies. Each strikes a bit of a different tone, but all are intended to push them into a new era in which Washington’s commitment to defend them faces new limits.
One was delivered by Vice President JD Vance last year, a blistering condemnation of European-style democracy, arguing that waves of immigrants and Europe’s restrictions on its own far-right parties pose a greater threat to the continent than Russia’s aggression.
The second was a far easier-to-swallow version of a similar message from Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday. He described a hazy and sometimes idealized cultural history shared by Europe and the United States and argued that each faced “civilizational erasure” unless it figured out a way to control its borders.
Then, at the same conference, the most senior defense official to attend, Elbridge Colby, the under secretary of defense for policy, offered a classic American national-security message about shared interests, not values, recommending that both sides focus on “nuts and bolts kind of stuff.”
If the Europeans emerged a bit confused, it’s understandable. » | Steven Erlanger and David E. Sanger | Steven Erlanger and David E. Sanger write about American and European diplomacy and security. They reported from the Munich Security Conference. | Sunday, February 15, 2026
Opioid Crisis in the US - Business & Addiction (2/2) | DW Documentary
Feb 14, 2026 | Purdue Pharma earned billions with OxyContin. The company also triggered a race, as dozens of pharmaceutical companies rushed into the market. One was Insys, which sold fentanyl, a drug fifty times stronger than heroin.
Profit was gained by any means necessary - from strippers seducing doctors to bribery, insurance fraud and massive dose increases without the consent of patients. Some did not survive.
In Florida, unscrupulous profiteers opened pain clinics that turned out to be "pill mills” - legal hubs for drugs. Chris George, head of the largest network, cynically reports on the system that made him rich before he spent 11 years in prison.
But by the end of the 2010s, the party was over: the justice system put a stop to the legal trade. Pharmacies stopped selling opioids. But the pills did not disappear. Mexican drug cartels took over the business. Members of the Sinaloa cartel explain in the documentary how they copied the methods of US pharmaceutical companies. To this day, they continue to flood the streets of America with fentanyl.
Part 1 of this documentary can be found here.
Profit was gained by any means necessary - from strippers seducing doctors to bribery, insurance fraud and massive dose increases without the consent of patients. Some did not survive.
In Florida, unscrupulous profiteers opened pain clinics that turned out to be "pill mills” - legal hubs for drugs. Chris George, head of the largest network, cynically reports on the system that made him rich before he spent 11 years in prison.
But by the end of the 2010s, the party was over: the justice system put a stop to the legal trade. Pharmacies stopped selling opioids. But the pills did not disappear. Mexican drug cartels took over the business. Members of the Sinaloa cartel explain in the documentary how they copied the methods of US pharmaceutical companies. To this day, they continue to flood the streets of America with fentanyl.
Part 1 of this documentary can be found here.
Iran : les gardiens de la révolution entament des exercices dans le détroit d’Ormuz pour se préparer «aux menaces militaires potentielles»
LE FIGARO : L’Iran a plusieurs fois menacé de bloquer le détroit d’Ormuz, par lequel transite environ 20% de la production mondiale de pétrole.
Les gardiens de la révolution, l'armée idéologique de la République islamique d'Iran, ont débuté lundi des exercices militaires dans le stratégique détroit d'Ormuz, selon la télévision d'État iranienne, à la veille de pourparlers sur le nucléaire avec les États-Unis à Genève. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | lundi 16 février 2026
Les gardiens de la révolution, l'armée idéologique de la République islamique d'Iran, ont débuté lundi des exercices militaires dans le stratégique détroit d'Ormuz, selon la télévision d'État iranienne, à la veille de pourparlers sur le nucléaire avec les États-Unis à Genève. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | lundi 16 février 2026
Andrew Neil: Labour Together’s Smear Campaign Against Our Journalists Is ‘Totalitarian’
Feb 16, 2026 | “It was the kind of smear propaganda that totalitarian governments authoritarian governments use.”
The Cabinet Office used to be the Rolls Royce of the British civil service, says Andrew Neil. Now, it’s “barely a Trabant” that can’t be trusted to look into the smear campaign against Sunday Times journalists by Labour Together.
Keir Starmer is clueless! He loves his bans and restrictions. This social media ban for under-16s will probably turn out to be a disaster and his generational smoking ban most certainly will. In any case, these are parenting issues, not government-interference issues. — © Mark Alexander
The Cabinet Office used to be the Rolls Royce of the British civil service, says Andrew Neil. Now, it’s “barely a Trabant” that can’t be trusted to look into the smear campaign against Sunday Times journalists by Labour Together.
Keir Starmer is clueless! He loves his bans and restrictions. This social media ban for under-16s will probably turn out to be a disaster and his generational smoking ban most certainly will. In any case, these are parenting issues, not government-interference issues. — © Mark Alexander
‘Who Needs Saving from Whom?’ Kaja Kallas Publicly Insults Marco Rubio over Europe-bashing Speech
My comment on Marco Rubio’s speech in Munich is here.
Ryan Busse on the Cruelty of Republican Leadership That Will Hand Democrats a Win at the Midterms
ANTHONY DAVIS can be supported on Patreon here.
