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Thursday, February 5, 2026

Rick Scott: We're Going To Pass Voter ID, We'll Force Dems To Do Talking Filibuster To Stop It

 Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott told "The Charlie Kirk Show" on Thursday that Senate Republicans are going to pass the SAVE Act to mandate voter ID and verification of citizenship to register to vote, and if Democrats want to stop it, they'll have to do a talking filibuster.


"The concept that you don’t have to show your ID to vote is foreign," Scott said. "We're going to get this done. The president is on board. He knows we have to use the talking filibuster to get his agenda done."

"Is it a pain in the rear? Yeah. But so what? This is a full-time job. We ought to be busting our tails every day for the American people. This is a very important piece of legislation that’s going to save this country," Scott said. "You're being too nice. The Democrats know they can't win wit their polciies, they want fraud to win. The only explanation is they want to cheat."


"If you want to talk, have at it. But when you’re done talking, we are going to vote, and it’s going to take 50 votes plus the vice president to pass legislation or nominations."


ANDREW KOLVET: There was a clip yesterday—this is Leader Thune, and he’s talking about the pushback he’s getting from Democrats on the SAVE Act in the Senate.

JOHN THUNE, U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Their political base is demanding they fight with anything that President Trump wants. It is Trump derangement syndrome. It is on steroids around here these days, and even logical, commonsensical things like ensuring that if you’re going to vote in an American election, you ought to be an American citizen—they’re going to just instinctively oppose. So that’s what we’re up against.

ANDREW KOLVET: So no mention there, Senator, of maybe getting rid of the zombie filibuster, as Senator Lee has called it. There’s no talk of putting it in a reconciliation bill. That did not inspire a lot of confidence for me.

The floor is yours. What’s the status of this highly popular policy?

SEN. RICK SCOTT: Well, we’re going to get it passed. I don’t know how we’re going to get it done, but Senator Mike Lee and I are focused on this every day. A lot of our friends in the House are focused on this.

You have to have an ID to get on an airplane. You ought to have an ID to vote.

You shouldn’t be able to register to vote if you can’t prove your citizenship. I wouldn't vote for Macron in France or Starmer in the UK, but I don’t get to vote for them. So you shouldn’t get to vote if you’re here illegally.

We have to use the talking filibuster. It’s not changing the rules; it’s enforcing the rules. It’s just saying, if you want to stop or slow down the process, you can go talk. But this idea that you don’t have to talk and we have to wait for 60 votes to show up is wrong.

We’re going to keep talking about it. You saw the president's post about it last night: if Democrats want to slow something down, they’re going to have to talk on the floor.

We have got to get things passed that are good for this country. We’ve got to secure the border. We’ve got to get Homeland Security funded. We’ve got to get ICE funded. We’ve got to pass the SAVE America Act.

If Democrats are not going to work with us, then we have to use the talking filibuster to get it done.

ANDREW KOLVET: Let’s go into what the talking filibuster is. We had Senator Lee on the show when he first floated this idea, and it sounds pretty straightforward.

But take a step back. We think of 60 votes to break cloture as just assumed—you need 60 votes to do anything in the Senate. That’s not really true. Obviously we have reconciliation, but if you look at the history it started in like 1917 when they started using this, and very sparingly. But in our modern era we think we need 60 votes, and in our divided world we can't get 60 votes on anything. Explain to the audience what it’s like in the Senate. What’s the workaround? How do you get this done? Is there support to get rid of this zombie filibuster?

SEN. RICK SCOTT: Number one, if this is important to you, you need to call your senator and let them know the SAVE America Act—or any bill you think is important—has to get passed, and you’ve got to use the talking filibuster to get it done.

All we’re going to do is require Democrats to do what they should do. The filibuster was simply a decision by the Senate to say, at some point, we’re going to stop talking and we’re going to vote.

Clarence Thomas got two votes, right? But they didn’t use the filibuster process to prevent him from ever having a vote.

If you want to talk, have at it. But when you’re done talking, we are going to vote, and it’s going to take 50 votes plus the vice president to pass legislation or nominations.

We’ve already changed the rules on nominations because Democrats were blocking everything. They don’t want Trump to get anything done. They want to shut down the government. They don’t want a good economy. We have to do this.

