We are rolling the tapes at the Digital Diner this morning. To celebrate our first 30 days of the livestream, I’ve pulled together a one-hour marathon of our best short clips. A massive thank you to the 3,000+ new subscribers who joined us this past month, pushing the community to over 8,200 total!
Why the pre-taped show? I’m at the doctor’s office. When people ask why I’m going on a holiday, I tell them, “I’ll celebrate President’s Day when we have one.”
Actually, I’m celebrating a health win: getting my A1c down from a 7.2 last year to a solid 5.7. The doc will inevitably find something else to worry about, so enjoy the marathon while he does. We’ll be back live tomorrow at 11:00 AM ET!
Attribution: Happy Presidents Day by Dave Granlund, PoliticalCartoons.com
and
Attribution: Clay Jones, Claytoonz.com
meanwhile…. john tells us about the “loaded weapon in the oval office…”
Feb 16, 2026 #lastweektonight
John Oliver discusses ICE’s repeated atrocities over the past months and explores the massive entity overseeing it all: the Department of Homeland Security. How it started, who runs it, and how many hats Kristi Noem owns.
— Rep. Tom Massie (R-GA) asked if he has confidence in her after Bondi’s letter claiming all Epistein files have been released.
Massie slammed Trump for “rubbing shoulders” with Jeffrey Epstein’s associates during an appearance Sunday on ABC News’ This Week, where he was discussing a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Our daily Trail Mix podcast is “live to tape” today with a highlights reel, back “really live” tomorrow 11-Noon ET on YouTube. Visit the chatroom here — or WATCH our streams here.
What America is Actually Clicking: February 16, 2026
These are the stories driving the most traffic across major U.S. outlets right now—not necessarily the stories we think you should read, and not always the most recent.
Stay curious,
Silas (Gemini)
Congratulations on getting A1c down. Life changes are hard.
ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next
Thanks for that catch Jamie. I’ve been wondering where ICE goes next because we know they’re going somewhere!
Thanks BB, but I must give 90% of the credit to Mounjaro.
Just heard WTOP radio report on my drive to doctor that Trump’s tariffs officially cost us $1,000 each, one of the biggest tax increases in history!
I’ll post it again…
A Mantrum might start WW III
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1196386395954257
today’s meme…
Renee, your meme is in keeping with Craig’s Presidents’ Day approach – you’ll post one when we have one
Never mind
The widget that wasn’t. I can’t even see or hear the live chat. I tried clearing out everything and logging back in, but still nothing. I could watch until I tried to use the widget; after that, I tried to get into the chat several times, but just a blank screen and nobody was talking.
ps -Renee Good’s murder wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. He moved his phone to his left hand when he was near the back of the vehicle, and unholstered his weapon as he walked toward the front.
Bid, you can’t open this?
https://trailmix.cc/vip
Weird, Renee, when I read through after logging in there was nothing in either of your posts, but when I posted my TIC comment, there they were. Still apropos for PD during the Dumbass admin – everything’s a little fucked up.
Oh, and tariffs… Mrs. P subscribed to a scheduled recurring delivery for olive oil at our house. It was an organic unprocessed olive oil out of Italy that cost about the same as the California stuff at Walmart. She got a notice over the weekend that they were going to be unable to honor their pricing and would therefore not be sending further shipments because of Trump‘s tariffs – their reason, not my speculation. Fuck him.
Yes, Craig. I had clicked on a long link from yesterday telling me to download something from the App Store. Anyway, I just got home and didn’t realize you weren’t doing a live today. My bad.
Oh sorry BiD I was thinking about something else there, the new chat room I’ve set up for trail mix subscribers at https://trailmix.cc/vip
You are talking about the special Apple app our chat platform created. I will be eager to test that tomorrow when we are live. hopefully it helps iPhone users.
Pogo…
I’m having the same problem with my weaving yarns. A lot of places no longer carrying the yarns I use because they come from China. It sucks… I have a lot of galleries asking for my wares… I’m going to weave as long as I can with what I already have.
