Anyone who saw even a single headline last month should understand why February’s news took extra time to compile and verify. With the hindsight of writing this summary in March, the month of February was a violent escalation of shock and awe and human rights violations. It makes me queasy to think about what March has to offer, especially while living only a couple metro stops from the White House and Pentagon.

I find that writing helps me to process the world I find myself in and fight the urge to turn away from information. I fought through the shock, to dig deep on AI model behavior and celebrate the 100th Black History Month. I am hopeful that others are finding their own ways to carefully absorb the news, while taking actions- no matter how small- to build a better future.

I present to you the February newsletter.
Click Here to Skip to Good News and March Horoscope : )

Federal Government

White House’s War$$$: Billions for bloodshed, Crypto Corruption, and Pledges for “Peace”

Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing extra tariffs to be slapped on any country that sells oil to Cuba. US Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s global tariffs in a 6-3 ruling where Justices declare that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (provides the President broad authority to regulate a variety of economic transactions following a declaration of national emergency) did not grant Trump the power he claimed to impose tariffs.

Late in the month during Ramadan, Trump unilaterally authorized airstrikes on Iran, without Congress’ authorization or even awareness, in brazen violation of Article 1 of the constitution . The joint U.S.-Israeli attack (called “Epic Fury” by the Pentagon and “Roaring Lion” by Israel) killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, alongside an estimated 40 State officials. Another strike targeted an all girls’ elementary school in Minab, killing 165 children and injuring 96, according to Iran State media. According to HRANA, the total number of reported civilian deaths has reached 1,097, including 181 children under the age of ten.

Dozens of world leaders and national delegations met in Washington DC for the inaugural meeting of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace. Trump announced that countries have pledged more than $5bn toward “rebuilding Gaza”. Approximately 24 countries, every member state of the Board of Peace, including the U.S., have been rebuked for human rights violations.

President Trump has added approximately $3 billion to his net worth. Two-thirds of that increase came from the explosion of his cryptocurrency. Last October, Trump acting in his self interest, used his presidential powers to pardon the founder of a leading crypto exchange software Binance, after he plead guilty to money laundering. Binance employees found that $1.7 Billion in Crypto was sent to Iranian entities. A U.S. judge declined to block President Donald Trump from proceeding with construction of a $400 million White House ballroom to replace the demolished East Wing, the construction project is funded by tech billionaires.

Regulators

The Treasury has launched a new web page to accept whistle-blower tips about financial offenses.

The Interior Department is directing all its bureaus and offices to delete non-English content from their website. The U.S. Department of Education will change race-based rules regarding federal student grants, after a legal notice was released Tuesday.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development wants to ban families with any member who is undocumented from living in federally subsidized housing. A proposed rule also would require local housing authorities to report any tenant not eligible for rental aid to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moved to fire 22 more of its staffers, a union representing agency employees. The Trump administration is dismantling the federal disaster management system that protects the nation from chemical catastrophes, such as fires and explosions at high-risk facilities.

The Trump administration is moving to arrest thousands who are already legally admitted to the US as refugees and detain them indefinitely for aggressive “rescreening”. Trump’s administration urged the Supreme Court to allow it to end temporary protections for thousands of Syrians. The U.S. aims to process 4,500 refugee applications from white South Africans per month, far above President Trump’s stated refugee program cap. A banner featuring a photo of Donald Trump and the words “Make America Safe Again” was hung from the Justice Department’s headquarters. The Justice Department sued Harvard University, accusing it of refusing to hand over its admissions data the agency demanded as part of a federal civil rights investigation. The Pentagon announced it will forbid members of the military from attending Columbia, Yale, Brown and other universities starting next school year amid a campaign to cut ties with institutions. The DOJ filed federal lawsuits against five more states, accusing them of failing to provide full voter registration lists. The lawsuits target Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia and New Jersey.The federal prison system will stop providing gender-affirming medical or social transition care to almost any transgender people, under a new policy released by the Bureau of Prisons Thursday.

