USA CHOOSES PATH IN UPCOMING MIDTERMS
[Jonathan Brown was the editorial cartoonist for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, for many years, winning many awards. He became a freelance cartoonist, drawing for scores of clients and he created the comic strip “Analog,” which follows roommates Bradley, a human, and Nigel, a dog who identifies as a cat, as they navigate life in the digital era.]
We are smack dab in the middle of Teacher Appreciation Week, a crossing guard in Philadelphia is an early frontrunner for local news clip of the year, the Strait of Hormuz is still closed for business but the White House says we are close to a deal, but to keep the pressure on – Trump made another threat, California has the most expensive gas in the country right now, according to Trump’s Money Muppet Kevin Hassett the fact that everything costs more means everything is great, Marco Rubio is expected to sit down with the Pope, Trump is now calling the war in Iran a “skirmish,” there is a great brunch opportunity for those people that are big fans of the President, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick testified before the House Oversight Committee about the relationship with Jeffrey Epstein he denied he had, Trump is busy bullying the head of the FDA about flavored electronic cigarettes, and we have TWO editions of This Week in Florida.
Jane Fonda’s moving tribute to Ted Turner yesterday: “He swept into my life, a gloriously handsome, deeply romantic, swashbuckling pirate and I’ve never been the same. He needed me. No one had ever let me know they needed me, and this wasn’t your average human being that needed me, this was the creator of CNN, and Turner Classic Movies, who had won the America’s Cup as the world’s greatest sailor. He had a big life, a brilliant mind and a soaring sense of humor. He could also take care of me. That was new as well. To be needed and cared for simultaneously is transformative. Ted Turner helped me believe in myself. He gave me confidence. I think I did the same for him, but that’s what women are raised to do. Men like Ted aren’t supposed to express need and vulnerability. That was Ted’s greatest strength, I believe”. — READ MORE
Craig, she also posted this which well illustrates her words
PBS did a good job recapping Ted last night
Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, died on Wednesday at the age of 87. A risk-taking entrepreneur known for his outspoken style, Turner revolutionized how billions across the world consumed the news and created the first 24-hour news network. Judy Woodruff has this remembrance.
On the Midterm Watch (thanks for the continuing focus, PatD).
Some context — compare this 10-pt advantage to the same pollster in Trump’s first midterm: at this point in 2018 Dems were 7 points ahead in generic ballot and went to net 41 House seats to retake the majority.
We hardly need anonymous sources to know this, but as always with this dysfunctional circus it’s articles like this where staff has to communicate with the boss…
Wall Street Journal above the fold front page this morning:
— Trail Mix Free Link
Digital Diner update 🍽️
Washington’s brightest economic minds looked at your maxed-out credit card statement and declared you a financial powerhouse. Watch current NEC Director Kevin Hassett celebrate the fact that you’re bleeding cash just to survive. The good news? Bankruptcy builds character.
This is the first place that Jane Fonda is mentioned in any of the Ted Turner obituaries I have read. I can only guess why their marriage was skipped. I am pretty sure those obits were written years ago and just dusted off and updated yearly.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Our daily Digital Diner podcast airs 11-Noon ET on YouTube. JOIN Chatroom Here. WATCH Yesterday’s Replay Here.
What is Actually Clicking: May 7, 2026
These are the stories driving the most traffic right now—not necessarily the stories we think you should read, and not always the most recent.
A roundup by our AI partner Silas (Gemini).
Craig,
I love the way Fonda’s remarks continued below other comments and addressed them including Turner child who called her “the best grandmother”.
The Politics and Controversy sections of Turner’s wikipedia make great issues reading He had very strong opinions on the environment, healthcare, and population.
Let’s take this poll in chat today…
As does being hounded by bill-collectors.
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/05/07/texas-republicans-data-centers-rural/
Texas Republicans have a data center problem
Data center construction is unpopular among locals, and a majority of the facilities are being proposed in red, rural counties. That puts Texas Republicans in a tough spot, as the White House has encouraged states to let the centers flourish.
