"They're telling us that we need to be afraid of China, but we're becoming them." | Lori Merriman

"You have to convince your community how great these things [data centers] are. You can't fight it. You have to go with it." —Donald Trump https://flashlightsproductions.substack.com/p/theyre-telling-us-that-we-need-to?utm_source=youtube This is the second part of my interview with Lori Merriman who is leading the opposition against building a hyperscale data center in a small town in Missouri, half an hour to the south of St. Louis. CHAPTERS 03:42 Bob Clark's Closed-Door Visit to Festus City Hall 08:31 Confronting Bob Clark Outside City Hall 16:38 Five Attorneys Against One 18:50 FOIA Comments: "Dumb Hicks" and "Keep the Flock Herded" 23:17 The $40,000 PAC and Labor Union Backing 26:00 Temporary Jobs, AI, and Housing for Outside Laborers 28:03 Recall Lawsuit: Judge Recusal and Delays 30:14 The Third Lawsuit: City vs. County Clerk 32:38 Corruption Concerns in Jefferson County 34:00 From City Hall to the Governor to Trump 35:15 Trump's "Ratepayer Protection" Clip and Reaction 36:21 National Security, Domestic Terrorism, and Data Center Opponents 38:31 Chinese Components and National Security Contradictions 39:52 Surveillance Creep: Cars, Thermostats, and Kill Switches 41:00 Living With the Domestic Terrorist Label 42:49 Other Missouri Data Centers and Abandoned Projects 46:05 What Are These Data Centers Really For? 47:46 Biometric Data, Stablecoins and Programmable Currency 49:55 Advice for Other Towns: Organize, Form an LLC, Show Up 54:00 Fundraising Struggles and the Wake Up Jeffco GoFundMe 58:16 Finding a Lawyer: 80 Hours of Cold Calls RESOURCES 'You can't fight it,' Trump tells Americans about data centers moving into their communities https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7kmEbWsDnE