The chair of the Federal Communications Commission supported Nexstar’s proposed $3.54 billion acquisition of Tegna that would make the ​combined entity the largest U.S. regional TV station operator. Trump’s FCC Chair Wants Networks to Run Nationalistic Content and Pledge Loyalty for America’s 250th Birthday. Pledge America campaign statement. Colbert told his audience Monday that his employer told him he could not air the interview of Senate primary candidate James Talarico. CBS denied the accusation saying it only advised the late-night host that it could open the company up to scrutiny over the FCC’s “equal time” rule.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that it will not enforce Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule COPPA penalties against companies that properly use age verification technologies to collect and process personal data. The chair of the FTC issued a warning letter to Apple, calling on it to review its curation of news articles to see if its Apple News is freezing out media outlets on the right, and to take “corrective action” if that is the case. FTC opened a consumer protection probe into the American Academy of Pediatrics and the leading professional association focused on transgender health care, adding to the Trump administration’s scrutiny of youth trans medical care.

DHS shut down… yet is somehow still buying detention centers and shooting lasers?

Noem blamed Democrats for the partial government shutdown, which she said forced her to halt the FEMA funding during a month where cities were covered by feet of frozen ice. Noem also suspended two DHS airport programs over the weekend that allowed some travelers to skip long lines at screening checkpoints and at customs entry stations. Two federal judges have raised concerns about Attorney General Pam Bondi’s use of social media to publicize a wave of arrests last month of people charged with interfering with federal officers during an immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota. DHS forced to walk back ‘Worst of the Worst’ migrant website, designed to name and shame undocumented migrants charged with serious crimes, after errors DHS blamed on a ‘glitch’. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons says he will not apologize to the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti for being labeled “domestic terrorists” by the Trump administration. The sudden closure of El Paso’s airspace Wednesday came sometime after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials used an anti-drone laser that was provided by the military to shoot down objects that were later identified as party balloons, four people familiar with the matter said.

The Department of Homeland Security has been buying warehouses throughout the country to convert for use as Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities. The Washington Post reports the plan is to spend $38.3 billion to build seven large-scale warehouses, each holding up to 10,000 immigrants, to hold 80,000 people in order to speed up deportations.

Congress Investigate: ICE, AI, and Epstein Files

The US attorney general Pam Bondi attacked and insulted Democrats during a House judiciary committee hearing as she defended the justice department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. A key moment in the hearing was when Bondi refused to acknowledge the victims as they stood behind her. Attorneys for alleged victims of Jeffrey Epstein are urging two federal judges in New York to order the immediate take down of the Justice Department’s Epstein files website. (DOJ) announced that they would allow lawmakers to review the un-redacted Jeffrey Epstein files, in the wake of criticism that the administration has improperly shielded the identities of various people. This comes after a review of files revealed that the DOJ obscured perpetrators while exposing the personal information of victims. The DOJ also removed files containing investigations pertaining to Donald Trump. 3 House Democrats wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding that the Department of Justice “immediately cease” cataloging members’ searches of the un-redacted Jeffrey Epstein files.

The House Oversight committee conducted closed-door depositions for individuals mentioned in the Epstein files. Former Victoria’s Secret CEO Les Wexner, and his longtime friendship with the convicted sex trafficker and pedophile was the subject of a closed-door deposition in front of Ohio House Oversight Democrats. Ghislline Maxwell refused to testify and invoked her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination. Her lawyer, read a prepared statement to the committee. Maxwell, he said, is “prepared to speak fully and honestly” but only if granted clemency by President Trump.” Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released video of depositions with former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This was originally a closed-door hearing despite Hillary’s invitation to make the hearing public. The Clinton’s denied knowledge of Epstein’s conduct. Hillary was visibly frustrated after hours of “repetitive” questions and after learning that Lauren Boebert posted unauthorized photos of the deposition.

Ed Markey introduced the “ICE Out of Our Faces Act” with Rep. Jayapal of Washington. Democrats sent the White House legislative text of their demands to reform how the administration carries out immigration enforcement. That initial proposal featured 10 demands for immigration enforcement, including three main pieces considered bright red lines for Republicans: a tightening of warrant requirements, unmasking agents who engage in field operations and an end to roving patrols. U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Angie Craig, gave eight days advance notice that they’d be touring the building to check on conditions and speak with detainees, but were told that no one was detained at Whipple Federal building.

