Number 4. CNN. Old fishing nets are repurposed to catch new drones.
An alert reader in America’s deep south sent along this item that had somehow escaped the Alligator’s sharp-eyed review of the news. As a reward, said reader might receive a complimentary paid annual subscription to the ANR; which some might see as an implementation of our “No good deed shall go unpunished” rewards program.
The problem facing Ukraine: How to defeat thousands of tiny drones each carrying a small brick of explosives? At 5 lbs of black powder each, these are like super cherry bombs that will do serious damage to an individual but almost nothing to national infrastructure. They are instruments of harassment and terror more than determinative battlefield weapons, but they could sure ruin your day if you happened to catch one.
The low-tech solution for invading drones: Just put up a fishing net. It does not take much to stop a slow-moving drone, and thousands of Ukraine sympathizers across Europe have begun collecting used fishing nets and shipping them to the embattled country.
Busy streets are now shrouded with miles of new netting stretched between utility poles. Ukrainian power plants, the new “soft targets” at which Russia is aiming, are now being surrounded with nets made of polyethylene or even horse hair. Nets that formerly trapped salmon or protected tulips from cold temps have found new purpose. Old fishing nets across the Atlantic coast of Europe are being salvaged from deep-sea commercial vessels.
This has got to be infuriating for the Russians. And speaking of Russian tactics, what’s up with exploding drones carrying tiny 5 lb bombs, anyway? Don’t they have any fighter-bombers that can lay multiple 500 lb bombs on a power generating station?
This does not bode well for Russian propaganda. If they really wanted Ukraine — and it appears they really do — then where is their air power?
The Russian Aerospace Forces, which for some reason is known as the VKS, has somehow failed to establish air superiority in 4 years of combat. This probably has to do, at least in part, with losing 40 aircraft each of the vaunted Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot and the Su-34 Fullback, plus a couple of dozen Su-35s and Su-30s.
Like I know what any of those are. But nobody wants to lose 100+ military aircraft when they are trying to subdue a foe.
Facing the Russians from the Ukranian side are scores of F-16s and an unspecified number of French Mirages and Swedish Saab Gripens.
Other than the F-16s, I don’t know what those are either, but it sounds like they have put points on the board against the VKS.
It is an odd war. Fighter jets and fishing nets. I guess you do what you gotta do, and you use what you have.
Number 3. Yahoo News. Chinese billionaires breed mega-families of new US citizen babies.
Breeding is not just for dogs and horses anymore; now it’s for human babies of surrogate mothers.
A number of wealthy Chinese businessmen are seeking to establish huge families through the use of surrogates. At a cost of some $200,000 per child, some Chinese are arranging to hire American women to bear their children. The father’s “genetic material” is shipped to the US. The woman is paid to carry the child to term and then surrender the baby.
The practice began as “birth tourism,” where a pregnant Chinese woman would come to America, deliver her baby and return home with the child. The baby is only on-shore in the USA for a week or so, but because of our modern application of the 160-year-old 14th Amendment, US citizenship is granted to the child.
With technology, birth tourism morphed into remote surrogacy, and now the practice is becoming widespread among Chinese elite.
One businessman has aimed at 100 off-spring. Another has targeted 20, and he prefers boys because he considers them superior to girls.
Hey, I’m just reporting what the news article said.
The Supreme Court has said it will review the 14th this year, and it is probably well past time to do so. The Amendment was one of the so-called “Civil War Amendments,” alongside the 13th and 15th. They were basically adopted to forever banish slavery from the USA, and ensure the equal treatment of slaves and their off-spring.
The 14th grants US citizenship to the children of any person (i.e. a former slave) who would, after the war, be treated as a US citizen. The language is, “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Babies born in the US to parents who are, for example, foreign diplomats are NOT “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and thus are not considered citizens purely by virtue of having been born here.
Meanwhile, producing 20 children, or 100, through a legal-medical-technological arrangement across a 7,000 mile ocean sounds more like a visionary, inter-generational business plan than a family. I’m not sure that was the intent of that “be fruitful and multiply” thing back in the Garden of Eden.
(For more on this, see Peter Schweizer’s new book “The Invisible Coup.” When you read it, put a short synopsis in the comments below so we can all see what it says.)
