We Agree! Meanwhile, back at the Blanche
In an era when Americans don’t seem to be able to agree on anything, a huge majority of people have found middle ground over data centers. Whether it’s energy suckage, climate concerns, noise pollution, water woes, old-fashioned Nimbyism, or just a general feeling of ill will when it comes to AI and big tech, people across the country are crossing the political aisle in opposition to the building of new data centers. While it might seem obvious that humans wouldn’t want to welcome their invading machine overlords with new housing, the negative vibes around data centers are relatively new, and the shift came quickly. “Around seven in 10 Americans now oppose the construction of local data centers to power artificial intelligence. Last fall, people were almost exactly evenly split when asked if they’d support a new data center nearby. Now there’s a 50-point gap. That is an absolutely crazy swing, much bigger than the reversals you tend to see when a new president comes into office or even when someone declares war.” David Wallace-Wells and Robinson Meyer in the NYT (Gift Article): Is This the Fastest Opinion Shift in American Politics? Beneath the broad agreement, some of the old political divides still live on. “What’s interesting is that, at this point, data centers’ net support — Would you support a local data center in your community? — is underwater among all parties: Republicans, independents, Democrats. If we ask, well, what if it was powered only by renewable energy? Then Democrats are more likely to like it, and Republicans are more likely to oppose it.” Craziness is like cockroaches. It can survive anything.
+ Data Centers to Add Billions in Power Costs in 13 States. (Tell people the cost is for AI and they’re up in arms. Tell them it’s for streaming Love Island and they’ll explain that everything has a price.)
+ New York becomes first state to impose one-year pause on new AI datacenters.
+ Most things in tech seem to become more efficient as they scale. AI data center needs just seem to grow bigger and bigger. “The problem is not simply that AI is being deployed so widely or quickly. Other computer technologies have seen similarly massive growth without triggering such a large spike in electricity or a shortage of computer components: Video and music are now streamed around the globe, accounting for many terabytes of internet traffic daily; the smartphone boom required the manufacturing of billions of devices that are now transferring huge amounts of data; billions of household devices are also now part of the Internet of Things; and whole industries have moved their operations to cloud software, which is hosted not in the sky but in, yes, data centers. The problem with generative AI, in the industry’s own jargon, is that it does not scale.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Generative AI Is an Engineering Disaster.
+ Not everyone is against data centers in their backyard. For example, there are those whose backyards just became unimaginably valuable. WSJ (Gift Article): The Americans Striking It Rich in the Data-Center Buildout. “The men told the Kilitis that their 89-acre farm in this rural town of 4,000 might be worth more than $20 million … The couple thought the fields where the family raised and butchered hogs would be lucky to fetch even a fraction of that.” (It turns out a server farm can bring home more bacon than a hog farm.)
Blanched with Fear
Todd Blanche is answering questions from Senators as his Attorney General confirmation hearing gets underway. He’s Trump’s personal lawyer, he has further weaponized the Justice Department, he’s withheld Epstein files and given Ghislaine Maxwell a prison upgrade, he’s targeted the media, he pushed for the fund that would compensate Trump allies (including J6ers), and he’s otherwise wholly unqualified for the job. And with that, he opened the hearings by explaining that as acting Attorney General, he has been “restoring trust” in the DoJ.
+ “On Monday, two days before the Senate hearing to consider Todd Blanche’s nomination to become the nation’s chief law enforcement official, a federal judge strongly suggested that he may not even be fit to practice law. Of all the powers Americans give their government, none can curtail personal liberty like those of the Department of Justice, and this editorial board has listed the ways Mr. Blanche has abused that authority. He has celebrated the Jan. 6 rioters. He has misled Congress under oath. He has said it is Mr. Trump’s ‘right,’ and ‘indeed it is his duty,’ to use the department to investigate people he ‘has had issues with.'” NYT Editorial Board: We’re About to Find Out Whether Republican Senators Can Still Say No. (Don’t get your hopes up…)
+ In other confirmation news, Trump intelligence pick Jay Clayton refuses to say Biden won 2020 election.
+ Think we’re getting closer to a moment when insiders finally stand up to Trump? Maybe. But then again, maybe not. Treasury Unveils New $1 Gold Coin With Trump’s Face on It.
