News of the Week for February 15th, 2026
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Socialized Medicine
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Abortion
Court Cases & Legislation
Puerto Rico governor signs law to recognize fetus as human being as critics warn of consequences
Puerto Rico’s governor has signed a bill that amends a law to recognize a fetus as a human being
Gun Rights
New Mexico Dems Could Pass Broadest Gun Ban in U.S. This Week
For the past several years, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has been demanding the Democrat-controlled legislature deliver an “assault weapon” ban to her desk, and each and every session her fellow Democrats have declined to do so. In Grisham’s last year in office, though, Democrats are poised to deliver exactly what she wants; a bill that would take almost every semi-automatic long gun off the market in the Land of Enchantment.
Second Amendment Roundup: Sensitive Places Require Government-Provided Armed Security
History teaches that government must provide security if serious about a mandatory “gun-free zone.”
Second Amendment Roundup: New Jersey’s “Sensitive Places” Argued in 3rd Circuit En Banc
A “sensitive place” requires comprehensive security and proper historical analogues.
The ATF Created a Backdoor Gun Registry. Lawmakers Want an Explanation.
Federal law bans the creation of a gun registry, but regulators made one anyway.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
EPA Reverses Obama-Era Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, Rolling Back Years of Environmental Regulation
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday revoked the Obama-era “endangerment finding” that has served as the scientific and legal basis for U.S. regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and other climate change-related initiatives.
The EPA’s Plan to Relax Carbon Dioxide Regulations Is Not a Nefarious Plot
It was back in March of last year that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin began promoting his plan to do away with this Obama-era regulatory framework. He did so in his public statements, in social media posts, and in guest op-eds in outlets like the Wall Street Journal. The option is available to Zeldin only because a series of Supreme Court decisions in the intervening decades eroded the legal rationale for the Court’s 2007 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, which found that the EPA was compelled to regulate “greenhouse gases” per its obligations in the Clean Air Act and that states could sue the EPA for damages if it did not.
Socialized Medicine
Government in Healthcare
FDA refuses Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine application
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has refused to review an application by Moderna for its influenza mRNA vaccine, not due to issues with the shot itself but what the agency claims was substandard care in the company’s clinical trial.
Moderna Sure Isn’t Seeing That Trump Deregulatory Agenda
In just the most recent strike of the Trump administration’s war on drug development — commanded by our crackpot HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — the drugmaker Moderna announced yesterday that the Food and Drug Administration is refusing to even review its application for a new influenza vaccine.
White House seeks to tighten control over HHS priorities with personnel shakeup
The White House is looking to exercise tighter control over key areas of the US Health and Human Services Department, planning a shakeup of top personnel as the administration looks ahead to the midterm elections, an administration official told CNN.
War & Terror
US weighs expanding its nuclear weapons arsenal
The US said it was considering expanding its nuclear deterrent, after a major non-proliferation treaty expired.
Two U.S. Navy Ships Collide in Waters Near South America
Two personnel report minor injuries after ship-to-ship refueling
Judge says Pete Hegseth is unlawfully retaliating against Sen. Mark Kelly over ‘illegal orders’ video
A federal judge on Thursday shut down Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempts to punish Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over his urging of US service members to refuse illegal orders, ruling that the Pentagon chief’s actions were unconstitutionally retaliatory.
Former GOP senator’s firm a ‘foreign agent’ of Chinese robotics maker China hawks want blacklisted
Aformer Republican senator known for a prostitution scandal has executed an agreement for his powerhouse lobbying firm to register as a “foreign agent” to help defend a Chinese military-linked advanced robotics firm that many in the U.S. House of Representatives want the Pentagon to blacklist under Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act.
National
Immigration Enforcement and Public Ambivalence
I’ve been meaning to look into what the current polling is saying about Americans’ attitudes toward immigration, having seen some conflicting accounts. A tweet from Batya Ungar-Sargon, a NewsNation host, reminded me to do so. She notes three recent polls that she characterizes as showing that Americans “support deporting all illegal aliens” and concludes that “a majority of Americans got what they wanted when they voted.”
