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Congress must enact Trump’s tariffs now to steer the U.S. away from a massive revenue cliff
Tariffs need to become law or the federal budget will take a hit. Lawmakers have less than 150 days to decide.
Why Honeywell just shaved about $600 million off the price of a chemicals acquisition
Honeywell International on Monday received a 26% discount on its deal to acquire a business tied to the struggling chemicals industry.
Backlash Over Disney’s ‘Captain Durag’ Subsides Once Creator Revealed As Black
Backlash Over Disney’s ‘Captain Durag’ Subsides Once Creator Revealed As Black
Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,
Disney’s latest cartoon misfire, “Captain Durag,” sparked a firestorm of criticism for allegedly stereotyping black culture—until the black creator stepped forward, promptly defusing the leftist mob’s fury.
The character, a black superhero battling “grime” in Slime City with a durag as his cape and mask, debuted amid Black History Month on Disney Jr.’s “Hey AJ!” and was quickly branded an “abomination” online.
Social media erupted with complaints like one X user’s post: “They made a ‘Captain Durag’ in 2026 what the f–ck Disney.” Another called it “wildly tone deaf.”
The concept of Captain Durag is wildly tone deaf. A black superhero with a durag as both his cape and mask, with a literal snow bunny as his sidekick, that is more of a garbage man than a superhero… pic.twitter.com/Dk1SSH1nC3
— Black Culture Is Pop Culture (@BCisPC) February 18, 2026
The backlash intensified from within the black community, prompting Disney to yank several clips from YouTube without an official statement.
Captain Durag is low-key diabolical on black history month https://t.co/TcJ2cUgKhm
— I know u are but what am i? (@Only1ThxtHobbit) February 17, 2026
But then creator Camille Corbett, a 28-year-old Jamaican-American artist and comedian, defended her work on X, stating “I created the character Durag Man, now known as Captain Durag on the Disney Show, Hey AJ and I’m just finding out people are finding it problematic? I just wanted our culture to have a superhero of its own!”
I created the character Durag Man, now known as Captain Durag on the Disney Show, Hey AJ and I’m just finding out people are finding it problematic? I just wanted our culture to have a superhero of its own! pic.twitter.com/0Klh7soTPG
— Camille Corbett (@TheWittyGirl) February 16, 2026
Corbett told The New York Post that “as a scholar,” she’d “never speak on anything I’ve never experienced,” urging viewers to actually watch the show.
“Hey AJ!” creator Martellus Bennett echoed her on Instagram: “If that offends you, maybe the problem isn’t the durag. Maybe the problem is that you’ve never seen black imagination treated as sacred, heroic and worthy of a cape.”
Bennett described the character as a reflection of black life, pushing back against detractors who saw it as reducing black identity to caricature.
Once Corbett’s identity surfaced, the outrage mostly evaporated—exposing the hypocrisy of critics who slam “stereotypes” until ownership aligns with their identity politics playbook.
We didn’t know if this came from one of us or one of them. Can’t be too cautious
— Balliver Shagnasty (@BeautyfullZo) February 16, 2026
One of them? Who is them?
Also, if you can’t tell the difference between ‘heroic’ characteristics and a stereotype, it might be time to examine why that stereotype exists.
it was either a super black idea or a VERY bad stereotype and the internet couldn’t determine which cause it was too close on the line ?
— kenny (@relientkenny) February 17, 2026
and i couldn’t be happier someone black was behind this ???
— kenny (@relientkenny) February 17, 2026
I think it’s funny. I like this show.
And some of y’all need to get over your fucking selves.
Everything does not require a “we shall overcome” moment. Every Black character is not obligated to carry the weight of history on their back. Sometimes it’s just a joke. Sometimes…
— AceVane (@AcEvAne) February 17, 2026
Some were still intent on being offended.
Why isnt a durag positive?
— Savvy ( ?ˆ?ˆ? ) (@MadamSavvy) February 17, 2026
Ok you’re Jamaican. Please don’t ever try to do a character about black America again. It’s not your culture & you don’t understand us. Please do a Jamaican caricature
— Ms.OriginalBlackAmerican ?? (@OriginalBLKAmer) February 17, 2026
“We” you French and not Spanish today? You created a super hero and named him “duragman “ thus gas to be a God damn joke . You’re not FBA but you wish to use the worst of our culture. I feel like you Are you mocking us? Why don’t you create a character named “Flee Man” a super…
— Queen (@veraJameswalker) February 17, 2026
Looking through the comments, most of the people who praise this nonsense are non black people. That’s a major problem. It’s also not surprising coming from someone who isn’t a Foundational Black American. We unapologetically reject this trash representation of us.
— Lamar ???? FBA B1 (@HTownFBA) February 17, 2026
Let’s face it, there are far worse things to criticise Disney for.
For starters, the company recently abandoned a transgender storyline in a new Pixar show, backing off after internal pushback exposed their agenda to inject gender ideology into kids’ content.