And by the way, if we want to save this country, we’ve got to make sure people feel comfortable that our elections are fair. The concept that you don’t have to show your ID to vote is foreign.

Americans believe you have to do this—Republicans and Democrats alike. And that’s what we’re going to get done.

I’m going to keep fighting. Senator Lee is going to keep fighting. The president is on board. He knows we have to use the talking filibuster to get his agenda done.

ANDREW KOLVET: So that’s your word to the audience—that this will get done. Do you believe Senator Thune is ready for that type of battle?

SEN. RICK SCOTT: Well, we haven’t done it yet, so I tell everybody: in DC, until it happens, be hopeful, but take action.

Call every senator and say you’ve got to get the SAVE America Act passed. If you can’t get Democrats to help—and they’re not going to—then you’ve got to do it through the talking filibuster.

Is it a pain? It’s a pain in the rear. But so what? This is a full-time job. We ought to be busting our tails every day for the American people.

This is a very important piece of legislation that’s going to save this country.

ANDREW KOLVET: I completely agree. And by the way, it’s massively popular—even Democrats’ own voters support it -- even black Americans, even though the big push back is it "Jim Crow 2.0."

HARRY ENTEN, CNN: Favor photo ID to vote. Eighty-five percent of white voters, 82% of Latinos, 76% of black Americans favor it. The bottom line is this: voter ID is not controversial in this country. A photo ID to vote is not controversial by party and not controversial by race. The vast majority of american agree with Nicki Minaj that you should have a photo ID to vote.

ANDREW KOLVET: I guess they're just going with black people and married women are too dumb to get photo ID, and Republicans are racist?

SEN. RICK SCOTT: No, you're being too nice. The Democrats know they can't win wit their polciies, they want fraud to win. The only explanation is they want to cheat. That’s it.

ANDREW KOLVET: Kill the zombie filibuster and make them go on the floor and defend the indefensible.

SEN. RICK SCOTT: They want to defund ICE. They don’t care about the American public. How could you want to defund ICE when you hear stories like Laken Riley or Jocelyn Nungaray—or children being raped—and then say you don’t want ICE to have the ability to remove these criminals? It’s the craziest thing in the world.

ANDREW KOLVET: Quick question, Senator, on the DHS funding—where do we stand?

SEN. RICK SCOTT: Nowhere. They’re not getting funded. Democrats want to shut this stuff down. They want to destroy the Trump presidency. They don’t care about the crime coming into this country.

They’re fine with open borders, criminals, and gangs. But there are wonderful people who want to come here legally, and we have a process for that. And we can improve that. But the Democrats will not fund ICE. Their proposals make no sense. They didn't ask local law enforcement to do these things, why as ICE to do it?

 https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/02/05/sen_rick_scott_were_going_to_pass_voter_id_well_force_democrats_to_do_talking_filibuster_to_stop_it.html

How To Feel Joy In A Dopamine-Saturated World

  by Sheridan Genrich via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Your brain treats what it sees in Instagram reels the same way it treats cocaine. Both experiences flood a thumbnail-sized region of the brain with dopamine—a chemical that makes you want more, right now. The problem is that after a certain amount of dopamine hits, your brain adapts by turning down the pleasure volume. As a result, things that once made you feel good are no longer enough.

If you’re finding it harder to feel simple joy and genuine connections, you’re experiencing what addiction psychiatrists now recognize as dopamine overload, a state where constant stimulation—especially from cellphones, social media, and ultra-processed foods—quietly erodes your ability to feel your happiest emotions and leaves relationships feeling painfully empty. However, there is hope—through learning to rebalance our reward systems, we can rediscover contentment in simple things.​

The Dopamine Hijack

Dopamine is a brain chemical messenger that helps drive motivation, heightens anticipation, and reinforces the experiences your brain labels as rewarding. In healthy balance, it nudges us toward naturally meaningful activities—such as working toward goals, sharing meals, spending time with friends—that have long supported survival and human connection.

However, modern life delivers dopamine in doses and speeds the human brain is not equipped to handle.

