Society's ChildS


Bad Guys

UK: Mayor Sadiq Khan faces backlash after BBC investigation exposes scope of grooming gangs operating in London

Thomas Brooke
ReMix News
Thu, 19 Feb 2026 20:32 UTC
child exploitation domestic violence
© In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images
The London mayor previously said there was "no indication" of the type of grooming gangs seen in northern towns, but a BBC probe has uncovered widespread exploitation in the capital

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is facing renewed criticism after a major BBC investigation found that vulnerable girls as young as 14 are being lured into forced sex by gangs operating across the capital.

The investigation, based on weeks of reporting and interviews with dozens of people, including five survivors of gang-based violence, concluded that exploitation by organised groups is rife in parts of London.

Some victims told the BBC they were raped by multiple men as "payment" for unpaid drug debts run up by gangs that controlled them. Others said they had been groomed solely for sex. The investigation also found that girls were often drawn into criminal activity such as drug dealing, weapons trading, and phone theft before being sexually exploited.

One Metropolitan Police officer described young girls and women as the "lowest rung" within gang hierarchies, saying they were groomed and exploited "for everything."

Comment: Further reading:

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Attention

How relaxed COVID-era rules fueled Minnesota's biggest scam

Kristin Robbins
RealClear Wire
Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00 UTC
Minnesota emblem
In my testimony before the Senate last week as chair of the Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and Oversight Committee, I outlined the genesis of Minnesota's massive fraud scandal, how it expanded under relaxed COVID-era rules, and what steps the federal government can take to help stop the theft of federal tax dollars throughout the country.

Minnesota's fraud crisis didn't happen overnight; it took years. But it exploded when COVID hit, right when oversight was thrown out the window.

How did Minnesota get so bad? In March 2020, Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar authored a bill called the MEALS Act, which eventually became part of a larger COVID relief package. That law allowed states to waive the normal eligibility requirements for the National School Lunch Program. It eliminated income requirements and site inspections and expanded distribution methods. This opened the door for Feeding Our Future, which became the largest COVID fraud scandal in state and national history, stealing at least $250 million from taxpayers. To date, there have been 78 indictments and 61 convictions, with more cases headed to trial this spring.
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X

Whole Foods scraps biometric payments after fury from customers

Eliot Force
Daily Mail
Sun, 15 Feb 2026 14:23 UTC
Whole Foods market
© Stefanno Giovannini for Daily MailThe Daily Mail visited this Whole Foods location in New York City's Union Square to ask customers if they have ever used their palm to pay
Every Whole Foods in the US is ripping out its biometric payment method that allows people to pay with their palms after it was shunned by customers.

By June 3, the more than 500 Whole Foods grocery stores across the country, all of which are owned by Amazon, will remove palm scanners from their checkout lines.

The payment method, dubbed Amazon One biometric authentication services, allowed customers to link their Amazon accounts to their palm print. They could then use their hands to pay for groceries or access other services offered by the company.
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Star of David

Journalist Tucker Carlson 'DETAINED' at Israeli airport

Phillip Nieto
The Daily Mail
Wed, 18 Feb 2026 21:20 UTC
tucker carlson Mike huckabee
Journalist Tucker Carlson and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee
Journalist 'dragged into interrogation room' as explosive interview sparks diplomatic firestorm

Conservative podcasting titan Tucker Carlson said he and his staff were detained in Israel on Wednesday following an interview with Donald Trump's ambassador to the country.

The former Fox News host flew into Tel Aviv for a sit-down with Mike Huckabee, who challenged Carlson to speak to him directly following an online spat about the country's treatment of Christians.

Carlson, who also frequently criticizes Israel for its military actions in Gaza, took Huckabee up on his offer.

But as critics and pro-Israel activists began piling on Carlson for purportedly not leaving the airport during his brief visit, he revealed that he was met with hostility in the Middle Eastern country.

Comment: The Jerusalem Post reports that Carlson was forced to conduct his interview with Huckabee at the airport. He actually wasn't allowed to leave the facility. Why are Bibi and his minions so afraid of a part-time journalist?

Tucker discusses the incident in this interview with Palestinian Christian Farahs Abraham.

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Megaphone

UN panel says Epstein abuses may constitute 'crimes against humanity'


Al-Jazeera
Wed, 18 Feb 2026 21:25 UTC
epstein
© Jon Elswick/AP Photo
A group of United Nations experts have suggested that abuses carried out by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein could meet the definition of crimes against humanity.

On Tuesday, the independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) released a statement in response to the millions of files released by the United States government related to criminal investigations into Epstein.

They explained that the records tell a story of dehumanisation, racism and corruption.

