The Hollowing: Part Deux

Yesterday I posted a piece on "societal permission" for TechGods to create an economy without working people.  Those pesky employees actually give feedback when their workplace turns into a sci-fi nightmare.

As part of Zuckerberg’s all-in AI push, Meta announced it would fire ten percent of its workforce, or nearly 8,000 employees, leaving many uncertain about their future. The company is also demanding that employees produce more than ever by using AI agents and coding tools as much as possible, with AI usage now a factor in performance reviews.

People can only take so much and the lopsided deal has gone on for far too long. 

Insatiable TechGods copied the private equity underwriter (PEU) playbook which pushes incapable technology as a replacement for headcount reduction.  PEUs have a long history of crapifying workplaces and decreasing product/service quality. 

Disabled people can wait to get their motorized wheelchairs fixed and water for AI should be prioritized over "baseline human comfort."

Of course Bezos is talking his own book.  If its water you want Jeff, there are oceans all around.  I'm sure you have a great view of it from your Miami penthouse.  

In West Texas you can have all the frac water you want.  Technology exists for desalination and detoxifying produced water from oil wells.  Apply that intelligence to Prometheus' cooling resources needs.

Better yet, Jeff, use that intelligence to stop Amazon related scams.  

Here's a sci-fi nightmare.  

A driverless car stalks a 76 year old woman as she is funding her granddaughter's child harm lawsuit against Meta, facebook's owner. 

The car's onboard computer posts a scam AI video to the woman's facebook account.  It's an AI fake of Bill Gates pushing a dementia curing supplement based on honey from Turkey/Nepal.  The woman buys the product as she has experienced more confusion of late.  

The product arrives within its one hour promised delivery time.  No signature is required so the driver rings the doorbell and leaves the package on the front doormat.  The driverless car monitors the woman's Ring camera as it waits for the woman to come to the door.  It revs the engine, drops into gear and floors the gas.  After bending over to pick up the package the woman sees the approaching vehicle and turns to run into her home.  

Her storm door is heavy and she struggles to get it open.  In a panic she tosses the package at the driverless car.  A chip with the tiny gyroscope inside the package voids the woman's product warranty as this major movement occurred post delivery.

The driverless vehicle shifts into "off-road" mode which elevates the undercarriage giving it greater ground clearance.  It climbs her two level brick stairs and slams into the back of her legs.  Bricks shatter, the door frame collapses and the woman is pinned under the vehicle, which shifts out of "off-road" mode, increasing the weight on her chest.  Unable to breathe, she is dead within minutes.  The driverless car sends a message to the entity that gave it the assignment.   

Meta's defense attorneys jack up the motions driving up the cost of the granddaughter's lawsuit.  Their aim is make it so expensive for the plaintiff that they cannot afford to proceed with the 76 year old woman's money tied up in the estate.  In the meantime, Meta executives are working on a law that would exempt social media providers from child harm lawsuits.

That's one less person needing cooling resources for baseline human comfort, the new TechGod name for potable water.  

And these are the people elected officials cater to?  Sickening.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  

The Hollowing: TechGod's AI Warning

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated:   

"There is no societal permission for an AI future that hollows out entire industries."

This is fifteen years after a former major business reporter wrote:

There are very few people out there who will talk and write honestly about private equity. I know from personal experience that the financial press is so eager to break news on "deals" that reporters (who are increasingly compensated on the number of "market moving stories" they write) can't afford to be critical of Carlyle, KKR and Blackstone, and risk losing access to people at those firms.

I have seen so many people -- particularly those in their 50s - 70s -- taken apart by what has happened in their industry as greed has hollowed out the economy. These are people took pride in their jobs and held themselves to this invisible standard that we all just took for granted, but is being wiped out.

Private equity underwriters (PEU) were later joined by TechGods in leveraging political influence and tapping Uncle Sam's wallet.  

Together they are behind the data center boom that is impacting many of the very areas private equity previously hollowed out.  Below is one example:

The United States Army has conditionally selected Carlyle Group and CyrusOne to enter exclusive negotiations to develop and operate hyperscale data centers on Army installations, marking a significant step in expanding artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure capabilities. 

The projects will be located at Fort Bliss and Dugway Proving Ground, spanning approximately 1,384 acres and 1,201 acres, respectively. Under the arrangement, the selected firms will finance, build, operate, maintain, and eventually decommission the facilities on underutilized Army land, with no upfront cost to taxpayers.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is a former PEU with Flex Capital. 

The Carlyle Group is returning to a heavy focus on defense contractors calling the space "unlimited."  Carlyle cut its teeth flipping defense contractors and is ecstatic about the new global phenomenon of war making.

The Army poisoned thousands of sheep in Utah from a nerve gas test gone wrong at Dugway Proving Ground in 1968.  A nozzle failure was cited at the cause.  

Should nearby residents be concerned about error filled AI coming to Dugway?  How about Fort Bliss which not long ago closed the airspace over El Paso due to invading drones?  

No one gave permission for the PEU hollowing out of the U.S. economy, yet it happened anyway.  Part II is being facilitated by a hand's off Congress and an enabling Chief Executive.  Trump II recently said:

"The one that they're crazy about is AI. So if you want to say one thing, AI, and just hope that it works. You better hope!"

"Hope that it works,"  I believe we have Trump II's campaign slogan for 2028. 

Update:  "They beat their plowshares into swords and garbage AI turned their brains into mush, all so billionaires could become trillionaires."

Here endeth the lesson.

