Fox Business: Inflation Much Hotter Than Expected

During Trump's State of the Union speech on Tuesday, he claimed inflation was "plummeting" under his leadership, and he used bogus information to defend his erroneous claims.

"Today our border is secure, our spirit is restored, inflation is plummeting, incomes are rising fast, the roaring economy is roaring like never before, and our enemies are scared," he said.

Today's PPI report proved him wrong as inflation was much hotter than expected, which has driven the markets way down in early trading.

CNBC reported, "The core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.8%, more than the 0.6% gain in December and well ahead of the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 0.3%".

That's a huge gain.

I tuned in to Maria Bartiromo's morning program to see how she handled the bad news in the inflation report, and the MAGA Queen did her best to make it seem like it's not a big deal.

When Stuart Varney opened up his program, he did not try to sugarcoat the results.

VARNEY: The question of the day, is inflation cooling?

Answer, looking at the Producer Price Index, no, it is not cooling.

It's hotter.

This is what used to be called the Wholesale Price Index. It measures costs to business.

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Anthropic’s Claude rises to No. 2 in the App Store following Pentagon dispute

Anthropic’s chatbot Claude seems to have benefited from the attention around the company’s fraught negotiations with the Pentagon.

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The billion-dollar infrastructure deals powering the AI boom

Here's everything we know about the biggest AI infrastructure projects, including major spending from Meta, Oracle, Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI.

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Poll: Dems' Real Problem With Voters? They're Seen As Too Weak

There's this substack, "Strength In Numbers," run by a data guy, G. Elliott Morris. He used to be the editorial director of Data Analytics at ABC News, where he ran the data-journalism website FiveThirtyEight. Before that, he was the data journalist for The Economist, and runs his own consulting firm, Morris Predictive Insights.

And he just came up with some interesting polling on Democrats versus Republicans.

In his new February poll, 53% of U.S. adults say the Democratic Party is out of touch with the concerns of most Americans. An identical percentage — 53% — say the same about Republicans.

He tested out the "Democrats are too liberal and need to tack to the center" theory, and concluded the opposite.

"When Americans say Democrats are “out of touch” they don’t only — or even primarily — mean “too progressive.” This type of thinking is another example of people committing the Strategist’s Fallacy instead of thinking about what is really being measured by the poll question being asked.

But it's pretty wonky, go read the whole thing. He concludes:

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Anthropic vs. the Pentagon: What’s actually at stake?

Anthropic and the Pentagon are clashing over AI use in autonomous weapons and surveillance, raising high-stakes questions about national security, corporate control, and who sets the rules for military AI.

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Sophia Space raises $10M seed to demo novel space computers

The company's modular computer tiles offer a new vision for space data centers.

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Mistral AI inks a deal with global consulting giant Accenture

Mistral AI lands a partnership with Accenture, the consultant that has also recently announced partnerships with rivals OpenAI and Anthropic.

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The public opposition to AI infrastructure is heating up

Public backlash over the data center boom is leading to a variety of draconian policies—including bans on new construction.

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Google adds a way to create automated workflows to Opal

Google is adding a new feature to Opal to create automated workflows

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Uber’s new autonomous vehicle division is about survival and opportunity

Uber Autonomous Solutions will see the company taking on all the tasks associated with operating a robotaxi, self-driving truck, or sidewalk delivery robot business.

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Google’s Cloud AI lead on the three frontiers of model capability

AI models are pushing against three frontiers at once: raw intelligence, response time, and a third quality you might call "extensibility."

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Warren: 'This Money Needs To Go Back To The American People'

Sen Elizabeth Warren spoke with CNN's Kaitlan Collins about the SCOTUS ruling on Trump's tariffs. She didn't mince any words:

WARREN: Well, let's be clear. It should not just go to a handful of giant corporations who have the legal capacity to go in and sue the federal government. In that case, they win twice. That is, that they get the tariff refund, but they also got the higher prices when they pass those tariff costs along. This money needs to go back to the American people. You know, the studies are out there now. They show that the American people are the ones who actually paid the cost. And yeah, we've done refunds before. This is an opportunity to give this money back to the American people, and right now it is the responsibility of the Treasury Department to sit down and work out a plan to give that money back to American families. This is not rocket science. Give them back the money. You know how much you took in. You know that American families paid for it; give them back the money.

COLLINS: I don't believe you voted for the president's Supreme Court picks. But I wonder what you made of his attacks today, particularly on Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, saying that they're an embarrassment to their families.