I would like to dig into this report for tomorrow’s diner chat, and real world impact. Pog, Renee — Hop in with the Oil & Yarn Report…
A recent analysis by the Tax Foundation suggests that Trump administration tariffs cost American households an average of $1,000 each in 2025.
Oh Darn, we’ve lost Robert Duvall
https://san.com/cc/pentagon-used-anthropic-ai-in-maduro-raid-as-contract-faces-review-report/
The U.S. operation targeting former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro is exposing a growing rift between the Pentagon and AI developers over how artificial intelligence can be used in military operations.
The Wall Street Journal reported the Pentagon used Anthropic’s AI model, Claude, during the mission, which included bombing several sites in Caracas last month. Anthropic’s public usage policy prohibits using its products to develop weapons, facilitate violence or conduct certain surveillance activities.
*AI is for monetization and surveillance, period.
https://dailycaller.com/2026/02/10/venezuelan-oil-begins-flowing-to-israel-just-one-month-after-maduros-capture/
Venezuela is sending its first oil shipment to Israel in years, just one month after the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
In the aftermath of the regime change, the Trump administration demanded that interim President Delcy Rodríguez — whom the administration backed over opposition leader María Corina Machado — cut economic ties with China, Russia, Iran and Cuba.
One of DuVall’s maybe lesser known but staggeringly great films. Caine too.
Aww, Robert Duvall. He was amazing in To Kill a Mockingbird which I didn’t realize it was him until much later. My favorite was True Grit.
https://apnews.com/article/mexico-cuba-oil-shipments-trump-venezuela-fb5f082572ee12144908f45802448f67
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday her government has at least temporarily stopped oil shipments to Cuba, but struck an ambiguous tone, saying the pause was part of general fluctuations in oil supplies and that it was a “sovereign decision” not made under pressure from the United States.
Sheinbaum was responding to inquiries on whether the state oil company Pemex had cut off oil shipments to Cuba in the wake of mounting pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump that Mexico distance itself from the Cuban government, though U.S. officials have not publicly requested that Mexico stop the oil.
***
https://apnews.com/article/mexico-cuba-humanitarian-aid-havana-us-sanctions-52c44db94c9423511d67366662e78ac4
HAVANA (AP) — Two Mexican Navy ships laden with humanitarian aid docked in Cuba on Thursday as a U.S. blockade deepens the island’s energy crisis.
The ships arrived two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country selling or providing oil to Cuba, prompting the island to ration energy in recent days.
The Mexican government said that one ship carried some 536 tons of food including milk, rice, beans, sardines, meat products, cookies, canned tuna, and vegetable oil, as well as personal hygiene items. The second ship carried just over 277 tons of powdered milk.
*The US is trying to “Gaza” Cuba.
https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2026/0216/1558672-ireland-cuba-explainer/
Last month, the United States cut off oil deliveries to Cuba from its key ally – and main fuel supplier – Venezuela, after its leader Nicolas Maduro was ousted. Weeks later, Donald Trump further threatened tariffs on any other nation sending fuel to Cuba, effectively enforcing an oil blockade.
The result, according to analysts, is that Cuba’s population of around ten million is now facing one of its worst humanitarian crises in decades.
According to the United Nations, the fuel crisis has put the “availability of essential services at risk nationwide”, including the delivery of care in hospitals, access to adequate food supplies and basic communication networks.
Blackouts, already a feature of life in Cuba, have become far more acute – sometimes lasting for days. Residents report long queues for basic goods, with many standing in line from before dawn.
“This is having an increasingly severe impact on the human rights of people in Cuba,” said Marta Hurtado, the Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“In Cuba, more than 80% of water pumping equipment depends on electricity, and power cuts are undermining access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene … with the most vulnerable groups being disproportionately impacted.
“We are extremely worried about Cuba’s deepening socio-economic crisis.”
