The post RFK Jr.’s Job Performance: Lies that Take Lives appeared first on CEPR.



 

 

Valentine’s Day Special!

This week, I speak with Douglas and Heather Boneparth. Doug is the president of Bone Fide Wealth and Heather is the firm’s Director of Business and Legal Affairs and Chief Compliance Officer. They also discuss their new book “Money Together.” They discuss the challenges couples can face discussing their finances, why marriages with joint checking accounts tend to last well, and how to navigate money as a couple.

They discuss why in relationships, money issues are sometimes not about money, but something else.

A list of their current reading/favorite books is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here Tuesday.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Hilary Allen, Professor of Law at the American University Washington College of Law. She specializes in financial regulation, banking law, securities regulation, and technology law, with a particular focus on how new financial technologies like fintech, crypto, and AI intersect with financial stability and public policy.

 

 

 

Published Book

 

Current Reading/Favorite Books

 

Books Barry Mentioned

 

The post MiB: Douglas and Heather Boneparth, Money Together appeared first on The Big Picture.

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of Danish Blend coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:

• Something Big Is Happening: Here’s the thing nobody outside of tech quite understands yet: the reason so many people in the industry are sounding the alarm right now is because this already happened to us. We’re not making predictions. We’re telling you what already occurred in our own jobs, and warning you that you’re next A developer’s firsthand account of the step-change in AI coding capabilities and what it means for software engineering as a profession. (shumer.dev) see also The Doomsday Scenario for AI and Jobs: What are the strongest cases for it and against it? Derek Thompson on the biggest divide in his coverage of the economy — the growing possibility that AI displaces workers faster than new jobs can be created, and why even optimists should take the downside case seriously. (Derek Thompson)

• Inside the Booming Business of Monster Porn: Teratophiliacs were once a niche group that bonded over their sexual attraction to monsters in obscure forums. Now—as online communities proliferate and genres like romantasy grow—monster porn is going mainstream. (GQ)

• The Big Scary Myth Stalking the Stock Market: The concentration of the S&P 500 in a handful of mega-caps has everyone spooked, but the historical record suggests top-heaviness is more normal than you think. (Wall Street Journal) see also The Fallacy of Concentration: The academic paper making the rounds on why index concentration isn’t the risk everyone assumes it is. (SSRN)

• 26 Rules to Be a Better Thinker in 2026: Ryan Holiday’s annual list of mental models and Stoic-flavored advice for sharpening your thinking. (Ryan Holiday)

• Is inherited wealth bad? Despite associations with the idle rich, the fact that inheritances are rising is a sign of a healthy, growing economy. (Aeon)

• Betting Men: Inside Kalshi and Polymarket’s Bull Market: The CEOs of Kalshi and Polymarket Are Betting On the Most Hated Experiment in Business. Prediction markets entice enterprising nerds to make and lose fortunes by wagering on everything from politics to the weather. Here’s why they’re unstoppable—and only getting more powerful. The prediction market wars are heating up, with billions in weekly volume and a legal battle over whether these are financial instruments or just gambling with extra steps. (Vanity Fair) see also Thousands of Amateur Gamblers Are Beating Wall Street Ph.D.s  Prediction market bettors on Kalshi are proving just as accurate as professional forecasters at predicting economic indicators — and even better on inflation. Turns out the crowd has one big edge: they only bet when they’re confident, while the pros have to guess every month regardless. (New York Times)

• Are We Tripping? The next billion-dollar blockbuster drug could be a psychedelic. There’s just one problem. (Slate)

• Even a Decade of Accidental Shootings Hasn’t Slowed America’s Top Pistol Maker: For years, gun owners have been suing Sig Sauer for alleged design defects in its flagship handgun, the P320. The company’s solution is to ban the lawsuits.  (Businessweek)

• Learning About Longevity From Long-Lived Animals: The secrets to extending human lifespans might lie in the animals that can already live for centuries. What naked mole-rats, Greenland sharks, and immortal jellyfish can teach us about aging — and why the biology of extreme longevity is more complex than any supplement pitch. (Works in Progress)

• The ‘Harvard of Umpire Schools’ Closes as Changing Times Favor Tech Over Tradition: The last independently-run umpire school recognized by MLB is shutting down — a casualty of robo-umps and a sport that increasingly trusts sensors over human eyes. (The Athletic)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this week with Heather & Doug Bonaparthe, a married couple who work together and wrote a book on the financial challenges couples face: “Money Together: How to find fairness in your relationship and become an unstoppable financial team.” Our discussion sits somewhere in between financial planning and couples therapy, built around real stories that try to help couples find a healthier approach to money.

 

The Global Cost of Living Index 2026

Source: Visual Capitalist

 

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

 

The post 10 Weekend Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

India Explores Gas Power Boost To Stabilize Grid During Peak Hours

By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com,

India considers boosting the run rates of its gas-fired power plants during evening peak hours to support the grid amid the surge in renewable power generation, India’s Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal said on Friday.  

“For the last three years we have been studying whether gas plants can run for eight hours in the evening and remain shut during the rest of the day,” Agarwal said at a meeting with power plant executives, as carried by Reuters. 

India has reduced in recent years its gas-fired power fleet from 25 gigawatts to 20 GW, due to idled plants for years that are now unfit to operate. 

However, the country, where coal remains king but renewables rapidly expand, looks to keep the 20 GW gas-fired capacity to provide flexible baseload capacity to offset the intermittency of solar and wind power. 

India is expected to import about 29 million tons of LNG this year, while its goal to almost double the share of gas in the energy mix to 15% will need import capacity of around 100 million tons, Kumar Singh, chief executive at Petronet Ltd, the biggest Indian LNG importer, said at the India Energy Week conference last month.

India, however, needs liquefied natural gas prices in Asia to nearly halve from current levels in order to significantly raise LNG imports and consumption, the executive added. 

India is in no hurry to sign long-term LNG delivery deals as the country’s price-sensitive buyers stall talks and wait for the coming supply glut to pressure sellers into agreeing to lower prices.

But later this year, the LNG market is expected to tilt into oversupply and in a buyer’s market, in which India - and other price-sensitive buyers in Asia - could have the upper hand in negotiations with long-term LNG sellers.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog, the policy think tank of the Indian government, said this week that India’s coal demand could more than double by 2050 from current levels under current policies.  

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 20:05

"Low Profile" Doomsday Nuclear Bunker Hits Market, Just 3 Hours From DC

Continuing our coverage of privately owned nuclear bunkers for sale, we generally find Cold War-era underground sites clustered in the Midwest. However, a recently listed bunker in the hills of central Pennsylvania sits roughly a three-hour drive from Washington, D.C., and New York City, offering a rare Mid-Atlantic bug-out option.