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Bessent To Americans: About Those Tariff Refunds — Bless Your Heart

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made an appearance on this Sunday's State of the Union on CNN and was asked repeatedly by host Dana Bash whether or not the administration was going to refund Trump's emergency tariffs that the Supreme Court just ruled were illegal, and Bessent basically said they're going to tie this up in the courts again for as long as possible.

BASH: I do want to start with the big question. Will you refund the roughly $134 billion in revenue taken by these emergency tariffs?

BESSENT: Well, Dana, that's not the big question. Let's just level set here. What the Supreme Court did was a very narrow reading of the president's authority under the IEEPA tariffs.

We have other tariff authorities which have been functioning -- Section 232 tariffs, Section 301 tariffs. And Dana, when you say it's a big question, that's bad framing, because the Supreme Court didn't even address that. The Supreme Court remanded it down to a lower court. And we will follow what they say, but that could be weeks or months when we hear them. So the Supreme Court did not address refunds.

BASH: Sure, they didn't address refunds. That is clearly going to be up to you, which is why...

BESSENT: No, no, no, no, Dana. It is not up to me.

BASH: Not you...

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Wikipedia blacklists Archive.today after alleged DDoS attack

Wikipedia editors have decided to remove all links to Archive.today, a web archiving service that they said has been linked to more than 695,000 times across the online encyclopedia.

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Gov Pritzker: 'America Still Loves Its People'

Heartland Signal shared the closing comments of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker's State of the State address, and I want to inject it straight into my veins. He's reassuring us that America still loves its people, but it's saying it in a way we might not be used to hearing it:

It's not speaking in anthems, or flags, or ostentatious displays of patriotism. It will never come from the people who say the only way to love America is to hate Americans. Love is found in every act of courage, large and small, taken to preserve the country we once knew. You will find it in homes, schools, churches, and art. It is there; it has not been squashed.

Over the last twelve months, I've heard love start to shout here in Illinois. I heard it from the bicyclers who showed up in Little Village every day during Operation Midway Blitz to buy out tamale carts so the vendors could return to the safety of their homes. I heard it from the parishioners who formed human chains around churches so immigrants could worship. I heard it from the moms in the school pick-up line who whipped out their cameras and their whistles. I saw it in the face of every Midwesterner who put on their heaviest coat and protested outside on the coldest day.

I would be remiss if I did not include this powerful sentence: "Only the weakest of people believe that love is the weakest of weapons."

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Trump Accuses Obama Of Disclosing Classified Information With Alien Comments

Isn't this special? The guy with boxes full of stolen classified documents at Mar-a-Lago is making thinly veiled threats against former President Barack Obama for telling a podcaster that aliens are real.

From Time: Barack Obama Says Aliens Are ‘Real,’ But They Aren’t Being Kept at Area 51:

Former President Barack Obama said in an interview published Saturday that aliens are “real,” but added that he hadn’t seen them.

Asked by progressive podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen about the existence of extraterrestrial life, the former president responded: “They’re real.”

“But I haven’t seen them. They’re not being kept at Area 51. There’s no underground facility—unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the President of the United States.”

Obama clarified his remarks the following day:

Obama’s answer was picked up by international media, as well as people on social media. On Sunday evening, Obama issued a statement to clarify his position.

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InScope nabs $14.5M to solve the pain of financial reporting

The startup, founded by accountants who worked at Flexport, Miro, Hopin and Thrive Global, automates the difficulties of prepping financial statements.

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Trump Flies Into A Rage After Supreme Court Decision On Tariffs

CNN is reporting that while Trump was having breakfast with some governors, he flew into an expletive-filled rage after the Supreme Court struck down his emergency tariffs.

CNN senior White House correspondent Kristin Holmes reported that Demented Donald fumed at the Supreme Court and called the ruling a "disgrace."

HOLMES: I am told that they are meeting, discussing how they are going to respond, but we have learned more about what happened in the room when President Trump was with those governors, and he learned of the Supreme Court decision.

Apparently, the breakfast had been going well, they were working together, and then President Trump became enraged.

He started ranting about the decision, not only calling it a disgrace, but started attacking the courts.

At one point, saying, these effing courts, but using the actual language there.

We know that President Trump does use expletives quite often when he is enraged, in particular.

From listening to Kevin Hassett on Fox Business, it appeared Trump and his scum-buckets thought the Supreme Court would rule in their favor.

But a 6-3 ruling is a complete rebuke of his ridiculous yo-yo tariffs.

We're still waiting for the official White House statement.

Will Trump wait until 3 AM to unleash his wrath on Truth Social?