"So grave is the scale, nature, systematic character, and transnational reach of these atrocities against women and girls, that a number of them may reasonably meet the legal threshold of crimes against humanity," the experts wrote.
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Handcuffs

Former Prince Andrew arrested on his birthday over Epstein allegations

Chris Bradford
NY Post
Thu, 19 Feb 2026 21:19 UTC
Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre
© DOJFormer Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell in an undated photo.
Disgraced ex-Prince Andrew was arrested Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office for allegedly forwarding confidential trade documents to pedophile pal Jeffrey Epstein.

At least six unmarked police cars and around eight plainclothes officers swooped onto the king's brother's Sandringham Estate in eastern England early Thursday — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's 66th birthday.

Andrew — who is still eighth in line for the throne — faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

One officer was seen carrying a police-issued laptop after arriving at Sandringham around 8 a.m., with the cars leaving around 30 minutes later.
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Fire

Winter storm Fern proved coal is still the power grid's reliable backbone

Emily Arthun
RealClearEnergy
Thu, 19 Feb 2026 20:56 UTC
blizzard
When Winter Storm Fern swept across much of the United States in mid-January 2026 — bringing snow, ice, and sustained sub-zero temperatures from Texas to New England — millions of Americans braced for power outages. In some areas, those fears were realized. Tennessee alone reported more than 245,000 customer outages at peak conditions. At the same time, natural gas prices spiked dramatically, exceeding $30 per MMBtu at certain constrained delivery points within the PJM Interconnection.

Yet despite the severity and duration of the storm, the national electric grid largely held. Hospitals remained open. Emergency services stayed online. Most homes stayed warm. That outcome was not accidental. It was the result of dependable, dispatchable generation — chief among it, coal.

During the coldest days of the storm, coal-fired generation across the Lower 48 surged, rising from roughly 70 gigawatt-hours per day to approximately 130. That additional generation represented a massive increase in available power at precisely the moment when electric heating demand spiked and system margins tightened. In practical terms, coal generation helped keep power flowing to tens of millions of households nationwide, sustaining heat and essential services during the most extreme conditions of Winter Storm Fern.
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Attention

Why firing 9% of the federal workforce didn't move the needle

James Hickman
Schiff Sovereign
Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:00 UTC
Chopping tree limb
© ChatGPT ImageThe Chop
In January 2025, the federal government employed about 3 million people. By November, that number had fallen by roughly 270,000 workers — a reduction of about 9%.

According to the Cato Institute, that was the largest peacetime federal workforce reduction EVER.

More than 150,000 employees took the "Fork in the Road" buyout offer to resign or retire. Tens of thousands more were laid off outright. Entire offices were emptied. Agencies that had been growing for decades shrank to staffing levels not seen since 2014.

And yet, despite historic federal layoffs, government spending went UP last year.

The federal government spent $7 trillion in Fiscal Year 2025 — roughly $300 billion more than the year before. Bear in mind, 2025 was the year that DOGE was supposed to take a chainsaw to the budget and cut spending.

This is not a failure of DOGE. It's a revelation about the actual problem.
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Clipboard

German state blacklists right-wing party for first time


RT
Wed, 18 Feb 2026 16:00 UTC
AfD and people
© Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance/Getty ImagesDelegates and visitors arrive at an AfD Lower Saxony party conference.
Designating the Lower Saxony AfD chapter as a surveillance priority is politically motivated, the party has said.

Authorities in the German state of Lower Saxony have designated the local chapter of the right-wing AfD party a surveillance priority, citing what they called "extremist" tendencies.

Founded in 2013, Alternative for Germany (AfD) espouses a tough stance on migration and opposes Berlin's support for Ukraine. In the federal elections last February, the AfD came in second at 20%, winning 152 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag. However, the party has been excluded from coalition talks and government formation as part of a policy known as the 'firewall' in German politics.

The AfD's popularity has since grown further regardless, with recent polls indicating that it is supported by around 25% of Germans, on par with Chancellor Friedrich Merz's ruling CDU/CSU.

Speaking during a press conference on Tuesday, Lower Saxony Interior Minister Daniela Behrens cited the "unequivocal" conclusion by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), according to which, "the greatest danger to our society stems from right-wing extremism, and the AfD in Lower Saxony... clearly falls within this category."
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Bomb

Masked armed robbers blow up cash transporter on motorway

Sandy Schmit
RTL
Thu, 19 Feb 2026 18:13 UTC
italian motorway robbers
© Social mediaThe Italian robbers blew up the cash transport van on a road in the Puglia region
A dramatic attempted robbery took place on a motorway in Italy on Monday morning, when an armoured cash transporter was attacked by a group of heavily armed robbers.

Mobile phone footage captured chaotic scenes shortly before 8am on the road between Lecce and Brindisi, where an armoured cash transporter was ambushed by six to eight masked robbers. A gunfight ensued as the local Carabinieri engaged the suspects.
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