“Things that are addictive release a whole lot of dopamine all at once in a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens,” Addiction psychiatrist and author Dr. Anna Lembke, a leading voice on how modern habits hijack the brain’s reward circuitry, told The Epoch Times. “The more dopamine that is released there, and the faster it is released, the more likely we see addictive behavior.”

With long-term exposure to highly addictive substances and behaviors, Lembke said, the brain undergoes neuroadaptation. “It starts to downregulate dopamine receptors to bring levels back to baseline, and people actually end up in a dopamine deficit state—below normal levels of dopamine firing.” In other words, the brain turns down its sensitivity to dopamine, leaving people feeling flat unless they keep chasing stronger stimulation.

Over time, this process fundamentally shifts what it takes to feel normal.

“We change our hedonic set point. We need more of the substance, in more potent forms, just to bring dopamine levels back up to baseline,” Lembke said. Sugar and short‑form videos strongly stimulate the same dopamine‑based reward pathways targeted by drugs and alcohol, which can lead the brain to treat them as if they were vital rewards.

To adapt to all the dopamine, the brain may settle into a dopamine deficit state, which can feel like clinical depression, anxiety, or emotional numbness.

When Everything Feels Numb

As dopamine overload persists, many people describe a kind of emotional numbness: feeling flat, struggling to enjoy life, and growing distant from loved ones.

“You can have this numbing or narrowing phenomenon where nothing brings joy anymore,” Lembke said. “People feel flat, anxious, or disconnected, and it can look a lot like depression.”

The difference is that clinical depression often responds to medication and therapy. Dopamine overload requires something simpler, though not easier: you have to stop the activity that creates it.

Growing evidence links heavy digital use to mental health symptoms, including anxiety, depression, loneliness, and altered decision‑making. Lembke pointed to experiments in which people either quit social media for three to four weeks or cut back to about 30 to 60 minutes a day, which resulted in reported improvements in anxiety, depression, and loneliness.

Lembke offered a practical diagnostic test: “If you’re not sure you’re addicted to something, just try stopping it for 30 days. The level of difficulty you have doing that can tell you a lot about the nature of your attachment.”

The 30-Day Reset

The good news is that the brain’s reward system is not fixed. It is adaptable and can relearn to find satisfaction in real, offline experiences. A long enough break from high‑dopamine habits, Lembke said, gives the brain space to switch its reward system back on and start producing feel‑good chemistry again.

When people stop an addictive behavior, their dopamine levels do not crash forever—they tend to feel worse at first, then gradually better,” Lembke said, noting that most people begin to emerge from acute withdrawal after about 10 to 14 days as cravings ease. By weeks three and four, many report feeling better than they have in months or even years.

For many, a 30‑day abstinence trial—or “dopamine detox”—is a realistic window to start resetting reward pathways and feeling the benefits, she said. In practical terms, that often means roughly two tough weeks, a couple of weeks of gradual relief, and about a month to sense a genuine reset.

Experts have found that the goal of a dopamine detox is not to eliminate dopamine—which would be impossible and unhealthy—but to reduce overstimulating habits so the brain can rebalance and you can enjoy slower, more meaningful rewards again.

To make a detox doable in everyday life, Lembke focuses on self‑binding—setting up guardrails that make it harder to slide back into the habit.

  • Create Physical Barriers: Don’t rely on willpower. Delete apps and unsubscribe from feeds. Clear alcohol, drugs, junk foods, and trigger foods out of your house.
  • Choose Low‑Dopamine Substitutes: Swap mindless scrolling or snacking for reading, walking, hobbies, or time in nature that offer calmer, more lasting rewards.​
  • Set Firm Boundaries: Build device‑free blocks into your day, keep phones out of the bedroom, and avoid constant multitasking that chases tiny hits of stimulation.​
  • Build Basic Routines: Regular movement and sleep, and nourishing food help steady both dopamine and stress systems.​
  • Watch for the Binge Cycle: Notice any “all or nothing” streaks—days of restraint followed by blowouts—that tend to spike dopamine and crash mood.
  • Do Hard Things in Small Doses: Cold showers, morning exercise, cleaning out a messy closet, meditation, are activities that require effort up front but leave you feeling better afterward. They teach your brain to generate its own satisfaction instead of depending on quick hits.​
  • Track the Evidence: Track sleep, mood, and focus for a few weeks as you cut back; small changes are often a sign your reward system is resetting.​

