🧚‍♀️ TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

NEWS AGGREGATOR & COMMENTS

BREAKING:

Rep. James Talarico On Confronting Christian Nationalism, And Strange Days In The Texas Legislature

669,179 views Feb 17, 2026 #Colbert #Comedy #JamesTalarico

Stephen Colbert hosts Texas State Rep. James Talarico for an online-exclusive interview that touches on the issues raised in Talarico's campaign for the Democratic nomination for Senate including the separation of church and state, the dangers of consolidated corporate-owned media, and the fabricated culture wars pushed by Republicans in states like Texas.

If you're curious why this interview with James Talarico was an online-exclusive, click here to watch Stephen Colbert explain:

• Why CBS Didn't Broadcast Stephen Colbert's...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiTJ7Pz_59A

 

🧚‍♀️ TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

NEWS AGGREGATOR & COMMENTS

Great Spirit bless 🙏

Hi there, everyone. I need to go out and get a couple of things done tomorrow, preferably earlier in the day, so I thought I would start aggregating the news this evening and finish publishing it in the social networks in the morning. "I jest truly didn't feel like a' settin' aboot and a watchin' TV anyway!" So says Mrs. Ophelia Sorebutt. ✨(‿ˠ‿)⚡️<- "Ifn's I's had me sam paddin' the likes of dat, I wouldn't have ta worry aboot a sore butt fram a sittin' on it fer too long!" 👩‍🌾🐮☺️

Have you ever wondered just how much our federal government gets hit by corporate theft, tax avoidance, and other types of theft, like auto theft, and procurement fraud? Those are the real welfare bums, and then you have the drug cartels and other illegal groups of parasites; the whole lot of them are the blood suckers feeding off We, the People's tax money.

This is why we are short of doctors, hospital beds, and clinics. The bloodsuckers are sucking off the money faster than the government can pay it out to them. Below is what I have pieced together with the help of a little AI Googling.

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

Corporate Federal Theft

- Google Search -

🔹AI Overview

Question: How much are the Corporate federal thieves costing the Government of Canada?

Estimates of the costs of corporate tax avoidance and evasion to the Government of Canada's revenue vary by source and methodology, ranging from several billion to over $40 billion annually. These figures often represent lost revenue potential rather than direct "theft" in a criminal sense, as they often involve the use of complex, albeit legal, loopholes and tax havens.

• Key estimates include:

Canadians for Tax Fairness reported that tax avoidance by 123 of Canada's largest corporations cost $30 billion in 2021. On average, that figure is closer to $10.5 billion.

The Canadian government loses over $40 billion every year to various tax loopholes.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates that up to $25 billion per year is lost due to profit-shifting strategies.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) estimated that federal corporate income tax (CIT) for the 2018 tax year was between $3.3 billion and $5.3 billion lost to international tax evasion.

The Conference Board of Canada estimates that overall tax evasion and avoidance amount to between $8.9 billion and $47.8 billion every year.

Ontario auto theft claim costs surged past $1B last year

Newly released data shows Toronto saw over $351M in auto theft claims costs in 2023

• Google Search -

🔹AI Overview

Question: Drug cartels and associated organized crime networks are a multi-billion dollar burden on the Government of Canada

Drug cartels and associated organized crime networks impose a multi-billion-dollar economic, social, and security burden on the Government of Canada and its citizens. Organized crime in Canada is estimated to generate proceeds in the billions, significantly impacting public safety, undermining the rule of law, and eroding financial, legal, and social institutions.

National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians

Key Aspects of the Burden:

- Google Search -

🔹AI Overview

Question: How much are illegal transactions online and personal costing the Government of Canada?

*Illegal online transactions and personal fraud*

Illegal online transactions and personal fraud are costing Canadians and the government hundreds of millions annually, while broader financial crimes (such as money laundering) are affecting the economy by tens of billions.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), fraud and cybercrime in Canada resulted in over $638 million in losses in 2024, up from $578 million in 2023

- Google Search -

Question: How much did Canada lose to tax evasion, fraud, car and home theft, and drug cartels?

