Welcome to the last Monday of the month: it’s Monday, February 23, 2026. In a week it will be March, the Month of Ducks Arrival. It’s also National Tootsie Roll Day, the candy that looks like dung. Here’s a mini:
Here’s an ad for the candy in 1918, when the boys, who fought for America, return and get their rewards:
The candy was invented by an Austrian Jewish immigrant. From Wikipedia:
The first candy that Hirschfield created was Bromangelon Jelly Powder. He completed the invention of Tootsie Rolls in 1907 after patenting a technique to give them their unique texture. He named the candy after his daughter Clara, whose nickname was “Tootsie.” The first Tootsie Rolls were marketed commercially in September 1908. Hirschfeld became vice-president of the company, which changed its name to Sweets Company of America in 1917, around the time of the retirement of founders Stern and Saalberg. Hirschfield resigned or was fired in 1920 and subsequently started Mells Candy. On January 13, 1922, in his room at the Monterey Hotel in Manhattan, he shot and killed himself, leaving a note saying that he was “sorry, but could not help it.”
I don’t like them. Bromagelon was the first commercial dessert made of gelatin, preceding Jello-O by several years but driven out of business by it.
It’s also Curling is Cool Day, International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day, National Banana Bread Day (good with cream cheese), and National Rationalization Day (see a later post today).
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the February 23 Wikipedia page.
Da Nooz:
First, the U.S. men’s ice hockey team won Olympic gold by defeating Canada in overtime by a score of 2-1. One player got his front tooth knocked out, and kept playing as blood dribbled on the ice.
But all told, another miracle on ice! Here is a video of the highlights (watch the first goal: it’s amazing):
*As predicted, Trump isn’t going to accept the Supreme Court’s erasure of most of his tariffs. He is, instead, raising global tariffs to 15%.
President Trump said on Saturday that he would raise his new, global tariff to 15 percent, a day after he took steps to replicate some of the punishing duties that had been struck down by the Supreme Court.
Mr. Trump announced the sudden change in a post on social media, and said the policy would take effect immediately, as he signaled that he would press ahead with his aggressive trade strategy despite suffering a major legal setback.
For some countries, such as Britain and Australia, Mr. Trump’s new 15 percent tariff will actually be higher than the rates that previously applied to their exports to the United States. For others, like China, Vietnam, India and Brazil, the new rate will be significantly lower. The previous set of duties were invalidated on Friday, after a majority of the court’s justices found that the president did not have the authority to issue them.
Mr. Trump had initially set his replacement global rate at 10 percent, using a provision in a law — never before invoked by a president — that allows him to impose an across-the-board tariff for 150 days unless Congress agrees to extend it. In the directive, he indicated it would take effect after midnight on February 24.
The statute caps the rate at 15 percent, limiting the president’s ability to lift it again, though Mr. Trump has signaled he plans to use other trade powers in the coming months to add further taxes on imports.
Here are the old a new tariff rates now from the NYT (click to enlarge):
Look, all tariffs are BAD. Period. But Trump uses his usual caps when he touts his new decision, which may not stand up to court rulings:
“I, as President of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been “ripping” the U.S. off for decades, without retribution (until I came along!), to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“During the next short number of months, the Trump Administration will determine and issue the new and legally permissible Tariffs, which will continue our extraordinarily successful process of Making America Great Again — GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!!!” he continued.
*The Washington Post reports that the Secret Service shot and killed an armed man who entered the secure perimeter of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
According to Bradshaw, the officers confrontedMartin, who was White, around 1:30 a.m. and orderedhim to put down the gas canister and the gun. He put down the canister and “raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” Bradshaw said.
“At that point in time, the deputy and the two Secret Service agents fired their weapons” and shot and killed the man, who died at the scene, Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw said the incident happened “just inside the inner perimeter” of Mar-a-Lago, near the estate’s north gate.
What is this–the third attempt on his life? You’d think that an assassin would at least check to see that the President was at home before trying to kill him. I’m sure there are people saying, “Damn, they failed again!”, but, much as I detest Trump and his actions, I will not say I want him killed. Hard as it is to believe, I’m sure there are people who love him, and Trump surely loves himself. Besides, do you think Vance would be an improvement? I favor waiting it out for the end of his term, promoting good Democratic candidates, and hoping Trump continues to scupper his own approval rating.
