Professor Steve Keen told The Tech Report’s Isaac Pound that if nothing else, the energy cost will be the end of bitcoin and the trading of Bitcoin on regulated markets through ETFs was a “mistake.”
February 23, 2026
This Could Be the End of Bitcoin | Professor Steve Keen
Feb 19, 2026 | “I think that may be the beginning of the end of Bitcoin.”
Professor Steve Keen told The Tech Report’s Isaac Pound that if nothing else, the energy cost will be the end of bitcoin and the trading of Bitcoin on regulated markets through ETFs was a “mistake.”
Professor Steve Keen told The Tech Report’s Isaac Pound that if nothing else, the energy cost will be the end of bitcoin and the trading of Bitcoin on regulated markets through ETFs was a “mistake.”
Trump Lashes Out & Attacks Justices after Supreme Court Limits His Power to Impose Tariffs
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Trump’s Challenge to Free Market Capitalism
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Stakes in private companies. Handshake deals with chief executives. The president’s economic policy has drifted far from principles that long defined the Republican Party. Is it capitalism at all?
Fresh off clinching the Republican nomination for president in May 2012, Mitt Romney paid a surprise visit to the shuttered California headquarters of Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer whose bankruptcy a year earlier had left taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars of federally guaranteed loans.
In Mr. Romney’s telling, the company’s failure was a textbook example of the perils of government meddling in the private sector. The free market is meant to reward companies for having the best ideas, the best technology, the best people, Mr. Romney said. Under President Barack Obama, however, companies were too often rewarded for knowing the right people.
“Free enterprise, to the president, means taking money from the taxpayer and giving it freely to his friends,” Mr. Romney said, before adding, “That is not the nature of how America works.”
Many economists at the time said Mr. Romney’s attack was unfair or exaggerated. Today, they use a different word to describe it: quaint.
Since returning to the White House last year, President Trump has gotten the government involved in the private sector in ways that Mr. Obama and other past presidents, of either major party, would never have considered.
The Trump administration has taken ownership stakes in corporations, intervened in business deals and negotiated a cut of the revenue of American companies’ overseas sales. Mr. Trump has unilaterally deployed tariffs and other policy levers to help industries he favors, like artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, and to punish those he dislikes, like wind power. He has wielded the powers of the federal bureaucracy to pressure executives, sometimes in ways that blur the lines between his policy objectives and his personal business interests. » | Ben Casselman | Sunday, February 22, 2026
Fresh off clinching the Republican nomination for president in May 2012, Mitt Romney paid a surprise visit to the shuttered California headquarters of Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer whose bankruptcy a year earlier had left taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars of federally guaranteed loans.
In Mr. Romney’s telling, the company’s failure was a textbook example of the perils of government meddling in the private sector. The free market is meant to reward companies for having the best ideas, the best technology, the best people, Mr. Romney said. Under President Barack Obama, however, companies were too often rewarded for knowing the right people.
“Free enterprise, to the president, means taking money from the taxpayer and giving it freely to his friends,” Mr. Romney said, before adding, “That is not the nature of how America works.”
Many economists at the time said Mr. Romney’s attack was unfair or exaggerated. Today, they use a different word to describe it: quaint.
Since returning to the White House last year, President Trump has gotten the government involved in the private sector in ways that Mr. Obama and other past presidents, of either major party, would never have considered.
The Trump administration has taken ownership stakes in corporations, intervened in business deals and negotiated a cut of the revenue of American companies’ overseas sales. Mr. Trump has unilaterally deployed tariffs and other policy levers to help industries he favors, like artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, and to punish those he dislikes, like wind power. He has wielded the powers of the federal bureaucracy to pressure executives, sometimes in ways that blur the lines between his policy objectives and his personal business interests. » | Ben Casselman | Sunday, February 22, 2026
February 22, 2026
What Russia Was Like Before the Revolution?
Feb 17, 2026 | Before the Bolsheviks, before Lenin and Stalin, before the Soviet Union even existed, Russia was a different world. It was the last absolute monarchy in Europe, ruled by a Tsar who claimed divine right, where peasants still lived in conditions barely changed since medieval times, and where revolutionary ideas were spreading among workers, intellectuals, and soldiers exhausted by war. Understanding pre-revolutionary Russia is essential to understanding why the revolution happened at all.
