February 12, 2026

THE SHOW MUST GO ON: Activist Investor Slams WBD For Rushing Into ‘Flawed’ Netflix Deal, Tells Board To Engage With Paramount As Temperature Rises.

Activist investor and Warner Bros. Discovery shareholder Ancora Holdings threatened to vote ‘no’ on the Netflix deal and launch its own proxy fight if the WBD board does not engage with Paramount.

The David Ellison company Tuesday sweetened its hostile takeover offer for Warner in its latest attempt to derail the company’s agreement with Netflix.

The WBD board “now has no choice but to deem Paramount’s amended offer as one that could reasonably be expected to result in a Superior Proposal, given Netflix’s presently inferior proposal and unaddressed regulatory issues. Once that happens, the Board could then engage in good faith with Paramount to maximize shareholder value, paving the way for WBD to secure an even higher offer. If the WBD Board refuses to do this, Ancora will vote “NO” on the inferior Netflix deal and seek to hold the WBD Board accountable at the 2026,” the firm said in a presentation posted on its website.

“The WBD Board opted to rush into a flawed deal with Netflix rather than earnestly pursue a superior offer from Paramount – in line with the directors’ fiduciary duties,” it said. Ancora, a nearly $11 billion firm, said it has an approximately $200 million economic interest in Warner Bros. Discovery.

Stay tuned.

Posted at 9:39 am by Stephen Green

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Marco Rubio Would Make a Splendid Territorial Governor of Cuba. “Hey, if we can pick up the island on the cheap, Secretary of State Marco Rubio might want to don a seersucker suit and start a new gig as the territorial governor and enjoy presiding over a revitalized Havana.”

Posted at 9:08 am by Stephen Green

HMM:

Posted at 8:47 am by Glenn Reynolds

WELL, BYE: Famed Climate Scientist Who Sued Critics Wiped From Associated Press Article. “Associated Press released an article Monday concerning the Trump administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revoking a scientific finding that has been the backbone for US regulation on greenhouse gas emissions and quoted Mann saying the EPA would be cementing Republican climate denial with this measure. Associated Press later removed Mann’s statement from the article the same day it was published without stating why they did so.”

Posted at 8:45 am by Glenn Reynolds

COLONIZATION:

Posted at 8:42 am by Glenn Reynolds

THE ENEMY WITHIN: State Department finds Code Pink, People’s Forum linked to Chinese influence operations.

“Organizations like Code Pink and the People’s Forum denigrate the United States, whitewash the violence of Marxist regimes, and run cover for China while enjoying an influx of cash from a donor network with connections to the Chinese Communist Party.

Rogers also said: “The State Department will pursue complete transparency for the donor and NGO networks that lobby for our adversaries and seek to weaken the resolve of the United States,” Rogers also said.

According to the report, “Countering Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference,” China allegedly “spreads propaganda through influence campaigns run by nonprofit organizations like Code Pink, the People’s Forum and groups linked with the notorious Singham network.”

Anyone surprised?

Posted at 8:37 am by Stephen Green

AARON HANSCOM: Sweden and Spain Move in Opposite Directions on Immigration Policy.

“No requirements to become a citizen”? That sounds a lot like what anti-ICE protesters in the U.S. and their supporters advocate. After all, Billie Eilish said at the Grammys that “no one is illegal on stolen land.” One can’t help but wonder if she would agree with ISIS’s claim that Spain is stolen land.

Heh, indeed.

Posted at 8:35 am by Ed Driscoll

INDUSTRIAL POWER—FINANCED BY HOUSEHOLDS, ENFORCED BY SILENCE:

The IMF puts China’s 2025 GDP per capita at $13,806 a year — roughly $1,150 a month.

But using China International Capital Corp (CICC) income buckets below, only about ~2.5% of Chinese actually clear that level in monthly income — ~35 million out of ~1.4 billion. Most don’t live anywhere near the “average.”

So when outsiders swoon over the skyline, the mega-bridges, the high-speed rail to end of map, and the factory machine that exports “cheap and good” to the world, keep the base reality in frame:

•~547 million live on < $145/month.

•~1.33 billion earn < $724/month.

