Mexico falls into chaos after the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was killed in a military raid.

 

A burnt out bus used as a barrier in Mexico. BBC/Reuters.

Mexico has fallen into chaos after the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho, was killed in an army raid. BBC. The raid, which received assistance from the United States, left four members of CJNG dead and El Mencho mortally wounded. CJNG is one of the largest and most violence cartels and the violence caused in response to El Mencho's death has been extreme. Violence has broken out it in every Mexican state where CJNG has a presence. Most notably, even the tourist city of Puerto Vallarta has seen a large amount of violence between the Cartels and the National Guard. The death of El Mencho will be seen as a victory for Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum, but violence after his death will be inevitable due to retaliation from the Cartel and possible infighting or other cartels trying to take advantage of the power vacuum. 

My Comment:

Looks like they found a spine in Mexico. Taking out El Mencho is more than I expected from Claudia Sheinbaum, given her leftist politics and her perceived weakness. Taking him down is a major win in the war against the cartels in Mexico. 

I am guessing this happened due to pressure from President Trump and the United States. Trump had been chomping at the bit to do something about the Cartels, to the point where military force was not off the table. Trump has made stopping the flow of migrants and drugs over the border with Mexico a major part of his Presidency and this seems like a continuation of that. 

As for the violence, it is fairly extreme. The Cartels have shut down several cities and threatened civilians, but so far seem to be sticking to fighting the military. They have set up roadblocks and have gotten into a lot of gun fights. The Mexican military has responded and even launched attacks with helicopters against the CJNG forces. 

I don't expect the Cartel-Military violence to last very long. We have seen this kind of thing before when other Cartel leaders get captured or killed. We see a few days or weeks of violence but then things get back to normal. After the Cartels are gangs, their main motivation is profit and getting into a standup fight with the military does not offer any profit and can disrupt their operations severely. 

I do expect their to be an increase of violence generally though. The CJNG cartel was held together by El Mencho and, from what I understand, there isn't a viable replacement at the moment as his son is in prison. That means that the CJNG may fracture into infighting. Not to mention that the other Cartels might try to take back territory while the CJNG are weak. 

There is a major threat right now to American civilians in Mexico. I don't expect any fighting to cross the border, but folks in Mexico are in danger. Though taking American citizens hostage or killing them during a battle would be horrible optics and could even lead to strikes against CJNG, they have their backs against the wall right now and they have very little to lose. I am hoping that the folks in Puerto Vallarta and other parts of Mexico remain safe. 

President Trump has directed the government to release information about UFO's, UAP's and possible alien life.

 

President Donald Trump on Air Force One. Politico/AP.

President Donald Trump has directed the government to release information about UFO's, UAP's and possible alien life. Politico. Trump posted on Truth Social that he was releasing the information. The order comes days after former President Barack Obama said that he believed that aliens were real, though he later clarified that he hasn't seen any evidence personally as President. Trump said that Obama may have released classified information and said that "he may get [Obama] out of trouble by declassifying". The government has long been interested in UFO's and UAP's and has released several videos of UFO's. 

Trump says Obama revealed ‘CLASSIFIED INFORMATION’ when he discussed the existence of aliens

‘He made a BIG MISTAKE’

‘I don’t have an opinion on it. I never talk about it’

‘I may get him out of trouble by declassifying’ https://t.co/uFtiSdKaH4 pic.twitter.com/OBD4KLQRcq

— RT (@RT_com) February 19, 2026

My Comment:

There is never going to be another President like Donald Trump. Let's review the sequence of events. Barack Obama says off hand in an interview that he believes alien life exists, but says the government doesn't have them at Area 51. People read too much into it and Obama clarifies that he hasn't seen any evidence. A report asks Trump about it and he says, tongue planted in cheek, that Obama may have released classified information, and then he says that he will get Obama out of trouble by declassifying. And then the madman does it! Like I said, Trump is one of a kind. 

To be fair, a lot of information about UFO's and UAP's have been released already. We have all seen the videos of strange objects on defense department film. The government has admitted that something is going on but nobody know what exactly is happening. 

I am fully expecting that whatever Trump releases here will be similar. We will probably get new information about incidents that we aren't currently aware of. We will see documents we haven't seen before. We might even get explanations for previous incidents that have previously not been explained. And there may be some exciting stuff. 

What I don't expect is the idea that there will be a smoking gun, proof that aliens both exist and are here on this planet. As much as conspiracy theories say otherwise, I don't believe that's the kind of secret you could keep. And given that Presidents of both parties have admitted that they have no evidence either way, I tend to believe it. I have no doubt that if there was evidence of extraterrestrial life, Trump would release it for no other reason than to discredit the Democrats that covered it up, and I think Joe Biden and Barack Obama would have done the same thing. 

Regardless, this is more government transparency, and that is usually a good thing. There could be some negatives, like there was with the Epstein file release causing some pretty obvious derangement, but overall it's not a bad thing when the government declassifies things that don't really need to be classified. 

As for me, I am agnostic about the idea of aliens visiting Earth. I do think that the UFO phenomenon is "real" in that people are seeing and recording things they can't explain, but it doesn't necessary follow that the whole thing is aliens. It's not impossible though, and if proof of extraterrestrial life was found I would not be seriously surprised. 

Prince Andrew has been arrested for passing documents to Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. BBC. 

Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested for passing documents to Jeffrey Epstein. BBC. Andrew, who had his titles revoked for his association with Epstein and allegations of sexual abuse, was not charged for sex crimes, but arrested for abuse of office. Under UK laws, police are allowed to arrest suspects before formal charges have been filed. Files released from the FBI's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein showed that Andrew had passed on information on state visits and investment opportunities while performing his role as the UK's trade envoy. Andrew was accused by Virginia Giuffre, who died in 2025, of sexual assault, but settled those allegations out of court. 