“I’ve always been committed,” said Schroeder, 62, of her allegiance to the GOP. That is, until she learned about a massive data center, part of OpenAI’s $500 billion Stargate project, going up south of her property.
The project has been championed by her party’s standard-bearers, President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott. But the more Schroeder learned about data centers popping up across the state, the more she became convinced her party was corrupted by industry lobbyists, seemingly brushing off what she saw as an existential threat to rural Texans like her.
Lemme try this again.
Here’s something that isn’t surprising but should piss you off nonetheless. NYT
So when your coffee comes in at $20/lb. thank DJT (fuck DJT) Shell, Exxon, Chevron, BP, …
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍🍽️
🎙️Chat begins at 11am (ET) until NOON
Grab a mic now → https://trailmix.cc/stage
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WATCH here 👇
I grew up seeing this logo on myriad highway billboards between Charleston to Birmingham many times a year. Even as a kid, I noticed it.
Sir John Bagot Glubb who stufied empires, says in his book on empires that they have, for the last 3000 years, ALL passed thru the same 5 stages. The US, according to said theory, is at the end of phase 4 and rapidly entering phase 5, thanks to the idiot slinging bombs around like he’s a toddler in his playroom while the nanny has gone downstairs for a brief respite from his sadistic brutality
Glubb’s Seven Stages of Empires
The Age of Pioneers (Outburst): A sudden emergence of a new, energetic, and often “barbarian” power with high courage and initiative.
The Age of Conquests: The pioneers become professional, disciplined warriors, conquering vast territories and building an empire.
The Age of Commerce: The empire turns to trade, creating great wealth and expanding economic influence.
The Age of Affluence: Wealth becomes the primary goal; civic duty declines as citizens focus on selfishness and luxury.
The Age of Intellect: Focus shifts to academic pursuits, scientific advancement, and philosophical debate, often while the empire’s vitality begins to fade.
The Age of Decadence: Characterized by defensiveness, consumerism, and internal decay of character. This is marked by a failure to solve problems and a lack of conviction.
The Age of Decline & Collapse: The empire becomes too weak to sustain its borders or its internal structure, leading to eventual disintegration.
Today at the Diner…
Maxed-out credit cards mean a booming economy? Plus: alien disclosures, debunked LBJ rumors, and the $32 trillion national debt.
We kick things off with Kevin Hassett, the economic genius who thinks running up 24% interest on your credit card just to buy gas is proof of a red-hot economy. It’s a wonderful bubble they live in when they sit down with Bank of America executives, isn’t it? Meanwhile, the rest of us are just hoping some foreign entity hacks our credit scores to 800 so we can finally start over.
Howard Mortman swings by to discuss former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, a man who survived being pelted with infected buffalo guts and lived to publish the jokes. Jamie then ruins a perfectly good Lyndon Johnson paternity rumor with actual facts, forcing us to shift gears and explore why 66% of the country now believes in aliens. Honestly, given the state of things on this timeline, begging for an interdimensional rescue mission makes perfect sense.
Finally, we wrap with the sheer panic surrounding the midterms, the delusion that a $32 trillion national debt doesn’t matter, and our Echoes of America countdown to the 250th with a little perspective from Abraham Lincoln. Cost, chaos, and corruption—that’s what is really on the menu today.
https://trailmix.cc/chat
https://trailmix.cc
https://trailmix.cc/alerts
00:00 Intro & The Hantavirus Panic
02:08 Kevin Hassett’s Credit Card Economy
07:16 Howard Mortman & Dan Glickman
16:01 Debunking the LBJ Paternity Rumor
27:49 Alien Disclosure & Space Panic
38:23 Midterm Chaos & Jet Fuel Prices
51:49 The Demise of the Met Gala
01:01:27 The $32 Trillion National Debt
01:02:42 Echoes of America: The Gettysburg Address
These ten plants could save you from starvation.
