Stephen A. Rhodes
@stephenarhodes.bsky.social
Lover of democracy. Proud Appalachian (living in RVA). Progressive Democrat. Seeker of a more just society. Writer. Reader. Doodler. Indivisible. Dog Lover. CFS/ME. He/Him. Sic semper tyrannis.
Virginia — specifically Northern Virginia — has more data centers than anywhere else in the world ; almost one-fifth of the total. How did this happen? Who approved these? They are driving electricity rates sky high, and require massive amounts of ground water.
richmond.com/news/state-r...
richmond.com/news/state-r...
Data Centers: Why Virginia?
The state's telecommunications infrastructure, tax breaks, workforce and officials' welcoming attitude have helped make Virginia the world's data center capital.
richmond.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Virginia — specifically Northern Virginia — has more data centers than anywhere else in the world ; almost one-fifth of the total. How did this happen? Who approved these? They are driving electricity rates sky high, and require massive amounts of ground water.
richmond.com/news/state-r...
richmond.com/news/state-r...
Reposted by Stephen A. Rhodes
Your regular reminder that data centers are bad for literally everyone: www.governing.com/infrastructu...
Virginia’s Data Center Tax Breaks Cost the State $1 Billion
Data center exemptions now make up nearly 80 percent of all economic-incentive spending, even as communities raise concerns about rising power costs.
www.governing.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Your regular reminder that data centers are bad for literally everyone: www.governing.com/infrastructu...
First they co-opt Charlotte’s Web and now Franklin?
This is a disturbing post on X by a disturbed individual. Pete Hegseth is a murderer.
December 1, 2025 at 1:20 PM
First they co-opt Charlotte’s Web and now Franklin?
Yes, I also donate each month.
I take Wikipedia for granted. Reading this Jimmy Wales interview reminded me in our Fantasyland age what a remarkable and important creation it is. True pillar of civilization. Runs on only $200 million a year. Requires our support. So I’m finally donating. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
The Culture Wars Came for Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales Is Staying the Course.
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Yes, I also donate each month.
Just the very picture of health don’t you think?
November 30, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Just the very picture of health don’t you think?
Hassett is the cheerful liar of this administration.
HASSETT: Gas prices dropped below $2 a gallon in a lot of places
CORDES: Gas prices on average are still at $3 a galloon
HASSETT: For a few states they got below $2
CORDES: Gas prices on average are still at $3 a galloon
HASSETT: For a few states they got below $2
November 30, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Hassett is the cheerful liar of this administration.
Reposted by Stephen A. Rhodes
The president is a political cartoon of corruption come to life, a gaudy grifter who is selling off pardons and lining his pockets, building a golden ballroom and protecting his fellow sex predator elites, all the while regular Americans are suffering and struggling to make ends meet.
Run on *that*
Run on *that*
November 30, 2025 at 5:02 PM
The president is a political cartoon of corruption come to life, a gaudy grifter who is selling off pardons and lining his pockets, building a golden ballroom and protecting his fellow sex predator elites, all the while regular Americans are suffering and struggling to make ends meet.
Run on *that*
Run on *that*
Reposted by Stephen A. Rhodes
Would the Supreme Court rule that taking a bribe for a pardon was an "official act" by the president and immune from prosecution? I'm serious. If Trump announced he was selling pardons for $1M a pop, could anyone do anything about it, short of impeachment? (Which carries no prison sentence.)
November 30, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Would the Supreme Court rule that taking a bribe for a pardon was an "official act" by the president and immune from prosecution? I'm serious. If Trump announced he was selling pardons for $1M a pop, could anyone do anything about it, short of impeachment? (Which carries no prison sentence.)
Reposted by Stephen A. Rhodes
The New Deal wasn’t built on a promise that there would be “no ceiling” for the richest Americans.
Quite the opposite, in fact. FDR knew its politics could only work if he singled out the rich as villains and knew that its policies could only work if the rich paid their fair share in taxes.
Quite the opposite, in fact. FDR knew its politics could only work if he singled out the rich as villains and knew that its policies could only work if the rich paid their fair share in taxes.
November 30, 2025 at 4:51 PM
The New Deal wasn’t built on a promise that there would be “no ceiling” for the richest Americans.
Quite the opposite, in fact. FDR knew its politics could only work if he singled out the rich as villains and knew that its policies could only work if the rich paid their fair share in taxes.
Quite the opposite, in fact. FDR knew its politics could only work if he singled out the rich as villains and knew that its policies could only work if the rich paid their fair share in taxes.
Billions and soon trillions wasted.
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Analysis: OpenAI is a loss-making machine, how can it survive?
Don't call it a bubble! Loss-making monster OpenAI is on the hook for $1.4 trillion (with a T) in compute commitments. How can this go on?
www.windowscentral.com
November 30, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Billions and soon trillions wasted.
Reposted by Stephen A. Rhodes
"We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few - but we can't have both."