My Comment:

A quick note on criminal justice in the UK. Unlike the United States, police in the UK can arrest and hold people before formal charges while an investigation is still ongoing. Obviously, this is not how it works in the United States, and it is very possible, though unlikely, that Andrew could still avoid charges. 

With that being said, the facts of this case does not seem to be in dispute. Andrew, in the role as trade delegate, passed information onto Epstein, information that Epstein had no right to. I don't think anyone has denied that Andrew passed these documents to Epstein and there really wasn't any reason for him to do so. 

But the case might not be as open and shut as we think. Andrew does have the defense that these documents weren't technically classified and sending them to Epstein wasn't damaging. Without a full review of those documents, I am not sure if that is a correct reading or not, but right now the chances of acquittal are not zero, along with the fact that he might not even be formally charged at all. 

Greatly complicating things is the fact that a lot of people that could potentially serve on his Jury are going to be very aware of the other accusations against him. Epstein was credibly accused of sexual misconduct by two separate people, an anonymous 22 year old woman and Virginia Giuffre. Andrew probably should have been charged in both cases, but was not (and will not in Giuffre's case after her death last year). Though Andrew is likely to get a fair trial and media coverage will be limited in the UK at least, I can't help but to think that the jury will convict if this ever goes to trial for that reason alone. 

Of course, it's very possible and even likely that Andrew will plead guilty. Plea deals work differently in the UK, but he would be able to cut quite a bit of his time off simply by pleading guilty at the first opportunity. Doing so would make this case go away and it is probably the most likely and welcome outcome for Andrew. The general public would not like it though, and would perceive any deal as favoritism, even though Andrew is obviously in the outs with the Royal Family. 

I had said for awhile that it was pretty likely that this arrest, along with a possible one of Lord Mandelson who also passed documents to Epstein and even collected money from him, were going to be the only ones we see as a result of the Epstein files. Though the demand for scalps for sexual crimes is high, the evidence just isn't there. Very few of Epstein's victims named names and many of them are not reliable themselves, including the late Virginia Giuffre. She did name names but ended up having to settle with Alan Dershowitz for defamation when she accused him of misconduct. Not to mention, many of the players are dead, with Epstein and Jean-Luc Brunel dying in prison and Bill Richardson and Marvin Minsky dying of natural causes. Not to mention Giuffre herself. 

The UK cases though are a lot easier to prosecute. There isn't any he-said she-said uncertainty here and there is likely to be physical evidence. Even if no new evidence is discovered, the evidence is solid. The emails are real and aren't really in dispute. The main questions are going to be if it meets the standards of the Misconduct in Public Office crime, not if he actually sent the information. 

Will this cause the Epstein issue to go away in the United States or get worse? I am not sure. Prince Andrew was the most high profile person in the entire Epstein scandal that was actually credibly accused of misconduct (Obviously Bill Clinton and Donald Trump were higher profile, but neither of them have any credible accusations against them). Arresting him will be seen as a victory. 

On the other hand, many of the folks out there have legitimately gone insane over the Epstein issue. I had one person threaten to throw me into a woodchipper on social media the other day after I said we shouldn't execute people without evidence. These are no longer rational people and they won't be satisfied by anything other than seeing whoever they hate the most getting lynched, regardless of what the evidence actually shows. I don't think there is any hope for these people, but they are thankfully a small minority. 

Regardless, I am glad to see Andrew crash and burn. Even if he somehow avoids getting charged and imprisoned, his reputation has been destroyed. I have always believed that the sexual misconduct accusations against him were among the most convincing in the Epstein case and I have little doubt he is guilty of them. I also believe he was guilty of passing documents to Epstein as well and I am happy he is going to face justice. 

The United States is planning a new website that will allow Europeans and others to view content their governments have banned.

 

Street art in London. Reuters. 

The United States is planning a new website that will allow Europeans and others to view content their governments have banned. Reuters. The website will be hosted at freedom.gov and is seen as a direct shot across the bow to Europe's failures to protect free speech. The website was supposed to have been released already but has been delayed for unknown reasons. America's laws on free speech are very different than most of Europe, where there is no equivalent to the 1st amendment. Europe has been criticized by the Trump administration for censoring right wing speech, along with countries like Brazil, where similar restrictions are in place. Europe has also attacked and fined US based websites, like X/Twitter. 

My Comment:

There is an element of hypocrisy here. Though clearly better than the Biden administration or even the most lenient European government, the Trump administration has their own problems with free speech. I am not really talking about their banning of foreigners tat take anti-American stances, that's just common sense. 

But I have been extremely critical of some of the things that the GOP is doing when it comes to free speech, most notably the Take it Down act and various state age verification schemes. DeepFakes may not be politically popular but they can clearly be used for speech an any actual misuse of them is already covered under our harassment and libel/slander laws. And age verification is obviously horrible as it's the government putting a chilling effect on behavior they don't agree with. 

With that being said, things are clearly worse in Europe than they are here in the United States. Here you can generally say whatever you want as long as it's not a direct incitement to violence. And, we have seen with the anti-ICE nonsense coming from the left, sometimes even that is allowed. There are no laws against advocating for restricting immigration or saying scientifically true but politically unpopular things (like any discussion about race and IQ). You can still be punished by private actors for these stances, which is a major free speech concern, but the government mostly can't touch you, especially with the Democrats out of office. 