The Corrupt Pardon at the Center of Trump’s UAE Windfall
Changpeng Zhao’s contributions to the rise of World Liberty Financial are key.
How Sheikh Tahnoon Bought the UAE’s Way into Trump World
When Trump won the 2024 election, Tahnoon saw his opportunity to influence the U.S. government.
The UAE Quietly Poured a Half-Billion Dollars into Trump’s Crypto Venture Four Days Before Inauguration
Timing is everything.
Four New Mexico candidates disqualified after failing to meet ballot requirements
Rulings could mean easier paths to reelection for some New Mexico incumbents
Justice Jackson’s Tariff Tea Leaves
In a highly sympathetic interview on CBS Mornings promoting her new book, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was asked by co-host Vladimir Duthiers about the timetable for the tariff case before the Supreme Court
Less Than Words Can Say
“Her and I have wrote papers about this company!”
A Pilot Fired Over Kristi Noem’s Missing Blanket and the Constant Chaos Inside DHS
Secretary, with close adviser Corey Lewandowski, faces fire for confrontational immigration crackdown and self-promotional style; White House to wind down Minnesota operations
DOJ Sues Harvard for Allegedly Withholding Race-Related Admissions Documents
“If Harvard has stopped discriminating, it should happily share the data necessary to prove it.”
“Transgender Bill of Rights” Pushed in Congress
The ideological fever that pushed the transgender agenda to the forefront of Western cultural and political life has not broken. True, a jury awarded $2 million in damages for medical malpractice to a “detransitioner” woman who had a double mastectomy when she was only 16. And true, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the AMA now oppose transitioning surgeries for minors — meaning that such interventions can no longer be considered the “standard of care” for children experiencing gender confusion. That’s all to the good.
South Carolina’s Mark Sanford eyes a comeback
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is considering three paths to political redemption — a run for his old House seat, a campaign for the governor’s mansion he once occupied or a primary bid against Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
ICE says 2 of its officers may have lied under oath about shooting migrant in Minnesota
The officers were placed on administrative leave, ICE’s acting director said.
ICE detentions of Native Americans elsewhere in the US spark concern among Nevada tribes
In open letters and conversations with ICE, tribal leaders are trying to clarify whether their members should worry about being detained.
Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal
Shooting in a car, discrimination in the air, and injuries at sea.
Windows 11 update KB5077181 is causing critical boot loops for some users
KB5077181 is causing devices to restart over 15 times in an infinite loop. Users also report network issues and error codes.
Trump’s Tough-Talking Antitrust Chief Is Pushed Out
‘Competent technocrats do not survive the den of vipers,’ says one of Gail Slater’s allies about her sudden exit.
Politics or principle: Nevadans debate transgender sports initiative
Measure would ban transgender women, assigned male at birth from women’s sports
Economy & Taxes
Lying With Statistics: Steel Edition
The Trump administration is thrilled to announce that “for the first time since 1999, American steel production has surpassed Japan’s — further proof that President Trump’s trade policy is working.”
Donald Trump plans to roll back tariffs on metal and aluminium goods
Latest softening of levies comes amid persistent voter anxiety about affordability in US
An Interest-Rate Fallacy
I’ve been surprised at how frequently I am seeing people argue that a productivity boom (usually AI is invoked here) will lead the way to lower interest rates. Much-quoted economist Mohamed El-Erian makes that case here, former World Bank President David Malpass here. As I mentioned briefly in a recent column, this seems backward to me.
Western Digital Has No More HDD Capacity Left, as CEO Reveals Massive AI Deals; Brace Yourself For Price Surges Ahead!
HDD capacity from one of the world’s largest manufacturers has started to run dry, according to Western Digital’s CEO, as major LTAs have been signed out.
International
Jimmy Lai’s Sentence
Jimmy Lai fled Mao’s China for Hong Kong as a twelve year old and started work in a garment factory. From that tough beginning he rose to become a successful businessman, later diversifying into the media. A staunch advocate of democracy, he has been a fierce critic of the Beijing regime for decades, a position that he did not abandon (far from it) after China’s takeover of Hong Kong and ever tightening repression in the territory, repression that is further evidence of Beijing’s contempt for political freedom, the people of Hong Kong, and international law.