‘Right about Everything’: Liz Truss Tweets Photo of Meeting with Trump
THE GUARDIAN: Unclear how encounter between Britain’s shortest-serving PM and US president was initiated and how long it lasted
After spending time and resources crisscrossing the Atlantic to cultivate the support of the Maga faithful, Liz Truss has finally got the prize she apparently craved: a photo with Donald Trump.
Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister tweeted a photo on Sunday showing her in the company of the US president at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
“Right about everything,” Truss posted, tagging the president on X.
Trump had yet to record the meeting on his own social media feeds, focusing instead on promoting the new documentary made by his wife, Melania. It is unclear how long the meeting between Truss and Trump lasted and how it was initiated. » | Ben Quinn | Political correspondent | Sunday, September 15, 2026
If Truss can conclude that Trump is “right about everything”, I can conclude that Truss is wrong about everything! 😊
Truss screwed up her premiership: she lasted in power for only 49 days, and even that short time in office enabled her to cock everything up! So I would counsel against placing too much importance to her warped and twisted viewpoints.
The woman’s politics were screwed up from the start. She was raised in a very left-leaning, socialist household, then she started to see the light and became a liberal and joined the Liberal Democrats whilst at university, before turning right.
Different from Margaret Thatcher, who famously stated that ‘this lady is not for turning’, this lady—Truss—definitely was and is for turning. In fact, she turns so much that she must surely be dizzy!
Now, she belongs to Trump’s fanatic superfans. For her, Trump can do no wrong. But in fairness to Lizzie, she is good for one thing: she’s good for a laugh! — © Mark Alexander
After spending time and resources crisscrossing the Atlantic to cultivate the support of the Maga faithful, Liz Truss has finally got the prize she apparently craved: a photo with Donald Trump.
Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister tweeted a photo on Sunday showing her in the company of the US president at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
“Right about everything,” Truss posted, tagging the president on X.
Trump had yet to record the meeting on his own social media feeds, focusing instead on promoting the new documentary made by his wife, Melania. It is unclear how long the meeting between Truss and Trump lasted and how it was initiated. » | Ben Quinn | Political correspondent | Sunday, September 15, 2026
If Truss can conclude that Trump is “right about everything”, I can conclude that Truss is wrong about everything! 😊
Truss screwed up her premiership: she lasted in power for only 49 days, and even that short time in office enabled her to cock everything up! So I would counsel against placing too much importance to her warped and twisted viewpoints.
The woman’s politics were screwed up from the start. She was raised in a very left-leaning, socialist household, then she started to see the light and became a liberal and joined the Liberal Democrats whilst at university, before turning right.
Different from Margaret Thatcher, who famously stated that ‘this lady is not for turning’, this lady—Truss—definitely was and is for turning. In fact, she turns so much that she must surely be dizzy!
Now, she belongs to Trump’s fanatic superfans. For her, Trump can do no wrong. But in fairness to Lizzie, she is good for one thing: she’s good for a laugh! — © Mark Alexander
White House Set to Accept Koran Burner as Refugee
THE TELEGRAPH: State department in talks to allow Turkish man to flee Britain if acquittal is overturned
The Trump administration is in talks to accept a man who burnt a Koran as a refugee from Britain.
State department officials are preparing to help Hamit Coskun flee the UK if he loses a “blasphemy case” this week.
The potential intervention is likely to escalate transatlantic tensions over free speech, which critics have claimed is being eroded under Sir Keir Starmer’s Government.
Mr Coskun overturned a conviction for a religiously aggravated public order offence after he burnt the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in London.
However, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is contesting that decision at a hearing in the High Court on Tuesday. A senior US administration official said his case was “one of several cases the administration has made note of”.
Mr Coskun sought asylum in the UK from his home country of Turkey, saying Islamic terrorists had destroyed his family’s life. He told The Telegraph that, if he did lose his case, he may be forced “to flee” and seek protection in the US.
“For me, as the victim of Islamic terrorism, I cannot remain silent. I may be forced to flee the UK and move to the USA, where President Trump has stood for free speech and against Islamic extremism,” he said.
“If I have to do so, then, to me, the UK will have effectively fallen to Islamism and the speech codes that it wishes to impose on the non-Muslim world.” » | Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter. Connor Stringer, Washington Correspondent. Will Bolton Crime correspondent | Sunday, Fenruary 15, 2026
The Trump administration is in talks to accept a man who burnt a Koran as a refugee from Britain.
State department officials are preparing to help Hamit Coskun flee the UK if he loses a “blasphemy case” this week.
The potential intervention is likely to escalate transatlantic tensions over free speech, which critics have claimed is being eroded under Sir Keir Starmer’s Government.
Mr Coskun overturned a conviction for a religiously aggravated public order offence after he burnt the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in London.
However, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is contesting that decision at a hearing in the High Court on Tuesday. A senior US administration official said his case was “one of several cases the administration has made note of”.
Mr Coskun sought asylum in the UK from his home country of Turkey, saying Islamic terrorists had destroyed his family’s life. He told The Telegraph that, if he did lose his case, he may be forced “to flee” and seek protection in the US.
“For me, as the victim of Islamic terrorism, I cannot remain silent. I may be forced to flee the UK and move to the USA, where President Trump has stood for free speech and against Islamic extremism,” he said.