AI Defends Corporate Ownership Error

It's common for AI to put out inaccurate information and it did so once again regarding Humana's percentage ownership of Gentiva Hospice, which it is finally ditching.  

I asked Gemini why their AI  published the wrong percentage and it told me I was confusing Humana's 40% equity stake with Gentiva's operating in 35 states.  Who knew Gemini wrote comedy?  I did have a hearty laugh, albeit at Gemini's expense.

For over two years Humana's 10-K has clearly stated the company owned approximately 35% of Gentiva Hospice.  40% is a historical figure from their deal with TPG and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS).  It also was the original percentage when Humana sold 60% of Gentiva to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CDR) in August 2022. 

A Humana 10-K filing stated "at December 31, 2023 we owned approximately 35%."  That 35% has remained constant for fiscal years ended December 2024 and 2025.

Gemini wrote that Humana's recent press release stated this 40% figure.  Google could not find that in the actual press release, which only state "minority interest."

AI cited Hospice News as its source.  Therein lies the problem.  That publication has been a longtime disappointment for hospice workers wanting some help in challenging greedy management.  

Private equity underwriters (PEU) found hospice long ago and have been playing an accumulation/spinoff/IPO game   I lived it at Gentiva after Humana et al bought Kindred at Home in June 2018.  It was highly distasteful, even cruel.  

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their TechGod brethren, who together bring us garbage AI, hyperscale data centers and an inattention to actual feedback.  The little people are supposed to take what they give us.  

Therefore, I must apologize to Gemini for mixing up the 40% ownership number from 2022 with the number of states Gentiva operates within.  I promise to forget the more up to date information in Humana's SEC filings.  Now, doesn't everyone feel better in our new irreality?    

This situation is not a runaway Waymo vehicle or targeting a girl's school on day 1 of Trump II's disastrous war with Iran, but it does not lead me to use AI again.  And for that I am truly grateful.

Jared Kushner to Disrupt Pink Flamingos

Jared Kushner's Albanian luxury resort, located in the middle of a wildlife refuge, has garnered public outrage amongst the common folk who are tired of corruption.  Kushner's development is under the Affinity Partners umbrella and specifically under the corporate entity:  Atlantic Incubation Partners.  

Atlantic Incubation Partners also drew the ire of the Serbian public for a planned project in Belgrade.

Closer to home Kushner's only SEC listing is for QXO, an Affinity Partners affiliate.  The building materials giant is an aggressive roll up of manufacturers and distributors.   

Their most recent proxy statements sheds light on the complexity of private equity underwriting (PEU) at Affinity Partners.  Jared controls 32 million shares in QXO and the footnote on page 24 states

Consists of (i) 12,111 RSUs that are expected to vest within 60 days of the Record Date and (ii) Mr. Kushner’s indirect beneficial ownership of 32,686,065 shares of our common stock, which is comprised of (a) 14,523 shares of our common stock beneficially owned by Atlantic Partners Splitter LLC, an entity controlled by Mr. Kushner, (b) 16,247,069 shares of our common stock beneficially owned by Affinity Partners Parallel Fund I LP (“Parallel Fund I”), (c) 164,310 shares of our common stock beneficially owned by Affinity Partners Fund I LP (“Fund I”), and (d) 16,260,163 shares of our common stock beneficially owned by Affinity QXO 1 LLC (“Affinity QXO”). Affinity QXO is owned by Fund I, Parallel Fund I, Affinity Partners Fund I Co-Invest Delta LP (“Delta”), Affinity Partners Fund I Co-Invest Delta II LP (“Delta II”), Affinity Partners Fund I Co-Invest Sigma LP (“Sigma”), and Affinity Partners Fund I Co-Invest Sigma II LP (“Sigma II”, and together with the other owners of Affinity QXO, the “Affinity Funds”). Affinity Partners GP LP (“GP”) is the General Partner of Fund I and Parallel Fund I, and Affinity Partners Fund I Co-Invest GP LP (“Co-Invest GP”) is the general partner of Delta, Delta II, Sigma and Sigma II. A Fin Management LLC (“A Fin”) is the investment manager of GP and the Affinity Funds. Mr. Kushner is the Chief Executive Officer of A Fin and the controlling owner of GP and Co-Invest GP. Mr. Kushner may be deemed to share voting and dispositive power over all such shares. Mr. Kushner disclaims beneficial ownership over all such shares.

PEUs expect affiliates to do business with other affiliates, regardless of quality or price.  So look for some new QXO rollup to provide construction products to Atlantic Incubation Partners, be it Serbia, Albania or elsewhere.  

Kushner, like Trump II, is birthing more $ billions, every second of every minute of every hour of every day.   It's a byproduct of insider connections and obscene levels of wealth.  Both need to be broken.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one and for that the regular people and wildlife suffer, especially those dancing at the Pink Flamingo.  

May the Pink Flamingo revolution in Albania prevail.  

Note:  My apologies to the real Jared who held a fundraiser for testicular cancer at the Pink Flamingo.  

Trump II Ballroom Price Rises 200% in Less than a Year

Trump II's ballroom cost $200 million in July 2025 and the project was completely funded by private donors.  It's now $600 million with the U.S. taxpayer picking up $300 million.

Trump II can flat out spend money.  His signature project rose 200%.  How much is cost inflation vs. egotistical machinations?  

TechGods and private equity underwriters (PEU) hate paying taxes.  Apparently, they also have a limit on donations.  I expect someday they will prefer predictable taxation vs. regular fundraising phone calls from the White House for pet project after pet project.  

