Links 2/17/2026

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1. Koldmilk February 17, 2026 at 7:22 am

   F-16s Find Balloons, Not UFOs, After Sunday Scramble: NORAD (The War Zone) —

   A phenomenon (security vulnerability?) known for over four decades now:

   You and I in a little toy shop
   Buy a bag of balloons with the money we’ve got
   Set them free at the break of dawn
   ‘Til one by one they were gone
   Back at base bugs in the software
   Flash the message: “something’s out there!”
   Floating in the summer sky
   Ninety-nine red balloons go by

   Ninety-nine red balloons
   Floating in the summer sky
   Panic bells, it’s red alert
   There’s something here from somewhere else
   The war machine springs to life
   Opens up one eager eye
   Focusing it on the sky
   Where ninety-nine red balloons go by

   “99 Red Balloons” (1984) Nena.
2. The Rev Kev February 17, 2026 at 7:44 am

   “A shortage of firewood has arisen in Estonia due to prolonged cold weather”

   I have read that the problem is that cut wood needs up to two years to dry before it is fit to burn but they have run out of it. They only have fresh cut wood which has more moisture, makes more smoke and does not generate as much heat. It may be that the smart ones were stockpiling dry timber which accounts for the present shortage. It’s going to get smoky over Estonia.
   1. ilsm February 17, 2026 at 8:23 am

      More work for chimney sweeps!
      1. ambrit February 17, 2026 at 9:11 am

         The DNC could really make bank here and sell them some of the limitless supply of “Dry Powder” they have stored, it is rumoured, under the Senate Building. Some of it is two hundred years old!
         1. rjcvn February 17, 2026 at 12:42 pm

            I thought it was in the vaults under the Smithsonian?!? :)
            1. Dr. John Carpenter February 17, 2026 at 2:20 pm

               No! It was under the East Wing of the White House. Why do you think they were so upset when Trump tore the East Wing down?
               1. rjcVN February 17, 2026 at 5:10 pm

                  It was all probably re-hypothocated anyway, multiple times, and the underlying (heh, buried etc) assets are no longer present. Or outright looted..
      2. mrsyk February 17, 2026 at 9:17 am

         Firewood can be cut in the spring to burn during the upcoming heating season if done properly. Unseasoned firewood won’t burn. Under-seasoned wood will burn but throws less heat, and as Rev notes, is smokier.
         Seasoned firewood is in demand here due to the unexpected cold temperatures causing increased consumption and catching consumers short.
         1. lyman alpha blob February 17, 2026 at 6:32 pm

            We always dried split firewood for a year. My father kept enough for a couple years in the shed and would spend one week of ‘vacation’ early every summer cutting enough firewood to replace what we burned the previous winter.

            That being said, kiln-dried firewood has been a thing for a while now and I’d imagine Estonia has access to kiln technology, given that kilns have been in use for millennia now.
      3. alrhundi February 17, 2026 at 11:58 am

         It’s a conspiracy to reduce youth unemployment!
   2. upstater February 17, 2026 at 8:56 am

      The problem with unseasoned hardwood firewood or most any conifer is the production of creosote. A cool fire or resinous pine can produce huge amounts of particulates and creosote and low heat. This coats the inside of stovepipes and chimney flues with a tar-like goo and becomes hardened and glassy. It is very flammable and a hot fire or sparks can ignite it, causing a chimney fire. Once started they are very difficult to stop; the only practical way is to shut of the air supply on the stove itself and with a stovepipe damper, which should always be in place. It is difficult to remove creosote from a chimney flue.
      1. TomDority February 17, 2026 at 9:47 am

         Have been witness to the chimney fire back in early 80s, as I did chimney sweeping for a gig, Those fires are blast furnaces and can shake a chimney off its foundation – a stove pipe damper is not enough as it will fold up and blow out – once started they are dangerous to try to stop – chemical logs have come a long way to prevent this and stop-em…. but, wow, to see it is crazy.
         Sort of the amazement ya get when the power of nature is unleashed in your vicinity – beauty and power.
      2. tegnost February 17, 2026 at 10:06 am

         The trick hereabouts is to soak a roll of paper towels and throw it in and close the door in the rare but not unknown event of a chimney fire. Supposedly the steam will put it out and I don’t know anyone who has actually tried it. The one chimney fire I had I choked the flue and let it burn out. I mostly burn douglas fir and white fir but there are some shore pines I avoid since they are very resinous and what I decided was the cause of my earlier fire.
         1. jsn February 17, 2026 at 11:29 am

            I saw this done in an early 19th century very large fireplace chimney with a small rug: our host ran to the powder room, stuffed the rug in the toilet repeatedly to wet as much as he could and then through it into the fireplace like spreading a sheet on a bed. The draw sucked it into the flue which it plugged, stopping the fire.

