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Alex Jones says Trump is possessed by 'demonic influences' after 'nut job' attack
(www.irishstar.com)
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We Need a Movement to End US Wars in the Middle East, Latin America and at Home
(www.counterpunch.org)
Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair
Trumpism is waging a war against the people of U.S. and the rest of the world. It is an authoritarian, bullying playbook that violently oppresses, exploits, and dehumanizes immigrants and poor people at home and abroad. The U.S. takes resources from the Global South through resource imperialism and demands total geopolitical dominance. The U.S. has no right or authority to intervene in other countries. Not surprisingly, this authority is seldom questioned by either of the two major political parties or the mainstream media. The following four cases demonstrate a bipartisan project of U.S. intervention that is both immoral and illegal. With blatant and murderous U.S. imperialism on the rise, we need a popular movement to build the power to stop it.
Palestine/Israel
The U.S. has given Israel $300 billion in aid since its founding in 1948, which Israel has used for its illegal occupation of the West Bank, the annexation of Jerusalem, and many wars against Gaza dating back to well before October 2023. This has led to the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The U.S. also supports Israel’s intense bombing of Lebanon which has killed more than 1100 people, displaced one million, and has led to Israel is occupying southern Lebanon again.
Israel has consistently violated the October 2025 ceasefire accords with Hamas by blocking food and medical aid from entering Gaza. The Israeli military has killed 700 residents since the ceasefire was announced in October, 2025. Our movements must oppose the illegal occupation and genocide by demanding the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the West Bank as well as the opening of all the borders to Gaza. Palestinians deserve dignity and equality, which means ending the occupation of Palestine, establishing right of return for Palestinians, and equality for all people living in Palestine/Israel. Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) campaigns such as the Boycott Chevron campaign and the successful campaign to get the City of Olympia to divest from companies involved with Israel show that we can have a material impact if we organize collectively. However, our most important demand remains unmet: the demand for the U.S. to end all aid to Israel.
Venezuela
On January 3, 2026, the U.S. blatantly violated both international law and its own laws when it invaded Venezuela, killing 130 people and kidnapping President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Since then, the US has threatened to invade Venezuela again if it sends oil to Cuba or does not bend to the Trump administration by opening its economy to be exploited by U.S. corporations. We demand ending to U.S. terrorism, including the killing of more than 160 Venezuelans and others on small boats off the Venezuelan coast. In addition, we demand the withdrawal of the U.S. military from the Caribbean and the immediate release of Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores.
Cuba
The U.S. has conducted a covert war against Cuba since the revolution led by Fidel Castro overthrew the Batista dictatorship in 1959. In the eyes of the U.S., Cuba’s crime has been its independence. The Cuban revolution brought many advances for the Cuban people: free, high quality health care and education, as well as cultural sovereignty and the dignity of its people. Economic problems such as a lack of consumer goods are partially caused by the US blockade, which severely cuts Cuba’s ability to import goods. The Trump administration’s position, led by Marco Rubio, is starving the Cuban people by stopping all oil shipments. This is murder and economic war. Trump claims Cuba is next on their hit list after Iran. We demand no to war on Cuba, the end of the U.S. blockade, and reparations to Cuba for a 64 year old embargo.
Iran
In 1953, the CIA overthrew the democratic Iranian Government led by Mohammed Mossadegh and replaced him with the repressive, pro-Israeli Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In 1979, a popular uprising overthrew him, bringing Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei to power. However, recent popular opposition has responded to their conservative interpretation of Islam and repressive political leadership.
The United States and Israel are committed to overthrowing the Iranian government. They both want to dominate the Middle East militarily, economically, and politically. Iran is an impediment to this imperialist aim, which compelled the U.S. and Israel to launch this unprovoked war on February 28, 2026. 2,000 Iranian civilians and counting have been killed, including 168 school children and 14 teachers in a single U.S. missile attack. Iran is justifiably defending itself by raising the social cost to the U.S. and Israel by attacking U.S. military bases in the region, attacking Israel, bombing Gulf oil facilities, and blocking oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Prices of oil, natural gas, and fertilizer are rising rapidly. At home, inflation is increasing and the standard of living of working-class Americans is declining further.
Building an Anti-War Movement
There has never been a war that has been as unpopular from the start as this U.S.-Israeli War on Iran. This tension creates an opportunity to convince the U.S. to withdraw and end its attacks on Iran. The No Kings rallies locally and nationally are important actions towards stopping these wars and the Trump agenda but they alone are not enough. Voting matters but it alone is not enough. Many levels of protest and resistance are needed: people in the streets, direct actions against institutions complicit with this war machine, non-compliant non-cooperation, and more.