“If I have to do so, then, to me, the UK will have effectively fallen to Islamism and the speech codes that it wishes to impose on the non-Muslim world.” » | Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter. Connor Stringer, Washington Correspondent. Will Bolton Crime correspondent | Sunday, Fenruary 15, 2026
Sunday, February 15, 2026
IHIP News: Trump Ally Speaks Out against Him on His Mental Decline! "He's Out of His Mind!"
'I Don't Like Him Because...': Hillary Clinton Absolutely Torches Trump at Munich Conference | World
Hillary Clinton's words are SOLID GOLD! As, indeed, are Radoslaw Sikorsky's. By the way, Ukrainians have been forced to fight not only for their own sovereignty, but they have been forced to fight and do the dirty work for the rest of Europe and the West, too. — © Mark Alexander
Top British and German Military Chiefs Press ‘Moral’ Case for Rearmament
THE GUARDIAN: Defence chiefs write joint appeal urging public to prepare for threat of war with Russia with attendant costs
Britain and Germany’s highest ranking military chiefs have made an unprecedented joint appeal to the public to accept the “moral” case for rearmament and prepare for the threat of war with Russia.
The pair said they were making the plea not just as the military leaders of two of Europe’s largest military spenders, but “as voices for a Europe that must now confront uncomfortable truths about its security”.
Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, the UK’s chief of the defence staff, and Gen Carsten Breuer, Germany’s chief of defence, said Russia’s military stance had “shifted decisively westward” and a “step change” was needed in Europe’s defence and security.
In a joint article published in the Guardian and the German newspaper Die Welt, in the wake of the Munich Security Conference, the soldiers said they had a duty “to explain what is at stake so that the public could understand why the UK and Germany have committed to the biggest sustained increases in defence spending since the end of the cold war”.
“There is a moral dimension to this endeavour. Rearmament is not warmongering; it is the responsible action of nations determined to protect their people and preserve peace,” they write.
There is significant reluctance among voters in Britain and Germany to accept economic pain in return for rearmament, even while majorities in both countries believe the outbreak of a third world war is more likely than not in the next five years. » | Ben Quinn, Political correspondent | Sunday, February 15, 2026
Britain and Germany’s highest ranking military chiefs have made an unprecedented joint appeal to the public to accept the “moral” case for rearmament and prepare for the threat of war with Russia.
The pair said they were making the plea not just as the military leaders of two of Europe’s largest military spenders, but “as voices for a Europe that must now confront uncomfortable truths about its security”.
Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, the UK’s chief of the defence staff, and Gen Carsten Breuer, Germany’s chief of defence, said Russia’s military stance had “shifted decisively westward” and a “step change” was needed in Europe’s defence and security.
In a joint article published in the Guardian and the German newspaper Die Welt, in the wake of the Munich Security Conference, the soldiers said they had a duty “to explain what is at stake so that the public could understand why the UK and Germany have committed to the biggest sustained increases in defence spending since the end of the cold war”.
“There is a moral dimension to this endeavour. Rearmament is not warmongering; it is the responsible action of nations determined to protect their people and preserve peace,” they write.
There is significant reluctance among voters in Britain and Germany to accept economic pain in return for rearmament, even while majorities in both countries believe the outbreak of a third world war is more likely than not in the next five years. » | Ben Quinn, Political correspondent | Sunday, February 15, 2026
La princesse Maud de Galles et le donneur de sperme : la nouvelle ombre qui plane sur le royaume de Norvège
MADAME FIGARO : La famille royale de Norvège pourrait faire face à un nouveau scandale. Un livre qui devrait être publié prochainement, questionnerait la légitimité du règne des membres du clan.
Après les liens entre la princesse Mette-Marit et Jeffrey Epstein, et le procès de Marius Borg Høiby pour viol, la famille royale de Norvège pourrait bien faire face à de nouvelles polémiques. Selon le Daily Mail , au cours de l’année 2026, une biographie de la princesse Maud de Galles, écrite par l’historienne Arnhild Skre, qui questionne la légitimité du règne des membres du clan, devrait sortir. L’auteure aurait enquêté sur celle qui fut reine consort de Norvège de 1905 à 1938 en tant qu’épouse d’Haakon VII, grand-mère de l’actuel roi Harald V, et qui aurait eu recours à un donneur de sperme, en 1902, pour donner naissance à son fils, Olav V. Mais d’où vient cette histoire ? » | Par Leonie Dutrievoz | dimanche 15 février 2026
WIKIPEDIA : Maud of Wales »
Après les liens entre la princesse Mette-Marit et Jeffrey Epstein, et le procès de Marius Borg Høiby pour viol, la famille royale de Norvège pourrait bien faire face à de nouvelles polémiques. Selon le Daily Mail , au cours de l’année 2026, une biographie de la princesse Maud de Galles, écrite par l’historienne Arnhild Skre, qui questionne la légitimité du règne des membres du clan, devrait sortir. L’auteure aurait enquêté sur celle qui fut reine consort de Norvège de 1905 à 1938 en tant qu’épouse d’Haakon VII, grand-mère de l’actuel roi Harald V, et qui aurait eu recours à un donneur de sperme, en 1902, pour donner naissance à son fils, Olav V. Mais d’où vient cette histoire ? » | Par Leonie Dutrievoz | dimanche 15 février 2026
WIKIPEDIA : Maud of Wales »
EU's Kallas Refutes US Portrayal of Europe in Decline at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2026 | DW News
Feb 15, 2026 | With transatlantic ties strained, Saturday's keynote speech at the Munich Security Conference by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was highly-anticipated. He struck a conciliatory yet critical tone of Europe while Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenksyy also took to the stage, calling Russian President Putin a "slave to war."
