KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Karoline Leavitt’s Continued Manhandling of the Press Is Pure Poetry. “Right off the bat, I would like to say how grateful I am to be on the side where we can say that a woman is “manhandling” someone and not have to deal with a gaggle of male feminist professors getting their gender neutral undergarments in a wad. Yeah, they’re still out there, but conservatives aren’t obligated to participate in the leftist manufactured outrage delusion.”
February 19, 2026
ULTIMATE ENGINEERING: That’s the title of a new book out this week by Brit Stuart Burgess that makes a tremendously compelling case for the proposition that the human body is chock full of illustrations of a level of engineering expertise and knowledge that far exceeds the capabilities of evolutionary natural selection.
If you’ve ever been told your wrist, knee or ankle are examples of bad design, this book will demonstrate why from the perspective of one of the world’d top-flight biomechanical engineers that claim is the opposite of the reality. Here’s my review for The Washington Stand.
A friend writes: “Interesting. Does this mean they’re gonna start arresting all those Pakistani rape gangs, plus the police and other public officials who turned a blind eye to that?”
Don’t be silly. That would be racist or something. Also it would interfere with the leftist/Islamist takeover of Britain. Arresting (former) Prince Andrew weakens the royal family, and thus promotes that takeover. Not that King Charles has shown any sign of getting in the way, but just by existing the monarchy is a potential center of resistance.
HOW ARE THOSE NUCLEAR TALKS GOING? Trump has discussed timeline for Iran strikes — including as soon as this weekend — but no decision yet.
Top national security officials have told President Trump the military is ready for potential strikes on Iran as soon as Saturday, but the timeline for any action is likely to extend beyond this weekend, sources familiar with the discussions told CBS News.
Mr. Trump has not yet made a final decision about whether to strike, said the officials, who spoke under condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national matters.
The conversations have been described as fluid and ongoing, as the White House weighs the risks of escalation and the political and military consequences of restraint.
Over the next three days, the Pentagon is moving some personnel temporarily out of the Middle East region — primarily to Europe or back to the United States — ahead of potential action or counterattacks by Iran if the U.S. were to move ahead with its operation, according to multiple officials.
Stay tuned.
WORST. HITLER. EVER:
Craziest part of fascism is when you take to social media to put out a public statement announcing you're going to protest, all without fear of any legal repercussions. https://t.co/F8kHOE2HrP
— Sunny (@sunnyright) February 18, 2026
THE WARMTH OF COLLECTIVISM, GOOD AND HARD: Mamdani Abandons Key Leftist Policy As Homeless New Yorkers Freeze To Death.
And for the Cancelled of X.
LAW AND ORDER:
Trump brings a D.C. anti-crime activist who lost her son to violence to speak. She says Democrats never sent anyone to talk to her. No one talked to her until Trump who finally did something.
She gives Democrats hell:
“I love Trump. I don’t want to hear nothing you have to say… pic.twitter.com/LShHxvgrNV
— Bad Hombre (@Badhombre) February 18, 2026
Tweet continues, “I don’t want to hear nothing you have to say about that racist stuff. And don’t be hating on me because I’m standing up for somebody that deserves to be stood up for. Get off the man’s back. Let him do his job!”
IT’S MY THURSDAY ESSAY FOR VIP SUBSCRIBERS: Make Gunboat Diplomacy Great Again.
HIGHER EDUCATION IS A MONEY LAUNDRY FOR THE LEFT THESE DAYS: The Resurrection of Liz Magill: Georgetown Law Search Committee That Tapped Disgraced Penn President As Dean Included 11 Democratic Donors and a Democratic Political Aide.
And the left, unlike the right, always takes care of its own.
LIGHTNING DEAL: NEENCA Professional Knee Brace. #CommissionEarned
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: Rhode Island trans shooter’s son, 37, jailed for torching black church year before dad’s deadly hockey rampage.
The troubled, racist son of trans Nazi-loving Rhode Island killer Robert Dorgan was jailed last year for setting a series of fires at a predominantly black church, according to a report.