            Apparently this happened in this old, masonry house about once a generation, allowing the knowledge to propagate down generations of the human comedy.
            1. amfortas February 17, 2026 at 4:13 pm

               i keep a box of baking soda close to all 3 woodstoves.
               throw that in there, close the damper(mine are all on the front of stove) and close the door. heat cooks the baking soda really quick, smothering fire with CO2.
               ive tested this in nonemergency situations.
               its a PITA to clean out of stove, though.
               as for creosote buildup…2 smaller stoves, the 6″ pipe comes off stove, and into an 8″ pipe through ceiling.
               so i remove and clean and store the 6″ sections in warm months.
               big stove, cant do that,lol…so ill burn a few of those anticreosote logs throughout winter.
               ive examined the cap to that one, including snaking a heavy wire down the inside.
               seems to work, i guess. but its too tall…need ladder…and i just cant,lol.
               one chimeny sweep guy, 100 miles away and expensive.
               perhaps next time he does moms house.
               1. jsn February 18, 2026 at 2:20 pm

                  Very interesting, thanks!
   3. Jackiebass63 February 17, 2026 at 9:09 am

      It depends on the wood variety on how long it takes to season. Generally the heavy more dense the wood is the longer it takes to season. Ash is naturally dry so it is seasoned in about 6 months. Store it so it doesn’t get wet. I heated with firewood for decades. I operated on a two year cycle. I used the wood I cut last year while cutting next years supply. An important thing to remember is to frequently clean your chimney to prevent a chimney fire.
      1. vao February 17, 2026 at 10:27 am

         I found this wood drying calculator on the Internet. No idea whether the results are realistic. Unfortunately, the tool only uses non-SI measurements units.
   4. wol February 17, 2026 at 9:32 am

      In this area landscaping businesses stock kiln-dried hardwood that can be burned immediately. (:29) https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kiln+dried+firewood
      Bonus, Multitek Firewood Processor, 7 cords per hour (3:55) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldfA2cyTl0o
   5. David February 17, 2026 at 10:10 am

      Some wood is quicker to dry. But a year is pretty much the minimum. You can of course kiln dry wood, but that is energy intensive and hardly worth it for fire wood.

      I’m guessing the energy is gas/electric prices increasing enough to make people rely on wood more and that wasn’t predicted teo years ago, or there was not enough tress to cut down anyway at that point.
   6. PlutoniumKun February 17, 2026 at 12:07 pm

      Beechwood fires are bright and clear
      If the logs are kept a year,
      Chestnuts only good they say,
      If for logs ’tis laid away.
      Make a fire of Elder tree,
      Death within your house will be;
      But ash new or ash old.
      Is fit for a queen with a crown of gold

      Birch and fir logs burn too fast
      Blaze up bright and do not last,
      It is by the Irish said
      Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
      Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
      E’en the very flames are cold
      But ash green or ash brown
      Is fit for a queen with a crown of gold

      Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
      Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
      Apple wood will scent your room
      Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
      Oaken logs, if dry and old
      Keep away the winter’s cold
      But ash wet or ash dry
      A king shall warm his slippers by.

      Lady Celia Congreve
   7. ChatET February 17, 2026 at 1:54 pm

      Prolonged use of green firewood can lead to chimney fires.
   8. Jon Cloke February 18, 2026 at 8:22 am

      Also, staggering rises in the cost of household fuels since 2021 in the Baltic states mean that, the less you can pay for gas/electricity, the more firewood you chop.

      I’m thinking of naming this as a law – maybe the British Gas Law?
3. Wukchumni February 17, 2026 at 7:45 am

   They seek him here, they seek him there
   His flag lapel pins are rectangular, but never square
   Patriotism will make or break him so he’s got to wear the best
   ‘Cause he’s a dedicated follower of fascism

   And when he does his little rounds
   ‘Round the rallies of some MAGA town
   Eagerly pursuing all the latest heavy handed fads and trends
   ‘Cause he’s a dedicated follower of fascsim

   Oh, yes he is (Oh, yes he is)
   Oh, yes he is (Oh, yes he is)
   He thinks he is a leader to be looked at
   And when he pulls his cabinet members feet out of the fire
   He feels a dedicated follower of fascism

   Oh, yes he is (Oh, yes he is)
   Oh, yes he is (Oh, yes he is)
   There’s one thing that he loves, and that is flattery
   One week he’s invading Venezuela, the next week he’s in Tehran
   ‘Cause he’s a dedicated follower of fascism

   They seek him here, they seek him there
   On Fox News and Newsmax on the air
   Everywhere the MAGA army marches on
   Each one a dedicated follower of fascism

   Oh, yes he is (Oh, yes he is)
   Oh, yes he is (Oh, yes he is)
   His world is built ’round lawsuits and settlements
   This pressure-seeking individual always looks to sue somebody
   ‘Cause he’s a dedicated follower of fascism

   Oh, yes he is (Oh, yes he is)
   Oh, yes he is (Oh, yes he is)
   He flits from controversy just like a butterfly
   In matters of the truth he is as fickle as can be
   ‘Cause he’s a dedicated follower of fascism

   He’s a dedicated follower of fascism
   He’s a dedicated follower of fascism

   Dedicated Follower of Fashion, by the Kinks

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSnzFI2iwjw&list=RDpSnzFI2iwjw
   1. Ben Panga February 17, 2026 at 8:45 am

      Excellent. You got me humming!
   2. ChrisFromGA February 17, 2026 at 10:19 am

      Our Taco would look good in jackboots. History won’t be kind to him.

