Stephen C. Rea

it's worth noting 1) that there's a longstanding tradition of trying to play solidarity against basic self-respect and 2) that the Combahee River Collective's coining of the term "identity politics" was directly in response to this

Stormfront is still down. The last time it was down even remotely this long was after Charlottesville. I'm really hoping Don took my advice and just lets it stay dead. I haven't gotten a reply from him and don't expect one. I probably irritated the shit out of him.

“.. local governments are increasingly pushing back. .. Local officials in cities in Oregon, Missouri, Virginia, Arizona and Indiana have also rejected planned data centers.”

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

The AI concerns include its “potential to kill jobs and increase the cost of living, with many voters objecting to the spread of data centers that require huge amounts of electricity.”

@bloomberg.com
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Glad you liked it!

Something to keep in mind.

A small brown dog with a bright green color burying her face in the corner of her bed, which is black with red, orange, yellow, brown, and gray stripes

2025, in a nutshell

🙌

Trump Signs Executive Order to Neuter State A.I. Laws The order would create one federal regulatory framework for artificial intelligence, Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Breaking News: President Trump signed an executive order to neuter state laws placing limits on the A.I. industry. The order is likely to be challenged in court by states and consumer groups on the grounds that only Congress has the authority to override state laws, experts said.

@doughboys.bsky.social

Judge orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be immediately released from immigration detention A federal judge in Maryland has ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed from immigration detention while his legal challenge against his deportation moves forward. U.S.

BREAKING: Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been released from immigration detention after a federal judge's order Thursday, his attorney's office says.

Trump calls affordability a "hoax."

Meanwhile, a Joint Economic Committee report estimates that his tariffs have cost the average household an extra $1,200 this year.

Tariffs are regressive — taking a higher percentage out of the paychecks of working people than the rich.

"New Golden Age."

EVERCORE: MAGA divisions over AI are combining with “progressives worried about the concentration of power among tech companies .. If these tensions .. bubble over, .. markets will have to reconsider how policy speed bumps could slow the AI acceleration that has fueled market and macro growth.”

And *expensive*

Indiana’s Senate has voted AGAINST the GOP gerrymander that’d have locked in a 9-0 map.

This keeps the 7-2 map in place, saving two Democratic seats heading into 2026.

The vote failed big, 19/31.

The MAJORITY of the GOP senators opposed it!

Spam/scam emails in my inbox: “JGWII/Debt AMK/104870083: Dashboard Metrics... Say goodbye to credit card debt with JG... 11:46 AM Autoll/Insurance ZGG/Usage Report 104870083 - Das... ATTN : Your Affordable Auto Insurance O... 11:45 AM Credit/Care MMMM Renewal KPI Daily Trends - 11... MMMM Renewal KPI Daily Trends - 11 D...”

Anyone else getting these sorts of emails? I’ve been getting dozens a day for months now. Always report as spam and/or phishing, yet they don’t stop. What org has my email address?

Ooh, good point (that’s how I did, too!). In which case, why not start with Best of Both Worlds I & II? It’s arguably the anchor for the entire series, and kinda the pivot point where TNG starts getting great.

Then again, maybe best to ease in with great one-offs like Darmok or Inner Light?

Allison Jones is about to go on a generational run

"Even the term 'Artificial Intelligence' itself is widely misused, with conceptual unclarity coopted to advance industry agendas ... It is our task to demystify and to challenge 'AI' in our teaching, research and in our engagement with society."

openletter.earth/open-letter-...

Their new theme song:

La Mancha Screwjob We push through the fourth wall and travel 400 years into the past to unmask our obsession with authenticity and our desire to walk the line between reality and fantasy.

Btw, have you ever listened to the Radiolab episode about The Montreal Screwjob and Don Quixote? Pretty great:

We didn’t have cable, so I lived vicariously through others haha

Just gonna put this out there: “a house where the soap operas of the WWE were debated the way some families debate politics” is classist af

What I like about @jonbois.bsky.social--who I like to call "our greatest living storyteller"--is that even his sports videos have something for non-sports fans. Ymmv, but, for example, I learned about what a badass Alan Page is thanks to his series on the Minnesota Vikings

Anyway, back in September, Media Justice produced a great report about data center refusal efforts in the South, historically one of the biggest targets of environmental racism in the U.S. The AI boom is the latest chapter in that history

3) One of the organizers described the "heartbreaking" tension that exists between their efforts and some local labor unions because union members want the close-to-home construction jobs (even though they are relatively short-term).

Something something "tech oligarch divide and conquer strategy"

Asked and answered: Fermi America : Amarillo Tribune Question: What is the distinction between the names “President Donald J. Trump Advanced Energy Campus” and “Project Matador?” Answer: The name of the site is the “President Donald J. Trump Advanced En...

2) Fermi America's data center site for Project Matador in the TX panhandle will be called the "President Donald J. Trump Advanced Energy Campus." And who co-founded Fermi? Former TX governor, Trump 1.0's Energy Secretary, and all-around bigoted shitbag Rick Perry

Arizona prisons shift from physical to digital mail, families say it ‘dehumanizes’ loved ones Arizona's new policy shifts inmate mail to digital scans starting Dec. 15, aiming to curb contraband. However, families worry about its impact on loved ones.

1) AZ's prisons recently decided to stop delivering mail to inmates, and are instead routing mail to TX where it's scanned and delivered via digital kiosks. TX data centers are part of the process. As the organizer put it, they're seeking new ways to be cruel: