Why Iran’s Mullahs Are Running Out of Options Iran has been plagued by economic turmoil and popular unrest in recent years as international sanctions stiffened and citizens bucked against the regime’s grip on civil life. The death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, after her arrest for wearing an improper hijab, spawned a countrywide protest movement. Instead of reforming, the clerical dictatorship responded by ratcheting up repression as the economy continued to crater. Last December, widescale protests again broke out. This time, the regime’s crackdown spiraled into massacres that claimed the lives of thousands, including children.  Following is a selection of the Journal of Democracy’s Iran coverage — the January killings, the political lay of the land, and the Woman Life Freedom movement inspired by Mahsa Amini’s death at the hand of a brutal regime.

Iran’s Massacres Will Haunt the Regime Iran’s hardline government responded to nationwide protests with horrific violence, killing thousands of Iranians in a matter of days. There is nothing the regime can offer its people to regain their support. Ehsan Habibpour and Sharan Grewal

8 February 2026/SF News/Leanne Maxwell (SFist.com)

A few dozen supporters showed up for Saturday’s decidedly unironic “March for Billionaires” protest, which was evenly matched by several members of the press and a group of activists one-upping the sympathizers with a satirical “March for Trillionaires” rally.

As Mission Local reports, a small contingent of billionaire supporters, who claim they’re not actually billionaires themselves, held a “March for Billionaires” protest at Alta Plaza Park in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights Saturday morning. Naturally, the event drew a crowd of onlookers, including several journalists and about a dozen animated protestors dressed in formal wear, proclaiming they were taking part in a “March for Trillioinaires,” per Broke-Ass Stuart on Instagram.

Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUeX8oTku6U/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=1080&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fsfist.com&rp=%2F2026%2F02%2F08%2Fmarch-for-billionaires-unintentionally-inspires-highly-creative-and-hilarious-counter-protest%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A596.2000000476837%2C%22ls%22%3A396.2000000476837%2C%22le%22%3A593%7D

As SFist reported earlier this week, many assumed the original march was some sort of joke, but the organizers confirmed their intention was to spread awareness about their grievances against the billionaire tax. Per the LA Times, the pro-billionaire crowd thinks Californians should be grateful for the billionaires who hoard their fortunes here.

“We must not judge billionaires as a class but by their individual merits,” said organizer Derik Kauffman Saturday, per the Times. “There are good billionaires and bad billionaires, just like there are good people and bad people. California is extraordinarily lucky that this is where people come to start companies and build fortunes and we should do our best to keep it that way.”

As the Chronicle reports, about a dozen nearby counter-protestors dressed to the nines — including a Mr. Monopoly lookalike and a couple nicknamed “Oli Garch” and “Trilly O’Naire,” per the Times, held signs with messages such as “Let them eat cake” and “Defund the poor,” per the Chronicle. Per Broke-Ass Stuart, one participant sported a chef’s hat and bushy mustache while hoisting a stuffed “Chef Bourgeoisie” puppet into the air.

Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DUeSjaSDlQV/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=1080&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fsfist.com&rp=%2F2026%2F02%2F08%2Fmarch-for-billionaires-unintentionally-inspires-highly-creative-and-hilarious-counter-protest%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A1%2C%22os%22%3A597.2999999523163%2C%22ls%22%3A396.2000000476837%2C%22le%22%3A593%7D

Meanwhile, the pro-billionaire participants boasted signs with messages, such as, “We *heart* you Jeffrey Bezos,” per Mission Local, and “Gains from trade,” per the Chronicle.

“I would say we were horrified that they’ve been talking about taxing billionaires to pay for Medicaid, to pay for hunger prevention, to pay for kids’ education. That is not a good use of my money,” quipped a counter-protestor, per the Chronicle. “You want to know a good use of my money? I’ve got this other island I’m looking at.”

Per Mission Local, a pro-billionaire protestor named Annie provided some choice quotes, including the notion that journalists should be eliminated.

“It is the intention of journalists to lie, which is why we need to not do anything to the journalists themselves, but we need to simply remove them as a class,” said Annie, per Mission Local. “Just like Germany does to the extremist organizations.”

And of course, the poors are “just jealous.” “People are just jealous that they are poorer and weaker and uglier,” said Annie, per Mission Local. “We are beautiful. We’re smart. We’re strong… We are supporting the billionaires, here.”

Artist Razelle Swimmer, the counter-protestor who brought the Chef Bourgeoisie puppet, pointed out the absurdity of the pro-billionaire stance to the Chronicle. “There are people literally on the streets that don’t have anything to eat in the place where we’re ending this march,” said Swimmer, referring to the Civic Center area.

“It’s sad,” Swimmer said, per the Chronicle. “They represent a group of Americans who still believe in this concept that if you just pull yourself hard enough by your bootstraps, you’ll have $8 billion.”