*Pictures taken from above reveal a lot of American war planes parked at an airbase in Jordan. You know what that means.
New satellite imagery and flight tracking data show a base in central Jordan has become a key hub for the U.S. military’s planning for possible strikes on Iran.
Imagery captured on Friday shows more than 60 attack aircraft parked at the base, known as Muwaffaq Salti, roughly tripling the number of jets that are normally there. And at least 68 cargo planes have landed at the base since Sunday, according to flight tracking data. More fighter jets could be parked under shelters.
The satellite images also show more modern aircraft, including F-35 stealth jets, compared to the aircraft normally seen there. Several drones and helicopters are also seen.
Soldiers also installed new air defenses to protect the base from incoming Iranian missiles.
Jordanian officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, said that the American planes and equipment are deployed there as part of a defense agreement with the United States.
The changes at the base in Jordan are part of a large U.S. military buildup across the region, which comes amid negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. On Friday, President Trump told reporters he was considering a limited military strike to pressure Iran into a deal.
The Jordanian officials said they hoped negotiations between the United States and Iran lead to an agreement that would prevent war in the region. Over the past month, officials from Jordan — as well as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — praised the talks and said they barred attacks on Iran from their soil.
If Jordan bars attacks on Iran from their soil, where will the U.S. planes take off from if they attack Iran? Also, it doesn’t seem so great for the press to tell Iran where the planes are, allowing Iran to attack them with missiles. But of course the MSM is largely on Iran’s side in all this.
Here’s a tweet with some of the photos:
These satellite images were captured today, and includes more modern aircraft, like F-35 stealth jets, compared to the aircraft normally seen at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. More fighter jets could be parked under shelters. https://t.co/gb1iIKkIxk pic.twitter.com/30Ah33iUnX
— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) February 21, 2026
*Speaking of Iran, the WSJ says that the Islamic Republic isn’t getting a lot of help from its so-called allies.
Iran has sought for years to build closer military ties with China and Russia, but its powerful friends are proving reluctant to step forward as the regime faces the most acute U.S. threat to its survival in decades.
Russia and Iran conducted small-scale joint naval training in the Gulf of Oman this past week, a show of force dwarfed by the U.S. firepower assembled in the region at sea and on land. An exercise involving ships from China, as well as Russia and Iran, is planned to take place soon in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state media.
Iran has also sought to rebuild its missile stockpile, air defenses and other capabilities with help from both China and Russia, according to analysts, after those elements of its military power were battered in a 12-day war against Israel and the U.S. in June.
But Beijing and Moscow have shown little willingness to provide direct military assistance if President Trump does order an attack on Iran, analysts said.
“They’re not going to sacrifice their own interests for the Iranian regime,” said Danny Citrinowicz, a former Israeli military intelligence official and now a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies. “They are hoping the regime will not be toppled, but they are definitely not going to counter the U.S. militarily.”
For Beijing, aligning too openly with Tehran risks damaging a critical relationship with Trump, who is scheduled to travel to China in March for a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
China is Iran’s biggest oil customer and an important market preventing its heavily sanctioned economy from collapsing. Beijing shares with Tehran a desire to counter U.S. power but fears that aligning too closely with the Islamic Republic could jeopardize its relations in the Persian Gulf region, according to analysts.
For Moscow, the calculation is similar but even more urgent: Not alienating Trump and driving him close to Ukraine takes precedence over helping Tehran.
It’s not clear whether our expensive positioning of ships and planes in the Middle East is preparatory to an attack, or is a giant bluff to get Iran to give up its nuclear program, but once again I repeat that they never will, and if they say they will they are lying. Perhaps a Big Bluff could work to do that, but I doubt it.
*Oy! The skeleton of St. Francis of Assisi is going on display in the town for which he’s named. There are photos at the Guardian site as well as in this tweet from Matthew:
We have come such a long way since the Bronze Age veneration of the dead.
— Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb.bsky.social) 2026-02-22T11:11:19.897Z
From the Guardian:
Saint Francis of Assisi’s skeleton is going on full public display from Sunday for the first time, in a move that is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Inside a nitrogen-filled case with the Latin inscription “Corpus Sancti Francisci” (the body of Saint Francis), the remains are being shown in the Italian hillside town’s Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.
St Francis, who died on 3 October 1226, founded the Franciscan order after renouncing his wealth and devoting his life to the poor.
