Issues You May Know, 9 January 2026.
A list of things you might want to know about - or write your reps about.
Frog that’s formerly a police officer. (According to an AI tool used on official report.)
Frog at Lackawanna State Park in Pennsylvania. July 13, 2025. Photo by Chloe Kaczenski Humbert.
AI scribe tools making up cop frog fairy tales should not be used where facts are important.
Facts are important in most formal reports for records right? So not good if your scribe tool is claiming people are turning into frogs.
Maybe a police report would wind up being formally litigated, but what about all the medical records with errors.
The things that an opposition would be doing.
Yes there are things Democratic Party politicians in government could be doing to oppose bonkers stuff going on. They just aren’t doing those things. The assertion that they can’t do anything is, in short, a lie. Don’t let Democratic politicians off the hook.
Democrats say they can’t do anything because Republicans control Congress. Is that true? Tad Stoermer Jan 5, 2026 But let’s start with the Senate because that’s where minority power is greatest. In the Senate, a single senator, one person, can grind the chamber to a halt. The rules are built that way and Democrats aren’t using any of it.
The Democrats who backed the Elon Musk ally, climate contrarian Jared Isaacman.
Arizona Mark Kelly
Arizona Ruben Gallego
California Adam Schiff
Illinois Dick Durbin
Maine Angus King
Michigan Elissa Slotkin
New Hampshire Maggie Hassan
New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
New Jersey Andy Kim
New Mexico Martin Heinrich
New York Kirsten Gillibrand
Pennsylvania John Fetterman
Virginia Tim Kaine
Virginia Mark Warner
Washington Maria Cantwell
Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin
My letter to John Fetterman:
Voting to install Jared Isaacman, the billionaire acolyte of neo-Nazi soon-to-be-trillionaire Elon Musk is pretty disgusting. We will know who’s to blame for the damage done.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.
DOGE is hiring.
Did you think DOGE was over? Reports of DOGE’s demise were exaggerated. And the hacker gang connected Edward Coristine is still hip deep in all our PII and doing who knows what with it.
US DOGE Service is hiring following mass workforce losses across the government - The group housing Trump’s controversial cost-cutting program is one of several tech teams that are recruiting. By Natalie Alms January 6, 2026 05:17 PM ET Nextgov/FCW USDS is one of several technology teams created or reworked by this administration that are hiring. The National Design Studio, led by former DOGE member and Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, was created within the White House over the summer to improve government websites and physical spaces. Among those that appear to work for the design group are “Big Balls” Edward Coristine, a young technologist who also worked for DOGE. Coristine posted on X last month that the design studio is looking for web designers and developers. “2am Saturday @ndstudio team is still grinding from the White House,” he posted on Dec. 7. And just last month, the Trump administration launched an effort with nearly 30 private sector companies to recruit 1,000 primarily early-career technologists into a new U.S. Tech Force.
My letter to reps:
What is “DOGE” hiring for, and what are they doing? Why is this stuff not transparent? And why is the hacker gang associated youth Edward Coristine anywhere near personal data of Americans? Investigations need to take place to hold these people accountable for whatever they’re doing, because the fact they’re keeping it hidden I think is a strong indication that there’s something very amiss.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.
We shouldn’t need sleuths to find out about projects public officials are tapped into.
But we do because elected officials have been signing nondisclosure agreements.
404 Media - Hunting America for Hidden Datacenters - The nonprofit research group Epoch AI is tracking the physical imprint of the technology that’s changing the world. Matthew Gault · Jan 1, 2026 at 1:55 PM But Epoch AI continues to expand its toolset and look through more satellite imagery with the goal of mapping Big Tech’s newest project. The goal is to cast light into the darkness. “Even if we have a perfect analysis of a data center, we may still be in the dark about who uses it, and how much they use,” Epoch AI’s website said. “AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic make deals with hyperscalers such as Oracle and Amazon to rent compute, but the arrangement for any given data center is sometimes secret.”
And this outfit has started an Interactive Map.
It’s odd because they claim Pennsylvania is the prime state for AI data center development. I can’t seem to find out if any of the data centers planned in Lackawanna County are actually AI. I think they’re all plans for cryptocurrency printing. And at least one of them had been secretly planning to include a nuclear reactor.
My letter to reps:
It should not be so hard to find out information about data centers and what they’re planning to be used for. All of this information that impacts the community should be transparent to the general public, and no public official should be signing nondisclosure agreements to keep taxpayers in the dark about “economic development” projects.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.
Private equity investors are writing the law in a town in Luzerne County Pennsylvania.
Ongoing battle against data center proposals in Luzerne County Newswatch 16’s Adi Iyer was in Sugarloaf Township, where folks are grappling with two major industrial projects. Author: Adithya Iyer Published: 10:46 PM EST December 30, 2025 Updated: 10:46 PM EST December 30, 2025 The way the township is trying to control data center development is by amending the township’s zoning ordinance. But because the ordinance amendment was drafted by the township’s attorney and the attorney representing LBT Investment Group, folks were angry.