      A fine effort!
      1. JonnyJames February 17, 2026 at 11:41 am

         A parody of a fat old man who could not fight his way out of a paper bag, dressed in jackboots. We can add Lindsey Graham and most of the warmongering Congress. At least pretty boy Hegseth can look more the part if dressed up in a black Hugo Boss uniform with jackboots.
         1. hk February 17, 2026 at 12:04 pm

            Modern day Herman Goering? (Not fair to Goering since he was a dashing fighter ace when young. Maybe modern day Himmler, except he wasn’t fat, although just as chickenhawk.)
4. The Rev Kev February 17, 2026 at 8:16 am

   “Poland Is Preparing A Lawsuit Against Russia For Reparations”

   Maybe the Russian Federation can prepare a bill for Poland for the cost of liberating their country from the Nazis back in WW2. The cost of all those troops, ammo, artillery, tanks, aircraft, logistics, etc. should add up to a pretty penny. I don’t think that the Russians are in a mood for these clown world antics. And I heard from someone fairly reliable that the Polish army are rotating in Polish army battalions for combat experience so the Russians should charge them for that as well.
   1. Giovanni Barca February 17, 2026 at 7:29 pm

      Might not be a good look, what with parking across the river to watch the fireworks in the Warsaw uprising and then there’s that whole unpleasantness with the Katyn Forest and all that. And the whole partitions thing–but Poland did invade Muscovy in the early 1600s and thereby indirectly gave the world the Romanovs.

      Burn the ledgers. Start over.
5. Tom Stone February 17, 2026 at 8:47 am

   Sometimes my subconscious comes up with answers while I sleep that explain something I can’t figure out while conscious.
   This Morning it was US policy, If Iran is funding anti ICE protestors using Venezuelan cut outs it explains why it is so urgent to blockade Cuba and take over Greenland.
   You’re welcome.
6. Henry Moon Pie February 17, 2026 at 8:47 am

   Moving beyond capitalism with Hickel and Varoufakis–

   Great pairing and fine takedown of anti-human capitalism, but who is the audience? Certainly not the elites. While H&V personify capitalism as a drooling wolf, our elites are that drooling wolf embodied in sociopathic humans. Is the audience “the people?” A substantial portion are too caught up in their own quest for More!More!More!, while the rest, me included, are completely powerless to stop these elites from driving us over the cliff.

   H&Y are reasonable people in a time of anti-reason.
   1. mrsyk February 17, 2026 at 9:35 am

      I had a similar reaction. A dollar short and a day late as well. To be filed away in the case anything rises from the ashes.
7. ChrisFromGA February 17, 2026 at 8:55 am

   Re: MAHA/Vaccine makers cutting jobs

   I think that our villains at HHS are certainly part of the picture, but I also have a sneaking suspicion that all the VC being sucked up by AI is also to blame for cutbacks in health research and the bio-sciences.

   Why fund cancer research when Sam Altman says that AI will cure cancer?
   1. t February 17, 2026 at 10:34 am

      Tragically, you probably have a point.

      My work life has been, for so long now 50% “AI” boosting and 50% warnings about not using AI. Apparently AI is the way the truth and the light… but just not right now.

      (Obviously, we us things that have existed for my entire working life all the time, and some of those things, like ERP systems, are now being described as AI. I saw an ad last week calling document compare AI.)
8. AG February 17, 2026 at 9:12 am

   re: film Godard Linklater

   NEW LEFT REVIEW

   Godardorama – On ‘Nouvelle Vague’
   Leo Robson
   https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/godardorama

   p.s. It is interesting that despite hundreds of films following the few “Nouvelle Vague” years depicted by Linklater and discussed in the text and produced by the same lot of people who would go on producing movies after the NOUVELLE VAGUE – to this day is still regarded as their representative moment and a pars pro toto.

   This is especially true for Godard and Truffaut.

   Even though “À bout de souffle” (aka “About a Soufflé”😉) is simply a different animal than what followed in Godard´s 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s. “400 Blows” by Truffaut too is not what would follow in the 1960s, 70s, 80s. But still both remain their most popular and highly praised films.

   After Godard broke with mainstream, or vice versa, mid-1960s, his legacy which he stood for in public had increasingly less to having to do anything with his real work: There was the actual Godard as a working director and there was the legend that got stuck in the early 1960s.

   Except Truffaut, the others e.g. Chabrol, Resnais, Rivette, Rohmer, Varda, had a better fate in this regard. Their work was acknowledged as films in their own right and they managed to detach from the mythological 1950s/60s – to an extent – although of course remained rooted there as their public persona was concerned.