I do think that pushing back against Europe's tyranny on free speech is long overdue. I am of the view that the 1st amendment doesn't actually grant free speech rights, those rights are inherent to being human and any law that restricts that is null and void. America has our own problems with this, but the idea that people can be arrested just for being opposed to immigration from the Muslim world is just totally unacceptable. 

It also makes very little sense to be allied with people that don't respect our beliefs and priorities. How can we be defending Europe from tyranny when they are already tyrannical? It's a major reason I was never on Europe's side during the Ukraine War. Russia is certainly no free speech hub, but it's not really any worse than Europe at this point. I'd add that we should be criticizing Europe's gun laws just as much, but time will tell if that ever comes up. 

As for the impact of the website itself, I am guessing it is mostly going to be symbolic. The people that care to subvert Europe's speech restrictions are using things like the Tor browser and VPN's to bypass their speech laws anyways. They are able to see much of the same content Americans are by using these tools, and I encourage them to do so. It will be nice to have an archive of things that Europe is trying to delete, but the practical effects are probably not going to be that useful. 

However, this is a major message to Europe that we are sick of their nonsense. It's especially bad coming from lame duck leadership like we have in France and the UK. Given that Europe has launched their own shots across our bows, most notably trying to fine X for allowing free speech for the most part, it was long overdo. I do hope that this website is released soon. 

Transgender man shoots family members at hocky game in Rhode Island.

 

Robert Dorgan shortly before the attack. Fox News/social media photo. 

A transgender man carried out a mass shooting targeting his family at a Rhode Island hocky game in Pawtucket. Fox News. Robert Dorgan, a 56 year old man who was living as a woman and called himself Roberta Esposito, shot and killed his wife and son and wounded his in-laws along with a family friend. Other people in the stands attempted to stop the attacker and were able to disarm him of his primary weapon, but he was able to pull a second handgun and ended his own life. His transgender identity had led to conflict with his family, though no motive has been released from his crime. 

My Comment:

This attack occurred yesterday but details broke before I could write anything up. It's a very strange case and one that does not make much sense. Indeed, the impossible has happened and Robert Dorgan's account on x/Twitter, remains up as of this writing. Why this has happened is beyond me, but it has been a boon to anyone investigating this case.  

Much like the last case of transgender mass violence, Dorgan appears to have been on the far right. And this time it's pretty clear that he was an actual Nazi. Dorgan had Nazi tattoos, including the SS symbol and the Totenkopf, the death's head skull. And his X account is pretty clearly racist to the point where it's not really deniable. This is absolutely not a case of the media claiming anyone to the right of AOC is a Nazi, this guy is one for sure. 

X has been pretty enlightening for this case as his posts remain up and it certainly paints a picture. Dorgan was a rare transgender Nazi and he was regularly interacting with accounts like Nicholas Fuentes. And the man regularly spent time trolling people on the website and there were a lot of big conservative accounts that report that they had blocked him or were blocked by him. He does seem like he was someone that was "extremely online". 

I do think his transgender identity was the cause of this issue. Turning himself into a woman was not something his wife would tolerate and that isn't a surprise. Anyone who would marry a man with actual Nazi tattoos would probably not be on board with the whole "changing gender" things. It apparently led to massive trouble in his marriage and that is probably what caused him to carry out this crime, not his politics. Had he not tried to change genders, well, he wouldn't have been a good person, but I doubt this shooting would have happened. 

He does seem to have been making threats on social media, along with his racist actions. Indeed, one of his last tweets was him saying misgendering people cause them to "go berserk" to Alex Jones and Kevin Sorbo (yes the Hercules guy). He also seems to have been pretty deeply into the more deranged people on the internet talking about Jeffrey Epstein, claiming that there were elite cannibals and retweeting people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie. In short, he as pretty radical. 

It does fit the pattern for these transgender attackers. They change their gender and then get wrapped up in extreme politics (or vise versa). The actual ideology doesn't seem to matter, the last two shooters including Dorgan were on the right, but Audrey Hale and Robert Westman were on the right. And the Zizians? They were radicalized vegans and rationalists! But it does seem to fit a pattern where non-political transgender people aren't doing these kinds of things. 

With that said, I do appreciate the heroism of the people that tried to stop Dorgan. Though this appears to be a targeted attack, Dorgan probably could have killed more members of his family if it wasn't for the fact that people tried to fight back. And that's despite the fact that not only was he armed, he was fairly well built for a transgender person (or any person for that matter).  

Finally, I still can't really get over the idea that this guy was a transgender Nazi. Whatever you think about either group, you pretty much have to agree that the two ideologies are not at all compatible. It's little wonder that this guy ended up committing violence, his entire life was a huge contradiction. 

A homicide committed by antifa in France has brought serious consequences for the far left.

 

A tribute for Quentin Deranque. BBC/AFP/Getty. 

A homicide committed by an antifa group in Lyon France has brought serious consequences for the Far Left. BBC. Quentin Deranque, a 23 year old nationalist activist was providing unofficial security for a nationalist feminist group called Nemesis when he was attacked by the antifa group La Jeune Garde (Young Guard). He and two of his comrades were attacked by the group and Deranque was seen laying on the ground and getting kicked in the head. He had been able to get up but later died due to brain and skull injuries. His death has become a rallying cry for the right in France who consider him a martyr and even centrist President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the attack. 