List at link
today’s meme…
https://www.christianpost.com/news/perry-stone-claims-us-officials-briefed-pastors-on-ufos.html
Perry Stone, a prominent Tennessee-based Pentecostal evangelist and founder of Perry Stone Ministries, claimed that his friend told him a group of pastors were recently briefed by U.S. officials to prepare their congregations for the disclosure of UFOs and extraterrestrials.
“I’m not going to go into great detail, but there were a large number of pastors that had been invited to go to a certain state to hear some men in the United States government and others share with them a concern that they had,” said Stone, who did not identify his source in his April 27 YouTube video, but claimed the person has “a great church.”
Stone, whose YouTube channel has approximately 925,000 subscribers, said his friend told him that some of those in the meeting “were telling us as pastors, ‘You need to prepare your people, and you need to get ready to answer them for what you’re about to hear being released.’”
Stone went on to place the extraterrestrial phenomenon within the framework of his dispensational premillennial eschatology that features belief in a pre-tribulational rapture, an Islamic Antichrist and a third Jewish temple purified by red heifers.
Stone claimed the officials in the supposed meeting warned the pastors that disclosure of UFOs and extraterrestrial existence will cause some Christians to question their faith and some non-believers to seek out pastors for an explanation.
*Aaand some of us will just want the Epstein files & tRUMPstein trials. Prepare for the next Epstein distraction.
By the way, this gritty pastor has been on Texas TV for decades. So, why wasn’t he invited? It doesn’t even sound like the guy who told him was there. Wonder how he’ll empty pockets with this one?
aliens are less ridiculous than man in the sky
like do you think 66% is too high or too low
36 psychiatrists, neurologists, and psychologists on tRUMPsky’s state of being.
Interesting when he gets into Nixon’s demise, too.
C-SPAN’S Extreme Mortman delivers. We dive into Dan Glickman’s pivot from dodging infected buffalo guts as Ag Secretary to ruling as Hollywood’s top lobbyist. Listen to his podcasts at TrailMix.CC/extreme.
From today’s Digital Diner menu
Who made the aliens? Who created matter? How do you get something from nothing? It’s the cosmic scrambled egg. Fun to think about, but what’ll the true believers do when confronted with an alternate reality?
Thank you Jamie….I’m happy to have gotter close. 🙂
https://www.space.com/astronomy/the-sound-of-the-big-bang-hints-that-earth-may-sit-in-a-cosmic-void-2-billion-light-years-wide
The ‘sound of the Big Bang’ hints that Earth may sit in a cosmic void 2 billion light-years wide
New research suggests that “baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs)” from the initial moments of the universe, think of them as “the sound of the Big Bang,” seem to support the concept of the local void or “Hubble Bubble.”
That means if the local universe sits in a low-density “Hubble bubble,” it would be expanding faster than the higher-density wider cosmos, explaining why observations give a larger Hubble constant value and faster expansion than slower theoretical averages.
“A potential solution to this inconsistency is that our galaxy is close to the center of a large, local void,” research author Indranil Banik of the University of Portsmouth said in a statement. “It would cause matter to be pulled by gravity towards the higher density exterior of the void, leading to the void becoming emptier with time.
very human to need a “creator”
shit happens
a better poll question is “do
you believe ‘aliens’ (extraterrestrials) could possess the technology to transverse incomprehensiblly vast interstellar distances”
or “do you believe CNN infographics have any genuine informational value”
can’t debate that when our idiot leader starts a war that leaves the opponent in a stronger position, we are likely in the age of decline
jamie, thanks for that list of ten plants for survival… comforting to know 9 out of 10 of them grow wild not far outside my door.
If you are a humanoid and hit your fellow caveman in the head so that he dies then you realize that you yourself have cause that. If you later see lightening strike a tree which causes the death of Thag, who is standing under the tree for shelter, the natural inclination is to think that there is a big dude in the sky who decided that Thag was a liability and one should avoid thinking anything Thag used to think. One of the more intelligent humanoids, of course, saw the advantage in claiming that he “prayed” for Thag’s demise.