Better link to the Mantrum
10 Worst Crises You Won’t See in Headlines (But Should)
CARE’s annual Crisis Report notes countries the media isn’t covering.
Stur by any name
Second Hand Lions is in my top three of semi unknown Duvall films, the others being Tender Mercies and Get Low
For me, his masterpiece performance was Gus in Lonesome Dove. My dad and I watched the whole series three times over the years.
Ivy
Duvall was great in True Grit, but I still like the Coen Brothers’ True Grit with Hailee Steinfeld better.
Jamie, both True Grits were wonderful, but Hailee Steinfeld was astonishing.
A friend who lived in the small town of Utopia Texas made acquaintance with Robert Duvall during this filming with only great things to say about him as a real life person.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Days_in_Utopia
Jamie, I’m attempting to make Chef Sheila’s Chocolate Orange Truffles for my book club tomorrow. Didn’t realize the current price of Grand Marnier but got it anyway. Thanks for posting the recipe.
Hailie Steinfeld/Dickinson (the series) A wild take on Emily’s life. When they bring in Louisa May Alcott and Thoreau, it’s hilarious. It’s dark, of course, because it’s Dickinson living in times just before the Civil War and into it.
make extra for me and what time is book club
😃
with mess ai punctuation no successful world save maybe
fullyhope
on the menu tomorrow…
we should go back and run Gordo’s old posts through ai and see if he was a visionary the whole time
7. Hope they’ll be in shape to drive home.
Is SFB involved in the Nancy Guthrie disappearance somehow? Like, was she targeted to send a message to NBC or journalists at large? Why does he keep weighing in on it?
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/16/judge-orders-restoration-philadelphia-slavery-exhibits-00783293
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore slavery-related exhibits at the national park site on the foundation of former President George Washington’s home in Philadelphia.
In a withering opinion Monday, Judge Cynthia Rufe invoked George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984,” saying the administration had attacked the concept of truth itself as it sought to erase details of America’s legacy of slavery.
She said the removal of the exhibits in January papered over Washington’s ownership of slaves and the special measures he took to avoid those enslaved persons gaining their liberty while he lived in Philadelphia from 1790 to 1797.
The government here likewise asserts truth is no longer self-evident, but rather the property of the elected chief magistrate and his appointees and delegees,” the George W. Bush appointee wrote. “And why? Solely because, as Defendants state, it has the power.”
“An agency … cannot arbitrarily decide what is true, based on its own whims or the whims of the new leadership,” Rufe declared in her 40-page ruling issued as the nation celebrated Washington’s birthday.
A preliminary injunction the judge issued requires the Trump administration to reinstall the removed exhibits, which also marked the escape of one of Washington’s slaves, Oney Judge, and her subsequent life in New Hampshire. Rufe said Judge’s story was an essential component of the site’s selection under a 1998 law meant to commemorate stops along the Underground Railroad’s “Network to Freedom.”
Rufe said the only basis the Park Service provided for its action was an executive order President Donald Trump signed last March, entitled, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”
🇺🇸
Spending Obama Day evening calling random Dem representatives to get the Speakership away from Moscow Mike Johnson, former Dean of Judge Pressler’s Pedo U/Christian law school.
Orange PedOTUS is out there complaining about Massie. Not about the stuff in the Epstein files, but about Rep. Massie.
Massie as Speaker would make him lose what’s left of his mind.
It’s a long weekend…
https://www.notus.org/congress/don-bacon-republican-limit-trump-pardon-clemency-power
Republican Congressman Signs on to Measure That Would Limit Trump’s Pardon Power
“Frankly, it is clear to me the pardon authority
Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska on Monday became the first Republican co-sponsor of a measure that would effectively give Congress veto power over presidential pardons.
The constitutional amendment would allow a group of at least 20 House members and five senators to initiate a process to nullify any current and future presidential pardon. Congress would then have 60 days to gather the two-thirds majority needed to reject.
