Ben Archibeque

he/him/his

[Guilherme Azevedo @guiazevedo31]

É a Copa mais bizarra da história. Ou pelo menos da era moderna, com certeza.

Nem na ditadura catari foi feito isso. Nem na Rússia de Putin.

Mas vai ter gente querendo justificar o injustificável, passando pano. Só porque é nos Estados Unidos.

Fifa rendida ao dinheiro.

[carter “cool girl” cruise @CarterCruise]

this is what blows my mind when people act like elon is wildly intelligent instead of just good at extracting wealth from a broken system. DOGE saved us $15 million dollars a year by cutting this program which within two years led to a cost of $1 billion lol. a five year old could tell you that’s not a good deal.

[Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom]

ICE vehicles hit their car while their children were inside. Then agents dragged the parents out during drop-off and a preschool graduation, in front of crying kids. All on school property.

https://t.co/du9bv2U4pY confirms that schools are supposed to be safe places for children, not federal ambush zones.

That’s not public safety. That’s state-sponsored trauma.

The ammunition to fight ICE is here: https://t.co/Txyhf9LSil

[Zito @_Zeets]

That neighbor knew what they were doing when they called the cops over a noise complaint because someone was celebrating the Knicks winning. People know what happens when you bring cops into any situation.

[Nat ✨ FREE 🇵🇸 @loopzoooop]

that’s the question isn’t it. what WILL she do? there are no youth clubs for her to attend. food, cinema tickets, any sort of third space activity is all too expensive. their parents are underpaid, saturday jobs don’t exist any more, children have truly been abandoned by the govt

[Ashleyy @dontsippy]

This is nothing out of the ordinary. They were never going to support him. They would rather lose the Senate than elect a pro–working-class candidate. Why do you think he’s being smeared relentlessly by left-wing media? The goal is to elect Susan Collins. Her path to reelection runs through Democrats who either stay home or vote for Collins.

[Taylor Lorenz @TaylorLorenz]

Studies in AUS found that since the social media ban went into effect teenagers are significantly less educated on news and events and more ignorant on what’s going on in the world. This is the goal. Western govts saw the rise of the information age and are seeking to quash it

[Sana Saeed @SanaSaeed]

I love that students are still making statements, still walking out, still talking about this - when it feels everyone, everything has “moved on” I’m glad to see this. Not because it materially changes any realities for Palestinians (and Lebanese, Iranians, etc) but because it forces everyone who witnesses it to remember the on-going, unending crimes of our country against entire peoples.

[𝓔𝓶 ♡ @emkenobi]

This is why they want you to forget about the Epstein files. There are dozens of girls just like her who were taken and sold into human trafficking. They’re probably not even alive anymore. What happened to these girls is beyond comprehension, and the people responsible are getting away with it.

[𝙀𝙣𝙯𝙤✩ @Wydenzoo]

My manager kept “forgetting” my overtime. Three weeks in a row.
Every Friday I’d clock 47 hours. Every Monday my paycheck showed 40.
I asked HR. They said: “Talk to your manager first.”

I emailed him: “My timecard shows 7 hours OT missing. Can you fix it?”
He replied: “System must’ve glitched. If it’s not approved, you didn’t work it.”

I didn’t fight him.
Because the district manager said: “He’s been here 15 years. He doesn’t make mistakes.”
So I started taking a photo of the timeclock every time I clocked out.

Next Friday, I clocked out at 6:32 p.m. — 7.5 hours OT for the week.
Took a photo. Time, date, my name, all visible. Then went home.

Monday morning, paycheck still said 40 hours.
I checked the system. My clock-out had been edited to 4:00 p.m.
Edit log showed: “Approved by: J. Matthews” at 8:14 a.m.

I saved screenshots, emailed them to myself, printed two copies, then asked HR for a meeting. No anger. Just put the folder on the desk.

Turns out he’d been shaving hours off anyone who “questioned policy.”
I was just the first one who kept receipts.

He got written up + I got backpay for 22.5 hours.
And somehow…
I’m the one coworkers avoid in the break room.
Apparently, proving you worked is “not being a team player.”
But stealing wages?
That was just “a misunderstanding.”