But the EU's foreign policy chief is pushing back against the US's portrayal of Europe in decline - a day after Washington's top diplomat criticized the bloc's immigration and climate policies. Kaja Kallas said Europe is "not facing civilizational erasure" and that "Europe bashing had become fashionable in certain political circles." But she added that the much-anticipated speech by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the conference "reassured" transatlantic ties.
But the EU's foreign policy chief is pushing back against the US's portrayal of Europe in decline - a day after Washington's top diplomat criticized the bloc's immigration and climate policies. Kaja Kallas said Europe is "not facing civilizational erasure" and that "Europe bashing had become fashionable in certain political circles." But she added that the much-anticipated speech by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the conference "reassured" transatlantic ties.
Steve Schmidt & Jason Crow: Trump Doesn't See A Problem He Thinks He Can't Bomb His Way Out Of
Sturm aufs Kapitol: Der Preis, den er zahlte | Doku NZZ Format
Feb 13, 2026 | «NZZ Format» erzählt die Geschichte von drei Polizisten, die beim Sturm auf das US Capitol vor einem Jahr verletzt wurden. Einer von ihnen hat sich nur wenige Tage nach den gewaltsamen Protesten das Leben genommen. Die zwei anderen kämpfen noch heute mit physischen und psychischen Folgen. Zusammen mit Online-Rechercheuren machen sich die Polizisten und Angehörigen auf eine Spurensuche. Sie wollen herausfinden, was genau am 6. Januar 2021 passiert ist. Dabei stossen sie auf brisante Details: Einer der Polizisten wurde von Demonstranten mit einem Taser angegriffen, ein anderer von einer Metallstange getroffen. In den tausenden Videos findet das Team auch Spuren zu genau den Trump-Anhängern, die sie persönlich angegriffen haben. Zu erfahren, was an dem Tag genau passiert ist, ist für die Polizisten und Angehörigen eine Erlösung. Doch nicht alle Narben heilen.
Der Film stammt aus dem Jahr 2021.
Der Film stammt aus dem Jahr 2021.
Cacio e Pepe : How to Get This Classic Italian Recipe Right
Trump’s Relentless Self-Promotion Fosters an American Cult of Personality
THE NEW YORK TIMES: President Trump has engaged in a spree of self-aggrandizement unlike any of his predecessors, fostering a mythologized superhuman persona and making himself the inescapable force at home and around the world.
The racist online video that President Trump recently shared and then deleted generated a bipartisan furor because of its portrayal of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. What was little remarked on was how it presented Mr. Trump himself — as the “King of the Jungle.”
After a year back in the White House, Mr. Trump’s efforts to promote himself as the singularly dominant figure in the world have become so commonplace that they no longer seem surprising. He regularly depicts himself in a heroic, almost godly fashion, as a king, as a Superman, as a Jedi knight, as a military hero, even as a pope in a white cassock.
While Mr. Trump has spent a lifetime promoting his personal brand, slapping his name on hotels, casinos, airplanes, even steaks, neckties and bottled water, what he is doing in his second term as president comes closer to building a cult of personality the likes of which has never been seen in American history. Other presidents sought to cultivate their reputations, but none went as far as Mr. Trump has to create a mythologized, superhuman and omnipresent persona leading to idolatry.
His picture has been splashed all over the White House, on multistory banners on the side of federal buildings, on annual passes to national parks and maybe even soon on a one-dollar coin. His name has been etched on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, on the U.S. Institute of Peace, on federal investment accounts, special visas and a discount drug program and, if he has his way, on Washington Dulles International Airport and Penn Station in New York. » | Peter Baker | Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent, is covering his sixth presidency. He reported from Washington. }Sunday, February 15, 2026
The racist online video that President Trump recently shared and then deleted generated a bipartisan furor because of its portrayal of Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. What was little remarked on was how it presented Mr. Trump himself — as the “King of the Jungle.”
After a year back in the White House, Mr. Trump’s efforts to promote himself as the singularly dominant figure in the world have become so commonplace that they no longer seem surprising. He regularly depicts himself in a heroic, almost godly fashion, as a king, as a Superman, as a Jedi knight, as a military hero, even as a pope in a white cassock.
While Mr. Trump has spent a lifetime promoting his personal brand, slapping his name on hotels, casinos, airplanes, even steaks, neckties and bottled water, what he is doing in his second term as president comes closer to building a cult of personality the likes of which has never been seen in American history. Other presidents sought to cultivate their reputations, but none went as far as Mr. Trump has to create a mythologized, superhuman and omnipresent persona leading to idolatry.
