Welcome to a Hump Day (“Il giorno della gobba” in Italian): Wednesday, February 4, 2026, and National Homemade Soup Day. Remember this place?
It’s also Liberace Day (he died on this day in 1987), National Girls and Women in Sports Day, National Hemp Day, National Stuffed Mushroom Day, and Rosa Parks Day (she was born on Feb. 4, 1913).
Here is Parks is being fingerprinted on February 22, 1956 for being one of the leaders of the Montgomery bus boycott. Her famous refusal to sit in the back of the bus occurred on December 1, 1955, and could be seen as the start of the Civil Rights movement of the late Fifties and Sixties:
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the February 4 Wikipedia page.
Da Nooz:
*Iranian and U.S. diplomats are meeting in Istanbul, with Iran hoping to stave off what looks to be an impeding attack on their country.
Senior U.S. and Iranian officials are expected to meet in Istanbul on Friday for talks aimed at de-escalating the crisis between their countries, according to three current regional officials and a former one who were familiar with the planning.
The talks, they said, aim to bring together Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy; Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law; and Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, the officials said. Also expected to attend are senior officials from Turkey, Qatar and Egypt.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists. They included an Arab official, a regional official, a senior Iranian official and a former Iranian diplomat.
White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The plans for the negotiations could change.
If the talks happen, they will mark a rare face-to-face encounter between U.S. and Iranian officials at a time when military threats by Mr. Trump, and the refusal of Iran’s leaders to accept his demands, have brought the two countries to the precipice of war, spreading fear across the region.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has threatened to bomb Iran if its embattled leaders, who last month crushed mass protests with lethal force, did not yield to his demands. Those include Iran’s ending its nuclear program, accepting limits on its ballistic missiles and halting its support for proxy militias around the Arab world.
So far, Iran’s leaders have said that they would not negotiate while under threat, while vowing a harsh response to any American attack.
:The Times of Israel reports this:
Iran and the United States will resume nuclear talks on Friday in Turkey, Iranian and US officials told Reuters on Monday, and US President Donald Trump warned that with US warships heading to Iran, “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.
And this, which is an aggressive act on Iran’s part:
The US military shoots down an Iranian drone that approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, a US official tells Reuters on Tuesday.
The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying toward the carrier and was shot down by a F-35 US fighter jet.
Will the U.S. (presumably along with Israel, which Iran has also threatened if there’s an attack) attack Iran? I still think so, though talks raise the probability that there will be a diplomatic outcome. However, the only bargaining chip Iran seems willing to offer is “we will stop making nukes,” and they’ve lied about that for decades—with every U.S. President buying that nonsense. I don’t think Trump will, so I still think we’ll mount an attack. (Remember, Trump still wants that Nobel Peace Prize, and how better to get it than to bring down the Iranian regime.)
*Still stinging from his loss in the 2020 election, Trump has issued a call for the government to “nationalize voting,” a clearly unconstitutional grab at power.
“We should take over the voting, the voting, in at least 15 places,” Trump told Bongino. “The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”
Under the Constitution, the “Times, Places and Manner” of holding elections are determined by each state, not the federal government. Congress has the power to set election rules, but the Constitution does not give the president any role on that subject. Republicans in recent decades have often argued in favor of states’ rights and against a powerful federal government.
Trump’s demand comes less than a week after the FBI executed a search warrant at a warehouse in Fulton County, Georgia, which is at the heart of right-wing conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. The unusual warrant authorized agents to seize all physical ballots from the 2020 election, voting machine tabulator tapes, images produced during the ballot count and voter rolls from that year. Days before the search, Trump claimed in a speech at the Davos World Economic Forum that the 2020 election was rigged.
UPDATE: Today’s NYT says that the White House walked this stupid idea back:
But Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said on Tuesday that Mr. Trump had actually been referring to legislation that would require people to prove that they are U.S. citizens when they register to vote.
“What the president was referring to is the SAVE Act, which is a huge, common-sense piece of legislation that Republicans have supported, that President Trump is committed to signing into law during his term,” Ms. Leavitt said.
“I don’t think any rational person who is being honest with themselves would disagree with the idea of requiring citizens of this country to present an ID before casting a ballot in a federal election, or, frankly, in any election, and that’s something the president wants to see happen.”
Like birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S., the rights of states to control their elections is specified in the Constitution, so the feds trying to control voting will not stand up in court. It’s just another bluff by Trump, but it’s not beyond him to start the process by filing a lawsuit, or issuing some bogus executive order.