🔹AI Overview

Canada faces substantial annual economic losses and security threats from organized crime, with estimates for money laundering alone ranging from $45 billion to over $100 billion CAD annually. While specific, combined, or total annual losses for all categories are difficult to pinpoint due to high levels of unreported crime, recent data shows the following:

Simple answer, we gots ta gits rid of the tiefs. Good time to deport someone? How about some investigations, charges laid, and trials held? They would be a good investment toward building a nation as the PM envisions it. Even the opposition parties agree. We can do better to build better.

Why do you think our groceries are costing so much? T.H.E.F.T.! GREED IS WHAT KILLED AMERICA. Do you want the same thing to happen here in CANADA? Mr. PREMIER CARNEY, it's time to wean de tiefs off de Federal Tities, I Would Say.

BREAKING NEWS:

US increases military pressure on Iran ahead of high-stakes talks

The US military is continuing a significant buildup of air and naval assets in the Middle East ahead of planned talks with Iran in Geneva on Tuesday. The pieces are being moved into place both to intimidate Tehran and to have options to strike inside the country should negotiations over its nuclear program fail, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

US Air Force assets based in the United Kingdom, including refueling tankers and fighter jets, are being repositioned closer to the Middle East, according to sources familiar with the movements.

The US is also continuing to flow air defense systems to the region, according to a US official, and several US military units deployed in the region that were expected to rotate out in the coming weeks have had their orders extended, said one source familiar with the matter. Dozens of US military cargo planes have transported equipment from the US to Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, according to flight-tracking data...

• US military build-up in the Middle East - MAP:
• ‘No one knows’ who would take over:
• ‘It’s hard to do a deal with Iran’:

Read More:

Updated Feb 16, 2026, 7:42 PM ET

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, pioneering civil rights activist and racial ‘pathfinder,’ dies at 84

The Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, the towering civil rights leader whose moral vision and fiery oratory reshaped the Democratic Party and America, has died, a Rainbow PUSH Coalition spokesperson and his son confirmed to CNN. He was 84.

Jackson, a protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., had been hospitalized in recent months and was under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), the Rainbow PUSH Coalition has said. Jackson died Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family, Rainbow PUSH said in a statement.

“His unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and human rights helped shape a global movement for freedom and dignity. A tireless change agent, he elevated the voices of the voiceless – from his Presidential campaigns in the 1980s to mobilizing millions to register to vote – leaving an indelible mark on history,” the statement read...

Read More:

Updated Feb 17, 2026, 5:11 AM ET - 1 hr 18 min ago

- CNN -

Hillary Clinton accuses Trump administration of a ‘cover-up’ over its handling of Epstein documents

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused the Trump administration of a “continuing cover-up” in the way it has handled the release of millions of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein.

“They are slow walking it, they are redacting the names of men who are in it, they are stonewalling legitimate requests from members of Congress,” Clinton told the BBC at the Munich Security Conference in Berlin. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has repeatedly defended the US Department of Justice’s handling of the files, saying the department is “committed to transparency” and “is hiding nothing.”

The latest batch of documents released by the DOJ contained several references to Bill Clinton, offering fresh insights into the sometimes-lewd ways the former president’s staff communicated with Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell...

Read More:

PUBLISHED Feb 17, 2026, 5:55 AM ET - 38 min ago

- CNN -

CANADIAN NEWS:

Paid out of pocket for a fender-bender? Fine, but the law says you have to tell your insurer

4 out of 10 people who got in a crash paid for repairs themselves, poll found

You’re backing into a parking space when you hear it — that dreaded crunch, the sound of your fender clawing its way across concrete. With cars now akin to computers on wheels, that scraped fender might actually eat into the thousands, thanks to repairs for a back-up camera and sensors (which apparently you didn't use in this instance).

