Data Collection Threatens Privacy as AI Centers Expand Nationwide

On June 13, 2025, Kim Monson explored the escalating threats to personal privacy posed by AI data centers with Virginia Macha, the fight to protect Second Amendment rights in Colorado with Teddy Collins, trucking industry safety standards with Anthony Triggs, and the push for home rule in Douglas County with Mindy Bandamere Jordan. Douglas County Considers Home Rule Charter Start listening at 17:06 – Hour 1 Mindy Bandamere Jordan, a Douglas County resident and candidate for the Home Rule Charter Commission, breaks down what the ballot measure means for residents. Jordan, a 20-year resident and Colorado native, argues the commission needs citizen voices alongside elected officials to ensure the charter reflects community values. She outlines three priorities: reforming taxation and enforcing TABOR, maintaining effective county services, and addressing road infrastructure demands from rapid growth. The fast-tracked process caught many citizens off guard, Jordan acknowledges, noting she only learned about the opportunity through contacts from her father’s state senate campaign. While home rule could give the county authority to push back on state mandates, particularly regarding property taxes, Jordan emphasizes that Colorado law still requires compliance with state statutes unless specific exemptions exist. The charter commission, if approved, would have 240 days to draft the document for voter consideration. “While I believe the sitting county commissioners will have valuable input on the new Home Rule Charter, the Home Rule Commission itself, I believe, should be independent. If all the at-large seats are filled by the incumbent commissioners, the voices of the average citizen will be shut out.” Mindy Bandamere Jordan, Douglas County Charter Commission Candidate Trucking Safety and English Proficiency Requirements Start listening at 45:03 – Hour 1 Anthony Triggs, Director of Safety and Compliance at Interstate Van Lines, clarifies Secretary Sean Duffy’s recent enforcement of English proficiency requirements for commercial drivers. Triggs, who holds a commercial driver’s license himself with over 25 years in the industry, explains that the regulation has always existed but is now receiving renewed attention. With only five states displaying traffic signs in languages other than English, the safety rationale is straightforward: drivers must read road signs to operate safely. Triggs highlights the critical role of dual-facing dash cams, which he prefers to call event recorders, in exonerating professional drivers. Federal data shows that passenger vehicle operators more frequently cause collisions with commercial trucks, not the other way around. The cameras capture both road conditions and driver behavior, documenting that truckers follow proper procedures. Triggs notes that tractor-trailers require a football field plus two end zones to stop at 55 mph, making it physically impossible to avoid collisions when passenger cars cut in front of them. “It’s about driver exoneration because when you look at crashes with commercial motor vehicles, a lot of times the stigmatism is it’s the big bad truck driver that caused the crash, but if you look at a statistic that the FMCSA produces, it says crashes involving commercial motor vehicles often have complex causes, but studies suggest that passenger vehicles, drivers are more frequently at fault in collisions with large trucks.” Anthony Triggs, Director of Safety and Compliance, Interstate Van Lines Second A...