Remember folks, Trump II loves inflation!

PEU-TechGod Connections Go Back

In June 2014 I wrote:

Economic power buys political power, which then sets favorable rules and telegraphs money making opportunities for the already wealthy.

That year a secret group of private equity underwriters (PEU), TechGods, elected officials and members of the media attended Dialog, a tech focused Bilderberg Group like meeting put together by Peter Thiel.  It gathered 150 people to change the world. 

This information came from the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Lisa Randall sent her confidential invitation to Epstein for advice on attending, asking "Is this worthwhile?"

Epstein responded with "sundance is nice  ,,  go"

Randall replied "So let me understand.  You are suggesting tourism?"

The message made it clear the invitation was not transferrable and shared:

"the invite is only for Lisa Randall and is not transferable as we are limited to only 150 participants. There are no sponsors. We increase the retreat fee weekly to reward the people that sign up early. And this retreat is 100% off-the-record. /"

A second contact regarding the meeting came from Ian Osborne.  Ian forwarded his invitation from Auren Hoffman to Epstein with the following comment:

"Same shit.  Peter doesn't even attend.  I will tell him that they should stop them from using his name."

Ian got on the list per a recommendation from TechGod Chamath Palibapitiya. 

Epstein tried to work up dinners with Ian Osborne and Peter Thiel.  It's not clear if he sandwiched such an occasion in between meeting with Ehud Barak and Leon Black.  Very private, no agenda.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  What was disturbing twelve years ago is systemic today.   

The Carlyle Group located in Washington, D.C. in 1987 because its founders understood the highly profitable connection to political power.  TechGods did likewise as Trump II ran for his second term.  

Dialog may now own D.C. area real estate to continue their "150 people changing the world"  meetings.  How does a secret society end up owning real estate big enough to host at least 150 people and conduct multiple breakout sessions?  It does so when those people are billionaires and aim to become trillionaires.

Update 6-18-26:  Forbes ran a story on the PEU/TechGod participants in Dialog.  Affinity Partners Jared Kushner is another Dialog insider.  They even used "like a Bilderberg meeting with a Silicon Valley twist."  

Has Forbes never seen Bilderberg's Steering Committee membership list?  It has long included Peter Thiel, Eric Schmidt and Alex Karp.  TechGods cut their teeth protecting global tamperers.  And now, they are one.

Bilderberg 2026 occurred in April in Washington, D.C.  The usual PEUs showed, Henry Kravis (KKR), Peter Orszag (Lazard) and Ali Koc (Koc Holdings)

Not everyone is enamored with the Bilderberg - Dialog insider plotting soirees.  Some have the courage to not go and call them out.

Dominari's SpaceX Fund: Open and Closed

The Trump Boys had another winning week.  Don Jr. and Eric each hold nearly 1.2 million shares in Dominari Holdings and serve on the firm's Advisory Board.

A Dominari press release detailed how the firm participated in the SpaceX stock rocket launch.

Dominari Securities LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dominari Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: DOMH), is pleased to announce the successful launch and closing of the American Ventures Opportunity QP Series IV – SpaceX Fund, (hereinafter, the "Fund"). 

The Fund successfully raised approximately $200,000,000.00 from qualified investors and deployed that capital to directly acquire 1,481,481 IPO shares of SpaceX at a price of $135.00 per share in what the Wall Street Journal called the smoothest IPO in recent history, as well as the largest IPO ever. Unlike many other banks that received little or no IPO share allocation, Dominari's allocation was significant, marking another milestone in the firm's private markets platform. 

In addition, Dominari and its affiliates had previously completed eight (8) pre-IPO investment rounds in both SpaceX and xAI, representing an aggregate investment of approximately $50,000,000.00, in addition to the approximate $200,000,000.00 raised in the IPO. The carried interest from these investments may eventually exceed $40,000,000.00 for Dominari and underscores the firm's ability to consistently source, structure, and execute differentiated private market opportunities.

Not only did Dominari have the gravitas to get in SpaceX when it was private, it garnered a significant allocation of the oversubscribed IPO.  

How many different ways will the boys profit from Dad's executive branch priorities?  Let someone please count the ways.

"Trump Turns 80" Event to Pay UFC Fighters with His USD1

The Guardian reported:

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced on Friday that it will pay bonuses to fighters in a form of cryptocurrency issued by Trump family business World Liberty Financial at the heavily publicized White House mixed martial arts event on Sunday. 

The development connects the Trump family’s financial interests to the high-profile UFC competition being promoted on government property.

The article should say "further connects" Trump family financial interests given the already announced Trump designed commemorative gold and silver coins for that very same event.  The Trump Coins small print says "resale is strictly prohibited."

Back to World Liberty, founded by Trump II and his sons.  

Good luck to the fighters who get big USD1 paydays.  I challenge them to spend their haul as they would a real greenback.

It's the Co-founder Emeritus' dollar imitator.  

"In my experience, what is real are the things that are still there, even after you stop believing in them."

Trump II has replaced White House ethics with depositable "checks" and financial statement "balances."  As paid fighters add to their accounts so will the wider co-founding Trump family.  Does this make them moneychangers?

Update 6-15-26:  Trump's birthday rally is over and one winning fighter was so excited about getting his USD1 bonus he yelled "Michelle Obama is a man."  Next Trump rally?  July 4th on the National Mall.  Everything is turning to garbage.  

