Author Archive: Stephen Green
February 18, 2026
The testing focuses on proving that mission software can be rapidly ported between platforms, creating what the Air Force describes as a competitive and adaptable ecosystem for future autonomous air combat systems. The service explains this validates a core principle of the new acquisition strategy: decoupling software from hardware through an open, modular architecture to accelerate innovation and avoid dependence on a single vendor – the so-called “vendor lock.”
“Verifying A-GRA across multiple partners is critical to our acquisition strategy,” said Col. Timothy Helfrich, Portfolio Acquisition executive for Fighters and Advanced Aircraft. “It proves that we are not locked into a single solution or a single vendor. We are instead building a competitive ecosystem where the best algorithms can be deployed rapidly to the warfighter on any A-GRA compliant platform, regardless of the vendor providing the algorithm.
The Air Force’s CCA concept envisions large numbers of uncrewed aircraft operating alongside crewed fighters such as the F-35 and the future F-47. Once known as “loyal wingmen,” these aircraft are now expected to perform missions ranging from reconnaissance and strike to electronic warfare and decoy operations. The service has previously noted it intends to field in the long term at least 1,000 CCAs in different configurations.
We’ve come a long way from “kick the tires and light the fires.” But 1,000 seems low for CCAs meant to be “attritable” when the piloted aircraft is at risk.
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Jesse Jackson and the Golden Age of Not Getting Along With Each Other. “esse Jackson was a polarizing figure, to be sure. However, his peak polarization days came during a time when we all weren’t so quick to get bent out of shape about things like that. Political Americans knew how to not get along better back then, if that makes any sense. People were just as passionate about politics then, but we didn’t have social media or 24 hour political news offerings on television. We would get our political fixes, then do other stuff. I used to golf in those days. It’s impossible to fret over the likes of Jesse Jackson when one has a short game that’s trying to give you a heart attack.”
THE ART OF THE DEAL: Trump renews threat to cut funding for $16B Gateway project.
In a fiery social media post, Trump reiterated his opposition to the proposed rail tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York City under the Hudson River as New York and New Jersey leaders demand the release of tens of millions of dollars in federal funding frozen by his administration.
“I am opposed to the future boondoggle known as ‘Gateway,’ in New York/New Jersey, because it will cost many BILLIONS OF DOLLARS more than projected or anticipated,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday. “The project will be financially catastrophic for the region, unless hard work and proper planning is done, NOW, to avoid insurmountable future cost overruns.”
Trump said the federal government is willing to meet with New York and New Jersey officials to discuss funding for the project.
I’m not sure what local officials might fear more: Losing all their federal funds, or having a developer like Trump come in to look at their books.
CHANGE: Gen Z Men & Highly Educated Lead Return to Religion.
The decline of religion remains a fundamental reality in most Western countries, particularly in Europe, where over 50% of those under age 40 do not identify with any faith. Even in more religious America, some estimate that as many as 100,000 churches will close in the near future. Meanwhile, the ranks of “Nones,” those outside religious communities, have grown so large that their numbers rival those of Catholics and evangelical Protestants.
Yet, as we document in a new report for the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy, there are signs that religion is enjoying more than a nascent revival. Data emerging from the 2020s suggest that we are witnessing a complex spiritual restructuring that intersects with economic mobility, demographic resilience, and a profound intellectual realignment.
For the first time in decades, Pew Research notes, in the U.S. at least, Christianity has stopped its nosedive as more people begin to see the efficacy, and the rewards, of religious faith and practice.
This fragile development is especially noteworthy as it exposes growing divides and fault lines in American politics and culture.
Read the whole thing.
IDEOLOGICAL GROOMING: Education Group, Union Say Anti-ICE Walkouts ‘Required’ for Students.
February 17, 2026
TOTALLY DANGEROUS, DON’T EVEN PEEK: After Fleeing Trump’s America, Rosie O’Donnell Quietly Peeks Back to See If It’s ‘Safe.’
TOO MUCH IS NEVER ENOUGH: Income tax bill passes WA Senate after hours of heated debate.
Senate Bill 6346, dubbed the “millionaires’ tax” by supporters, would impose a 9.9% levy on personal income over $1 million, or on combined household income of more than $1 million.
Opponents, including all Senate Republicans, argue the bill is unconstitutional and will drive wealthy residents and business investment out of the state.
Supporters of the legislation argue it will fix a regressive tax code, fund education and healthcare, and provide tax relief for working families.
…
The legislation would apply the 9.9% tax on business income more than $1 million, and the Chelan County Republican said in his farming business, there are good years and bad years.
Looks like Washington might be in for a run of bad luck.
CUBA LIBRE:
Sherritt International plans to suspend nickel and cobalt production in Cuba as fuel supply constraints affect the struggling communist-run island. https://t.co/51tS7DrHXg
— Bloomberg (@business) February 17, 2026
GLEICHSCHALTUNG: Woke Portland pizza restaurant hits diners with anti-ICE propaganda and bizarrely declares ‘food is political.’
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): I believe Comrade Stalin felt the same way.
NOT EVEN TWO MONTHS IN OFFICE, MAMDANI HOLDS THE CITY HOSTAGE TO GET WHAT HE WANTS:
NYC Mayor Mamdani unveiled his preliminary budget at City Hall. The proposal outlines two options: either Hochul approves tax increases on the wealthy and corporations, or the city will raise property taxes on residents and tap into municipal reserves.