Giulio Cesareo, the director of communications for the Franciscan convent in Assisi, said he hoped the display could be “a meaningful experience” for believers and non-believers alike.
Cesareo, a Franciscan friar, said the “damaged” and “consumed” state of the bones showed that St Francis “gave himself completely” to his life’s work.
His remains, which will be on display until 22 March, were transferred to the basilica built in the saint’s honour in 1230. But it was only in 1818, after excavations carried out in utmost secrecy, that his tomb was rediscovered.
Apart from previous exhumations for inspection and scientific examination, the bones of Saint Francis have only been displayed once, in 1978, to a very limited audience and for only one day.
Usually hidden from view, the transparent case containing the relics since 1978 was brought out on Saturday from the metal coffer in which it is kept inside his stone tomb in the crypt of the basilica. The case is itself inside another bulletproof and anti-burglary glass case.
I’m willing to accept that St. Francis was real—there’s certainly enough evidence for that!—but not that he performed miracles (e.g., preaching to the birds, healing the sick, and getting stigmata), nor that there were later miracles in his name that led to his canonization. And they don’t even mention that he’s the patron saint of animals!
Here’s Jan van Eyck’s painting (ca. 1430) of St. Francis receiving the stigmata (yes, he’s said to have them, but they may have been from disease, and probably not in the right places unless self-inflicted.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is sick to death of winter, just as she always is:
Hili: It’s time for a change in the weather at last.
Andrzej: I feel the same way.
Hili: Najwyższy czas na zmianę pogody.
Ja: Też tak sądzę.
And I found two nice photos from yore. First, Andrzej and Malgorzata taking a break on their front steps with Cyrus and Hili:
And Hili and the late d*g Cyrus, leading us on our daily walk to the Vistula:
*******************
From Ariane, an English lesson:
From This Cat is Guilty:
From Now That’s Wild:
Masih has a video of people protesting the arrest of a teacher for his political views. And the degree of the protests got him freed from jail! Perhaps the Iranians are scared
This is the power of unity and public rage in Iran.
I received this message and videos from Iran:
“Hi Masih, Yesterday, regime forces raided the home of Yaghoob Mohammadi, a teacher in Abdanan. They beat his family with batons and violently arrested him. But the people did not… pic.twitter.com/gIKqssZEY6
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) February 22, 2026
From Stacy. The explanation doesn’t make sense, as Israel has far more LGBT people than does Palestine. If Allah hates gays, then Hamas should have won:
Islamic scholar blames the LGBT community for Palestinians losing the war to Israel. He argues that too many LGBT support the Palestinian cause and brought bad luck with them, because Allah hates them.
What will ‘Queers for Palestine’ think? pic.twitter.com/TqQZWiV4ht
— Dr. Maalouf (@realMaalouf) February 21, 2026
From Simon; Greenland helps the U.S., and Trump responds with his usual lack of grace and absence of gratitude:
This Trump post is frankly unreal in its cynicism and gaslighting:
He posted this because a US nuclear submarine – whose very presence near Greenland is already deeply provocative given the context – was just rescued by Danish military forces after one of its sailors fell ill.… pic.twitter.com/IyAqCWHI41
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) February 22, 2026
From Ginger K.:
A NZ Govt Women’s Network is promoting a male who ID’s as a woman as their ‘inspiring’ keynote speaker for their Intl Women’s Day Event.
I wonder how many women find it inspiring that someone with a criminal history of fraud, also accused of stalking, is the best they could do? pic.twitter.com/lKX5XM3fFp
— Ro Edge (@rosey_nz) February 18, 2026
One from my feed; Science Girl has great tweets:
Still wondering how does this species survived in the wild.. 😅
— Science girl (@sciencegirl) February 22, 2026
One I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial:
This French Jewish girl was sent to Auschwitz and died at the age of about seventeen. https://t.co/STxsMQM0zl
— Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue) February 23, 2026
Two from Dr. Cobb. First, amazing videos of blue whales (the largest creature known to have ever lived) eating krill. They say it took seven years to make this short video:
This is the most incredible footage of blue whales I’ve ever seen
This was a real LOL; I audibly chortled when I saw this:
someone waited their ENTIRE LIFE to write that headline…
Is it just my computer’s problem, or is the Auschwitz Memorial post missing for today?
I thought I’ll put it in. I will do it again, thanks.
