Happy December!

I won’t lie to you, last month was painful to write about, and even more painful to experience from the front row seat as an unemployed “DEI worker” in Washington DC. Despite this, there were headlines that brought me immense hope and, dare I say, even made me feel proud to be an American.

For example, the election results earlier in the month proved that American voters value autonomy and community far more than division and persecution. From boycotting businesses to keeping each other fed, community members deployed highly strategic and creative resistance to fascism.

Wondering what tech giants and our federal government were up to during all of this? The answer will definitely not surprise you. Except for the Epstein files vote, that shocked me. Read all about it in this month’s newsletter.

PS use the table of contents below or Ctrl+F to jump straight to the issues most relevant to you.

Federal Government

Everyone loses at the end of the longest government shutdown in US history.

On November 12, Trump signed into law, legislation to end the longest government shutdown in US history (43 days). The package does not include an extension of the Affordable Care Act and will only fund the Government through January 30. SNAP benefits were restored to Americans, and airline travel infrastructure has been restored, but there are clearly no winners.

Calls for Transparency in Government: DOGE, Epstein, and Venezuela fishing boat strikes.

The House Oversight committee released an additional 20,000 pages of documents from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein. This came a week before Congress passed the Epstein Transparency Act in a nearly unanimous House and Senate vote. Trump signed the legislation into law . Trump loyalist Rep Clay Higgins (R-La) was the only no vote. As of Nov 20, the Attorney General Pam Bondi has 30 days to make the documents publicly available and searchable. Trump withdrew his endorsement of Rep Marjorie Greene after she publicly called for the release of the files, Rep Greene subsequently announced her resignation from the House effective in January. Trump posted to Truth Social calling the issue a Democrat Hoax, then backtracked and instructed the House to vote to release the files because they have “nothing to hide”. Researcher note- all information regarding this issue was difficult to search on both Google and DuckDuckGo without use of a VPN and boolean key-term searches.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is now reportedly no longer a centralized agency, 8 months before its projected end in July 2026- ending a hiring freeze for Federal Government Offices. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has taken on the functions of the dissolved department. DOGE workers are now scattered across the Federal government offices, with some making themselves comfortable for the long haul at USDA, and others working in a newly created body called the National Design Studio-headed by the co-founder of Airbnb to beautify government websites.

The White House created a parody My Space Page called MySafeSpace that mocked Democrats and blamed them for the government shutdown. The Trump administration created a website to recruit more federal officers to be stationed in D.C for up to a year. Senate Democrats, led by Senator Warren are seeking an investigation into the partisan government shutdown messages posted to official websites by the Trump Administration. The USDA website contained anti-trans and anti-migrant claims in its shutdown message.

Senators Warner and Hawley introduced bipartisan legislation AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act that would require Federal agencies to disclose when jobs are replaced by AILegislation to restore union rights for federal workers is headed to the house for a vote.

The administration is facing criticism on foreign policy and domestic economics from the CEO of conservative news group the Federalist. The Tump Administration is enacting an alarming policy shift from interdicting suspected drug boats to striking to kill and destroy the boats. US armed forces killed 3 people after striking a boat in the Caribbean bringing the count up to 21 vessels destroyed and 82 lives lost in extrajudicial killings. The Venezuela government released a statement saying that the victims were largely fishermen. The US Senate blocked a Democratic war powers resolution that would have required Trump to get congressional approval before launching strikes.

States

State Actors working to unmask ICE while defending their autonomy

Two State Senators in Pennsylvania argue that ICE agents should have to show their faces while conducting raids and detention. In Richmond Virginia, state lawmakers have introduced a bill requiring law enforcement to show thei faces during operations.
In Kentucky, the Louisville Metro Public Safety committee voted to advance legislation to include ICE agents in existing ordinance prohibiting concealing of identity with face masks.

The Trump Administration is expected to deploy 250 members of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) in New Orleans Louisiana. Local advocates and City Council members are calling on the legal community to prepare to provide volunteer services for detained and profiled residents caught in expected raids. Here can see which local law enforcement agencies have agreed to help ICE under the DHS 287g agreement.

A judge ruled that the Broadview building turned ICE detention center is “unconstitutional and disgusting”. Detainees report having no beds, access to basic hygiene, and are sleeping in cells containing up to 150 others on the floor next to an overflowing toilet.

Content warnings, broken promises, and the opportunity for local input on the future of Data Centers

A Federal judge in Denver blocked a state law that would compel social media platforms display a warning label on the grounds that it likely violates the first amendment.

Kansas is investing less in fiber broadband after Trump admin made changes to BEAD requirements. Rural communities to expect lower quality fixed wireless over high speed broadband. Texas is getting 3 times less the BEAD dollars than they expected. Satellite continues to be an inferior option despite the attempt to improve PR.