   It´s like Hollywood recycling the same topics: I am always amazed how it happens that US pop culture as it is perceived by MSM in essence can still be reduced to 4 names: Marilyn, Elvis, Michael Jackson, Madonna.

   p.s. Godard e.g. hated LE MEPRIS. And he did so understandbly. From a professional POV it´s not a movie that good at all. But that´s where professionalism in popular arts reveals its real distance to the limited understanding and expertise in the mass society it is being produced for.
   The more people have daily contact with something the less they appear to pierce its arcane features and rules.
   1. Carolinian February 17, 2026 at 10:13 am

      I’m looking forward to the Linklater which is on request at my library.

      IMO all these years later Godard seems much more durable than Truffaut who devolved into making trivial comedies. You might say Godard had superior taste whatever one thinks of Nicholas Ray.
      1. vao February 17, 2026 at 10:43 am

         Personally, I found Godard’s movies from the late 1960s (the maoist phase such as “La Chinoise”) to the 1980s (e.g. “Détective”) insufferable — at least those films I watched, I did not bother trying for more after a while.

         On the other hand, films such as “Alphaville” or “Vivre sa vie” were quite engaging.

         So yes, I fit in the general, popular mood: I appreciate Godard till the mid-60s, afterwards he becomes seriously grating.
         1. Carolinian February 17, 2026 at 11:23 am

            One could say that entire era was overrated by the critics of the time since nouvelle vague’s modern progeny are thin on the ground. Plein air moviemaking turned into CGI. Clearly political changes are part of this as the rightwing empire struck back. The New Wave were mostly commies.

            A critic like Kael, who tried to meld a high culture sensibility with pop, would also champion the then favored quest for the great American novel (her version:Mailer) as though the arts could explain the world and our natures to us rather than simply describe them. The critic as journo star trend has also greatly faded as print dwindles.
      2. AG February 18, 2026 at 12:09 am

         Here it opens in March. We´ll see if there is time.
   2. Archie Shemp February 17, 2026 at 4:10 pm

      Thank you!

      I see that Robson’s piece is described there as a reply to one about Godard by Robin Wood. The latter is paywalled, but in full here:

      https://archive.ph/K1izV
      1. AG February 18, 2026 at 12:07 am

         thanks
         1966…time goes by, sigh.
         How much next generations got fed up with nouvelle vague as a talked about group or “thing” – at the same time not willing/able to cut ties – is shown by the title of Mathieu Kassovitz´s first short film of 1990: He called it “Fierrot le pou”.

         Matthieu Kassovitz – Fierrot Le Pou (1990)
         7min. B&W
         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZLcrcUINaA
9. mrsyk February 17, 2026 at 9:22 am

   The Chris Martenson tweet caught my eye. That crowd that Epstein worked for sure seems to have a hand in everything.
   1. Screwball February 17, 2026 at 11:18 am

      It’s all Trumps fault, or so I am told.

      Funny, looking at the timeline, Epstein was first busted around 2008, so this stuff was going on before that, then again in 2019. The files name over 300 people over the years. So many of these people run in the same circles, and I have to believe many of them knew what was going on.

      Yet, nobody did anything. Strange, No?

      Let’s add another twist. The Super Bowl halftime show was sub-contracted to Jay-Z in 2017 as I understand it. He doesn’t have a squeaky clean record, even said to have been involved with the P-Diddy guy who was accused of some awful stuff, if true.

      It seems like so many of our idols (I use that term loosely) and people who run and control our world are a bunch of perverts, pedophiles, rapists, and worse.

      They all knew, and they did nothing. May they all rot in hell.
      1. mrsyk February 17, 2026 at 12:37 pm

         Worse than idols, they are mentors and role models.
         The ugliness that keeps coming out from under Epstein’s rock begs the question of how far back does the history of this extra-governmental organization go? Remember the Iran hostage situation that made Carter a one term president? Looks like similar work to me. We see a few of the same names turn up in the “Iran-Contra” affair, courtesy of Whitney Webb’s reporting.
         1. Screwball February 17, 2026 at 12:55 pm

            Not enough people have heard of Whitney. What a brave soul.

            The rot is deep and wide. Too many are focused on the politics and who they want to get. I saw a poll asking who should be the first two people to get arrested. Easy; the first, the last, and every sick **** in between. Nothing less is acceptable.

            These people are the Big Club.
            1. JonnyJames February 17, 2026 at 1:29 pm

               Yes, but I think it was Gary Webb who first uncovered the CIA/Contra cocaine connections.https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gary-Webb
               1. mrsyk February 18, 2026 at 7:41 am

                  Gary Webb (not related to Whitney) died by “suicide”, somehow managed to shoot himself twice in the head according to official sources.
10. anonymous February 17, 2026 at 9:24 am

    For those who consider nuclear power our best energy option, please be aware of the waste issues. This 2026 article points out the positive of potential jobs, but also the reality of accumulation (10,000 tons/year). The second confirms that both US military storage sites are already leaking into US soils…

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772416626000410#sec0030 https://reactor.osu.edu/news/2025/05/how-and-where-nuclear-waste-stored-u.s
11. pjay February 17, 2026 at 9:58 am

    – ‘Venezuela: the end game’ – Michael Roberts

    I had a long post on this which disappeared into the ether. So here is my short version. What are we to do with this information from “some of the most important Marxist, socialist, and anti-capitalist thinkers in Venezuela,” about how “corrupt,” “cronyistic,” “authoritarian,” and “neoliberal” the Maduro regime was, and how the Rodriguez government has sold out to global Capital? Doesn’t sound like it is really a “regime” worth saving, does it?