His picture has been splashed all over the White House, on multistory banners on the side of federal buildings, on annual passes to national parks and maybe even soon on a one-dollar coin. His name has been etched on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, on the U.S. Institute of Peace, on federal investment accounts, special visas and a discount drug program and, if he has his way, on Washington Dulles International Airport and Penn Station in New York. » | Peter Baker | Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent, is covering his sixth presidency. He reported from Washington. }Sunday, February 15, 2026
Trump’s Relationship with Allies in ‘Worst Place Ever’ | Former US Ambassador
Feb 14, 2026 | “A majority of Europeans now look at the US as a threat rather than a friend.”
The US is in the “worst place we’ve ever been in terms of standing with our allies”, says former US ambassador Matthew Bryza, as allies have “lost faith” in transatlantic unity.
Marco Rubio’s FULL SPEECH and MY COMMENT on it here.
The US is in the “worst place we’ve ever been in terms of standing with our allies”, says former US ambassador Matthew Bryza, as allies have “lost faith” in transatlantic unity.
Marco Rubio’s FULL SPEECH and MY COMMENT on it here.
Trump News at a Glance: Danish PM Believes US President Still Wants to Own Greenland
THE GUARDIAN: Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said the pressure on the island’s people was “unacceptable”. Key US politics stories from 14 February at a glance
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen has said she believes Donald Trump still wants to own Greenland, despite dialling back his recent threats to seize it by force.
Asked at the Munich Security Conference if the US president still wanted to own the Arctic island, Frederiksen said: “Unfortunately, I think the desire is the same.” » | Guardian staff | Sunday, February 15, 2026
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen has said she believes Donald Trump still wants to own Greenland, despite dialling back his recent threats to seize it by force.
Asked at the Munich Security Conference if the US president still wanted to own the Arctic island, Frederiksen said: “Unfortunately, I think the desire is the same.” » | Guardian staff | Sunday, February 15, 2026
Opioid Crisis in the US - Business & Addiction (1/2) | DW Documentary
Feb 7, 2026 | The United States has a huge drug problem: cheap opioids, thousands of deaths. President Trump blames Latin American cartels. But it all began 30 years ago, quite legally, in the United States.
The Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma, brought the prescription painkiller OxyContin - containing the highly potent opioid oxycodone - onto the market, unleashing one of the greatest health disasters in the history of the United States. With hundreds of sales representatives, they pressured doctors in economically disadvantaged regions to prescribe the drug.
One of the film's protagonists is Dr Lou Ortenzio, who was himself part of this machinery: he brought the drug to his town of Clarksburg before becoming addicted himself. Former sales representatives, now whistle-blowers, report how they lied to doctors and claimed that Oxy was not addictive.
A perfectly oiled machine got millions of Americans hooked - and deceived an entire country. Prosecutors like Maura Healey describe their fight to stop Purdue and bring the Sacklers to justice. The investigations reveal a network of power and influence: Purdue secretly received support from McKinsey, consulting firm to the powerful, and from Publicis, a major advertising agency.
Through exclusive interviews, insider accounts and previously unpublished archive material, this two-part documentary reveals how the Sacklers bribed regulators, pushed Oxy and evaded justice despite overwhelming evidence. The two-part documentary tells the story of a crisis that continues to devastate parts of American society to this day.
The Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma, brought the prescription painkiller OxyContin - containing the highly potent opioid oxycodone - onto the market, unleashing one of the greatest health disasters in the history of the United States. With hundreds of sales representatives, they pressured doctors in economically disadvantaged regions to prescribe the drug.
One of the film's protagonists is Dr Lou Ortenzio, who was himself part of this machinery: he brought the drug to his town of Clarksburg before becoming addicted himself. Former sales representatives, now whistle-blowers, report how they lied to doctors and claimed that Oxy was not addictive.
A perfectly oiled machine got millions of Americans hooked - and deceived an entire country. Prosecutors like Maura Healey describe their fight to stop Purdue and bring the Sacklers to justice. The investigations reveal a network of power and influence: Purdue secretly received support from McKinsey, consulting firm to the powerful, and from Publicis, a major advertising agency.
Through exclusive interviews, insider accounts and previously unpublished archive material, this two-part documentary reveals how the Sacklers bribed regulators, pushed Oxy and evaded justice despite overwhelming evidence. The two-part documentary tells the story of a crisis that continues to devastate parts of American society to this day.
How $40-a-Pack Cigarettes Pushed Australians to the Black Market
THE NEW YORK TIMES: ax hikes made cigarettes in Australia the most expensive in the world. They have also helped fuel a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise in bootleg tobacco.
Screenshot taken from this article. | Matthew Abbott for the New York Times
A retired math teacher descended into an underground parking lot in search of her dealer, cash in hand.
Headlights flashed from the far end of the garage in a beachside, middle-class neighborhood in suburban Melbourne, Australia. She walked up to an unmarked van and soon was back above ground with the illicit goods.
A carton of cigarettes.
Australia has the most expensive cigarettes in the world, a pack of midmarket cigarettes costing on average about 55 Australian dollars, or almost $40, nearly double what it will set you back in New York City. A series of steep tax hikes — eight in 10 years — were put in place to reduce the rate of smoking, which has steadily declined. But the high prices have also given rise to a thriving black market now estimated to be a multibillion-dollar industry that accounts for as much as half of all tobacco sales in the country.