Rediscover Natural Rewards

Once you start lowering quick dopamine spikes, it becomes essential to lean into natural sources of pleasure—the kinds of activities that have long supported human well‑being.​

  • Exercise: Regular movement can lift mood and support healthy dopamine, serotonin, and endorphin signaling in a steady, sustainable way. A 20-minute walk does more for your brain than an hour of scrolling.​
  • Social Connection: Deep conversations, laughter, and physical affection engage reward and bonding systems that help protect against stress and isolation. Face-to-face always beats FaceTime. ​
  • Mindfulness and Meditation: These practices can calm the stress response and gradually restore motivation for simple, everyday joys.​
  • Creative Engagement: Making or enjoying art activates reward pathways without the same risk of desensitization seen with high‑intensity digital rewards.​
  • Meaningful Challenge: Working toward meaningful goals gives real dopamine hits linked to effort and progress, not just novelty.
  • [ZH: Men, stop jerking off so much]: So we hear...

Scientific reviews and clinical programs highlight that turning toward natural rewards, rather than engineered instant ones, is how the human brain is built to thrive.

It may be time to get professional help if cutting back makes you very anxious, low, or causes withdrawal‑like symptoms that make normal life harder. You should also talk to a clinician before any dopamine detox if you have serious mental health symptoms such as suicidal thoughts, psychosis, or very bad depression or anxiety; a history of addiction or substance problems; or take medicines that affect dopamine, such as antidepressants, stimulants, Parkinson’s drugs, or antipsychotics.

Build Lasting Contentment and Hope

Lasting contentment rarely comes from a one‑time “detox.” It grows from small, steady changes, ideally with support from others.

Staying connected to encouraging friends, family, or groups makes it easier to keep healthier habits and to recover from relapses. Simple routines such as swapping one high‑dopamine habit at a time, checking in daily on triggers and small wins, and giving yourself credit for each step forward help progress stick.

If emotional numbness or compulsive cycles continue, seek help from a mental health professional who can guide you toward feeling stable and engaged with everyday life again. For anyone feeling overwhelmed or out of control, take heart—with support and steady effort, many people rebuild their lives and rediscover real pleasure in simple, everyday moments.

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/how-feel-joy-dopamine-saturated-world

Billions In Chinese Investment To Flee Panama - Beijing Livid Over Canal Ports Decision

 China is lashing out at Panama after the country's top court torpedoed a key Chinese-linked operations contract at the Panama Canal, warning that the Central American nation "will inevitably pay a heavy price" if it doesn’t reverse course.

Under immense US pressure from the Trump White House, Panama’s Supreme Court last week ruled to void the operating license of Hong Kong–based CK Hutchison for ports on both ends of the canal - Balboa on the Pacific side and Cristóbal on the Atlantic.

The decision effectively ejects a Chinese/HK-connected operator, specifically the Panama Ports Company which is the subsidiary under CK Hutchison, from one of the world's most strategic maritime chokepoints.

This was celebrated as a win by Washington, as President Trump has long made clear his intention to reassert American influence and control over the Panama Canal. Starting early in his administration Trump called it "vital to our country" and insisted that "it’s being operated by China."

But China’s State Council Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office has newly blasted the court's decision as "logically flawed" and "utterly ridiculous" - making clear that the ruling is vehemently opposed by both the Chinese government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

"The Panamanian authorities should recognize the situation and correct their course," the office said, as translated in various media reports.

"If they persist in their own way and remain obstinate, they will inevitably pay a heavy price in terms of politics and economics!" the blistering statement added.

Beijing is now threatening an array of political and economic consequences, also as it prepares its legal challenge to the supreme court ruling:

China has reportedly instructed its state-owned enterprises to suspend discussions on new projects in Panama following the Central American country's decision to nullify CK Hutchison Holdings’ port operations contract, Bloomberg reported.

Sources familiar with the situation have indicated that the move is part of Beijing’s broader response to the legal ruling that affects two ports along the Panama Canal.