This video explores what life was actually like in Imperial Russia before 1917. We examine the rigid class system: the tiny aristocracy living in luxury, the growing middle class in cities, and the vast majority—peasants who had only been freed from serfdom in 1861 but still lived in poverty, illiteracy, and desperation. We look at Tsar Nicholas II's autocratic rule, the brutal secret police (Okhrana), and a government that violently suppressed dissent while refusing meaningful reform.
We explore the industrialization that was transforming cities like St. Petersburg and Moscow, creating a new working class crammed into slums, working 12-hour shifts in dangerous factories for barely enough to survive. We examine the growing revolutionary movements—Social Democrats, Social Revolutionaries, anarchists—who debated how to overthrow the system, and the 1905 Revolution that nearly succeeded before being crushed.
We also look at World War I's catastrophic impact: millions of Russian soldiers killed or wounded, food shortages in cities, inflation destroying what little wealth people had, and a government completely unprepared for modern war. By early 1917, Russia was collapsing—and the revolution became inevitable.
This is about understanding the powder keg that exploded into revolution, the old world that was dying, and why so many Russians were ready to tear it all down.
This video explores what life was actually like in Imperial Russia before 1917. We examine the rigid class system: the tiny aristocracy living in luxury, the growing middle class in cities, and the vast majority—peasants who had only been freed from serfdom in 1861 but still lived in poverty, illiteracy, and desperation. We look at Tsar Nicholas II's autocratic rule, the brutal secret police (Okhrana), and a government that violently suppressed dissent while refusing meaningful reform.
We explore the industrialization that was transforming cities like St. Petersburg and Moscow, creating a new working class crammed into slums, working 12-hour shifts in dangerous factories for barely enough to survive. We examine the growing revolutionary movements—Social Democrats, Social Revolutionaries, anarchists—who debated how to overthrow the system, and the 1905 Revolution that nearly succeeded before being crushed.
We also look at World War I's catastrophic impact: millions of Russian soldiers killed or wounded, food shortages in cities, inflation destroying what little wealth people had, and a government completely unprepared for modern war. By early 1917, Russia was collapsing—and the revolution became inevitable.
This is about understanding the powder keg that exploded into revolution, the old world that was dying, and why so many Russians were ready to tear it all down.
Bernie Sanders Unleashes Fury on Musk & Billionaire Class, Demands Wealth Tax Now
Bernie Sanders is the man who should be president. Now this man really would make America great again! If only the American voter could be more clear-eyed! Were Bernie Sanders made president, we’d see a nation emerge which is far more at ease with itself, and it would be, of course, eminently fairer. An America governed by Bernie Sanders wouldn’t put a stop to the accumulation of wealth—nobody should want to do that—but an America governed by Bernie Sanders would endeavour to give every American a chance to succeed in life. Let us pray that Americans will one day see the light! — © Mark Alexander
February 21, 2026
Why Poland Is Becoming Europe’s New Superpower
Trump: Alternatives Will Be Used to Impose New Tariffs | DW News
February 20, 2026
China sendet Glückwünsche: Nordkorea erlebt seltenen Kongress der Staatspartei
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Auf dem Parteitag in Pjöngjang betont Nordkoreas Machthaber wirtschaftliche Ziele. Die Volksrepublik China sieht eine „neue historische Periode“ der engen Beziehungen zwischen beiden Ländern.
In Nordkoreas Hauptstadt Pjöngjang tagt seit Donnerstag der neunte Kongress der regierenden Partei der Arbeit Koreas. Es ist das erste Treffen dieser Art seit fünf Jahren. Der Parteitag soll über mehrere Tage grundlegende politische Leitlinien in den Bereichen Verteidigung, Diplomatie und Wirtschaft festlegen.
China reagierte umgehend mit einem Gratulationsschreiben des Zentralkomitees der Kommunistischen Partei. Darin beglückwünscht Peking der Arbeiterpartei Koreas dazu, die nordkoreanische Wirtschaft entwickelt und die Lebensbedingungen der Bevölkerung verbessert zu haben und wünscht dem Volk des Nachbarlandes „anhaltenden Erfolg beim sozialistischen Aufbau“, wie die staatliche Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua berichtete. » | Peter Steiniger | Freitah, 20. Februar 2026
In Nordkoreas Hauptstadt Pjöngjang tagt seit Donnerstag der neunte Kongress der regierenden Partei der Arbeit Koreas. Es ist das erste Treffen dieser Art seit fünf Jahren. Der Parteitag soll über mehrere Tage grundlegende politische Leitlinien in den Bereichen Verteidigung, Diplomatie und Wirtschaft festlegen.