Number 2. CBS News. The Texas power grid stays alive in the winter storm. Or does it?
Texas was once again hit by seriously cold and inclement winter weather last week, but for most in the Lone Star state, the electricity thankfully stayed on. Outages were limited to local power lines down… nothing unexpected there.
This was in sharp contrast to the event 5 years ago when much of Texas went dark. In 2021, over 4 million homes went without power for several days. This time, the lights stayed on. Governor Abbot claimed victory: “The grid has never been more prepared for a winter storm like this.”
Yes… but what of that grid?
Power in Texas has undergone a revolution in the last two decades, from pure reliance on natural gas, coal and nuclear, to wind and solar. Reports indicate that under normal circumstances, 63% of Texas’ power is provided by those alternative means.
During the most recent storm, those alternatives ran out of juice in less than 48 hours.
The Gov also claimed credit for standing up a power grid that could withstand the type of storm that occurred this month, precisely BECAUSE Texas retained the ability to create electricity out of fossil fuels.
The US has basically three power grids that keep our lights and our all-important cell phones and web-enabled devices working: One in the east, one in the west… and one in Texas. Each grid is interconnected within itself. A hurricane in Florida creates power outages, and electricity automatically flows into the vacuum from the rest of the eastern grid. The same is true for the west, and for Texas, but only WITHIN each grid.
When Texas suffers a power outage, no juice flows across the Red River or the Llano Estacado to come to their aid. Texas, with all that southern open rangeland, has plenty of wind and solar, and it is very good they can harness it. (Good, at least, as long as it can pay for itself, on which point I am a little fuzzy. Not really sure what role the federal subsidies —aka my tax dollars — play in that arena.)
But basically, it’s a great plan, if you ignore the fact that interconnecting millions of miles of high voltage electric cables turns each grid into a giant receptor for an EMP strike. We have known about that vulnerability for about 20 years now, but never mind… an Electromagnetic Pulse event is too gruesome to contemplate. Let’s stay in the shallow end of the pool where the blissful ignorance is.
My conclusion is this: Without serious, long-term, cost-effective reliance on fossils and nukes, Texas would once again have left millions in the dark this month.
Number 1. USA Today. Turning Point USA turns away from Bad Bunny for Super Bowl.
Nothing says American God-and-Country celebration like a male Puerto Rican cross-dresser in a pink minidress and heels who refuses to speak English.
NFL leadership, one Roger Goodell by name, announced months ago that this year’s halftime show at Superbowl LX would be headlined by Bad Bunny. Mr. Bunny is the performer most downloaded on Spotify in 2025. He is also an outspoken opponent of the Trump administration’s border control efforts (and probably everything else Trump), and he has said we should all learn Spanish to enjoy his show to the fullest.
Not exactly what I picture as the quintessential American hero.
The very public assassination of Charlie Kirk of politically conservative Turning Point USA last September spurred a huge upswing of interest in TPUSA across high school and college campuses. The organization, now led by widow Erika Kirk, has announced their alternative to the Bad Bunny halftime show.
It would be hard to conceive of two characters more ideologically opposed than Bad Bunny and Charlie Kirk. Kid Rock, an outspoken supporter of President Trump, is this year’s TPUSA choice for alternative headline entertainment.
Personally, I am torn between the satisfying outrage I usually experience at the Superbowl halftime performance on the one hand, and the patriotic affirmation that would be expected from Kid Rock on the other.
Okay… to be honest, that’s not exactly how my halftime experience works. I am usually torn between a second helping of either nacho cheese or the hot wings.
As far as half-time entertainment goes, what would be wrong with a Drum and Bugle Corp show? (Have you ever seen the Blue Devils perform? Or the Santa Clara Vanguard?) Or better yet, how about a simple high school band chosen by lottery? That would be a life-changer for 16-year-olds.
For that matter, Bad Bunny may also be a life-changer for those who immerse themselves in his worldview.
If you want to view the Kid Rock thing, find it on YouTube. Search for TPUSA.
And thanks for joining The Alligator News Roundup for Friday, February 6, 2026. The year is 10 percent gone already. Whatever you wanted to accomplish, it may be time to get started.
Have a good weekend!