This decision is expected to potentially impede investments worth billions of dollars. In addition, China is advising shipping companies to consider alternative routes for cargo, provided these do not incur significant additional expenses, according to unnamed sources.

Furthermore, Chinese customs are increasing inspections on imports from Panama, including bananas and coffee, which could affect ongoing trade.

So now Panama finds itself in a precarious position, smack in the middle between Trump's controversial 'Donroe Doctrine' and Beijing, with Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino stating amid these threats of retaliation that he "strongly" rejects the Chinese government’s threats.

He framed this as about upholding the rule of law and made clear he "respects the decisions of the judiciary, which is independent of the central government." Still, he's about to feel some pain from China, and there's probably nothing at all Panama City can do about it.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/billions-chinese-investment-flee-panama-beijing-livid-over-canal-ports-decision

Senate Bill Would Ensure Data Centers Do Not Pass Energy Costs Onto Consumers

 Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is circulating a bill to require data centers to bring their own power when constructing these new power-hungry facilities, Axios reports this morning.

We’ve detailed the growing resistance to the construction of new data centers for months now as several studies have demonstrated electricity prices spiking around new data center facilities, as they usually consume significantly more power than the grids they’re connected to can offer.

 

It’s a simple supply and demand issue. A new power consumer shows up and immediately starts draining hundreds of megawatt of power while the new power generation being developed by the utility servicing the connected grid takes several years to add new generation capacity. The pitch circulated by lawmakers is to require new data centers to show up with their own power and hand, therefore preventing the pass on of costs to household rate payers.

There’s a slew of ways to go about powering a multi-megawatt or gigawatt scale data center. The method most frequently referenced for reducing rate payer burden is behind-the-meter arrangements. This means the power generator is directly connected to the facility through on-site transmission structures without interacting with the grid in any way.

Alternatively, facilities could opt for the front-of-the-meter arrangement where they still bring their own power, but transmit the power through the local grid, even if they are located physically near each other. This arrangement supports the grid while still minimizing cost to the rate payer because of the addition of overall capacity. Connecting to the grid and utilizing existing transmission lines and transformers could minimize time to initial operation, as well as require grid infrastructure upgrades. Requiring the new data center to finance the grid upgrades would reduce consumer costs as well.

The bill being pushed by Sen Hawley is calling for behind-the-meter arrangements, but the legislation could change as it passes through everyone’s hands. Most grid advocates have called for front-of-the-meter arrangements to maximize household consumer benefit.

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/senate-bill-would-ensure-data-centers-do-not-pass-energy-costs-consumers

How megadonors built a ‘youth-led’ left protest movement

 Education is increasingly morphing into political activism in America’s schools, as teen protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies gain momentum.

And a supposedly “youth-led” leftist group that’s fueled by megadonor money is leading the charge.

Starting in Minnesota high schools, then spreading to schools in Texas, California and Nevada, students in recent weeks are joining school walkouts against Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions. 

The walkouts are pushed by the Sunrise Movement, which was founded in 2017 as a climate activist group.

SM grabbed national attention in 2018 when members staged an occupation of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office to demand climate-change legislation — and the freshly elected Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined the sit-in.

Now the group is singing a different tune.

“We can’t pass climate policy under a fascist regime that’s bought out by Big Oil and is literally starting wars on their behalf,” Sunrise asserted in a Jan. 22 Instagram post explaining its pivot.

“Resisting their ICE henchmen is frankly just a clear strategic priority for us.”

As “climate justice” loses cultural traction and immigration enforcement becomes a bigger political flashpoint, left-wing groups like Sunrise are rebranding their protest energy around anti-ICE campaigns to pressure and obstruct Trump’s administration.

A Sunrise Movement student guidebook obtained by Defending Education warns that “no politician can keep their job, no school can run as usual, no business can turn a profit if they side with ICEʼs violence over us.” 

That’s a vow to disrupt Americans’ day-to-day lives. 

The guide lays out a school-walkout playbook, with step-by-step instructions on recruitment, speeches, chants, flyers, social media engagement and how to “absorb” attendees so they become long-term organizers.  

The political mobilization is explicit.

At one point, the guide states that Trump is “waging war” and “getting ready to steal the next election.”