State of the Union: run by liars and informed by conspiracy theories.

Trump delivered the State of the Union address, where he spent a record 2 hours amplifying false claims about immigration and economic health. Many Democratic lawmakers skipped the speech to attend the People’s State of the Union, counter-programming hosted by MoveOn Civic Action, progressive media company MeidasTouch. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivered the party’s official response, emphasizing the burden of rising costs on American families and safety concerns about federal immigration enforcement. The National Governors Association pulled out of an annual meeting at the White House after the White House planned to invite only Republicans

States

Tech Accountability Lawmaking

U.S. Senators Todd Young and Maria Cantwell reintroduced the “Future of AI Innovation Act,” legislation to ensure U.S. leadership in the global race to develop artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies. However in states across the country, Republicans and Democrats have found bipartisan agreement on regulating artificial intelligence and data centers. Alabama’s HB 347 seeks to address the rapid spread of illicit digital material made possible by emerging technologies. A DeSantis-backed bill unanimously cleared the Senate Floor, banning artificial intelligence data center companies from keeping secret their plans to relocate to or expand in Florida. Maine lawmakers advanced a comprehensive data privacy law that would amount to some of the strictest consumer protections in the country. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker proposed a statewide fee on social media companies in an effort to raise $200 million a year for education. The Nevada Gaming Control Board and the state attorney general sued Kalshi saying its markets are actually illegal sports gambling. California Introduces Privacy Whistleblower Law AB 2021 would establish a program for individuals to submit whistle-blower complaints to CalPrivacy regarding companies’ privacy practices. A California judge has ruled that the AI company’s video generation tool Sora cannot use the term ‘cameo’ or any variation likely to cause confusion.

States Defend Sovereignty from ICE misconduct and terror

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill revealed new details about a state website intended to let state officials gather information about federal immigration enforcement actions. Sherrill also announced a new “know your rights” website and signed an executive order barring ICE agents from accessing nonpublic areas of state property without a judicial warrant. The ban also prevents agents from using property as staging areas for operations.
AZ Gov. Katie Hobbs announced Wednesday her office has created a “Know Your Rights” website containing information on how to interact with federal immigration officials. alongside acting state Attorney General Jennifer Davenport,

Minnesota’s evidence portal to hold agents accountable for constitutional violations during Operation Metro Surge reached 1,500 submissions in first month. Despite claims that ICE is drawing back in Minnesota, suburban observers say ICE still active as ever. Federal immigration officials inflated the number of dangerous criminals they claimed to have taken off the streets during Operation Metro Surge, a Minnesota Star Tribune analysis found. In some instances, they also made inaccurate claims about the criminal backgrounds of those on the list. Portland mayor tells ICE to leave city after federal agents use tear gas on protesters. (ICE) said it has purchased a building in Romulus Detroit where it plans to build detention facilities to house immigrant inmates. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) expects to spend an estimated $38.3bn on a plan to acquire warehouses across the country and retrofit them into new immigration detention centers with capacity for tens of thousands of detainees, according to documents the agency sent to the governor of New Hampshire.

Defending State Controlled Elections

President Donald Trump called on Republicans to “nationalize the voting” in an interview, as his administration pushes to overhaul election ground rules ahead of the pivotal midterm races. Members of the Georgia State Elections Board voted Wednesday to issue a formal letter of reprimand to Musk’s America PAC over the billionaire technocrat’s illegal scheme to get Trump elected. Fulton County officials have filed an amended motion for what they say were “improperly seized” election records taken when the FBI raided their offices in January. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard put President Donald Trump on the phone with some of the FBI agents who conducted the search. A federal judge ruled against placing early voting sites on three university campuses in North Carolina,