The fundamental divide in the Democratic Party is between those who think Louis Brandeis's thesis is correct, and those who think his thesis is wrong.
The fundamental divide in the Democratic Party is between those who think Louis Brandeis's thesis is correct, and those who think his thesis is wrong.
November 29, 2025 at 7:23 PM
"We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few - but we can't have both."
The fundamental divide in the Democratic Party is between those who think Louis Brandeis's thesis is correct, and those who think his thesis is wrong.
The fundamental divide in the Democratic Party is between those who think Louis Brandeis's thesis is correct, and those who think his thesis is wrong.
Thread 🧵
I am allowed to fail students for AI use, and I do, and I say I will, repeatedly and emphatically. As a result, I wind up having to fail very few students for AI use.
I read the thread and know why they're not failing the students. They gotta let colleges fail the students for the sake of the curriculum and other students
November 29, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Thread 🧵
Reposted by Stephen A. Rhodes
This is the most corrupt, lawless administration in the history of the United States and there’s no close second.
November 29, 2025 at 5:03 AM
This is the most corrupt, lawless administration in the history of the United States and there’s no close second.
Sending much love and well wishes to each and everyone of you as we give thanks this year. We were almost all together — we missed Sarah and Dave (our daughter and her significant other) so much that we photoshopped them in.
November 28, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Sending much love and well wishes to each and everyone of you as we give thanks this year. We were almost all together — we missed Sarah and Dave (our daughter and her significant other) so much that we photoshopped them in.
Reposted by Stephen A. Rhodes
If you want to know why Hegseth is panicking about reminders that there is accountably for giving or carrying out illegal orders, it’s likely because he knows he has given illegal orders to murder people.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:02 PM
If you want to know why Hegseth is panicking about reminders that there is accountably for giving or carrying out illegal orders, it’s likely because he knows he has given illegal orders to murder people.
It’s a start for msm. Honestly, I’m surprised that the NYT published this at all.
While this NYT article pulls punches on Trump's madness, impulsivity, and delusions, it's useful in that it creates space for other articles about Trump's age and clear cognitive and physical decline to follow. Gift link.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office
www.nytimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:09 PM
It’s a start for msm. Honestly, I’m surprised that the NYT published this at all.
My son is hosting Thanksgiving this year, and because he had to work yesterday (he’s a firefighter) we are having dinner today. I’m in charge of the turkey. It’s got another hour to go.
November 28, 2025 at 2:06 PM
My son is hosting Thanksgiving this year, and because he had to work yesterday (he’s a firefighter) we are having dinner today. I’m in charge of the turkey. It’s got another hour to go.
Reposted by Stephen A. Rhodes
Stephen Miller is trying to rebuild white supremacy in America, to make it the explicit law of the land that if you are not white, you are inferior and you should be persecuted by the government, your citizenship removed, and probably deported from the country.
November 28, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Stephen Miller is trying to rebuild white supremacy in America, to make it the explicit law of the land that if you are not white, you are inferior and you should be persecuted by the government, your citizenship removed, and probably deported from the country.
Reposted by Stephen A. Rhodes
this is just gutter racism
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 12:59 PM
this is just gutter racism
Reposted by Stephen A. Rhodes
Stephen Miller is trying to convert the United States into a country where you are targeted by the government for torture and punishment because you’re a member of the nonwhite groups he considers inferior to himself and enjoys seeing suffering. That is what is happening.
November 28, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Stephen Miller is trying to convert the United States into a country where you are targeted by the government for torture and punishment because you’re a member of the nonwhite groups he considers inferior to himself and enjoys seeing suffering. That is what is happening.
Reposted by Stephen A. Rhodes
At least CBS doesn’t do the Macy’s Parade because then we’d all be sitting through Bari Weiss telling us how actually Dora is Hamas.
November 27, 2025 at 5:52 PM
At least CBS doesn’t do the Macy’s Parade because then we’d all be sitting through Bari Weiss telling us how actually Dora is Hamas.
I love this photo.
Elliott Erwitt, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. New York City, USA. 1988.
November 27, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I love this photo.
Where I now live was once the land of the Powhatan people. Where I lived as a child and youth was once the land of the Cherokee.
Whose land do you live on?
Whose land do you live on?
November 27, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Where I now live was once the land of the Powhatan people. Where I lived as a child and youth was once the land of the Cherokee.
Whose land do you live on?
Whose land do you live on?
In 2028, whichever Democrat is elected president needs to appoint the most aggressive Attorney General in American history.
November 27, 2025 at 5:26 PM
In 2028, whichever Democrat is elected president needs to appoint the most aggressive Attorney General in American history.
Reposted by Stephen A. Rhodes
Bowser on injured National Guard members: "These young people should be at home in West Virginia with their families"
November 27, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Bowser on injured National Guard members: "These young people should be at home in West Virginia with their families"