🔴 Mort de Quentin Deranque : la victime a été frappée par au moins 6 individus recherchés. Le jeune militant nationaliste de 23 ans est décédé d'un traumatisme crânien majeur. Une enquête pour homicide volontaire a été ouverte. #JT20h pic.twitter.com/5SMS3ETyLr

— Le20h-France Télévisions (@le20hfrancetele) February 16, 2026

My Comment:

 Some notes on the context of this attack. It's not a mistake when I wrote that the Nemesis group is both right wing and feminist. That would be unheard of in an American context, but it's a real thing in Europe, and for good reason. Some feminists in Europe believe that Islam, an obviously male-dominated religion, is a huge threat to women, and it's hard to argue otherwise. Indeed, given how many Muslims treat women, I think we would see the same thing in the United States if we has similar levels of immigration, legal or otherwise, from Muslim countries (or India for that matter). 

Regardless, this was a pretty obvious consequence of not having enough security for this event. Deranque was trying to protect the Nemesis protesters from antifa but was unable to do so. What should have happened is that once the skirmish began, police should have broken it up. But from what I have seen the cops weren't even there. 

And this incident also shows how dangerous these kinds of street fights are. Deranque was already on the ground when the antifa attacked him by kicking him in the head. It's little wonder why he died, getting kicked in the head is a great way to damage your brain, though it's unclear if that was the only cause of his death. Regardless, it's a pretty good argument for why even a fistfight can result in a death.

I also think that this is going to be the last straw for antifa in France. Supposedly the Young Guards is already a banned organization and I can't imagine that changing now. They murdered Deranque in cold blood for no reason whatsoever. The answer for a couple of women protesting a speaker they didn't like because they are Muslim is a peaceful counterprotest, not a physical attack on a young man that wanted to protect the woman from being attacked themselves.

But antifa doesn't believe in peaceful protest. They think that their enemies are fascist (an in the vast majority of cases, they are not) so that justifies anything you can do against them, including murder. It's honestly surprising that there aren't more antifa inspired murders, but that may be because they focus on street fights like this. 

As for France itself, this is going to have an obvious impact on municipal elections next month, especially in Lyon. With Macron being a lame duck and the far right already ascending, it's going to be even more popular now. Given that the victim in this case was pretty sympathetic (he was defending women) and the attackers are not (they were attacking women and literally kicked a man while he was already down) I would not be surprised if the far right cleans up in the next elections. 

Iran signals cooperation with the United States as a new meeting looms.

 

Iranians celebrating the Islamic Revolution. New York Post/Reuters.

Iran has signaled cooperation with the United States as a new meeting is scheduled for Tuesday. New York Post. An Iranian foreign policy official, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, said that Iran was willing to offer lucrative deals to the United States on energy, mining and even airplane purchases. They have also offered to dilute the enriched uranium they possess, but stopped short of saying Iran will possess no enriched uranium. Enriched uranium can be used to produce a nuclear weapon. Though major talks are underway, President Trump has ordered significant forces, including two carrier strike groups, to the region should the talks fail. 

My Comment:

I have said for awhile that Iran is in a very bad position. To recap, Iran was utterly defeated in their war against Israel to the point where they don't have much in the way of air defenses left. Their Air Force wouldn't be able to contest an attack and they would also have very little in the way anti-air missiles either. There is very little the Iranians could do to contest an air war against the United States. Keep in mind it only took a few B-2 bombers to destroy their nuclear program. 

And that's not even considering their major stability problems. They just had one of the largest protest movements the country has ever dealt with and the cause was their massive economic problems. They have had major issues with their economy, including hyperinflation and even a water shortage in Tehran. In short, their country is a basket case and they have a major incentive to cut a deal to get sanctions taken down. 

The problem is that I don't see the Trump administration settling for anything other than full compliance with their demands for their nuclear program. If they get rid of it everything would be fine, but Iran keeps saying they need to keep enriched uranium. They say it's for energy production, which makes little sense in a country with massive stockpiles of fossil fuels. But as long as they have uranium it could very well be used for a nuclear weapon and that won't be tolerated. 

Iran is, of course, smart to offer economic concessions to the United States. A major deal would have benefits if we can get cheap oil, cheap minerals and sell our expensive airplanes to Iran. It would obviously be a win-win situation. Iran would be able to stabilize their economy, and America would get a major economic boost as well. 

So will a deal be made? I think it's pretty likely. Iran knows how bad their position is and these signals are a very good sign that they want to make a deal. President Trump, of course, wants to make a deal too, it's what motivates his every action. Both sides understand that they would be better off if they make one, so it's just the Uranium enrichment that is going to be a sticking point. If they can somehow get passed that then a deal will happen. 

Minneapolis immigration enforcement mission ends.

 

ICE agents in Minneapolis. Politico/AP.

Border Czar Tom Homan has announced that the operation in Minneapolis to deport illegal aliens has been drawn down. Politico. Homan cited cooperation from state and local officials for the reason and said that thousands of ICE agents would remain in Minnesota to continue deportation operations, though the backup that was deployed will withdraw. The operation was controversial due to interactions with domestic terrorists that lead to their deaths, including Renee Good, who attempted to run over an ICE officer, and Alex Pretti, who was shot after getting into a fight with CBD officers. Shortly after the 2nd incident, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey changed their tune and began cooperation with ICE. 

My Comment:

Both sides are claiming victory here but this seems like a clear win for the White House for me. The Trump administration was able to break the will of a sanctuary state and now Minnesota is cooperating with ICE. That's a huge win and means that deportations there will continue, but without the use of force. 

Indeed, deportations will happen in Minnesota (and Minneapolis) like they do in non-sanctuary states. As illegal aliens are picked up for various crimes and after they serve their time for those crimes, Minnesota will now hold those aliens until ICE can pick them up. That's how it works in states like Texas, where there have been dramatically more deportations. Indeed, the pace of deportations in Minnesota will probably increase there. 