Cyber Rights

The right to privacy and freedom from online harms

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday was questioned during his trial for past statements about his company’s role in child safety and knowledge of alleged harms. A federal lawsuit filed in South Carolina challenges a law that requires social media companies to protect children from harms on their websites. Home surveillance companies are under scrutiny in the wake of two national news events drawing attention to privacy concerns surrounding the use of Ring and Nest security systems. A Super Bowl commercial for Ring, a home security company owned by Amazon, has led to questions about how much data home cameras are gathering. Elon Musk’s social media platform X faces a European Union privacy investigation after its Grok AI chatbot started spitting out nonconsensual deepfake images, Ireland’s data privacy regulator said Tuesday. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has launched an investigation into Roblox,

The imprisoned owner of GirlsDoPorn.com, a now-defunct San Diego-based website that was the subject of a long-running federal sex trafficking prosecution, was ordered by a judge this week to pay nearly $76 million in restitution to the trafficking scheme’s victims. Two scammers who targeted widows online and stole nearly $10 million have been sentenced to more than three decades in prison by a federal judge.

Right to Free Speech and dissent

Department of Homeland Security has been increasing pressure on tech companies to identify the owners of social media accounts that criticize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),
federal class action lawsuit that argues the Department of Homeland Security and a number of its sub-agencies are violating the First Amendment and are taking actions “designed to chill, suppress, and control speech that they do not like. FBI agents went to the home of a former member of a climate activism group for questioning last week. “Florida lawmakers are advancing a bill that would create a state process to designate certain groups as domestic terrorist organizations. It’s a proposal, SB 1632, Activist groups held a news conference on Tuesday to try to garner public opinion against a bill that would allow the state to declare activist groups to be domestic terrorists. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican Senate candidate, said that his office would investigate the Austin school district to determine whether schools “facilitated” the student protests, whether public funds were spent, and whether any laws were violated. Texas Education Agency threatened sanctions, including a loss of funding or a state takeover of districts that don’t accurately document walkout-related absences.

Corporation Watch

Settlements from corporations

Comcast agreed to a $117.5million settlement, after customers’ sensitive details were exposed in a 2023 cyber attack affecting more than 31 million customers. Disney to pay $2.75 million to settle alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act

Space Grifts and Oil Grifts and Data centers

Amazon Web Services launched two credit programs worth up to $100 million to help federal agencies leverage AWS cloud services and generative AI technologies. SpaceX is poised to receive over $600 million from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. But it now wants to get 50% of the money up-front. Boom Supersonic inked a $1.25 billion agreement with a developer called Crusoe, which is building a suite of data centers for the artificial-intelligence startup OpenAI. The turbine company agreed to provide Crusoe with 29 jet-engine gas turbines that the developer could position at data centers across the U.S. Business Insider’s “The True Cost of Data Centers” series explores the impacts — on water, power, pollution, and local economies — of Big Tech’s race to dominate a future built on AI. According to Thomson Reuters’s 2026 AI in Professional Services Report, organizations like law firms and legal departments are ramping up their AI use while grappling with concerns over the technology’s ROI and impact on the unauthorized practice of law.
The jet-engine roar has been almost nonstop in a Mississippi town, residents say, since 27 turbines arrived on trailers to power Elon Musk’s AI ambitions. The Trump administration tapped Entra1 in collaboration with NuScale, for the “supply of large-scale baseload power infrastructure,”Entra1 Energy, is being considered for a $25 billion contract from a massive trade deal

Political Corruption in Tech Telecom and Deportation

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos went to the White House Thursday for a meeting on his company’s effort to buy part of Warner Bros. Discovery. Shortly after the meeting, Netflix bowed out of negotiations and Paramount Skydance announced that it would buy Warner Bros Discovery for $110 billion. Warner Bros shareholders are expected to vote on the proposed merger in early spring of 2026.
The Trump administration’s website for its new dietary guidelines directs users to Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok to ask questions about nutrition.

The major technology companies will meet Trump at the White House to sign a pledge that they will supply their own power for artificial intelligence data centers. Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle and OpenAI will signed the agreement at the March 4 meeting. New York Assembly member Alex Bores became the target of a campaign by a pro-AI super PAC to thwart his congressional bid. The group, Leading the Future, is armed with more than $100 million from backers including Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, AI search startup Perplexity, and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. Trump’s friend Dezer’s aircraft, was chartered by ICE to deport Palestinians to West Bank through Journey Aviation, a Florida-based company. Aviation industry sources estimated the flights to and from Israel would have cost ICE between $400,000 and $500,000.