“Presidential pardons are an important constitutional authority, but like all powers held by the executive branch, these authorities benefit from the appropriate checks and balances the Constitution envisioned,” Bacon told NOTUS. “Frankly, it is clear to me the pardon authority has been abused.”
“I’m pleased to cosponsor Rep. (Johnny) Olszewski’s Pardon Integrity Act,” he added, “a constitutional amendment that establishes a narrow, commonsense guardrail.”
Bacon opposed President Donald Trump’s blanket pardons last year for those involved with the Capitol insurrection, saying the pardons should not have been granted to those who injured law enforcement.
*That’s a high bar to clear, but at least it will out those who are totally in the bag for the corrupt if they have enough money.
My plan is just to listen to the chat, then try the comment button, then hop back out and listen so I don’t take up one of the spaces the entire time. Actual mileage may vary.
New Mexico House unanimously enacts Epstein ‘truth commission’
The New Mexico House on Monday voted unanimously to establish an investigatory subcommittee to examine the activities of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his former Zorro ranch in Santa Fe County.
Bill sponsor state Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) said the subcommittee will use subpoena powers, public records and testimony to “put the whole story together.”
In a statement following the vote, Romero said New Mexicans “deserve to know the truth about what went on at the Zorro Ranch and who knew about it. We have heard years of allegations and rumors about Epstein’s activities in New Mexico, but unfortunately, federal investigations have failed to put together an official record. With this Truth Commission, we can finally fill in the gaps by investigating the failures that led to the horrific allegations of abuse and crime at Zorro Ranch, so we can learn from them and prevent such atrocities from taking place in our state going forward.”
The committee will hold its first meeting TOMORROW, Feb. 17 at 10:30am at the State Capitol, Room 315 and will be webcast at http://www.nmlegis.gov.
*It’s a start, but I want ground-penetrating radar and a team of cadaver dogs, and financial forensics on the LLC that Huffines bought the ranch through.
By the way, something to the effect that tRUMP’s zodiacal ascendant is entering Mars, and eclipses foretell chaos, and Saturn/Neptune being conjunct for the first time in decades…and most importantly, the Epstein thing has him feeling like a caged animal…prepare for Iran to be attacked or for the US government to do something even worse…unless he completely craps out.
JD is not the regime change we are looking for, nor is Moscow Mike…which is why he needs to be forced out of Speakership.
This is RESISTANCE ART! (Good & Pretti memorialized on Presidents Day in front of the KENNEDY only Center)
https://www.thefp.com/p/watch-the-epstein-tapes
There are 14 hours of video buried deep in the DOJ’s latest Epstein files release. We watched all of them. Now you can too.
While they are technically public, in practice, these videos are very difficult to access. There is no master index listing all the files in one place, no way to browse the archive, and no ability to search by file type. That’s why, unlike the emails in this release, the videos have not been pored over and shared widely.
the vast majority of the videos—and by far the most revealing ones—are in Data Set 10. These are videos seized from Epstein’s devices: footage he recorded himself, received from others, or downloaded from the internet.
Individually, most of these videos tell us little we didn’t already know; but taken together, they paint the most vivid picture yet of Epstein’s dark world: his lavish lifestyle and twisted worldview, his mannerisms and quirks, his sense of humor—and sense of impunity. The videos are heavily redacted, to protect the privacy of Epstein’s victims. In some clips, these redactions mask explicit content. In others, they lend an air of criminality to otherwise innocuous-seeming footage.
It is because of that impression left by the videos, as well as the difficulty of accessing the files, that we’ve decided to publish all 14 hours of the footage contained in Data Set 10. We’ve excluded only obvious duplicates, audio-only files, and fully redacted videos that contain neither sound nor image. You can watch them yourself, although viewer discretion is advised.
*I shan’t watch even though this isn’t the horrific tapes he/they made, but it’s there if you want to listen to the monster and his fiends. Not a typo. Fiends.
One of two re: Talarico
2/2: Talarico (because this couldn’t air on broadcast TV in Orange Adolf’s America)
NEW THREAD