China reagierte umgehend mit einem Gratulationsschreiben des Zentralkomitees der Kommunistischen Partei. Darin beglückwünscht Peking der Arbeiterpartei Koreas dazu, die nordkoreanische Wirtschaft entwickelt und die Lebensbedingungen der Bevölkerung verbessert zu haben und wünscht dem Volk des Nachbarlandes „anhaltenden Erfolg beim sozialistischen Aufbau“, wie die staatliche Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua berichtete. » | Peter Steiniger | Freitah, 20. Februar 2026
February 19, 2026
‘These Billionaires Are Going to Learn…’: Bernie Sanders Fiery Speech in California | US News
Feb 19, 2026 | US News: In a fiery speech in Los Angeles on 18 February, the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders criticizes ‘grotesque’ levels of economic inequality. Billionaires are “treading on very, very thin ice,” He warned imploring California voters to fight “grotesque” levels of economic inequality by approving a proposed tax on the state’s richest residents.
The Vermont senator railed against the “greed”, “arrogance” and “moral turpitude” of the nation’s “ruling class”, calling it “fairly disgusting” that some ultra-wealthy tech leaders have fled California – or are threatening to do so, if the proposed wealth tax becomes law.
The Vermont senator railed against the “greed”, “arrogance” and “moral turpitude” of the nation’s “ruling class”, calling it “fairly disgusting” that some ultra-wealthy tech leaders have fled California – or are threatening to do so, if the proposed wealth tax becomes law.
February 18, 2026
The Real Story behind Cuba’s Collapse
Cuba is in crisis. As severe fuel shortages disrupt daily life across the island, US President Donald Trump has declared Cuba is "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to US national security. The US president has cutting off the flow of Venezuelan oil to the island and threated to slap tariffs on any nation supplying Cuba with fuel.
With no diesel to power collection trucks, rubbish is piling up across Havana. Extended blackouts are hitting homes, schools and hospitals, deepening what many describe as the country’s most serious humanitarian emergency in years.
President Trump has urged Cuban leaders to “make a deal,” escalating pressure as conditions worsen. So how far will Washington push Havana, and what could come next?
With no diesel to power collection trucks, rubbish is piling up across Havana. Extended blackouts are hitting homes, schools and hospitals, deepening what many describe as the country’s most serious humanitarian emergency in years.
President Trump has urged Cuban leaders to “make a deal,” escalating pressure as conditions worsen. So how far will Washington push Havana, and what could come next?
Kuba vor dem Kollaps: Regierung schuldet spanischen Firmen Hunderte Millionen Euro
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Spaniens Unternehmen bleiben in Kuba auf Hunderten Millionen Euro sitzen. Die Schulden treffen eine Insel im wirtschaftlichen Ausnahmezustand.
Die wirtschaftliche Krise in Kuba trifft zunehmend auch ausländische Unternehmen. Nach Recherchen der spanischen Zeitung El País schuldet die kubanische Regierung spanischen Firmen mindestens rund 300 Millionen Euro. Ein Teil der Summe besteht aus offenen Forderungen, ein weiterer aus Geldern, die zwar erwirtschaftet wurden, das Land aber nicht verlassen dürfen.
Grundlage sind Daten der spanischen Wirtschafts- und Handelsvertretung in Havanna. Demnach belaufen sich die offiziell ausgewiesenen Schulden auf 255,9 Millionen Euro. Hinzu kommen weitere Beträge, darunter 39,5 Millionen Euro an einbehaltenen Dividenden, 23,6 Millionen Euro aus Handelsgeschäften sowie 11,3 Millionen Euro auf speziellen Konten, auf die Unternehmen keinen Zugriff haben. Zusammengerechnet ergibt sich ein Volumen von bis zu 330 Millionen Euro, das faktisch blockiert ist. » | Alexander Schmalz | Mittwoch, 18. Februar 2026
Die wirtschaftliche Krise in Kuba trifft zunehmend auch ausländische Unternehmen. Nach Recherchen der spanischen Zeitung El País schuldet die kubanische Regierung spanischen Firmen mindestens rund 300 Millionen Euro. Ein Teil der Summe besteht aus offenen Forderungen, ein weiterer aus Geldern, die zwar erwirtschaftet wurden, das Land aber nicht verlassen dürfen.