Image: Our Revolution/Threads

Hook Global Feb 7, 2026 Zohran Mamdani | Zohran Mamdani New York City | Zohran Mamdani Sanctuary Laws | NYC Sanctuary City | New York City Sanctuary Laws | ICE Agents NYC | ICE Banned in NYC | NYC Bars ICE Agents Mayor Zohran Mamdani railed against the ICE agents after signing a performative executive order for New York City to uphold its Sanctuary City laws. His remarks were delivered at his first Interfaith Breakfast at the New York Public Library.

Trump’s toxic, racist video surpasses previous levels of debasement

on Feb 07, 2026 02:30 am

Robert Tait ,  Political Correspondent   –  The Guardian (U.K.)

Stephan: I am not going to publish the picture of the Obamas that was posted to Trump’s social media site. But it proves yet again something every American ought to know and acknowledge. Donald Trump in addition to being a psychopath is, and always has been, a blatant White supremacist racist. This is clear and on the record dating back to 1973, when the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Donald Trump, his father Fred Trump, and their company, Trump Management, for systematically discriminating against African Americans in their rental practices. If you look at how he has restructured American government you see that he has removed Blacks from every senior post, and replaced them with Whites.

It is a singular if highly dubious distinction of Donald Trump’s pungent contribution to the political discourse to have essentially bankrupted the English language’s capacity for outrage.

So unremitting and extreme have been the avalanche of affronts since Trump descended the golden escalator in Trump Tower in 2015 to declare his presidential candidacy that even his most ardent critics have become desensitized, leading to a level of shock fatigue.

Yet Trump’s highly racist and offensive late-night Truth Social post depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes broke through the numbness barrier to register on the political Richter scale at a level few of his many previous insults ever achieved.

That Trump succeeded in surpassing his own previous levels of debased standards was only emphasized by the decision, taken under fire, to delete the post hours after the White House had initially defended it.

That rare climbdown and the attempts to pin the blame on an anonymous White House staffer are unlikely to prevent the episode from illuminating a topic that much of the media has seemed reluctant to confront head […]

Read the Full Article »

Leave a Comment »

DOJ busted for removing Epstein files accusing Trump of child rape

on Feb 07, 2026 02:25 am

David Edwards,  Senior Editor  –  Raw Story

Stephan: From 1996 to 2015, psychopath Trump owned the Miss Universe Pagent Organization, which included Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, . He purchased the pageants to boost their commercial appeal, often highlighting increased ratings and, as he noted, higher heels and smaller bathing suits. The venture, which he sold in 2015, was marked by controversy, including allegations that he walked in on dressing rooms while contestants were changing to see the nude young girls.

The Department of Justice reportedly scrubbed numerous files relating to Jeffrey Epstein and President Donald Trump from its website.

After Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the release of around 3 million Epstein documents on Friday, The Bulwark’s Sam Stein noted that some details of documents containing Trump’s name were “hard to read.”

Those documents were unavailable on the DOJ’s website less than an hour later.

The pages, however, were archived on X by user Bobby Salsa.

One of the documents recounted the claims of a woman who said that her friend was forced to perform oral sex on Trump.

“[Redacted] reported an unidentified female friend who was forced to perform oral sex on President Trump approximately 35 years ago in NJ,” the document stated. “The friend told Alexis that she was approximately 13-14 years old when this occurred, and the friend allegedly bit President Trump while performing oral sex. The friend was allegedly hit in the face after she laughed about biting President Trump. The friend said she was also abused by Epstein.”

Another complainant said that he was driving […]

Read the Full Article »

Leave a Comment »

Exposed: The Putin-Epstein-Trump Connection

on Feb 07, 2026 02:20 am

British Chris,  Commentator  –  Raw America

Stephan: As I have told you before, in 1987 I was in Moscow, when Trump was also in Moscow trying to get the rights to build a hotel. A senior staffer of the Politiboro, the principal policymaking committee in the former Soviet Union, and I were having dinner. I had met Trump in the 1960s, and thought him a corrupt nouveau riche creep. Andre, who was a little drunk, told me he had met Trump, who was then not a political figure, and I asked him what he thought of him. He laughed and said that he wasn’t going to get permission to build a hotel, but the KGB had caught him on video having sex with a young girl. Years later a journalist friend who had interviewed a former KGB agent who had immigrated to the U.S. told me he had been told the same thing. I have always believed that the reason Trump always defers to Putin is because he knows that Putin has something that could wreck his life. The evidence in the Epstein files suggests there was a link between all three men. Here is a British commentator talking about this connection.

