Fred Dews
@freddews.bsky.social
Genealogy / family history | Master Gunner | He/Him
The 2020 presidential election is just this no-go zone for Google's AI chatbot. See comparison to other presidential elections on the question of how many Electoral College votes the winner got in each from 1992-2024. Answers for all except 2020, where it offers "See note below"
October 28, 2026 at 7:09 PM
The 2020 presidential election is just this no-go zone for Google's AI chatbot. See comparison to other presidential elections on the question of how many Electoral College votes the winner got in each from 1992-2024. Answers for all except 2020, where it offers "See note below"
Ask about ANY OTHER presidential election except 2020 and 2024 who won, and it will tell you. For 2020, it just refers to the official records of the FEC and a link to a PDF there.
October 28, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Ask about ANY OTHER presidential election except 2020 and 2024 who won, and it will tell you. For 2020, it just refers to the official records of the FEC and a link to a PDF there.
Reposted by Fred Dews
one of those columns of mine you can tell was written in a research library dedicated to the early republic
Opinion | Trump Cannot Be the End of the Story (Gift Article)
Trump has no use for pretense and he’s not interested in playing along.
www.nytimes.com
October 28, 2026 at 11:33 AM
one of those columns of mine you can tell was written in a research library dedicated to the early republic
"I'm your huckleberry."
Happy 145th anniversary of the gunfight at (or near) the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, to all who celebrate. Fun fact: Doc Holliday set out to be a dentist, but contracted TB and never could make a practice stick. He went out to the West from Georgia for the dry climate.
Happy 145th anniversary of the gunfight at (or near) the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, to all who celebrate. Fun fact: Doc Holliday set out to be a dentist, but contracted TB and never could make a practice stick. He went out to the West from Georgia for the dry climate.
October 27, 2026 at 12:13 AM
"I'm your huckleberry."
Happy 145th anniversary of the gunfight at (or near) the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, to all who celebrate. Fun fact: Doc Holliday set out to be a dentist, but contracted TB and never could make a practice stick. He went out to the West from Georgia for the dry climate.
Happy 145th anniversary of the gunfight at (or near) the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, to all who celebrate. Fun fact: Doc Holliday set out to be a dentist, but contracted TB and never could make a practice stick. He went out to the West from Georgia for the dry climate.
Accessibility for people with disabilities, like ramp cuts at street intersections (also great for people pushing strollers, carts, walkers, etc). Just a whole range of accessibility awareness (all remains ripe for improvement but didn’t exist when I was young)
Social media loves talking about how everything is getting worse. But what’s something that you’ve seen get _better_ in your lifetime?
October 24, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Accessibility for people with disabilities, like ramp cuts at street intersections (also great for people pushing strollers, carts, walkers, etc). Just a whole range of accessibility awareness (all remains ripe for improvement but didn’t exist when I was young)
Will anyone in the Pentagon have the courage to say “no sir” to this grotesque idea?
This is shameful. It speaks to a character that enjoys turning power into violence. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Fort Hood shooter’s execution will be live-streamed, Defense Dept. says
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday about the firing squad execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 9, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Will anyone in the Pentagon have the courage to say “no sir” to this grotesque idea?
Perverted if true.
BREAKING US execution by firing squad of Fort Hood shooter to be livestreamed: Pentagon official
October 8, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Perverted if true.
Reposted by Fred Dews
"By using AI, tasks like essays that used to take hours can be completed in minutes!"
Sure, like how if I arrive at the gym and immediately go for a shower, my workout is done in record time. And if I throw my sandwiches straight in the bin, I can finish my lunch in under 10 seconds.
Sure, like how if I arrive at the gym and immediately go for a shower, my workout is done in record time. And if I throw my sandwiches straight in the bin, I can finish my lunch in under 10 seconds.
October 6, 2026 at 7:36 AM
"By using AI, tasks like essays that used to take hours can be completed in minutes!"
Sure, like how if I arrive at the gym and immediately go for a shower, my workout is done in record time. And if I throw my sandwiches straight in the bin, I can finish my lunch in under 10 seconds.
Sure, like how if I arrive at the gym and immediately go for a shower, my workout is done in record time. And if I throw my sandwiches straight in the bin, I can finish my lunch in under 10 seconds.
Reposted by Fred Dews
The government *still* isn’t tracking how often immigration agents detain U.S. citizens.
We are.
500+ Americans have been handcuffed, held at gunpoint or held against their will in Trump’s second term.
Our tally is almost certainly an undercount.