Grundlage sind Daten der spanischen Wirtschafts- und Handelsvertretung in Havanna. Demnach belaufen sich die offiziell ausgewiesenen Schulden auf 255,9 Millionen Euro. Hinzu kommen weitere Beträge, darunter 39,5 Millionen Euro an einbehaltenen Dividenden, 23,6 Millionen Euro aus Handelsgeschäften sowie 11,3 Millionen Euro auf speziellen Konten, auf die Unternehmen keinen Zugriff haben. Zusammengerechnet ergibt sich ein Volumen von bis zu 330 Millionen Euro, das faktisch blockiert ist. » | Alexander Schmalz | Mittwoch, 18. Februar 2026
The Mega-Rich Are Turning Their Mansions Into Impenetrable Fortresses
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Anxiety over high-profile violence has the wealthy spending big on armed security, bunkers and even moats to keep themselves safe from intruders
British music producer Alex Grant was living in an under-construction mega-mansion in Los Angeles when, one morning shortly after 9 a.m., an armed intruder burst into the home. “He came in and we had a tussle,” recalled Grant, formerly known as Alex Da Kid. Grant managed to call his manager, who phoned the police. Soon, officers and helicopters were on the scene.
He briefly considered abandoning the project after the 2017 break-in but ultimately finished the 24,000-square-foot home, which has eight pools, a car elevator and a nightclub. But, he doubled down on security features, installing a guard house, tall gates and a security system with retina scanners that alert the homeowner to movement in the home. “Later, I found out he had these knives on him,” said Grant, who recently listed the mansion and a neighboring house for $85 million after moving to New York.
In an era of high-profile violence—including the suspected abduction of Savannah Guthrie’s mother from her Arizona home just over a week ago—the wealthy are investing heavily in their personal security, particularly when it comes to their homes.
Security measures once reserved for presidents and royalty—safe rooms, biometric access controls, laser-powered perimeter defenses—are now mainstream items in luxury homes. Executive-protection teams and armed guards patrol gated enclaves and suburban estates, while tech startups are rolling out predictive threat-detection systems built for the ultra-wealthy. The shift reflects a hardening view among the affluent: Traditional policing and communal safety are no longer enough, so security is being privatized, customized.
This new emphasis is reflected in sales data. Roughly 45% of luxury homes sold in 2025 included a reference to privacy or security, according to Coldwell Banker Realty, up from 38% in 2024. » | Katherine Clarke and E. B. Solomont | Wednesday, February 11, 2026
British music producer Alex Grant was living in an under-construction mega-mansion in Los Angeles when, one morning shortly after 9 a.m., an armed intruder burst into the home. “He came in and we had a tussle,” recalled Grant, formerly known as Alex Da Kid. Grant managed to call his manager, who phoned the police. Soon, officers and helicopters were on the scene.
He briefly considered abandoning the project after the 2017 break-in but ultimately finished the 24,000-square-foot home, which has eight pools, a car elevator and a nightclub. But, he doubled down on security features, installing a guard house, tall gates and a security system with retina scanners that alert the homeowner to movement in the home. “Later, I found out he had these knives on him,” said Grant, who recently listed the mansion and a neighboring house for $85 million after moving to New York.
In an era of high-profile violence—including the suspected abduction of Savannah Guthrie’s mother from her Arizona home just over a week ago—the wealthy are investing heavily in their personal security, particularly when it comes to their homes.
Security measures once reserved for presidents and royalty—safe rooms, biometric access controls, laser-powered perimeter defenses—are now mainstream items in luxury homes. Executive-protection teams and armed guards patrol gated enclaves and suburban estates, while tech startups are rolling out predictive threat-detection systems built for the ultra-wealthy. The shift reflects a hardening view among the affluent: Traditional policing and communal safety are no longer enough, so security is being privatized, customized.
This new emphasis is reflected in sales data. Roughly 45% of luxury homes sold in 2025 included a reference to privacy or security, according to Coldwell Banker Realty, up from 38% in 2024. » | Katherine Clarke and E. B. Solomont | Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Cuba Crisis: Trump Fuel Blockade Causes Blackouts and Waste in Streets
Feb 17, 2026 | Cuba is facing a growing crisis as severe fuel shortages disrupt daily life across the island.