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'Could Always Use Extra Cash': Trump's Board Of Peace Meeting Goes Off The Rails

Donald J. Trump rambled throughout his first Board of Peace meeting on Thursday. It didn't go down well for Vice President J.D. Vance, either, after he attempted to tell a "joke" about Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, which went down worse than Melania's ticket sales at the box office. No one laughed.

Trump spoke of the renaming of yet another entity in his name. The backstory: This month, the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. got a shiny new name slapped on it: the Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute of Peace. Because nothing says "peace" quite like a hostile takeover, amirite? The Trump administration muscled its way into controlling the organization, a move that, unsurprisingly, was not met with universal applause — and ended up being challenged in court.

And here comes the grift.

"This building was built for peace, and nobody knew what to name it," he falsely said. "And then Marco named it after me. I had nothing to do with it. I swear I didn't. I swear. I had no idea."

"They said, there's a surprise coming," he continued. "I didn't know the surprise. "I thought they were going to give me a lot of money or something, maybe cash. You can always use some extra cash."

"But I came, and they stopped the beautiful beast," he said. "I got out very safely, I'm sure, and looked up, and there it said, Donald J. Trump on the building. When I say that that had nothing to do — nobody believes it, and that's okay."

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A startup called Germ becomes the first private messenger that launches directly from Bluesky’s app

Social network Bluesky now offers private messaging by integrating the startup Germ's E2E encrypted messenger natively in its app.

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Poll: Bad Bunny Is The Real American Dream - Trump Is Just The Nightmare Sequel

Oh, behold the leader of the free world: Donald Trump, current President of the United States. Yet somehow, in a shocking plot twist no one saw coming (except maybe everyone), the American people have decided that Bad Bunny - real name, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio - is the one who truly captures the spirit of the good ol' USA. We're sure Donald will take this poll calmly and thoughtfully.

According to a fresh Yahoo/YouGov poll, 42% of respondents picked the wildly popular artist as the better embodiment of American values, edging out Trump's measly 39%. This groundbreaking survey dropped just days after Bad Bunny's Super Bowl LX halftime extravaganza on February 8, where he apparently dazzled the nation so thoroughly that even the guy in the Oval Office couldn't compete. Who needs policy wins when you've got a performance that unites? Truly, the metrics of greatness have spoken, according to El Pais.

And Bad Bunny's show was so highly anticipated that even Donald Trump tuned in to hate-watch it, adding to the halftime show's ratings, which crushed Turning Point USA's alternative event, the "All-American Halftime Show."

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SeatGeek and Spotify team up to offer concert ticket sales inside the music platform

SeatGeek announced on Wednesday a new integration with Spotify, bringing a seamless ticket-buying experience for Spotify users.  Now, when Spotify users browse an artist’s page or upcoming tour dates, they will see ticket links powered by SeatGeek for concerts at these participating venues, allowing for a streamlined purchase process. Currently, the integration is available for […]

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Climactic launches hybrid fund to get startups through the ‘valley of death’

The new project, called Material Scale, will initially focus on climate tech startups in the apparel industry.

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Judge Orders Trump To Return Slavery Exhibit To Philadelphia Museum

A federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump's administration to return an exhibit on slavery to Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park.

In a 40-page ruling on Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Cynthia Rufe compared the Interior Department and Secretary Doug Burgum to George Orwell's "Ministry of Truth."

"As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell's 1984 now existed, with its motto 'Ignorance is Strength,' this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims—to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts. It does not," Rufe wrote. "The President's House is a component of Independence National Historical Park that commemorates the site of the first official presidential residence and the people who lived there, including people enslaved by President George Washington."

"On January 22, 2026, the National Park Service ('NPS') removed panels, displays, and video exhibits that referenced slavery and information about the individuals enslaved at the President's House," she noted before granting a preliminary injunction. "There can be no prejudice to Defendants' restoration of the status quo as of January 21, 2026, which requires that Defendants reinstall all panels, displays, and video exhibits that were previously in place."

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GOP Headquarters In Altoona Vandalized With 'PEDOPHILE PROTECTORS'

It's hard to disagree with Eau Claire County chair Fred Kappus here. We shouldn't be defacing private property just because one party wants to protect pedophiles. The left should always be polite and respect people who protect pedophiles. And if Republicans want to keep as their slogan "PEDOPHILE PROTECTORS," then so be it. We should respect their choice.

Source: WISN

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. —The Republican Party of Eau Claire County headquarters was vandalized the weekend of Feb. 14, according to chairman Fred Kappus.

The words "pedophile protectors" were written in paint across the front of the building, along with it being egged.

"We don't need this to occur," Kappus said. "We have a lot of differences between the left and right. However, we should keep them civil."

Kappus said the RPECC is offering a $1,000 reward for information.

