The AI Race: How The Surge In Data Centers Harms Us

There are more than 5,400 data centers in the United States, which is almost half of the number of data centers worldwide. In the past four years, there has been a surge in data center construction, particularly in poor communities in the South. Clearing the FOG speaks with Jai Dulani of Media Justice, who authored a new report: The People Say No: Resisting Data Centers in the South, and Kali Akuno of Cooperation Jackson, about the harms that these centers are causing in local communities, particularly in their enormous consumption of water and energy, and the risk they pose to the US economy. Akuno also addresses the bigger picture of the deleterious impact of artificial intelligence on our lives. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

The United States has been escalating its attacks on Venezuela and has been positioning itself this year for a military invasion. The Venezuelan government recently requested action by the United Nations because it has good reason to believe that an attack is imminent. To understand the current threats and how Venezuela is preparing to defend itself, Clearing the FOG speaks with Roger Harris, a co-founder of the Venezuela Solidarity Network and member of the board of the Task Force of the Americas, as well as other Latin American solidarity organizations. Harris explains how the US has been trying to overthrow the Venezuelan government for decades, why Venezuela is a target of Washington and what people can do to try to stop an invasion. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

This week marks two years since the launch of Al Aqsa Flood and the beginning of the Israeli Occupying Forces' escalated genocide of Palestinians and forced displacement throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Clearing the FOG speaks with former senior United Nations official, human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber, about the United Nations leadership's recent efforts to suppress criticism of Israel, which led to his resignation, and the failure to take effective action to stop Israel's crimes. Mokhiber discusses the history of the United Nations, what the General Assembly can do to hold Israel accountable and, given the failures of the UN to uphold international law, what people are doing to support Palestinian liberation. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

On September 8, the Trump Administration launched 'Operation Midway Blitz to increase the number ICE raids on immigrant communities in Chicagoland. As director of the Casa DuPage Workers Center, Cristobal Cavazos, explains to Clearing the FOG, this initially led to widespread feelings of fear by residents, but organizers turned that into power by creating rapid response teams throughout the region to alert people when ICE comes to their neighborhoods and confront the ICE agents. The teams also do outreach and hand out Know Your Rights information to community members. A growing coalition of immigrants' rights, faith, and other groups is holding protests daily, including at the Broadview detention center, despite the officers attacking demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets. Cavazos describes how activists throughout the country are sharing information and resources and why it is critical to be in the streets right now. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

From September 21 (International Peace Day) to October 2 (International Day of Nonviolence), there will be more than five thousand nonviolent actions happening around the world coordinated by Campaign Nonviolence. The focus this year is promoting nonviolence toward self, others, world and earth. Clearing the FOG speaks with author and activist Rivera Sun, who assists in organizing the actions, about the many types of violence people experience every day and how to move from a culture steeped in war to one of peace. Sun discusses the power of nonviolence, the growing interest in how to practice it and the global shift that is occurring to build a more peaceful society. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

The situation with respect to the climate crisis is developing rapidly. Each new study seems to bring worse news. In addition, the media is rife with climate denial and misinformation. To help us understand what is happening on this planet, Clearing the FOG speaks with environmental journalist Robert Hunziker. Hunziker follows climate studies published in scientific journals and translates them into a language the average person can understand. He reports that top scientists are saying there has been a fundamental shift in the climate. Rainforests and tundras are now spewing carbon instead of sequestering it, and the oceans have reached their capacity for storing the planet's heat. Cascading weather events are making areas of the world uninhabitable. For More information, visit PopularResistance.org.

For Labor Day, Clearing the FOG speaks with labor organizer Jaz Brisack. Jaz was on the frontlines of organizing the first labor union in a Starbuck's shop and creating the Inside Organizer School in 2018. They are the author of Get on the Job and Organize published by Atria/One Signal Publishers in April of this year. Jaz speaks about their experiences growing up in the South, discovering the history of the labor movement in the United States and getting involved in labor campaigns during college. They also speak about the tactics used and challenges overcome in building Starbucks Workers United, as well as the youth contingent of the labor movement today and the importance of unifying the labor movement across types of work and around broader social demands. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

On August 17, in the Bolivian presidential elections, the leftwing candidates lost for the first time in twenty years. Some are calling this a continuation of the US-backed coup there. Just days before the election, the Trump administration announced that it was sending naval destroyers and 4,000 troops to Latin America that could be used in 'targeted strikes' against Venezuela. Clearing the FOG speaks with William Camacaro, a senior analyst for the Council on Hemospheric Affairs and a co-founder of the Venezuela Solidarity Network, about divisions within the left in Bolivia that led to their current demise and how Venezuela is mobilizing millions of civilians to defend their sovereignty against US aggression. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

On August 11, the Trump administration announced the deployment of national guard troops and the federal takeover of the police department in Washington, DC. This follows military troops being deployed to Los Angeles and ICE agents snatching people throughout the country. Last week, the Pentagon also announced the creation of a 600-member national guard unit ready to deploy to cities within an hour when there are protests. Clearing the FOG speaks with Erica Caines of the Black Alliance for Peace about the checkpoints and patrols in DC, how this fits into the long history of policing mainly black and brown communities and how people are organizing community self-defense and mutual aid. She also discusses the demand to disqualify the United States and Israel from FIFA and the Olympic games. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

This past week marked the 80th anniversary of the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Clearing the FOG speaks with Gerry Condon, a past president of Veterans for Peace and a lifelong GI resister, about the myths of the US atomic bombing of Japan and the costs of nuclear weapons, including the environmental contamination from the nuclear chain and testing. Condon warns that the risk of nuclear war is higher than ever. He also speaks about resistance to nuclear weapons and his current work on the anti-nuclear boat, The Golden Rule. And Condon discusses the surge in active duty members who are joining Veterans for Peace in opposition to the genocide in Palestine and the domestic deployment of the military to assist ICE in the detention of immigrants and US citizens. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.