February 10, 2026

Dinosaur Convention Bans All Paleontologists Named in Epstein Files Out of 'Safety of Our Attendees'

Dinosaur Convention Bans All Paleontologists Named in Epstein Files Out of ‘Safety of Our Attendees’
“We find it deplorable that some established palaeontological organizations are not taking firm action,” DinoCon’s statement reads

DinoCon, a U.K.-based paleontology convention, issued a statement regarding the scientists, authors and researchers named in the Epstein Files, noting those associated with the late sex offender were officially banned from the annual event.

While the convention’s statement did not name the individuals directly, the Monday announcement made it clear that DinoCon would not tolerate their presence at the July event.

“We at DinoCon take the safety of our attendees, speakers and staff very seriously,” the convention’s statement on X noted. “As a result of the release of half of the Epstein files, it has come to light that a select number of scientists, authors and researchers relevant to the field of paleontology allegedly engaged in correspondence with members of the Epstein organization after the convictions of Jeffrey Epstein. We want to state that all respective individuals are banned from all our events.”

The note continued: “Additionally, we find it deplorable that some established palaeontological organizations are not taking firm action to protect their members in light of these allegations. As such, executive committee members from organizations that are not issuing public bans to these individuals are also banned from our events. We do not tolerate those who allow this behavior to go unchallenged within our community.”

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/dinosaur-convention-bans-paleontologists-named-010635867.html

February 10, 2026

Google is quietly assembling a massive office complex in India... to get around Trump's H1B visa hikes

Google's parent company Alphabet is quietly assembling what could become its biggest overseas expansion yet—a massive office complex in Bangalore that might house 20,000 new employees, Bloomberg reported. The move comes as the Trump administration's proposed H-1B visa fee hikes—potentially reaching $100,000 per application—are making it increasingly expensive to bring Indian engineers to American soil.

According to Bloomberg, Alphabet has leased one office tower and secured options on two more in Alembic City, a development in Bangalore's Whitefield tech corridor. The total space spans 2.4 million square feet. The first tower opens to employees in the coming months, with the remaining two expected to be ready by next year.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/google-may-have-an-india-plan-to-tackle-h-1b-visa-restrictions/articleshow/127909205.cms

February 10, 2026

'It feels like a betrayal.' The unravelling of transatlantic ties to US has shocked Germany

‘It feels like a betrayal.’ Germany’s painful estrangement from the US
The unravelling of transatlantic ties has shocked a country that had an emotional attachment to the relationship



Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, German attitudes towards America have flipped from broadly positive to overwhelmingly negative. A December survey by the Pew Research Center and Körber Foundation found that just 27 per cent of Germans judged relations with the US as “good”, down from three-quarters the previous year.

Last month, a Forsa poll conducted after Trump threatened to seize Greenland found that 71 per cent of Germans now viewed the US as an adversary rather than a partner. A majority of AfD sympathisers agreed.

For Röttgen, Washington’s recent hostility towards its European allies — including efforts to “sell European security” to Russia through a 28-point ceasefire proposal — amounts to a second Zeitenwende, or historical turning point, after Russia’s 2022 invasion.

https://archive.is/WX7vb

Even in Germany’s most American city, Kaiserslautern in Rheinland-Palatinate, doubts are creeping up. Home to some 50,000 US service members, civilians and their families posted to the sprawling Ramstein air base — the largest outside the US — the city has long revolved around transatlanticism. 

February 9, 2026

New York City police officer convicted of manslaughter in cooler throwing death

https://apnews.com/article/new-york-police-cooler-death-convicted-3d84146766bac526c97d48d687f0ff77


NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police officer was convicted Friday of second-degree manslaughter after he tossed a picnic cooler filled with drinks at a fleeing suspect, causing the man to fatally crash his motorized scooter.

Judge Guy Mitchell handed down the guilty verdict Friday in Bronx criminal court in the case against Sgt. Erik Duran in the 2023 death of Eric Duprey.

“The fact that the defendant is a police officer has no bearing,” the judge said before reading out his verdict in a brief hearing. “He’s a person and will be treated as any other defendant.”

Members of Duprey’s family sobbed as the decision was read out. Orlyanis Velez, Duprey’s wife, said after that she was happy but also surprised.


?si=47UThM57mByg1n26

February 9, 2026

Laura Loomer spewing racism about the super bowl. Too stupid to know that Puerto Ricans are Americans

February 9, 2026

Demanding Support for Trump, Justice Dept. Struggles to Recruit Prosecutors

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/us/politics/doj-prosecutors-recruiting-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K1A.KXBU.23Xfk1yn2RnR&smid=url-share

Demanding Support for Trump, Justice Dept. Struggles to Recruit Prosecutors

Some offices are so decimated that the Justice Department has sent in military lawyers. More recently, officials asked for volunteers from other offices who can quickly deploy to places in desperate need.