The Republican Party of Eau Claire County headquarters in Altoona, Wisconsin, was vandalized between Friday evening and Saturday morning.

Windows were spray-painted with “pedophile protectors,” and about a dozen eggs were thrown at the building. — WEAU pic.twitter.com/BFbBd9My0D

— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) February 15, 2026

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'Clutching Pearls': Noem Doubles Down On Her 'Right People' Comment

Oh, how absolutely unsurprising – Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is utterly baffled that anyone could take issue with her totally innocent musings about making sure "the right people" are voting for "the right leaders." She's graciously dismissed all the fuss as just good old common sense, because clearly that's all it was. Excuse me, I need to get a bucket so I can throw up.

When CNN's Jake Tapper dared to bring up her remarks to border czar Tom Homan on "State of the Union," Noem took to Xitter to express her deep sympathy for critics who must be so tired from their exhausting hobby of "manufacturing outrage" over her perfectly reasonable, not-at-all-concerning statements about who should get to participate in democracy.

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Have money, will travel: a16z’s hunt for the next European unicorn

According to a16z, it has eyes around the world in order to spot companies as early as local funds might.

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'Clown Show': Obama Responds To Trump's Racist Ape Video—And Nails It

Donald Trump was deeply remorseful about unleashing a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes during Black History Month. Just kidding! When reporters confronted him, Trump insisted he "didn't make a mistake," while his team conveniently blamed a nameless staffer—who, naturally, faced zero consequences. Plot twist: Trump is the staffer.

Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen sat down with Obama for a 47-minute interview that dropped on Saturday, where he asked the former president to weigh in on the video and other examples of "cruelty" coming from Trump and his crew.

"Well, first of all, I think it’s important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling," Obama said. "It is true that it gets attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction. But as I’m traveling around the country, as you’re traveling around the country, you meet people, they still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness."

"There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television, and what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right?" he continued. "That’s been lost."

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White House Calls ICE Murders Of Two Citizens A Successful Minnesota Operation

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the highly controversial and violent ICE raids in Minneapolis was a resounding success, ignoring the murders of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by rogue mask-wearing agents.

When Tom Homan basically ended the operation in Minneapolis, MAGAts like Steve Bannon were furious because it meant surrender to the cult.

It was an admission that Stephen Miller's white nationalist goon squad went too far.

The truth can never be expressed if it is a negative for Demented Donald, so Trump's AI press bot joined Fox and Friends to deliver the MAGA propaganda report.

EARHARDT: So, Democrats, they were celebrating when Tom Homan announced that he was going to pull down the immigration operations in Minnesota. So what does this mean for immigration enforcement? I know a lot of people have been taken out that are here illegally, but there are thousands more.

How many was it, Brian? 13?

BRIAN: Yeah, 1,600.

EARHARDT: 1,600. 1,600 more that are still there, according to Tom Homan.

LEAVITT: The Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota has been a resounding success.

It has resulted in the detention and deportation of more than 4,000 illegal alien criminals. Let me repeat, 4,000 illegal alien criminals just from Minnesota alone.

And while the surge is coming to an end, immigration enforcement in Minnesota absolutely will not.

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In a changed VC landscape, this exec is doubling down on overlooked founders

As much of Silicon Valley chases mega-rounds and buzzy AI deals, Stacy Brown-Philpot is running Cherryrock Capital like a throwback to venture capital's earlier days

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‘Clueless’ -inspired app Alta partners with brand Public School to start integrating styling tools into websites

This week, Alta unveiled its first integration collaboration, teaming up with Public School, a storied New York City brand.

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CNBC's Steve Liesman Drills GOP Rep Over 'National Embarrassment' Of ICE Camps

CNBC host Steve Liesman rebuked Rep. Jason Smith for not taking responsibility over deplorable conditions in ICE detention centers, describing them as an embarrassment for the administration.

Congressman Smith joined Squawk Box to discuss the state of affairs on Trump's tariffs, reorganizing ICE, and the murders of Good and Pretti.

The mood got dark for Smith when Liesman began systematically attacking the DHS over its behavior in Minnesota and the immigration detention centers overall.

Liesman asked if the Border Patrol and ICE need to be reformed, which lead to some heated exchanges.

LIESMAN: There aren't two people dead as a result of problems in government that need to be reformed. I mean, in Minnesota, right?

I mean, there are people in the streets that are protesting the actions by this agency, and there isn't concern about what they might do with elections and picking up people off the streets in schools, right?

I mean, that's a different story. Are you not in favor of reform for ICE specifically?

