Tag: Memphis
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Let’s talk about beef.
It used to be a weeknight staple. This year it turned into a luxury. Ground beef hit record prices in 2026. Steaks did too. And here’s the part that should make you mad. The same four companies in the middle of all this get to decide what you pay AND what the rancher gets paid.…
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The government won’t protect your data. The government is buying your data.
Your phone told somebody where you slept last night. Nobody hacked it. The apps on it are built to share your location, and a whole industry exists to buy it. Here’s the pipeline. You download a free app – a weather app, a game, a prayer app, a period tracker. The app grabs your location…
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A computer picked the wrong man. Police arrested him anyway. Memphis isn’t using this software – “at this time.”
Now that I have your attention on the Flock Camera issue – I think it is worth revisiting an issue I’ve been writing about that should be just as chilling – if not more. In January 2020, Detroit police arrested a man named Robert Williams on his front lawn, in front of his wife and…
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A camera photographed your car today. Nobody needed a warrant to search where you’ve been.
I’ve been doing some research on Flock cameras. Here’s what I found. A camera probably took a picture of your license plate today. It saved where you were, what you drive, what time you passed, and even the dents and bumper stickers on your car. You didn’t do anything wrong. It kept the picture anyway.…
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The world’s largest supercomputer is in our backyard. It’s time to ask what it’s doing for the people next door.
The world’s largest supercomputer sits in Memphis’ backyard. While 30,000 Memphians still don’t have internet access. I’ve written plenty about the baggage of the xAI data centers, and I’m not taking any of it back. The gas turbines went in without permits. The air got worse. The water and the power grid are carrying the…
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ICE’s own agents asked to leave ICE in 2018. Congress gave it $110 billion instead.
In 2018, nineteen of ICE’s own top agents wrote a letter to their boss asking to be split off from ICE. These weren’t protesters. They were the special agents in charge of Homeland Security Investigations – the part of ICE that chases child predators, drug cartels, and human traffickers. They told the Secretary of Homeland…
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Disaster mitigation is boring. It’s also why Dyersburg’s water plant survived – and my question for xAI.
Let’s talk about disaster mitigation, because that is an important part of a representative’s job. Disaster mitigation means doing the work before the disaster. You study what can go wrong, you plan for it, and you spend a little now so it costs a lot less later. One major national study found federal mitigation grants…
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The law that pays for your roads expires September 30
Let’s talk about the roads you drove today, because the law that pays for them expires September 30, and the fight over what replaces it decides your commute, your prices, and your safety. Start with the deadline. The 2021 infrastructure law funds highways, bridges, and transit in all 50 states. It runs out September 30,…
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Cut the gas tax? Great. Now there’s less money for your roads.
Get rid of the gas tax. Sounds great, right? Guess what it pays for? Roads. Every Republican running for office loves to say “cut taxes.” Almost none of them tell you what those taxes are doing. So let me tell you what the gas tax does, and why it matters for every road in this…
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Economic development keeps chasing tourists. The research says we’re doing it wrong.
Let’s talk about economic development, because every city in America plays the same game. The showpiece projects get the headlines and the political muscle – stadiums, arenas, convention centers, entertainment districts. The pitch is always the same: visitors will come, spending will follow, and the benefits will trickle down to everybody. Meanwhile, the neighborhoods two…