Tech oligarchs, Christian nationalists think democracy is the problem

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ODRad6tKiwY

 

US renews push for EU to soften Big Tech rules – POLITICO

Washington is again linking tariff relief for European steel exports to a demand that Brussels go easy on enforcing the Digital Markets Act…

 https://www.politico.eu/article/us-renews-push-for-eu-to-soften-big-tech-rules/

 

Poll: Voters see Republicans as the party of Big Tech tax breaks - POLITICO

Stripping tax incentives from tech companies rated as one of the top tax priorities in the midterms, according to the POLITICO Poll…

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/20/poll-voters-see-republicans-as-the-party-of-big-tech-tax-breaks-01127726 

 

BIG TECH OLIGARCHS HAVE A TERRIBLE PLAN FOR HUMANITY ( Atlantic)

A handful of multibillionaires hope to dictate our future.

 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/10/ai-regulation-transhumanism-oligarchs/689013/

 

Who Put These Freaks In Charge?

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1K_HY6HdKK4

 

Wall Street and Big Tech’s blue wave nightmare: Elizabeth Warren working with Republicans - POLITICO

In the event of a blue tsunami, the Massachusetts Democrat is poised to chair the Senate Banking Committee, giving the long-time corporate watchdog her most powerful perch yet to take on the giants of Wall Street and Silicon Valley. 

While that’s no surprise to the business community, the big risk that lobbyists see on the horizon has more to do with a populist surge on the right — a shift that creates a powerful opportunity for Warren to team up with Republicans eager to take swings at corporate America…

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/09/elizabeth-warren-senate-banking-chair-01113175 

Trump hosts awards party for tech billionaires, almost as if he doesn’t care about ordinary Americans

Amid a cost-of-living crisis, with US midterms a month away, the president held a ceremony to celebrate our tech overlords – again

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/08/trump-awards-party-tech-billionaires 

 

Trump admin bars 8 tech companies from sponsoring H-1B workers for green cards - POLITICO

“Our message to Microsoft is: You’re a great American company, but you’ve got to hire great American workers,” Vance, who leads the administration’s anti-fraud task force, said at the press conference…

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/08/vance-microsoft-adobe-h-1-b-green-cards-01111603

 

Trump announces vague ‘morally binding’ AI deal among tech CEOs for ‘tremendous self-policing’

The document outlines four “layers of controls and audits” for AI companies. The first involves implementing internal safety monitoring during training – something that already exists at major labs and has failed to prevent testing failures thus far. The second calls for empowering an internal team to make sure the first layer of monitoring is operating correctly, while the third agrees to give an external auditor the ability to independently assess safety controls. Finally, the agreement calls for companies to designate an independent board to review reports about those safety controls… 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/29/trump-ai-deal-tech-ceos-superintelligence 

Corporate tax payments plunge as AI feasts on new incentives - POLITICO

Some Democrats, including Sens. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the ranking member on the tax-writing Finance Committee, and Mark Warner (Va.), are now pushing to curb investment breaks for data centers. 

“Massive corporations should pay their fair share,” Wyden said in a statement. “This starts by fixing the corporate income tax” including “repealing big giveaways for data centers.”…

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/14/corporate-tax-payments-ai-01071550

 

Why Aren’t the Wealthy Paying More?

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7jaAIZe0nww

 

"The Nerd Reich": Author Gil Durán on Big Tech Fascism, Peter Thiel, JD Vance and the war on democracy

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg7YNUbaV-8

 

"This is a huge scandal. This should be front page news everywhere": high risk investments in AI

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/swihU47elQo

 

Newsom’s answer to AI anxiety: Share the wealth - POLITICO

… making the case that Americans deserve a share of the profits. And while he has opposed a billionaire tax in his home state, he raised the issue nationally with proposed taxes on the wealthy — and with his new proposal on AI...

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/15/newsoms-populist-turn-on-tech-00997048

China hits back at U.S. sanctions on tech giants, restricting its exports to American defense firms | PBS News

The Commerce Ministry said that Chinese companies would be blocked from exporting "dual-use" items to the 10 companies, which include military drone makers and some involved in rare earth mining. Dual use refers to goods that can have military as well as non-military applications. 

The ministry said the export ban was both to safeguard China's national security and in response to what it called the U.S. government's "wrongful expansion of its so-called List of Chinese Military Companies."…

 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/china-hits-back-at-u-s-sanctions-on-tech-giants-restricting-its-exports-to-american-defense-firms

 

Tech moguls claim China funds U.S. data center opposition : NPR

The theory that China is paying local activists in America to oppose data centers is catching on like wildfire among the Silicon Valley elite, despite a lack of evidence. Wealthy investors are naming names and pointing fingers, even if they can't directly link their projects' opponents to China...

 https://www.npr.org/2026/06/10/nx-s1-5844328/us-china-data-centers-foreign-influence

 

AI, Pope Leo, & The Antichrist (Conspirituality podcast #311)

Leo the XIV wrote a big letter about a hyperobject. Many thoughts and debates are triggered. Today we’ll look at what the hell an encyclical is, the Vatican's decade-long conversation with Silicon Valley about coding morally-sound AI, and the broken and laundered echoes of Liberation Theology in Leo’s text.

Interview: 

https://www.conspirituality.net/episodes/311-ai-pope-leo-the-antichrist

Weekly Roundup: Minnesota vs. ICE: Neighbors, Authoritarianism, and the Future of Democracy (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)

In this episode of Straight White American Jesus, Brad Onishi—author of American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy—is joined by co-host Dan Miller, Professor of Religion and Social Thought at Landmark College. They begin by unpacking the ongoing ICE operations in Minnesota, framing the federal crackdown as a clash between authoritarian state power and a deeply organized, nonviolent response by ordinary Minnesotans. Drawing on political theory and on-the-ground reporting, Brad and Dan argue that what's unfolding in the Twin Cities is not a partisan skirmish but a vivid example of democracy in action: neighbors mobilizing to protect one another against coercion, violence, and the erosion of basic rights.

The conversation then turns to two deeply troubling developments with national implications. First, they examine the killing of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse and legal gun owner, and the Trump administration's sudden hostility to Second Amendment arguments—revealing how rights are selectively applied depending on political loyalty. Finally, they analyze the FBI raid on a Georgia election office, tracing its roots to Trump's refusal to accept the 2020 election results and warning of the chilling precedent this sets for future elections. Taken together, these stories reveal a pattern: the criminalization of dissent, the dehumanization of political opponents, and an accelerating effort to use state power to intimidate, suppress, and control.
Interview: 

https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/weekly-roundup-minnesota-vs.-ice-neighbors-authoritarianism-and-the-future-of-democracy?hsLang=en

The True Cost of Trump’s Gilded Ballroom

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9HF0VztdQlY

 

Donald Trump signs executive order aimed at preventing states from regulating AI

"Trump's campaign to threaten, harass and punish states that seek to pass commonsense AI regulations is just another chapter in his playbook to hand over control of one of the most transformative technologies of our time to big tech CEOs," said Teri Olle, the vice-president of Economic Security California Action, which co-sponsored AI safety legislation in California this year. "This is not about allowing for American innovation."…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/11/trump-executive-order-artificial-intelligence