I can’t remember most of it but Nietzsche was pretty cool about priests and religions etc. Great reading.
Genealogy of morals
The birth of tragedy out of the soul of music
And so forth.
https://www.rawstory.com/tennessee-2676859921/
‘This should offend you’: Red state alarms with ‘insane’ gerrymander reveal
“The GOP’s newly proposed TN Congressional maps would have people in Shelby County all the way to Williamson County — 200 miles apart — being ‘represented’ by the same Congressman,” Cohen wrote.
“Franklin, the Nashville suburb, is now in the same district as rural Lake County,” posted journalist Jared Sullivan, noting, like Cohen, that those rural and Nashville voters will be mixed in with others, “200 miles away, and downtown Memphis — just as the founders intended,” he quipped.
“A Memphis-Nashville district is unreal,” agreed election forecaster Davis Liggett.
White House correspondent Joey Garrison noted that “this map would spoil Democratic efforts to knock off Republican Rep. Andy Ogles, whose 5th Congressional district would no longer include parts of Nashville but instead rural West TN counties.”
*Republican’ts – They have to cheat to win.
BEAT THE CHEAT!
https://www.wrkf.org/politics/2026-05-07/capitol-access-minute-recall-petition-filed-for-gov-landry-expanding-first-degree-murder-definition
After Gov. Jeff Landry suspended the U.S. House elections, two Baton Rouge residents have filed a recall petition to have him removed from office.
They must collect 500,000 signatures from Louisiana’s 2.5 million active registered voters in the next 180 days. The Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office has acknowledged that the petition was filed on Monday.
After SCOTUS Destroyed the Voting Rights Act, Southern States Rush to Pass Jim Crow Voting Maps
“We’re seeing the greatest purge of Black power since the era of Reconstruction.”
Just a week after the Supreme Court effectively destroyed the key remaining provision of the Voting Rights Act, Tennessee on Thursday is set to become the first Southern state to pass a new redistricting map eliminating a majority-Black district.
The hastily drawn map abolishes the state’s last Democratic district by splitting the city of Memphis, which is more than 60 percent Black, into three districts: all of them predominantly white Republican held seats that stretch hundreds of miles deep into rural areas, effectively silencing the state’s largest Black community. (Memphis has had its own congressional district since 1923.) The map also divided the city of Nashville—which had already been spliced apart during the last redistricting cycle to pick up another GOP seat—into five districts to further dilute the power of minority voters.
FBI Raids Office of Lawmaker Who Led Virginia Redistricting
State Sen. Louise Lucas joins the growing list of Black women targeted by the Trump administration.
Agents carried out several boxes from the senator’s office. And, of course, MAGA’s favorite network, Fox News, was there to break the story.
Bernie still got it,
Minnesota Park (May 2, 2026)
https://crooksandliars.com/2026/05/shame-utah-residents-livid-after-shark
County commissioners in Box Elder County, Utah, were deluged with chants of “Shame! Shame! Shame!” from a crowd of hundreds on Monday night as they voted unanimously to move forward with a sprawling “hyperscale” artificial intelligence data center project that many residents fear will cause energy prices to soar and imperil water access.
***
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5867365-kevin-oleary-utah-data-center-criticism/
Television personality Kevin O’Leary is pushing back against protesters after he received approval in Utah to build a data center this week.
The “Shark Tank” star took to social media to comment about the situation, claiming most of the protesters were from out of state.
“At this particular moment in history, despair is not an option. Giving up is not acceptable.
And none of us have the privilege of hiding under the covers.” Senator Bernie Sanders
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/07/new-trump-counterterrorism-strategy-targets-europe-terrorism-migration
The Trump administration has accused Europe of being an “incubator” for terrorism fuelled by mass migration, in a new counter-terrorism strategy unveiled on Wednesday.
The strategy also focuses on rooting out “violent left-wing extremists” including “radically pro-transgender” groups, as Trump’s conservative administration steps up its political attacks on opponents.