“It’s the injustice of the situation,” said the retired teacher, Pat Felvus, 75, who recounted in an interview her early experiences of buying illegal cigarettes, which cost as little as 10 Australian dollars a pack. “Why would you pay four times the amount?”
Bootleg cigarettes are readily available on every main street in Australia — at convenience stores, candy shops and tobacconists. Competition has driven the price of under-the-counter smokes lower and lower, at a time that the cost for staples is rising. Violence has erupted between organized crime groups jostling for a slice of the lucrative market, with a spate of firebombings, extortion, shootings and homicides.
The scale of the black market and the criminality has raised questions about how far governments can raise so-called sin taxes to curb undesirable behaviors. Australia is now facing the quandary: Are the high cigarette prices doing more harm than good? » | Victoria Kim | Reporting from Geelong and Melbourne, Australia | Sunday, February 15, 2026
Gaggles of stupid politicians in parliaments around the world make stupid political decisions and thus make for stupid governance! Alas, you can’t fix stupid! — © Mark Alexander
A retired math teacher descended into an underground parking lot in search of her dealer, cash in hand.
Headlights flashed from the far end of the garage in a beachside, middle-class neighborhood in suburban Melbourne, Australia. She walked up to an unmarked van and soon was back above ground with the illicit goods.
A carton of cigarettes.
Australia has the most expensive cigarettes in the world, a pack of midmarket cigarettes costing on average about 55 Australian dollars, or almost $40, nearly double what it will set you back in New York City. A series of steep tax hikes — eight in 10 years — were put in place to reduce the rate of smoking, which has steadily declined. But the high prices have also given rise to a thriving black market now estimated to be a multibillion-dollar industry that accounts for as much as half of all tobacco sales in the country.
“It’s the injustice of the situation,” said the retired teacher, Pat Felvus, 75, who recounted in an interview her early experiences of buying illegal cigarettes, which cost as little as 10 Australian dollars a pack. “Why would you pay four times the amount?”
Bootleg cigarettes are readily available on every main street in Australia — at convenience stores, candy shops and tobacconists. Competition has driven the price of under-the-counter smokes lower and lower, at a time that the cost for staples is rising. Violence has erupted between organized crime groups jostling for a slice of the lucrative market, with a spate of firebombings, extortion, shootings and homicides.
The scale of the black market and the criminality has raised questions about how far governments can raise so-called sin taxes to curb undesirable behaviors. Australia is now facing the quandary: Are the high cigarette prices doing more harm than good? » | Victoria Kim | Reporting from Geelong and Melbourne, Australia | Sunday, February 15, 2026
Gaggles of stupid politicians in parliaments around the world make stupid political decisions and thus make for stupid governance! Alas, you can’t fix stupid! — © Mark Alexander
No Fuel, No Tourists, No Cash – This Was the Week the Cuban Crisis Got Real
THE GUARDIAN: Diplomats in Havana are preparing for an alternative Trump tactic: the country being starved until people take to the streets and the US can step in
Among the verdant gardens of Havana’s diplomatic quarter, Siboney, ambassadors from countries traditionally allied to the United States are expressing increasing frustration with Washington’s attempt to unseat Cuba’s government, while simultaneously drawing up plans to draw down their missions.
Cuba is in crisis. Already reeling from a four-year economic slump, worsened by hyper-inflation and the migration of nearly 20% of the population, the 67-year-old communist government is at its weakest. After Washington’s successful military operation against Cuba’s ally Venezuela at the beginning of January, the US administration is actively seeking regime change.
The Guardian spoke to more than five top-level officials from different countries, and heard complaints that the US charge d’affaires, Mike Hammer, has failed to share any sort of detailed plan beyond bringing the island to a standstill by starving it of oil. One said: “There’s talk of human rights, and that this is the year Cuba changes – but little talk of what happens afterwards.”
Some hope that rumoured high-level discussions in Mexico between the Cuban government – in the form of Gen Alejandro Castro Espín, son of Cuba’s 94-year-old former president Raúl Castro – and US officials might produce a deal, but as yet there are no signs of progress.
Instead, diplomats in Havana are preparing for an alternative tactic: the country being starved until people take to the streets and the US can step in. “We’re trying to keep a cool head,” said one ambassador. “Embassies are built on planning for the unexpected – hopefully before it becomes expected,” said another. » | Ruaridh Nicoll in Havana | Sunday, February 15, 2026 | Additional reporting by Eileen Sosin
Among the verdant gardens of Havana’s diplomatic quarter, Siboney, ambassadors from countries traditionally allied to the United States are expressing increasing frustration with Washington’s attempt to unseat Cuba’s government, while simultaneously drawing up plans to draw down their missions.
Cuba is in crisis. Already reeling from a four-year economic slump, worsened by hyper-inflation and the migration of nearly 20% of the population, the 67-year-old communist government is at its weakest. After Washington’s successful military operation against Cuba’s ally Venezuela at the beginning of January, the US administration is actively seeking regime change.