Elon Musk has directly accused Disney CEO Bob Iger of endorsing child sex material, amplifying concerns over the company’s tolerance for predatory themes.
A few years back, Disney announced a new original series for called Pauline in which an 18 year old girl gets impregnated on a one-night stand then catches feelings for the individual responsible, with that individual being SATAN.
Leave it to Disney to call the birth of the Anti-Christ a ‘coming of age’ movie.”
Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/23/2026 – 08:25
Canada coach Jon Cooper blasts ‘TV-driven’ rules for heartbreaking Olympics loss to US
Unlike the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the overtime period is five-on-five, the Olympics use a three-on-three format.
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Trump Admin Sending ‘Strike Team’ to California to Root Out State’s Insurance Program Fraud
A federal “strike team” is descending upon California amid fears that California’s Unemployment Insurance program is mired in a swamp of fraud and improper payments.
“Financial issues and potential fraud in California’s unemployment insurance program will be fully examined. The previous administration turned a blind eye toward failing Labor programs: This ends now,” Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a Labor Department news release.
“Immediately, we are engaging a specialized strike team to uncover any potential fraud or abuse and quickly moving to protect the American worker and taxpayer,” she said.
“I look forward to restoring the California UI program’s integrity and financial health,” she said.
California’s Employment Development Department has been cited by the Labor Department for poor performance.
Further, California also has dipped into the UI trust fund, which holds state-collected payroll taxes to pay the state portion of unemployment benefits.
California has borrowed $21 billion from the federal government to keep its system afloat, which is triggering increased UI taxes for state workers.
The California state auditor ruled that the agency overseeing UI payments was a high-risk agency.
A recent audit report said that “EDD’s fraud prevention approach during the
pandemic was marked by significant missteps and inaction that led to billions of dollars in unemployment benefit payments that EDD later determined may have been fraudulent.”
“Further, we also reported that EDD has been unable to accurately quantify its inappropriate UI payments,” the report said.
“EDD is a high-risk agency because of its mismanagement of the UI program,” the audit said.
“Specifically, EDD is unable to reliably estimate improper payments under the UI program, thus adversely affecting the State’s financial statements as well as impairing efforts to independently evaluate the efficacy of EDD’s own fraud prevention activities,” the auditor wrote.
The report said “Substantial Fraud Risk Exists in EDD’s UI Program.”
“For example, the program did not block addresses used to file unusually high numbers of claims, and it removed a safeguard preventing payment to individuals who had unconfirmed identities,” the report said.
As a result, the report said, the department “allowed the payments of potentially fraudulent claims, estimated at tens of billions of dollars, most of which have yet to be recovered.”
California received about $290 billion in COVID relief, according to Fox News.
Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said nationally, he nearly $1 billion in taxpayer funds is “at risk” nationwide due to COVID-related UI fraud, noting that prepaid debit cards issued to be used for pandemic-era UI benefits had $720 million unspent on them.
“My office has warned that, absent swift action, U.S. taxpayers risk losing nearly a billion dollars in fraudulently obtained benefits,” D’Esposito said in a statement. “This is taxpayer money — and it demands immediate attention.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post Trump Admin Sending ‘Strike Team’ to California to Root Out State’s Insurance Program Fraud appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Trump says Supreme Court ruling against birthright citizenship order would benefit China
President Donald Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court for striking most of his tariff agenda this week, going on to warn that a similar ruling against his birthright citizenship order would be a benefit to China.Trump made the statement in a post to his Truth Social account on Monday, clarifying that he was not frustrated with the “Great Three,” or the justices who sided with his administration in the tariff ruling. The Supreme Court is set to consider Trump’s executive order banning birthright citizenship in the coming months.”The supreme court (will be using lower case letters for a while based on a complete lack of respect!) of the United States accidentally and unwittingly gave me, as President of the United States, far more powers and strength than I had prior to their ridiculous, dumb, and very internationally divisive ruling,” Trump wrote.”Our incompetent supreme court did a great job for the wrong people, and for that they should be ashamed of themselves (but not the Great Three!). The next thing you know they will rule in favor of China and others, who are making an absolute fortune on Birthright Citizenship, by saying the 14th Amendment was NOT written to take care of the ‘babies of slaves,’ which it was as proven by the EXACT TIMING of its construction, filing, and ratification, which perfectly coincided with the END OF THE CIVIL WAR,” Trump continued.TRUMP REVEALS HIS ‘NEW HERO’ SUPREME COURT JUSTICE AFTER TARIFFS RULING”How much better can you do than that? But this supreme court will find a way to come to the wrong conclusion, one that again will make China, and various other Nations, happy and rich. Let our supreme court keep making decisions that are so bad and deleterious to the future of our Nation – I have a job to do,” he added.Trump signed his birthright citizenship order on his first day back in office last year. The order seeks to end birthright citizenship for nearly all persons born in the U.S. to undocumented parents, or parents with lawful temporary status in the country — a seismic shift that critics note would break with some 150 years of legal precedent. Trump’s order would reinterpret the 14th Amendment, which states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside” — a provision that administration officials argue has been misinterpreted.TRUMP’S TARIFF REVENUES HIT RECORD HIGHS AS SUPREME COURT DEALS MAJOR BLOWThe language put forth by the Trump administration seeks to clarify that individuals born to illegal immigrant parents, or those who were here legally but on temporary non-immigrant visas, are not citizens by birthright.A Supreme Court ruling on the issue could have sweeping national implications for an issue Trump officials argue is a crucial component of his hard-line immigration agenda, which has become a defining feature of his second White House term.Meanwhile, opponents argue that the effort is an unconstitutional and “unprecedented” effort that would threaten some 150,000 children in the U.S. born annually to parents of non-citizens, and an estimated 4.4 million American-born children under 18 who are living with an illegal immigrant parent, according to data from the Pew Research Center.Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
No, Mr. President, the Supreme Court Was Not ‘Swayed by Foreign Interests’
Throwing a tantrum won’t trump the Constitution — make the case to Congress.