Coldwell Banker real estate agents Blain Berrier and Greg Rothman listed the Cold War-era underground nuclear bunker, originally constructed in the late 1960s as part of what they describe as the AT&T Long Lines project. It was engineered for durability, redundancy, and long-term self-sufficiency.

The 4,800-square-foot, below-grade, reinforced-concrete bunker was renovated 15 years ago and used to secure a data and communications site.

"Power infrastructure includes commercial electric service with automatic transfer capability and a 150 kVA diesel generator supported by on-site fuel storage designed for extended runtime," the agents said.

And there is more:

Here's what's special about the bunker on Weikert Road in Millmont, central Pennsylvania: its proximity to major cities across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

The amenities get even better:

4,800+ square foot below-grade reinforced concrete bunker, configured with multiple secured rooms, hardened corridors, and support areas. Several rooms include private bathrooms, and the layout was designed for both manned and unmanned operations.

. . .

Mechanical systems include multiple heat pumps utilizing a closed-loop well water system for heating and cooling, originally engineered to operate continuously and efficiently. Environmental systems incorporate multi-stage air filtration and water purification components, designed for long-duration occupancy. The facility also includes specialized mechanical rooms, utility areas, and hardened support spaces typical of secure infrastructure installations.

This is important:

The site benefits from controlled access, substantial setbacks, and a low-profile footprint.

And did we mention price??

Is this a near-perfect bug-out nuclear bunker for the Mid-Atlantic corridor?

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 19:40

When It Comes To Climate And Energy, Let's Retire The Politics Of Fear

Authored by Gary Abernathy via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

In the latest example of the scare tactics favored by climate change alarmists, it was announced last month that 2025 “was the third-warmest in modern history, according to Copernicus, the European Union’s climate change monitoring service,” as reported by NBC News.

A light display created using drones is performed near the U.N. headquarters ahead of the 78th U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Sept. 15, 2023. Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

The story added: “The conclusion came as no surprise: The past 11 years have been the 11 warmest on record, according to Copernicus data. In 2025, the average global temperature was about 1.47 degrees Celsius (2.65 Fahrenheit) higher than from 1850 to 1900—the period scientists use as a reference point, since it precedes the industrial era in which massive amounts of carbon pollution have been pumped into the atmosphere.”

As usual, our most affordable and reliable fuel sources were blamed.

“The primary reason for these record temperatures is the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, dominated by the burning of fossil fuels,” according to Samantha Burgess, the “strategic lead on climate” for the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which operates Copernicus, according to the report.

Sometimes it feels like the climate change crusaders are oblivious to everything going on around them. For decades, they’ve been resorting to the same tired strategies to convince us that doom and gloom are just around the corner if we don’t change our ways. What they ignore is that their tactics aren’t working—more people than ever are tuning them out.

Americans in particular have grown wise to the predictions that don’t come true and the demands that don’t make sense. In fact, so badly has science become blatantly politicized that the number of people who have a great amount of trust in science keeps shrinking.

That fact was backed up by a recent Pew Research Center report that found that “Americans’ confidence in scientists remains lower than it was prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.” To many of us, it is now obvious that the inconsistent guidance on COVID-19 and many COVID-19 pandemic edicts that were later found to be ineffective and even misleading demonstrated that science was not above being overtly politicized.

While the Pew study noted a Democrat–Republican disparagement regarding trust in science (Democrats trust it more, Republicans less), only 28 percent of all U.S. adults said they have “a great deal” of confidence in scientists “to act in the public’s best interest.”

I recently noted the welcome admission by manmade climate change believer Noah Kaufman, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, who, writing for The Atlantic, said flatly that “the full effects of climate change are unknowable, and a more constructive public discussion about climate policy will require getting more comfortable with that.” Whether in regard to vaccines, dietary guidelines, or climate change, in recent years science has too often found itself at the center of partisan political debates and has thus lost the trust of many Americans by appearing to support certain causes over others based on ideology rather than pure scientific data.

But we can’t afford to let that happen when it comes to making energy decisions. Why? Because no one can deny that affordable energy is the key to economic prosperity for U.S. households and businesses.

When energy costs are low, manufacturers can produce goods at a lower cost, resulting in more-competitive products domestically and internationally.

When fuel is affordable—whether diesel, gasoline, or jet fuel—all modes of transportation, including airlines, trucking and shipping companies, can charge less, resulting in savings for all consumers.

Heating, cooling, and transportation costs represent the most significant share of most families’ budgets. When energy costs are reasonable, household spending on other goods and services increases, not only helping individual families but also contributing to overall economic growth.

In addition to everything else, there is real damage caused by manipulating science in a way that puts climate over people. It puts people in danger and keeps them in poverty—and ultimately only a privileged few will benefit.

Consider the billions that the Biden administration doled out to political cronies on its way out the door in the name of the climate cause. Consider also the Obama administration giving more than $500 million dollars to Solyndra, the solar panel company accused of engaging in “a pattern of false and misleading assertions,” only to see it go bust—all at the expense of hardworking, taxpaying Americans.

That’s why it’s important to remove the manipulation of the energy sector from the politicization that has infiltrated the scientific community. Americans should not be pawns in the effort to frighten our people or our government into abandoning our most reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy sources.

There’s a better way. By passing the Affordable, Reliable, Clean Energy Security Act (ARC-ES), Congress can codify into law the guarantee that Americans will always have access to low-cost energy, regardless of the effort of progressive political groups to weaponize science in order to funnel tax dollars to prop up “alternatives.”

Anyone can manipulate data to come up with horrifying “what if” scenarios designed to frighten or intimidate people into making their preferred choices. That’s not how to make public policy. We need to pass ARC-ES to move past the days when the science that fewer people trust is manipulated to justify changes in energy policy that few people want. When it comes to science, let’s trade the politics of panic for the integrity of facts.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 19:15

From Border Incursions To Stadiums: Counter-Drone Systems To Protect World Cup Games

Whether the brief shutdown of El Paso airspace was driven by a reported U.S. military directed-energy counter-drone weapon or what senior U.S. officials characterized as a Mexican cartel drone incursion remains unresolved at the moment.

Our assessment is that, with FIFA World Cup matches just months away, the Trump administration is racing to deploy counter-drone systems. After all, President Donald Trump signed last year's "Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty" executive order, which set the stage for accelerating counter-UAS and airspace security technology.

On Tuesday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that, through the federal Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) Grant Program, four New York public safety agencies will use $17.2 million to fund equipment and systems that "detect, identify, track, monitor and/or mitigate unmanned aircraft systems" during the FIFA World Cup matches.