Premiere TechGod Elon Musk

TechGod Peter Thiel posted an homage to fellow TechGod Elon Musk as our world christened its first trillionaire.  I took the liberty of adapting it.

These self made, libertarian TechGods from South Africa did what few Americans have done, enrich themselves obscenely while destroying key democratic and societal foundations.

Trump II gave TechGods their own bank when his administration approved a bank charter for Erebor Bank.  Ordinary people cannot sign up.

The Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by Thomas Jefferson, included:

That no free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.

TechGods destroyed wage structures in various industries with their overuse of gig workers.  They harmed children by facilitating contact from sexual predators and having their AI bots suggest self mutilation and suicide.  

Founders Fund is not Founding Father no matter how hard Peter Thiel tries.  The idealistic younger Jefferson turned into a leveraged CEO when he used his slaves as collateral for a loan.

Ordinary people can become extraordinarily rich on the backs of ordinary people.  It's a story as old as the founding of our nation from European migrants.

Before Elon Musk, there was Jakob Fugger.  Europeana reported:

The Fuggers were one of the most influential families of the era. Jakob 'the Rich' is considered one of the wealthiest individuals in history, with an estimated fortune equivalent to 400 billion euros today. With this great wealth came great power.

Fugger owned mines, a currently hot area for investment.  Who knows maybe an IPO or two would have gotten Jakob over the Elon mark?  

One of Europe's wealthiest families, the Fuggers created kings, gave life to cities and led to a split within the Church.

Elon financed Trump II's return to the White House.

Musk's mother has Switzerland in her family tree while Fugger was German.  While not related in kin, the two men shared a title of "richest man."

Due to the Fuggers’ industrial activities, people flocked to Schwaz, making it the largest mining metropolis in the world in the first half of the 16th century. 

The population boomed, which meant that the parish church in Schwaz had to be enlarged. A brick wall in the central aisle was built to separate miners from wealthier individuals.

The separation of the ordinary from the extraordinarily wealthy continues today in the houses of TechGods.  Elon's home in Austin, Texas is gated.  Austin allows 6 foot fences with setbacks.  Elon built one more than twice that height on the property line.

The current 16.5-foot fence was installed sans (without the required) permit, an oversight from the property manager at the time of its installation.

A neighbor does not consider the property a home.

....slammed the property's use as security as opposed to a residence, alleging there is around-the-clock shift changes, employees coming and going from the property at all hours, excess trash cans and blockage of the roadway for staff coming and going on site. "They think they own the world," the gentleman said, adding the tall metal gate utilized as the employee entrance to the property better resembles a fortress and not a single-family residence.

Remember the Virginia call in 1776 for justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue.  It's nowhere to be seen in our world where politicians Red & Blue love PEU (private equity underwriters) and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  

The neighbor chastised Musk for being guilty of building things and then asking for permission, and forgiveness, later.

Their deals get better and better while ours deteriorate.  It's sad when regular millionaires don't stand a chance.

I'll close with another right expressed by Virginians in 1776:

That general warrants, whereby an officer or messenger may be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, or whose offense is not particularly described and supported by evidence, are grievous and oppressive and ought not to be granted.

TechGods tag teamed with Uncle Sam to turn our country into an endemic spying state.  TechGods get the money while the government gets the information.  They grieve and oppress us.  Frankly, it's extraordinary in scale and scope, as is their wealth. 

Elon and Peter, modern day brother Fuggers.

Bank of TechGods to Donate 2 Hours Community Service per Year

Erebor Bank, the bank of, by and for TechGods, has a distinctly unfriendly website as no information is provided about the bank's services or how to sign up.  However, it does have a "sign in" button for people who already have accounts with the bank.

I found Erebor's three year strategic plan relative to the Community Reinvestment Act.  It showed:

Erebor Bank, National Association (the “Bank”), is a de novo national bank chartered by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) and granted deposit insurance by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on February 6, 2026. The Bank’s mission is to address gaps in the banking sector by developing banking products and services focused on serving the innovation economy on a national scale. The Bank is organized as a national banking association with its main office located in Columbus, Ohio and administrative offices in New York, New York and Newport Beach, California. The Bank will not operate any physical branches. 

As a federally insured depository institution, the Bank is subject to the Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”). Enacted by Congress in 1977, the CRA requires regulated financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and moderate-income (“LMI”) neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound operations. The OCC, as the Bank’s primary federal regulator, is responsible for assessing the Bank’s record of meeting its obligations under the CRA.

1.2. Bank Profile 

The Bank’s products and services are focused on supporting the innovation economy including technology companies focused on virtual currencies, artificial intelligence, defense, and manufacturing as well as payment service providers, investment funds and trading firms (e.g., registered investment advisers, broker-dealers, proprietary trading firms, and futures commission merchants). The Bank also serves select individual consumers who work for, or invest, in such companies, and provide certain deposit and payment services to qualifying foreign banking organizations. The Bank offers credit products; deposit products; stablecoin-related services; and other services including data processing, treasury management, credit card issuance through bank-partnership arrangements, and payments services. The Bank does not provide any fiduciary custody activities. 

1.3. Commitment to CRA 

The Bank is committed to supporting the credit and community development needs of its Assessment Area through community development loans and qualified investments, community development grants and donations, and community development services. These commitments reflect the goals and performance standards established in this Plan and will be carried out in a manner consistent with safe and sound banking practices and the objectives of the CRA. 

Columbus residents in low to moderate income neighborhoods are shut out from using Erebor's services.  It serves TechGods, major and minor.

