SOTU postmortem; The "Donald Dash": Americans leaving U.S. in record numbers; feds urging immigrant kids to self-deport; third-country deportations halted
It's National Chocolate-Covered Peanuts Day!
Thanks for all the well wishes re: my PET/CT scan. The results: more or less a clean bill of health.
We’re celebrating tomorrow. Have a great weekend- see you on Monday!
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—Kevin G. Barkes
(Most) everything you need to know for today:
February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 308 days remain until the end of the year. Unfortunately, as of this writing, 1,058 days remain in Trump’s term of office.
Knee-deep in the hoopla:
SOTU Roundup:
The State of the Union revealed a sad reality. Donald Trump misused the annual presidential tradition in ways so radical as to call the ritual itself into question.
AP Fact Check: A look at Trump’s false and misleading claims in his State of the Union speech.
Trump's State of the Union (SOTU) speech was the least popular this century, according to a new CNN snap poll.
While Trump ranted about tariffs, immigration, and hockey at his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Democrats were celebrating three local election victories in crucial swing states.
Trump’s third-country deportations are unlawful, federal judge rules. Judge cites a U.S. law that prevents the government from removing someone to a country where their "life or freedom would be threatened" because of their "race, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion."
”The Donald Dash”: Americans are leaving the U.S. in record numbers. American citizens are leaving in record numbers, replanting themselves and their families in lands they find more affordable and safe.
Portland 911 recording: “I need someone here now, or else I’m going to have to shoot this kid.” ICE officer irritated by “kid” following him on an electric bike told a 911 dispatcher to send local officers or else he would take matters into his own hands.
Legal advocates filed a motion Tuesday seeking to stop U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents from urging immigrant children entering the country without their parents to voluntarily deport themselves under a federal policy introduced last year.
Epstein used his fortune to infiltrate America’s most prestigious universities. The sex offender positioned himself as a patron of the sciences. It earned him prestige and access, and fueled the myth of his intellectual genius.
The tax nerd who bet his life savings against DOGE collected $470,300, for a profit of more than $128,000, or 37%.
At least 26 million people have had their personal data stolen from Conduent, a company that provides processing services for some of the largest health insurance providers in the country. One of the largest data breaches in U.S. history, it’s exposing addresses, social security numbers, and health information to ransomware hackers.
The clock may be ticking on ‘60 Minutes’ as we know it. As Bari Weiss pursues her reimagining of CBS News, insiders are wondering how the network's flagship newsmagazine will manage the transition.
The Internet was weeks away from disaster and no one knew. Best comment: “This story begins with a jammed printer Most horror stories do.” (Video)
Late Night:
The Daily Show: Desi Lydic recaps Donald Trump's record-long State of the Union address – which was part true crime podcast, part white noise machine – including the GOP waking up with rock-hard glutes from all the standing ovations they gave and the president giving out awards to every person in attendance... except for Troy Iwata. (Video)
Jimmy Kimmel Live: Trump stormed the Capitol last night to let us know everything is going great and we have no problems at all, he broke the record for the longest State of the Union ever, MAGAland is busy giving him rave reviews, Texas Congressman Troy Nehls worked hard to get Trump’s attention, several Democrats boycotted the speech in protest, the White House went all out to attract eyeballs before the speech by releasing a promo featuring the Cabinet, we boil down Trump’s entire speech into a 60 Second State of the Union, the Trump-Epstein Files did not get mentioned at all by the hippopotamus in the room, there was a bombshell report from NPR that said the Justice Department illegally withheld 53 pages of notes and memos from FBI interviews with a woman accusing Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a young teenager, Kash Patel is having a banner week, Spirit Airlines announced that they are no longer going bankrupt, the driverless car company Waymo is adding four new cities, and This Week in Florida. (Video)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: The only people who liked President Trump's State of the Union speech were the thirstiest MAGA buttkissers, it's unclear why the DOJ didn't search Jeffrey Epstein's storage units despite having a warrant, and Stephen takes a look at a big fight brewing between the Pentagon and an artificial intelligence company. (Video)
Cold open: What did the DOJ do with 50 missing pages from the Epstein Files that reportedly contain allegations involving President Trump? (Video)
Late Night with Seth Meyers: Trump throws tantrum at SOTU, tries to co-opt men’s Hockey olympic gold medal victory: A Closer Look (Video)
Keep scrolling… lots of interesting stuff in Quote of the Day, Holidays, On This Day, Birthdays, and Deaths. I can pretty much guarantee you’ll learn something new.