Rep. Smith, as usual, refused to comment on an ongoing investigation and then blamed President Biden for having porous borders. Kernen let him spew his bullshit about the security of the border under Trump.

Then when asked about the detention centers, Smith did the both-sides jig and Liesman would not have it.

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Sex toys maker Tenga says hacker stole customer information

The Japanese sex toy maker said a hacker broke into an employee's inbox and stole customer names, email addresses, and correspondence, including order details and customer service inquiries.

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'Whiskey' Pete Hegseth Smacked Down In Kelly’s ‘Illegal Orders’ Case

It’s another big, public fail for Donald Trump’s efforts to punish Democratic members of Congress for reminding U.S. servicemembers, in a video, they are obligated to follow the law and to disobey any illegal orders. Felonious Trump was so triggered by their remarks, he raged that it was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

So far, it’s not punishable at all. Which is how it should be.

On Tuesday, Trump lackey Jeanine Pirro suffered a humiliating 0-6 loss trying to punish the six Democrats who spoke out in the video. She was unable to pass the very low bar of getting a grand jury to indict a single one of them.

On Thursday, federal judge Richard J. Leon temporarily blocked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s efforts to retaliate against Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Naval officer, for participating in the video. Kelly had sued Hegseth and the Department of Defense for trying to discipline him and reduce his retirement rank and pension.

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Fed Background Investigator Busted In Sex Sting

Bloomington, Minnesota, Police Chief Booker Hodges was discussing the results of a sex sting operation his department conducted, and one of the people they caught was more noteworthy than average:

Police in Bloomington, MN just announced that one of the guys they arrested in an underage sex trafficking sting was a **background checker for ICE agents.**

He had a high security clearance in the Trump administration... and he was caught trying to abuse children. Sickening.

— Minnesota House DFL (@mnhousedfl.bsky.social) 2026-02-10T20:53:32.740Z

This is the most disturbing arrest that we've had here. He is a backgrounder for ICE, Homeland Security, and federal agencies. So when you're getting your security clearance, this is one of the guys that does your backgrounds, which is kind of scary.

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Automattic planned to target 10 competitors with royalty fees, WP Engine claims in new filing

WP Engine claims Automattic was going to target more hosting companies with royalty fees.

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Activist investor Ancora publicly opposes the WBD-Netflix deal

An investment group is trying to sway Netflix shareholders to reject the WBD deal in favor of Paramount.

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'Staggering Incompetence': Raskin Tears Into Pam Bondi Right In Her Stupid Face

On Wednesday morning, Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin tore into Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was scheduled to appear before the House Judiciary Committee to discuss Department of Justice oversight. This testimony comes several weeks following the Trump administration's release of its last batch of documents concerning Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender.

Raskin isn't playing around, after all, when he searched Donald J. Trump's name in the unredacted Epstein files the previous day, the president's name came up "more than a million times." Bondi has been shielding the president from the biggest cover-up in American history.

'You're not showing a lot of interest in the victims, Madam Attorney General, whether it's Epstein's human trafficking ring or the homicidal governmental violence against citizens in Minneapolis," Raskin said. "As Attorney General, you're siding with the perpetrators, and you're ignoring the victims."

"That will be your legacy unless you act quickly to change course," he continued. "You're running a massive Epstein cover-up right out of the Department of Justice."

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Tom Homan Warned Trump To Keep Border Operations Targeted

During an interview for an upcoming book last year, Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, said Trump's approach to immigration should be a targeted enforcement operation, which would be the only way to keep the faith of the American people on his side.

NBC News reports that Homan made these comments for the upcoming book, “Undue Process: The Inside Story of Trump’s Mass Deportation Program.”

“I think the vast majority of the American people think criminal illegal aliens need to leave. And if we stick to that prioritization, I think we keep the faith of the American people. “I think the vast majority of the American people think criminal illegal aliens need to leave. And if we stick to that prioritization, I think we keep the faith of the American people,” Homan said.

This is a far cry from reality.

Shadow president Stephen Miller's thirst for mass deportations has turned this country upside down, while ICE agents wearing masks have performed controversial abductions, murders, and caused massive chaos. These violent actions have destroyed any notion that the American public could be behind Trump and his deportation plans. The latest polls reflect the horror Americans feel about ICE's operations.

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Facebook adds new AI features, animated profile photos, and backgrounds for text posts

Facebook's new AI features let users animate their profile pics, restyle their Stories and Memories, and add backgrounds to text posts.

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Lidar-maker Ouster buys vision company StereoLabs as sensor consolidation continues

Ouster is paying $35 million along with 1.8 million shares.