    Where have I heard this type of argument from “leftists” before?
12. AG February 17, 2026 at 10:10 am

    re: John Helmer and Russian airplanes

    I would point at Martyanov here who has repeatedly stressed that the Russian aerospace industry is probably the only fully integrated domestic industry of this sort. They produce everything 100% themselves with resources and material that their own. This is an essential part of sovereignty and national security and I seriously doubt Russians would ever let that slip away for whatever suggested deal.

    Martyanov has made his argument often by pointing at the Chinese and them being sanctioned by the US and the EU and the trouble with developing Chinese turbines e.g. to replace AIRBUS engines (or other parts). Or just look at the historic, as he says, India-Russia deal on Indian commercial airflight which will operate with Russian airplanes – of course reported nowhere in Western media.
    1. PlutoniumKun February 17, 2026 at 11:26 am

       I’m not sure the article you are referring to, but on the subject of Russian aerospace, while their domestic military aircraft are of course excellent, their commercial aircraft are a very mixed bag, and the various joint deals with China have floundered for well known reasons. The ‘fully Russified’ version of the SJ-100 is a full 6,000 kg heavier than the original version and far less fuel efficient.

       The deal with HAL to make the SJ-100 in India is almost certainly a publicity stunt by HAL to divert attention from their rivals, Adjani – they made a deal with Brazil to manufacture Embraer designs in India. This is a far more promising deal for India than the HAL deal – Embraer aircraft are proven commercially and its likely the intention is to widen the market for Embraer into Asia. The SJ-100 is a very troubled design (to put it mildly) and probably should have been put out of its misery a few years ago.
       1. AG February 17, 2026 at 11:33 pm

          thanks!
13. flora February 17, 2026 at 10:44 am

    Due Dissidence guys talking about AOC’s Munich speech.
    utube, ~33+ minutes.

    Israel Supporters ATTACK AOC For Calling Gaza G*nocide. . .IN GERMANY!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TktalIX-4PI

    I think AOC knows which way the wind is blowing in the under-50’s US voters.
    1. AG February 17, 2026 at 7:47 pm

       thanks
       “Israel Supporters” have carte blanche in Germany.
    2. AG February 18, 2026 at 12:27 am

       German daily BERLINER ZEITUNG´s take on AOC in Germany:

       machine-translation

       Transatlantic Left Alliances: How Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is working for the class struggle in Berlin

       Security policy alliances are being formed at the Munich Security Conference. Left-wing forces, on the other hand, are networking beyond the official summit rhetoric.
       https://archive.is/e6d8T
14. Lark February 17, 2026 at 11:00 am

    How did Wine Moms Become the Vanguard of the Anti-Trump Revolution? Labor Politics. Or do they just want Trump gone and a more friendly face back in West Wing to paper over all the poverty and war so they can go back to enjoying their wine?

    I can tell you something from Minneapolis – the vast majority of the “wine moms” who are out on the street are just… women, frequently but by no means always white,(“wine mom” is almost always used to describe white women – I have hardly ever seen it used to talk about women of color) older than thirty, many of whom have been activists or activist-adjacent their whole lives. We have no language for middle aged women who aren’t trying to be hot, who aren’t famous, who are not visibly bohemian and yet who care about and do things. Women who have aged out of their first youth are invisible in our culture, except when we can run them down as being “wine moms”. If they do activism, it’s because they just stumbled into it, not because they’re smart or dedicated or live their beliefs. (Rosa Parks too was “just tired”, right? Not an organizer?)

    I know two thirtyish/early forties organizers who have been referred to in the media as “wine moms”. Both of them are serious activists who have been involved in mutual aid and other radical projects since before the George Floyd uprisings. It’s just that they have, like, mom haircuts and average clothes and have children. (All of which gives them traction in public meetings – looking really bohemian or really young would not, even though it would render them more “visible”.)

    I personally really wish there wasn’t a “oh look at the authentic Wine Moms! Things must be really bad if EVEN THE LAZY BOUGIE WINE MOMS are on the street” narrative. It gives an extremely wrong impression about how politics actually happen in the US and it is frankly insulting to a lot of women. It also suggests that politics is somehow boring and weird, and that the reason most US people aren’t in unions or active in their local party chapter or agitating for socialism, etc isn’t because of suppression, union-busting and so on but because politics is only for fringe weirdos except in times of national emergency.