New Epstein files reveal Trump’s deep ties to Russian money laundering operations. French prosecutors have raided Elon Musk’s X offices over child abuse content and AI deepfakes. Homeland Security is weaponizing secret subpoenas against ordinary Americans. And a 67-year-old retiree is now under surveillance for sending a four-sentence email urging mercy for an asylum seeker.The Epstein Web Tightens Around Trump

First, the Epstein files. Over 5,300 documents in the newly released files reference Donald Trump, and what’s emerging isn’t just embarrassing—it’s potentially treasonous. As Thom Hartmann reported today, The Daily Mail recently revealed that Jeffrey Epstein wasn’t just a wealthy pervert; he was allegedly running “the world’s largest honeytrap operation” on behalf of Vladimir Putin and the KGB.

Epstein secured audiences with Putin even after his 2008 conviction for procuring children. Russian money flowed through Epstein’s operation—akin to the dirty oligarch cash that kept Trump’s real estate empire afloat when American and European banks wouldn’t touch him.

As Donald Trump Jr. admitted in 2008: “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.” Eric Trump was even more explicit, telling a friend they didn’t rely on American banks because […]

Read the Full Article »

Demonstrators take part in a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Milan, Italy on February 6, 2026.

 (Photo by Mattia Rinaldi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

One Olympic athlete, a skier representing Britain, registered his disgust with US immigration enforcement agents by urinating the message “Fuck ICE” in the snow.

Jake Johnson

Feb 06, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)

Hundreds of protesters gathered in the streets of Milan, Italy on Friday to protest the presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the 2026 Winter Olympics, with protesters waving “FCK ICE” signs and condemning Trump administration officials—including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Reuters reported that demonstrators rallying ahead of the opening ceremony could be heard “blowing plastic whistles, which have become a symbol of anti-ICE rallies in the US.” The Trump administration said a small group of ICE officers would be traveling to Milan to help provide security for Vance and Rubio, who arrived in the city on Thursday.

RECOMMENDED…

‘This Is a Militia That Kills’: Milan Mayor Decries ICE Involvement in Winter Olympics Security

From Business Closures to Student Walkouts, Communities Across US Demand: ‘ICE Out!’

One demonstrator, a Minnesotan currently studying in Europe, told the outlet that she “thought that this was a good opportunity to show that the rest of the world is not okay with what’s happening in Minnesota.”

“It’s not okay to just acquiesce and go with the status quo,” the protester said.

Demonstrators take part in a protest against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Milan, Italy on February 6, 2026. (Photo by Mattia Rinaldi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The protests came a day after Gus Kenworthy, a skier representing Britain, urinated the message “Fuck ICE” in the snow ahead of the winter games’ opening festivities and urged Americans to pressure their representatives to rein in the agency.

“Innocent people have been murdered, and enough is enough,” Kenworthy wrote on social media. “We can’t wait around while ICE continues to operate with unchecked power.”

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Jake Johnson

Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.

Full Bio >

Thousands of protesters gather and march to demonstrate against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

 (Photo by Jen Golbeck/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“If you take away our democratic stability, we will take away the economic stability.”

Brad Reed

Feb 06, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)

A centrist Democratic US senator is now talking about taking drastic measures to protect democracy from President Donald Trump.

Speaking with the Court of History podcast on Thursday, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) outlined a plan to stop Trump in case he tries to follow through on his threat to “nationalize the vote” ahead of the 2026 midterm elections or if he tried to enact ally Steve Bannon’s proposal to “surround the polls” with US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents.

RECOMMENDED…

Fearing Midterm Loss, Trump Once Again Says ‘We Shouldn’t Even Have an Election’

‘Beyond Crazy’: FBI Summons State Election Officials to Secretive Meeting After Trump Threat to ‘Nationalize’ Midterms

“We have to prepare for the outmost scenario, the worst scenario,” said Gallego, “which is they try to either capture the ballot box as ballots are being counted, they try to stop the count, they try to surround polling places, whatever it is.”

Getting more specific, Gallego said that something like a general strike along the lines of the one that took place in Minneapolis last month to protest ICE deployment in the city would be justified.

“We need to make sure that we have an ultimate response to that which, I believe, has to be a true national strike,” he said, “in the sense that, if they do this, if they try to overthrow our democracy, if you are allied with democracy, do not go to work. If you’re a pilot, do not show up. If you drive a train, do not show up. If you’re a teacher, do not show up. We grind the country to a halt.”

Gallego acknowledged the damage that this would do to the US economy, but said that “if we have to destroy the stock market to save democracy, we need to accept that.”

He also said such an action would send an unmistakeable message to the billionaires who have given Trump their full-throated backing during his second term.

“The richest and the most powerful people in the world and in this country need to understand that that is a real possibility,” he emphasized. “There is no economic stability without democratic stability. If you take away our democratic stability, we will take away the economic stability.”