Erebor Bank is not a retail institution and does not seek to serve the general consumer market. Its services are strictly curated for high-net-worth individuals, venture-backed startups, and institutional investors within the innovation economy. The bank targets a small number of relationship-dense, high-balance clients rather than pursuing mass-market scale. This selectivity allows relationship managers to provide high-touch service and technical underwriting that broader commercial banks cannot replicate.

The primary sectors served by Erebor include defense technology, robotics, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing. Potential clients often have complex operational needs, such as firms building AI-powered factories or aerospace companies conducting low-gravity pharmaceutical production. These firms frequently hold assets that traditional banks struggle to value, such as specialized machine tools for high-precision components or inventories of advanced AI chips. 

Additionally, the bank is a destination for virtual currency participants and crypto-native firms that require a regulated banking partner. Because the bank internalizes its blockchain capabilities, it can serve companies that need to settle payments on-chain or move treasury funds between fiat and digital asset rails without relying on third-party middleware. This makes it particularly relevant for founders and executives who are deeply integrated into the Web3 ecosystem but require the stability of an FDIC-insured national bank.

Erebor has offices in New York City and Newport Beach, California but those areas were left out of their community impact plans.  Goals #1 and #2 relate to community development loans and assets.

Goal #3 is dollars given via grants or donations on an annual basis, while Goal #4 is hours donated toward community service. also annually.

TechGod clients want an Uncle Sam backstop and will offer minimal community service commitments to obtain them.  This should not be a surprise to those who've watched the interplay between Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.  

TechGod Peter Thiel threw gasoline on the fire that consumed Silicon Valley Bank (bank run), yet all TechGods were made whole as the FDIC waived the maximum insurance amount on accounts.

Thiel backed Erebor, which was founded by Palmer Luckey as Anduril needed banking services.

Lucky aims to become a major TechGod of War after creating winning virtual reality headsets.  It seems fitting that Palmer would bring virtual reality to banking, given how artificial nearly everything is nowadays, absurd equity valuations, hidden debt and circular financing via multiple LLCs.

Palmer even merged Atticus Digital into Erebor at its founding.  SACRA reported:

Erebor also has a wholly owned subsidiary, Atticus Digital, Inc., which was merged into the bank structure at opening

Many of  Erebor's investors backed Atticus, which facilitated the combination like Elon combines companies.  

TechGods are an incestuous, non-arm's length group who have found Uncle Sam's wallet and attached themselves firmly.  Most of their projects are highly subsidized by federal, state and local government incentives.  Insurance for risky banks accounts is but the latest example of their parasitic existence.  

Pestilence, the gift of our voracious TechGods.  And they will take all they can like a plague of locusts.  After they have eaten the U.S. economy they will move on.  Will it be Middle Earth, Mars or Beyond?

Yet Another $TRUMP Contest: FIFA Final!

$TRUMP, the memecoin personally launched by the President a week prior to his inauguration, jumped jet again this morning, albeit from a near record low price.  The culprit was not a peace deal with Iran but another contest with a World Cup twist.  

The memecoin had recently hit a low of $1.55 but started the day around $1.70.  With the World Cup actually started $TRUMP's FIFA contest pumped it to $2.13 as of this post with a morning high of $2.19.

There are three tiers, the top nineteen, twenty through one hundred and over one hundred.

Note the disclaimer on the luxury suite picture.  This is from a family specializing in real estate.

Tiers 2 and 3 are not losers (except they wasted their money on a fun coin that symbolizes Trump II, the digital Caligula).

It's time to go clubbing at the $TRUMP COIN CLUB.

Many of $TRUMP holders do not live in the USA.  How can any winner be assured of entry into the country?  The contest closes July 1st and the final game is on July 19th.  

If anyone wondered whatever became of the Trump Billionaires Club Game, due to be launched around the New Year 2026, it's a prize within Tier 2, first access to Trump Billionaires Club mobile game.  

Trump merchandise discounts did not explicitly state the Trump Phone, which is very similar to a Taiwanese phone using Chinese parts.

I don't know if this will bring back Middle Eastern money after Trump II broke the region with his and Bibi's war of choice on Iran.  Time will tell.

Update 6-19-26:  The U.S. men's World Cup team just defeated Australia 2-0.  $TRUMP rose as high as $2.30 since his latest contest began.  It's now trading at $1.84.

Update 6-20-26:  The U.S. men's team win yesterday over Australia felt like the kind of thing nearly every American could celebrate, as opposed to a Trump rally on the National Mall on July 4th.

Time will reveal how Trump II tries to usurp any successes of our men's soccer team.  Rest assured, he will do his best to apportion any adulation they earn for his ceaseless image maximization aims.

Letter to San Angelo City Council: Data Center & Lords of Capital

June 2, 2026

Dear Mayor and Members of City Council,

In December 2025 I filed a public information request re: incentives and subsidies for the Skybox Data Center. It remains with the Texas Attorney General’s office.

The City has partnered with Skybox and its developer, Emergent Data Centers, since early 2025. This “exceptional municipal partnership built for speed”, Emergent’s promotional description, strangely has no documents associated with it from the city side.

Emergent CEO Chris Sumter informed the audience at the April public meeting that he has developed numerous data centers and sold them (making handsome profits). He named several private equity firms, which I will generally refer to as the Lords of Capital for the remainder of this letter. The Lords desire big profits and frequently need public subsidies for those to occur.

