#johnkennedy #DavidBier #catoinstitute #ice #dhs

There is no doubt that republicans have some really, really, really stupid people representing them , John Kennedy is one of them , David Bier obliterated his argument about mass deportation of this administration not being “ ethnic cleansing “, also Kennedy doesn’t know that “ BlueSky “ is pronounced “ Blue Sky” , Kennedy pronounced it “ Blue Ski “, you can watch it in the video in the article.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/3/10/2372531/-Watch-GOP-senator-get-owned-after-trying-gotcha-question

Weekly output: teens + AI chatbots, Android updates, Trump on data-center energy use, Archer + Starlink, balcony solar, customer feedback, CDA 230 + AI, Bluetooth updates

BARCELONA–It’s a treat to be able to start off a post with this dateline. This is the 13th trip that’s afforded me that opportunity and the 12th involving MWC. But this trip isn’t like the ones before it in one way; on my way across the Atlantic, my country started a war of choice because the president felt like it. The world is better without Iran’s worthless, murdering theocrat Ali Khameni, but I have little confidence in the Trump administration’s ability to do the right things for that long-suffering country.

In addition to the links you see below, Patreon readers got a bonus post from me in which I shared lessons learned from more than 10 years of booking Airbnbs.

2/24/2026: Most Teens Use AI for Homework Help. 10% Let It Do Everything, PCMag

Getting an advance copy of this new study from the Pew Research Center gave me a chance to note a new student-understudy chatbot called Einstein and quiz the CEO behind that app.

2/25/2026: Android Update Puts Gemini AI In the Driver’s Seat for Ride-Hail, Food Orders, PCMag

I have somehow become PCMag’s Android-updates guy. This report included a little testimony about Google’s call-scam-detection feature misfiring for me, an important bit of context to include in a post telling readers about Google bringing that tool to Samsung’s new Galaxy S26 series of phones.

2/25/2026: As Energy Costs Soar, Trump Pushes AI Giants to ‘Produce Their Own Electricity’, PCMag

I didn’t watch the entire State of the Union address because self-care is an important thing, but after reading about President Trump’s call for data-center operators to pay for their electricity and power infrastructure, I knew I’d have to write about that initiative.

2/27/2028: Archer Aviation Taps Starlink for Air Taxi Connectivity, PCMag

I still don’t quite get the point of adding Starlink connectivity to aircraft that won’t fly longer than 15 minutes or higher than 4,000 feet above major cities, but this was an easy post to crank out Friday morning before heading to Dulles that afternoon to start my journey to Spain.

2/28/2026: After Years of Shining in Europe, Balcony Solar Comes Out of the Dark in the US, PCMag

This story had been in the works for literally months–I took the photo you see at the top of the piece on the afternoon that I arrived in Berlin for IFA in September–but the policy picture has also changed dramatically, and for the better, over the intervening months.

2/28/2026: What’s the Best Way to Get Customer Feedback in 2026? Hint: It’s Not Email, PCMag

Two weeks after the customer-experience firm Medallia had me at its annual conference in Vegas (with my hotel covered upfront and my airfare to be reimbursed), PCMag ran my recap of what I learned there.

3/1/2026: Online Platforms Are Not Liable for What Users Post. Should That Include Gen AI?, PCMag

I spent Thursday at the Cato Institute for this enlightening conference marking the 30th anniversary of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the 1996 act that bars you from suing an online platform for something that one of its users posted.

3/1/2026: Bluetooth Is Getting an Upgrade. Here’s What It Means for Your Devices, PCMag

I took almost all of the notes for this at CES in January, but I needed more time to confirm some details and then write the post, after which its lack of a news peg left it easy to set aside for a bit.

#Libertarians Took Control of This Small Town in #NewHampshire. It Didn’t End Well.

A new book shows the troubling consequences of #GraftonNH’s anti-government experiment.

"Today, we are all living in Grafton. Armies of rabid bears are wandering through our streets, clawing at our window screens, and gnashing their teeth at our children while the phone rings unanswered at the state department of fish and game. The old village church is erupting in flames, but someone has slashed the tires on our town’s lone fire truck, and the fire hydrants—unmaintained for a decade—have all run dry. Terrified, we beg our neighbors for help, only to be told that the Lord will protect us, or that the cataclysm in the streets is just punishment for our moral failures or our political misdeeds."

by Elizabeth Austin
August 30, 2020

Excerpt: "Certainly, the author is not alone in finding cause for amusement in Grafton’s funny little basket of deplorables. For years now, reporters and pundits have chosen to focus on the style, rather than the policy substance, of the growing #LibertarianRight. Again and again, we read stories of rural rubes clad head to toe in #MAGA swag, hunched over chipped cutlery in dingy diners, wielding biscuits to wipe the last of the sausage gravy from their oversized plates while vociferously proclaiming that taxation is theft and inveighing against the nanny state. In choosing to shoot these red, white, and blue fish in a barrel, Hongoltz-Hetling is in very good company.

"But had the author not chosen snark over substance, his book could have served as a peculiarly timely cautionary tale, because the conflicting philosophical principles that drive this story are central to understanding American politics today. The differences between the libertarian stumblebums who moved to Grafton and the staff of the #Koch-funded #CatoInstitute are mostly sartorial. And the sad outcomes of Grafton’s wacky social experiment are now being repeated in American communities every single day. "

Read more:
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/08/30/libertarians-took-control-of-this-small-town-it-didnt-end-well/

#NHPol #FreeTownProject #Stupidity #Selfishness #FreeDumb #MAGACult #MAGASucks #SexOffenders #FreeStaters #GOP #Republicans

Edward Harrison Crane, Libertarian Movement Leader, Dies at 81

Edward Crane, a leader who helped the Cato Institute and libertarian ideas become well-known, has passed away at age 81. He worked for less government and more freedom.

#EdwardCrane, #Libertarian, #CatoInstitute, #Freedom, #Politics

https://newsletter.tf/edward-crane-libertarian-leader-dies-81/

Edward Crane, a very important person in the libertarian movement, has died. He was 81. Crane helped start the Cato Institute, a group that shares ideas about freedom and less government. He also worked with the Libertarian Party for many years.

#EdwardCrane, #Libertarian, #CatoInstitute, #Freedom, #Politics

https://newsletter.tf/edward-crane-libertarian-leader-dies-81/

According to #CatoInstitute #ThinkTank Analysis The #Tariff Tantrums Of Exec Branch Have Forced World To Move Away From Dealing With #USA

#Trade #Policy analysis by Duke #economics prof Scott Lincicome explores how #governments, companies, & citizens are all reducing reliance on increasingly-unreliable US sourcing and trading more with each other - a shift making #America weaker (and #China much stronger):

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-02-12/on-trade-and-tariffs-the-world-is-moving-on-from-the-us?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3MDkwMjk1MSwiZXhwIjoxNzcxNTA3NzUxLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUQUNCUzhLSVAzSkUwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJDQUZERUIwMjc0RkU0NTc0QjNCQzU5NDIwREEwODExQiJ9.h-KdPD6HykfKWMbnCGFkT240EjYtvg6S5tK9FlUCDw8 #GiftLink via #BloombergNews

Immigrants Cut U.S. Deficits by $14.5 Trillion—and the Right Still Lied

A conservative report confirms immigrants reduced U.S. deficits by $14.5T. The lies collapse, the data speaks, and the scapegoating is exposed.