Michigan energy regulators are offering the chance for the public to weigh in at a virtual hearing on a proposal from DTE Energy to serve AI data center on farmlands outside of Ann Arbor.

Corporation Watch

Where is all of this money coming from!? Circular investing and the troubling signs of an AI bubble.

20 big banks are providing a project finance loan of $18Billion to support Oracle AI campus (Data Center) in New Mexico.
Anthropic announced plans to spend $50 Billion on US AI infrastructure build out (aka data centers) starting in Texas and New York. The list of locations goes live in 2026 and is only expected to create 800 permanent jobs. Microsoft and Nvidia committed to invest a combined $15Billion in Anthropic, and Anthropic has in turn committed to purchase $30billion of computing capacity from Microsoft’s Azure Cloud service (data center space).
Rival, OpenAI has secured $1.4 trillion in long term infrastructure (again… data centers) commitments from Nvidia (S100Billion,not yet closed), Broadcom, Oracle, Google, and Amazon ($38B). It is still growlingly unclear how and if the US would obtain the power capacity and materials to deliver on these investments.
Concerns from investors rise regarding the deal between Oracle and OpenAI as Oracle looses $315Billion in market value, causing the deal to now be worth -$74 Billion. Oracle is now relying heavily on OpenAI to drive revenue.
Nvidia purchased $2Billion in Synopsys semiconductor software stock. Peter Thiel sold all of his Nvidia shares and reinvested in Apple and Microsoft.
To keep up with the rise in AI demand, Microsoft entered a $9.7 Billion 5-year contract deal with AI cloud service provider IREN to give it access to some of Nvidia’s chips.

Where is the accountability? Algorithmic collusion, Data breaches, and AI spyware

GoDaddy (GDDY.N), owes a patent owner $170 million for violating its rights in website-building technology, a Delaware federal jury said in a verdict made public on Friday.

Comcast paid a $1.5 Million dollar fine to the Federal Communications Communication to settle a vendor data breach that exposed personal information of 237,000 customers.

RealPage Settles with the Department of Justice for algorithmic collusion and price fixing agreeing to a 3 year monitorship and limits on data collection and use.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission dropped litigation against SolarWinds after the 2020 Sunburst Cyber Attack.

Google Sued by US District Court in Northern California for using Gemini AI tool to unlawfully monitor private communications of users on Gmail Chat and Meet.

Cyber Rights

AI legislation moratorium and the return of KOSA: The age of censorship and surveillance

Chicago Man arrested after posting instagram videos threatening Donald Trump. North Dakota man arrested after posting threats to the Donald Trump and Law Enforcement online. Tennessee sheriff defends their arrest of a man who posted a meme quoting Donald trump connecting the post to a threat of school shooting.

200 state legislators sent a letter to Congress to urge Federal lawmakers to reject attempts to place a ban on state legislation to regulate AI. The AI moratorium provision was not included in must-pass legislation and states maintain the ability to legislate around AI.

Just Futures Law and the Center for Constitutional Rights, are suing the Trump Administration over use of Israeli based spyware Cellibrite and Paragon.

Missouri’s Age Verification law the Missouri Mercahndising Practices Act goes into effect.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee released a package of 19 bills including KOSA aimed at protecting kids on the internet. Critics of this legislation argue that KOSA enables state driven censorship and raises major online privacy concerns, while going disguised as an effort to keep kids safer online.

Weather Report

The current state of hate, extremism, scams, and state driven repression

The US Coast guard changed its harassment policy to reclassify swastikas, nooses from prohibited hate symbols to potentially divisive. The Department of Justice removed the Missing and murdered Indigenous People’s report from its website calling it DEI content. The DOJ said that the report was removed to comply with Executive order 14168 Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. Additionally, the Supreme Court is allowing the Trump Administration to implement a policy restricting passport markers to M or F ending the availability of X.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD updated interpretation if immigration verification requirements to effectively deny lawfully present immigrants access to housing programs. Federal Agents are engaged in widespread misrepresentation in an attempt to justify use of force against protesters.

After two National Guardsmen were shot in Washington DC this month, the Trump Administration announced that it was pausing asylum decisions, reexamining green card applications, and halting Visas for Afghans. The suspected shooter is reported to be an Afghan national, and has plead not guilty to his charges from his hospital bed during a virtual court proceeding.

Far-Right German activist seeks asylum in the US claiming that they are under political persecution from Antifa. Elon Musk posted to X in support of her claim for asylum.

Scammers are targeting holiday shoppers with fake Geek Squad scams. Americans are experiencing a surge in scams -financially devastating Black and Latine consumers. Hackers threaten to leak data after hacking UPenn.

