MY BOOK IN THE SALE WILL STAY ON SALE TILL THE WEE HOURS OF WEDNESDAY*:   The 2026 Spring Based Book Sale!  Runs Now Through Tuesday February 17, 2026.

Lots of free and 99c books by people who don’t hate your guts, though. I don’t require you not to read authors who hate you. We all have weaknesses. But give those of us on your side a chance.

*I’ll change it at midnight, but it’s not KU so it won’t change immediately.

OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend.

AND NOW A WORD FROM FORMER PRESIDENT HOPENCHANGE:

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.

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.”