THREAD (content warning: violence) ⬇️
We are.
500+ Americans have been handcuffed, held at gunpoint or held against their will in Trump’s second term.
Our tally is almost certainly an undercount.
THREAD (content warning: violence) ⬇️
October 6, 2026 at 11:30 AM
The government *still* isn’t tracking how often immigration agents detain U.S. citizens.
We are.
500+ Americans have been handcuffed, held at gunpoint or held against their will in Trump’s second term.
Our tally is almost certainly an undercount.
THREAD (content warning: violence) ⬇️
We are.
500+ Americans have been handcuffed, held at gunpoint or held against their will in Trump’s second term.
Our tally is almost certainly an undercount.
THREAD (content warning: violence) ⬇️
Reposted by Fred Dews
My grandfather, who is 102 and a medical doctor, has told me about the times before polio was cured. Most years, upon returning to school after summer’s break, there would be some children would didn’t make it back to school because of polio.
“On Thursday, Mr. Gorton said that “the success of the polio vaccine was a massive medical fraud” and that widespread vaccination was a “public health disaster.” He received a standing ovation…
Mr. Kennedy spoke next, linking arms with the group even as measles cases continue to rise”
Mr. Kennedy spoke next, linking arms with the group even as measles cases continue to rise”
RFK Jr. Assures Vaccine Skeptics They Have a ‘Friend at the White House’
The health secretary spoke at a conference featuring misinformation about vaccines, including a claim that the success of the polio vaccines was a “fraud.”
www.nytimes.com
September 18, 2026 at 1:56 AM
My grandfather, who is 102 and a medical doctor, has told me about the times before polio was cured. Most years, upon returning to school after summer’s break, there would be some children would didn’t make it back to school because of polio.
Reposted by Fred Dews
Delighted to have joined The Beijing Brief podcast from Taipei for a discussion of Taiwan's defense policy and security environment with Ryan Hass and Jon Czin! www.brookings.edu/articles/how...
How secure is Taiwan? The view from Taipei | Brookings
Ryan Hass and Jon Czin are joined by Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Caitlin Talmadge for a special episode of The Beijing Brief from on the ground in Taipei. Drawing on conversations with Taiwane...
www.brookings.edu
August 18, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Delighted to have joined The Beijing Brief podcast from Taipei for a discussion of Taiwan's defense policy and security environment with Ryan Hass and Jon Czin! www.brookings.edu/articles/how...
Sympathy for this couple but … leopards eating peoples faces and all that.
As you read this account of state terror & maltreatment of a woman snatched arbitrarily from her husband’s side, consider that hers is one of the better briefer such ICE atrocities daily documented & that her husband wished & enabled this hell on countless others.
www.nytimes.com/2026/08/16/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/08/16/u...
He Was a MAGA Patriot. ICE Took His Wife Away.
The case represents a new front in President Trump’s mass deportation drive: arrests at airports of people who have active immigration cases and no criminal history.
www.nytimes.com
August 16, 2026 at 12:46 PM
Sympathy for this couple but … leopards eating peoples faces and all that.
Reposted by Fred Dews
So literally anything but gun control
What Could Go Wrong?
Schools in at least three states will be equipped with drones this year that can zoom through halls, smash windows and pepper-spray active shooters if teachers report a threat. The drones are capable of reaching a shooter within 15 seconds.
Schools in at least three states will be equipped with drones this year that can zoom through halls, smash windows and pepper-spray active shooters if teachers report a threat. The drones are capable of reaching a shooter within 15 seconds.
Schools are adding pepper-spraying drones to help combat active shooters
The plastic, nonlethal aircraft, which can smash windows and ram attackers, will be at the ready in a handful of schools in Florida, Georgia and Colorado.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 29, 2026 at 12:06 PM
So literally anything but gun control
Without saying your age what is your favorite movie from the year you turned 18
July 26, 2026 at 11:07 PM
Without saying your age what is your favorite movie from the year you turned 18
Reposted by Fred Dews
How close are China and Russia, really? For The Beijing Brief, Fiona Hill and Patricia M. Kim sit down with Jonathan A. Czin to unpack the surprisingly complicated relationship between Beijing and Moscow.
No limits? Testing the China-Russia relationship | Brookings
The Ukraine war, shifting American foreign policy priorities under President Trump, and increased global instability have shifted the balance in the China-Russia relationship, one of the world’s most ...
brook.gs
July 15, 2026 at 5:56 PM
How close are China and Russia, really? For The Beijing Brief, Fiona Hill and Patricia M. Kim sit down with Jonathan A. Czin to unpack the surprisingly complicated relationship between Beijing and Moscow.