    There is a tendency to lump in “people who are vaguely liberal if you poll them and will probably donate to good causes” (and even that is a lot better than the alternative!) with people who actually do work.
    1. anahuna February 17, 2026 at 11:47 am

       Cheers to you, Lark, for speaking up instead of kicking down.
    2. flora February 17, 2026 at 1:06 pm

       Great comment.

       You mean to say these women are serious and are not just engaging in the latest hobby activity before brunch? (“Wine mom” is the ultimate in condescension. )
    3. Archie Shemp February 17, 2026 at 4:21 pm

       I too greatly appreciate this comment, Lark. The swipes at protesting women struck me as unfair. I also think it should be noted more often, appreciated more often, that so many activists are women.

       I hope it’s not sexist to say that it seems to me, once again, that a lot more women than men have been demonstrating bravery lately (Alex Pretti being a therefore notable exception).
       1. paleobotanist February 17, 2026 at 9:39 pm

          The women’s march on Versailles…
15. Lark February 17, 2026 at 11:25 am

    One more thought – I feel like the reason that “wine mom” is nearly always used to describe white women is specifically intended to obscure and marginalize women’s activism by framing it as lifestylism. No one ever says, “out in the streets of Minneapolis, long-time anti-racist women organizers are the backbone of the resistance”, even though actually a HUGE number of key organizers are Native women who have been heavily involved in community activism, and there are many Somali-American women activists and Latina women activists who have been working on immigrants’ rights literally as long as I can remember, and . That’s both specific individuals I have met/heard speak/etc and organizations like the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center – it’s hard to imagine how things in south Minneapolis could have been organized without them. And then there’s local journalist Georgia Fort, and Nekima Levy-Armstrong, who was already deeply involved in civil rights activism in 2013 or so when I first heard her speak.
    1. ChrisPacific February 17, 2026 at 9:16 pm

       It’s similar to the “bros” terminology (which I think has different connotations, but is also an attempt to marginalize). Nobody talks about the political beliefs of “beer dads” or attributes positions to them as a demographic category.
16. Jason Boxman February 17, 2026 at 11:26 am

    Hello world.

    Iran partially closes Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil choke point, as Tehran holds talks with U.S. (CNBC)

    A taste?

    Iran partially closed the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, state media reported, citing “security precautions” as Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard conducts military drills in the waterway.

    It comes as the U.S. and Iran hold talks in the Swiss city of Geneva, seeking to resolve an ongoing dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.

    It marks the first time Iran has shut parts of the Strait of Hormuz, a major international waterway that links crude producers in the Middle East with key markets across the globe, since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Tehran with military action in January.

    Located in the gulf between Oman and Iran, the strait is recognized as one of the world’s most important oil choke points.

    About 13 million barrels per day of crude oil transited the Strait of Hormuz in 2025, accounting for roughly 31% of global seaborne crude flows, data provided by market intelligence firm Kpler showed.
17. JonnyJames February 17, 2026 at 11:42 am

    Just saw this from MI6’s “compatible left” outlet: the daily smear against the evil “Iranian regime”
    https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/feb/17/x-rays-injuries-iran-protesters-hospital-birdshot-bullets

    Softening up a reluctant public for another war as usual?
    1. JohnA February 17, 2026 at 12:24 pm

       I saw the headline and image but as it is the MI6 house journal The Guardian, did not bother reading such propaganda. Having said that, many of the deaths and injuries in Iran were likely caused by Mossad/CIA/MI6 agents provocateurs and their snipers.
       The same Guardian also ran a breathless splash today that Ukraine had just recaptured around 250 sq km of territory. However, even a Kings College London (the British Intelligence outfit) spokesperson later admitted that as this came from a single Ukrainian source, it has not been verified. Pure propaganda in other words. The Guardian stoops lower and lower by the day in shedding its supposedly left of centre liberal facade.
       1. JonnyJames February 17, 2026 at 1:15 pm

          Oh yeah, when we see unnamed, unverified Ukrainian “source” that should raise a red flag or two. And Navalny was murdered with poison extracted from frogs blah blah

          Just like the Democracy Now! (see my comment below) US outlet uses unnamed “human rights groups” as a source. And this passes as journalism.
18. Carolinian February 17, 2026 at 11:55 am

    Jesse Jackson has died.

    https://www.rt.com/news/632671-us-civil-rights-leader-jesse-jackson-dies/
    1. wol February 17, 2026 at 2:10 pm

       Jesse Jackson, Robert Duvall, Frederick Wiseman, all today. When giants walked the earth.
19. JonnyJames February 17, 2026 at 11:59 am

    Another, slightly more subtle compatible left outlet: Democracy Now criticizes the genocide, then turns focus on the “abuses of the Iranian regime”

    https://www.democracynow.org/2026/2/12/jafar_panahi

    https://www.democracynow.org/2026/2/2/headlines/iranian_authorities_arrest_oscar_nominated_screenwriter_mehdi_mahmoudian

    Yet I have not seen the likes of prof. Marandi on the Hypocrisy Now! show. Even openly hostile Piers Morgan had prof. Sayed Mohammed Marandi on his show.
20. PlutoniumKun February 17, 2026 at 12:04 pm

    The Last Yak Herder Of Ladakh Noema

    A sad article (to go with the yak/cow hybrid antidote photo), although somewhat curious too, as there are some strange errors in it – maybe some sort of editorial errors? It reports from ‘Changthang’, which is a similar Himalayan plateau in Sikkim, about 2,000 km from Ladakh. Perhaps a confusion with a similarly named area in Ladakh? Its also kind of odd that they don’t distinguish the Ladakhi people from the Tibetans living in the Henle area, most of whom are, so far as I know, refugees from Tibet. The Ladakhi people are ethnically similar and speak a separate (if somewhat related) language but do not consider themselves Tibetan.