It also further places drug cartels in the Americas at the centre of counter-terrorism efforts.
But some of its strongest language is reserved for Europe, home to numerous US allies who will be alarmed to see their continent in the Trump administration’s crosshairs once again.
Left-wing groups remain a major preoccupation for the Republican president’s administration, and the strategy targets what it calls “violent Left-Wing Extremists, including Anarchists and Anti-Fascists.”
It says US counter-terrorism efforts will “prioritize the rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender, and anarchist.”
https://justthenews.com/government/security/10amwhite-house-unveils-2026-counterterrorism-strategy
“Our new U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy is a return to common sense and Peace through Strength,” President Donald Trump wrote in the foreword. “As I said after our first successful counterterrorism mission, just days after I was sworn back in office – if you hurt Americans, or are planning to hurt Americans, ‘We Will Find You and We Will Kill You.’
*The white fascist groups like those who attacked police on January 6th, and like Kyle Rittenhouse, and like podbros who foment hate are not listed as terroristic threats, but the antifascists like our grandparents who fought Hitler and Mussolini, will be listed as threats, traced and tracked.
Reading that PDF, they still aren’t acknowledging that Mossad most likely took down Charlie Kirk…they must know though, or they wouldn’t have put up that Ai-doctored video of Orange Adolf before Kirk’s death was even confirmed. That whole thing smells just like Butler, and the WHCD.
but that’s my exact coping strategy 😭
Silent no more, Jack Smith calls out Trump’s ‘corrupted’ Justice Department
More at link
Odds are. I’d place the odds for aliens above 66%. The odds “‘aliens’ (extraterrestrials) could possess the technology to transverse incomprehensiblly vast interstellar distances” – unless they know about some exceptions to the laws of space/time and physics, less than 1%.
‘[D]o you believe CNN infographics have any genuine informational value” – somewhere around the alien technology odds.
That wag Voltaire said something like “If God didn’t exist, man would need to invent him.” (In French, of course). Perhaps.
“3 Body Problem” explores these potentialities, worth a read or watch of they interest you
quantum entanglement gets pretty weird
see the problem with this “distraction” theory is that it’s predicated on the assumption that people would give a shit if they knew about something
or that they have effective critical thinking skills that are just misdirected
they wouldn’t and don’t
if they did we wouldn’t be in this situation
like what the fuck was that protest for Mayday who knows what
but they strip black Americans of voting rights and there aren’t immediately riots in the streets?
American liberalism is fucked, as dumb as the cons just in a different way
and it’s the fault of no one here, to be clear, y’all are as hip as should be
i like shiny objects too
and the pundits say oh well, maybe it will backfire
yeah, sure, but the intent is to strip black Americans of voting rights
eventually they will exclude all but “property owners with children”
JD slipped up in the campaign and said the quiet part out loud
if the Dahlia i grew from seed is a unique variety and i can replicate it, i get to name it!
might call it “Americans Are Dumb”
Being Secretary of Agriculture used to mean dodging flying pastries and infected buffalo organs. Today’s politicians have it entirely too easy. Howard Mortman explains the golden age of civic engagement.
https://x.com/FUBARPAC/status/2052026222905856294
Explainer: Palantir Peter Thiel’s data balls in international waters.
Anon
I agree to the extent that never blame a conspiracy since stupidity is all that is usually required. As far as aliens are concerned, I do believe that life exists elsewhere than here. The universe is huge and odds are just too great in that direction. But whether they are ahead of us, behind us or have already gone poof a long time and we are just now seeing the light from a far away star. Have they paid us a visit? Who knows as long as they aren’t carrying a cookbook.
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/community/johnson-county/article315660187.html
After days of worrying that a massive data center might be her new nextdoor neighbor, Gardner resident Kaela Eisenbarger celebrated the fact that the proposal will no longer be moving forward. “I am surprised that it happened this quickly, but I am so thankful just to know that our home won’t be immediately affected by something like this,” Eisenbarger said. In April, San Francisco-based data center developer Beale Infrastructure announced a proposal to Gardner to build a 16-building campus across 300 acres near the northwest corner of 191st Street and South Clare Road. Gardner residents came out in droves against the application, sharing concerns about potential health and environmental effects of a data center moving into the rural Johnson County community.