The Epstein Files Threaten to Topple Keir Starmer’s Labour Government
There seems to be no end to the number of wealthy and influential Americans who were cavalier about associating with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Still, despite the high-profile Republican and Democratic politicians ensnared by Epstein’s dead-man’s switch, the American political scene is downright placid when compared with how Epstein’s documents have roiled politics in the U.K.
Switzerland to vote on capping its population at 10 million
Proponents claim the goal is to help protect the environment, natural resources, infrastructure and the social safety net
Kim Jong Un chooses teen daughter as heir, says Seoul
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has selected his daughter as his heir, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday. Kim Ju Ae – who is believed to be 13 – has in recent months been pictured beside her father in high-profile events like a visit to Beijing in September, her first known trip abroad.
Russia killed opposition leader Alexei Navalny using dart frog toxin, UK says
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed using a poison developed from a dart frog toxin, the UK and European allies have said.
US warns China costing Peru its sovereignty
The Trump administration on Wednesday expressed concern that Peru risks ceding its sovereignty to the Chinese government after a Peruvian court restricted a local regulator’s oversight of a Chinese-built megaport.
Kim Jong-Un’s 13-year-old heiress could face deadly succession fight from her own ruthless aunt
When you play the game of Kims, you win or you die.
Opinion
The Coming Political-Process Armageddon
Democrats could find themselves briefly in power with their prospects slipping away. Beware what they may do.
The Coming Political-Process Armageddon
Democrats could find themselves briefly in power with their prospects slipping away. Beware what they may do.
What Popular Music Gave Up Doing
Others here have sufficiently covered the political controversies around Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show. It put me in mind of another problem: the weakened state of today’s popular music. Because Bad Bunny’s show, musically speaking, was remarkably boring.
Should Community Colleges Offer Four-Year Degrees?
Perhaps. But they must clean house first.
What Popular Music Gave Up Doing
Others here have sufficiently covered the political controversies around Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show. It put me in mind of another problem: the weakened state of today’s popular music. Because Bad Bunny’s show, musically speaking, was remarkably boring.
Peak Postliberalism
For the “postliberals,” this is about as good as it gets
The Original Meaning of Birthright Citizenship
Problems ahead for the Trump administration
The Self-Inflicted Wound
On the night of September 21, 1788, Austrian hussars scouting for the Ottoman Army stumbled upon gypsies who offered them schnapps. The Austrians got drunk, encountered part of their infantry, refused to share the alcohol, and a fight broke out. One soldier fired his gun; the rest of the army presumed the Ottomans were attacking, and the Austrian General of Artillery thought the Ottoman cavalry was upon them. He ordered the artillery to fire.
A Line We Shouldn’t Cross
But Trump really should not be openly giving an “Endorsement for Re-Election” to a foreign head of state. Sure, there are times when Trump’s candor in discarding norms and saying the quiet part out loud can have a cleansing effect, but this ought to be a norm we keep, not least because it can backfire for the recipient of the endorsement. We don’t like foreign meddling in our elections, and rightly so; we should remember that other countries’ people don’t like it, either.
Echoes of the America Between the Wars
A century ago, some of the same political forces present today led the United States into a shell of isolationism.
The Swamp Is Doing Just Fine
The Wall Street Journal helped blow open this story, with a thoroughly reported piece at the end of January on a half-billion-dollar investment backed by an Abu Dhabi royal in a Trump family cryptocurrency venture. The centrality of crypto to the plot makes the saga complicated from the outset — only the deeply unwell understand how crypto works — but despite White House and Trump Organization claims to the Journal that all was on the up and up, Andy sorts through the tale and explains why it’s redolent of the Biden family’s infamous influence-peddling. Only “you’d have to add two digits to the sum of Biden abuses of power, foreign entanglements, and corruption alleged . . . to get near what Trump has raked in just from the UAE.”
The Scalia Revolution
Antonin Scalia’s legacy ten years after his death.