    Its been too many years since I’ve travelled in the area, but the one hope for those herders is the homestay business – since all the herders have a village base (they will move seasonally) these are excellent places for trekkers and others to stay and explore. But the long term medium-hot military situation in the region has sadly probably reduced tourism. It is an amazing place to visit.

    The herding itself is essentially subsistence farming, hence the need for some form of alternative income. But the radical change to the local climate makes almost anything too precarious. The area is very arid and would take very little to entirely desertify. The fact that New Delhi and Beijing see fit to maintain a long term conflict over the plateau (neither are much bothered at consulting the people who actually live there) is very much a case of bald men fighting over a comb.
21. Lefty Godot February 17, 2026 at 12:15 pm

    A “basic income” for artists? That’s one way to make artists soon be regarded as even more suspect. The incestuous insider-ism in the world of “fine” arts now is already stifling the arts enough. But I guess we can’t do something more beneficial for everyone, not just artists, like just sharing the wealth.
    1. doily February 17, 2026 at 1:19 pm

       Hi Lefty. This is Ireland we are talking about. There’s not really enough “fine” art to get incestous and insidery with here, never mind getting resentful and suspicious of it. The 2000 poets, novelists, playwrights, songwriters, traditional musicians, dancers, actors, clowns, painters, etc. funded by the pilot scheme were the opposite of stifled. Studies show. The pilot scheme provided evidence for the permanent scheme, and the permanent scheme will provide evidence for UBI. All good as far as I can see.
       1. Archie Shemp February 17, 2026 at 4:32 pm

          Great point. “If we can’t all have it then no one should have it” isn’t a slogan built for real progress.
       2. Revenant February 17, 2026 at 9:25 pm

          There’s the very best “Fine Art” from Ireland:

          https://kneecap.ochre.store/format/1491929-fine-art

          Kneecap named their album Fine Art because a previous tour poster (to quote RTÉ “of Boris Johnson and Arlene Foster strapped to a rocket on top of a bonfire”) had been denounced by Unionists and one of the band had rejoined it was “Fine Art”.
22. Wukchumni February 17, 2026 at 1:10 pm

    Netanyahu, why don’t you come to your senses?
    You’ve been out killin’ Gazans for so long now
    Oh, you’re a hard one
    I know that you got your reasons
    These things that are pleasin’ you
    Can hurt you somehow

    Don’t you draw the wrath of hubris, boy
    It’ll beat you if it’s able
    You know that genocide is always your best bet
    Now it seems to me, some fine things
    Have been laid upon your table
    But you only want the ones that you can’t get

    Netanyahu, oh, you ain’t gettin’ no younger
    Palestinians pain and your hunger, you want to take their home
    And freedom, oh freedom well, that’s just some people talkin’
    Your prison is walking through this world all alone

    Don’t your conscience worry you over time?
    The world wants you where the sun won’t shine
    It’s hard to tell the night time to go on your way
    You’re losin’ all respect on this orb
    Ain’t it funny how the feeling goes away?

    Netanyahu, why don’t you come to your senses?
    Come down from your high horse, await your fate
    It may be rainin’ Iranian missiles, but there’s an Iron Dome above you
    You better let somebody replace you
    (Let somebody replace you)
    You better let somebody replace you before it’s too late

    Desperado, by the Eagles

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q93wc3-deU&list=RD-q93wc3-deU
23. hamstak February 17, 2026 at 1:54 pm

    Submitted without comment:

    U.S. Accuses China of Secret Nuclear Test Just Hours After Washington Offered New Global Arms Control Deal

    [Feb. 8]
    On February 6, during remarks at the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno stated that the US government had identified a nuclear explosive test conducted by China on June 22, 2020. The test was described as producing a yield in the “hundreds of tons” of TNT equivalent, far below standard warhead testing but still significant.

    DiNanno claimed the Chinese military used a method called nuclear decoupling, in which an underground cavity absorbs much of the blast’s seismic signature. “China sought to conceal testing by obfuscating the nuclear explosions because it recognized these tests violate test ban commitments.”
24. Ignacio February 17, 2026 at 3:23 pm

    India seizes three Iran-linked US-sanctioned tankers New Arab

    I suspect these news are theatrical stuff. Seize the tankers? Note this is outside India territorial waters and in the EEZ India has no right to seize anything which isn’t violating the rights India has in its EEZ. (Fishing rights or exploitation of natural resources below sea level. (Even if so, the ships should have to be released soon after inspection of possible damage, with time of inspection limited to about a couple of hours). If those ships were not involved in wrongdoing with any of those resources India had nothing to complain about.

