I’VE A VERY NEGATIVE VIEW OF FRENCH PRESIDENT MACRON:  French President Macron Has a Very Negative View of Free Speech.

LET IT BE SO:  Trump Defeats Russia, Wins War for Ukraine: The Shocking Story Behind the Diplomatic Coup of the Century.

OH, LOOK, MY SHOCKED FACE:   Tucker Sob Story About Israeli Detention Collapses With Video Release.

WOULD BE GOOD:  Antifa’s days may finally be numbered. But let’s not get too excited yet, either.

GOOD:  As Ukraine endures another winter of war, Pope Leo XIV has responded with what he called “concrete charity.”

SO SAY WE ALL:  Randy Fine Said Nothing Wrong.

AND THEMSELVES:  Perplexity Just Nuked Alot of Goodwill.

IN THE CULT OF THE LEFT THERE’S NO ROOM FOR DISSENT:  Kevin James Meets The Tolerance Mob. The comedian’s recent comments on wanting to keep politics out of his comedy got him smeared as MAGA anyway.

THE MOST SPECTACULAR BACKFIRE OF PROPAGANDA IN HISTORY:  The Purple Knight Rises. Amelia was intended to be a bigoted character in a UK educational game. Instead, she has become a populist icon for ordinary people who are fed up with the globalist multicultural agenda.

YEAH. DRY AS A BONE AROUND THESE PARTS:  Fire Weather.

WELL: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over ties to Epstein.

A friend writes: “Interesting. Does this mean they’re gonna start arresting all those Pakistani rape gangs, plus the police and other public officials who turned a blind eye to that?”

Don’t be silly. That would be racist or something. Also it would interfere with the leftist/Islamist takeover of Britain. Arresting (former) Prince Andrew weakens the royal family, and thus promotes that takeover. Not that King Charles has shown any sign of getting in the way, but just by existing the monarchy is a potential center of resistance.

UPDATE (From Ed):

Arresting the King’s brother while letting Pakistani rape gangs roam free is not justice but a cynical evasion of it. pic.twitter.com/HnWeCBJXSq

— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) February 19, 2026

More (From Ed):

🚨 BREAKING: A video is resurfacing of Donald Trump in 2015 CALLING OUT Prince Andrew — who has now been arrested

"That island was a cesspool. No question about it — just ask Prince Andrew. He'll tell you about it!"

Trump was EARLY to blow the whistle!pic.twitter.com/H6cznOg1E7

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 19, 2026

THOUGHTS ON War Without A Declaration of War.

OPEN THREAD: Make it special.

HOW IT STARTED: Hacked Elmo X Account Used to Spread Antisemitic Incitement to Millions Online.

The official X account of Elmo, the beloved Sesame Street character followed by hundreds of thousands worldwide, was hacked on Sunday and used to disseminate chilling antisemitic hate speech and conspiracy theories — another stark example of how mainstream platforms are being weaponized to spread violent Jew-hatred.

The posts, written in all-caps and riddled with slurs, included genocidal language such as “Kill all Jews” and “Jews control the world and need to be exterminated.” They also invoked conspiracy theories about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and called U.S. President Donald Trump a “puppet” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, echoing classical antisemitic tropes alleging Jewish control and manipulation of world affairs.

—Combat Antisemitism Movement, July 14th, 2025.

How It’s Going: Elmo Wishes Ramadan Mubarak to All of His Friends.

As you’ve undoubtedly seen, it’s that time of year when politicians wish a blessed Ramadan to their constituents. As Twitchy reported, Rep. Sharice Davids copied and pasted her Ramadan Mubarak post, sending her best wishes to all of her Muslim neighbors in Nassau County … which doesn’t exist in Kansas. A lot of time and care go into these things.

A lot of people noted that Ash Wednesday sort of flew under the radar in favor of Ramadan. Louisville, Kentucky, Mayor Craig Greenberg lit up the Big Four Bridge in honor of Ramadan.

* * * * * * * *

What we want to know is, what’s up with Elmo? The last time he popped up was to praise Bad Bunny’s halftime show, which was far from family-friendly. Now, Elmo wishes a blessed Ramadan to all of his friends. Yes, we searched his timeline, too, and came up empty.

—Twitchy, today.

ROBERT HEINLEIN SMILES: Elon Musk wants to put a satellite catapult on the moon. It’s not a new idea. This story credits Gerard K. O’Neill, but Heinlein was there first with The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.

MY INTERVIEW WITH JOHN HAWKINS: “Too many women have become the men that they hate.”

GOD FORBID:

AOC claims Republicans are “radicalizing young men by pushing them toward masculinity.”

This is really the Democrat’s top candidate. Yikes.
pic.twitter.com/AbP3enxoyU

— Jack (@jackunheard) February 19, 2026

YOUR TERMS ARE ACCEPTABLE: Star Trek Artist Warns Fans That “Review Bombing” Starfleet Academy Could End the Franchise.

GOODBYE, SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP: UK PM Starmer Blocks Trump From Using RAF Bases to Strike Iran Amid Escalating Tensions: Report.

What’s funny is, while Britain carries water for the mullahs, plenty of other Islamic countries are happy to provide us with facilities to attack Iran.

UPDATE: It occurs to me that this might be Trump-inspired theater to make the mullahs drop their guard. More likely that it’s Starmer being a dick, but don’t entirely rule it out.

TWENTY MINUTES INTO THE FUTURE: Trump says Iran has 15 days to reach a deal or face ‘unfortunate’ outcome.

METFORMIN: Common Diabetes Drug Linked With ‘Exceptional Longevity’ in Women.

GOOD THING I DON’T DO THOSE THEN: Ultramarathons May Be Aging Your Blood Cells Faster Than You Think.

Toniiq Liposomal NAD+ and Resveratrol Supplement. #CommissionEarned

SEDUCTIVE AI: People prefer the empathy of humans, but rate ‘fake’ AI empathy higher.

UPDATE: From the comments:

This is going to be a problem. Already is starting to be. Truly skilled first-rate human flatterer/persuader/seducers are rare, and generally end up aimed at high payoff targets. Most people in their whole lives will never have rated more than passing attention from such, and thus will have little or no immunity.

And now that level of individually customized flatterer/persuader/seducer skills is being automated, and will soon be cheaply deployable against *everyone*. I foresee big trouble.

I address these very issues in my forthcoming Seductive AI.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG:

Wow I missed that Wesley Lowrey, the ex-WaPo reporter who won a Pulitzer and wrote a famous editorial urging journos to forgo objectivity in lieu of ‘moral clarity,’ was chased out of his journalism professorship for multiple sexual assault allegations.

It’s been a decade of… https://t.co/e7tGrnWUyW pic.twitter.com/y5TO7vphnE

— Coddled Affluent Professional (@feelsdesperate) February 19, 2026