Defense Contracts: Surveillance, Data,

Gothams LLC, a US disaster response firm submitted a plan to White House officials that would guarantee 300% profits and a seven-year monopoly over a new trucking and logistics plan for Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in Gaza. The Pentagon is threatening to use the Defense Production Act (DPA) against Anthropic if the company did not agree to the department’s terms for the use of its AI model. Trump orders all federal agencies to ‘immediately cease’ using Anthropic technology. OpenAI announced it secured a deal to provide artificial intelligence services to the Defense Department hours after the Trump administration directed all federal agencies to stop using those provided by Anthropic.

CBP Signs Clearview AI Deal to Use Face Recognition for ‘Tactical Targeting. IBM stock rose following the announcement of a significant contract with the Department of War’s Defense Commissary Agency. Secures $112M Defense Commissary Contract Under the agreement,
ICE more than tripled the amount of data it stored in Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform in the six months leading up to January 2026, using a range of Microsoft’s productivity tools, as well as AI-driven products, to search and analyze the data it holds in Azure.

Weather Report

ICE vs the rule of law.

Judges around the country have ruled more than 4,400 times since October, that the Trump administration is detaining immigrants and US citizens unlawfully. Evidence shows Feds Lied To Justify Shooting Marimar Martinez. Immediately after a US border patrol agent shot two people in Oregon last month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the targets were “vicious” gang members connected to a prior shooting and alleged they had “attempted to run over” officers with their vehicle. Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote that Justice officials were continuing to violate court orders “One way or another, ICE will comply with this Court’s orders.” said the Federal Minnesota Judge after warning that he will move to hold ICE in contempt of the law.

In Minnesota, a federal court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against ICE, ordering that the agency must not transfer detainees out of Minnesota within the first 72 hours of detention. A federal judge in St. Paul held a special assistant U.S. attorney in contempt of court and threatened him with $500 in daily fines, after failing to return identification documents and other personal property to a Minnesota man held in a Texas immigration detention center. A federal judge said that the IRS broke the law. A sworn declaration from Dottie Romo, previously the IRS’s chief operating officer, revealed that the IRS had provided DHS with information on 47,000 of the 1.28 million people that ICE requested. Attorney Julie Le begs to be held in contempt of court and told U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell that she hates her job, and is exhausted.

A former senior official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reviewed investigative materials related to the fatal shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez and said he has “concerns” that President Donald Trump’s administration withheld information for nearly a year. Former US defense contractor executive Peter Williams was sentenced to prison for selling exploits to a Russian cyber-tools broker. ICE fails to respond to FOIA request on Operation Charlotte’s Web after three months Columbia says immigration officials detained a student after misrepresenting reason for entering school building.

In Texas, a federal judge declared a mistrial in the trial of nine people accused of ambushing an ICE detention center. The mistrial was declared due to “politically charged message.” referring to an attorney’s shirt that displayed Black civil rights figures .U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman ultimately declared a mistrial. A nearly blind Burmese refugee who was abandoned by border patrol agents has been found dead in Buffalo, New York, city officials confirmed.

The Current state of racial, gender, immigrant hate

President Trump posted a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on social media — a video clip showing the Obamas’ faces on apes. The post was later deleted, and the White House blamed a staffer for “erroneously” posting it. On Trump refused to apologize for the post: “I didn’t make a mistake,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. Trump administration removes LGBTQ+ Pride flag from Stonewall national monument. Outcry Roils BAFTAs After John Davidson -Guest With Tourette Syndrome, Shouts N-word at Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo. A young Black man, 21-year-old Kyle Bassinga, was discovered last week dead hanging from a tree.” The death has been ruled a suicide, and both Cobb Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Lisa Cupid and Cobb Police Chief Dan Ferrell.