Reposted by Fred Dews
Buck up, US fans. The women’s World Cup is less than a year away.
July 7, 2026 at 1:51 AM
Buck up, US fans. The women’s World Cup is less than a year away.
Reposted by Fred Dews
In the well-over 100,000 documents written by founders included in the Founders Online database from the National Archives, no one uses the phrase "God's noble experiment."
No one.
No one.
July 6, 2026 at 1:01 AM
In the well-over 100,000 documents written by founders included in the Founders Online database from the National Archives, no one uses the phrase "God's noble experiment."
No one.
No one.
Reposted by Fred Dews
The Declaration of Independence remains an unfinished promise. On the season finale of Democracy in Question, host Katie Dunn Tenpas talks with historian Heather Cox Richardson about what the Declaration means today, and how its ideals depend on Americans to defend, expand, and reinvent them.
Heather Cox Richardson on defending the Declaration’s democratic ideals | Brookings
On the final episode of Democracy in Question’s third season, host Katie Dunn Tenpas speaks with historian Heather Cox Richardson about the Declaration of Independence as a whole and its relevance tod...
brook.gs
July 2, 2026 at 2:49 PM
The Declaration of Independence remains an unfinished promise. On the season finale of Democracy in Question, host Katie Dunn Tenpas talks with historian Heather Cox Richardson about what the Declaration means today, and how its ideals depend on Americans to defend, expand, and reinvent them.
Weird! And the president continues to debase the majestic dignity of the Medal of Honor when he thinks it's an award he can give to anyone, including himself, just because he feels like it.
Trump: I see my two beautiful sons sitting there. I think I'm going to give one medal of honor to myself, one to them, and we'll have a threesome.
July 1, 2026 at 8:24 PM
Weird! And the president continues to debase the majestic dignity of the Medal of Honor when he thinks it's an award he can give to anyone, including himself, just because he feels like it.
Reposted by Fred Dews
The ruling in the Birthright Citizenship case makes it crystal clear that the embrace of "originalism" by conservative justices, to interpret the meaning of our constitution, goes only so far as it is useful in bringing about a desired result. Today we saw how easily they are willing to abandon it.
June 30, 2026 at 3:05 PM
The ruling in the Birthright Citizenship case makes it crystal clear that the embrace of "originalism" by conservative justices, to interpret the meaning of our constitution, goes only so far as it is useful in bringing about a desired result. Today we saw how easily they are willing to abandon it.
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With this ruling, the birthright issue is not going away. The right hasn't really begun *organizing* around getting rid of the citizenship clause. Like Roe, this will be their fight for a generation. And if the Democrats just say "we won" and ignore it, like Roe, the Republicans will eventually win.
June 30, 2026 at 3:37 PM
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Reposted by Fred Dews
An open letter, to readers, about Charity and Sylvia. I am very pained to feel the need to write this. #queerhistory #pride
June 30, 2026 at 1:30 AM
An open letter, to readers, about Charity and Sylvia. I am very pained to feel the need to write this. #queerhistory #pride
Media Strategy 101: ask ONE question.
Q: What's the latest you've heard from the Vice President? Are you happy with his negotiations? And can you share what Secretary Rubio will be doing this week?
Trump: Our secretary is fantastic. I think he's maybe going to go down as the best ever. And I thought JD, he's uhhhh a very smart guy
Trump: Our secretary is fantastic. I think he's maybe going to go down as the best ever. And I thought JD, he's uhhhh a very smart guy
June 22, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Media Strategy 101: ask ONE question.
Reposted by Fred Dews
Sometimes symbolic victories matter. And for a community of LGBTQ Floridians in Miami Beach, restoring their rainbow sidewalk demolished by Gov. Ron DeSantis is a huge victory.
@citizencohn.bsky.social goes to Miami Beach to speak with members of the community and explore the city's history.
@citizencohn.bsky.social goes to Miami Beach to speak with members of the community and explore the city's history.
June 22, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Sometimes symbolic victories matter. And for a community of LGBTQ Floridians in Miami Beach, restoring their rainbow sidewalk demolished by Gov. Ron DeSantis is a huge victory.
@citizencohn.bsky.social goes to Miami Beach to speak with members of the community and explore the city's history.
@citizencohn.bsky.social goes to Miami Beach to speak with members of the community and explore the city's history.