"With the evolution of technology comes new ways it can be used to harm others," Governor Hochul said. "This funding will go a long way to keep New Yorkers safe while allowing historic events like the 2026 World Cup and our nation's 250th birthday to be celebrated safely and securely."

Earlier this morning, defense tech firm Fortem Technologies announced it had received a multimillion-dollar contract to deploy its net-equipped DroneHunter at U.S. venues during soccer games this summer.

Last month, U.S. military, federal agencies, and local authorities gathered for a two-day summit near U.S. Northern Command headquarters, bringing together federal agencies, 11 U.S. host committees, and FIFA's security heads to prepare for matches across the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

"We're never going to not worry about a dirty bomb," Miami-Dade County Sheriff Rosanna Cordero-Stutz, who participated in the planning session, told Politico. "But we also recognize that there's a lot of other things that we need to worry about as well."

"You can't just give counter-UAS mitigation equipment to law enforcement that hasn't learned how to use it yet," said White House FIFA World Cup Task Force Coordinator Andrew Giuliani, who coordinated the federal government's role in tournament preparations and addressed the drone threat at the summit.

To FIFA officials and U.S. government leaders, the fastest-growing threat to the host cities across North America will be drones.

Last month, we outlined the theme that the rise of "Next-Gen Counter-Drone Security" was certainly upon us, but our focus was on securing data centers.

We pointed out that Wall Street analysts largely end their analysis at the financing and construction of next-generation data centers, with limited discussion regarding the modern security architecture required once these facilities are built and become instant high-value targets for non-state actors or foreign adversaries (read this); traditional perimeter measures such as metal chain-link fencing and standard surveillance systems are rendered utterly useless in the world of emerging AI threats, including coordinated autonomous drone or swarm-based attacks.

Our view is that the counter-drone industry is set to see a rush of investment in companies developing and deploying detect-and-identify systems, as well as defeat systems such as soft-kill or hard-kill options that could include kinetic sentry systems.

If you're wondering what a hard-kill option looks like ... 

... Allen Control Systems has that covered. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 18:50

FBI Warns Of Romance Scams Ahead Of Valentine's Day

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Love is in the air, but it might be too good to be true for some hopeful romantics searching for love online, according to the FBI.

A woman holds a phone displaying the TikTok app, in this file photo taken on Aug. 11, 2024. Oleksii Pydsosonnii/The Epoch Times

The FBI warned dating app surfers ahead of Valentine’s Day to beware of criminals using romance scams.

“The criminals who carry out romance scams are experts at what they do and will seem genuine, caring, and believable,” the FBI said in a statement on Feb. 11. “Con artists are present on most dating and social media sites.”

Scammers want to establish a relationship as quickly as possible, endearing themselves to their victims to gain trust, according to the FBI.

The scammers may propose marriage and make plans to meet in person, but that never happens. Then, they ask for money, the FBI said.

The con artists often claim they work in the building-and-construction industry and are based outside the United States.

“That makes it easier to avoid meeting in person—and more plausible when they ask for money for a medical emergency or unexpected legal fee,” the FBI stated.

If someone asks to meet online and needs bank account information or asks to deposit money, they are most likely using the account information to carry out theft or fraud schemes, the FBI warned.

In one case, Glenda, 81, fell for an online romance scam and landed in custody charged with federal crimes, according to a video on the FBI’s YouTube channel.

Glenda, whose last name was withheld, said in 2014 she met someone online who worked in Nigeria. The scammer said he needed money to leave the country and sent her electronics to pawn and send him the money. She said she eventually fell in love with the scammer and became a money mule.

In 2021, she pled guilty to two federal felonies, according to the video posted by the FBI.

Romance scams are a huge problem, according to AARP.

Reported losses totaled $1.12 billion in 2023, with median losses per person of $2,000. This is the highest reported form of any imposter scam loss, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

A survey in 2023 by the FTC shows the most commonly used lies that romance scammers adopted were:

·      “I or someone close to me is sick, hurt, or in jail.”

·      “I can teach you how to invest.”

·      “I’m in the military or far away.”

·      “I need help with an important delivery.”

·      “We’ve never met … but let’s talk about marriage.”

·      “I’ve come into some money or gold.”

·      “I’m on an oil rig or ship.”

·      “You can trust me with your private pictures.”

The FBI advises people to search for photos and profiles online to see whether the image, names, and details appear elsewhere.

The agency also suggests asking many questions, being suspicious, and never sending money to anyone without meeting them in person.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 18:25

Hamptons Real Estate Surges To New Highs As 2026 Rental Demand "Strong As Ever"

The Hamptons is once again in the spotlight as one of the country’s hottest luxury real estate markets.

Known for its beaches, upscale villages, and sprawling estates, this stretch of Long Island has seen home prices climb to record levels.

At the same time, summer rentals for 2026 are being booked far earlier than usual, showing that demand for the area remains as strong as ever, according to Vocal.Media. 

By the end of 2025, home values in the Hamptons had reached new highs.

The median price rose to about $2.3 million, while average luxury sales approached $3.8 million. Properties priced above $5 million are selling in greater numbers than before, and even homes in the lower luxury range are commanding steep premiums. Limited inventory and steady interest from high-income buyers have made competition especially intense.

Several factors are fueling this surge. There are simply fewer homes available than buyers want, which keeps pressure on prices. At the same time, wealthy buyers from finance, technology, and entertainment continue to view the Hamptons as both a lifestyle destination and a long-term investment. Its proximity to New York City, along with ocean views, privacy, and prestige, adds to its appeal.

The report says the rental market is just as competitive. Many properties for the summer of 2026 have already been leased months in advance.

Seasonal rates vary widely, with entry-level homes starting around $50,000, mid-range properties reaching well over $150,000, and top-tier oceanfront estates climbing toward $1 million or more.

Homes with pools, modern interiors, and prime locations tend to rent the fastest.

Rental patterns are also shifting.

July has become more popular than August, and renters are planning further ahead than in the past.

While some landlords adjust pricing closer to the season to fill remaining vacancies, the most desirable homes rarely remain available for long.

For buyers, the current market means facing stiff competition and historically high prices.

Acting quickly and working with experienced local agents can make a significant difference. Renters, meanwhile, need to secure properties well in advance and remain flexible about timing or location to improve their chances of finding good options.

Looking ahead, there are few signs that the Hamptons market is slowing down.

With strong demand, limited supply, and growing interest from affluent buyers and renters, the area continues to stand out as a place where luxury living, investment potential, and coastal lifestyle come together.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 18:00

Mainstream Media Silent As Alleged Hate Crime Hoax Leads To Major Civil Award

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

There is a major verdict out of Texas where a mother and an attorney were ordered to pay millions for perpetuating an alleged hate crime hoax that was eagerly spread by the mainstream media.