Gallego isn’t alone in saying that concrete steps may have to be taken to protect US democracy from the president this year.

Elections expert Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, said in an interview published by the New Republic on Friday that both state and city governments, as well as individual citizens, may be needed to ensure the integrity of the 2026 midterms.

“I think states and local governments need to be prepared for this,” he said. “I would suggest trying to get injunctions against the federal government to keep them away. I would suggest that lawyers for voting rights groups and Democrats be prepared to go to court.”

Failing that, he said that citizens must be prepared to get involved on the ground.

“I mean, it may take people in the streets protecting the offices where ballots are being tabulated,” he said. “To take the Brooks Brothers riot—from the 2000 disputed election where some people were trying to storm an office where they were recounting ballots in Bush v. Gore—that would look very tame compared to what, you know, we might see in 2026.”

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Brad Reed

Brad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

Full Bio >

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar is driven through rural Nevada to visit and support rural county clerks approximately three weeks before the 2024 presidential election in Reno, on Friday, October 11, 2024. Aguilar was one of the state election officials invited by the FBI to a secretive meeting about the 2026 midterm elections.

 (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, who received the invite, said that what the president is “trying to do is really disrupt the midterm election.”

Stephen Prager

Feb 06, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)

State election officials were left unnerved after being summoned by the FBI to a mysterious conference to discuss “preparations” for this year’s midterm elections, which President Donald Trump has recently called for Republicans to “nationalize” in violation of the Constitution.

On Tuesday, election officials in all 50 states received an email from Kellie M. Hardiman, who identified herself as an “FBI Election Executive.”

RECOMMENDED…

‘Beginning of the Chaos’: FBI Raid in Georgia Seen as Ominous Sign of Trump Plans for 2026 Midterms

Five-Alarm Fire Warning After Trump Says ‘Republicans Ought to Nationalize the Voting’

Hardiman said the officials were invited to a call on February 25 with “your election partners” at the FBI, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and the Election Assistance Commission (EAC).

X post: https://x.com/mattberg33/status/2019560910625632442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2019560910625632442%7Ctwgr%5E6eea316949fe17db7b0441264c6e123fe935b617%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Ffbi-secret-election-meeting

The email, obtained via a public records request by Matt Berg of Crooked Media, did not specify the purpose of the meeting other than to say it was “to prepare for the 2026 US midterm elections.”

Hardiman added that the FBI and other agencies “would like to invite you to a call where we can discuss our preparations for the cycle, as well as updates and resources we can provide to you and your staff.”

At the end of the email, she reiterated, “We look forward to speaking with you in support of the 2026 midterm elections.”

Berg said he contacted the FBI for comment, to which a spokesperson responded: “Thank you for reaching out. The FBI has no comment.”

The email has heightened fears that the Trump administration is meddling in the midterms or planning to do so; he has suggested on multiple occasions that the elections should be “canceled” outright. Republican strategists are reportedly increasingly worried that the GOP could lose control of both the US Senate and the House.

Although the Constitution plainly states that elections are to be run by state governments, Trump earlier this week said Republicans should “nationalize” elections and “take control of the voting in at least 15 places” led by Democrats.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar told Berg he’d never heard of a conference call like this. He said he wrote back to Hardiman: “Is this real? Given what’s occurred over the last two weeks, I am concerned.”

“I was just like, ‘What is this?’ It’s the strangest thing in the world that the FBI is reaching out to us and trying to coordinate election security,” Aguilar said. “It’s never happened in the past. The casualness which they did… it was just beyond crazy.”

A former DOJ official told Berg that while it is normal for the department to monitor elections, the email and conference call were highly unusual: “I can’t imagine why it would be coordinated in that way,” he said.

Another official who received the email told NBC News that the message was “unusual and unexpected.”

Speaking of Hardiman, the official said, “No one has heard of this person—and we’re all wondering what an ‘FBI Election Executive’ is.” NBC reported that a LinkedIn page for Hardiman showed she was appointed to the position seven months ago.

The inclusion of the Department of Homeland Security as one of the election “partners” is also noteworthy, given the recent suggestion by Trump ally Steve Bannon that the president will “have ICE surround the polls,” referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The agency has increasingly acted as a sort of paramilitary force for Trump in the localities where it’s been deployed, most recently in Minnesota.

After federal agents killed three US citizens and provoked furious protests, Trump offered to withdraw agents from the state, but only if it turned over its voting rolls to the federal government.

At Trump’s apparent direction, the FBI raided an election hub in Atlanta last week to seize materials from the 2020 election to further his already disproven claims that his loss to former President Joe Biden was the result of fraud.

And earlier this week, it was reported that back in May, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard sent a team to Puerto Rico to seize voting machines in an effort to investigate another outlandish Trump claim that they were hacked by Venezuela. Sources with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters that no evidence of that conspiracy was uncovered.

