heh, well done Google AI. But seriously, of course Mr. Free Speech Warrior/Lock him up for bad speed Musk is building Starlink with Chinese funds. It would be surprising if he wasn't, frankly. www.propublica.org/article/elon...

Predictably gross. Most unAmerican president ever.
thehill.com/homenews/adm...

Gigi Sohn joined me to talk about the Senate Hearing yesterday with Secretary of Commerce Lutnick that touched on the Trump Admin delaying rural Internet access grants. Our quick reaction is here along with a discussion about the FCC losing its quorum soon... communitynetworks.org/content/bead...

EPC followed the rules and helped Louisiana rapidly plan to get fiber to nearly every rural resident lacking decent Internet access. They came in under budget but the Trump Administration paused everything and they might lose it all. Listen to their story - communitynetworks.org/content/bead...

Enjoyed talking more about the BEAD rural Internet access investment program with Evan Feinman that Trump is preparing to scale back. We talked about what they got wrong in setting it up, where they disagree with criticism, and why we need to make sure broadband decisions should be made locally.

Comcast starting to adjust to competition in more and more areas. They were effective for years at delaying and decreasing the threat of competition but it is here, perhaps temporarily. We'll see more M&A that will remove the threat. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

Evan Feinman ran the BEAD program to connect rural Americans to great broadband Internet access at reasonable prices. Now he says the Trump Administration is likely to force people into slower satellite connections that cost them much more each month. We explore what is happening and why

Jumped on the mic with Sascha Meinrath to discuss what is going on - when is NTIA going to decide whether to screw rural households out of coming improved Internet access? Just how wrong is Ezra Klein's criticism of Biden BEAD? Does Sascha have an answer to being accused of catastrophism? (yes)

North Texas has embarked on a project to connect schools with E-Rate and take advantage of the construction to create new economic development opportunities and help area ISPs improve their services. Win win. Thanks to Michael K. for sharing info on his 26k sq mi project!

In Colorado's Front Range, Longmont's NextLight municipal fiber network just keeps growing in popularity. It broke ground 10 years ago, but I still think of it as one the "new" ones. 2 out of 3 households now trust it with their Internet access and it will pay off debt in 2029. What a success!

Basic science is pretty important. What did we spend on the James Webb telescope? $10 billion.

Was it worth it to get pretty pictures of the sky? Probably...

But now to get a better sense of the Armageddon (movie) threat from this asteroid? Definitely. arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...

A wonderful book that explores how the United States originally aimed to prevent monopolies of power from controlling our lives is now on sale on Kindle - I'm a huge fan of Barry Lynn ... on sale today if you read on Kindle... Liberty From All Masters www.amazon.com/dp/B084M1CR2...

Hrm. Emerging? Nice of him to notice but it has emerged. And it isn't just the Republicans - guy should read the Chickenshit Club by @jeisinger.bsky.social after he retires from office.

In the same book ... a reminder that the corruption coming from the Trump Administration is precedented. Regarding the Pullman Strike... Richard Olney was Attorney General for Cleveland while being paid by rail monopolies. We've been here before...

For no reason at all, this passage from HW Brands' American Colossus book is speaking to me. Written about the Gilded Age... the quotation finishes: "Whatever don't is free trade."

Tariffs could be used strategically on key industries but tend to really be about corruption.

What kind of FCC Chair will Carr be? I'm guessing unconstitutional toadie. VP Harris has nothing to do with BEAD. Congress created the red tape that NTIA implemented. Carr will run the FCC which was deliberately sidelined by Congress in this program because of Carr and Pai's epic failure on RDOF.