Asher Vann, a minor at the time, was labeled a racist maniac who tortured SeMarion Humphrey, his black classmate, with other classmates.

After the jury found that the allegations constituted the intentional infliction of emotional distress, the same media that spread the story remained conspicuously silent.

Crickets.

Major media outlets from NBC to CBS to the Daily Mail published the account of how Humphrey was tortured, shot with BB guns, and forced to drink urine during a sleepover.

The NAACP and Black Lives Matter protested the lack of action from officials ignoring the alleged racist attack.

Good Morning America aired a segment featuring ABC host Linsey Davis, who promoted a GoFundMe account that raised approximately $120,000 for “therapy and private schooling.”

In her interviews, Humphrey’s mother, Summer Smith, called Vann “evil” and described his depravity to enabling reporters like Linsey Davis.

Some, however, were not convinced. 

Washington Free Beacon reported that Smith spent less than $1,000 of the donated funds toward her son’s schooling while spending funds on items including a designer dog, dining, travel, beauty products, liquor and vapes.

Parents rallied around the Humphrey family and held events at the school.

Eventually, the case against Vann was submitted to a grand jury, despite later testimony by Plano Police Department officer Patricia McClure that she did not believe there was probable cause for any charge. Given the pressure campaign, it was given to a grand jury anyway. The grand jurors then refused to indict.

Vann sued and testified that the alleged racist act occurred at a camp that was caught in a snowstorm.  Unsupervised, the teenagers engaged in dumb games and pranks. He said that, after unsuccessfully searching for small game, they decided to shoot each other. All of the kids were wearing thick clothing and shot each other with the BB guns for fun.

He testified that Humphrey participated in the game with everyone else in both being shot and shooting others.

The urine was described as a prank that was played on various boys, according to Vann, but no one actually drank from the cup.

Under the common law, the elements of the tort of an intentional infliction of emotional distress require a plaintiff to show that the defendant “(a) intentionally engaged in some conduct toward the plaintiff considered outrageous and intolerable in that it offends the generally accepted standards of decency and morality; (b) with the purpose of inflicting emotional distress or where any reasonable person would have known that such would result; and (c) that severe emotional distress resulted as a direct consequence of the defendant’s conduct.”

A racially diverse jury handed down a verdict against Humphrey’s mother and the family attorney, Kim Cole. The inclusion of the lawyer in the verdict makes this a relatively rare case.

Smith and Cole were ordered to pay $3.2 million in damages to Vann, now an adult in college. Both the mother and the lawyer were ordered to pay $1,599,000.00.

The case raised obvious analogies to other cases that were eagerly promulgated by the media but later disproven, such as the Jussie Smollett hoax.

The Smollett story of MAGA-associated racists roaming the streets of Chicago was irresistible as politicians like Nancy Pelosi and others piled on. ABC’s Robin Roberts gave Smollett an interview that was breathtaking in its lack of substantive questions or even curiosity about glaring red flags in his account. Roberts described Smollett as “bruised but not broken” and nodded as he described his narrow escape from being lynched in America. She concluded the interview with “Beautiful, thank you, Jussie.”

The Texas case followed the same trajectory as the media built up the story and then went silent as countervailing facts were produced by the family.

Once again, the role and liability of counsel Cole is particularly interesting. We discussed a claim of defamation by counsel in the Depp-Heard case.

Attorneys are protected by absolute privilege in court in making harmful and even false statements. This privilege is best stated in the Restatement of Law (Second) of Torts section 586 “to publish defamatory matter concerning another in communications preliminary to a proposed judicial proceeding, or in the institution of, or during the course and as part of, a judicial proceeding in which he participates as counsel, if it has some relation to the proceedings.”

However, it also means that “statements made during an occasion outside a judicial proceeding are not covered.” Thus, while “[t]he duties and actions of a lawyer in representing a client are not confined to judicial proceedings,” the court ruled that interviews with a reporter would fall outside of the privilege. Most courts reject the notion of an absolute privilege while considering a more limited possible privilege for out-of-court statements. See Kennedy v. Cannon, 229 Md. 92, 182 A.2d 54, 58 (1962) (the “absolute privilege will not attach to counsel’s extrajudicial publications, related to the litigation, which are made outside the purview of the judicial proceeding”).

Likewise, actions by counsel can be deemed as the intentional infliction of emotional distress as well as privacy violations. This can be a dangerously fluid line, since all litigation causes some degree of emotional distress, particularly in tort cases, where reputations are attacked. Moreover, lawyers often assist clients in seeking donations to GoFundMe accounts, which may help defray legal fees. Such public advocacy, however, entails a greater risk of liability.

The key in this case was the actions taken outside of the court as well as the alleged falsity of the underlying representations.

The targeting of a minor is particularly notable in this case and raises memories of the disgraceful media attacks on Nick Sandmann, who was falsely accused of abusing a Native American activist in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Despite various media organizations correcting the story and some settling with Sandmann, some in the media continued to attack him.

The Vann case is likely to be reviewed by many lawyers outside Texas.

It is a case that could be replicated in future cases involving lawyers accused of fueling reckless or inflammatory public claims.

The fact that the damages were evenly divided between the mother and the lawyer shows the level of culpability that the jury assigned to the role of the lawyer.

Here is the jury verdict form: Jury-Verdict

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 17:40

NYPD Told To Stop Ejecting Homeless From NYC Subways Due To Freezing Temperatures

NYPD officers were ordered to stand down on enforcement in the subway system during last weekend’s deep freeze, halting removals and holding off on cracking down as windchills dropped below zero, according to ABC.

"We put a complete stop to all ejections, even people who could potentially be causing problems in the subway system," said Alex Crohn, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Strategic Initiatives.

That decision emerged during a City Council oversight hearing examining how the Mamdani administration managed more than two weeks of snow and dangerous cold. Eighteen people died outside during that stretch, at least 15 of them believed to be from hypothermia.

Council members pressed officials on why more people weren’t compelled to seek shelter.

"How can a person refusing to come indoors in freezing weather where they are obviously at great risk of potentially dying, not be assessed to be a danger to themselves?" asked City Council Speaker Julie Menin.

Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park said the legal threshold is specific and was followed, adding that 52 people were taken indoors against their will.

"Are they exhibiting signs of mental illness and are they a danger to themselves or others? Right. So, if an individual is completely lucid, they are dry, they are wearing enough layers of clothing and they do not want to come inside. They have the right not to come inside," Park said.

She also told lawmakers the cold intensified quickly over a weekend, leaving many caught off guard.

"We had this very dangerous situation happening very quickly on a weekend and I think it caught people by surprise," Park said.

Advocates acknowledged some of the city’s efforts but highlighted breakdowns, including a case described by Coalition for the Homeless leader David Giffen.