The Guardian spoke to more than five top-level officials from different countries, and heard complaints that the US charge d’affaires, Mike Hammer, has failed to share any sort of detailed plan beyond bringing the island to a standstill by starving it of oil. One said: “There’s talk of human rights, and that this is the year Cuba changes – but little talk of what happens afterwards.”
Some hope that rumoured high-level discussions in Mexico between the Cuban government – in the form of Gen Alejandro Castro Espín, son of Cuba’s 94-year-old former president Raúl Castro – and US officials might produce a deal, but as yet there are no signs of progress.
Instead, diplomats in Havana are preparing for an alternative tactic: the country being starved until people take to the streets and the US can step in. “We’re trying to keep a cool head,” said one ambassador. “Embassies are built on planning for the unexpected – hopefully before it becomes expected,” said another. » | Ruaridh Nicoll in Havana | Sunday, February 15, 2026 | Additional reporting by Eileen Sosin
Saturday, February 14, 2026
The Danger of Pam Bondi's Attack on Accountability During Epstein Hearing with Emily Galvin Almanza
Feb 14, 2026 | How does prosecutorial impunity threaten the foundation of American justice? Emily Galvin Almanza, author of The Price of Mercy, exposes the dangerous truth behind a legal system in crisis — where prosecutors often go unpunished for misconduct, and the rules meant to hold the powerful accountable are being ignored.
This eye-opening conversation reveals how the unchecked power of prosecutors and the politicization of justice jeopardize everything from high-profile hearings to everyday law enforcement, creating a justice system that favors impunity over fairness.
Author Emily Galvin Almanza is a public defender and legal expert dedicated to reforming the American justice system, known for her ground-breaking work on wrongful convictions and systemic abuse.
ANTHONY DAVIS can be supported on Patreon here.
This eye-opening conversation reveals how the unchecked power of prosecutors and the politicization of justice jeopardize everything from high-profile hearings to everyday law enforcement, creating a justice system that favors impunity over fairness.
Author Emily Galvin Almanza is a public defender and legal expert dedicated to reforming the American justice system, known for her ground-breaking work on wrongful convictions and systemic abuse.
ANTHONY DAVIS can be supported on Patreon here.
Russia Killed Alexei Navalny with Frog Toxin, UK and Four European Allies Say
THE GUARDIAN: Intelligence agencies say deadly toxin in skin of Ecuador dart frogs found in Navalny’s body and highly likely resulted in his death
Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, was killed by dart frog poison administered by the Russian state two years ago, a multi-intelligence agency inquiry has found, according to a statement released by five countries, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.
The US was not one of the intelligence agencies making the claim.
Navalny died in a remote Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence. Samples from his body were secured before his burial and sent to the laboratories of two countries. » | Patrick Wintour in Munich | Saturday, February 14, 2026
Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, was killed by dart frog poison administered by the Russian state two years ago, a multi-intelligence agency inquiry has found, according to a statement released by five countries, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.
The US was not one of the intelligence agencies making the claim.
Navalny died in a remote Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence. Samples from his body were secured before his burial and sent to the laboratories of two countries. » | Patrick Wintour in Munich | Saturday, February 14, 2026
US-Aussenminister Rubios Botschaft an Europa
Steve Schmidt & Jim Acosta: Pam Bondi's Jaw-dropping Performance
Why are there so many bimbos in US government circles? They are like clones of each other! Usually long-haired and blonde, always very right-wing, and almost always dumb! — © Mark Alexander
Full Speech: Marco Rubio Declares “Europe Must Survive” at Munich Security Conference
Feb 14, 2026 | US Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivers his full address at the Munich Security Conference, stressing Western unity, cultural ties with Europe, reindustrialization, and strategic renewal under President Donald Trump’s vision.
Rubio warns against borderless globalism, urges stronger allies, and calls for rebuilding industries, defence strength, and shared Western identity.
Rubio criticises deindustrialisation. But ask yourselves who were instrumental in bringing it about? It was the titans of industry who are, by and large, profit-maximising right-wingers and in the Eighties by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. They did their level best to deindustrialise by deregulating and by reducing subsidies to heavy industries. These measures accelerated the decline of traditional manufacturing. Corporations, of course, always looking to maximise their profits, were helped to maximise their profits by globalisation, so started relocating and outsourcing manufacturing to countries with a ready supply of cheap labour.
Reindustrialising our economies, as Rubio suggests, is a tall order indeed, unless, of course, our politicians want to get the workforce used to working in sweatshops! For that is the only way we’d be able to compete with the much lower production costs in Asia.
Marco Rubio’s speech is more important for what it doesn’t tell you than for what it did! To really understand his sometimes-sweet rhetoric, one must read between the lines. He talked of wanting a strong Europe. Poppycock! He and his boss don’t want a strong Europe at all; rather they want a weaker, more fragmented one. The concept of the European Union is anathema to Trump. After all, a weaker, more fragmented Europe gives Trump’s America far more leverage. It is much easier for Trump to push around a European nation state than it is to push around a strong, united European Union!
Basically, these autocracy-leaning fascists want Europe on their own terms. Ooh! And something else must also be read between the lines. There was no reference to it in Rubio’s speech, but I can assure you that it was there. They want to purge America and Europe of the influence of Islam.