Funny how evidence turns you into the villain.

[Angelo Giuliano 🇨🇭🇮🇹 @angeloinchina]

US troops in the Philippines aren't "defending" anything > they're turning a sovereign nation into the next Ukraine proxy against its #1 trading partner, China.
History repeats: America colonized the PH, used concentration camps & torture (per their own State Dept records), then never really left.

On Independence Day, Filipinos are right to chant "US troops out now."

Prioritize development over endless US-driven militarization, or watch poverty & destruction deepen.

Real independence means choosing your own path, not Washington's.

[Micah Erfan @micah_erfan]

8 red states have redrawn. Only 1 blue state has responded.

We cannot afford this cowardice.

[0️⃣BlackBetty ⚓️ @BabyD1111229]

This bombshell dropped yesterday in Washington D.C. And if you live near a data center — or near land where one might be built — this news affects you directly.

The head of America’s top environmental watchdog agency just walked up to a microphone and told the entire country that the federal government will not protect you from data center water pollution, air pollution, or any other environmental harm.

Not now. Not ever. As long as this administration is in power.

The decision that just left 330 million Americans without a federal safety net — and handed Big Tech a blank environmental check.

🎤 THE WORDS THAT SHOCKED ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES NATIONWIDE

The Trump administration is not going to set nationwide environmental requirements or recommendations for the rapidly growing data center industry, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said Wednesday at the POLITICO Energy Summit in Washington D.C. 

No requirements. No recommendations. No national standards. Nothing.

Zeldin said: “Ten times out of 10, I’m not going to sit inside of an agency building in Washington D.C. and say that we know that local community in Georgia or Florida or Arizona or elsewhere better than everyone there locally.” 

Ten times out of ten. Zeldin was not vague. He was not ambiguous. He was categorical and absolute.

The EPA — the agency created specifically to protect Americans from environmental harm — just announced it will not protect Americans from one of the fastest-growing and most environmentally demanding industries in U.S. history.

🏛️ WHAT IS THE EPA SUPPOSED TO DO — AND WHY THIS DECISION IS SO ALARMING

For most Americans, the EPA is the government agency that makes sure the air you breathe and the water you drink are safe. It sets national standards — minimum floors of protection — that apply equally whether you live in Montana or Mississippi, whether your local politicians are aggressive environmental protectors or not.

That is the whole point. National standards exist precisely because not every community has the resources, the lawyers, the political will, or the technical expertise to fight billion-dollar corporations on their own.

Just 37% of Americans would support a data center being built in their area, according to a POLITICO poll earlier this year. The reasons cited by opponents are overwhelmingly environmental: water usage and air pollution are among the most common complaints. 

63% of Americans do not want a data center near them. The EPA just told those Americans: figure it out yourselves.

🤔 AND ZELDIN’S ANSWER ON WATER IN UTAH WAS EVEN MORE REVEALING

The EPA chief’s comments in Washington were not the only time this week he dodged accountability on data centers and the environment.

Just weeks ago, Zeldin appeared before hundreds of energy leaders at Utah’s Operation Gigawatt Summit in Deer Valley — where a reporter from 2News asked him directly whether data centers conflict with President Trump’s own pledge to save the Great Salt Lake, which is rapidly disappearing due to water overconsumption. Zeldin declined to give a direct answer. “I’m not coming here today to opine and place judgment like that,” he said. “I’ve had the opportunities to go across the country where they’re doing an awesome job of water reuse.” 

The Great Salt Lake is shrinking before America’s eyes. Data centers in Utah are consuming millions of gallons of water. A reporter asked the head of the EPA a direct, factual question about whether those two facts conflict with each other.

His answer: he would not say.

The man whose job is to protect America’s environment — refusing to say whether draining a disappearing lake to cool AI servers is a problem.

😤 BUT HERE IS THE PART THAT MAKES THIS DECISION EVEN MORE OUTRAGEOUS

Zeldin’s argument sounds reasonable on the surface. “Local communities know best.” “States’ rights.” “We trust people on the ground.”

It falls apart completely when you look at what is actually happening on the ground.