“It’s unconstitutional for the president to do what he wants to do,” Aguilar said. “We understand that what he’s trying to do is really disrupt the midterm election, because the ‘26 election is critical to the ‘28 election.”

Aguilar said officials in Nevada are “constantly preparing and strategizing” for whatever Trump might attempt and said, “We have to prepare for that litigation at a moment’s notice, and we will be prepared in Nevada to push back.”

Danny Miller, an attorney who has worked for Renew Democracy and Democracy Forward, expressed fear about Trump’s coordination of federal law enforcement agencies to patrol elections, given that he has already supported one violent attempt to overturn his loss in 2020.

“Trump will try to do something far worse than January 6th before all is said and done,” Miller said. “It’s up to civil society to use all the tools of democracy to stop him.”

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Stephen Prager

Stephen Prager is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

Full Bio >

American Kompromat: How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery

Craig Unger

** THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER **

Kompromat n.–Russian for compromising information

This is a story about the dirty secrets of the most powerful people in the world–including Donald Trump.

It is based on exclusive interviews with dozens of high-level sources–intelligence officers in the CIA, FBI, and the KGB, thousands of pages of FBI investigations, police investigations, and news articles in English, Russian, and Ukrainian. American Kompromat shows that from Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, kompromat was used in operations far more sinister than the public could ever imagine.

Among them, the book addresses what may be the single most important unanswered question of the entire Trump Is Donald Trump a Russian asset?

The answer, American Kompromat says, is yes, and it supports that conclusion backs with the first richly detailed narrative on how the KGB allegedly first “spotted” Trump as a potential asset, how they cultivated him as an asset, arranged his first trip to Moscow, and pumped him full of KGB talking points that were published in three of America’s most prestigious newspapers.

Among its many revelations, American Kompromat reports for the first time

– According to Yuri Shvets, a former major in the KGB, Trump first did business over forty years ago with a Manhattan electronics store co-owned by a Soviet �migr� who Shvets believes was working with the KGB. Trump’s decision to do business there triggered protocols through which the Soviet spy agency began efforts to cultivate Trump as an asset, thus launching a decades-long “relationship” of mutual benefit to Russia and Trump, from real estate to real power.

– Trump’s invitation to Moscow in 1987 was billed as a preliminary scouting trip for a hotel, but according to Shvets, was actually initiated by a high-level KGB official, General Ivan Gromakov. These sorts of trips were usually arranged for ‘deep development, ‘ recruitment, or for a meeting with the KGB handlers, even if the potential asset was unaware of it.

– Before Trump’s first trip to Moscow, he met with Natalia Dubinina, who worked at the United Nations library in a vital position usually reserved as a cover for KGB operatives.

– In 1987, according to Shvets, the KGB circulated an internal cable hailing the successful execution of an active measure by a newly cultivated American asset who took out full page ads in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe promoting policies promoted by the KGB. The ads had been taken out by Donald Trump, who, Shvets said, would become a “special unofficial contact” for the KGB, that is, an intelligence asset whose role has been compared to that of the late industrialist, Armand Hammer.

A number of America’s highest national security officials have said they believe Trump is a Russian asset, but neither the Mueller Report nor the numerous congressional investigations throughout Trump’s presidency pursued that vital question. American Kompromat does.

In addition to exploring Trump’s ties to the KGB, American Kompromat also shows that from Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, Russian kompromat operations documented the darkest secrets of the most powerful people in the world and transformed those secrets into potent weapons. It also

– How Jeffrey Epstein and Trump jostled for influence and financial supremacy for years. A college dropout let go from his prep school teaching job, Epstein became a millionaire in part with the help of Ghislaine Maxwell’s father–media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who allegedly served as a Soviet and Israeli spy and likely gave Epstein a sum estimated between $10 and $20 million before his death in 1991.

– How the Jeffrey Epstein-Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking operation provided a source and marketplace for sexual kompromat – dirty secrets of the richest and most powerful men in the world. While Epstein had a rule when it came to selecting women, namely, “the younger, the better,” he also knew that a multimillionaire -or future leader – caught committing adultery is nothing compared to getting caught on video in the act with a minor.

– How the Epstein-Maxwell ring helped enable young women with possible ties to Russian intelligence to gain access to the highest levels of Silicon Valley and the worlds of artificial intelligence, supercomputers, and the internet. This, at a time when Vladimir Putin has asserted, “Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere [artificial intelligence] will become the ruler of the world.”