Rubbish is piling up in Havana with no diesel to power collection trucks, while extended blackouts are affecting homes, schools and hospitals.
Electric bikes and tricycles have replaced classic cars as Cubans struggle to get around. The shortages are linked to reduced oil shipments from Venezuela and intensified US sanctions.
President Donald Trump has urged Cuban leaders to “make a deal,” warning that the situation is a serious humanitarian threat.
With regional allies hesitant to step in, many Cubans are left facing an uncertain and increasingly difficult future.
Rubbish is piling up in Havana with no diesel to power collection trucks, while extended blackouts are affecting homes, schools and hospitals.
Electric bikes and tricycles have replaced classic cars as Cubans struggle to get around. The shortages are linked to reduced oil shipments from Venezuela and intensified US sanctions.
President Donald Trump has urged Cuban leaders to “make a deal,” warning that the situation is a serious humanitarian threat.
With regional allies hesitant to step in, many Cubans are left facing an uncertain and increasingly difficult future.
February 17, 2026
‘Washington Is a Kleptocracy’ — How Close Is US Democracy to Collapse?
Feb 17, 2025 | “Washington today is a kleptocracy… [America is] much closer to the end of democracy than most other Western democracies.
In part two of this ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’ interview, Mehdi Hasan continues his conversation with Financial Times’ editor and columnist Edward Luce to unpack foreign policy under Trump 2.0 and dive into whether or not Trump will actually use military force to annex Greenland.
Luce also explains the ’Trump effect’ on countries like Canada and the UK, trade deals with China and if Britain can take a leadership role outside of the EU. They also discuss how American democracy is on the brink of collapse.
In part two of this ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’ interview, Mehdi Hasan continues his conversation with Financial Times’ editor and columnist Edward Luce to unpack foreign policy under Trump 2.0 and dive into whether or not Trump will actually use military force to annex Greenland.
Luce also explains the ’Trump effect’ on countries like Canada and the UK, trade deals with China and if Britain can take a leadership role outside of the EU. They also discuss how American democracy is on the brink of collapse.
Disaster Capitalism: How the Rich Think; They Live in Another World
How JPMorgan Financed Jeffrey Epstein
February 16, 2026
Arson and Deadly Feuds: Australia’s Tobacco Wars | Four Corners Documentary
Mar 3, 2025 | Four Corners investigative journalist Dan Oakes uncovers the secrets of Australia’s black-market tobacco trade in Tobacco Wars.
With illicit cigarettes readily available in cash-only stores and distributed by unmarked vans across the country, this investigation reveals a vast network stretching from Melbourne’s suburban tobacconists to international smuggling routes.
Using concealed cameras and exclusive access to law enforcement, the Four Corners team follows the illicit pipeline, exposing the lucrative industry that is fuelling organised crime while robbing the government of billions in lost revenue.
Tobacco Wars investigates the high-stakes underworld where arson attacks, extortion, and deadly feuds are used to control the illegal cigarette market.
As the government grapples with policy responses and law enforcement agencies struggle to disrupt smuggling syndicates, Tobacco Wars raises urgent questions about the country’s ability to curb this thriving illicit trade.
This is what you get when stupid, fanatical, anti-smoking politicians raise the price of cigarettes so much that smokers refuse to buy licit, government-regulated cigarettes because of extortionate prices and have to turn to much cheaper, black market cigarettes to enjoy a smoke. This is not good governance; rather, it is stupid, irresponsible governance. It doesn’t bring smoking rates down and it causes violence and gang warfare in the form of turf wars to boot. — © Mark Alexander
Here is an excellent NYT article related to this documentary.
With illicit cigarettes readily available in cash-only stores and distributed by unmarked vans across the country, this investigation reveals a vast network stretching from Melbourne’s suburban tobacconists to international smuggling routes.
Using concealed cameras and exclusive access to law enforcement, the Four Corners team follows the illicit pipeline, exposing the lucrative industry that is fuelling organised crime while robbing the government of billions in lost revenue.
Tobacco Wars investigates the high-stakes underworld where arson attacks, extortion, and deadly feuds are used to control the illegal cigarette market.