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Ghislane Maxwell Gives James Comer The Middle Finger

Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell invoked her Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer all questions put to her by the House Oversight Committee during a virtual deposition earlier today.

Chairman James Comer, who spent the entirety of his chairmanship investigating Hunter Biden and Joe Biden over nonsense, told the press the convicted sex offender refused to answer even one question unless she received clemency from Donald Trump.

Wrong way Comer claimed he wants to get to the truth about Epstein, but the American public knows that's a lie.

COMER: As expected, Elaine Maxwell took the fifth and refused to answer any questions.

This is obviously very disappointing. We had many questions to ask about the crimes she and Epstein committed, as well as questions about potential co-conspirators. We sincerely want to get to the truth of the American people and justice for the survivors.

If Comer wanted to get to the truth, he would have released all the Epstein files and removed most redactions, but alas, he did not.

Rep. Comer is still champing at the bit to question Hillary and Bill Clinton, but the US public wants to see Trump answer questions under oath since his name appeared in the Epstein Files thousands of times.

Why isn't Trump scheduled to testify? Right, Comer said, Trump commented enough to the press about Epstein, so there is no need.

Maxwell's refusal to name names makes Deputy AG Todd Blanche look even worse than he did before.

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Crypto.com places $70M bet on AI.com domain ahead of Super Bowl

The purchase rewrites the domain record books -- not that the crypto industry has ever been accused of restraint when it comes to spending.

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Okay, I’m slightly less mad about that ‘Magnificent Ambersons’ AI project

But this is still a bad idea.

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'Oh, Come On': CNN Anchor Ain't Buying RFK Jr. Vaccine BS Oz Is Shoveling

Dr. Mehmet Oz's nonsense that Robert F. Kennedy is supposedly "at the very front of" vaccine advocacy was too much for the usually passive Dana Bash to stomach.

Here's Oz trying to pretend that Kennedy isn't a raging lunatic antivaxxer when asked about the recent measles outbreaks we've seen across the country on this Sunday's State of the Union on CNN:

BASH: Speaking of transparency, I do want to, before I let you go, ask you about a record surge in measles in the United States. South Carolina, for example, is currently reporting 800 cases.

It's the worst outbreak since measles was declared eradicated more than three decades ago. Is this a consequence of the administration undermining support or advocacy for measles and other vaccines?

OZ: I don't believe so.

We have advocated for measles vaccines all along. Secretary Kennedy has been on the very front of this.

BASH: Oh, come on.

OZ: No, he's -- when the first outbreak happened in Texas, he said, get your vaccines for measles, because that's an example of an ailment that you should get vaccinated against.

What happened with the core schedule that was released in the beginning of last month was to say, listen, we look at what happened in Europe. In Europe, if you give people 80 different vaccine doses to take, people start...

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Trump’s Prescription Drug Site Is Just Another Trump Con

If Donald Trump and his Republican puppets really think his TrumpRx site is any antidote to the skyrocketing health insurance premiums or grocery prices they have caused, they should be in for a rude awakening.

The site, which I will not link to, operates as a portal for consumers to purchase their drugs elsewhere. But as The New Republic pointed out, all the drugs offered on the site are from brand-name manufacturers, making them more expensive than generic options. Almost all are covered through insurance, for those still able to get it. The website even advises those lucky individuals to check their insurance co-pays first.

The New York Times said people without insurance could benefit. But they may well be better off not bothering with it. The Times cites Pfizer’s drug Azulfidine, for autoimmune conditions, as an example. It’s listed on the cite for $100. But the site doesn’t mention that the drug has gone generic and that a search on GoodRx turned up options for under $40.

Also, going directly to several of the drugmakers' websites can get you the same prices as featured on TrumpRx, The Times noted. The whole thing “adds to the complexity of a system that can make it extraordinarily difficult for people to compare prices and figure out where to find the least expensive drug,” The Times said.

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NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo joins Kalshi as an investor

Antetokounmpo is the first NBA player to directly invest in Kalshi.

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Fox Takes All Day To Finally Try To Whitewash Trump's Racist Obama Post

Fox tried to ignore Trump's racist post on "truth social" depicting the Obama's as apes, and only after it sparked outrage from some Republicans, did their best to try to whitewash it.

As Mediaite reported, there was no mention of what happened on either Fox News or Fox Business Network until the segment above on Special Report with Bret Baier aired at 6pm eastern time.

Here's the pitiful exchange between host Bret Baier and correspondent Peter Doocy, where they unquestioningly reported that it was a staffer and not Trump who posted the video, while bemoaning that the White House was forced to go "off message" about the Dow and their desire to push Trump's new scam prescription drug portal, TrumpRx.