"We saw one individual who was discharged from a city hospital out to the streets. And that person a few hours later was found dead," Giffen said. "That never should have happened. Hospitals should not be releasing people or discharging them if they're inpatients, out to the streets."

City officials testified that about 600 outreach workers are assigned to engage people living outside, though 10 to 20 deaths linked to extreme weather still occur each year. Several council members suggested that boosting staffing levels could reduce that toll.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 17:20

Midterm Palpitations

Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

Recent regional special elections have seen Democratic candidates win a number of special election races.

Now energized left-wing politicos remind the nation daily that every incumbent president, except three over the last century, has suffered substantial midterm losses in Congress.

Polls show Trump suffering an average 11-point negative unfavorability rating.

So Democrats promise to soon stop all new legislation and end Trump and his counterrevolution itself.

But the left will never offer any alternative agenda on the economy, the border, crime, or foreign policy.

Instead, the new Democrat-Socialist Party views the Biden disaster of 2021-2024 not as a result of his puppeteers’ toxic policies of open borders, 21 percent aggregate inflation, dead-end green energy subsidies, DEI mandates, trans fixations, and an appeasing foreign policy that led to wars abroad and emboldened China.

Instead, they now blame those catastrophic years on Biden’s own enfeebled state—as if he were merely a hapless, debilitated messenger for their otherwise superb radical message.

So absent a positive agenda, Democrats will simply run all their state and federal campaigns as if Trump, their Satanic monster, is on every ballot.

Their Trump obsessions result in three now well-worn strategies.

The first, of course, is still more chaos.

The left believes that the unending 2020 riots cost Trump the election.

Ever since, they have sought to concoct a nihilist replay—whether the Tesla hysterias, the perpetual threats of government shutdowns, tough-guy talk of open insurrection against the federal government, or the current, performative-art, anti-ICE violence in Minneapolis.

They concede most Americans still support Trump’s closed borders and legal-only immigration, but hope they want a return to “normalcy” even more.

The more violence, Nazi-invective, and sheer craziness the left can instill—storming church services, ramming ICE vehicles, taking over the streets, or boasting of armed resistance—the more they believe that voters will blame not them, the instigators, but Trump, the target of their insurrectionary madness.

In Democrats’ blinkered reckoning, voters supposedly would prefer 10,000 illegal aliens methodically and daily swarming the border instead of seeing Minneapolis in utter neo-Confederate revolt.

Second, Democrats seize on every Trump art-of-the-deal excess or coarse putdown.

They scream that narcissistic Trump’s new ballroom has wrecked the White House. Or madman Trump was on the verge of fighting our NATO brethren in Greenland. Or cruel Trump wrecked our relationship with the lovable and blameless Canadians.

Democrats grant that voters sincerely like Trump’s secure border, the new trade agreements that correct past asymmetries, a rearming NATO, a defanged Iran, and the end to Maduro’s communist thugocracy—but not Trump’s messy art-of-the-deal means to achieve those desirable ends.

They scream that Trump talked crazily of making Canada a 51st state, not that it was finally shocked into promising to pay what it owed back in NATO contributions, securing its side of the border, and addressing its massive trade surpluses with the US.

So, Trump needs to avoid the very melodramas the left wants to exploit, which detract from his own undeniable accomplishments and the Democrats’ previous disastrous record.

Third, Democrats still rely on their ossified partnerships with the media, academia, and popular culture to mouth the old talking points.

So we are told ad nauseam that Trump caused the “affordability” crisis.

Or Trump is still Putin’s puppet.

Or Trump was an Epstein groupie.

Or Trump’s trade war crashed the economy.

Behind this stale Democrat boilerplate lies a deep fear that the Nietzschean Trump, just as he beat all their lawfare ambushes, will also do the impossible and avoid losing the Congress in November.

And they should fear.

Trump’s catalysts for a booming 2026 economy are already in place.

No one can now stop massive deregulation, new tax cuts and incentives, recalibrated tariffs, unprecedented foreign investment, record energy development, and the new emerging technologies.

All that is needed before the midterms is not controversial new initiatives, but more focus on the current boom in GDP, lower inflation, and increased purchasing power—all in contrast to Biden’s inflation disaster.

Voters still support closed borders and deportations of criminals and the millions who swarmed in under Biden.

But the best way to remind them of a secure border is to concentrate on partnering with red and purple state and local law enforcement for the next few months.

Each week, the thousands of systematically deported criminals in these jurisdictions will contrast with the thousands of violent offenders who are sanctuaried and protected in failed blue states.

And without the smokescreen of the ICE psychodramas, there are a lot of Democrat fears—like the vast Somali fraud in Minnesota, the even greater welfare scandals emerging in California, and the antics and verbiage of the hard left, like Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and the herky-jerky Gavin Newsom, who turned California’s natural paradise into a manmade purgatory.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 17:00

You Can Buy Love... (But It's Never Been More Expensive)

U.S. adults will spend a record $29.1 billion on Valentine’s Day this year, according to estimates published by the National Retail Federation.

You will find more infographics at Statista">As Statista's (ironically named) Valentine Fourreau reports, this is up from last year’s $27.5 billion, with U.S. shoppers planning to spend $200 on average per person, up from $189 in 2025.

You will find more infographics at Statista

According to the NRF, Valentine’s Day was one of the annual events that shoppers tended to splash out the most on last year.

Where the average per person expected spend for the date was $188.81, it was slightly higher for Easter ($189.26), and lower for graduation ($119.54), Halloween ($114.45), Independence Day ($92.44), the Super Bowl ($91.58) and St. Patrick’s Day ($43.64).

A lot of Americans are expected to celebrate the day.

This year, 55 percent of U.S. adults are forecast to mark Valentine’s Day. This is based on a survey of 7,800 U.S. adults conducted between January 2 and January 8, 2026.

The most common gifts consumers plan to give this year are candy (cited by 56 percent of respondents), followed by greeting cards and flowers (both 41 percent).

Outside of significant others, 58 percent of respondents plan on purchasing gifts for other family members such as kids, parents or siblings this year, while 35 percent will be buying gifts for their pets.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 16:40

"An Astonishing Sign Of Cultural Decay..."

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

Sure, Take That Time-Out

“Crisis is when brittleness meets shock. “

- Yuri Bezmenov’s Ghost on X

By shutting down the government for a minimum of ten days supposedly over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Wile E. Coyote Democratic Party is about to blow up another Acme bomb in its mangy muzzle.

I will tell you why.

First, this DHS business is just a stupid prank to bamboozle the public.

It will not shut down ICE operations, as Chuck Schumer pretends. ICE was already funded with $75-billion in last year’s Big Beautiful Bill. The shutdown will only defund the Coast Guard and airport security. (Does that sound smart?)

