Starmer Government Doubles Down on Anti-Free Speech Policies
May 22nd, 2026Via: Jonathan Turley:
When hundreds of thousands of Britons joined the recent Unite the Kingdom rally, the government of Keir Starmer wanted them to know that they were being watched for possible arrest. By deploying facial recognition systems and invoking the United Kingdom’s anti-free speech laws, Starmer’s government made it clear that it would not tolerate anything it considered hateful or xenophobic, on the heels of its losses to Reform UK in council elections.
The White House Ballroom Is A Deep Fortress In Disguise
May 22nd, 2026Via: The War Zone:
Trump’s White House ballroom, the controversy that keeps on giving, will of course be much more than just a ballroom and offices. This was always a given. Taking down an entire wing of the White House would be seen as the biggest opportunity in generations to install modernized hardened infrastructure at the most famous, most threatened, and highest-security house in America. Now, thanks to a remarkably detailed monologue and question-and-answer session from President Trump, we are learning a lot more about exactly what the ballroom’s security and military features will include, and just how deep the facility will go. The big takeaway here is that while it may be branded a ballroom, it’s really a fortress too — one with some very specialized and even somewhat puzzling capabilities.
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Think a multi-story underground office building more so than a bomb shelter.
Texas: Woman Arrested for Posting About City’s Filthy Water on Facebook
May 22nd, 2026Via: Fox 4:
Trump Admin Takes Equity Stake in IBM and Other Quantum Computing Companies
May 21st, 2026Via: Gizmodo:
After taking equity stakes in chipmakers and rare-earth element miners, the Trump administration has a new industry on its radar: quantum computing.
On Thursday, the Department of Commerce announced that it was investing more than $2 billion in nine quantum computing companies. In turn, it’ll receive “a minority, non-controlling equity stake” in each.
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The Department of Commerce said in a press release on Thursday that the decision was spurred by quantum computing’s potential for breakthroughs in advanced materials, biopharmaceutical discovery, financial modeling, and energy systems, and for its “significant implications for national defense.”
“A strong domestic quantum ecosystem is essential for U.S. national security, technological resilience and long-term strategic leadership,” the Department wrote in the press release.
Half of the Administration’s $2 billion investment is going to tech giant IBM to build an American quantum chip foundry. To helm the research and development efforts, IBM said it will form a new subsidiary called Anderon that will be headquartered in Albany, New York.
The next-largest recipient is semiconductor giant GlobalFoundries, which will receive $375 million to establish a domestic quantum chip foundry of its own.
More: Beneficiaries include startup backed by firm with links to the Trump family
ProLogium Solid State Battery
May 21st, 2026Via: Two Bit da Vinci:
Google Search is Truly Dead
May 20th, 2026This is not new. Google/Screwgle/Poogle is changing the appearance of the front end to a bot interface.
This is from four years ago:
Of course, people like me (and probably you), noticed that Google search went off the rails long before that.
Via: TechLinked:
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Via: Samtime:
“Utah Datacenter Could Dump 23 Atomic Bombs Worth of Energy Per Day” [???]
May 20th, 2026Via: The Register:
A proposed mega-scale datacenter in the US state of Utah has caused controversy after a physics professor estimated that the facility and its associated power generation could dump 23 atomic bombs’ worth of energy per day. But the real question is whether it will actually ever get built.
The datacenter is part of the Stratos Project Area in Box Elder County, Utah, overseen by the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), a state agency straddling the military, local government, and private developers.
Creation of the Stratos Project Area, covering about 40,000 acres of land, was given the go-ahead in a May 4 announcement from the Box Elder County Commission, after delaying a vote amid residents’ concerns.
At full buildout, the proposed Stratos campus could require up to 9 GW of power, making it one of the largest datacenter developments in the world. Meta’s planned Hyperion cluster is aiming for 5 GW, for example, while the first facilities hitting 1 GW are only expected to come online this year.
For comparison, 9 GW is roughly comparable to New York City’s average electricity demand.
Utah State University physics professor Dr Rob Davies estimated that the proposed Stratos campus and its associated natural gas power plant could dump energy equivalent to 23 atomic bombs per day into the surrounding Hansel Valley. Davies’ preliminary analysis said this could raise daytime temperatures by 2°F to 5°F (1°C to 3°C) and nighttime temperatures by 8°F to 12°F (4°C to 6°C), potentially causing serious ecological impacts in the high-desert valley.
Not surprisingly, many have questioned Davies’ figures, especially as he doesn’t publish his math, with the topic debated on forums such as Reddit.
However, even skeptics such as Andy Masley, a writer and researcher who claims to have taught high school physics, find that the math broadly checks out, so long as the bomb you measure it by is the one dropped on Hiroshima, which at about 15 kilotons, was much smaller than modern weapons.
The key thing to bear in mind, however, is that an atomic bomb releases its energy all at once in the blink of an eye, whereas in the datacenter’s case, the release of the heat will be spread across 24 hours.
Trump Wants $1B to Protect White House Ballroom from Drones and Other Threats
May 20th, 2026Via: Ars Technica:
President Donald Trump’s latest pitch for using taxpayer dollars to secure his White House ballroom featured a militarized building—including a rooftop hardened against drone strikes and a “drone port” that could potentially house military drones.
The remarks came on May 19 as Trump gave reporters a personal tour of the ballroom project that has already involved the demolition of the White House mansion’s East Wing. The president spoke of installing a rooftop drone base “for unlimited numbers of drones” operated by the US military as a “drone port that would protect all of Washington,” according to Reuters. He also highlighted a ballroom roof made from “impenetrable steel” that would supposedly be “drone-proof” against potential drone strikes.
To pay for such measures, Trump has been urging Republican lawmakers in the US Congress to approve $1 billion in taxpayer funding to provide a wide variety of “security adjustments and upgrades” for his ballroom project. The taxpayer-backed security enhancements would be separate from the $400 million construction cost for the ballroom project that has been funded by private donors, including companies such as Amazon, Apple, Coinbase, Comcast, Google, HP Inc., Lockheed Martin, Meta, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Palantir, Ripple, and T-Mobile.
FBI Seeks US-Wide Access to License Plate Cameras, Wants “Data in Near Real Time”
May 20th, 2026Via: Ars Technica:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced plans to buy nationwide access to a network of license plate readers, saying it will award contracts to one or more vendors that can offer “near real time” information from cameras across the US. The proposed contract is for the FBI Directorate of Intelligence.
“To evaluate and manage threats to personal safety, property, and law enforcement, the FBI requires professional service firms that can provide License Plate Readers (LPRs) for tracking subjects on roads and highways over the US and its territories,” the FBI said in a Request for Proposals (RFP) published on May 14. The FBI said the winning bidder or bidders “must provide law enforcement and/or commercial license plate reader data provided through the Contractor’s existing platform.” The system must cover 75 percent of locations, the FBI said.
The system must offer the ability to search for license plate information “and other descriptive data such as vehicle description information, time/date criteria, and geo-location criteria,” the FBI said. “Additionally, the system must provide search result notifications. The Contractor system must have the ability to access and/or query cameras across the United States and its territories. The Contractor system must be capable of providing this data in near real time.”
Trump: Maybe I’ll Go To Israel And Run For Prime Minister
May 20th, 2026NOW – Trump says Netanyahu "will do whatever I want him to do. He's a great guy," adding, "I'm right now, at 99% in Israel. I could run for Prime Minister. So, maybe after I do this I'll go to Israel run for Prime Minister." pic.twitter.com/Pi1eFBufJL
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) May 20, 2026