History highlight:
1983 – Michael Jackson’s album “Thriller” reached #1 on the Billboard 200 and held that position for 37 weeks. As of October 2025, it has stayed on the chart for over 700 non-consecutive weeks and remains the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 70 million copies sold worldwide. (Video)
Quote of the day:
That’s starting to depress me about UFOs. The fact that they cross galaxies... and always end up in places like Fyfe, Alabama.
--Bill Hicks (Wikipedia link)
(More Bill Hicks quotes from the KGB Quotations Database)
Today’s holidays:
Carnival Day, Digital Learning Day, For Pete’s Sake Day, Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, Levi Strauss Day, National Chili Day, National Personal Chef Day, National Pistachio Day, National Set a Good Example Day, National Toast Day (UK), Tell a Fairy Tale Day, and Thermos Bottle Day.
On This Day:
2021 – 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 were kidnapped by bandits in the Zamfara kidnapping.
2012 – Seventeen-year-old African-American student Trayvon Martin was shot to death by neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida.
1995 – The UK’s oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapsed after rogue securities broker Nick Leeson lost $1.4 billion speculating on futures contracts.
1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center exploded, killing six and injuring over a thousand people.
1989 – “Jerome Robbins' Broadway” opened, appropriately enough, at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway. (Video)
1987 – Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebuked President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
1983 – Michael Jackson’s album “Thriller” reached #1 on the Billboard 200 and held that position for 37 weeks. As of October 2025, it has stayed on the chart for over 700 non-consecutive weeks and remains the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 70 million copies sold worldwide. (Video)
1980 – Egypt and Israel established full diplomatic relations.
1971 – U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signed United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
1966 – Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket.
1945 – World War II: US troops reclaimed the Philippine island of Corregidor from the Japanese.
1935 – Robert Watson-Watt carried out a demonstration which led directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.
1935 – Adolf Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
1929 – President Calvin Coolidge signed legislation establishing the 96,000 acre (390 km2) Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
1920 – The German silent horror film classic "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" was released. (Video)
1919 – President Woodrow Wilson signed an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.
1914 – HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, was launched.
1909 – Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, was first shown to the general public. (Video)
1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from exile on the island of Elba.
1616 – Galileo Galilei was formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.
(For comprehensive lists of the day’s historical events, check here, here, and here.)
Some Birthdays:
1977 – James Wan, Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer
1971 – Erykah Badu, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (Video)
1966 – Jennifer Grant, American actress
1953 – Michael Bolton, American singer-songwriter and actor (Video)
1950 – Billy Steinberg, American songwriter (died 2026)
1947 – Sandie Shaw, English singer and psychotherapist (Video)
1945 – Mitch Ryder, American singer-songwriter (Video)
1945 – Marta Kristen, Norwegian-American actress (Video)
1932 – Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (died 2003) (Video)
1931 – Robert Novak, American journalist and author (died 2009)
1928 – Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist (died 2017) (Video)
1927 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host and actor (died 2020) (Video)
1922 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (died 1976)
1921 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (died 2007)
1920 – Tony Randall, American actor, director, and producer (died 2004) (Video)
1919 – Mason Adams, American actor (died 2005)
1918 – Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic (died 1985)
1916 – Jackie Gleason, American actor and singer (died 1987) (Video)
1914 – Robert Alda, American actor, singer, and director (died 1986)
1908 – Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and voice actor (died 1980)
1887 – William Frawley, American actor and vaudevillian (died 1966)
1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes (died 1943)
1846 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (died 1917)
1829 – Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (died 1902)
1802 – Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (died 1885)
(A more complete list of today’s birthdays.)
Some Deaths:
2025 – Michelle Trachtenberg, American actress (born 1985)
2017 – Joseph Wapner, American judge and TV personality (born 1919)
2005 – Jef Raskin, American computer scientist, an Apple Macintosh developer (born 1943)
2002 – Lawrence Tierney, American actor (born 1919) (Video)
1997 – David Doyle, American actor (born 1929)
1994 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (born 1961)
1903 – Richard Jordan Gatling, American engineer, invented the Gatling gun (born 1818)
(A more complete list of today’s deaths.)
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Congratulations on the good health news! Enjoy your long weekend celebrations!