Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie
“This is my fifth group of the many short principles that help clarify reasoning, decision-making, or analysis. I am featuring some of them in a series of posts, expositing a few of them each time. Some of these are insights into the worlds of public service and business.” 903/26/26)
Source: Wired
by Vittoria Elliott
“In the early hours of February 26, agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) arrived at Columbia University student housing. According to the school, the immigration officers told campus safety staff that they were police officers looking for a missing 5-year-old child. But once in the building, agents knocked on the dorm-room door of Elmina ‘Ellie’ Aghayeva, a student from Azerbaijan. When her roommate opened the door, agents quickly detained Aghayeva. … Columbia’s policy is to not allow federal agents onto nonpublic areas of the campus without a judicial warrant. Most immigration arrests, however, are based on administrative warrants, which do not require a judge’s sign-off. So how had ICE gotten onto university property? In the hours after Aghayeva’s detention, as students and faculty rallied against DHS, it became clear: ICE had lied. And, as it turns out, that’s (mostly) legal.” (03/26/26)
Source: New York Post
“Vile Philadelphia protestors cheered as a masked ringleader celebrated the death of US service members in shocking new footage – before calling for Hamas rockets to explode across American homes. ‘For every US soldier that returns home in a casket, we cheer,’ the provocateur shouted outside Philadelphia’s city hall, according to footage filmed by local conservative activist Frankie Scales. ‘Until we have done everything in our power to bring the United States to its knees, let us not lose sight of the enemy,’ the man yelled, with the crowd cheering loudly at each hateful invocation.” [editor’s note: There’s an easy way to end the cheering … bring the troops home. “Problem” solved – TLK] (03/26/26)
Source: CNBC
“British Airways is offering a financial incentive to its pilots who reduce their planes’ fuel consumption, as the U.S.-Iran war continues to plague travel and drive up jet fuel prices. The airline’s pilots would have to cut their aircraft’s carbon dioxide emissions by 60,000 tons more than their 2025 levels to receive a bonus worth 1% of their base pay, according to documents viewed by Bloomberg News and reported on Tuesday. … The initiative comes as global airlines continue to struggle with soaring jet fuel prices amid the U.S. war with Iran. Iran’s blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of global oil supply passes, has caused prices to surge to over $100 per barrel.” (03/26/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/26/british-airways-reward-pilots-cutting-fuel-costs-climb.html
Source: Roll Call
“March madness, gladness or sadness? Breaking down the month’s congressional primaries.” (03/26/26)
https://chrt.fm/track/D3F8DG/traffic.megaphone.fm/FISCAL3610385849.mp3
Source: Niskanen Center
“Reforming our way to dynamism, with Philip K. Howard.” (03/26/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/reforming-our-way-to-dynamism-with-philip-k-howard
Source: Semafor
by David Weigel
“The voters most keen to talk with political reporters are, typically, extremely engaged in politics. Most people will never attend a political rally in person, and most hang up when pollsters call. So it was useful and instructive to spend an evening listening to women who did vote, and had some worries about the country’s direction, but avoided most news. It underscored the challenge that Democrats and Republicans alike face reaching these voters.” (03/26/26)
Source: Persuasion
by Sam Kahn
“A couple of years ago, when AI had come onto the market and was clearly reshaping the society, I decided that I would have nothing to do with it—I would boycott. This decision was based partly on morals and partly on practicality—I suspected that, underneath the really impressive technological breakthrough, AI was still, essentially, a one-trick pony. And now that AI has evidently gone through another revolution, vastly improving itself in recent models and opening up a whole world of coding to the public at large, it seems like I should have to re-examine my decision to boycott—which, actually, is one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made. I am more adamant about it than ever.” (03/26/26)
Source: The Contrarian
by Jennifer Rubin
“No issue more defined Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns and two terms than promises surrounding illegal immigration, and no sentiment more defined the MAGA movement than vitriolic xenophobia. Getting a close look at what that means to most people seems to have repulsed Americans, thereby breaking Republicans’ grip on the issue. An enormous survey of nearly 5500 Americans (with a margin of error of only +/- 1.49%) from PRRI shows the extent of Americans’ distaste for mass deportation. Trump personally has lost the country. Overall, his approval is at a measly 36 percent (with only 28 percent from independents).” (03/26/26)
https://www.contrariannews.org/p/trump-blew-it-on-immigration
Source: The Verge
“Wikipedia will no longer allow editors to write or rewrite articles using AI. The update, which was added to Wikipedia’s guidelines late last week, cites the tendency for AI-written articles to violate ‘several of Wikipedia’s core content policies’ as the reason for the ban. The change applies to the English version of Wikipedia and will still allow editors to use AI in certain scenarios. That includes using large language models to ‘suggest basic copyedits’ to their writing, but only if it ‘does not introduce content of its own.’ Editors can also use AI to translate articles from another language’s Wikipedia into English. However, they still must follow the site’s rules on LLM-assisted translations, which require editors to have enough knowledge of the original language to confirm the accuracy of the translation.” (03/26/26)
https://www.theverge.com/tech/901461/wikipedia-ai-generated-article-ban