– How Epstein had ties to Russia through sex-trafficking. Epstein partnered with Jean-Luc Brunel, head of MC2 modeling agency and a major sex trafficker, who, in turn, had worked with Peter Listerman, the celebrated p…

---

About the author

Craig Unger

Craig Unger is an American journalist and writer. His most recent book is The Fall of the House of Bush, about the internal feud in the Bush family and the rise and collusion of the neoconservative and Christian right in Republican party politics, viewing each group’s weltanschauung and efforts concerning present and potential future US policy through a distinctly negative prism. His previous work, House of Bush, House of Saud explored the relationship between the Bush family and the House of Saud. Craig Unger’s work is featured in Michael Moore’s film Fahrenheit 9/11. Unger has served as deputy editor of the New York Observer and was editor-in-chief of Boston Magazine. He has written about George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush for The New Yorker, Esquire Magazine and Vanity Fair.

(Goodreads.com)

By Adrienne Fong

THANK YOU! To everyone who made calls to their senators regarding DHS funding. Will work on an update this weekend

Not back posting on a regular basis.

RESOURCES:

 UPDATES WITH BAY RESISTANCE and get plugged to actions you can support, text “Resist” to 888-850-0928

GI HOTLINE (877) 477-4497

  – Share this number to people who know active duty service members

There are events listed on Indybay that might be of interest to you(many listings in the South, North & East Bays and beyond the bay area)

Please post your actions on Indybay: https://www.indybay.org/calendar/?page_id=12

See list of Calendar of Events on Palestine from AROC: https://www.araborganizing.org/events/ 

   If your post is about Palestine you can also list your action on the AROC calendar

Bay Area Progressive Action Calendar: ATW Bay Area / NorCal — Action Together West

ARTICLES

A. Pro-ICE billboard removed from Fisherman’s Wharf in S.F., officials say – February 5, 2026

Pro-ICE billboard removed from Fisherman’s Wharf in SF

  See article E

B. Several Killed, 700+ Displaced, 100,000 Without Water in West Bank – February 5, 2026

Several Killed, 700+ Displaced, 100,000 Without Water in West Bank 

C. Activists announce new, bigger aid flotilla to set sail for Gaza in March – February 5, 2026

Activists announce new, bigger aid flotilla to set sail for Gaza in March | Gaza News | Al Jazeera

D. Port workers plan international strike against war on February 6 – February 4, 2026

https://www.portseurope.com/port-workers-plan-international-strike-against-war-on-february-6/

     See Article L 

E. Pro-ICE billboard appears in San Francisco ahead of Super Bowl – February 4, 2026

Pro-ICE billboard appears in San Francisco ahead of Super Bowl

F. To Defeat US-Led Global Fascism, We Must Fight On Many Fronts

To Defeat US-Led Global Fascism, We Must Fight On Many Fronts – PopularResistance.Org

G. House passes budget package, ending brief shutdown and teeing up DHS funding fight – February 3, 2026

https://www.courthousenews.com/house-passes-budget-package-ending-brief-shutdown-and-teeing-up-dhs-funding-fight/

H. Federal Agents Left Behind “Death Cards” After Capturing Immigrants  – February 3, 2026

Federal Agents Left Behind “Death Cards” After Capturing Immigrants

I. Protest at 100 Montgomery St. Demands TPS Protection for Haitians – February 3, 2026

Protest at 100 Montgomery St. Demands TPS Protection for Haitians : Indybay

J. Kevin Cooper, 68, Still Fighting for a New Trial after 42 Years on Death Row  February 1, 2026

Kevin Cooper, 68, Still Fighting for a New Trial after 42 Years on Death Row – Davis Vanguard

K. Two CBP Agents Identified in Alex Pretti Shooting – February 1, 2026

CBP Agents Jesus Ochoa, Raymundo Gutierrez ID’d in Alex Pretti Shooting — ProPublica

L. Dockworkers in Mediterranean ports announce coordinated action against war – January30, 2026

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2026/01/30/dockworkers-in-mediterranean-ports-announce-coordinated-action-against-war/

M. Wall of Tears: 50ft Brooklyn mural pays tribute to children killed in Gaza – January 30, 2026

Wall of Tears: 50ft Brooklyn mural pays tribute to children killed in Gaza | Art | The Guardian

N. Ex-CIA Chief David Petraeus Briefs Officials in Israel Overseeing “New Gaza” – January 30, 2026

Ex-CIA Chief David Petraeus Briefs Officials in Israel Overseeing “New Gaza”

O. Mapping Police Violence: 2025 Deadliest Year for Police Killings Since 2013 – January 29

Mapping Police Violence: 2025 Deadliest Year for Police Killings Since 2013 – Davis Vanguard

P. SFUSD’s proposed cuts will hit small, low-income schools the hardest – January 29, 2026

SFUSD’s proposed cuts will hit low-income schools the hardest.

3 PETITIONS

1. Hold Corporations Accountable for ICE Violence

  SIGN: Take Action!