FBI director Kash Patel faced criticism after videos circulated of him celebrating in the locker room with Mens’ Hockey Gold medalists. In the video, President Trump can be heard congratulating the team and joking that he would be impeached if he did not invite the women’s team, which also won Gold at the Olympics. This joke was met with laughter from the Men’s team, a reaction that the members now express regret after facing backlash. The Women’s team declined the invitation to the White House citing timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments. At the State of the Union Address, Trump announced that he would be giving team goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who made 41 saves in the gold medal game, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S. government’s highest civilian honor.

Conservative organization Turning Point USA’s hosted a counter-halftime program featuring country musicians Brantley Gilbert, Gabby Barrett and Lee Brice. More than 4 million people streamed it live on YouTube. Trump posted violent xenophobic rhetoric in regards to Bad Bunny’s halftime performance.

New York hospital ends transgender treatment program for minors Virginia Tech ended its decades-long tradition of identity-based graduation achievement ceremonies last month, joining several large universities that have taken a similar step amid President Donald Trump’s push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion practices on college campuses.

Epstein Files Fallout

Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced calls to resign this week over a relationship his appointed U.S. ambassador, Peter Mandelson, had with Epstein. former United Kingdom Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson has declined an invitation to sit for an interview as part of an ongoing probe into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. Bill Gates has pulled out of a keynote address at the AI Impact Summit in India as he continues to face questions over his relationship with the deceased child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. New Mexico’s attorney general has reopened an investigation into allegations of illegal activity at Jeffrey Epstein ‘s former Zorro Ranch. There are no ongoing criminal investigations into the perpetrators listed in the files.

Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, went missing from her home near Tucson, Ariz. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department says it believes Nancy Guthrie, who was last seen Saturday night, was taken by force, calling her home a crime scene. Savannah Guthrie, who was set to host the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony coverage from Italy on Friday, will no longer be part of the Milan Cortina Games.

Bot Nets, Cyber Attacks, Data Breaches, and Outages

DOGE bypassed established security protocols to access sensitive records for over 300 million Americans. the largest government data breach in U.S. history.
A ransomware group known as SafePay took responsibility for the Conduent data breach and claimed to have stolen over 8 terabytes of data over the course of the intrusion.
Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed that artificial intelligence (AI) assistants that support web browsing or URL fetching capabilities can be turned into stealthy command-and-control (C2) relays, a technique that could allow attackers to blend into legitimate enterprise communications
Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant can read and summarize messages with tags specifically designed to prevent it from doing so.
Substack, a popular platform where writers, journalists and creators send email updates directly to subscribers, has confirmed a data breach that exposed user data.
This report, compiled by the disinformation detection company Cyabra, identifies a coordinated network of bots that drove algorithms to spread Minaj’s posts on X.
OpenAI says scammers are using ChatGPT to commit romance fraud and fake law-firm personas. Here’s how to spot red flags and verify fast.
TikTok blamed a snowstorm for an outage at an Oracle-operated data center responsible for TikTok operations. users experienced glitches in features like posting, searching within the app, slower load times, and time-outs.

Protected Dissent, Journalism, and student protesters under attack

Washington Post cuts a third of its staff, eliminating its sports section, several foreign bureaus and its books coverage in a widespread purge. Detroit area students are continuing to stage walkouts protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Seaside High School students walked out of class Friday afternoon to protest the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and what organizers described as a “recent increase” in ICE activities affecting families in Clatsop County. Mustang Public Schools suspended 122 students for truancy after they participated in planned protests, sparking mixed reactions and discussions about free speech rights. Hundreds of Philadelphia students hold walkout and rally against federal immigration agents. Local officials in Pennsylvania are investigating the police response to an anti-ICE protest on Friday where students and officers got into multiple physical confrontations. Ravenwood High School students of all ages were the latest to stage a walk out demonstration Feb. 17 in response to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in the greater Nashville area. Dozens were arrested Sunday morning during a protest outside the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, according to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office says 38 people were cited and released, and one person was jailed for riot.

Trump Administration officials said they are providing Intelligence agencies with more information from investigations by the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration to combat groups that the administration has classified as terrorists. Reports circulating online assert that agents entered living quarters at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, to confiscate and destroy these child-written documents before they could be publicly revealed.