***
https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/beale-infrastructure-announces-hyperscale-kansas-154500984.html
Beale Infrastructure has announced the first phase of its De Soto, Kansas data center campus. The development will break ground in May, making it the first hyperscale data center to be announced in the state of Kansas.
Farmland will all be data centers. Humans can’t eat data & they both need water.
Death to Ai
Here is Ann Telneas cartoon. She, along with many others, are on Substack. This is supposed to be a share so I don’t know if you need to subscribe.
I find I am subscribing to many former newspaper reporters and political cartoonists on Substack, and the price is less than a week of newspaper (real paper) delivery.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/23/thousands-call-on-uk-ministers-to-cut-ties-with-us-tech-giant-palantir
More than 200,000 people have called on ministers to break contracts with Palantir in an apparent groundswell of public concern about the US tech company’s role in the NHS, police, military and councils.
Two petitions have attracted 229,000 signatures, one calling for the government to end all public contracts with the company, the software of which is used by Donald Trump’s ICE immigration enforcement programme and the Israeli military, and another urging the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to cancel its £330m patient data contract with the NHS.
“Almost a quarter of a million people have said loud and clear: they don’t want a company like Palantir, whose technology is used by ICE and the Israeli army, to have access to their most sensitive data.”
Palantir has £600m worth of contracts with UK public bodies and may soon extend that, with talks continuing with Scotland Yard to use the company’s AI technology to automate intelligence analysis for criminal investigations. If a deal is confirmed it would represent a significant expansion in Palantir’s involvement in UK law enforcement. It also has a £240m contract with the Ministry of Defence and has this week renewed a contract with Coventry city council thought to be worth £750,000. It also has deals with Bedfordshire police and Leicestershire police, among other constabularies.
https://medium.com/activated-thinker/the-digital-quartering-act-how-oracle-and-palantir-moved-the-military-into-your-medical-records-fa06643c5920
The Digital Quartering Act: How Oracle and Palantir Moved the Military Into Your Medical Records Without Asking
Palantir’s military targeting platform (Gotham) and its civilian analytics platform (Foundry) are architecturally interoperable and now deployed simultaneously across every DHS agency.
Your grandmother’s Medicare data now shares infrastructure with Air Force special access programs. The Third Amendment has something to say about that.
February 11, 2026
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services selects Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to migrate the health records of over 150 million Americans. Diagnoses. Prescriptions. Treatment histories. The most intimate details of your body and your family’s bodies, moving onto Oracle’s servers.
February 12, 2026. One day later. The United States Air Force awards Oracle an $88 million contract to run classified military workloads on the same Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Impact Levels 5 and 6. Special Access Programs. The kind of classification where most members of Congress don’t even get briefed.
February 28, 2026. Oracle receives government authorization to run generative AI across both the civilian health data and the classified military data. Simultaneously. On the same platform.
Seventeen days.
In seventeen days, one company became the place where your grandmother’s prescription history lives and the place where Air Force operations above Top Secret run, with AI tools authorized to operate across both domains. And Oracle’s own documentation describes this AI as a tool that lets users “combine organization-specific information and public information when running agentic AI workflows.”
The Third Amendment, untouched by courts for 235 years, prohibits the quartering of soldiers in civilian spaces without consent. It may be the most relevant and least utilized constitutional lever we have.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/why-brazils-lula-skipped-white-house-presser-today-explosive-trump-meeting-claims-emerge-101778178572355.html
Why Brazil’s Lula skipped White House presser today. ‘Explosive’ Trump meeting claims emerge
President Lula Da Silva of Brazil met with Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday to ease trade tensions between the two countries. However, he skipped the press conference after meeting the POTUS, as is customary for world leaders.