But even if the cost is more than your deductible, the first instinct is not always to put a claim through your insurer. In fact, a recent poll of 1,000 people commissioned by Cost of Living found that 43 per cent of those who had a crash in the last five years chose to pay for repairs out of pocket — and of those, 57 per cent said they wanted to avoid a bump in their premiums. (The margin of error in the poll was 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.) ...

• Failing to report:
• Fixing your vehicle yourself:

Posted: Feb 17, 2026 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

- CBC -

China showcases humanoid robots at Spring Festival gala

China ⁠accounted for 90% of the roughly 13,000 humanoid robots shipped globally last year

China's most-watched TV show, the annual CCTV Spring Festival gala, on Monday showcased the country's cutting-edge industrial policy ‌and Beijing's push to dominate humanoid robots and the future of manufacturing. Four rising humanoid robot startups — Unitree Robotics, Galbot, Noetix and MagicLab —demonstrated their products at the gala, a televised event and touchstone for China comparable to the Super Bowl for the United States.

The program's first three sketches prominently featured humanoid robots, including a lengthy martial arts demonstration where over ​a dozen Unitree humanoids performed sophisticated fight sequences waving swords, poles and nunchucks ​in close proximity to human children performers...

Posted: Feb 17, 2026 4:48 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

- CBC -

Prince Albert urges 2026 census participation after missing out on funds

The City of Prince Albert says it’s lost out on millions of dollars in federal and provincial funding because of low participation in the 2021 population census.

VIDEO | Included:

February 17, 2026 - 49 minutes ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf6_cMa9hHs

 

🧚‍♀️ TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

NEWS AGGREGATOR & COMMENTS

May Great Spirit bless 🙏

Before I begin my morning entry, the main topic today is:

FABRIC of Time and Space.

It's a spring-like sunrise out there, so nice in the early morning. So peaceful, like the entire world was at rest. No matter how worn out, Nature must be from our constant raging insanity that is spreading like a cancer, slowly poisoning her like a plague, she stubbornly remains in places like those I view from my balcony Green Space. Sitting here in my Green Space, with the splendid shimmering orange orb rising over the trees, the mild temperatures, and the melting snow, I feel like I am in a mother's arms. It feels like a rebirth, a new life, rather than the death throes of a tortured soul.

I believe that Mother Gaia is a self-healer; no matter what we do to her, eventually, she will return to her original state. I recommend you watch the History Channel series *Life After People*, which I believe gives a reasonably good idea of what would happen to Nature after humans. A Living, Striving, Bold New World is born.

I am out here in my Green Space, wearing only my nightgown and a light jacket, in the warm light of the Sun rising above the trees. I feel more like I am in the arms of a mother, a oneness, not something trying to snuff me out.

Something To Think About:

Fabric Of Time And Space

The fabric of time and space could be imagined as a cosmic grid or network that creates the Temporal World we see, feel, touch, hear, and taste. The cosmic web of galaxies and the neural network in the human brain possess striking, quantitative similarities in complexity and structure.

If we humans were to learn to live in interconnectedness with one another and Nature, we could be the next intergalactic visitors to another green planet, to teach its species how to do the same. I can only pray that we find that Oneness at some point in our evolution.

That's one curriculum in the school of life we can't afford to miss: The Interconnectedness of ALL LIVING THINGS WITH CONSCIOUSNESS, NO MATTER WHERE IN INFINITY. Infinity is simply being nowhere and everywhere at the same time, like a state of complete absence of motion, at 0 degrees Kelvin, where not even matter and energy molecules, atoms, or even subatomic particles or energy waves stop vibrating.

Total absence of time and space? Naw, that would only mean there is no consciousness there to witness what's there. But what if everything is there, but there's no one there to witness it? Without consciousness, there is no life, and without life, what's left is meaningless, chaos, eh! Like the school yard bullies used to say, the stars are just a bunch of rocks. IS THAT WHAT WE WANT TO DO TO THIS PLANET? A barren third rock from Sol?