SM calls on students to conduct “mass non-cooperation to halt the authoritarians’ advance” and build “majorities of students and workers at our schools.” 

It urges students to take part in ongoing school walkouts: “Weʼre not here to get back to the status quo. We’re here to win a political revolution.”

Group messages and training documents obtained by Defending Education indicate that the Twin Cities Student ICE Response group is receiving Sunrise Movement training.

A “walkout guide” that accompanied a training presentation featured student demands that mirror those from the activist group UNIDOS-MN and the Saint Paul Federation of Educators.

Sunrise materials for an “ICE Safety Training for Twin Cities Metro Students” outline what teens should do if ICE enters school property, while also urging pushback against their schools’ truancy policies. 

As students across Minneapolis made plans to participate in a Jan. 23 strike and school walkout “to shut down ICE,” the SM Twin Cities chapter held Zoom meetings for them, warning that “Minnesota is under attack, and schools are the frontlines.” 

“Our classmates are teargassed, kidnapped or missing,” its sign-up form for students claimed.

“Trump is experimenting on us to see how far he can take his authoritarian agenda.”

On walkout day itself, SM hosted a “Mass Student Meeting” for high schoolers from across the metro area “to connect, learn our rights, and build student power to kick ICE out of Minnesota.”

Civics, it seems, now means cutting class for a cause.

At Defending Education, we’ve reported on how K-12 schools nationwide are increasingly facilitating activities and clubs centered on social justice activism.

Sunrise organizes and supports student hubs with backing from organizations such as the Ford Foundation, the Tides Foundation and the Windward Fund. 

It’s also gotten help from the National Education Association, the powerful national teachers’ union, whose President Becky Pringle has joined multiple Sunrise Movement events laying out a “Roadmap to Political Revolution.”

The goal: “mass disruption.”

“Students everywhere must show up in solidarity with Minneapolis,” Sunrise urged on Instagram. 

Activists say they’re “fighting fascism,” but their aim is something else entirely: dismantling Western cultural norms and eroding the institutions that hold society together — like orderly conduct and meritocratic standards.

The leftist playbook is clear, cold and alarmingly effective.

Recruit young people into activism while they’re still in high school, and funnel them into college where the messaging intensifies.

Then send them into the world as citizens trained to see revolution, not reform, as the goal. 

Kendall Tietz is an investigative reporter at Defending Education, a national grassroots group that aims to restore nonpartisan education for all students.

https://nypost.com/2026/02/05/opinion/how-a-protest-pivot-gets-the-lefts-hooks-into-our-kids/

Massive heat and hot-water failures ARE the Mamdani plan

 Tens of thousands of New York renters are shivering as their decrepit buildings’ heating systems wheeze and shudder against this brutal cold wave — suffering that’s likely to grow even worse in the coming years thanks to the left’s war on affordable housing.

With 80,000 calls in January alone, heat-related complaints to 311 are breaking records, a clear sign that “reforms” of the last few years are starting to destroy the city’s housing stock.

That is, the long drive toward “freezing” the rent really means freezing basic maintenance.

Starting with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s years of zero rent hikes and followed by the 2019 state law greatly restricting rent-stabilized landlords ability to increase their buildings’ incomes, and with Mamdan’s vow to again ban any hikes in the city’s million regulated rents, the cash to keep the heat and hot water running for these units is running out.

Top Mamdani adviser Cea Weaver openly expects this to bring what she calls a “capital strike”: Landlords squeezed by static revenue and rising costs — taxes, fuel, insurance and labor — will find they have no choice but to defer maintenance.

That means more boiler problems, more leaks, more crumbling facades and less cleaning; Weaver’s goal is to make conditions unlivable so Team Mamdani can seize buildings from “slumlords,” and convert them to “social housing.”

(How will they fund the massive repairs then needed, let alone make the buildings’ incomes match their expenses? They’ll burn that bridge when they come to it!)

Tenants just have to suffer in the meantime, involuntarily doing their part for the socialist “transformation.”

You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, one infamous socialist loved to say — but it’s awfully hard on the eggs.

https://nypost.com/2026/02/05/opinion/massive-heat-and-hot-water-failures-are-the-mamdani-plan/