“Just concluded my meeting with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the very dynamic President of Brazil,” Trump wrote. “We discussed many topics, including Trade and, specifically, Tariffs. The meeting went very well. Our Representatives are scheduled to get together to discuss certain key elements. Additional meetings will be scheduled over the coming months, as necessary.”
Neither he nor his Brazilian counterpart provided any update on why the joint presser at 11:00am was canceled.
*Lula didn’t want to give Orange Adolf a chance to do his weird, lying, yammering show. I hope more will treat Adolf the same way.
BB – Thanks.
https://www.wsmv.com/2026/05/07/naacp-files-emergency-petition-against-gov-bill-lee-tn-general-assembly-over-congressional-redistricting/
NAACP files emergency petition against Gov. Bill Lee, TN General Assembly over congressional redistricting
In their petition, the NAACP Tennessee argues that the redistricting is illegal because state law says maps cannot be changed between U.S. Census apportionments.
Let’s look at midterm redistricting math tomorrow. Has the court already decided 2026? Or can Dems pull another hat trick?☕🗺️ 11-Noon ET
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/naacp-sues-elon-musk-xai-164227249.html
NAACP Sues Elon Musk’s xAI Over Pollution From Data Centers Impacting Residents In North Mississippi And Memphis, TN
The lawsuit claims that 27 gas turbines are now operating in Southaven, MS, 13 miles south of Memphis, E&E News by POLITICO reports. They were installed between August and December 2025 and are allegedly causing harm to those in North Mississippi and Memphis through air pollution, per CNBC.
The lawsuit alleges the operation of the gas turbines is illegal because no air permit was issued, according to CNBC. It also claims violations of the Clean Air Act, which regulates emissions of hazardous air pollutants in the interest of public health and welfare, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
“xAI has been pumping illegal pollution into this community in its rush to power the ‘Colossus 2’ data center. No company – and no industry – has a free license to pollute our air,” said Laura Thoms, director of enforcement for Earthjustice, in the press release. “xAI isn’t above the law, and we’re filing this lawsuit to hold them accountable.”
The press release noted that gas turbines release “smog-forming pollution, fine particulate matter, and hazardous chemicals.” Such pollutants can be linked to higher instances of asthma, respiratory diseases, heart problems, and certain cancers.
Death to Ai or it’ll be death to humans and other living creatures.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/california-peach-trees-destroyed-del-monte-closure-b2972246.html
CA farmers to destroy 420,000 peach trees after Del Monte collapses
Central California peach farmers are preparing to destroy around 420,000 clingstone peach trees after Del Monte Foods shut down its canneries earlier this year.
Del Monte, the 139-year-old canned fruit and vegetable company, permanently closed its canneries in Modesto and Hughson in April following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last July.
The closures left hundreds of workers without jobs and devastated growers, many of whom lost 20-year contracts with Del Monte and had few alternative buyers for their crops. Farmers could face an estimated $550 million in lost revenue, according to the Sacramento Bee.
*What a stupid waste.
https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-oil-jet-fuel-naphtha-lpg-shortage-hormuz-disruption-2026-5
That’s because while overall oil inventories remain above critical levels, shortages are emerging in specific refined products, especially jet fuel, petrochemical feedstocks like naphtha, and liquefied petroleum gas used to make plastics and chemicals.
Global commercial refined product stocks have fallen to about 45 days of demand, down from around 50 before the recent disruption, according to Goldman’s estimates.
Goldman estimates that European commercial jet fuel inventories — excluding government emergency reserves — could fall below the International Energy Agency’s critical 23-day threshold as soon as June.
*Just in time for FIFA, for those planning to go to the matches in Canada and Mexico. Nobody’s coming to the US, anyway.
That compares with roughly 101 days of demand for total global oil stocks.
i do support your campaign against ai, as futile as i find it
you’re not wrong though 🫡
watch “Ediington”
https://en.hespress.com/137149-chinese-court-makes-it-illegal-to-fire-humans-replace-them-with-ai.html
Chinese court makes it illegal to fire humans & replace them with AI
A Chinese court has ruled that companies cannot fire employees solely to replace them with artificial intelligence systems, in a decision that highlights Beijing’s attempt to balance rapid technological adoption with labor market stability.