The left is claiming this is a victory for them, and more than few grifters on the right are as well, but I don't see how. The only thing that is really changing is the numbers of ICE and CBD and their tactics. Indeed, I expect the number of deportations to go up as operations won't be disrupted and there is a backlog of people to be picked up. 

Their stormtroopers in Antifa have been dealt a severe blow as well. They had been operating freely in Minneapolis but police have finally cracked down on them. They have also had their operations exposed, their members doxed and folks are a lot more aware of their tactics. The only good news for them is that they will get a chance to lick their wounds and regroup. 

This is also a win for Republicans in the fight over funding DHS. ICE is funded for the rest of the year due to the big beautiful bill, but the Democrats are holding other funding hostage. There entire argument was the Minneapolis operation, and that is now gone. They are going to have a very hard time justifying holding up funding for the Department of Homeland Security now. 

It's also clear that both Renee Good and Alex Pretti are yesterday's news. In both cases it was video that showed both of them acting deranged and gave credence to the claims of self defense. With those cases out of the news, much of the outrage has faded away, with the Democrats focusing on Jeffrey Epstein... again. 

So was the operation a success? I believe so. Like I said, the Democrats absolutely backed down and they were unable to keep up operations up against ICE. A large number of illegal immigrants were deported and Republicans now no longer have the bad optics that the disorder was causing. And there is one less sanctuary state in the United States. I count that as a major win. 

Transgender shooter kills family members and then commits a school shooting in Canada.

 

An undated photo of Jesse Van Rootselaar. New York Post. 

A transgender person has killed two members of his family and committed a major school shooting at a school in Canada leaving an additional six people dead. New York Post. The attacker was 18 year old Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18 year old male to female transgender person. Rootselaar had a long history of mental health concerns and police had visited his home multiple times in the past couple of years. He had also been taken into custody for his mental health concerns and police even took guns from their legal owners due to how concerned they were about him. The attack is the 2nd most deadly school shooting in Canadian history. No motive has been revealed for the crime. 

My Comment:

Rather bizarre and tragic case out of Canada. And it looks like it was a preventable one. Rootselaar was, to be frank, a nut and a danger to himself and others. It's surprising that he was out on the streets and it's not a surprise that he ended up killing his family and six people at a school. 

It's also pretty clear that Van Rootselaar had been radicalized online. He was an active Redditor and was active on transgender subreddits, including ones focused on guns. He also had an active account on X/Twitter. The Reddit account concerns me more as he was there long before he was 18. Reddit allows people under the age of 18 to join and I think that is a mistake given how radical so many political subreddits are, with the transgender community there being among the worst of the worst. 

However, we shouldn't really lump in Rootselaar with other transgender shooters, or people like Tyler Robinson, who wasn't transgender himself but shot Charlie Kirk anyways because he was in a relationship with a transgender person. Those shooters committed their crimes in support of transgender ideology and left wing political thought.

Rootselaar though? He was supposedly far right. From what I have seen of his X account and Reddit posts he was actually pretty antisemitic and his family was libertarian. Plus, given the attack happened in Canada, his politics wouldn't really link up to American politics anyways. 

Indeed, it doesn't appear to be political at all. He was a nihilist who was obsessed with school shooters and regularly watched gore videos and videos of mass shootings. I am guessing that he was obsessed with this content, which he was viewing as an underage teenager. He probably wanted to experience what he was viewing first hand. And he probably killed his mother and stepbrother to keep them from stopping him. 

Given this is Canada, I am guessing that the response to this shooting will be even more gun control, which obviously didn't prevent this shooting. But I think they should take some kind of action against Reddit an WatchPeopleDie, which are the websites he was radicalized on. I am, of course, deeply suspicous of things like digital ID's of course, I don't think the government should be able to see what websites I am visiting. But there is zero reason why Reddit should be allowing people under the age of 18 from using the website. Simply making the whole site age 18+ and fixing the obvious problems of moderation the website has (seriously, 4chan has better moderation of extremist content and it's not even close) could have prevented this attack. 

President Trump called the police on Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. New York Post/US government photo. 

President Donald Trump spoke to the police chief of Palm Beach to help with the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein in 2008. New York Post. Trump called Chief Michael Reiter and Reiter claimed in a newly released file that Trump was among the first to call him to offer help. Trump said "thank goodness you're stopping him, everyone has known he was doing this". Trump also said that Epstein was disgusting and that he had banned him from Mar-a-Lago. He also said that Epstein's girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was "evil" and to focus on her as she was his "operative". Epstein was eventually arrested for child trafficking and got a "sweetheart deal", before getting arrested again in 2019. 

My Comment:

This release shows a clear pattern of behavior that Trump attempted to have Jeffrey Epstein stopped. A timeline might be helpful. Before 2004, Trump and Epstein were friends, but the relationship soured over several reasons. A real-estate deal was part of it, with Trump outbidding Epstein, but the real end of their relationship was the fact that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were using Mar-a-Lago to recruit victims. Trump was angry about this, as one of his employees, Virginia Giuffre, had been taken by Maxwell. Epstein also hit on the underaged daughter of a club member. After all that Trump barred Epstein from his club. 

Then in 2008, after Epstein's arrest, Trump made a call to the Palm Beach police department to help with the investigation. This probably would have helped more than it did if the FBI hadn't taken over the Epstein investigation and botched it, giving Epstein the "sweetheart deal" that gave Epstein a slap on the wrist.

Trump didn't forget about Epstein and again helped in actions against him. An attorney for Epstein's victims, Brad Edwards, said that Trump provided assistance for his clients in 2009 and did so on his own volition. He was also the only rich and powerful people that were willing to do this. 