A blasphemy-light bill arrives in Virginia — and the ACLU clams up
Zohran Mamdani has wasted no time turning religious language into shocking political branding. This month, he invoked Muhammad while defending Democrats’ mass-migration posture. He also became the first New York City mayor to skip the installation of a Catholic archbishop.Public officials can practice any faith. They can speak openly about it. The line gets crossed when government starts treating one religion as a protected political category — especially through the criminal code.To overthrow liberal democracy, the far left needs Islam’s numbers, while Islam needs the far left’s organization.That line is about to be obliterated in Virginia.A Bangladesh-born Democrat state senator, Saddam Azlan Salim, introduced SB624, a bill aimed at writing a formal definition of “Islamophobia” into Virginia’s assault and battery laws. The bill would single out Islam for special treatment. No other religion would receive the same statutory carve-out.The bill defines Islamophobia as “malicious prejudice or hatred directed toward Islam or Muslims.” The definition applies “regardless of whether the victim is actually a practitioner of Islam, provided that the perpetrator targeted such victim based on a perceived adherence to such faith.”Is it Islamophobic to walk a dog or eat bacon or spread the gospel in the presence of a devout Muslim? If not, why not? And do we really want to test it?People use Islamophobia as a cudgel to silence legitimate criticism of doctrine, immigration policy, and jihadism at home and abroad. A vague, politically loaded term does not belong in criminal law. It invites selective enforcement. It chills speech. It hands politicians a ready-made pretext to jail dissenters.Call it what it is: one more step toward a blasphemy-style speech regime, enforced by the state.In a world in which leftists — and even some conservatives — believe “hate speech isn’t free speech,” Salim’s bill should set off alarm bells for any civil liberties group that claims to defend the freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion.And yet the American Civil Liberties Union has remained resolutely silent.The ACLU’s “Religious Liberty” page claims it exists “to safeguard the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty by ensuring that laws and governmental practices neither promote religion nor interfere with its free exercise.”Given that Islam commands the erasure any kind of secular and sectarian division, you’d think the ACLU’s rabid dogs would be on guard against its encroachment.Instead, the ACLU maintains a page dedicated to opposing “anti-Muslim discrimination,” while boasting of its opposition to a Jewish charter school in Oklahoma.RELATED: Free speech in Britain is worse than you think Photo by Lab Ky Mo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesThe “red-green alliance” between domestic communists and Muslim invaders is the greatest threat currently facing Western countries today.In a talk at Oxford University’s Student Union, Peter Thiel laid out the stark choice between the West continuing to flounder under the illusion that clean energy policies would drive global prosperity and the Islamic worldview, which prioritizes domination.To overthrow liberal democracy, the far left needs Islam’s numbers, while Islam needs the far left’s organization. They have a common enemy — conservatives defending the countries their ancestors built for them — but without that enemy, these groups should actually despise each other.The same day Mamdani invoked the name of the warlord Muhammad in the cause of open borders, the ACLU’s Instagram page shared a post about how hard it is to be “a queer teen in Idaho!” (Strangely enough, no mention about how hard it is to be a queer teen in any of the more than 50 countries that have been enslaved by Islam.)This year we will mark the 10th anniversary of the Pulse Night Club shooting, when Omar Mateen — a Muslim Democrat — murdered 49 gay people and wounded 50 more. But in the ACLU’s response, the organization refused to mention Mateen’s name and indeed warned that his massacre of sexual minorities fit a “more politically convenient narrative fed by anti-Muslim fear and hate.”What a reassuring thing to say to all the affected families in Orlando!The ACLU is not an organization that subscribes to any kind of moral code. At best, it is a drive-by lawsuit factory. At worst, it is a legal arm of terrorists that openly welcomes foreign donations, which undermines American sovereignty. All the ACLU cares about is power — which, come to think of it, is something the group truly has in common with jihadists.