Electric of the Trade
“According to the International Energy Agency, a Paris-based policy group, one of every four vehicles sold globally in 2025 was battery-powered. Analysts with Bloomberg have predicted that in the next decade, that number will more than double, putting gas-powered cars — for the first time ever — in the minority of overall new vehicle sales. Overseas, Asian and European manufacturers have spent years preparing for this eventuality, dumping billions into the development of battery technology.” Sadly, American carmakers have been going in reverse, a move that has cost them dearly in the short run, and could be even more costly in the long run. NYT Magazine (Gift Article): The American E.V. Has Been Crushed. Will It Take the U.S. Auto Industry With It? (Instead of plugging into the future, America is sticking its finger in the socket.)
Fomo and the Froyo Yoyo
Frozen yogurt always seems to make a comeback. And each time, the new iteration of the product comes with health promises related to the latest dietary trends. And each time, I doubt the health benefits but eat it anyway. Vox (Gift Article): What the current froyo renaissance is really about. “The third wave of froyo resembles the previous crazes in one key way: The dessert is still marketed and perceived as a healthier choice than other treats. Every time it comes out of hibernation, frozen yogurt has revealed something about the diet culture of the moment, and this resurgence is no different.”
Extra, Extra
Asking the Impossible: “Three words of advice for President Donald Trump as he tries to extricate himself from the mess of the Iran war: Just stop talking. Let America’s overwhelming military and economic power do the work.
Trump’s daily barrage of bluster and braggadocio amounts to negotiating with himself. He declares victory one day, resumes war the next. He praises Iran’s leaders, then calls them ‘scum.’ He foolishly announces a 20 percent fee for protecting the Strait of Hormuz and then rescinds the rash proposal the next day. Trump must imagine this nonstop trash talk gives him leverage. He’s wrong. It makes him look weak in the eyes of Iran and the world.” David Ignatius in WaPo (Gift Article): Trump pushed the reset button. This is Iran Fiasco 2.0. Here’s the latest on the fighting and the bluster that has replaced negotiations from The Guardian.
+ Trafficking in Bullshit: “Trump said Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement should continue traffic stops after two deadly shootings within a week, seeming to contradict a new policy to halt them. To remove criminals from the country, ‘we CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!’ the president wrote on social media.” Trump says ICE should do traffic stops, despite new suspension after shootings.
+ Write Wing: A day after 12 states moved to block the merger, Hollywood Writers Sue to Block Paramount-Warner Deal. And here’s a plot twist that is almost too cliché at this point for any Hollywood writer to include in the story. ProPublica: FCC Officials Took Pricey Gifts From Paramount as the Company Needed Approval for Billion-Dollar Deals.
+ Sandwich Generation: “On Thursday night, Donald Trump will blast out his version of what happened in the 2020 presidential election and try to build on the Big Lie that he’s been perpetrating for years — that he, not Joe Biden, should have won. That the election was rigged.” Margaret Sullivan on how the media should handle it. (They’ve certainly had enough practice by now.) What we need right now is a big, juicy truth sandwich.
+ Bank Shot: “The Wall Street giant’s market cap stood at about $935 billion. It would be the first bank to ever join the $1 trillion market cap club.” JPMorgan is closing in on a $1 trillion market cap after posting record profits. (This is a trend. Big banks are experiencing bigly good times.)
+ Influencers: “A decade-by-decade look at the books, music, art and ideas that shaped society.” WaPo (Gift Article): The 25 most influential works of American culture. (Moby Dick is in, NextDraft is left out? Please…)
+ Stuck in the Middle Without You: United’s latest Economy Plus gambit? Kick out the middle-seat passenger for more space.
+ Looking Down: The Atlantic (Gift Article): Winners of the International Aerial Photographer of the Year. (Wow.)
Bottom of the News
“He went into the bank with the cat in his arms, and he walked up to a bank employee and said, ‘Can you hold this?’ And then he wrote a note and handed it to a bank teller and it said, essentially, ‘Give me all your cash.'” Cat burglar steals kitten, tries to rob bank in Maryland, gets caught instead. (Anyone who thinks a cat would be a human’s accomplice should be able to get off with an insanity plea…)
+ WSJ (Gift Article): This Chicago Spirit Quadrupled Sales With Ads Likening It to Fermented Back Sweat. “Last year, a campaign called ‘Malört Tastes Like’ featured consumer comparisons to ‘fermented back sweat’ and ‘moist dumpster residue.'” Hey, at this point, whatever it takes to get a decent buzz…