    The problem I see with reporting like these is that people might start thinking that EEZs of coastal countries are sovereign waters according to UNCLOS. No they aren’t.

    The vessels, Stellar Ruby, Asphalt Star and Al Jafzia, were intercepted in early February, roughly 100 nautical miles west of Mumbai, after surveillance systems flagged suspicious movement within India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

    Define “suspicious movement”. The ships are free to navigate in India’s EEZno matter whether India considers their navigation suspicious or not. Of course “suspicious” was added as a literary justification of this theatrical “seizure”. May be some Indian coast guard talked to the captains, politely asked if they could embark, have a talk, and the captains obliged. Had a tea on board and then good bye. Thing done. That might account as a “seizure” or “interception”, something symbolic that looks tough, that Trump would like but with no consequences whatsoever. If the tankers had done anything wrong or suspicious within Indian territorial waters less than 12 nm from baselines, then things might have been quite different and India could be much tougher if they could demonstrate the ships were breaching Indian law in their territorial waters.
25. Acacia February 17, 2026 at 5:15 pm

    Earlier this week, @vao noted a 3.25 hour long video about OpenClaw AI, and asked:

    Does anybody actually spend time watching such long videos rather than just hearing the audio track as a background to other activities?

    In Japan, relatedly, Inada Toyoshi, an editor, writer and manga author (not illustrator), writes in (uhm, ironic title alert…) People Who Can No Longer Read Books (2026):

    Some people read silently slowly, while others read quickly. Those who read quickly still mostly get their information from text-based sources […]. They might wonder, ‘Why bother watching a video for over five minutes when you could read it in 30 seconds?’ But actually, proportionally, more people take several minutes to read the same amount of text that could be read in 30 seconds.

    The blurb: “This work reports on the current state of readers and publishers/web media surrounding text reception, beginning with thorough interviews with ‘people who can’t read books.’ What exactly are ‘people who can no longer read books’ thinking? Since the 2010s, as books falling out of favor became commonplace, this group has received almost no focus. By gathering raw voices, we deepen our examination of contemporary media conditions.”
26. AG February 17, 2026 at 8:24 pm

    re: Gaza BERLINALE speech: “THE KILLING OF HIND RAJAB”

    Director of THE KILLING OF HIND RAJAB, Kaouther Ben Hania, refused to accept an award at the Cinema for Peace gala in Berlin in front of Hillary Clinton as long as there are no consequences for the perpetrators and collaborators:

    “(…)
    “I feel responsibility more than gratitude. The Voice of Hind Rajab is not only about one child. It’s about the system that made her killing possible. What happened to Hind is not an exception. It’s a part of a genocide. And tonight, in Berlin, there are people who gave political cover to that genocide. By reframing the mass-civilian killing as ‘self-defense,’ as ‘complex circumstances.’ By denigrating those who protest. But as you may know, peace is not a perfume sprayed over violence so power can feel refined, and can feel comfortable. And cinema is not image-laundering. If we speak about peace, we must speak about justice. Justice means accountability. (applause)Without accountability, there is no peace. The Israeli army killed Hind Rajab; killed her family; killed the two paramedics who came to save her, with the complicity of the world’s most powerful governments and institutions refuse to let their deaths become a backdrop for a polite speech about peace. Not while the structures that enabled them remain untouched. So tonight, I will not take this award home. I leave it here as a reminder. And when peace is pursued as a legal and moral obligation, rooted in accountability for genocide, then I will come back and accept it with joy. Thank you very much. Thank you.”
    (…)”
27. flora February 17, 2026 at 9:05 pm

    re:antidote.

    Look at that bull and his horns. Then look at these long, long ago prehistoric cave paintings from Lascaux in southern France.

    https://metalposters.com/featured/france-reconstruction-of-bull-rock-paintings-of-lascaux-caves-prehistoric.html

    Or look at the more famous cave paintings from long, long ago in the Altamira caves in northern Spain.
    https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-prehistoric-cave-painting-of-a-charging-bull-buffalo-altamira-spain-57053890.html

    The past is always with us.
28. Jason Boxman February 17, 2026 at 9:41 pm

    4 dead in 30-vehicle pileup in Colorado as powerful winds slam Plains, fueling multiple wildfires

    Hello Climate?
29. AG February 17, 2026 at 11:39 pm

    re: MidEast

    JACK POULSON Substack

    Middle East-focused US/UK intel contractors discussed price for their spies to ‘break stuff’

    Documents filed Monday in an ongoing lawsuit between American and British intelligence contractors suggests exploration of electronic warfare and monitoring China/Iran trade in Strait of Hormuz ports.

    Jack Poulson
    Feb 18, 2026
    https://jackpoulson.substack.com/p/middle-east-focused-usuk-intel-contractors

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