Kevin Colantonio, one of six children Dorgan had with three different women, is serving a nearly seven-year sentence in a Texas federal prison for using gasoline and a lighter to spark five fires outside Shiloh Gospel Temple Ministries in North Providence in February 2024, WPRI reported.
The church — which the deranged arsonist labeled as a place of worship for “Atheist God mockers” in a text to his family after the blaze — serves a mostly black congregation of 100 and was empty when the flames erupted.
Considering that dad had an SS symbol tattooed on his arm, is Colantonio aware of their views on religion? The Nazis’ love affair with the occult.
[O]ccult-related activities and organizations were often suppressed in Nazi Germany at the behest of Heinrich Himmler’s Rasputin-like personal occultist, Karl Maria Wiligut. The point of this was to ensure that Wiligut’s own brand of occultism would be the eminent philosophy of the Nazis.
Wiligut had developed a religion centered on worshipping the Germanic god Irmin. According to Wiligut, German culture dated back to 228,000 BC, a period of time when the Earth had three suns and was populated by giants, dwarfs, and other mythical creatures. He also claimed to be descended from a line of kings from this period of time. It should also be noted that Wiligut was a diagnosed schizophrenic.
Himmler, who was an avid follower of the occult, consulted Wiligut on a wide variety of issues. Using Wiligut’s prophecies, Himmler chose the castle Wewelsburg to serve as a base of operations for his SS troops and established a room in the castle with a crystal representing the Holy Grail. Wiligut also helped in the design of the rune-covered death’s head rings that the SS troops wore, personal awards that Himmler issued himself.
Himmler was particularly attracted to Wiligut’s brand of paganism, as he disliked the Judaic origins of Christianity. After the end of the WWII, Himmler believed that the “old Germanic gods will be restored.” Leveraging his influence and his boss’s desire to see a Germanic paganism, Wiligut attempted to stamp out competing philosophies to his Irminism.
Related: “Hitler presented himself as a Christian patriot to win over the German public as they faced economic and moral degradation during the unchecked liberalism of the 1920s, but in private he was not a fan of the religion. Hitler is noted by Albert Speer as saying: ‘You see, it’s been our misfortune to have the wrong religion. Why didn’t we have the religion of the Japanese, who regard sacrifice for the Fatherland as the highest good? The Mohammedan religion [Islam] too would have been more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness?’”
THANKS, FELLAS: India seizes three Iran-linked US-sanctioned tankers, source says.
India has seized three US-sanctioned oil tankers linked to Iran this month and stepped up surveillance in its maritime zone to curb illicit trade, a source tells Reuters, confirming a post on X by Indian authorities earlier in February that had been deleted.
India aims to prevent its waters from being used for ship-to-ship transfers that obscure the origin of oil cargoes, the source with direct knowledge of the matter tells Reuters.
The seizures and heightened surveillance follow an improvement in US-India relations. Washington earlier this month announced it will cut import tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50%, after New Delhi agreed to stop Russian oil imports.
The three sanctioned vessels – Stellar Ruby, Asphalt Star and Al Jafzia – frequently changed their identities to evade law enforcement by coastal states, the source said, adding that their owners were based overseas.
Iranian state media cited the National Iranian Oil Company as saying that the three tankers seized by India had no connection to the company. It said that neither the cargoes nor the vessels were linked to the company.
Well, that’s what you’d expect Iranian state media to say.
ANOTHER NARRATIVE BUSTED: Police killed fewer Americans in 2025 under Trump than in Biden era 2023 or 2024.
ew data shows that as Trump’s unprecedented surge of federal agents poured into neighborhoods across the country, 2025 saw fewer police killings nationwide than either of the last two years of Joe Biden’s term — exactly the opposite of what many feared. Progressive police reform group Campaign Zero publishes daily data at mappingpoliceviolence.org, including figures on killings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. In 2025, their data shows 1,314 police killings compared to 1,382 in 2024 and 1,362 in 2023. Indeed, in the month in which Pretti and Good were killed in 2026, police killings were down again compared to 2025. These facts complicate the political narrative that Trump has unleashed “violent and sometimes deadly tactics … by federal immigration officers in communities across the country.” If they are so violent, why did police kill 68 fewer people in 2025 than 2024? Certainly, that’s not what I expected to happen. I don’t think anyone did.
