🚨 Take a Number – February 18 2026

*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00AM. 

Lead: Peace Progress? 

Photo Credit: PressTV

Iranian officials say that they have a "clear path to peace" but Vice President JD Vance threw cold water on that optimism.

Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi told reporters that there was a “clear path” to a deal with the U.S. and that "good progress" was made over talks in Geneva.

U.S. VP Vance sounded less enthusiastic, saying "In some ways it went well. They agreed to meet afterward. But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through."

Israeli press is reporting that "the indirect talks are likely doomed and that US President Donald Trump and his close advisers seek to strike Iran."

Both U.S. and Iranian officials say that they will meet again, but have not said when. The U.S. continues to insist that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and that they must submit to United Nations weapons inspections. Iran has done that for years, and the U.S. still pretends that they have a secret nuclear stash, ignoring the reality that Israel has a secret nuclear stash.

So what is the deal about? Pretense for war? Who really knows.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei took to X to blast the U.S. for its demands and issue this not-so-veiled threat to sink any destroyers the U.S. sends to attack Iran.

He seemed to suggest that he knows more about corruption tied to Epstein inside the U.S.

"This island of corruption is only one example. There is much more of this. Just as this was not apparent and then became exposed, there are many other things that will soon come to light," he said.

We're listening! If our own government can't show us the truth, we're willing to take a look at what our so-called enemies have from their intelligence. Show us the cards!

Paying Kids to Test Puberty Blockers?

Photo credit: Shutterstock

The U.K.’s National Health Service is preparing to test puberty blockers on children, and it plans to pay them to participate.

According to The Telegraph, the NHS will recruit more than 200 minors under 16 into a clinical trial of puberty-suppressing drugs and offer vouchers worth up to £500 for completing study requirements, including cognitive testing and brain scans.

These drugs are restricted from routine use after a major independent review questioned the strength of the evidence behind them. The NHS said that it would review puberty blockers after more data was available but now they are apparently doctoring that data.

If children are incentivized with money and vouchers to take these harmful drugs, won't they be more likely to continue using them, therefore skewing data?

Also, does this make up for the high risk that comes along with these drugs? The government knows that puberty blockers are associated with chronic headaches, hot flashes, fatigue, reduced bone mineral density, low IQ, infertility, and more. And they still want to pay kids to try it out?

I'm starting to think they don't really want to produce real-world data about puberty blockers.

The Math Isn’t Adding Up

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Redacted Featured Video

Did you miss our last live show? No problem, you can catch the replay here! And don't miss this segment we did with Jason Bermas about why Epstein's archives are missing the period between 1999 and 2001. What did Epstein have to do with 9/11?

  Join us live for Redacted today at 4 p.m. ET.

News By The Numbers

Photo credit: The New York Times

84. That was the age of Jesse Jackson when he died on Tuesday. His family informed The New York Times of his death but did not disclose the cause of death. He was famous for being a civil rights leader and politician who once ran for president.

$28,000. That is how much Jeffrey Epstein paid to the Texas Torah Institute, a Jewish school for boys in Dallas, Texas. The donation happened after Epstein's conviction for soliciting minors for prostitution. The school has refused to explain this.

$450 billion. That is how much Amazon lost in market value in the last nine days. The losing streak finally ended on Tuesday with shares up 1%.

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