BAIER: President Trump is congratulating the nation on the big Wall Street numbers. Meanwhile, the White House is engaged in damage control tonight over a posting on the president's social media account that many people are calling racist.

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Prince Andrew advisor pitched Jeffrey Epstein on investing in EV startups like Lucid Motors

The mysterious businessman pitched Jeffrey Epstein on numerous mobility startups in an era when the sector was white hot, according to TechCrunch's review of hundreds of documents released by the Department of Justice.

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Maybe AI agents can be lawyers after all

This week's release of Opus 4.6 shook up the Agentic leaderboards

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Trump Confronted Over Awful Poll Numbers On The Economy

During a Wednesday interview with NBC Nightly News host Tom Llamas, serial liar Donald J. Trump insisted he was seeing positive polling numbers on the economy. Llamas challenged this claim, pointing out that Trump's economic approval ratings were actually unfavorable.

Once caught in the lie he has repeatedly been spewing, Trump then modified his position, arguing instead that his economic polling ought to be strong.

"And I'm getting, starting to get great polls on the economy, which I think is-, Trump falsely said.

"The polls on the economy aren't, they're not great," Llamas shot back.

"They should be great," Trump said. "They should be."

"So why aren't they?" Llamas asked.

"I don't know," Trump replied.

I'm not sure whether MAGA's eyes, which roll around like dice in their heads, are waking up to this or not, but when Trump's Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, appeared on NewsNation Now with Connell McShane to suggest that the economy isn't so bad. After all, you can get for a "cost around $3 a meal, a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla, and one other thing," and you're set!

It's no wonder that Trump's approval rating on the economy is in the shitter, and his job numbers are garbage.

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Elizabeth Warren Eviscerates Scott Bessent: 'I Don't Know If You Can't Hear Me?'

Sen. Elizabeth Warren refused to let Trump Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent lie about the state of the US economy and pounded him into the ground with the efficiency of a nail gun in plywood as he tried to do so.

The Senator from Massachusetts started her questioning by asking Bessent if he believed Trump when he claimed the affordability crisis was a hoax, a scam, and a con job.

"Is affordability a hoax, a scam, or a con job?"

Bessent tried to gaslight the senator by rewriting Trump's meaning and claiming the media should blame President Biden for Trump's economic problems.

That is a lie since Trump continually claims the US economy is the best in our history, and that's why he called "affordability" concerns a hoax.

When Warren called out Trump's lies about grocery prices going down, Bessent, like an idiot, claimed some items have dropped in price.

WARREN: Last week, President Trump said, quote, we have the groceries going down. Did grocery prices drop in 2025?

BESSENT: Numerous prices have.

WARREN: Did grocery prices drop in 2025?

Numerous grocery prices have gone down.

WARREN: I'm sorry. I don't know if you can't hear me. Did grocery prices drop in 2025?

Sen. Warren then went over statistics issued by the Trump administration.

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One of Europe’s largest universities knocked offline for days after cyberattack

An alleged ransomware attack has taken down the systems of the Sapienza University of Rome.

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Grandpa Trump Goes Off The Rails At National Prayer Breakfast

The National Prayer Breakfast is supposed to be nonpartisan, and indeed not an event to use as a battering ram against your perceived enemies. Faith wasn't much of a topic for Trump, as he spoke of his ego, admitting that he had to win the 2020 election "for my own ego. I would've had a bad ego for the rest of my life. Now I really have a big ego." Of course, Trump's speech was littered with an abundance of lies, but he's right about his massive ego.

Trump, a diapered old man who wears lifts in his shoes to be taller, said that now "We have a military where they all look like Tom Cruise."

Of course, he insisted, "We brought back the word 'Christmas." Sure thing, buddy, but children can only have 2 dolls and a few pencils. The Christmas meal can consist of a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a tortilla, and one other thing, according to Trump's Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins.

Trump gave House Speaker Mike Johnson a Christian shoutout, saying, "He'll say to me sometimes at lunch, 'Sir, may we pray?' I'll say, 'Excuse me? We're having lunch."

Oh boy. Trump attempted to introduce the president of the Congo, but forgot his name.

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Meet Gizmo: A TikTok for interactive, vibe-coded mini apps

Gizmo's app is like a TikTok for vibe-coded mini apps... and it's a lot of fun.

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Amazon to begin testing AI tools for film and TV production next month

Amazon MGM Studios will reportedly begin a closed beta program in March to test its AI tools to help with film and TV production.

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A16z just raised $1.7B for AI infrastructure. Here’s where it’s going.