And, of course, Trump was President when Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were arrested. How involved Trump was is a mystery, it appears that he kept a hands off approach but it is important to note that he did not hinder these prosecutions in any way. 

Epstein himself may have believed that Trump was the first person to tip the police off that Epstein was a criminal. Michael Wolff, who had interviewed Epstein for over 100 hours, said that he believed that his legal downfall was due to Trump. That hasn't been proven, as no documents have been released to confirm this, but it's what Epstein himself believed. It would be extraordinary if this is eventually proven as it would completely vindicate Trump. 

This should be the nail in the coffin for the idea that Trump was somehow involved in Epstein's crimes, but I doubt it will actually help things. Trump's opposition to Epstein has been known since the 2016 election and I've posted that video Edwards admitting that Trump helped dozens of times and it doesn't seem to help anything. People don't want to hear the truth, they just want to believe that Trump and Epstein were two peas in a pod. 

Indeed, the media is now downplaying the fact that he called the police chief of his own volition to focus on the idea that Trump knew what Epstein was doing. Which is, of course, ridiculous. Trump went out of his way to help the investigation and may have been the person that started it in the first place. And it's not like it wasn't obvious that Trump knew that Epstein was a creep, Trump may have made some denials, but he also admitted that he banned Epstein for the very behavior he got famous for. Purposefully inserting himself into a police investigation is a good action and is evidence that he did indeed try to stop Epstein. 

Will UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer survive the latest Epstein related scandal?

 

Prime Minster Keir Starmer. The Guardian/WPA/Getty.

The UK Prime Minster Keir Starmer is fighting for his political life after a new Epstein related scandal. The Guardian. Starmer had appointed Peter Mandelson as the Ambassador to the United States, but did so knowing he had links to Jeffrey Epstein. Starmer and Mandelson said that Mandelson's links to Epstein were limited, but more recent releases of the Epstein files show that Mandelson was a lot closer to Epstein than he claimed, notably getting closer to the man after his 1st conviction for sex crimes. The backlash this caused triggered the resignation of Starmer's top aid and Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeny, who advised Starmer to hire Mandelson. Starmer, already a deeply unpopular Prime Minster due to several scandals and the failure to deal with immigration, has now faced calls for resignation, including from a prominent Scottish Labor politician, Anas Sarwar. 

My Comment:

This is a classic case of an own-goal. The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson when he knew for sure that he had major connections with Jeffrey Epstein, including after he was arrested and convicted of sex crimes, was, to be frank, completely idiotic. Epstein has been toxic since the 2016 US presidential race and by 2024, the idea that he should have appointed Mandelson to an extremely important diplomatic role is crazy. 

And unlike many of the people named in the Epstein files, there is a possibility that Mandelson did something worse than being friends with Epstein. Supposedly, he received money from Epstein back in the early 2000's. And there is evidence that Epstein was attempting to influence him on tax policy, giving at least the appearance of corruption, and there are even reports that Mandelson sent sensitive data to Epstein. There's also a picture of him in his underwear next to an unidentified woman. 

Lord Peter Mandelson. BBC/US Justice Department.

Certainly, the possible corruption and the above picture weren't known to the public before the release of the Epstein files. But the links between the man were widely known and the fact that Mandelson supposedly lied about it doesn't change the fact that hiring him was an obvious mistake. There certainly could have been better people to hire but Starmer hired him anyways. 

Will this bring down Starmer? I am not sure. Under normal circumstances with a popular politician this would not be a huge deal. It's certainly a mistake, but it's not a career ending one. Epstein hysteria is pretty rampant, but the fact of the matter is that it is a fringe issue. If this was a normal situation, I would say that nothing more would come from it after the resignation of Morgan McSweeny. 

But Starmer was in a political crisis even before this scandal. He has been extremely unpopular, with his approval under 20%. People hate his economic polices, a chaotic cabinet and his utter failure to deal with immigration and the crime committed by immigrants. Indeed, he's gotten the nickname of "Two Tier Keir" for treating right wing native Britons worse than immigrants committing much more serious crimes. Indeed, there was a very good chance that Starmer was on his way out before this happened, he's very unpopular and the only thing that is keeping him in power at this point is that there isn't really anyone in Labor that can replace him. 

As for the Epstein files, the release has been a mixed bag. People have gone completely insane about some of the stuff in there, most notably the discredited anonymous tips. Most of those people are suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome and won't listen to any explanation about why Trump was obviously not connected to Epstein after he broke ties with the man before his conviction. Trump even helped the investigation into Epstein and he's also the one that released the files in the first place. 

But you wouldn't know that if you listened to the left and a few deranged people on the right. They generally don't know the facts of the case and would probably shrug when you talk about this incident, or the folks that actually have been accused of sexual abuse, like Prince Andrew, Marvin Minsky and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. Indeed, with Minsky and Richardson dead and the main witness against Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre dead, charges simply aren't going to happen. It is pretty certain that the only person left that will be charged in the Epstein case is Lord Mandelson. 

 

TODAY show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie's mother Nancy abducted, apparently for ransom.

 

File photo of Savannah and Nancy Guthrie. TODAY show/NBC.

TODAY show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie's mother Nancy has been abducted and ransom notes have been sent, in an extremely rare kidnapping for ransom plot. NBC News. Nancy Guthrie was reported missing on Sunday after she did not show up for church. Investigators say that she was apparently taken at night and blood was found at the scene, which was later confirmed to be hers. Ransom notes were delivered to media outlets demanding millions of dollars worth of bitcoin. Nancy Guthrie was in poor health and had several medical conditions, including a pacemaker. No suspect has been identified in the case. Savannah Guthrie sent a video begging for the safe release of her mother. President Trump spoke to Savannah and vowed federal resources to solve the case. 