As the government grapples with policy responses and law enforcement agencies struggle to disrupt smuggling syndicates, Tobacco Wars raises urgent questions about the country’s ability to curb this thriving illicit trade.
This is what you get when stupid, fanatical, anti-smoking politicians raise the price of cigarettes so much that smokers refuse to buy licit, government-regulated cigarettes because of extortionate prices and have to turn to much cheaper, black market cigarettes to enjoy a smoke. This is not good governance; rather, it is stupid, irresponsible governance. It doesn’t bring smoking rates down and it causes violence and gang warfare in the form of turf wars to boot. — © Mark Alexander
Here is an excellent NYT article related to this documentary.
February 15, 2026
How $40-a-Pack Cigarettes Pushed Australians to the Black Market
THE NEW YORK TIMES: ax hikes made cigarettes in Australia the most expensive in the world. They have also helped fuel a multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise in bootleg tobacco.
Screenshot taken from this article. | Matthew Abbott for the New York Times
A retired math teacher descended into an underground parking lot in search of her dealer, cash in hand.
Headlights flashed from the far end of the garage in a beachside, middle-class neighborhood in suburban Melbourne, Australia. She walked up to an unmarked van and soon was back above ground with the illicit goods.
A carton of cigarettes.
Australia has the most expensive cigarettes in the world, a pack of midmarket cigarettes costing on average about 55 Australian dollars, or almost $40, nearly double what it will set you back in New York City. A series of steep tax hikes — eight in 10 years — were put in place to reduce the rate of smoking, which has steadily declined. But the high prices have also given rise to a thriving black market now estimated to be a multibillion-dollar industry that accounts for as much as half of all tobacco sales in the country.
“It’s the injustice of the situation,” said the retired teacher, Pat Felvus, 75, who recounted in an interview her early experiences of buying illegal cigarettes, which cost as little as 10 Australian dollars a pack. “Why would you pay four times the amount?”
Bootleg cigarettes are readily available on every main street in Australia — at convenience stores, candy shops and tobacconists. Competition has driven the price of under-the-counter smokes lower and lower, at a time that the cost for staples is rising. Violence has erupted between organized crime groups jostling for a slice of the lucrative market, with a spate of firebombings, extortion, shootings and homicides.
The scale of the black market and the criminality has raised questions about how far governments can raise so-called sin taxes to curb undesirable behaviors. Australia is now facing the quandary: Are the high cigarette prices doing more harm than good? » | Victoria Kim | Reporting from Geelong and Melbourne, Australia | Sunday, February 15, 2026
Gaggles of stupid politicians in parliaments around the world make stupid political decisions and thus make for stupid governance! Alas, you can’t fix stupid! — © Mark Alexander
A retired math teacher descended into an underground parking lot in search of her dealer, cash in hand.
Headlights flashed from the far end of the garage in a beachside, middle-class neighborhood in suburban Melbourne, Australia. She walked up to an unmarked van and soon was back above ground with the illicit goods.
A carton of cigarettes.
Australia has the most expensive cigarettes in the world, a pack of midmarket cigarettes costing on average about 55 Australian dollars, or almost $40, nearly double what it will set you back in New York City. A series of steep tax hikes — eight in 10 years — were put in place to reduce the rate of smoking, which has steadily declined. But the high prices have also given rise to a thriving black market now estimated to be a multibillion-dollar industry that accounts for as much as half of all tobacco sales in the country.
“It’s the injustice of the situation,” said the retired teacher, Pat Felvus, 75, who recounted in an interview her early experiences of buying illegal cigarettes, which cost as little as 10 Australian dollars a pack. “Why would you pay four times the amount?”
Bootleg cigarettes are readily available on every main street in Australia — at convenience stores, candy shops and tobacconists. Competition has driven the price of under-the-counter smokes lower and lower, at a time that the cost for staples is rising. Violence has erupted between organized crime groups jostling for a slice of the lucrative market, with a spate of firebombings, extortion, shootings and homicides.