Second, senators will be leaving the DC swamp and going home to their states where, it turns out, polls show that voters of both parties combined overwhelmingly favor election reform by 84-percent.

The House has passed the SAVE Act onto the Senate for action, up or down. For at least ten days of the shutdown, the senators will have to explain why proving that you are a citizen to vote is a bad idea — or conversely, why allowing non-citizens to vote is a good idea. So, thanks, Democrats, for sending the senators home to face their voters.

Eventually, senators will have to return to the US Capitol and take up the SAVE Act.

The act will require proof of citizenship to register, photo ID to vote in person and for requesting an absentee ballot. The bill would prohibit universal mail-in voting, require absentee ballots be received by election day, impose a five-year prison sentence for helping anyone to register without correct documents, and provisions to clean up the states’ voter rolls.

Additional legislation still in the House, introduced by Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI), would provide for Election Day only in-person voting by paper ballots, and yet other bills awaiting action would eliminate electronic vote-tallying machines. All the provisions above are common in most other civilized nations (and even a few that are not, such as Afghanistan). The Democratic Party is against all of it because they can only win national elections by deceit and chicanery.

When Senators return to DC, they will have to overcome the filibuster in its current mode, which is the silent or so-called “zombie” filibuster. You see, in the old days, before 1972, if senators wanted to filibuster, they had to actually hold the Senate floor and keep talking — bringing all Senate business to a complete halt until either they gave up or the majority could gather enough votes for cloture (ending debate). It was physically very hard on the senators, an ordeal, and to get through the hours of mindless blather, they would read the phone book, or the World Almanac, or a Sunday newspaper from page one to the obituaries, which subjected them to ridicule.

After 1972, the Senate introduced what they called “the two-track” system, which allowed the body to move on to other business under a filibuster, without requiring a member to stand and speak. All that was needed was for a senator to inform the leadership that he intended to block a vote, with the backing of 40 other senators. This led to a dramatic increase in the use of filibusters — transforming them from a rare, physically demanding gambit into a routine procedural threat.

Now, the catch is that this change in procedure was never formally voted on. Going from “talking” filibusters to “silent” filibusters didn’t happen through a deliberate decision by the full Senate to change the rules — it emerged in 1972 from a procedural workaround that then Majority Leader Mike Mansfield introduced.

It’s just a custom masquerading as a rule, and one that now Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) could declare null and void.

Doing so would bring back the old talking filibuster. Opponents of a given bill, such as the SAVE Act, would have to step into the well of Senate and offer arguments against election reform, or they could read through the Chicago phone book.

In either case, they’d expose themselves to ridicule. Perhaps those ten days at home during the present government shutdown will lead to an attitude change.

If that doesn’t do it, consider that sometime in the weeks and months ahead, you will be seeing some results from the seizure of the Fulton County, GA, 2020 voting records that took place in January. Since the FBI went in there on a warrant — meaning a judge saw probable cause of voter fraud — the country will likely be exposed to real evidence, for the first time, that one crucial swing state ran a corrupt election operation, and it will no longer be possible for the Democrats to yell that such claims are “baseless” or “debunked.”

It’s an astonishing sign of cultural decay that we are even arguing over election reform at this point.

The measures introduced during the dastardly COVID-19 trip - unlimited mail-in balloting, organized “ballot harvesting,” counting ballots for weeks after Election Day, doing so with Dominion / Smartmatic machines connectable to the Internet, and ignoring chain-of-custody requirements - were patently and obviously dishonest.

That’s what got you four years of “Joe Biden,” a walking-talking lie.

Is there anything that the Democratic Party doesn’t lie about? I’ll wait for your answer.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 16:20

Somali Fallout: US Treasury Will Pay Snitches Up To 30% On Fraud, Money Laundering Prosecutions

On the heels of all that Somali fraud in Minnesota, the US Treasury Department on Friday launched a new portal where people can report suspected fraud, money laundering and sanctions violations. 

Snitchin' Bubbles from The Wire

According to officials, tips should be submitted with supporting documents. "FinCEN’s Office of the Whistleblower is accepting tips involving violations and conspiracies related to the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. sanctions programs, and several other laws critical to safeguarding the U.S. financial system and national security. "

Individuals who voluntarily provide information about such violations or conspiracies to commit violations may be eligible for awards if the information they provide leads to a successful enforcement action by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) or the Department of Justice (DOJ) that results in monetary penalties exceeding $1,000,000, and the requirements in 31 U.S.C. § 5323 and its implementing regulation are otherwise met. A copy of the statute is available here. -FINCEN

How much are we talking about? Between 10-30% "of what has been collected of the monetary sanctions imposed in the action or related actions," and it's got to be north of $1 million. 

Scott Bessent speaks as he testifies during a Senate Committee on Finance confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 16, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File photo

"President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being diverted to fund acts of global terror or to fund luxury cars for fraudsters," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, adding that whistleblowers may receive financial rewards. 

"At Treasury, we follow the money. We did it with the mafia, we have done it with the cartels, and we’re doing it with the Somali fraudsters," he added. "We are going to offer whistleblower payments to anyone who wants to tell us the who, what, when, where, and how this fraud and money laundering has occurred."

Bessent told CNBC's "Squawk Box" "It's going to be a great way to ferret out waste, fraud and abuse," adding "We're setting up a website and we will be giving rewards up to 10% to 30% of the fines that we levy."

Minnesota has seen a series of large-scale fraud schemes targeting state-administered federal programs, including child nutrition (Feeding Our Future), housing stabilization services, autism/early intervention (EIDBI), and other Medicaid-funded services. The largest single case, Feeding Our Future, involved a $250 million COVID-era scam where largely Somalian defendants submitted fake meal claims and invoices for nonexistent food distribution, with proceeds funding luxury purchases, real estate, and overseas transfers.

Wider probes into 14 high-risk Medicaid programs (totaling ~$18 billion spent since 2018) estimate that half or more may be fraudulent, pushing overall losses potentially into the billions; additional schemes in personal care assistance, home/community-based services, and substance-use programs have added hundreds of millions more. Many operations involved Somali-run nonprofits, providers, or shell companies that billed for undelivered or fabricated services, though the Feeding Our Future "mastermind" (Aimee Bock) was not Somali. Suspected fraud has extended to child-care/daycare centers (sparked by a late-2025 viral video alleging $30–100 million in overbilling) and other providers, prompting active FBI/DOJ investigations into dozens of centers.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has focused on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his state, including its Somali community of up to 80,000 - alleging fraud dating to 2020 by some nonprofit groups which were backed by federal programs administering the state's childcare and other social services programs. 