My Comment:

This story is notable because abduction for ransom is extremely rare in the United States. When it does happen it's big news largely because of just how rare it actually is. The majority of kidnappings in this country are custody issues between parents. A break in abduction for ransom is something that is almost unheard of in the United States, though it is common across the border in Mexico. 

Why? Because America is actually really good at tracking down kidnappers. The majority of kidnappers for ransom get caught fairly quickly as the FBI is actually competent in these kinds of cases. It's a very low percentage crime and doing it to a relative of someone famous is even dumber as the President himself has taken an interest in this case. I would assume that the chances of the kidnapper(s) getting away with this as close to zero. 

All of this is strange as it seems like it was a competently planned crime. They were able to grab Nancy without too much trouble and they apparently did enough research to realize both who she is and who she is related to. That's not something you do on the spur of the moment during a home invasion, this was a planned crime. The idea that they are smart enough to pull this off but stupid enough to attempt in the first place is hard to square. 

Folks are naturally suspecting the involvement of Cartels or other organized crime. So far there is no evidence of that either way, but it is certainly possible. As I said before, kidnapping for ransom is a very common crime in Mexico and it wouldn't be surprising if they were involved. Doing so would be a huge escalation as it would invite law enforcement and possible military action, against them, so I would guess they are not involved. 

As for Nancy herself, I am very concerned about her survival. She's fairly old at 84 and she was at the very least bleeding as she was taken. She needs medication that she's probably not getting and her pacemaker tracking device has been turned off, which does not bode well. The kidnappers do have an incentive to keep her alive but so far they haven't released any proof of life. 

I do have to say that just because this happened we shouldn't think that this kind of crime is common. It absolutely is not and it's mostly notable because of how rare it actually is. I guess it could become more common if this case isn't solved, but I doubt that will be the endgame in this case. 

Suspected illegal biolab found in Las Vegas

 

Investigators at the clandestine lab in Las Vegas. ABC News/LVMPD photo. 

A suspected illegal biolab has been found in Las Vegas Nevada, raising major security concerns. ABC News. 1000 biological samples were found in the lab and the samples are being studied. Police arrived at the residence in response to code violations, but called in the Joint Terrorism Task Force after the samples were found. One person was arrested in connection with the incident, the property manager Ori Solomon. The owner of the property, Jiabei Zhu, has been identified as the same man that was arrested in 2023 for running a similar lab in California that had samples of many pathogens, including HIV, Covid, Malaria and even Ebola. 

My Comment:

This is a major update to a story that has largely been memory holed. The existence of a biolab that supposedly had some very serious pathogens and mice to test them on was obviously deeply concerning and it seems like a secondary lab was found. 

The original case was rather chilling. Zhu was running a lab in California. The lab was being used to create fraudulent HIV and Covid tests. At least that was what he was charged with. The fraud explanation does not really explain why he would have samples from many other diseases like Malaria and Ebola. The presence of humanized mice for biological testing was extremely concerning as well. 

This raid appears to have been a storage site and not an active lab. Given that the materials were locked up in a garage and the only one arrested was the property manager, I don't think that this lab was being used for anything at the moment. I am guessing everything was put into storage after the original lab was raided. It was probably put there in hopes that Zhu would eventually be released and once that happened he could resume his activities. 

Was these labs biowarfare or just an extremely advanced fraud scheme? I am guessing it is fraud. The lab was not advanced enough to really accomplish the kinds of things you need to do for biowarfare. I guess pathogens can be made and weaponized at a home lab, but nothing the government has released has shown that is what they are doing. Plus the pathogens mentioned either are difficult to spread, like Malaria, TB, HIV or Ebola, or are ones already everywhere, like the Coronavirus. None of those are good for biowarfare. 

Of course it doesn't have to be a biowarfare lab for it to be a major threat. There was a real chance that there could have been an accidental release of a pathogen from either of these labs. The chances were higher in the Las Vegas case because apparently a family was living at the house that contained the lab. Like I mentioned above, none of these pathogens are easily spread but there absolutely could have been a minor outbreak because of the improper storage at this lab. It would have caused an extreme panic for a few cases of Ebola, for example, to pop up out of nowhere. 

People are hyping up the involvement of China, but that's an old issue. It does seem very likely that they were helping Zhu with the original lab. There is very little other explanation as to why this guy had all these pathogens. They were probably profiting off the fraud that Zhu was committing. It's just another example as how China does all kinds of nasty things like this. 

Federal police in Minneapolis will be issued bodycams.

 

Federal police in Minneapolis. AP. 

Federal police, including ICE, CBP and other Homeland Security officers, will be issued bodycams. AP. Secretary Kristi Noem said that the program will be expanded nationwide as more funding becomes available. The policy comes in the wake of two officer involved shootings in Minneapolis during attacks on federal law enforcement. No bodycam footage was recorded in the Renee Good shooting, but several CBP officers had bodycams on during the Alex Pretti shooting, but they were not released yet. Legislation has been proposed to fund more bodycams but is currently held up in the Senate. President Trump endorsed the idea, saying that it was up to Noem but that he liked them because they generally made it hard to lie about what happened during an incident. 

My Comment:

I absolutely support bodycams. Trump was right, they absolutely prevent people from lying about what happened during a police encounter and they have vindicated officers a lot more often then they condemn them. 

Indeed, though there was not bodycam footage in the Renee Good shooting, there was cell phone footage from the officer that vindicated his actions, showing without a doubt that not only did Good hit him with her car, but that she was happy about it. That didn't stop the dedicated folks on the left from not believing their lying eyes, but it had a major effect on the perception of the case from people that weren't dedicated political pundits. 

