Data from a large-scale store credit program show that over 40 percent of prepaid balances go unused by consumers, generating substantial breakage profits for firms, from Yixuan Liu, Hua Zhang, and Eric Zou www.nber.org/papers/w34918

UK chancellor Rachel Reeves has warned petrol, diesel and heating oil retailers not to take advantage of the surge in oil prices. "Let me be absolutely clear. I will not tolerate any company exploiting the current crisis to make excess profits at consumers’ expense." LOL

Hi all, former "Troop" here. If you support "Da Troops" you don't send them into a pointless, illegal war for the sake of a sick man's ego/need to distract from his pedophilia.

There's outrage over the jingoistic videos the Trump administration is sharing. The fact of the matter is the United States does this every time in invades another country. Witness Gulf War 1. We're the bad guys. We're always the bad guys. wapo.st/3NpehYM

Another #1 we didn't want #arpx

It turns out the U.S. did a “double tap” attack just as emergency responders were arriving at the girls’ elementary school. This is what the Russians do routinely in Ukraine. That’s a war crime under international humanitarian law.

This is not the best part of the firing, but it’s in the Top 10.

20-some years ago I stopped reading the Wall Street journal because I didn't want to support a paper with such abhorrent views. I switched to the economist, a decision I do not regret. Now the Washington Post has a similarly biased op-ed section, and I will be moving on.

Fun times!

I never believe predictions that suggest something I want will happen when it comes to politics, but this does feel like a real possibility. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Does Israel have a more coherent foreign policy than simply making everyone around them suffer forever? Do they honestly believe that eventually if they make people suffer enough they will, what? Suddenly stop hating Israel? Or is all of it just a failure of internal Israeli politics to eject Bibi?

For those of you who still think Israel is the good guy www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

An ICE detainee in Arizona has died of a TOOTH INFECTION after it went untreated for weeks, a local official says. He was a Haitian asylum seeker imprisoned in Florence, Arizona. @emilybregel.bsky.social reports. tucson.com/news/local/b...

And if we weren't before, we will be soon!

I honestly have very few people I'm more disappointed in than this person right here, Shabana Mahmood. She literally uses the phrase 'take back control' in this op-ed. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“Trump is…taking a little bit of a break from invading certain parts of the mainland United States so he can focus for a while on bombing and going to war with Iran.” MAGA: Hey, what about our war with Minnesota and people of color?

Hey everybody, my friend Rus is running for congress here in Arkansas' 4th district. He won his primary last night and could really use your help refilling the coffers to defeat his Republican opponent in the fall. Can you help goodchange.app/version-live...

Many of you won't remember the pushback the Bush White House made against cost estimates in Iraq (that were eventually found to be too low, rather than too high). I expect we're going to play that game again. wapo.st/3N1dVr2

Researchers in Denmark have found a 'Breaking Bad' effect - people with a cancer diagnosis are more likely to commit crimes after their diagnosis.

Keir Starmer assured MPs that the UK would operate on a “lawful basis” and with a “viable thought-through plan” The implication: he does not think the initial US and Israeli strikes against Iran were either legal or considered. “This government does not believe in regime change from the skies"

I swear to goodness what is WRONG with this labour government?! www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Folks who know will be unsurprised to learn that Tom Cotton is on the Sunday news shows crowing about how Trump is bringing peace and prosperity to Iran, in defiance of all rational understanding of what's actually about to happen. #arpx

Winning! www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The tastiest competition on earth wapo.st/46rKYLB

This correlates nicely with what we know about processed meat www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Only a matter of time before Paramount digitally erases Indiana Jones from all of his movies & has the Nazis have an Ewoks-style party after opening The Ark.

Just another thing we ought to address (but won't)

"Seeming...less like the House speaker than a house elf, Mike Johnson sat perched over Mr Trump’s left shoulder, grinning eagerly at his faintest witticism; the president has learned that Mr Johnson will serve as his loyal whip rather than the leader of a coequal branch of government." The Economist

Good information here for escaping the tech giants www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

This is a Nazi move. Stripping people of rights, invalidating their IDs, setting them up for criminalization and imprisonment. If you don't support trans rights, you support fascism.

So long as there are not serious consequences for misuse of this type of technology, it will continue to be misused. We cannot deploy it anywhere until this issue is resolved. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Definitely the first State of the Union where the president talked about the military killing unarmed fishermen as a laugh line

Still going? Good Lord!

Wow! I just got an advance copy of Trump’s State of the Union remarks for tonight: “Biden. Obama. Hillary. Democrat hoax. Witch hunt. Rigged. Biden. Obama. Hillary. Democrat hoax. Witch hunt. Rigged. Biden. Obama. Hillary. Democrat hoax. Witch hunt. Rigged. Biden.” #TrumpStateOfDelusion

I remember wondering why all those despots liked to give six hour rambling speeches. Perhaps tonight I'll find out.

An actually objective state of the union www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Now THIS is funny! Cops like spying on others, not so much being spied on! www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

The banality of evil (gift article) wapo.st/4kM4qbF

“The Southern leaders have unquestionably the whole responsibility of this fatal step. The blood which has at length begun to flow must be upon them... They originated the quarrel by their passionate desire to extend the shameful institution of which they are so proud." (The Economist in 1861)

Well here's an interesting development www.theguardian.com/business/202...

I do love a good marketing image. Came across this one looking for a hydration backpack.

This is your reminder that Republicans want to take away your right to stop data centers from raising electricity prices. Go out today and find a state-level Democrat to support! (gift article) www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/u...

HOOOOOO boy. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.): "Do you consider yourself a religious man?" Lyons: "Yes ma'am." McIver: "How do you think Judgement Day will work for you with so much blood on your hands?" "Do you think you're going to hell, Mr. Lyons?"

Some would assert this just proves that violent rebellion is the only way to have your voice heard in Trump's America (gift article) wapo.st/4r9FQnz

So now ICE is just outright falsifying documents. No surprise, really www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

In one 30-minute stretch, three legal observers were arrested — as Trump’s Border czar Tom Homan calls on locals to “end the resistance.”

Ouch

Costa Rica is often held up as a massive success story, and model for other countries. The author puts a little more nuance into the picture. (Gift article) wapo.st/4qolCFk

The US is losing friends at a prodigious rate. Having a hostile relationship with our largest trading partner is bad for everyone. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...