Sounds like Elon may be added to the list of right-wing to Christianity pipeline participants. He apparently said ‘I agree with the teachings of Jesus.’
Some speculate something bad about him is about to come out so he is starting damage control like Russel Brand.
Is it right-wing now to say that you agree with the teaching of Christ?
No. Self-made men of all political persuasions who worship their creator will seek shelter in the imaginary arms of Jesus when the excrement is impacting the propeller. A relevant theological term of art is “cheap grace”.
Tariffs have a place as both revenue and trade measures. If tariffs are used to reduce another country’s trade barriers or unfair trade practices (such as dumping or state subsidies), then can be good even if they raise prices. To say that tariffs are bad in all circumstances would be to say that taxes are bad under all circumstances. Sales taxes drive up the cost of goods, as do sin taxes. income taxes cost people money, too. We need to get revenue somehow, though.
You’ve exceeded the comment limit in this thread already. Please be parsimonious and don’t ignore the Roolz. Thanks.
A BIRTHDAY THOUGHT:The otheory of democratic government is not that the will of the people is always right, but rather that normal human beings of average intelligence will, if given a chance, learn the right and best course by bitter experience. -W.E.B. Du Bois, educator, civil rights activist, and writer (23 Feb 1868-1963)
“But of course the MSM is largely on Iran’s side in all this.”
1) why?
2) MSM is on the side of the theocratic oppressors and their hold on Iran’s security and military. That is hideous. It means MSN is NOT on the side of actual “Iran,” which is the people. Why?
Metonymy: I’m sure “the Iranian government” Is the intended referent here. But maybe that’s your point, yes.
Does it really mean that he did not accept the SCOTUS decision? Or is it the case that the recent tariffs are in a different category from the ones that SCOTUS considered?
He is going to rely on a different tariff statute than the one that was the subject of the recent Supreme Court decision. This other tariff statute is more restrictive, and only allows tariffs of up to 15%, which can’t continue for more than 150 days without congressional approval.
My parents married at the Basilica in Assisi back in 1988.
My father, an English teacher in Italy with a deep fascination with Renaissance art and Italian literature first met my mother, up the escalator in Perugia, wearing a sweater in the middle of July so he still hadn’t shredded out that American culture shock of him yet. Now he speaks fluent Italian and became a citizen three years ago in New York.
They had little to no funding for the marriage, but their families and the monastery there managed to patch in to make it happen. Can’t say they saw the skeleton itself as it was already buried inside that crypt in the basement below the basilica.
Anyway, my dad recently retired and survived a hit-and-run last year (not sure what saint he prayed to during his recovery being the staunch Catholic he is), and he’s already planning to move back to Italy with my mother within two years now. Given the dogshit this country is heading towards and the poor quality of its healthcare, I don’t blame them. I wish them well.
The picture of the “Dick’s” sign is fake. Notice how all the signs are three-sided with two poles between them. How could the wind blow all three sides off intact with the poles inside of it?
Besides, it comes from macumbdaily.com which is a humor website.
It’s possible that the wind blew off a single side of the sign which would have been where the blank area is on the poles.
[moved comment here after seeing this after posting]
Dick’s, without even looking at the Bluesky comments:
1) the MacOmb Mall incident is reported on MacUmbdaily.com
2) the triangular sign blew off complete and connected, despite
a) its being the 2nd sign from the top on the tower, and
b) 2/3 of it still being on the tower
I love to see the happy photo of Andrej, Malgorzata and Cyrus again. Good memories. Thanks!
I loved seeing that photo, too. So much life and love caught in that one. It surely brightened my day! Malgorzata’s absence has been profound.
Me too.
And I love the photo of Hili and Cyrus the D*g leading their humans onwards toward adventure.
How many of the [whatever the actual number is] Iranians massacred in the recent uprisings would have been the ones to lead Iran out of its morass – Iranians who likely would not have taken to the streets at that time had Agent Orange not shot his mouth off about the US being on its way to help.
But with such great advance planning, it seems that the US hasn’t even figured out where it will be able to launch strikes from.
Re the Tootsie Roll, I took some visitors to Harpers Ferry, WV yesterday just to look around. At a coffee shop we found ourselves next to an interesting woman who’d started a candy shop down the street. Turns out she’s all about the history of candy, with some books to her name and many appearances on NPR, etc.. Anyway, we popped in to the shop and it was absolutely fascinating, all categorized by century, with lots of throwback memories to the candies of our childhoods. (They sell them, it’s not just a museum.) Here’s a link to the store blog, with lots of interesting info. I can’t wait to read her book. https://truetreatscandy.com/blogs/article
Remember the abba-zaba? I haven’t seen one in years.