*As always, I’m a sucker for prognostications about the Democratic party. Here’s one from Ruy Teixeira at the Free Press, “If Newsom is the front-runner, Democrats may be doomed.” Here is some shoot-me-now data:
After all, [Newsome has] had quite a year. While other Democratic politicians have struggled to adapt to the chaos of the second Trump term, Newsom has responded with a blitz of activity that has dramatically raised his profile. At this time last year, he was polling in the single digits for the 2028 primary, stuck in a scrum with other possible candidates and trailing Kamala Harris by a wide margin. Today Newsom tops all three major poll averages—enough to make him the undeniable front-runner.
Newsom’s strength is also showing in the betting markets. On PredictIt, he is far and away the betting favorite for the Democratic nomination, way ahead of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Harris, the second and third most popular choices. He trails only J.D. Vance in the betting for the 2028 general election.
AOC? Harris? Please, shoot me now. But of course I don’t want Vance as President, since he has apparently learned his behaviors from Trump. More:
What accounts for this remarkable surge? How did a liberal California Democrat win so much support a year after Democrats got walloped when their candidate was . . . another liberal California Democrat?
The answer lies in Newsom’s ability to be everything to—well, not quite everybody, but every Democrat. Think of him not as an ordinary politician but as a message delivery system, and a very effective one. All politicians fit that description to some degree, but Newsom lets absolutely nothing stand in the way—not principles, not beliefs, not prior positions. He reliably presents whatever message he deems most politically effective at any given time to any given audience. That has enabled him to appeal to nearly every Democratic faction.
. . . In essence, Newsom appointed himself chairman of the anti-Trump resistance and then backed up the move with words and actions. The Democratic base is loving it, just as he intends.
But many other Democrats worry that in order to win, the party will need to moderate some of its more unpopular positions, rather than simply criticize Trump. Naturally, Newsom has something for that crowd too.
He started a podcast, This Is Gavin Newsom, where his guests have included the late Charlie Kirk, Steve Bannon, Ben Shapiro, and other conservative luminaries. This has given him an opportunity to flash a few cautious signals that he is more moderate than the average Democrat. In his episode with Kirk, he agreed that letting trans-identifying biological males play in girls’ and women’s sports seemed “deeply unfair” to him. And in his recent episode with Shapiro, he agreed that calling ICE activities “state-sponsored terrorism” was not justified, and that it was probably not a good idea to abolish ICE.
So why isn’t that good? Because he has no firm positions, and apparently no guiding principles:
On the other hand, he has not been shy about reassuring progressives and “woke” Democrats that he is still one of them. For example, after his podcast statement on trans-identifying boys in girls’ sports, he almost immediately denied any implication that he would support a policy to change that situation in California or any other place. In his interview with Klein, he was quick to defend the provision of subsidized healthcare for undocumented immigrants as part of his overall commitment to universal healthcare.
On the other hand, he has not been shy about reassuring progressives and “woke” Democrats that he is still one of them. For example, after his podcast statement on trans-identifying boys in girls’ sports, he almost immediately denied any implication that he would support a policy to change that situation in California or any other place. In his interview with Klein, he was quick to defend the provision of subsidized healthcare for undocumented immigrants as part of his overall commitment to universal healthcare.
Newsom also refused to support Proposition 36, a ballot measure backed by many prosecutors to classify more crimes as felonies and increase penalties. (It passed overwhelmingly anyway).
. . . Gavin Newsom: friend of the resistance, friend of moderates, friend of progressives, friend of populists, friend of labor, friend of abundance-istas, special chum of Big Tech, and hard man for the Democratic Party. He’s got it all, twinned with a preternatural ability to deliver a perfectly calibrated message to each of these audiences when called upon to do so.
Newsom’s gift (if you can call it that) of appealing to all the factions within his own base works well for individual candidates in blue states but terribly for the party as a whole and its presidential candidates. It encourages candidates to think their basic positions don’t have to change much and that their progressive record, commitments, and statements over the years won’t turn off voters.
This is egregiously wrong, as the Deciding to Win report shows definitively, and as common sense would suggest. Candidates’ records and past positions matter a lot once they have to speak to a general electorate that doesn’t share the basic assumptions of partisan Democrats. Just ask Kamala Harris.
Could the Democrats make the same mistake with Gavin Newsom? Absolutely, because he knows just how to talk to them. That’s too bad because what they really need is a Bill Clinton and, well, Gavin Newsom is no Bill Clinton.
As I said, I’d vote for him over any Republican, but I wouldn’t be happy about it as I wouldn’t know whom I’m voting for. In the end, I think Newsom’s wokeness would dominate. And if he waffles that much, it’s good fodder for Republicans, whether in ads or in a debate.
*When Trump was blackmailing Harvard earlier over its antisemitism, he demanded that the University pay the government $200 million. He’s now dropped that demand. Instead, the Prez wants Harvard to cough up a billion dollars.
President Trump said he is seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University, the latest escalation in his administration’s fight with the institution over alleged antisemitism.
Trump posted on social media after the New York Times reported that his administration had dropped its demand for a $200 million payment to the government to settle the dispute.