Interesting what - Google Search - have to say:

🔹AI Overview

My Question: 0 kelvin time stops?

Thermal Motion vs. Time

Temperature is a statistical measure of the internal kinetic energy of particles.

While O K represents the point where classical vibration ceases, Quantum Mechanics dictates that particles still possess zero-point energy. Because particles fluctuate and maintain nonzero energy states due to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, physical processes and interactions persist, meaning time continues to flow.

- Google Search -

🔹AI Overview

My Question: How can one have time and space if the void is a complete vacuum, 0, zilch?

In modern physics, the concept of a "complete vacuum"—a region with absolute zero matter, energy, or structure—is considered impossible. While a vacuum is defined as a space devoid of matter, it is never truly "nothing" due to quantum fields, which fill all of space and time

- Google Search -

🔹AI Overview

• My Question: The Fabric of Space:

"The fabric of space" (or spacetime) is a theoretical, four-dimensional continuum ( space + time) that Einstein's general relativity describes as a dynamic, flexible, and continuous entity capable of bending, stretching, and twisting. It is not a literal fabric but a geometric representation of gravity in which massive objects curve the field, causing other objects to follow curved paths.

What Lies Under the Fabric of Space-Time?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmSU03WBrIU

OK, that's my two cents on this topic for today, From the Newsroom.

In my opinion, what I would really like to do is:

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing - New Seekers - Coca-Cola

😂🤣🥰😘🫲😢🫱🫣☺️❤️💞💕💝

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR_7Swtv0XM

BREAKING NEWS:

Even Republican election officials are balking at Trump Justice Department’s voter roll crusade

As the Trump administration has sued 25 mostly Democratic state election chiefs for their voter rolls, it has also encountered quieter resistance from Republican officials who have balked at the Justice Department’s demands for confidential voter registration information.

At least a half-dozen Republican-led state election offices have declined the Justice Department’s request for non-public voter data, which can include a voter’s Social Security number, driver license ID number or current residence, according to interviews, local media reporting and records obtained by CNN and by the Brennan Center, a left-leaning think tank that researches election issues.

“They can have the voter rolls. They’re gonna pay for it like everybody else,” West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner told CNN last month, referring to the public list that can be purchased in his state for $500. “They’re not going to get our personal information.” ...

• Doubts about DOJ’s intentions for the data:
• Behind the scenes arm-twisting:

Read More:

PUBLISHED Feb 16, 2026, 5:30 AM ET - 5 hr ago

- CNN -

Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie grapple with fallout from parents’ Epstein scandals

London:

—

Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have been swept into the maelstrom that has engulfed their parents, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson, forcing them to grapple with renewed scrutiny swirling around the British monarchy. The sisters, now 37 and 35 respectively, are named hundreds of times in the latest tranche of the so-called “Epstein files” recently published by the US Department of Justice. At least one of the references is highly embarrassing, referring to a young Eugenie’s private life.

Beatrice and Eugenie are among the few members of the Windsor clan to hold “HRH” titles, meaning “His” or “Her Royal Highness,” but they do not represent the monarch as working members of “The Firm.” Much of the criticism of the York family, as they were known in Britain, has centered on Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein...

• The Miami lunch:
• A low profile:
• Lives outside of royal duties:
• King’s unprecedented moves:

Read More:

PUBLISHED Feb 16, 2026, 3:14 AM ET - 7 hr ago

- CNN -

CANADIAN NEWS:

PM Carney taps former head of public service to spearhead CUSMA negotiations

Janice Charette to serve as Canada's chief trade negotiator to the U.S., PMO says

Prime Minister Mark Carney has chosen former clerk of the Privy Council Janice Charette to head Canada's trade negotiations as it prepares for a review of the North American trade pact this year.