Andreessen Horowitz just raised a whopping ⁠new $15 billion in funding⁠. And a $1.7 billion chunk of that is going to its ⁠infrastructure team⁠, the one responsible for some of its biggest, most prominent AI investments including Black Forrest Labs, Cursor, OpenAI, ⁠ElevenLabs⁠, Ideogram, ⁠Fal⁠ and dozens of others.   A16z ⁠general partner with the infra team Jennifer Li⁠ (who oversees such investments as ElevenLabs – just valued at $11 billion); Ideagram and Fal, has a clear thesis on where the team is looking […]

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2026 plans: What’s next for Startup Battlefield 200

See what to expect for Startup Battlefield 200 in 2026, the ultimate startup pitch competition on the global stage at TechCrunch Disrupt. Join the mailing list to be the first to know when applications drop.

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White House Shamed In Court For Using Deep Fake To Smear Church Protester

A court filing called out the White House for creating a deep fake with artificial intelligence to smear Minnesota church protester Nekima Levy-Armstrong.

In a filing over the weekend, attorneys for Levy-Armstrong called on the government to drop pre-trial release conditions.

According to the document, Levy-Armstrong's co-defendants from the recent church protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not face the same burdensome pre-trial conditions.

"There is no rational basis for treating Ms. Levy-Armstrong differently from her co-defendants," the attorneys insisted. "She has no prior substantive criminal record, she has lived in Minnesota for 23 years, she has a husband and children in Minnesota, and operates two businesses."

"Ms. Levy-Armstrong regularly travels in connection with her business and community activism, and should not be required to seek permission from probation or the Court for trips to other states or other countries," the motion continued. "There is no basis for concern that she will not return to Minnesota as required."

The document also alleged that Levy-Armstrong's husband was being deprived of his Second Amendment rights because she was ordered not to have a gun in her home.

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Two Stanford students launch $2M startup accelerator for students nationwide

Two Stanford students announced Monday that they have raised $2 million for an accelerator program called Breakthrough Ventures, which seeks to fund the businesses of college students and recent graduates nationwide.

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Donald Trump Hate-Watched The Grammys, And He Wants To Sue

Donald Trump hate-watched the Grammys, and quickly took his angry fingers to Truth Social to threaten to sue its host, comedian Trevor Noah, over a joke about the president and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Noah said, “That is a Grammy that every artist wants almost as much as Trump wants Greenland, which makes sense because Epstein’s island is gone, he needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton.”

Trump was filled with rage.

"The Grammy Awards are the WORST, virtually unwatchable!" Trump insisted. "CBS is lucky not to have this garbage litter their airwaves any longer."

"The host, Trevor Noah, whoever he may be, is almost as bad as Jimmy Kimmel at the Low Ratings Academy Awards," he continued. "Noah said, INCORRECTLY about me, that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton spent time on Epstein Island. WRONG!!!"

"I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory statement, have never been accused of being there, not even by the Fake News Media," he wrote. "Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get them straight fast."

"It looks like I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C., and suing him for plenty$," he added. "Ask Little George Slopadopolus, and others, how that all worked out. Also ask CBS! Get ready Noah, I’m going to have some fun with you! President DJT"

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What Snowflake’s deal with OpenAI tells us about the enterprise AI race

Snowflake is the latest enterprise to sign multi-year deals with multiple AI companies in what could be a sign to come of a future trend.

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QAnon Sure Has Been Quiet Lately. Could This Be Why?

The latest batch of the Epstein Files is interesting, in a nauseating way. The people of the United States have been gaslit for so long, but now finally the truth is making an appearance. As it happens, the QAnon conspiracy ideology that claimed, without evidence, that the Democratic party was controlled by a cabal of global elites headed up by Hillary Clinton who engage in pedophilia, child sex-trafficking, ritual cannibalism of children, and worship Satan, isn't true. Who knew?

QAnon has been quiet even since batches of the Epstein Files were released, showing Donald J. Trump was mentioned thousands of times in notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's documents. The bizarre movement began when someone known only as Q posted a series of conspiracy theories on the internet forum 4chan, which was founded by Christopher Poole, who went by the online handle "moot."

Well, Poole got a shoutout in the Epstein Files.

(click through for the veiled pizza references)

Guys, I mean for crying out loud, there are multiple mentions of *Pizza-related* logistics in the Epstein files.

The real Pizzagate? pic.twitter.com/YIlnfNMg5G

— Joshua Reed Eakle 🗽 (@JoshEakle) February 1, 2026

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Amazon’s ‘Melania’ documentary makes $7M on opening weekend

While the documentary is exceeding box office expectations, it's unlikely to make a profit in theaters.

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