If Trump and his acolytes are really so fond of Europe as Rubio tries to convince us, then why is he talking of invading the territory of a European nation: Denmark?
Judging by the applause Marco Rubio received at the end of his speech, it is clear that many in the audience were flattered by his fine words and were, as a result, seemingly taken in by them. Personally, I would caution against taking his words on face value. I suggest that one would be wiser to read between the lines.
After all, we are talking about a man, here, who was behind the invasion of Venezuela, and the man who is itching to bring about the collapse of communism in Cuba. Trump, his boss, has talked incessantly about the annexation of Greenland, if not indeed the invasion of the country. It is also on record that Trump has spoken multiple times of Europe being “weak” and “decaying”. He is also known to want the break-up of the European Union. So Rubio’s fine words buttered no parsnips for me, I’m afraid.
I would there therefore suggest that we Europeans exercise extreme caution in dealing with Trump’s America. In German, there is an apt saying. It is as follows: Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Weisheit.. That means ‘caution is the mother of wisdom’. And it most surely is. — © Mark Alexander
Rubio warns against borderless globalism, urges stronger allies, and calls for rebuilding industries, defence strength, and shared Western identity.
Rubio criticises deindustrialisation. But ask yourselves who were instrumental in bringing it about? It was the titans of industry who are, by and large, profit-maximising right-wingers and in the Eighties by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. They did their level best to deindustrialise by deregulating and by reducing subsidies to heavy industries. These measures accelerated the decline of traditional manufacturing. Corporations, of course, always looking to maximise their profits, were helped to maximise their profits by globalisation, so started relocating and outsourcing manufacturing to countries with a ready supply of cheap labour.
Reindustrialising our economies, as Rubio suggests, is a tall order indeed, unless, of course, our politicians want to get the workforce used to working in sweatshops! For that is the only way we’d be able to compete with the much lower production costs in Asia.
Marco Rubio’s speech is more important for what it doesn’t tell you than for what it did! To really understand his sometimes-sweet rhetoric, one must read between the lines. He talked of wanting a strong Europe. Poppycock! He and his boss don’t want a strong Europe at all; rather they want a weaker, more fragmented one. The concept of the European Union is anathema to Trump. After all, a weaker, more fragmented Europe gives Trump’s America far more leverage. It is much easier for Trump to push around a European nation state than it is to push around a strong, united European Union!
Basically, these autocracy-leaning fascists want Europe on their own terms. Ooh! And something else must also be read between the lines. There was no reference to it in Rubio’s speech, but I can assure you that it was there. They want to purge America and Europe of the influence of Islam.
If Trump and his acolytes are really so fond of Europe as Rubio tries to convince us, then why is he talking of invading the territory of a European nation: Denmark?
Judging by the applause Marco Rubio received at the end of his speech, it is clear that many in the audience were flattered by his fine words and were, as a result, seemingly taken in by them. Personally, I would caution against taking his words on face value. I suggest that one would be wiser to read between the lines.
After all, we are talking about a man, here, who was behind the invasion of Venezuela, and the man who is itching to bring about the collapse of communism in Cuba. Trump, his boss, has talked incessantly about the annexation of Greenland, if not indeed the invasion of the country. It is also on record that Trump has spoken multiple times of Europe being “weak” and “decaying”. He is also known to want the break-up of the European Union. So Rubio’s fine words buttered no parsnips for me, I’m afraid.
I would there therefore suggest that we Europeans exercise extreme caution in dealing with Trump’s America. In German, there is an apt saying. It is as follows: Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Weisheit.. That means ‘caution is the mother of wisdom’. And it most surely is. — © Mark Alexander
The Drugs That Fuelled Nazi’s Blitzkrieg I Pure WW2
Feb 12, 2026 | In 1938, a powerful stimulant called Pervitin was developed in Nazi Germany. Mass-distributed to German troops, the drug became a hidden fuel of the Wehrmacht’s early campaigns. Adolf Hitler himself was not spared: under the care of his personal physician, Theodor Morell, he received frequent injections and drug cocktails. Drawing on archives and testimonies, this film investigates how widespread drug use shaped soldiers’ endurance, decision-making, and leadership, and asks a disturbing question: to what extent were the course of the war and Hitler’s behavior chemically influenced?
Title: Blitzed: Nazis on Drugs
Director: Duncan Napier-Bell
Production: Forced march films limited, TCD (2018)
Title: Blitzed: Nazis on Drugs
Director: Duncan Napier-Bell
Production: Forced march films limited, TCD (2018)
"Nigel Farage Was MAGA Before Trump"
WIKIPEDIA: Christopher Harborne »
Trump's Plan to Rig Elections with ‘Save America Act’ That Limits Voting
ANTHONY DAVIS can be supported on Patreon here.
China - Making a Nation (1/2) The Blue Sun | ARTE.tv Documentary
Feb 14, 2026 | After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, China faced a historic turning point: How could the country find its way in the modern world? This two-part documentary shows how for over a century, China has been building itself up to repel foreign influence and to create a strong nation.
China - Making a Nation (1/2) The Blue Sun | ARTE.tv Documentary
Available until: 12/08/2026
China - Making a Nation (1/2) The Blue Sun | ARTE.tv Documentary
Available until: 12/08/2026
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