Sacramento! Join @mikemadrid.bsky.social and me for a discussion of "The Nerd Reich"—@calmatters.org LIVE at the UC Student at Policy Center on 9/15. give.calmatters.org/event/the-ne...

Data centers

I deleted Google Maps app and downloaded MapQuest.

Karl Bode@karlbode.com · 2d ago

I wrote about Google and Apple's enthusiastic support of Trump's pointless and wildly-unpopular attempt to rename Lake Ontario.

Of course I have my pre-ordered copy of @gilduran.com’s best-selling book … and it’s a good thing because I’d be waiting awhile in line at the Sacramento Public Library for it:

Pleased to report that a deal for California Forever did NOT make it into a budget trailer bill, despite them spending massive amounts of money lobbying this year, and enormous pressure from the Governor's office. It's rare, but sometimes David actually does still prevail over Goliath!

From @theathletic.com: A decade after Colin Kaepernick took a knee, he still stands taller than his peers, our columnist writes. nyti.ms/4gyxNfR

Read my friend @gilduran.com’s new book to understand what we are up against, but only if you care about the future of American democracy.

This is not hard to believe or understand.

Futurism@futurism.com · 3w ago

They're even more unpopular than data centers.

Oh YouTube, you’re gonna regret this.

Gil Durán@gilduran.com · 3w ago

It’s official: the Nerd Reich podcast is getting banned from YouTube….the week of my book launch! Incredible timing, since I’ll be all over the media next week talking about tech fascism. They can delete my account. They can’t stop my work. Buy the book: www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ne...

Thrilled for Fearless Advovacy to be recognized for the 8th time on @capitolweekly.bsky.social annual #Top100 list! Our growing team supports the California policy advocacy of nearly two dozen leading nonprofits including CalNonprofits which has partnered with us from the start! 🦁🐑✊🏽

“The new gas-burning plant, if built to specifications, would be permitted to release more planet-warming gases than any other power plant in the country.”

New Amazon Data Center Is Set to Have the Most Polluting Power Plant in the U.S.

The tech giant is investing in the natural-gas-burning power plant as part of a huge data center in Texas, even as it pledges to honor climate commitments.

nytimes.com

If we don’t fight back, we don’t have a future. The @theguardian.com just published an amazing piece about my book, "The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy." Coming August 18! www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

‘If we don’t fight back, we don’t have a future’: the journalist taking on the ‘tech fascists’ of Silicon Valley

As Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and their peers have grown richer and more influential, Gil Durán argues they have all but abandoned democracy – and found the perfect government to enable them

theguardian.com

He really isn't, and I remain surprised by how many otherwise smart people continue to be suckered by this guy

George Pearkes@peark.es · last mo.

Not really going to get in on the politics here but the conversation between @volts.wtf and CF's Jan Sramek was fascinating. Sramek is planning something very different than what you'd think based on "tech utopia" and "backed by Marc Andreessen", both of which are very bad things.

Great @sacbee.com reporting about need for #caleg to follow through on fixing the highly problematic #sb131 problem that leaves CA communities less protected from harmful projects. #sb954 amp.sacbee.com/news/politic...

Opponents of CEQA exemption for manufacturing facilities worry about key lawmaker

Supporters of SB 954 want the Assembly to close a CEQA loophole for advanced manufacturing; they fear Appropriations Chair Buffy Wicks may block the bill.

amp.sacbee.com

The California Forever model: secretly buy up 60,000 acres you’re not allowed to build on, then buy legislation that makes the rules go away.

Some very obtuse people think California Forever is about housing. But real estate is an actual business. There are people who do it for a living. None of those people would do anything this stupid. California Forever is not about housing or economic development. It’s about billionaire power.

If you ever feel unqualified, remember that a gang of billionaires spent $900 million for 60,000 acres with no water, no infrastructure, a roster of endangered species, and a voter-approved ordinance that specifically bans building a city there. Now they’re begging politicians to bail them out.

Gil Durán@gilduran.com · last mo.

Looks like Gavin Newsom is going to bat for California Forever, the Network State "tech utopia" project backed by Marc Andreessen and other tech billionaires. 70% of local residents oppose it. But the billionaires hired Newsom's favorite lobbyist. Welcome to Sacramento. nypost.com/2026/07/29/u...

I don't know, man, I think if Joe Biden had kept confusing Zelenskyy with Putin and Iran with Japan, the media might have made a pretty big deal about it?

The Democrats' Project 2029 is to force through the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 tech policy agenda

In a few years, the NYT or Post will win a Pulitzer for a sprawling investigation into how tech money poured into every nook and cranny of our political system at an unprecedented scale. Until then, enjoy the silence.

Sign me up! 💉

NPR@npr.org · 2mo ago

Drugmakers are working on a potential new shot to prevent the tick-borne illness. How might it fare in the era of vaccine skepticism?

This sickens me.

LAist@laist.com · 2mo ago

A former state parks superintendent who oversaw Orange County beaches has been charged with secretly filming naked male lifeguards and other workers inside the locker room at Bolsa Chica State Beach.

@natashanyt.bsky.social Hi, is the students’ Declaration of AI Independence read on the Daily today online/available? I really want to read and utilize it but can’t find it. Thanks!

CEO said a thing!

Seung Min Kim@seungminkim1.bsky.social · 3mo ago

SHERMAN, Texas (AP) — Nvidia's Jensen Huang tells AP coming AI revolution will require 'new social norms,' defending the disruptive technology.

somebody currently in journalism school can tell me if you're taught to just parrot the claims of high level executives and call it journalism

exclusive: man selling things to make money has a favorable opinion of things he sells to make money

The great Mark Arax in the Guardian: "Now, the Golden state has spun itself into a new and more menacing age of plunder: the mining of water and the mining of our minds." www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Welcome to California: land of plunder and hypocrisy | Mark Arax

From gold to water, California’s wealth was built on extraction. The AI boom is reviving an old question: who pays the price?

theguardian.com

Another beaver success story! If you’re a nature lover, I highly recommend the book "Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter” by @bengoldfarb.bsky.social I read it several years ago and now I am solidly Team Beaver.

How eight beavers solved a decades-old Tube flooding problem

The creatures were reintroduced in 2023 after being hunted to extinction 400 years ago

independent.co.uk

We are so proud to work side by side with Marie - she really is “constantly curious,” and sticks it out “when the going gets rough, and it always gets rough.” Thank you @capitolweekly.bsky.social for this inspiring profile!

Capitol Weekly@capitolweekly.bsky.social · 3mo ago

An accidental encounter with a California Senate Fellows brochure launched a career that would take Marie Liu deep into the halls of the Capitol, where she spent more than two decades helping shape California’s environmental policy capitolweekly.net/capitol-spot...

This is what Trump's done to the people's house: A third of it is rubble. Another third is a cage match. What a metaphor.