I generally think that no policy has backfired more for the left than bodycam footage. The Black Lives Matter narrative was that police were shooting innocent people. That narrative was proven to be ridiculous when dozens of cases showed how out of control criminals are. 

It’s actually insane how every single body cam video looks exactly like this https://t.co/wwsuEtdKo5 pic.twitter.com/OY382gw4EU

— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeaceful) September 3, 2025

I think that's a reason why Black Lives Matter is a spent force. Folks saw how these cases went down and folks realized that BLM was full of it. And the same thing happened in these cases. More than one person said that what you thought about the Renee Good shooting depended on how much bodycam footage you have watched. If you are someone that views it regularly, you have seen video of officers being hurt or killed because they hesitated when someone drove their car at them.  

I also think that if people really saw raw, unedited footage, of how insane these leftist protesters are they would lose a lot of sympathy for them. Indeed, that's what happened in the Alex Pretti case. Pretti was filmed 11 days before he was shot and he was utterly deranged, spitting on officers and kicking the taillight of a police SUV. 

MUST WATCH: Footage of an a man who looks like Alex Pretti with a gun in his waistband, spitting on and attacking federal law enforcement officers and kicking the tail light of their vehicle on January 13.

Bombshell report from the BBC.

Important context: Pretti was not a… pic.twitter.com/snzEO8rU8w

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 28, 2026

I do wonder why federal police didn't have bodycams in the first place. It sounds like it is a budget issue. It's frustrating as bodycams should be something that everyone supports. I would think though that the Democrats are willing to block it because as demonstrated above, it hurts their cause. 

Indeed, the Democrats hate this kind of transparency. They don't want the public to know just how badly their activist base acts when the cameras are off. That's they antifa and other protest groups often attack journalists and why Will Stancil, one of the more famous activists in Minneapolis and a lolcow beloved by the right, got kicked out of the movement. Stancil had the temerity to film what he was doing and regularly talked to journalists and now he's persona non grata in the movement, to the point where he was punched. 

 

ANTIFA PUNCHED WILL STANCIL pic.twitter.com/u55XO4SWYE

— Aetius (@AetiusRF) February 2, 2026

So yes, I fully support bodycams for ICE, CBP and any other federal officers. They are absolutely going to show that their actions are legally justified and that the leftist activist movement is totally out of control. In theory, if an officer does screw up, they will be held accountable too. It's win win for everyone but the activist left.  

Despite saber rattling on both sides, Iran and the United States appear ready for high level talks to avoid conflict.

 

President Donald Trump and Ayatollah Khamenei.. Times of Israel/AP. 

Iran and the United States appear ready for high level talks in Ankara Turkey to avoid a conflict. Times of Israel. Tensions between Iran and the United States have been high ever since wide scale anti-regime protests broke out and were put down by the Iranian government. The United States has deployed significant forces in the region, including a carrier strike group. However, reports from sources in the Trump administration say that a meeting is being arranged between Iran's diplomats and Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Both sides are still publicly saber rattling, with Iran saying that a regional war could break out and President Trump agreeing with the statement. 

My Comment:

I am guessing that diplomacy will win the day here. I know that both Trump and the Iranian government are yelling at each other right now, but anyone who knows anything about how Trump does things understands that he often does that. Trump and Kim Jong Un were pretty acrimonious before their meeting and despite that they had a pretty productive meeting. It doesn't always work, Trump ran into a brick wall in trying to end the Russia-Ukraine war, but it does appear to be what is happening here. 

That doesn't mean that there isn't a risk of strikes. We do have large forces in the region. In addition to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which has an air wing, supporting warships, and, most likely, cruise missile submarines, we also have a few squadrons of F-15's in the region as well. Not to mention our long range strike capabilities using B-2 bombers. 

It's also important to note that Iran's defensive capabilities have been greatly reduced by Israel during their 12 day war last year. Their air force, already obsolete with outdated MIG29's and ancient F-14 Tomcats, was largely grounded during that conflict and they lost quite a few of their jets through airstrikes. And their air defenses? Blown up as well. They have managed to rebuild some of those forces, but not anywhere near enough to actually defend themselves against an American attack.  

Iran is probably also receptive to diplomacy after the successful raid in Venezuela that saw President Maduro reduced to a federal prisoner. Such an operation targeting Khamenei isn't at all likely given that Iran is a lot more formidable than Venezuela even in it's reduced state, but it does show that Trump is crazy enough to try something with Iran and have a real chance of pulling it off. And it's not like Iran found out for themselves just how bad it could go after their nuclear sites were wiped out last year. 

Though the protests in Iran probably caused this, any talks would likely not be about them. The protests have winded down, at high cost in terms of human lives, but they are over now. The real problem is the nuclear deal. Though effective, the strikes against Iran's nuclear sites were not enough to end the nuclear program entirely. A deal, that would involve inspections of Iranian nuclear sites, is what is needed to ensure that the program doesn't start up again. 

I do think that Diplomacy will win the day. Iran is in a very bad position right now. They are practically defenseless and barely survived the latest round of protests. They are also crippled economically, I have mentioned in their past that their inflation was running around 40% a month, and that's not counting food inflation being even worse. Their capital even has a water crisis. They have every incentive to make a deal here. 

And we also know enough about President Trump that he wants a deal as well. He's not afraid to saber rattle, but he is absolutely willing to talk as well, and his whole personality is built around making deals in difficult situations. It's what fuels him and I think he wants to be the one that finally brought peace to the middle east. And I think as long as nothing goes wrong, he will probably pull it off.