A data center power generation project outside of Pecos. Texas is “contingent upon several forms of economic development” to achieve the project’s “attractive returns.” It’s called a hurdle rate and the Lords don’t provide capital funding unless that is achieved.

The economic development agreement with Skybox is under negotiation. Skybox won’t go ahead with the project without ERCOT approval and a committed tenant. Financing for the project depends on those as well. That means three different hurdle rates need to be met, Skybox’s, the tenant’s and the Lords of Capital’s. Blue Owl financed a number of prior Skybox projects.

Time will reveal if there are local incentives or subsidies for Skybox on top of massive State tax breaks. Whoever is negotiating the 380 economic development agreement should have some idea as to the types and size of incentives offered by other Texas communities. The City researched data center zoning and shared that with citizens. It is yet to do so re: incentives.

The tenant gets a state sales tax break on the expensive hardware and many building systems it needs to operate their data center.

https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/data-centers/ 

The following items, if necessary and essential to the operation of a qualifying large data center project, are eligible for the exemption when purchased by a qualifying owner, operator or occupant: 

• electricity;* 

• an electrical system; 

• a cooling system; 

• an emergency generator; 

• hardware or a distributed mainframe computer or server; 

• a data storage device; 

• network connectivity equipment; 

• a rack, cabinet and raised floor system; 

• a peripheral component or system; 

• software; 

• a mechanical, electrical or plumbing system that is necessary to operate any tangible personal property described above; 

• any other item of equipment or system necessary to operate any tangible personal property described above, including a fixture; and 

• a component part of any tangible personal property described above.

Predatory TechGods will occupy this data center. Will it be Meta who allowed child sexual predators seventeen strikes before banning them?  Will it be Microsoft who plotted to make its AI more addictive?

High hurdle rate on profits, low propensity to protect children, tech offerings designed to maximize addiction – these are the organizations you are inviting to set up in San Angelo proper. 

Once the three hurdles are achieved, this project will flood forth as a fait accompli. It will come down from Twin Mountain as a divine offering from the Lords of Capital and their TechGod occupant. And in five years or less it will be sold or refinanced, because that is the real business going on here, the buying and selling of companies. 

It is not unheard of for the Lords of Capital to abandon their liege, to walk away, to not throw good money after bad, to hand the keys back to creditors (who may or may not want them). Thus, the City should be prepared to take possession of such a building. 

It wouldn’t be the first time something with great promise did not pan out. Does anyone remember MedHab, former Mayor Alvin New’s investment and future creator of some 400 San Angelo jobs? That future never arrived. 

Just as the city funds the closure of a landfill cell, it should consider setting aside money to safely manage down the facility and its contents, should both the developer and TechGod occupant walk away. 

As an over twenty year resident of District #1, I currently reside in a community just outside Tom Green County. It happens to be in the impact zone of the proposed Beacon Data Center in Dove Creek. Our water and electricity will be directly impacted and air quality will depend on the wind direction.

We have solar power with battery backup, installed after Winter Storm Uri when we went without power for five days in bitter cold. None of the initial financial projections came true. 

The State of Texas allowed electrical providers to add delivery charges and Reliant pays us half of the amount they did just a year and half ago for power we send to the grid. There is no competition for our solar/battery power.  We take whatever the Texas electrical cartel gives, an ever shrinking amount, while their fees to us soar. 

I imagine the city will be treated likewise by Skybox/Emergent/Lords of Capital. It’s their hurdle rate the State of Texas is subsidizing.  The city may do likewise. 

My prayer is the Lords of Capital lose interest in funding these projects. No financing, no project. 

Thank you for the opportunity to share these thoughts.

Note:  I posted this on my other blog, StateoftheDivision, a local focused blog for San Angelo and the surrounding area in West Texas.  This is evidence of the Lords of Capital, which includes private equity underwriters (PEU), discovering our area.  They seek massive financial returns while citizens get burdens.   

Update 6-14-26:  Futurism reported:

John O’Farrell — former general partner at the mammoth investment firm Andreessen Horowitz — chastised his former colleagues in the tech industry for putting AI hype before the common good. 

As the first outside general partner ever hired by Andreessen Horowitz in 2010, O’Farrell’s departure is significant, and his warning for his former colleagues is telling. 

At the core of O’Farrell’s complaint is the fact that tech firms and their financial backers have invested unfathomable sums of money in an attempt to influence top US politicians who should, in a better system, be impartially regulating AI. 

“I believe this attempted political infiltration by the AI industry will fail,” O’Farrell explained. “A backlash is building, and it will become fiercer when voters learn that a handful of billionaires are altogether spending nine figures, apparently in an effort to try to stop debates about regulation from further developing.” 

Continuing, the former partner explained that he’d been approached by groups interested in exposing the tech industry’s effort to “buy political influence,” adding that he “may contribute my own money to these public awareness efforts.”

The Lords of Capital want your retirement savings to fund data center expansion.  

Unserious People for Serious Work

Trump II enforcer Bill Pulte will head U.S. intelligence despite having no background or experience in the field.   In addition he will gut the agency from a position of leadership ignorance.

The public witnessed something similar under Elon Musk and DOGE, which applied the "takeover model" of jettisoning federal staff in favor of incapable technology.  TechGods call it "disruption" while private equity underrwriters (PEU) refer to it as their new "operating model."  Both are designed to funnel huge sums to founders and executives.

Trump II has added a blatantly political dimension to any downsizing with his demand that all staff be 100% in support and alignment with him or be rooted out.