In any case, it’s all fun and games, until the CCP begins welding the doors shut:

Posted at 8:22 am by Ed Driscoll

CAN WE DO COMMON LAW JUDICIAL IMPEACHMENTS, THEN?

Posted at 8:08 am by Glenn Reynolds

IT’S MY THURSDAY ESSAY FOR VIP SUBSCRIBERS: What in the Actual Hell Is Going on in Russia? “Let’s get this out of the way right at the start: I have questions but no answers. But, dang, are the questions head-scratchingly fascinating for what they very nearly almost reveal about wartime life in Russia and on the frontlines of the Russo-Ukraine War. It all started, as so many things do these days, with a popular messaging platform.”

Posted at 8:06 am by Stephen Green

ALL THE BEST PEOPLE INFORMED ME THAT THIS WAS A NON-ISSUE: NYT Editorial: It’s Time for America to Admit That It Has a Marijuana Problem. “At the time, supporters of legalization predicted that it would bring few downsides. In our editorials, we described marijuana addiction and dependence as “relatively minor problems.” Many advocates went further and claimed that marijuana was a harmless drug that might even bring net health benefits. They also said that legalization might not lead to greater use. It is now clear that many of these predictions were wrong.”

Posted at 8:05 am by Glenn Reynolds

#JOURNALISM:

Posted at 8:01 am by Glenn Reynolds

DON SURBER: Transgendering Into A Killer. “He looked like Chris Farley. Even after 6 years of taking transgendering drugs, Jesse VanRootselaar, 18, had a 5 O’Clock shadow that powder did not completely cover. . . . The devil is the Lord of Lies and calling a man a woman is a pretty big (and in this case deadly) lie.”

Posted at 7:47 am by Glenn Reynolds

THIS IS CNN: CNN has lost nearly two-thirds of its viewership since 2016 amid growing fears network is circling the drain.

To be fair, they’re far from the only DNC-MSM institution that’s circling the drain:

Posted at 7:45 am by Ed Driscoll

TRUMP MUST BE POLLING REALLY WELL: Gallup Ends Presidential Approval Polling.

Gallup said Wednesday it will stop tracking and publishing presidential job approval and political figure favorability ratings this year, ending a public opinion yardstick it helped define for nearly nine decades.

A Gallup spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that the company will cease publishing individual politicians’ favorability and approval ratings, adding that this decision “reflects an evolution in how Gallup focuses its public research and thought leadership.”

Gallup is among the best-known names in U.S. polling, having pioneered systematic presidential job approval polling as a way to gauge public satisfaction with how presidents were performing their duties.

Why the sudden change?

Posted at 7:35 am by Stephen Green

FOULING THEIR OWN NEST, AND THEN FLEEING IT:

Posted at 7:34 am by Glenn Reynolds

FROM HOLLY CHISM:  The Passing of the Age.

Once, gods and Titans went to war because humanity existed and the Titans…didn’t like that. Will, the blacksmith’s apprentice, was born long after the war’s bitter, destructive, last gasp. It left the land scarred, leaving behind the Wastes, a massive pit in the landscape, dug by poisoned magic. The old world was lost in the ashes, and survivors were left with so little that any who didn’t pull their weight (or had something someone powerful wanted) were exiled to starve in the Wastes.
Just. Like. Will.
Cast out to the Wastes because his father remarried and his stepmother had wanted her children to inherit, he turned to his master, the smith. The smith, who had held Will back to keep using his labor for free, refused to go against the rest of the village, angry though he was to lose Will’s labor. In lieu of the honestly-earned status of journeyman that would have protected Will from exile, his master gave him a bag of grave goods: a hammer (but not a good one), tongs (that were rusting to pieces), and a file (more than half worn out). And two small coins to pay the ferryman when he reached the river dividing life from death.
Will entered the wastes with the clothes on his back, inadequate grave goods, and determination to live through it, in spite of his village. And a mission given him by the Land, and by the god of the wild places, to take the knife he made with his grave goods to the very center of the Wastes. There, he will find his destiny.

Posted at 7:32 am by Sarah Hoyt

SHOCKER:

Posted at 7:30 am by Glenn Reynolds

THIS IS THE AGE OF AUDITS, OF ALL SORTS. AND MANY ACCOUNTS WILL BE FOUND WANTING.

Posted at 7:22 am by Glenn Reynolds