Charette's title is chief trade negotiator to the United States, according to a Monday news release from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). She'll be a senior adviser to Carney and Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

The announcement comes as the federal government prepares for a scheduled review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) this year...

Read More:

Posted: Feb 16, 2026 10:44 AM EST | Last Updated: 24 minutes ago

- CBC -

Canada bets on ‘Build at Home’ defence strategy to reclaim sovereignty — and revive readiness

Plan aims to award 70% of federal defence contracts to Canadian firms within a decade

Canada’s new defence industrial strategy sets out a series of important, extraordinarily high benchmarks for the country to achieve over the next decade, including buying and maintaining most of the military’s equipment domestically. The long-awaited plan, which was developed more as a response to NATO’s call for industrial clarity among allies than to annexation threats by the Trump administration, sets a goal of awarding 70 per cent of federal defence contracts to Canadian firms within a decade.

It also proposes to raise the servicability rates of Canadian military equipment to 75 per cent of the navy’s ships, 80 per cent of the army’s vehicles and 85 per cent of the air force’s planes...

• Cutting down on foreign suppliers:
• Partnerships with Canadian companies:

Posted: Feb 15, 2026 4:29 PM EST | Last Updated: February 15

- CBC -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmSU03WBrIU

 

🧚‍♀️ TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

NEWS AGGREGATOR & COMMENTS

BREAKING:

I have run across this Question on some social networks,

Is Russia Headed to a Big War?

I was unable to connect it to a source in - Google Search -

But I did come up with the following information from SNOPES

Did Putin Threaten Nuclear Retaliation Against Anyone Who Gets in His Way?

During a Kremlin speech, the Russian president said there would be "consequences" like "never seen in history" to those who interfere with Russia's military incursion into Ukraine.

Putin warns the West: Russia is ready for Nuclear War

Summary

• Russia is ready for nuclear war, Putin says
• Putin warns United States against sending troops
• Putin says Russia is ready for talks on Ukraine
• Putin says the West has failed to defeat Russia

MOSCOW, March 13 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin told the West on Wednesday that Russia was technically ready for nuclear war and that if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine, it would be considered a significant escalation of the conflict.

Putin, speaking ahead of a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, added that the nuclear war scenario was not "rushing" up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

"From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready," Putin, 71, told Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA when asked whether Russia was really ready for a nuclear war.

Putin said the U.S. understood that if it deployed American troops on Russian territory - or to Ukraine - Russia would treat the move as an intervention. Moscow claims to have annexed four regions of Ukraine and says they are now fully part of Russia.

"(In the U.S.) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint," said Putin.

"Therefore, I don't think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this."

Putin has often warned of the risks of nuclear war but says he has never felt the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

NUCLEAR DOCTRINE

Reuters reported last month that Putin's suggestion of a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war was rejected by the U.S. after contacts between intermediaries.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said this week that, without more Western support, Ukraine would lose more territory to Russia which would embolden Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Read More:

March 14, 20243:12 AM EDTUpdated March 14, 2024

- Reuters-com -

 

🧚‍♀️ TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

NEWS AGGREGATOR & COMMENTS

May Great Spirit bless 🙏

Topic: PUTZ OR TWITCH

Happy Monday morning, everyone. Well, it is here now, but by the time this publication hits the cyber airways, it will most likely be afternoon. But regardless, if I can get past my stomach acting up in the morning, I love getting up just as the sun is coming over the tree line. When I step out onto my Green Space, coffee in hand, I am greeted by mostly silence, such a serene and peaceful time of day. It feels like it was back at the homestead.

I'm a little slow; the computer is working fine, but I think I have a faulty vacuum tube at my broadcasting station upstairs, if you know what I mean. I'm slow getting started, and I'm all thumbs at the keyboard.