“If you are a lawyer, are interested in being an AUSA, and support President Trump and anti-crime agenda, DM me,” wrote Mr. Mizelle, a fierce Trump supporter who remains close with Justice Department leaders and senior officials in the West Wing.

Mr. Mizelle was acting as a private citizen expressing his own views. But the post reflected the prevailing sentiment inside the department — that Mr. Trump has the right to hire only those willing to execute his agenda. It also highlighted the dynamic that appears to be contributing to the very staffing shortages Mr. Mizelle tried to address.

___

The number of applications is down significantly from previous years, officials said, even as Trump loyalists have publicized vacancies through official and unconventional channels. Some of those applying are generally not as qualified as those who sought the position in the recent past, they added.

A Justice Department spokesman did not respond to specific questions, but said all of the department’s actions reflected Ms. Bondi’s February 2025 memo requiring all employees to “zealously advance, protect and defend” the interests of Mr. Trump in his role as the nation’s chief executive.

February 8, 2026

GOP senator calls for probe into Ketanji Brown Jackson attending Grammys

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5726897-justice-jackson-grammy-controversy/

“Americans deserve a Supreme Court that is impartial and above political influence,” Blackburn wrote on social platform X. “When a Justice participates in such a highly politicized event, it raises ethical questions. We need an investigation into Justice Jackson’s ability to remain impartial.”

February 8, 2026

A profound sense of being hunted': with all eyes on Minneapolis, ICE arrests continue quietly across the US

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/07/ice-arrests-continue

With the public’s outrage and attention focused on the deadly surge of federal agents in Minneapolis, immigration operations have quietly continued across the US – albeit in less noticeable but still troubling ways, advocates say.

In recent weeks there have been day laborers swept up at a Home Depot in San Diego. A taco truck vendor chased down outside a church in Los Angeles. Immigrants arrested at check-ins in North Carolina, and during traffic stops in the nation’s capital.

In southern California, under-the-radar arrests have continued at a fast clip in the first few weeks of 2026, activists and legal experts say.

___


What has changed across southern California, experts say, is how quickly ICE is making those arrests. Earlier in 2025, the typical ICE tactic in LA seemed to involve setting up in one location, like a parking lot near Dodger Stadium, and conducting operations in that general area for an extended period of time, Johansen-Méndez said.

But in the last few months, she said, the tactic has felt more like “smash and grab”. ICE arrests now often begin and end in a matter of minutes.

“They just kind of show up in an area, do a sweep, grab a bunch of people, and by the time any responders can get there, they’re gone,” she said. “So people aren’t catching it on camera. There’s no time for protesters or for attorneys, or any legal observers, to show up. And so they’re flying under the radar by doing it faster.”

February 8, 2026

Woman protests ICE. 3 days later her pre check TSA is turned off. They are judge and jury

According to Ars Technica, the woman alleged in a federal court complaint that a Border Patrol agent “addressed me by my name and informed me that they had ‘facial recognition’ and that his body cam was recording.” He told her she was impeding their work and gave her a verbal warning.

But that wasn’t the end of it: She said that three days after the interaction, she was informed that her membership in the TSA PreCheck and Global Entry trusted traveler programs had been revoked. View From the Wing’s Gary Leff reports that ICE officers now use a smartphone app called “Mobile Fortify” that can “scan faces and capture contactless fingerprints, instantly pulling back names and biographical data.”

According to Leff, “That turns ‘trusted traveler’ into chilling of speech. DHS [the Department of Homeland Security] runs both the surveillance and the program, and being ‘under investigation’ can be enough to lose your [trusted traveler] status even if protesting itself cannot legally be a disqualifier.”  

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/united-airlines-sfo-21335764.php

February 8, 2026

Active duty personnel coerced into watching Melania documentary

https://www.rawstory.com/military-2675108262/

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has warned that thousands of active-duty military personnel may have been coerced into attending screenings of the Melania documentary.


The foundation has received complaints from service members at eight military facilities worldwide. One soldier wrote, "Nobody that I know wanted to go except for those that did not want to get jacked up by our unit commander for not attending."

The commander in question allegedly wore red MAGA hats and "made it very clear" his position regarding those who do not support the administration. He reportedly designated the documentary screening as one of three mandatory monthly unit activity events designed to strengthen military unit cohesion.


The Department of Defense responded to Insider, "There is no Department of War directive requiring service members to see this film, though the film is fantastic."