I have written my congressperson numerous times on the severe damage being done to important government operations by Trump II, a nightmarish executive who manages by savage whim.  I received a series of replies indicating that their relationship with Trump II benefits everyone, which of course is complete bladerdash.

Trump II decides on one criteria, whatever he believes maximizes his image/pocketbook in each and every present moment.  So he lies and he fibs and he flip-flops, attacking when any of these are questioned.  Trump can attack anyone, anywhere and anytime.  The thought just needs to enter his mind.

And that's where the cascade of White House creeps come in.  They know offense is the best defense so the game is to pin Trump's rage on the other.  

It is in Trump's nature to destroy that which is good, to hurt as many people as possible with callous acts and to fatten his pocketbook at the same time.  Thus we now have Trump designed Trump coins for America 250.

Trump coins are official coins of the professional wrestling event to be held at the White House.

And they come at a premium price, much like stadium eats at a professional sporting event.

Get ready to pay roughly an $8,000 premium for packaging.  That's quite a load.  

This is the fleece Trump II allows the public to see.  I can't imagine what he has going in the shadows alongside his TechGod/PEU backers.

We have so many unserious people serving the world's greatest usurper, when the whole lot should be serving the American people.  Instead they serve themselves, over and over and over.

I am sick and tired of it.  

For decades politicians Red & Blue loved PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more were one. Trump II is trying to crowd out the Blues and make it the Red PEUniparty.  I trust the American people to steer back this obscene overreach.   Act...

Update 6-11-26:  Trump II's ravaging of the FBI is a precursor to his plans for the overall intelligence community.  Trump's nipple fetish must continue to be hidden and protected.  

Jesse wrote:

Trump sparked the equity markets today with yet another whopper about taking a pause from bombing Iran to work on a peace Memorandum of Understanding. 

More likely this is a courtesy to Elon Musk, who is squeezing out a whopping pig of an IPO tomorrow for SpaceX at a wildly confabulated evaluation of $135 a share, in his never-ending quest to become a trillionaire. 

The Street knows this. They absolutely know what is what about all of it. Trump and the Congress know that he is lying through his teeth. 

They don't care. They just want to get paid. They all have the same moral sensibility, which essentially none.

Blackstone and Apollo Throw Billions at AI Chips

A Blackstone press release stated:

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO), a global technology leader that designs, develops, and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions, today announced the establishment of the AI XPV Platform with Apollo (NYSE: APO) and Blackstone’s (NYSE: BX) Credit & Insurance Business as initial anchor investors. 

The Platform is designed to enable more than 20 gigawatts in compute capacity using Broadcom’s XPUs and networking solutions customized for leading frontier AI labs, including Anthropic and OpenAI, through 2028. 

The Platform launches today with an initial tranche of $35 billion led by Apollo, in partnership with Blackstone, to facilitate Anthropic’s previously announced capacity expansion of more than 1 gigawatt of compute infrastructure expected to deploy in Fluidstack-based sites starting in mid-2026.

Apollo's press release said global banks would play a role as well.

The funding is for expensive chips that go into AI data centers owned by Fluidstack.

Cipher Mining recently signed a ten year AI hosting agreement with Fluidstack and Google.  In the same press release Cipher announced its Colchis site just outside San Angelo city limits in West Texas.  It is not clear if Colchis is part of that AI hosting arrangement with Fluidstack.  That remains to be seen.

Fluidstack "builds gigawatt scale data centers from the ground up, delivered in months..."

If private equity underwriter (PEU) funding is behind the expensive chips that go into Colchis that's another political push for ERCOT to approve Cipher Mining's AI data center in our area.  A tie to Anthropic and its use of Fluidstack would add an established TechGod dimension.

BlackRock's Larry Fink wants your retirement fund to backstop the data centers people do not want in their backyards.  Blackstone Credit & Insurance Business may do just that with your annuity and Apollo's Athene could do likewise.

“We’re in this unique time where we need multiple trillions of dollars, for AI, power, infrastructure, chips and all of that requires very bespoke, long-duration capital that’s not traditional to the CUSIP market.” John Zito, Co-President, Apollo Asset Management

Long duration capital for short lived assets?  That usually means bagholder.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.

TechGods 007 Villain Gold-Dingus

TechGods need access to our pension/retirement funds, at least BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently made that appeal.

Bloomberg ran an opinion piece comparing AI leaders to villains from James Bond movies.  TechGod Peter Thiel and Palantir CEO Alex Karp sound like 007 antagonists in their daily speech.  

With Elon Musk controlling 85% of SPAC-EX after going public, the IPO looks engineered to make Musk the first trillionaire on earth while he retains complete control of the company..  

This is the class that self medicates with ketamine, advocates for government free zones where they make the rules, locates data centers in drought stricken areas and pushes next word predictors as intelligence.  

No real industry would go forward with a product that has significant error rates and is unreliable.  

Robot cars interfere with police and fireman responding to an accident, fire or crime scene.  AI commits what would be a crime if done by a human and nothing happens.  It tells a child to commit suicide.  It facilitates the undressing of underage girls.  

It, like its twisted social media uncle, seeks to addict users.  It furthers irreality, the profane and the grotesque.  It spies as it controls.  

NYPost ran a story on sex workers that can speak tech and the premiums paid by TechGods and their servants for such services.  The story ended with:

“In the future, being able to afford human contact, and to afford settings where there is genuine human contact, will be the ultimate luxury.”