Behind this violence stands a network of powerful corporations. Americans for Tax Fairness has uncovered how Amazon, AT&T, Home Depot, Microsoft, and Palantir are profiting from ICE enforcement while enjoying massive

taxbreaks.

2. Hold Chevron Accountable

  SIGN: Hold Chevron Accountable! | Amazon Watch

3. Release the Epstein files and protect survivors!

  SIGN: Release the Epstein files and protect survivors! | Demand Progress

Petitions of February Executions (click on the name to sign)

February 10, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET:
Ronald Heath in Florida

February 12, 2026 at 10:00 am CT:
Kendrick Simpson in Oklahoma

February 24, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET:
Melvin Trotter in Florida

EVENTS / ACTIONS

Friday, February 6 – Wednesday, February 11

Friday, February 6

1. Friday, 10:30am – 12:30pm, Israeli Consulate: Stop Zionist Violence, Stop the Hate!

Israeli Consulate
456 Montgomery St.
SF

Help us break the silence. We will not rest until Palestine is FREE!

‼ israeli consulate NOT welcome in the Bay Area ‼

Come and join Noisemakers Against Genocide (NAG) and autonomous activists in letting the israeli consulate know that they are NOT welcome in SF Bay Area!
Bring noisemakers, drums, banners, whistles, horns and flags  to make a proper ruckus!
No business as usual for mass murderers. ☠
‼ Let’s keep showing up for a Free Palestine! 

Host: Noise Against Genocide

Info: Israeli Consulate: Stop Zionist Violence, Stop the Hate! : Indybay

2. Friday, 7:00pm – 9:00pm, Exploitation: What It Is & How To Put An End To It

Revolution Books – Berkeley
2444 Durant Ave
Berkeley

Exploitation: What It Is & How To Put An End To It`
Video presentation and discussion

You don’t like capitalism. But do you really know what it is?

Why is slave-like child labor in cobalt mines in Africa required under this system for producing the phone in your pocket?

Is greed what drives the economy? Or is it a “system of wage slavery” as Marx wrote? And what difference does it make if you understand it one way or another?

Is the answer “redistribute the wealth” inside the U.S. as some who call themselves socialists demand? Or is the great wealth in the U.S. produced by an international network of global exploitation? And is uprooting and dismantling that network crucial for human emancipation?

If you hunger for a world without exploitation, poverty, oppression, and the destruction of the environment, then come and watch the video “Exploitation, what it is and how to put an end to it” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LORaqNk3g8) based on a talk by Bob Avakian. And be part of the discussion.

Info: Exploitation: What It Is & How To Put An End To It : Indybay

Saturday, February 7 

3. Saturday, 12Noon, Bay Area Women in Black Monthly Silent Vigil

In front of the Grand Lake Theater,
 3200 Grand Ave.,
 Oakland CA 

Come and stand with Bay Area Women in Black each first Saturday at noon in front of Oakland’s Grand Lake Theater to demand an end to the US support of the ongoing genocide of the people of Palestine. Despite the so-called “cease fire” engineered by US president Trump in collusion with Israeli president Netanyahu, the deadly campaign of starvation, destruction, land usurpation and murder continues unabated. We choose to stand in silence in public spaces, dressed in black, our constitutional right. We do not respond to hecklers, but do silently acknowledge positive responses from the public. We provide signs and banners but encourage you to bring your own, in keeping with our focus. Feel free to bring a stool or chair if you are not able to stand for one hour.

Info: Bay Area Women in Black Monthly Silent Vigil : Indybay

4. Saturday, 12Noon – 2:00pm, Trump Regime Takedown (every Saturday)

Corner of Van Ness & O’Varrell
SF

We do not consent to Trump and his billionaire allies taking a chainsaw to our government and our economy for their benefit! San Francisco is a sanctuary city and We the People need to defend the values that make it so. Let’s stand united and oppose the endless assaults on our communities, our civil rights, the rule of law, and our democracy.

Keep democracy alive every Saturday by showing up, taking a stand, and sticking together for the long haul. Standing together is better than standing alone. Let’s get together and call out the Trump/MAGA regime as a community.

Host: Indivisilbe

Info: Trump Regime Takedown (every Saturday) : Indybay

5. Saturday, 3:00pm, From Venezuela & Cuba to Minneapolis: Standing Up to Stop U.S. Terror

Veterans Building, Room 210
401 Van Ness Ave
SF 

Join us in discussion to demand an end to US terror everywhere. From Venezuela to Minneapolis, we will stop this US terror!

We are in a critical moment as the Trump government wages war on Venezuela, Cuba, and on immigrants and all working class people in the U.S. We will hear important updates from people on the frontline of struggle, including Minneapolis, and the need to unite all progressive forces to fight back and win.