The scale of the black market and the criminality has raised questions about how far governments can raise so-called sin taxes to curb undesirable behaviors. Australia is now facing the quandary: Are the high cigarette prices doing more harm than good? » | Victoria Kim | Reporting from Geelong and Melbourne, Australia | Sunday, February 15, 2026
Gaggles of stupid politicians in parliaments around the world make stupid political decisions and thus make for stupid governance! Alas, you can’t fix stupid! — © Mark Alexander
No Fuel, No Tourists, No Cash – This Was the Week the Cuban Crisis Got Real
THE GUARDIAN: Diplomats in Havana are preparing for an alternative Trump tactic: the country being starved until people take to the streets and the US can step in
Among the verdant gardens of Havana’s diplomatic quarter, Siboney, ambassadors from countries traditionally allied to the United States are expressing increasing frustration with Washington’s attempt to unseat Cuba’s government, while simultaneously drawing up plans to draw down their missions.
Cuba is in crisis. Already reeling from a four-year economic slump, worsened by hyper-inflation and the migration of nearly 20% of the population, the 67-year-old communist government is at its weakest. After Washington’s successful military operation against Cuba’s ally Venezuela at the beginning of January, the US administration is actively seeking regime change.
The Guardian spoke to more than five top-level officials from different countries, and heard complaints that the US charge d’affaires, Mike Hammer, has failed to share any sort of detailed plan beyond bringing the island to a standstill by starving it of oil. One said: “There’s talk of human rights, and that this is the year Cuba changes – but little talk of what happens afterwards.”
Some hope that rumoured high-level discussions in Mexico between the Cuban government – in the form of Gen Alejandro Castro Espín, son of Cuba’s 94-year-old former president Raúl Castro – and US officials might produce a deal, but as yet there are no signs of progress.
Instead, diplomats in Havana are preparing for an alternative tactic: the country being starved until people take to the streets and the US can step in. “We’re trying to keep a cool head,” said one ambassador. “Embassies are built on planning for the unexpected – hopefully before it becomes expected,” said another. » | Ruaridh Nicoll in Havana | Sunday, February 15, 2026 | Additional reporting by Eileen Sosin
Among the verdant gardens of Havana’s diplomatic quarter, Siboney, ambassadors from countries traditionally allied to the United States are expressing increasing frustration with Washington’s attempt to unseat Cuba’s government, while simultaneously drawing up plans to draw down their missions.
Cuba is in crisis. Already reeling from a four-year economic slump, worsened by hyper-inflation and the migration of nearly 20% of the population, the 67-year-old communist government is at its weakest. After Washington’s successful military operation against Cuba’s ally Venezuela at the beginning of January, the US administration is actively seeking regime change.
The Guardian spoke to more than five top-level officials from different countries, and heard complaints that the US charge d’affaires, Mike Hammer, has failed to share any sort of detailed plan beyond bringing the island to a standstill by starving it of oil. One said: “There’s talk of human rights, and that this is the year Cuba changes – but little talk of what happens afterwards.”
Some hope that rumoured high-level discussions in Mexico between the Cuban government – in the form of Gen Alejandro Castro Espín, son of Cuba’s 94-year-old former president Raúl Castro – and US officials might produce a deal, but as yet there are no signs of progress.
Instead, diplomats in Havana are preparing for an alternative tactic: the country being starved until people take to the streets and the US can step in. “We’re trying to keep a cool head,” said one ambassador. “Embassies are built on planning for the unexpected – hopefully before it becomes expected,” said another. » | Ruaridh Nicoll in Havana | Sunday, February 15, 2026 | Additional reporting by Eileen Sosin
February 14, 2026
Full Speech: Marco Rubio Declares “Europe Must Survive” at Munich Security Conference
Feb 14, 2026 | US Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivers his full address at the Munich Security Conference, stressing Western unity, cultural ties with Europe, reindustrialization, and strategic renewal under President Donald Trump’s vision.
Rubio warns against borderless globalism, urges stronger allies, and calls for rebuilding industries, defence strength, and shared Western identity.
Rubio criticises deindustrialisation. But ask yourselves who were instrumental in bringing it about? It was the titans of industry who are, by and large, profit-maximising right-wingers and in the Eighties by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. They did their level best to deindustrialise by deregulating and by reducing subsidies to heavy industries. These measures accelerated the decline of traditional manufacturing. Corporations, of course, always looking to maximise their profits, were helped to maximise their profits by globalisation, so started relocating and outsourcing manufacturing to countries with a ready supply of cheap labour.
Reindustrialising our economies, as Rubio suggests, is a tall order indeed, unless, of course, our politicians want to get the workforce used to working in sweatshops! For that is the only way we’d be able to compete with the much lower production costs in Asia.