There should never be a case where a town’s ordinance is written by some private equity firm that has conflicts of interest in the town. But it’s probably happening all over, so we need to let the elected officials know we’re onto this and see it as corruption.
My letter to reps:
We need to ban ordinances or ordinance amendments to zoning laws that are written by investor companies with conflicts of interest. That’s corruption straight up and it’s shocking that’s not already illegal.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.
What’s it going to take to get people off tech tycoon algorithm controlled communication?
I don’t know why anyone would want to stay on the mechahitlerbot csam generator at this point. The government won’t act presumably because the chief troll is having dinner with the troller in chief, and it reminds me of the quote from Rick Pollay from 1992: “Many people rationalize that if it were really dangerous the government wouldn’t let it be advertised. They are wrong in that thinking. It is dangerous and the government does let it be advertised.”
I’ve experienced shadowbanning myself repeatedly on various platforms, and I’ve heard that even in private facebook groups, advocates and activists have their posts shadowbanned, with the admins not even being notified that posts are being held. It’s just not a useful place for grassroots people to try to do activism or even public pressure, unless you’re part of a coordinated campaign, because you just can’t compete as a grassroots activist with the influence operations. Of course influencers will try to convince you to stay on the app and boost them. And not just influencers, but scientist content creators as well. Product cults are a thing, and they even show up getting described as a business model in SEC filing forms.
Alcohol is bad for you.
World Health Organization: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health 4 January 2023
That blue zones longevity stuff was debunked.
Why does anyone need an excuse to socialize??
Alcohol is a carcinogen. It causes cancer.
Dr. Oz saying alcohol is a social lubricant and blue zones something something medical he heard in pop culture press is the most boomer thing I’ve heard so far for Dry January 2026.
The statement was a bonkers word salad straight out of one of those grocery store checkout aisle magazines with covers Oz has been featured on so often.
Dr. Oz calls alcohol a ‘social lubricant’ but ‘don’t have it for breakfast’ Associated Press Jan 7, 2026 Dr. Oz:
“So alcohol is a social lubricant that brings people together. In the best case scenario, I don’t think you should drink alcohol, but it does allow people an excuse to bond and socialize. And there’s probably nothing healthier than having a good time with friends in a safe way. If you look at the blue zones, for example, around the world where people live the longest, alcohol is sometimes part of their diet. Again, small amounts taken very judiciously and usually in a celebratory fashion.”
I partied in my youth. This isn’t about judging anyone for partaking of mind altering substances available. This is about how people should be informed with facts by health authorities. The federal government health department spokespeople ought to be telling people the obvious truth, straight out, that alcohol is bad for you. If people still consume it, so be it, but the government shouldn’t be in any way doing PR and marketing for the consumption of carcinogens.
Abolish ICE.
I remember when this agency was getting created. I was against the entirety of the Department of Homeland Security back then because it absolutely sounded like it would create a surveillance state for some “fatherland” Big Brother intrusive big government, which was why I was so confused Republicans were backing that crap. At the time there were many many warnings that creating this agency during the traumatic retribution based reaction to the September 11th attacks would be prone to authoritarianism, and would lead to abuse of power. And now here we are.
My letter to reps:
ICE needs to be dismantled, investigated, and everyone involved in abuse of power up and down and across DHS needs to be held accountable for their actions from the reckless to the criminal to the libelous. Not just this latest killing of a motorist, all of them need to be investigated after being dismissed permanently and the entire agency closed. Most reasonable peaceful human beings object to this deliberate reign of so-called retribution ethnic cleansing. It’s clear that leadership is not fit for their roles because that DHS woman just flippantly branded a victim as a “terrorist” posthumously, before there’s even an investigation or formal report, which seems to leave open the door for taxpayers being on the hook for officials being found guilty in defamation suits. The immorality of the situation should prompt swift action here by representatives of the people.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.
I need this on a bumper sticker: I’m already against the next homeland security overreach. I already have a bumper sticker that says I’m already against the next war.
US private equity tycoons are a problem for Greenland too.
I keep hearing that people are asking if Greenland’s next. The thing is Greenland is apparently already underway. And it’s about making corporate dictatorship states.
INFILTRATED! - How the USA buys Greenland’s elite — Danish News in English — Jan 2, 2026
My letter to reps:
The threats against Greenland and Denmark are unacceptable. These unhinged and geopolitically dangerous statements need to stop. I don’t think the U.S. should invade Greenland, go to war with Denmark or NATO, or cause international incidents over wild statements about Greenland. The whole Greenland thing should be dropped. Nobody voted for this. It was not on any party platform that I heard about.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.
Montour County - Danville Pennsylvania.
Montour County Board of Commissioners Public Meeting- Talen Energy Rezoning Petition January 23, 2026 Beginning 9:30 am First Baptist Church 12 Brookside Drive Danville, PA
If the movers and shakers and the organizations and people with power and connections or prominence today were doing things right & effectively, would we be where we are now?