Communities trying to fight data centers on their own are being outgunned at every turn. They face billion-dollar corporations with armies of lobbyists and lawyers. They watch their county commissioners vote in the middle of the night without public hearings. They discover secret water wells drilled without permits. They find out their electricity bills are being raised to subsidize facilities they never voted for.

And now the federal government — the last backstop — has officially stepped aside.

This is the same EPA that in January 2026 convened a roundtable with the Data Center Coalition — an industry lobbying group — to discuss how the rapid growth of data centers can make the U.S. the AI capital of the world. The meeting was led by senior Trump EPA officials. The agency’s stated goal was explicitly to advance data center expansion — not to protect communities from it. 

The EPA — meeting with data center industry lobbyists to help them build faster. Then standing at a podium to announce it will not regulate them environmentally.

That is not cooperative federalism. That is the government choosing a side. And it did not choose yours.

⚡ AND THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN DISMANTLING ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS FOR MONTHS

Yesterday’s announcement did not come out of nowhere. It is the latest in a series of moves that have systematically removed federal environmental guardrails around the data center industry.

In February 2026, the Trump administration repealed the 2009 Endangerment Finding — the central scientific finding that has allowed the EPA to regulate climate-warming emissions for over 15 years. The move strips the agency of its most powerful legal tool to control industrial pollution. 

Making the U.S. the AI capital of the world is described as a key pillar of Zeldin’s “Powering the Great American Comeback” initiative — alongside “unleashing energy dominance.” Environmental protection of communities is not listed as a pillar. 

AI capital of the world. Energy dominance. Those are the priorities. The community in Georgia watching their well go dry. The family in North Carolina whose water pressure dropped. The Nashville Zoo worried about its tigers. Not the priorities.

🗺️ SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR COMMUNITY?

Here is the direct, honest answer to what Zeldin’s announcement means for every American community with a data center near it — or coming to it:

You are the last line of defense. Your city council. Your county commissioners. Your state legislature. Your petition. Your vote.

The federal government has officially left the building.

While there are technologies and practices that reduce air pollution and water usage, Zeldin said states and communities know what works best for them — leaving all environmental oversight entirely to local and state authorities. 

Some states are rising to the challenge. New York passed a moratorium. Illinois suspended tax breaks. North Carolina is debating protections for its aquifers. Utah passed a first-in-the-nation water transparency law.

But many states — particularly in the South and Midwest where the most aggressive data center buildout is happening — have no protections in place. No standards. No transparency laws. No moratoriums. And now, no federal backstop either.

Those communities — often the poorest, the least politically connected, the most rural — are now completely exposed.

🔮 THE BOTTOM LINE

Lee Zeldin stood at a podium in Washington D.C. yesterday and made a decision that will affect every American community targeted by the data center industry for the next several years.

He decided that the federal government’s role is to help Big Tech build — not to protect the people living around what gets built.

He decided that trillion-dollar corporations deserve a streamlined path to construction — and that families worried about their water, their air, and their electricity bills can take their concerns to whatever city council or state legislature will listen.

He decided, in his own words, ten times out of ten — that Washington will not stand between a data center and your community.

Now the question is: will your community stand up for itself?

Because as of yesterday — nobody in Washington D.C. is going to do it for you!

🎩 The Stoic Way ✨

📰 Sources: E&E News / POLITICO Energy Summit — June 10, 2026 (Published Yesterday) | Newsmax — June 10, 2026 | ABC News 4 / The National News Desk — June 10, 2026 | KUTV Salt Lake City — May 2026 | U.S. EPA Official Website — January 2026 Roundtable | Harvard Environmental & Energy Law Program — December 2025

[NKY Lefty @NKY_Leftist]

Genuinely this dude's entire fortune has been built on losing money, but convincing people over and over again that you have some crazy feature or product that's coming soon, but never actually does, and that eventually you will totally make money.

Toyota made $25B in profit last year, almost 7x what Tesla made, and has a market cap less than 1/4 of Tesla. If Tesla had a market cap based on profit, it would be worth $40B, nearly 1/35th it's current value, and Musk's shares would be worth around $8B instead of nearly $300B. His entire fortune is fake.