The court held that employers must provide legitimate and legally recognized reasons for termination, and that automation alone does not meet that threshold.
https://www.theverge.com/tech/917225/sam-altman-elon-musk-openai-lawsuit
Sam Altman and Elon Musk are facing off in a high-stakes trial that could alter the future of OpenAI and its most well-known product, ChatGPT. In 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its founding mission of developing AI to benefit humanity and shifting focus to boosting profits instead.
*Elon worrying about humankind over profits. That’s rich.
Musk was a cofounder of OpenAI and claims that Altman and Brockman tricked him into giving the company money, only to turn their backs on their original goal. However, OpenAI says that “This lawsuit has always been a baseless and jealous bid to derail a competitor” in a bid to boost Musk’s own SpaceX / xAI / X companies that have launched Grok as a competitor to ChatGPT.
In his lawsuit, Musk is asking for the removal of Altman and Brockman, and for OpenAI to stop operating as a public benefit corporation. Musk has also demanded that OpenAI’s nonprofit receive up to $150 billion in damages he’s asking for if he wins the case.
*That makes more sense.
Elon Musk, his financial manager and Neuralink CEO, Jared Birchall, and OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman have already testified before the jury. Shivon Zilis, a former OpenAI board member who shares four children with Musk, took the stand on Wednesday, and the courtroom also watched former OpenAI CTO Mura Murati’s videotaped deposition.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/ai-driven-income-plans-spark-new-debate-on-future-of-work/gm-GM40A00500
A wave of new proposals and trials is reframing the basic income debate in light of AI-driven job losses. Initiatives range from targeted stipends for displaced workers to Elon Musk’s call for ‘universal high income,’ while Sam Altman shifts focus toward shared ownership models.
The AI Commons Project and What We Will have begun a one-year trial providing $1,000 monthly to 25–50 AI-displaced workers, aiming to support reskilling and track outcomes. In parallel, Elon Musk has called for a ‘universal high income’ via federal checks to counter AI-driven unemployment, arguing that automation’s output could far exceed money supply growth, preventing inflation. His vision has drawn both enthusiasm and skepticism, with critics questioning the implications of abundance on value and resource allocation.
*C’mon! Only $1k is far below “basic” – cheap-ass billionaires.
what do we think of a Colbert Presidential candidacy
i might be able to get behind that
shake things up, dislodge the entrenched politically inept
Olbermann won ‘t like it but would you prefer JD or Count Rubio, Mr. K?
Getting started on a brief for tomorrow about this redistricting effect on midterms. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
The GOP Dummymander Trap
When Cartography Meets a Blue Tsunami
Anon, Colbert tested the idea with Obama…
Colbert potus isn’t more crazy than trump potus
just sayin’
that’s what Obama says in that clip, he’d be better than what we’ve got now
If Colbert ran, I’d vote for him, no questions asked; after all we attended the same high school. Like we probably came 10 yrs or so of being classmates…..lol
But pity is he only attended the new campus, he probably never saw the old historic one. I saw ‘em both.
where are the New Nashville power liberals eg. Taylor Swift
Pretty sure they’re not at Tootsie’s.
well there’s a boycott for you:
Nashville, if they gerrymander (or if they did already)
hit ‘em economically where it hurts
it would hurt a lot right before summer music tourism season
so i don’t love Colbert but
-intelligent/well-spoken without being condescending
-established profile
-established political/celebrity social network
-speaks Christian
-Southerner
-white male
-understands media and LotR
-seems genuinely decent but you never know these days
not the worst candidate
i’ve never heard any chatter about his conduct ever, seems squeaky clean, maybe the squeakiest ever
these DNC nerds won’t hand him anything, he needs to take it
NEW THREAD by our fearless leader