Billy Ball

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine AI is taking over NC – but at what cost?

New BB Explains NC:

The data centers being built to run AI seem like a godsend to rural NC, and any place that's struggling.

But they come with red flags—skyrocketing utility bills, massive water consumption, and an ever-harder fight against climate change. 👇

www.youtube.com/watch?v=taN_...

What we're getting wrong about that Bad Bunny halftime show When politicians try to grasp on to an artist, the good ones always slip through their fingers. Bad Bunny is one of the good ones.

President Trump—who last week portrayed former President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes—called the show a "slap in the face." Some on the left wanted it to be that. But it was too joyous for that.

My take on Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show 👇

www.thelivingsouth.com/what-were-ge...

Thanks for watching, y'all.

Your likes and subscribes help us grow and beat the bad information. 💪

Did you know North Carolina has received just a small percentage of the federal money it needs to recover from Hurricane Helene?

And that the guy who was named NC’s “recovery czar” by President Trump…is running to represent NC in the US Senate? 👇

Why the ICE killings in Minneapolis could change everything There can be no silver lining to the ICE killings. But there can be change when brave people document it, demand action, and never let it go.

In Selma, Alabama, in 1965, they were met by armed troopers, who beat the nonviolent protesters bloody. The scenes stirred President Lyndon B. Johnson to action.

In Minneapolis, it's possible that we could be watching the same kind of watershed moment.

www.thelivingsouth.com/why-the-ice-...

Stop reporting statements from DHS that contradict everyone on the scene.

They do not deserve the platform or the credibility.

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine The GOP's ‘war on students’ in North Carolina

Watch the new "Billy Ball Explains NC" here for what we can do about it.

Make sure to like and subscribe because that helps spread good information!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrzt...

What we're looking at right now is a clear political strategy.

It's meant to shift the outcome of close elections in NC to Republicans. And anyone who tells you otherwise is either gaslighting you or blind to the last 15 years of NC GOP election shenanigans.

Republicans even voted to cut Sunday voting hours in some places, despite, for instance, a local election board member in Greene County pointing out that Sunday voting is the most popular time for Black residents to vote.

Since taking control of NC's election boards in 2025, Republicans have aggressively slashed early voting sites and voting hours.

A December analysis by nonpartisan Common Cause found GOP boards in 24 of NC’s 100 counties are reducing the number of polling places or the number of voting hours.

It’s not just NC A&T and UNC-Greensboro. The State Board of Elections also approved a plan with no polling places at Western Carolina University, which according to Carolina Public Press, has led the state with the highest proportion of same-day registrations in 8 of the last 9 elections.

Republicans on the State Board of Elections looked those students in the face and said “no” for … reasons.

On Jan. 13, members of the Republican-controlled State Board of Elections voted against putting an early voting site on NC A&T’s campus, as well as an early voting site at nearby UNC-Greensboro, despite students’ requests for them to do so.

YouTube video by Cardinal & Pine The GOP's ‘war on students’ in North Carolina

Some truly outrageous things are happening in Greensboro at NC A&T University, the largest historically Black college in America.

Important thread. Keep reading.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrzt...

Whether you're liberal, conservative, or politically agnostic, if you get mad that reading an article requires signup for a free subscription, you're part of the problem.

You're saying journalism and the people who make it have no value. We're looking at the result of that mentality right now.

My 6-year-old says I'm the worst singer EVER, which I think is hyperbole.

This is a really cool story.

We don't know if Venezuela is a military "one-off" like Speaker Mike Johnson says, or if the US will be there long-term, as Marco Rubio said.

So let's break down what these scenarios mean for NC. Spoiler: NC is home to two of the largest Army and Marine bases in America, so they mean A LOT. 👇

The Living South The most interesting people, stories, and culture in the American South.

FYI, I created thelivingsouth.com in 2024.

Every Tuesday, I write about the most interesting stories, people, and thoughts in the American South. Sign up below for free. Or, to support independent journalism, get a monthly $4 paid subscription.

According to Forbes, since the start of his presidency, Trump's net worth has more than doubled—from $2.3B in 2024 to $6.7B by the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, many of the folks who voted for him are in a worse financial predicament than ever.

Tap 👇
www.thelivingsouth.com/trump-is-get...

The South has a lot at stake in what happens next in Venezuela Of the 10 states with the most active duty military personnel, six are in the South—Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia.

🙏 The Living South was created by me, longtime NC journalist Billy Ball, in 2024.

Every Tuesday, I write about the most interesting stories, people, and thoughts in the American South. Sign up for free at the 🔗.

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But if Americans start dying—and they undoubtedly will if there is a ground war in Venezuela—the appetite for war will be tested even in the South.

Because there tends to be a "rally around the flag" effect when the country goes to war and because the South is politically dominated by Republican voters, it tracks that support for a conflict in Venezuela will be highest there.

The military has such a strong foothold in the South for a lot of reasons.

During the 20th century, Southern politicians saw the significant financial implications for their home states of building bases there. The region has plenty of rural, open spaces too.

Here's a good breakdown of military personnel broken down by state and by military branch.

matthewjlouis.com/hiring-veter...

Regardless, the US Army and the Marine Corps tend to be put most in harm's way during the kind of "boots on the ground" fighting that the president isn't ruling out.

We don't know what it will look like in Venezuela, but if it looks like anything, the South will put in more than its share.

No two conflicts are the same.

And we don't know if Venezuela would involve the intense on-the-ground fighting we saw at times in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, or whether we're talking about peacekeeping missions.

Depending on where you live, you're probably down the road from a base with thousands of active duty personnel and their families.

In my home state of North Carolina, there are 90,000+ spread out between Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune, Cherry Point, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, and others.

But the US has already deployed more than 15,000 troops and a dozen warships to the region, according to The New York Times, making it the largest naval presence in the Caribbean since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

This is an ominous moment. Again. Now what's that mean for the South?

Venezuela's new leader has rejected the American incursion. Trump's already threatened her over it.

In other words, what happens next is as clear as mud.