According to the BLS, the economy added more than 130,000 jobs total, including 82,000 jobs added in health care and a further 42,000 in related care work. But strip out those gains, and the picture that emerges is one of contraction, not underlying strength. Other white-collar categories simply stayed flat, neither growing nor contracting.

Recent data showing declines in white-collar job openings tells a similar story. Listings for roles in professional and business services appear to have fallen to their lowest level in more than a decade, the steepest declines of any sector.

The hiring rate has dropped to levels last seen during the 2008 financial crisis. At the same time, wage growth is slowing.

The Employment Cost Index points to weakening bargaining power for workers. The index rose 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025 from a year earlier, making for the slowest pace since early 2021 and only modestly above the rate of inflation.

Meanwhile, prices are rising, functioning to erode workers’ purchasing power. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that a range of companies, from clothing brands to appliance makers, are raising prices to reflect the cost of tariffs and ever-accelerating healthcare costs.

Conclusion? “The US white-collar recession is accelerating.”

https://qz.com/white-collar-jobs-recession-signs-data#:~:text=Slowing%20wage%20growth.,Or%20just%20a%20job%2C%20period.

>The legendary 'Schindler's List' director and California resident has moved to Manhattan amid a billionaire exodus from the Golden State — as voters eye a controversial wealth tax.

>Spielberg is a net-worth of $10 Billion dollars.

>Press did not answer queries about Spielberg’s stance on the proposed tax, which would slap a one-time 5% tax on individual fortunes exceeding $1 billion.

>Spielberg’s move was first reported by the New York Times.

>The tax, if approved by voters in November, would apply retroactively to the beginning of this year.

>Proponents argue it will raise tens of billions of dollars to go toward the state’s health care shortfalls, while opponents — including Gov. Gavin Newsom — argue it’ll force skinflint billionaires to leave the state.

https://nypost.com/2026/02/19/us-news/legendary-director-steven-spielberg-is-the-latest-billionaire-to-flee-california-in-another-blow-to-state/


Kind of weird that he'd flee California right when the tax was levied, which would help millions of needy people in California. It's sort of like when the Nazi's instituted the "final solution" cause they could no longer afford to incarcerate the jewish prisoners. Spielberg would rather keep the projected $500,000,000 he'd have to pay in taxes and let his fellow Californian's who aren't obscenely rich suffer and die from neglect.

Shockingly heartless move from the director of Schindler's List, ain't it?

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/21/online-age-newsom-social-media-00791870
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call to restrict kids’ access to social media is lending new bipartisan momentum to an effort that has surged in red states and foreign capitals — but has so far largely languished in Washington.

By endorsing state legislation that would set age limits for teens on social media, the presumed 2028 Democratic presidential hopeful joins the ranks of Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, GOP governors like Florida’s Ron DeSantis and leaders in countries including Australia, Canada, France and Malaysia who have either enacted, proposed or considered similar restrictions. Standing up such a law on Silicon Valley’s home turf would be an especially potent response to growing concerns by parents about social media’s impact on children’s mental health.

Some conservative supporters of the restrictions say the emerging coalition on internet age-gating is filling a vacuum left by the Trump administration, which has largely declined to endorse the proposals. They see it as a missed opportunity for President Donald Trump, allowing politicians like Newsom to seize on populist outrage against the tech industry.

Michael Toscano, director of the Family First Technology Initiative at the conservative Institute for Family Studies, said Trump’s relative disinterest has made the issue of online age restrictions “ripe for the taking” for ambitious rivals like Newsom.

“Many of these ideas were pioneered by red states, and they were there for a Republican administration to take, with majorities in both houses,” Toscano said. “But instead, [the Trump administration] ignored their base and pushed industry priorities.”

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-judge-permanently-blocks-release-report-trump-documents-case-2026-02-23/
Feb 23 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge permanently barred the Justice Department on Monday from releasing a prosecutor's report on the criminal case accusing President Donald Trump of unlawfully retaining classified documents following his first term in office.
Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon found that releasing the report would be a "manifest injustice" to the Republican president and two former associates who were charged alongside him because it would detail substantial allegations of criminal wrongdoing in a case that never reached a jury.
Cannon, who Trump appointed to the bench in 2020, dismissed all the charges in 2024.
Trump was accused in the case pursued by Special Counsel Jack Smith of illegally storing documents related to U.S. national defense, including the American nuclear program, at his Mar-a-Lago social club and obstructing U.S. government efforts to retrieve the material. Cannon found that Smith had not been lawfully appointed by the Justice Department during Democratic former President Joe Biden's administration.
Disclosure of Smith's report "would contravene basic notions of fairness and justice in the process, where no adjudication of guilt has been reached following initiation of criminal charges," Cannon wrote in Monday's ruling.
The order means substantial information about one of the four criminal cases Trump faced in his years out of office may not be disclosed to the public.

https://www.npr.org/2026/02/24/nx-s1-5723968/epstein-files-trump-accusation-maxwell

The Justice Department has withheld some Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor, an NPR investigation finds. It also removed some documents from the public database where accusations against Jeffrey Epstein also mention Trump.

Some files have not been made public despite a law mandating their release. These include what appear to be more than 50 pages of FBI interviews, as well as notes from conversations with a woman who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago when she was a minor.

> Thread theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up6Nxg17opQ

https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/crime/police-boise-woman-arrested-stolen-ambulance-crash-meridian-dhs-office-building/277-3ac560e7-a05a-4815-96a2-63bf1f7c2d5c?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_KTVB

MERIDIAN, Idaho — The Meridian Police Department on Monday announced the arrest of a Boise woman in connection with last week’s stolen ambulance crash into the Portico North building in Meridian.

Police identified the suspect as Sarah Elizabeth George, 43, of Boise during a Monday, Feb. 23 press conference.

Police said George was arrested earlier that day after what investigators described as five days of intensive work, including canvassing, reviewing surveillance footage, following leads, and using technological analysis to identify her.

A probable cause affidavit was filed in federal court, outlining the investigation, timeline of events and allegations.

George faces federal charges of Attempted Destruction of Federal Property by Fire and Malicious Destruction of Property Used in or Affecting Interstate Commerce by Fire.

According to the probable cause affidavit, around 11 p.m. on February 18, George stole a Canyon County Paramedics ambulance from the ambulance bay outside St. Luke's Hospital while a crew transported a patient inside. When paramedics returned, the vehicle was gone.

Authorities said George drove the ambulance into the Portico North building. Investigators believe she intended to set the building on fire but fled when first responders arrived.

The day after the incident, law enforcement obtained CCTV footage from businesses in the area.

According to surveillance video, around 10:40 p.m. on Feb.18 a dark pickup truck parked at Primary Health down the road from St. Luke’s Meridian. The probable cause affidavit states, about 22 minutes before the ambulance was stolen, a person matching George’s description walked from Primary Health toward St. Luke’s.

Hay un youtuber de habla hispana llamado MAGENEKER ANIMACIONES que groomeo a 4 personas en total, aqui mas informacion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP-KOiNjXkA&pp=ygUJbWFnZW5la2Vy

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1YUmumgKRg7J2RDtEcF7kf6EJ9WFm3_sQ

This is GREAT! Former President Barack Obama comes through, although he never saw 1 for real…

> https://nypost.com/2026/02/14/us-news/obama-says-aliens-are-real-but-i-havent-seen-them-in-out-there-new-interview/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8z48xwqn3o
US President Donald Trump has said he will impose global tariffs of 15%, as he has continued to rail against a Supreme Court ruling that struck down his previous import taxes.

Trump said on Friday that he would replace the tariffs scrapped by the court with a 10% levy on all goods coming into the US.

But on Saturday, he announced on Truth Social that this would be increased to the maximum allowed under a never-used trade law.

That law allows these new tariffs to stay in place for around five months before the administration must seek congressional approval.

The 10% tariffs were set to come into force on Tuesday, 24 February. It's unclear if the increased 15% would also be imposed starting then. The BBC has contacted the White House.

The new 15% tax rate - a temporary solution under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act - raises questions for countries such as the UK and Australia, which had agreed a 10% tariff deal with the US.

Trump said his administration had reached the decision to raise the levy following a review of the Supreme Court's "ridiculous, poorly written, and extraordinarily anti-American decision on Tariffs issued yesterday".

In a 6-3 decision, justices on the highest US court found that the president had overstepped his powers when he introduced sweeping global tariffs last year using a 1977 law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

The US has already collected at least $130bn (£96.4bn) in tariffs using IEEPA, according to the most recent government data.

Immediately following the ruling, Trump said that he was "ashamed of certain members of the court" and called the justices who rejected his trade policy "fools".

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/violence-mexico-jalisco-new-generation-cartel-killed-military-puerto-vallarta/
Violent clashes erupted in parts of western Mexico on Sunday amid a military operation that led to the death of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader, triggering widespread security concerns throughout the region.

Mexican security forces killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as "El Mencho," during an operation in the western state of Jalisco, Mexico's Ministry of Defense said in a statement on X. It said he was wounded during the raid in the town of Tapalpa and died while being flown to Mexico City.

The state of Jalisco is the base of the cartel known for trafficking huge quantities of fentanyl and other drugs to the United States.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who also confirmed the cartel leader's death, described him as "one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins."

"This is a great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America, and the world. The good guys are stronger than the bad guys," he said on X.

A U.S. defense official told CBS News that the U.S. military played a role in the operation via the Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, which regularly works with the Mexican military through the U.S. Northern Command. The official emphasized that "this was a Mexican military operation, so the success is theirs."

During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people, including Oseguera Cervantes, were wounded and later died, the Ministry of Defense's statement said. Two others were arrested and armored vehicles, rocket launchers and other arms were seized. Three members of the armed forces were wounded and are receiving medical treatment.

The killing of the powerful drug lord triggered several hours of roadblocks with burning vehicles in Jalisco and other states. Such tactics are commonly used by the cartels to block military operations.