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

PUTZ OR TWITCH

I call them my TWITCH days, when everything I start to do is just a little off plumb. Like the hand is truly faster than the eye, there was a misconnection between my brain and my hand. The only way to get around that is to THINK and LOOK before I move that hand, whilst remembering that the hand IS quicker than the eye. I really believe that's correct, especially once you're past 70. We are all prone to what I call the Old Putz Syndrome. One of the symptoms is *twitching* stuff 👩‍🦳 don't you know. Like Trumpo The Typo driving a bus at you, and you only TWITCH instead of jumping away! 🤣

- Google Search -

PUTZ

A Fool or Idiot: It is a term for a silly, foolish, or misguided elderly person.

MY DEFINITION OF TWITCH: knocking things over or dropping things, or chain reactions of things seeming to be pulling sideways on me all day, like trying to drag me off the tracks, more like knocking me off my rocker; it all equals stress. It's like being on a planet where gravity is pulling sideways.

I am still not certain what triggers this; on some days, I may be more susceptible to stressing out than on others. But it appears that when I'm on the high side of the mania part of bipolar, the stress is nearly non-existent, and I feel more like I'm moving through clear water instead of the murky waters of gloom or just plain numbness. On those days, I retreat within; I don't want to feel anything stressful.

- Google Search -

PUTZ

Question: Putz (Slang): A Yiddish-derived word meaning a stupid, foolish, or ineffectual person. It is sometimes used as a mild insult.t

- Google Search -

Question: Old age loss of perspective twitch reaction?

"Old age loss of perspective twitch reaction" refers to a combination of age-related cognitive changes (often resulting in more rigid, less nuanced perspectives) and a slowing of physical or neuromuscular reaction times, commonly known as a "twitch reaction."

• Cognitive rigidity: The natural slowing of processing speed.

I know from my own experience that when I was not aware of what was happening to me, it would drive me Bug F....d! Believe me! It gets a lot less complicated and stressful not fighting it. Accept it and work with it, building a new rhythm in which mind and hands feel more in sync—simply finding the right shortcut to the frontal Cortex by bypassing the premotor Cortex. also referred to as Cortical Remapping. "Eh!" It would take more than one blog entry to explain just one function, too much for one blog entry and my twitchy fingers. Now it's time to move on to the News. Thank you for reading the Tree House News.

BREAKING NEWS:

Trump has chipped away at the long-standing wall between church and state. It’s just the beginning

At first glance, the December meeting of a little-known government panel looked like ordinary bureaucratic business. But then, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s advisory board opened its proceedings in an unusual way: with a Christian prayer.

The benediction was delivered by a White House official. “Thank you for your son, Jesus, who died for our sins,” the official said at one point, according to two sources who attended the meeting. Under President Donald Trump, moments like this, rare in recent administrations, are becoming commonplace. A series of faith initiatives championed by the White House have led to a systematic religious revival within the government’s operations, culture, and policy...

• A new environment:
• Fissures emerge:

On Monday, a hearing on antisemitism grew heated after one commissioner, former beauty pageant contestant Carrie Prejean Boller, challenged Jewish speakers about their beliefs and Israel’s war against Hamas.

NEXT PAGE 2

I believe that's a question that has been on most people's minds worldwide since the onset of the Hamas and Israel war. One would have to be blind not to see it's more of an Israeli war against Palestinians, as I see it 🔘<- Big Period That's It.

Read More:

PUBLISHED Feb 15, 2026, 5:00 AM ET - 5 hr ago

- CNN -

AIN'T NOTHIN NEW UNDER THE BLAZIN' DESERT SUN OF HELL PLANET AND THE ORANGE SADIST KINK OF THE PUS BAG DUNCE CADETS

America is on the verge of a new type of racial reckoning

The Black Lives Matter signs that once graced front lawns across America are no longer fashionable. The best-selling anti-racism books gather dust. The armies of protesters that once poured like lava through cities chanting, “I Can’t Breathe” have disappeared.