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 17, 2026
Not quite Bane, but give him time.
“UNSTABLE AUTOGYNEPHILIC MALES” MIGHT BE MORE ACCURATE, BUT YES: Trans Shooters: The Patterns Are Well Established.
THIS IS GREAT NEWS:
Trump's policies are having good effects.
When the new public charge rules come into effect this year between 1.3 million and 4 million immigrant households on Medicaid will be removed from the program.
America cannot be the world's hospital & welfare ward.
(KFF study link:… pic.twitter.com/TVkNgIGeIs
— White Papers Policy Institute (@WhitePapersPol) February 17, 2026
BUT THEY ASSURED ME THE SCIENCE WAS SETTLED: The Bacon Paradox.
In 1998, three scientists won the Nobel Prize for discovering a molecule that saves lives. It relaxes blood vessels. It lowers pressure. It prevents heart attacks. It is called Nitric Oxide. The primary raw material for this miracle molecule is the very thing we have spent fifty years trying to banish from our breakfast tables. We are running away from the cure because we have confused it with the poison.
Here is the inconvenient fact that the “clean eating” lobby forgets to mention. Vegetables love nitrates. They soak them up from the soil like a sponge.
Beetroot. Rocket. Spinach. And yes, celery. These are the nitrate heavyweights. A 100g serving of rocket contains more nitrates than 5 kgs of bacon or hotdogs. If nitrates were truly the toxic assassin we are told they are, a salad would be a suicide note.
Yet, nobody is protesting against spinach (which has twice the level of rocket). We consider these vegetables “superfoods.” We blend them. We drink them. We feed them to our children.
So why is the nitrate in a bacon sarny a killer, but the nitrate in a beetroot a hero?
Read the whole thing — and hands off my bacon.
THE FREE RIDE IS OVER:
Shippers and brokers have grown accustomed to having nearly unlimited capacity in the market. That was only possible when you had shady carriers able to import drivers from outside of the country that they could put into a truck within days of entering the US, and pay poverty… https://t.co/aFrA2JGI8E
— SuperTrucker 🚛💨→💻 (@supertrucker) February 17, 2026
I COULD HAVE WARNED THEM SIX YEARS AGO THAT DENVER WAS A MISTAKE: So Another Blue State Just Lost Another Company to Guess Where.
WHAT A MESS: Trump says FEMA will play ‘key role’ in coordinating response to Potomac sewage spill.
The collapse of a sewer line in Montgomery County, Maryland, last month spilled more than 200 million gallons of wastewater into the river. DC Water recently completed a bypass to temporarily reroute wastewater back into the sewer system, although local officials say it could take another 10 months to repair the pipe.
In a Monday afternoon social media post, Trump accused Maryland Gov. Wes Moore — a Democrat — of “gross mismanagement,” calling the spill “a result of incompetent Local and State Management of Essential Waste Management Systems.” He also attacked Moore for his role overseeing the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which collapsed in March 2024.
“While State and Local Authorities have failed to request needed Emergency Help, I cannot allow incompetent Local ‘Leadership’ to turn the River in the Heart of Washington into a Disaster Zone,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding: “The Federal Government has no choice, but to step in.”
A spill this size would’ve been much bigger news in a red state.
CREEPY BUT NOT SHOCKING: The Creepy Media Cover-Up of Gov. Pritzker’s Family Ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
THIS:
"Sitting on their vast wealth," could also be phrased "investing their vast wealth in productive enterprises instead of throwing money to activist NGOs that are mostly scams." https://t.co/SDgwmo2dU5
— Charles Murray (@charlesmurray) February 17, 2026
AND NOT JUST IN THE STATE CAPITOL BUILDING: Colorado bill would fully legalize prostitution. “Senate Bill 26-097 would require the entire state to decriminalize ‘commercial sexual activity among consenting adults,’ both for people who buy sex and who would sell it. This would be unique in the U.S., as the only other states with any form of legal prostitution, Maine and Nevada, still have certain rules around it.”
LAUGHING WOLF ON THE END OF NON-PROLIFERATION AND POLISH NUKES: The Only Surprise Is…
I suspect Iran is not the only country working hard to become a member of the nuclear club. You don’t have to go through the Manhattan Project to get to be a member, and you don’t have to be as unsubtle as Iran in creating a viable nuclear weapons program.
The fact that Poland has stepped out in the open like this is interesting, and a bit amusing. If you go back and read this post and the linked posts, I got called some names for suggesting that Poland be made a nuclear power and be the northern anchor for a new, non-military, ‘nato’ (lower case deliberate) that can stand as a bulwark against anything from the East as well as against a Muslim/Islamist West. While I think there is still a chance to prevent an effective European Caliphate (England is starting to wake up, but…), I also still very much think we need a Christian bulwark in the East if Western Civilization is to survive.
I also think some open and honest conversations on what is likely to happen when nuclear non-proliferation efforts are fully dead.
Beijing seems uninterested in either arms control or reasserting non-proliferation, making both largely moot points.
STUPIDITY IS SUPPOSED TO HURT: Thanks, Jacob Frey: His Sanctuary City Policy Slams Minneapolis with $200 Million Cost.