Oh, I think Trump probably did.
Plus: “We’ll see if anyone notices that police violence went down under Trump. I doubt it.”
Even if they notice, I doubt they’ll tell.
GOODER AND HARDER:
NYC public school teachers voted overwhelmingly for Mamdani.
The United Federation of Teachers, representing NYC public school teachers, endorsed Mamdani, with 64% of delegates voting for him.
He’s now raiding their pension fund.
— Bad Hombre (@Badhombre) February 18, 2026
You would need a heart of stone not to laugh.
GOOD LORD:
The proximate source of NYC’s budget woes is we have the most expensive public schools in the country
$42k+ per student, as enrollment has dropped post pandemic, while spending keeps growing https://t.co/aXYw4PrO8Q
— Arpit Gupta (@arpitrage) February 18, 2026
NYC has about 8.4 million people, and Florida has more than 23 million.
And, of course, the state government in Albany spends on NYC residents, too.
So whatever problems NYC has, they certainly don’t stem from a lack of money.
Exit question: How much of that $42,000 per student actually reaches the classroom, and how much goes to administrators?
OLD AND BUSTED: I Disapprove of What You Say, But I Will Defend to the Death Your Right to Say It.
–Paraphrase of Voltaire’s philosophy by historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall.
The New Frenchness? French President Emmanuel Macron Says Free Speech Is ‘Pure Bulls**t’ Unless Regulated.
Translation from doublespeak to English: “I just want to be able to arrest people and seize their assets for thoughtcrimes.”
— Jason Wilkins (@TheJasonWilkins) February 18, 2026
Meanwhile in Germany, Freidrich Merz is partying like it’s 1939:
Germany’s most famous figures of civilian resistance, the Scholl siblings, for whom secrecy was a matter of survival, were captured by Nazi operatives on this day in 1943 and executed four days later. For Germany’s current leader to choose the 83rd anniversary of their capture to… https://t.co/Tag0oD6QIq
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) February 18, 2026
Tweet continues, “For Germany’s current leader to choose the 83rd anniversary of their capture to demand the unmasking of critical voices online is a grotesque display of a country that has learned nothing from its own history.”
I’LL TAKE MY STEAK RARE, WITH A SIDE OF BACON. Think chicken is healthier than beef? New study says not so fast.
Don’t leave your empties lying in the streets, guys, jeez…
Meg Turner had a quiet six months (after the end of the monster incursion). That was because her borders were closed, but her six months of peace were up when her borders came down. While, yes, bringing her borders down allowed for a lot of postponed good things, it also allowed for an ill-considered challenge for her territory and a couple of murderers to waltz across her borders.
Oh, and an abandoned fledgling that had awakened to the night, buried in a dumpster. One that the Justices would have seen culled with most of the fledglings in the Kansas City nest. Thank goodness she’d sent Radu to rescue the ones that could recover from being brought over by cannibalistic monsters, and nobody official had paid attention to how many they’d rescued.
Between hiding an extra fledgling from the new Justice, Richmond recovering from a nasty case of PTSD, a vampire hiding his feeding on the homeless as animal attacks, and another feeding on her young vampires, Meg has her hands full.
And she’d really like to close her borders again, to avoid having to deal with all of this nonsense, please and thank you.
THIS IS A GLOBAL FIGHT: RIP Quentin Deranque, 23: In the Streets of Lyon, a Young Rightist Is Beaten to Death (Video).
WELL, OF COURSE THEY ARE: Democrats And Media AWOL On Raw Sewage Spill In Potomac River.
THE DEMOCRATS WON’T: End the Epstein Madness.
HELPING MR. DU TOIT DO THE NEEDFUL: Doing My Bit.
LIBERAL WOMEN, I TELL YA: She did what?