Join us to discuss with speakers such as Gerry Condon (Executive Board member of Veterans for Peace), Gloria La Riva (ANSWER member who just returned from Cuba with delegation of youth who delivered vital cancer medication), and Omar Khoury (Palestinian Youth Movement).

From Venezuela to Minneapolis, we will stop this US terror!

Info from ANSWER/PSL

Sunday, February 8

6. Sunday, 12Noon (PT); 3:00pm(ET), Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah: Dreaming of Freedom & Future

Registration: Meeting Registration – Zoom

Virtual event moderated by Yazan Alnahhas

Palestine Conversation Series: Dreaming of Freedom & Future

Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah is a renowned plastic and reconstructive surgeon specializing in conflict-related injuries and craniofacial reconstruction.

As a prominent advocate for Palestinian health, he has provided crucial first hand medical testimony from the genocide in Gaza

Info: unnamed (30).jpg (1194×1190)

7. Sunday, 3:00pm, ICE Out of Super Bowl Protest

Meet at:

2800 Mission College Blvd,
 Santa Clara 

ICE has threatened our San José community by holding operations at the Levi Stadium the week of the Superbowl, CSO San José demands ICE OUT OF THE SUPERBOWL AND END THE DEPORTATIONS!

Kristi Noem wants to intimidate our community and continue the series of attacks against immigrants Chicanos, Centroaméricanos and Mexicanos, we will show DHS we are ready to Stand Up and Fight back against these racist attacks!

Host: Community Service Organization – San Jose

Info: ICE Out of Super Bowl Protest : Indybay

Monday, February 9

8. Monday 12Noon – 1:00pm, ZUCK-OFF for PRETTI ICE OUT for Good! A Public Performance Art Show ZUCK-OFF for PRETTI IC

SFGH
Between Building 25 and Building 5
1001 Potrero Avenue
San Francisco, California

Info: ZUCK-OFF for PRETTI ICE OUT for Good! A Public Performance Art Show ZUCK-OFF for PRETTI IC : Indybay

Wednesday, February 11

9. Wednesday, 6:30pm – 8:00pm, Fighting Modern McCarthyism: Lessons from Yesterday

In person:

New Valencia Hall
747 Polk St.
SF 

For online participation, register at: https://bit.ly/FightMcCarthyismm

Donation $3-5/session

Five-Week Public Study Group:

Fighting Modern McCarthyism: Lessons from Yesterday
McCarthyism never died — it evolved. Today a familiar playbook comes roaring back. A new wave of suppression by the Trump regime adds terrorist-baiting and demands loyalty to every tenet of white supremacy, patriarchy, xenophobia, and transphobia. In this discussion group, we will study the history of resistance to McCarthyism to arm ourselves with strategies for today. Together we will answer: How do we go on the offense against government attacks to our rights and our lives?

Host: Freedom Socialist Party

Info: Fighting Modern McCarthyism: Lessons from Yesterday : Indybay

By Yunior Rivas

February 5, 2026 (democracydocket.com)

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt gives remarks during a press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington DC, on Thursday, February 6, 2026. Credit: Aaron Schwartz/CNP Photo by: Aaron Schwartz/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

The White House Thursday refused to rule out the presence of immigration enforcement at voting locations this November, a response that follows extremist rhetoric about placing federal forces at the polls. 

Asked directly about far-right activist Steve Bannon’s claim that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would “surround the polls,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the question while conceding the Trump administration could not promise such a thing would not happen.

“That’s not something I’ve ever heard the president consider,” Leavitt said. “I can’t guarantee that an ICE agent won’t be around a polling location in November.”

Leavitt went on to characterize the question as unreasonable even as she declined to draw a bright line protecting polling places from federal law enforcement.

“That’s frankly a very silly hypothetical question,” she said. “But what I can tell you is I haven’t heard the president discuss any formal plans to put ICE outside of polling locations. It’s a disingenuous question.”

For decades, federal and state law has treated polling places as sensitive spaces where intimidation — whether explicit or implied — is prohibited because it undermines the right to vote freely. The federal government has historically recognized polling places as off-limits for immigration enforcement precisely to avoid deterring lawful voters. 

Leavitt’s comments also come against the backdrop of increasingly explicit calls from Trump-aligned figures to use the machinery of the federal government to police elections. 

Earlier this week, Bannon said on his War Room podcast that immigration agents should be deployed at polling places in November, echoing long-debunked conspiracy theories that undocumented immigrants are voting in U.S. elections. 

There is no evidence to support those claims.

While Leavitt insisted she was unaware of “formal plans” to put ICE near voting locations, her refusal to categorically reject the idea outright marked a dangerous openness to intimidate lawful voters using federal force.