“Strongly Antisemitic Harvard University has been feeding a lot of ‘nonsense’ to The Failing New York Times,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform overnight. “This case will continue until justice is served,” he added. “We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages, and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University.”
Trump didn’t specify how or when he might seek the $1 billion. Harvard didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Ivy League school has been locked in a battle with the Trump administration for months over allegations of antisemitism and concerns about diversity practices. Last year, the government pulled billions of dollars in federal research funds, threatened the school’s tax-exempt status and attacked its ability to enroll international students.
The Times reported Monday that Harvard had rejected the idea of the $200 million payment because it was wary of backlash from liberal students and faculty. Hours later, Trump criticized the newspaper and Harvard in two Truth Social posts.
Before the president’s latest remarks, the administration had been in discussions with Harvard to settle their dispute.
*From the UPI’s Odd News, we have a video of the latest weird stuff that happened, including a Chinese toy horse that turned sad when its muzzle was sewn on upside down (it became a popular hit), and kangaroo of unknown origin was loose in Texas. The ‘roo has been captured, but nobody knows who should get it back.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is sick to death of winter, as she always is during the season:
Hili: Weeks go by, and these frosts just will not end.
Andrzej: Do not complain, you have it warm at home.
In Polish:
Hili: Mijają tygodnie, a te mrozy nie chcą się skończyć.
Andrzej: Nie narzekaj, masz ciepło w domu.
*******************
From Meow Incorporated:
From CinEmma:
From The Language Nerds:
From Masih, Iranian students protesting at their university. And yes, it’s true that the regime is arresting doctors and nurses who treat wounded protestors.
Have executions in Iran really stopped? No.
This is the voice of brave students who have gathered at their university, protesting and demanding an end to the executions of their colleagues and doctors.
The regime is arresting doctors and nurses for treating the wounded, and… pic.twitter.com/1DsvnUAYyp— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) February 3, 2026
From Malcolm. Who says cats don’t experience love?
Cats love to sleep with their favourite human 🥹❤️
— Antidepressant Content (@depressionlesss) January 29, 2026
From Luana; a tweet by Colin Wright arguing that there should be no topic that’s off limits in research, a question I ponder constantly.
I’m not particularly interested in questions about race and cognitive ability, but I don’t believe such questions should be off-limits.
What you’ll find in this new NYT article isn’t a scientific takedown of so-called “race science,” but rather an attempt to poison the well… pic.twitter.com/cRQEJ0pzdg
— Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) February 1, 2026
Retweeted by J. K. Rowling. The Taliban previously banned girls from secondary education, but the Guardian article says that they’re now banned from University education, too. Even the UN is objecting to this one. Half the population can’t get an education! The Taliban had promised earlier that there would be no ban on school for females.
As the Taliban continue their war on women and girls, it is clear that appeasement has failedhttps://t.co/3JJL1XM89l
— Gordon Brown (@GordonBrown) January 30, 2026
One from my feed. I love donkeys but am told that they can be mean, biting and kicking:
When this donkey wants to hug his keeper, he comes to his shop, opens the door, and waits for him to let him in.pic.twitter.com/IZfegxxjh6
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) February 3, 2026
One I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial: a survivor whose birthday is today (she’s 101):
Moved to Auschwitz at 19, and then to two other camps, this French Jewish woman survived, and turns 101 today. Happy birthday, Ginette! https://t.co/aKx5FPph1d
— Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue) February 4, 2026
Two posts from Dr. Cobb. First, the Sun’s large-scale granularity:
The seething visible surface of the Sun.Each of these cell-like structures is about the size of Texas. They’re granules where hot plasma rises and cooler material sinks back down. Details as small as 30km are visible.Credit: NSO/NSF/AURA#astronomy
— Colin Stuart 🔭 (@colinstuartspace.bsky.social) 2026-02-03T14:21:07.139Z
This is, of course, all over social media. And Matthew told me, “We both know how it got there.”
“Hospital evacuated as man found to have WW1 artillery shell in rectum”A difficult day for le squad de bombe…
Rectum? Damned near killed ’em.
The taboo that Colin Wright points to is there precisely because the “establishment” has a strong inkling what the answer might be, and knows that it really, really won’t like it, so resorts to trying to prevent the questions being answered.
In order to access major databases, institutes such as the NIH make scientists swear, Scouts Honor, pinky promise, that they won’t investigate certain issues about race (and if they then did it would be career suicide). There are people lobbying the Trump administration to override these restrictions, such that finding out (aka “science”) will win out over ideological taboos.
A BIRTHDAY THOUGHT:
There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience. -Hartley Shawcross, barrister, politician, and prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal (4 Feb 1902-2003)
101!
I mean, one-hundred and one years old! Awesome!
🎂