Regarding the US build up in the Middle East.
“If Jordan bars attacks on Iran from their soil, where will the U.S. planes take off from if they attack Iran?”
Historically, attacks in the region from US Air Force aircraft have been launched from Incirlik (In’ jer lik) Air Base in south central Turkey near both the Mediterranean and Syria. That Air Base was very active during the war with Iraq.
I was stationed there in the early 70’s. A pleasant tour of duty in peace time, being only an hour bus ride from small Mediterranean resorts.
Yes Jordan doesn’t matter. It rarely does. 🙂
The King has very little latitude of action and our facilities there are unlikely to be needed, certainly since we have Israel, aircraft carriers, Cyprus in a pinch and Incirlik, the big one. We are ….well stocked.
Quite jealous of your stories there Robert, I would love to sit you down one day.
best,
D.A.
NYC
I just googled Mersin, where I would visit “Castle By The Sea.” When I was there, Mersin was a tiny old village. We would just bring an army blanket to sleep on the beach and snorkel to the island. I got a shock today when I saw a photo of Mersin. It is now a good sized modern resort city.
IRAN
Since I do international analysis for my column I often like unusual metrics (it served me well as a trader, my real job once).
Here we note the US Embassy in Lebanon is evacuating non-essential staff just today have been some other evacuations in the last month around the M.E.
This could be an important sign as to events in (and over) Iran soon.*
D.A.
NYC
*I’m undecided on a final answer.
Truly awesome Blue Whale footage. And Cyrus was obviously one very happy doggie.
The “Queers for Palestine” nonsense is rather puzzling. “Turkeys for Thanksgiving” indeed. Do they really think the Islamofascist crocodile will eat them last? They would be first in line.
I watched an interesting conversation on Youtube between philosopher Peter Boghossian and a “moderate” Islamic theologian who lives in the USA. The theologian generated lots of “taqiyya” to make Islam sound nice, but then belled the cat by asserting that “people must choose between liberalism and Islam” because there is absolutely no overlap there.
Re pandas surviving in the wild.
Could pandas’ contact with humans have, I dunno, infantilized them? If I had all my wants and needs met 24/7, you bet I’d be playing like a panda. Pandas had to have survived in the wild at some point.
The whale footage was amazing!
I miss Malgorzata too. And Cyrus. He was a good boi.
ginger> Hey, so would I! Looks like a really sweet setup. If I sincerely feel like I am a panda, might they let me in? Even one afternoon would be fun…
The history of the tariff may provide some insights. Historically, the industrial North was pro-tariff and the agrarian South was anti-tariff. With Union victory in the Civil War, the US became a strongly protectionist nation. After WWII, opposition to tariffs became US policy. I see two major reasons. First, the US was strongly anti-Communist and low tariffs were viewed (correctly, in my opinion) was a bulwark against Communism. Second, memories of Smoot-Hawley were still fresh in people’s minds.
Foreign policy was anti-tariff after WWII. These days it is probably pro-tariff. The key reason is China. Labor is still pro-tariff. The converse is that labor influence has declined quite a bit. Corporate America was strongly anti-tariff with a peak around 2000. Predictably, Bush (43), McCain was “free traders”. Corporate interests (back then) didn’t want any obstacles to outsourcing. Fear of China has changed this calculation to a significant degree.
Trade was actually a major issue in the 2016 Presidential election. The trade issue de-jour was the TPP. Of course, Trump opposed the TPP. However, public sentiment was quite hostile. So much so, that Hillary lied about it. Hillary claimed to oppose the TPP. She had previously called it the ‘Gold Standard’ of trade treaties. She made Tim Kaine her VP as her way of stating the she still supported the TPP.
What has changed (a lot) is that the ‘woke’ now oppose trade protectionism. The left was once dominated by working class folks who viewed trade as a threat. These days, the left is dominated by folks who benefit from cheap iPhones
In the UK the Green Party is actively canvassing the Muslim population on the grounds that the Labour party has not been sufficiently pro Gaza. As the Greens are also pro LGBT etc there must be considerable cognitive dissonance in play.