SEDUCTIVE AI: People prefer the empathy of humans, but rate ‘fake’ AI empathy higher.

UPDATE: From the comments:

This is going to be a problem. Already is starting to be. Truly skilled first-rate human flatterer/persuader/seducers are rare, and generally end up aimed at high payoff targets. Most people in their whole lives will never have rated more than passing attention from such, and thus will have little or no immunity.

And now that level of individually customized flatterer/persuader/seducer skills is being automated, and will soon be cheaply deployable against *everyone*. I foresee big trouble.

I address these very issues in my forthcoming Seductive AI.

I LIKE A V-12: Whoa: Toyota’s Rolls-Baiting Century SUV Might Have an 800-HP V-12.

OR MONEY LAUNDRIES FOR SUPPORTERS: ‘Violence Interruptor’ Programs Are Blue State Wishful Thinking, Not Crime Reduction.

I THINK WE’VE ACTUALLY KNOWN THIS FOR A WHILE: Menopausal hormone therapy not linked to increased risk of death, study shows.

THAT SEEMS REASONABLE: No First Amendment Right to Force Government to Provide Live Feed of Macaques in Government Lab.

CHECKS OUT.

Prince Andrew Joins UK Muslim Rape Gang So He Can Keep Abusing Young Girls https://t.co/1575p1aivL pic.twitter.com/6dakOSmvhX

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) February 19, 2026

More thoughts below.

GOOD: NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya will take over leadership of CDC temporarily.

MICROBIOME NEWS: Your gut microbes can be anti-aging – scientists are uncovering how to keep your microbiome youthful.

#JOURNALISM:

Here's how the @latimes described @bariweiss being canceled at UCLA because of threats: "CBS’s Bari Weiss pulls out of UCLA lecture." The thugs can threaten, and media will blame you. There's no accountability. Notably, lecture named for Daniel Pearl, murdered for being Jewish.

— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) February 19, 2026

MASSIVE RESISTANCE: DEI remains strong at UMich a year after president promised to gut it.

THIS IS EXPLAINED BELOW:

The UK: We’ve arrested the former prince

Everyone: what about the horde of Pakistani child rapists?

The UK: the what?

— The Dank Knight 🦇 (@capeandcowell) February 19, 2026

UPDATE: From a friend:

England. Where royalty once could rape with impunity, that’s now the exclusive domain of third world migrants. #socialjustice #willwondersnevercease

Update the anthem: God Save the UK Teens. Srsly they must be having an Urdu laugh riot up in Rotherham.

Fascinating how the massively historic game-changing law enforcement virtue signal of arresting a royal for rape serves mainly to highlight the utter hypocrisy and disdain for the common people of British justice.
I suspect this one is going to bite them in the ass.

All that yapping over the last couple decades about rape culture. As a wise man of my acquaintance is given to saying, it’s always in the last place you look.

Or in the UK, the last place you choose to look.

Choose, indeed.

I REMEMBER WHEN HIGHER EDUCATION WAS SUPPOSED TO FOSTER CIVIL DISCOURSE: University of Houston student wishes paralysis and cancer on TPUSA chapter members and their families in profane outburst.

THE WARMTH OF COLLECTIVISM, GOOD AND HARD: Mamdani Abandons Key Leftist Policy As Homeless New Yorkers Freeze To Death.

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.

ANOTHER NARRATIVE BUSTED: Police killed fewer Americans in 2025 under Trump than in Biden era 2023 or 2024.

New 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.

OF COURSE: Senate Hopeful with Deep Democratic Ties Has Paid family Over $350K From His Campaign Coffers.

I’LL TAKE MY STEAK RARE, WITH A SIDE OF BACON. Think chicken is healthier than beef? New study says not so fast.

OPEN THREAD: Hump Day.

I REALLY ENJOY THE LACK OF RESPECT FOR PUFFED-UP ESTABLISHMENT FIGURES:

Hi dickweed, remember when your boss launched a year long unilateral war in Libya? https://t.co/xPAVxUwizq

— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) February 18, 2026

DID THEY SPRAY ENOUGH OF THAT FLEX-SEAL STUFF ON IT? NASA will fuel up its Artemis 2 moon rocket for the 2nd time on Feb. 19. Will it leak again?

No joke, in our old house we had a leaky skylight. Roofing guys couldn’t fix it. Finally I got on the roof and sprayed two cans of that flex-seal stuff that’s advertised on late-night TV all around it. No more leaks. Granted, there were no cryogenics involved, but still. If there are more problems tomorrow, maybe it’s worth a try. I mean, it can turn a screen door into a boat . . . .

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): School secretary, 31, accused of having sex with two students after husband catches her with one of them. “Hughes was transported to Randolph County Jail, where she is being held on a $25,000 cash-only bond.”

PROBLEM?

The problem is that a class action lawsuit of this kind that encompassed even a small fraction of those for whom this is true would create sufficient liability to end public schooling in America https://t.co/rzdvMWikC8

— Wesley Yang (@wesyang) February 18, 2026

LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY:

So many people in the comments are pointing out flaws and completely missing the point, which is the rate of change here.

2 years ago AI couldn’t generate a simple video of Will Smith eating spaghetti without it looking like a horrific DMT trip. Now it’s on the verge of… pic.twitter.com/z4C8TGxZSB

— Cognitive Dissident (@STP48315) February 17, 2026

Flashback: Backyard Filmmakers Are Hollywood’s Greatest Fear.

Backyards now optional. (I thought I’d posted this yesterday, but I was wrong.)

NEWS YOU CAN USE: The Best Cars That Still Offer a Manual Transmission in 2026, Ranked.