How much will breathable air and drinkable water cost in this "future?"

America has an absurd vision that most do not want, the further obscene enrichment of the TechGod/PEU (private equity underwriter) class at our expense as everything is monetized.  We see which way the resources flow and it is not in our direction.  

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.

Update:  Jesse wrote:

The sickness of the world is being spread like a pandemic of lawlessness by a small but powerful crowd of well-funded sociopaths. Those who are easily seduced by money and power are quickly falling in line with it. 

It will be hard for future generations to understand this, just as we have struggled to understand the middle of the last century and the madness that overtook it.

Madness is as madness does... 

Update 6-9-26:  Trump II, the digital Caligula, encouraged the United Kingdom to not ban social media for children under 16 years of age.

Cipher Digital's Annual Report Covers Colchis LLC

Cipher Digital's 2025 annual report had much to say about their Colchis project, Tom Green County's third possible data center.   It is a joint venture although Cipher Digital never shares their joint venture partner(s) or from whom they purchased their majority interest.

The Tom Green County Appraisal District shows four tracts of land owned by Colchis.  They are next to the land currently leased by SkyBox Data Centers for their project, which is currently being marketed by Emergent Data Centers as SA1.  Both sited in that location to access a large AEP electrical substation.  

Texas electricity regulator ERCOT is running a Batch Zero competition for the state's data center explosion.  That means SkyBox and Cipher are competing for the same monstrous amount of electricity.  

Cipher's Annual Report states: 

Colchis Site 

In November 2025, we purchased a majority interest in a joint venture entity to develop a new HPC site in West Texas capable of providing 1-GW, referred to as Colchis (the “Colchis Site”), under which we expect to hold a majority equity interest subject to final lease and development terms. The Colchis Site includes a fully executed direct interconnection agreement with American Electric Power (“AEP”) for a dual interconnection facility targeting energization in 2028 and options to buy approximately 620 acres of land adjacent to an existing substation.

Redeemable noncontrolling interest 

Redeemable noncontrolling interest represent a 47% noncontrolling ownership in Colchis, variable interest entity (“VIE”), and a consolidated subsidiary of the Company. The entity is deemed a VIE as it does not have sufficient equity-at-risk to finance its activities. As the managing member, the Company has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact Colchis’s economic performance. Accordingly, the Company was determined to be the primary beneficiary of the VIE and therefore consolidates the entity in its consolidated financial statements. Redeemable noncontrolling interests are presented outside of permanent equity on the consolidated balance sheets as they are redeemable by the holders of the noncontrolling interest and the redemption is outside the control of the Company. The redeemable noncontrolling interests were initially recorded at their issuance date fair value of $30.3 million. The Company subsequently measures the carrying amount of the redeemable noncontrolling interests at the greater of (i) the initial carrying amount, increased or decreased for the noncontrolling interest’s share of net income or loss and its share of other comprehensive income or loss, and dividends or (ii) the redemption value. For interests that are  redeemable in the future, we recognize changes in the redemption value immediately as they occur.

Note 8:  Investment in Joint Ventures

In October 2025, the Company purchased 53% of the equity in Colchis LLC (“Colchis”), a joint venture of a potential 1 GW site in Texas, the “Colchis Site.” The Company is the managing member and consolidates Colchis, and records redeemable noncontrolling interest for the minority interest in the site. The Company deems the noncontrolling interest to be redeemable due to certain clauses in the agreement, which could trigger the redemption of the noncontrolling shares upon events outside of the Company's control. 

There were no changes in ownership of Colchis LLC for the year ended December 31, 2025 after the Company’s original investment.

Note 9:  Intangible Assets

 

The Company recorded amortization expense related to intangible assets of $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, $0.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, and $0.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. During the year ended December 31, 2025, the Company acquired strategic contracts for $56.6 million and $12.6 million related to the development of the Colchis and Ulysses sites, respectively, and wrote off $1.2 million of capitalized software related to software projects the Company is no longer pursuing.

There are mixed messages between the Annual Report and other Cipher corporate communications.  A November 3, 2025 press release stated:

In addition, Cipher today announced the formation of a joint entity to develop a 1-gigawatt (“GW”) site, named “Colchis”, in West Texas. Under the terms of the agreement, Cipher is expected to provide the majority of the financing, which would result in approximately 95% equity ownership assuming standard lease and development terms in a future HPC lease. 

The Colchis site includes a fully executed 1-GW Direct Connect Agreement with American Electric Power (“AEP”), under which AEP will construct the necessary dual interconnection facility for a targeted energization in 2028. Construction of the interconnection facility will proceed in parallel with ERCOT's final review and approval. The 620-acres of land under option sit adjacent to the existing substation, and the site has all the necessary characteristics for development of an HPC data center.

One said "purchased" the joint venture while the other said "formed."  One said 53% equity while the other said 95%.

I wonder if AEP's dual interconnection facility garners them an equity stake in Colchis.  It seems strange that AEP would pick one data center over another at this stage.  Shouldn't they work with whichever was approved by ERCOT via Batch Zero?  It feels like a thumb on the scale.  

However it is Texas where there are lots of thumbs and even more scales.  

Update 6-11-26:  It appears even more political heavyweights are behind Colchis and Cipher Digital.  The Lords of Capital have arrived with expensive chip financing.  Apollo amd Blackstone will fund Broadcom chips for Fluidstack in Texas.  Fluidstack is a major Cipher Digital customer.  Anthropic is in the political mix as well for Fluidstack.