But keep an eye on Minnesota. What’s been happening there marks the beginning of a new type of racial reckoning. It won’t have the spectacle or lofty expectations of the 2020 George Floyd protests. It could, however, have more staying power. This claim may sound implausible. Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer sparked what some have called the largest protest movement in US history.

White support for the Black Lives Matter movement reached an all-time high. Elected officials removed Confederate monuments, and former President George W. Bush, a Republican, issued a public statement asking, “How do we end systemic racism in our society?” White people were “forced to confront racism” and face “unpleasant truths.” ...

• There’s been a racial awakening on immigration:
• White martyrs make it ‘everybody’s fight’:
• ‘Clicktivism’ can’t replace community:
• Protests are spreading beyond Minnesota:

Read More:

PUBLISHED Feb 15, 2026, 9:07 AM ET - 1 hr 48 min ago

- CNN -

CANADIAN NEWS:

Tourism was once an 'economic locomotive' in Cuba. Now, the train is coming off the tracks

U.S. administration choking oil supply is hitting the communist-run country where it hurts: foreign visitors

For decades, Cuba's tourism sector has enjoyed a reputation as an "economic locomotive" — a term used by authorities who saw it as the lifeblood of the Caribbean island country's economy. But the industry has been in decline since its 2018 peak, and the U.S. government's squeeze on Cuba's oil supply has pushed the nation's most crucial industry closer to its breaking point.

The Trump administration has threatened to impose tariffs on countries that supply fuel to Cuba — part of an effort to strangle the communist-run country after the fall of its close ally and main energy supplier, Venezuela, in January. As a result, Canadian, Russian and European airlines have suspended flights and resorts have shuttered, staunching the flow of international visitors...

WATCH | What are the U.S. motivations for cutting off Cuba's oil supply?:

• How tourism reshaped the Cuban economy:

Chart Included: Trips to Cuba by Canadians since January

• Sector generated $3.3B US in 2017:
• Frustration over government mismanagement:

Posted: Feb 15, 2026 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

- CBC -

The art of no deal: A Greenlandic carver’s vengeful response to Trump shows opportunity amid crisis

U.S. president's threats against Greenland have created new opportunities for some

Greenland artist Kim Kleist-Eriksen doesn't just carve intricate pieces of Inuit mythology out of sperm whale teeth and walrus tusks — he also carves political rebuttals.

When U.S. President Donald Trump's geopolitical circus arrived in Greenland and "the guy from the United States" started treating his home like a real estate deal, Kleist-Erkisen says his young daughter told him she was scared. "I was pissed. I wanted to do something with my art," he told CBC News in his Nuuk studio. Kleist-Eriksen is a Kalaaleq, or Inuk, from Sisimiut, Greenland...

• Crisis brings new opportunities:
• Increase in tourism:
• Shifting political landscape:

Posted: Feb 15, 2026 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

- CBC -

Stompin' Tom fans push Saint John council for statue of Canadian icon

Saint John-born Stompin' Tom Connors is known for 'The Hockey Song,' other Canadian classics

A group of New Brunswickers are pushing for a statue on the Saint John waterfront to honor a Canadian music legend and one of the port city’s own.

Charles Thomas Connors — popularly known as “Stompin’ Tom” for his habit of stomping his heel to keep rhythm — would have celebrated his 90th birthday this week. He is behind The Hockey Song, easily recognized by its chorus “the good ol’ hockey game," regularly heard in hockey stadiums in the country since the early 1990s.

Connors is already remembered for his contribution to the “Canadiana” genre, with a statue erected for him in Sudbury, Ont., in 2015, two years after his death. But Greg Hemmings and three others want to go further and have him remembered for where he was born and spent his early life — Saint John...

• A Saint John story of ‘grit':

Posted: Feb 15, 2026 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour ago

- CBC -

Fuel Crisis Hits Cuba Beach Resorts | Tourism Arrivals Already Down to 20-year Low | Top Stories

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZM9YW1pBdo