Good News

Olympic Wins, Bad Bunny, and America’s Hype-man Flavor Flav!

The Hall of Fame rapper announced that he will host a She Got Game weekend event from 16-19 July in partnership with MGM Resorts to honor the women’s hockey team as well as other Womens athletes. Roc Nation and Apple Music announced that the Puerto Rican superstar’s performance at the Super Bowl LX halftime show got more than 4.1 billion views worldwide in the first 24 hours — which apparently makes it the most-watched halftime show ever.

The American People continue to organize, resist, and win

U.S. Senior District Judge Gregory Presnell in Florida took less than an hour to order the men’s release, saying the delay in providing them bond hearings in immigration court left them wrongly languishing in detention. An anti-ICE activist group in Minneapolis is promoting “jury nullification training” amid high-profile immigration cases in an effort to obstruct federal law enforcement.

Judge restricts federal use of tear gas, munitions at Portland ICE protests
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, National Education Association of New Hampshire and affiliate groups declared a legal victory after the Trump administration backed down from its federal directive to restrict diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in public schools and higher education. U.S. Department of Education conceded the end of its “Dear Colleague” directive that sought to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in schools and higher education institutions nationwide.

5-year-old Liam Ramos and father are back in Minneapolis after being released from federal custody
Protesters gathered outside a warehouse along Weddington Road. The group Indivisible Cabarrus County says ICE is considering converting the building into a new detention center. A small rally outside Escondido City Hall Wednesday afternoon was held to urge Escondido City leaders to cancel its contract with the Department of Homeland Security, which allows ICE to use its city-owned shooting range. Illinois Oak Brook village officials confirm Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using office space in a building also leased by Lewis University. Village leaders say the offices are for administrative use only, with no detention activities planned. GA State Sen. Jaha Howard, a Democrat, announced a bill aiming to ban the use of state-controlled funds and tax incentives to create more ICE detention centers. Chicago nurses joined a nationwide protest calling for the abolition of ICE and a shift in funding from immigration enforcement to health care.

“No freedom, no peace until ICE is off the streets” was the chant that greeted motorists traveling County Line Road in Madison in front of James Clemens High School Alabama. Faith leaders entered the Broadview ICE detention facility for the first time to offer ashes and communion after a federal judge ordered access. Local community activists created a project to highlight stories of those in the Broome County Jail who have been detained by ICE. Humans of ICE was organized by volunteers from Concerned Residents of Greater Binghamton.

Data Center and Surveillance Tech divestment

The New Orleans City Council passed a yearlong ban on data centers and began an effort to clarify zoning regulations for new data center projects. San Marcos City Council rejected plans to build a new data center in the city after hundreds showed up to the meeting to weigh in on the center. New Jersey City Council voted to cancel plans to construct an AI data center and instead build a new public park where the 27,000-square foot facility would have gone. Privacy concerns and CEO comments prompt Virginia city to cancel Flock contract. Denver city leaders are backing away from Flock and are adopting new Axon surveillance system, after concerns about privacy were raised. Mexico is considering legislation this week that would change how citizens’ license plate information is shared. Missouri lawmakers propose restrictions on automated license plate readers. Senate Bill 40, the Driver Privacy and Safety Act, would prevent this information from being given to both public and private third parties.

Ring, the Amazon-owned home security company, announced on Thursday that it will no longer partner with Flock Safety, after backlash from their contraversial SuperBowl ad. Discord no longer plans to roll out age verification after facing heavy backlash from users, and is delaying the launch until the second half of 2026. UpScrolled, a social network by Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian technologist Issam Hijazi, climbed in App Store rankings to reach the second spot in the social media category in the U.S. The app was downloaded 41,000 times within days of the TikTok deal’s finalization.

Horoscope

The Month started in Mercury retrograde, and is strengthened by a full blood moon in Virgo. These lunar positions indicate change then clarity. The New Moon on the 18th will be in Pisces before the spring equinox on the 20th. Take this as your sign from the stars to capitalize on the clarity and change in your life, new energy is on its way.

Until next month,
<3 Raelyn