February 15, 2026

OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend.

Posted at 9:30 pm by Glenn Reynolds

AND NOW A WORD FROM FORMER PRESIDENT HOPENCHANGE:

Posted at 5:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

HERE’S A REVIEW OF THE Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 2.0. “Smith & Wesson revamped its Bodyguard 380 and may have created the best handgun in that caliber.

Here are my thoughts.

Posted at 5:00 pm by Glenn Reynolds

THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY IN MUNICH:

Making a reference to the infamous occasion in 1938 when the British prime minister flew to Munich to meet with Adolf Hitler in an act of appeasement, Newsom continued: “We’re all becoming Chamberlains in this space. People have to stand up.” The moderator of the panel didn’t press Newsom on quite where Trump fitted into that particular analogy.*

While certainly not as inflammatory in what she said, Ocasio-Cortez was similarly direct in her criticism of the Trump administration. Speaking on a panel exploring the rise of populism, the congresswoman declared that this was a moment in time where “we are seeing our presidential administration tear apart the transatlantic partnership, rip up every democratic norm”. Joining Whitmer later on a panel discussing the “seismic shifts in US foreign policy”, Ocasio-Cortez expanded on her point, theorising that “as the president struggles at home, in my view, he is making rash decisions globally.”

Does the AOC of 2026 remember the AOC of 2019, when she was making an endless serious of rash decisions and wanting to rip up every democratic norm in a power grab to ban all the things?

Also, why would AOC bother running for president to take office in 2029, when the world will be coming to an end in 2030?

* I’m not sure if the moderator needed to: Watch Faces of Germans As Gavin Newsom Compares America’s National Guard to Nazi Stormtroopers (Video).

“Our favorite part is how he pats the one German on the shoulder like, ‘Hey bro, you get it, right?'”

Exit quote: “He just handed the GOP a great campaign ad … so we guess we should all thank him for his efforts.”

Posted at 4:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

CUNY “LAW” SCHOOL: CUNY to Host Talk On Hamas Tunnels as “Resistance to Colonialization”.

Grok tells me: “It’s the only law school in the U.S. explicitly founded to train outstanding public interest lawyers. The focus is on social justice, serving underrepresented communities, enhancing diversity in the legal profession, and progressive legal education. It integrates traditional doctrinal study with hands-on “lawyering” skills, clinics, and ethics training—praised by groups like the Carnegie Foundation as a national leader in practice-ready education.”

So there’s that.

Posted at 3:34 pm by Charlie Martin

TRUMP, CALL OFF THE ATTACKS ON IRAN — THEIR NEW STEALTH TECHNOLOGY IS UNBEATABLE!

Posted at 2:44 pm by Ed Driscoll

THEY WON’T LET YOU? No water or electricity, and children begging in streets filled with rubbish – but this is why I won’t leave Cuba. “In the pit of an economic slump, the island has gone from being run-down and picturesque to a horror show. The economy contracted by 11% between 2019 and 2024, with a further 5% fall through September 2025. Rubbish fills the streets, picked over by burgeoning bands of beggars. Rolling power cuts rack the island, spoiling the little food people have in their fridges, and making it hard to sleep. Anyone who protests is met with authoritarian force.”

If you want to leave, but are afraid of missing it, you might want to check out Zohran Mamdani’s New York.

Related: The Coming Revolution Down South: Will Cuba be Libre soon, and if so what happens next? And after that?

Posted at 2:15 pm by Glenn Reynolds

QUESTION ASKED: Why Has Nancy Guthrie’s Case Become America’s Only Story?

None of this diminishes the anguish of the Guthrie family. Their grief is real and ideally should remain private as law enforcement officials investigate their mother’s disappearance. But cable news is not a family support group. They will exploit any story to capture your eyes. When coverage becomes wall-to-wall, it is all you will see.

The disappearance of Nancy Guthrie was not picked up by the media because of the scale of the event but because of the status of those involved. Cable news executives know that name recognition, tragedy, and uncertainty are the main ingredients of a media product that keeps viewers engaged. As cable news continues to fixate on this open investigation, there is one question Americans should ask: What other stories are obscured by these walls of one-track coverage?

Meanwhile, at America’s Newspaper of Record:

Posted at 2:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

GOODER AND HARDER, LA: The depressing decline of America’s most glamorous city laid bare… and the final straw that sealed its fate.

It was a pop culture paradise in the early 2000s, with throngs of fans lining the streets every night in the hope of spotting their favorite stars.

But the glitter is gone in Hollywood, according to one expert who says the City of Angels is officially dead.

‘In the year 2000, It was just a utopia. Everybody wanted to come to LA. Everyone wanted to party in LA,’ Real Estate Agent and native Angeleno, Makan Mostafavi told the Daily Mail.

‘The economy was great, everyone had money. Nobody complained about rent or payments or bills or any kind of headaches. Everybody was well off. Everybody was happy. Nobody had any kind of stress and everybody just had a great time.

‘[Now], when you do go out, everyone around you is so stressed out from rent bills, just stressed of everyday life, with everything that’s going on – the homeless, the crime, the high taxes, the just terrible road conditions.

‘It’s just not as fun anymore.’

And yet, they’ll continue to vote for politicians who advocate for more homelessness, more crime, and more terrible roads. (Actually, in California, fewer roads, but the ones that remain will be very terrible indeed.)

Earlier: Seen The Lights Go Out On Sunset. “The Movie business, like the Rock business, has always existed as a delicate balance between art and commerce… too much of the former and you get a bohemian artists colony that struggles to connect with an audience and where no one is making any money… too much of the latter and you get the modern ‘content’ business, where no one is having any fun… I’ll leave it to you to decide which problem has turned out the lights on Sunset Boulevard.”

Posted at 1:14 pm by Ed Driscoll