Marco Rubio’s speech is more important for what it doesn’t tell you than for what it did! To really understand his sometimes-sweet rhetoric, one must read between the lines. He talked of wanting a strong Europe. Poppycock! He and his boss don’t want a strong Europe at all; rather they want a weaker, more fragmented one. The concept of the European Union is anathema to Trump. After all, a weaker, more fragmented Europe gives Trump’s America far more leverage. It is much easier for Trump to push around a European nation state than it is to push around a strong, united European Union!
Basically, these autocracy-leaning fascists want Europe on their own terms. Ooh! And something else must also be read between the lines. There was no reference to it in Rubio’s speech, but I can assure you that it was there. They want to purge America and Europe of the influence of Islam.
If Trump and his acolytes are really so fond of Europe as Rubio tries to convince us, then why is he talking of invading the territory of a European nation: Denmark?
Judging by the applause Marco Rubio received at the end of his speech, it is clear that many in the audience were flattered by his fine words and were, as a result, seemingly taken in by them. Personally, I would caution against taking his words on face value. I suggest that one would be wiser to read between the lines.
After all, we are talking about a man, here, who was behind the invasion of Venezuela, and the man who is itching to bring about the collapse of communism in Cuba. Trump, his boss, has talked incessantly about the annexation of Greenland, if not indeed the invasion of the country. It is also on record that Trump has spoken multiple times of Europe being “weak” and “decaying”. He is also known to want the break-up of the European Union. So Rubio’s fine words buttered no parsnips for me, I’m afraid.
I would there therefore suggest that we Europeans exercise extreme caution in dealing with Trump’s America. In German, there is an apt saying. It is as follows: Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Weisheit.. That means ‘caution is the mother of wisdom’. And it most surely is. — © Mark Alexander
Rubio warns against borderless globalism, urges stronger allies, and calls for rebuilding industries, defence strength, and shared Western identity.
Rubio criticises deindustrialisation. But ask yourselves who were instrumental in bringing it about? It was the titans of industry who are, by and large, profit-maximising right-wingers and in the Eighties by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. They did their level best to deindustrialise by deregulating and by reducing subsidies to heavy industries. These measures accelerated the decline of traditional manufacturing. Corporations, of course, always looking to maximise their profits, were helped to maximise their profits by globalisation, so started relocating and outsourcing manufacturing to countries with a ready supply of cheap labour.
Reindustrialising our economies, as Rubio suggests, is a tall order indeed, unless, of course, our politicians want to get the workforce used to working in sweatshops! For that is the only way we’d be able to compete with the much lower production costs in Asia.
Marco Rubio’s speech is more important for what it doesn’t tell you than for what it did! To really understand his sometimes-sweet rhetoric, one must read between the lines. He talked of wanting a strong Europe. Poppycock! He and his boss don’t want a strong Europe at all; rather they want a weaker, more fragmented one. The concept of the European Union is anathema to Trump. After all, a weaker, more fragmented Europe gives Trump’s America far more leverage. It is much easier for Trump to push around a European nation state than it is to push around a strong, united European Union!
Basically, these autocracy-leaning fascists want Europe on their own terms. Ooh! And something else must also be read between the lines. There was no reference to it in Rubio’s speech, but I can assure you that it was there. They want to purge America and Europe of the influence of Islam.
If Trump and his acolytes are really so fond of Europe as Rubio tries to convince us, then why is he talking of invading the territory of a European nation: Denmark?
Judging by the applause Marco Rubio received at the end of his speech, it is clear that many in the audience were flattered by his fine words and were, as a result, seemingly taken in by them. Personally, I would caution against taking his words on face value. I suggest that one would be wiser to read between the lines.
After all, we are talking about a man, here, who was behind the invasion of Venezuela, and the man who is itching to bring about the collapse of communism in Cuba. Trump, his boss, has talked incessantly about the annexation of Greenland, if not indeed the invasion of the country. It is also on record that Trump has spoken multiple times of Europe being “weak” and “decaying”. He is also known to want the break-up of the European Union. So Rubio’s fine words buttered no parsnips for me, I’m afraid.
I would there therefore suggest that we Europeans exercise extreme caution in dealing with Trump’s America. In German, there is an apt saying. It is as follows: Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Weisheit.. That means ‘caution is the mother of wisdom’. And it most surely is. — © Mark Alexander
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