The IRS is also launching a dedicated fraud task force focused on targeting the misuse of funding by 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entities, Reuters reports.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 15:40

Brazil Proposes National Bitcoin Reserve, Targets 1 Million BTC Over Five Years

Authored by Micah Zimmerman via BitcoinMagazine.com,

Brazilian lawmakers have reintroduced a bill to create a national Strategic Sovereign Bitcoin Reserve, known as RESBit, proposing the gradual acquisition of one million bitcoins over five years. 

The bill, presented by Federal Deputy Luiz Gastão (PSD/CE), outlines a comprehensive framework to integrate Bitcoin into the country’s financial strategy and diversify national reserves.

The proposed legislation establishes several guidelines for RESBit.

First, the plan calls for a gradual accumulation of at least 1,000,000 BTC over five years.

It prohibits the sale of bitcoins seized by Brazilian judicial authorities, ensuring that these assets remain within public control. 

The bill also allows for the collection of Brazil’s federal taxes in Bitcoin and offers incentives for public companies to engage in Bitcoin mining and storage.

Transparency is a central feature of the proposal. The bill mandates public disclosure of RESBit’s bitcoin holdings through internet-based platforms, enabling auditing by the public.

It emphasizes secure storage of digital assets using technologies such as cold wallets, multisignature wallets, and other internationally recognized mechanisms.

In addition, the legislation permits temporary holdings of spot ETFs backed by bitcoin in the reserve portfolio, subject to urgent and limited circumstances.

If approved, Brazil could join a small group of countries actively holding Bitcoin at a national level, potentially surpassing major holders like the United States and China. 

Other countries like Brazil exploring Bitcoin reserves 

Quite famously, El Salvador holds the mantle as the ‘world’s first country’ with a strategic Bitcoin reserve, reporting over 7,560 Bitcoin under President Nayib Bukele’s program.

Despite scaling back mandatory Bitcoin acceptance under IMF agreements, the government has maintained regular purchases, citing long-term financial sovereignty and reserve diversification. The National Bitcoin Office now splits holdings across multiple addresses to bolster security and transparency.

The Central American nation’s approach has inspired policymakers worldwide. In the United States, the BITCOIN Act of 2025 proposed somewhat of a federal strategic Bitcoin reserve, while several states, including New Hampshire and Arizona, have passed or proposed laws allowing portions of public funds to be invested in digital assets.

President Trump’s March 2025 executive order further directed federal agencies to explore Bitcoin accumulation from seized assets without new taxpayer costs.

In Europe, the Czech National Bank has a similar allocation in bitcoin, while Switzerland sees a citizen-led initiative proposing a constitutional mandate for Bitcoin holdings. 

Hong Kong, Ukraine, and Pakistan are also exploring frameworks to hold Bitcoin at the national level, with Pakistan pledging never to sell its future reserves.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 15:20

Trump Plans Venezuela Trip, First U.S. President Visit Since Bill Clinton

President Donald Trump told reporters outside the White House on Friday afternoon that he plans to visit Venezuela, but offered no details or timeline. If it happens, it would be a historic trip, coming as Venezuelan oil flows accelerate under tighter U.S. oversight.

"I'm going to make a visit to Venezuela... We haven't decided [when]," Trump told reporters, adding that he also had a "good meeting" with Venezuela's neighbor, Colombia.

.@POTUS: "I'm going to make a visit to Venezuela... We haven't decided [when]." pic.twitter.com/yLADVt37Co

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 13, 2026

Reuters said that Trump praised Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez.

"We have a very good relationship with the president of Venezuela," Trump said, noting that the U.S. is "working together very closely" with Rodriguez on access to oil.

Asked by Reuters if he will recognize Rodriguez as the official government, Trump responded, "Yeah, we have done that. We are dealing with them, and really, right now they have done a great job."

On Thursday, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC News that Venezuelan oil revenue is no longer being deposited into a Qatari account.

"An account was set up in Qatar, controlled by the U.S. government the whole time, to land that money in and then send the money from there down to Venezuela," Wright said.

The energy secretary continued, "Now we have an account at the U.S. Treasury. The money won’t go to Qatar anymore."

Wright also said that revenue from Venezuelan oil sales now tops $1 billion.

The last sitting US president to visit Venezuela was in 1997, when Bill Clinton traveled to Caracas and met with Rafael Caldera.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 14:40

Leftist Vandals Again Hit Chicago Mural Of Murdered Ukrainian Iryna

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

The Chicago mural honoring Iryna Zarutska, the innocent Ukrainian refugee stabbed to death in cold blood on a Charlotte light rail train, has been vandalized again—just two weeks after its unveiling.

This latest defacement underscores how deranged leftists will go to any lengths to suppress reminders of the deadly fallout from their soft-on-crime policies, even when the victim is a refugee who fled war.

The mural, painted on a three-story brick building at West Montrose and North Western avenues in Chicago’s North Center neighborhood, depicts Zarutska’s face gazing solemnly, a stark memorial to her senseless murder last August by repeat offender Decarlos Brown Jr.

?#BREAKING: The Chicago mural of Iryna Zarutska has been defaced for a 2nd time in just 14 days.

I don't understand how anyone could do this…

You have to be a complete sociopath to want to vandalize a mural of an innocent refugee who was m*rdered in cold blood/

Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/VNzaGz22dl

— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) February 11, 2026

The artwork was defaced for the second time in just 14 days. Video footage shows the vandalism, highlighting the graffiti scrawled across the tribute.

This incident follows a pattern of attacks on similar murals nationwide, as we previously reported.

In Brooklyn’s Bushwick, a massive mural was tagged with “F-ck Trump” shortly after completion, while Manhattan’s Lower East Side version was hit with “Please vandalize this” spray-painted over Zarutska’s face.

Florida’s Pensacola mural faced repeated assaults, defaced at least three times with mockery of her death.

Zarutska, 23, escaped the horrors of Russia’s war in Ukraine, seeking safety in the U.S. as a refugee. Her killer, Brown, had been arrested and released 14 times prior, a direct result of Democrat-run cities prioritizing criminals over public safety.

Surveillance footage captured the brutal attack, with Brown reportedly boasting, “I got that white girl,” as bystanders tried to save her. The racial angle was downplayed by corporate media, in stark contrast to their amplification of other cases.

President Trump highlighted Zarutska’s murder in speeches, vowing to crack down on “savage bloodthirsty criminals” unleashed by leftist agendas. 

The mural campaign, backed by over $1 million from Elon Musk and others, aims to keep her memory alive and spotlight these policy failures.