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

An old Texas farmer gave away his 87 acre farm for $10 so the kids in his town would have somewhere to play. The town flipped it for $10 million to a data center developer.

The betrayal took 26 years and four owners. Watch the chain of custody.

Texas Parks and Recreation Foundation took the land in 1999. Handed it to the Williamson County Park Foundation in 2003. The county foundation passed it to the City of Taylor a month later. In 2008, the city sold it to its own Economic Development Corporation for $15,000.

That 2008 transfer is where the park actually died. An EDC exists for one purpose: selling land to industry. Once those acres hit its books, the only open question was the price.

The price arrived in 2025. Blueprint, a data center developer, paid $10 million for 53 of the acres. A 667x return on the $15,000 the EDC paid. The city kept 15 acres as a "buffer" between the servers and the houses 500 feet away, and expects $30 million in tax revenue over the next decade.

Why now? Taylor is the same town where Samsung is building its chip megafab, announced at $17 billion and expanded since. Every acre inside city limits repriced the moment that deal landed. An 87 acre parcel sitting next to rail lines and an electrical substation became some of the most valuable dirt in Williamson County.

The Bland family is suing. The developer has won every round so far, and the legal mechanics explain why: a deed restriction is only as strong as the entity holding it. This land passed through four owners in nine years. Each transfer thinned out who had standing to enforce the old farmer's condition, until "held in trust for parkland" was just ink.

Bland's stated reason for the gift, per a neighbor who knew him: "these kids need somewhere to play."

The kids got a substation view instead.

[Rachel Bitecofer 🗽🦆 @RachelBitecofer]

Remember when Biden let all those asylum seekers in?

It’s because federal law demands it.

Trump is out of compliance on a federal court order by refusing to process asylum claims.

Biden was the one following the law

[ALUTHEDON @Mbakaza4L]

That's slavery.
24 people in Georgia were indicted for enslaving Latin Americans.
Americans have slaves in the 21st century.

[Jonathan Cook @Jonathan_K_Cook]

Apartheid South Africa and Nazi Germany needed compliant judges to provide a legal veneer to their darkest crimes.

Judge Johnson joins their wretched company. He overturned a jury's conviction of four anti-genocide activists for criminal damage and sentenced them as terrorists instead.

As one their barristers pointed out, the four defendants were initially arrested by police on suspicion of involvement in an act of terrorism. But the prosecution decided not to charge them with terrorism offences because it knew no jury would ever convict them based on the evidence.

Instead the Crown held two trials: a sham one for the jury, and the real one conducted in secret by the judge. That is not justice. It is a show trial worthy of the worst tyrannical regimes.

[Fifty Shades of Whey @davenewworld_2]

A man in Florida is suing Jacksonville Beach police after they relied on an incorrect facial-recognition result to arrest him for a crime in a city he never visited. The ACLU says police concealed evidence that he couldn't have committed the crime, including facts about distance and license-plate-reader searches.

They're locking people up without a positive ID of their suspect? This is criminal and outrageous.

[Sammi🦋 @StoriesBySammi]

I told you they were coming for the Roadless Rule.

Yesterday, Republicans made their move — and they hid it inside a wildfire bill.

Here's what makes this so enraging:

59 million acres of America's wildest national forests are now on the table.

The 2001 Roadless Rule has protected nearly 60 million acres across 39 states for 25 years. No logging. No road construction. No drilling. No mining.

Built after 1.6 million Americans showed up — at 430 public hearings nationwide — to demand it.

What lives here: bald eagles, elk, black bears, Cerulean warblers, marbled murrelets. Species that need large, intact, unfragmented habitat to survive. For many of them, roadless forests aren't just home — they're the last places left.

What the amendment does: guts the rule. Opens the backcountry to logging and road construction under the cover of "fire prevention."

The administration is pursuing repeal through the executive branch at the same time. And unlike the original rule — they aren't holding a single public hearing.

1.6 million people showed up to protect these forests.
The administration isn't asking anyone this time.

What do you call a wildfire bill that opens forests instead of protecting them?

#DemsUnited