1st Amendment under attack: Moms, Clergy, and Zine makers arrested for daring to resist authoritarianism.

Texas man is facing up to 40 years in federal prison for “transporting a box of Antifa materials” the materials in question were anarchist Zines. This disturbing arrest comes as the DOJ is calling 9 individuals a “North Texas Antifa cell” while moving to hold them responsible for a July demonstration at a Prairieland ICE detention facility that turned deadly. After Trump’s Executive order designating Antifa as a terrorist organization, the offense is trumped up to incitement of domestic terrorism.

14 mothers and dozens of faith leaders were arrested after protesting outside the Broadview federal Immigration facility near Chicago. Protesters demanded “faith over fear” as a federal judge ordered a group of 13 detainees to be released.

Dynamic Pricing becomes more common as businesses increasingly rely on pricing algorithms to jack up prices and offer deals to select consumers.

Good News

The results of the 2025 elections offered a hopeful glimpse of the future of a multi-racial Democracy.

The New York Gubernatorial race saw it’s highest voter turnout in decades, with nearly 30% of registered voters casting ballots. New York voters successfully elected Zohran Mamdani, at 34 years old he is the youngest mayor the city has had, and is the first Muslim to serve in that office. In California, Proposition 50 won with 64% of the vote, a ballot initiative designed to counter Trump’s redistricting campaign to further disenfranchise voters and give Republicans an electoral advantage. Virginia elected Abigail Spanberger, flipping the Governor’s seat from Republican to Democrat. These are just the highlights, elections took place in 35 states and the down ballot results are just as hopeful. On election day, community members turned out in droves to support their neighbors with voting needs and to protect the vote. Read about the work done by my team of Election Protection volunteers.

Judges say NO to National Guard occupation and weaponization.

A Federal Judge ordered the Trump Administration to end its deployment of National Guard troops in Washington DC after ruling the deployment illegal.
Tennessee judge blocks Trump’s use of National Guard in Memphis, arguing that the Governor maintains the authority to determine when National Guard are necessary.
US district court judge rules that the Trump administration is permanently blocked from sending National Guard Troops to Portland Oregon after failing to meet legal requirements for deployment.

Senators Curtis (R-Utah) and Kelly (D-Arizona) want to hold tech accountable for harms caused by social media algorithms.

Have you ever tried this one? Black Friday boycotts and community resistance to ICE grows stronger than ever.

Absolutely do not ever involve me to benefit your inhumane agenda.” says Sabrina Carpenter. The pop star used her platform to condemn ICE raids after the White House used ‘ Juno lyrics in a pro ICE propaganda posts on X and TikTok.

US approval for ICE falls to 34% from 56% in 2024. A spontaneous crowd of protesters in New York formed a blockade and trapped ICE agents in a Manhattan parking garage preventing them from carrying out raids. Several protesters were arrested after hurling planters, trash cans, and wood at ICE agents.
Colorado protesters target Key Lime air for its role in transporting detainees. Employers and labor unions are fighting back against ICE raids.

Black Friday protests organized in Williamsburg Virginia outside of an outlet mall to voice opposition to ICE. In Portland Oregon, activists dressed in holiday attire gathered outside of Apple in protest of the removal of the ICEBlock app. The Black Friday boycotts also targeted Target, with the DC demonstration shutting down an entire shopping mall after police pulled the fire alarm in a panic. FreeDC released a Procott list featuring stores that respect DC’s autonomy and reject anti-DEI decision-making.

Protesters in California, North Carolina were seen staging a buy in at Home Depot designed to disrupt business by causing long lines- buying $0.17 ice scrapers to then get back in line to return them. Demonstrators set up white crosses to represent neighbors who died while detained or during a raid. Protesters condemn Home Depot for its cooperation with ICE in targeted raids, calling on them to “scrape out ICE”.

Students protest in the north while internet connection is underway in the south!

In Massachusetts, Mount Holyoke students are protesting the Trump Administrations Compact for Higher Education that seeks to alight universities with Trump’s moral standards. 200 students at Venice High walked out to protest federal immigration policies.

Bastrop County received $43 Million in BEAD grants bringing service to 10,471 unserved homes and businesses.
Alabama officials celebrate the Alabama Middle Mile Fiber Network’s progress in connecting all 67 counties to high speed internet.

Horoscope

A full moon in Gemini on the 4th of December brings clarity and marks the end of mental blockage from the previous month. Venus brings stability to relationships and finances when it moves to Capricorn on the 24th. Take this as your sign from the stars to use your clarity to build stability and room for connection to yourself and your communities this holiday season.

Until next month,