But leftists can’t tolerate it. Outlets like The Guardian have smeared the effort as “weaponizing her memory” through “sterile” art, ignoring the real hypocrisy: Zarutska embodies the very refugees they claim to champion, yet her story is erased because it bolsters Trump’s push for law and order.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 14:20

The Bigger Problem That The Tim Walz NGO Scandal Has Exposed

Authored by Edward Woodson via American Greatness,

The Minnesota nonprofit fraud scandal, now expected to cost taxpayers more than $9 billion, is being dismissed by many as an isolated failure. However, this is far from the case, and writing it off as such would be a colossal mistake.

What it actually revealed is a broader problem in the Swamp—that institutions claiming to represent others often operate with little accountability and then quietly drift away from the very people who are footing the bill.

In Minnesota, nonprofit organizations became the perfect vehicle for abuse—shielded from scrutiny, politically protected, and flush with public money. However, in Washington, trade associations operate in largely the same way. They collect millions in dues from American businesses while increasingly choosing to serve their own leadership’s personal and political interests instead of those of their dues-paying members.

Their members only care about being able to deliver good-paying jobs to their employees and securing a more favorable regulatory climate so they can deliver lower-priced goods for the American people; however, you’d never know that if you looked at the public policy priorities of their association leadership officials, who seem more interested in fitting in at woke radical leftist cocktail parties.

Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, has repeatedly broken with Republicans by sharply criticizing Donald Trump, including after January 6, when he called Trump’s actions “mob rule,” urged Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, and faulted the administration’s handling of COVID-19. Despite that record, Timmons later congratulated Trump on his November 2024 victory and suggested they should “work together like we did before.” At the same time, Timmons praised and partnered with Joe Biden, backing the administration’s COVID-19 vaccine campaign and publicly supporting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act. In 2022, he also donated to Adam Kinzinger’s leadership PAC just days after Kinzinger was censured by the Republican Party.

If a presidency was truly so dangerous five years ago that it was deemed incompatible with democracy itself, it is fair to ask how the same association leadership can now claim alignment and cooperation without any explanation, accountability, or evident change in approach.

That kind of abrupt pivot invites skepticism from dues-paying manufacturers who expect their trade groups to be guided by member interests, not political positioning or reputational hedging.

The problem is compounded by a reliance on press releases in place of real relationships. Press releases don’t move policy—relationships do. Manufacturers don’t pay dues for moral posturing, elite signaling, or ceremonial access; they pay for results. When leadership spends years attacking an administration only to reverse course once the election is settled—substituting optics for engagement—it raises a fundamental question about who the organization is really serving.

Then there’s the Investment Company Institute, which represents asset managers navigating an intensely regulated environment. Its CEO, Eric Pan, earns roughly $3 million a year while publicly aligning himself with progressive causes and donating to Democratic candidates—even those running against Republican senators who oversee key committees affecting pensions and financial markets.

Under Pan’s control, the ICI went head over heels for Biden’s climate change agenda, endorsing a proposed rule by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would push to mandate climate-impact disclosures. Critics warned the proposals blurred the line between securities regulation and social policymaking, forcing companies to engage in politically charged “compelled speech” untethered from core financial risk.  They cautioned that the rules would impose significant compliance costs, expose firms to heightened litigation risk, and overwhelm investors with data of dubious relevance. This makes sense from the standpoint that Pan brags about teaching his students at Columbia Law a “rich, progressive curriculum.” This kind of political posturing is putting the organization’s member companies at odds with the very policymakers who shape their regulatory futures.

Even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, long seen as the flagship advocate for free enterprise, lost credibility with many small businesses during the Biden years. While its executives collected multi-million-dollar compensation packages, the Chamber backed COVID mandates, massive spending bills, and climate policies that drove up costs for employers and workers alike.

When small businesses were struggling to stay afloat, the Chamber’s Washington insiders were doing just fine. The CEO, Suzanne Clark, earned $6.6 million, and the Chief Policy Officer, Neil Bradley, earned nearly $2 million.

For small businesses writing checks every year, what are those association dues actually buying? Better free-market conservative policies? Measurable regulatory relief? Or just access, prestige, and fat salaries for executives whose priorities no longer align with the firms they represent?

Trade associations should exist to fight relentlessly for free enterprise—predictable rules, property rights, competition, and growth. When they become tollbooths to Washington rather than shields against it, they fail in their mission.

The Minnesota NGO scandal should serve as a textbook warning of how institutions that operate without accountability eventually stop serving their stated purpose. Businesses, especially small businesses, should demand better.

Any group, whether in Minnesota or in DC, that claims to represent the American people should be able to answer three basic questions:

• Who do you actually speak for?

• What concrete wins have you delivered in the last 12 months for the people you serve?

• Whose interests come first—your members or your executives?

Right now, too many are not able to answer these basic questions.

Ronald Reagan once said, “We must be willing to pay for excellence in government or risk a government run only by people of wealth or by those beholden to special interests.”

If we don’t demand the same for the groups that represent us at the government negotiating table, then those same negative consequences will arise. And that’s in no one’s interest.

It’s time we demand better.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 13:40

Two Philadelphia Men Admit To AI-Assisted $3.5M Housing Aid Scam In Minnesota

This will be the first of many AI scams of its kind, we predict...

Two men from Pennsylvania admitted to repeatedly flying from Philadelphia to Minneapolis to exploit Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program, stealing about $3.5 million, according to prosecutors. Authorities say they used artificial intelligence to forge records and falsely bill for services, according to Fox News.

Anthony Waddell Jefferson, 37, and Lester Brown, 53, registered businesses as HSS providers, claiming they offered housing support and transition services. In reality, officials say much of the work never happened.

Launched in 2020, HSS helps people with disabilities, seniors, and those struggling with mental health or addiction secure housing. The Justice Department has noted the program had “low barriers to entry and minimal records requirements.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “Criminal fraud not only robs taxpayers — it shatters trust in our institutions… Our prosecutors will work tirelessly to unravel criminal fraud schemes.”

Fox News writes that prosecutors allege the pair billed Medicaid for services supposedly provided to about 230 clients. Both men pleaded guilty to wire fraud and face up to 20 years in prison.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated, “Minnesota will no longer be a haven for fraud under our watch,” adding that dozens of convictions have already been secured in the state.

Investigators say Jefferson and Brown promoted themselves as “The Housing Guys” at shelters and Section 8 housing sites to recruit clients. Jefferson allegedly hired relatives and associates to produce fake service notes, sometimes using invented employee names. Brown reportedly failed to keep required records. Authorities also say the men fabricated emails and used ChatGPT to generate false documentation.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said, “They traveled across the country for one purpose: to prey upon and steal millions in taxpayer dollars,” emphasizing that such schemes threaten federally funded programs nationwide.

Tyler Durden Fri, 02/13/2026 - 13:20