Currently, there is no mass anti-war movement in the United States. Moving beyond one-off mobilizations and building an infrastructure for ongoing organization that actively involves people is necessary. So is a movement focused on all lives lost, not just the lives of U.S. citizens. It is important to reach out to those already involved, to do political education, and to make it easier to get plugged in. Building this infrastructure will create the conditions that help form a mass anti-war movement, expand its effectiveness, and increase its longevity. Why this hasn’t happened yet is not entirely clear.
One reason might be that there wasn’t a buildup of U.S. propaganda to influence public opinion before the U.S. attacks on Iran. This is a partial explanation of the low support for the war. On the other hand, there wasn’t time to build an anti-war movement either. There was a broad Palestine solidarity movement in 2023 and 2024 against the U.S. backed Israeli genocide against Palestine, but this movement has weakened despite the U.S. continuing to fund Israel’s murderous attacks on Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank, and Iran. Repression and fear are a cause for the weakening of the Palestine solidarity movement. Fear should not stop us. There is a lack of anti-war organizations that can effectively mobilize or involve large numbers to oppose U.S. aggression abroad in the way that various organizations existed in the 1960s, for example.
Sending soldiers into Iran causing mass U.S. casualties shouldn’t be necessary for bringing people into the streets, but it would likely have this effect. That is why it is important to focus on all casualties, not just the ones from the United States. It is also important to connect the war to the increasing hardship for working class people in the U.S., as inflation increases faster than wages as the war continues.
In the anti-war movement against the war in Vietnam, the anti-apartheid movement, and in the Palestine solidarity movement, especially the encampments in Spring 2024, students have played a major role. Spring is the season when student movements are usually the most active. There is a good possibility a student movement will rise up this spring in support of anti-war, immigrant solidarity, and climate justice. Additionally, students can help resist the increased control of university curricula, admissions, and hiring of faculty and staff by the Trump administration, which is part of their racist agenda. Student movements are the strongest when issues of national and global importance are connected to campus complicity such as college portfolios supporting the war in Iran, involvement with Israel, or collaborating with ICE.
In the Olympia and Thurston County area, (like most other places in the US-CP) there is a need for a strong anti-war organization that continues to include Palestine solidarity as a focus while making room for other causes. As mentioned, stopping U.S. wars against Iran and Cuba should be integral to local organizing as well. Including anti-nuclear weapons and building an ongoing structure against the next war would be a powerful stance and draw in more participants.
Another option would be to form an organization that explicitly connects economic and social justice at home and U.S. aggression abroad. An example was the Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace (OMJP), a group that was active in the 1990s and early 2000s. Its focus was anti-imperialism and also support of the homeless, solidarity with farmworkers, universal healthcare, and organized many events, including forums, conferences, and demonstrations. Domestic oppression and exploitation of the working class are intrinsically linked. Immigration is a clear example of this.
Let us take initiative to organize ourselves and form groups that go beyond single issues, and that respect and cooperate with existing progressive organizations in the area. We need to go beyond only organizing and mobilizing to return to the pre-Trump status quo unless we want another Trump in 2032.
Speaking out and organizing against attacks on democracy and defending social programs while simultaneously winning non-reformist reforms are a necessary and desirable strategy. Non-reformist reforms are ones that build our power, our political consciousness, and our capacity so that we can fight harder with more resources. Reforms are important stepping stones for our movements, but in the long run capitalism cannot be reformed, it must be overthrown. Examples of non-reformist reforms include reigning in U.S. imperialism, quality health care and housing for all, a universal basic income, free child care, free higher education and cancelling student debt, climate justice, and an end to deportations. These reforms will allow us to fight more ardently for reproductive, trans, and racial justice, as well as labor issues such as meaningful work and a shorter work week.
The need to connect this program of meaningful reforms to an anti-capitalist perspective that develops participatory socialist alternatives is necessary in expanding the imagination of the public in seeing a world beyond the current order. “Our alternatives,” as Rosa Luxemburg said more than 100 years ago, “are barbarism or socialism.”
The post We Need a Movement to End US Wars in the Middle East, Latin America and at Home appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
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This is a long dense article, I would hesitate to post such an article without an accompanying post about it in a science communication context but this is an article about the basic nutrient cycles in soil and the introduction is actually a wonderful thorough description of what the important players are in soil nutrient dynamics in a wholistic inclusive way.
Fig. 1 | Five key concepts to integrate soil fauna into multitrophic bio- geochemistry. This figure illustrates pathways by which soil fauna can influence soil carbon C cycling and contribute to particulate organic matter (POM) and mineral- associated organic matter (MAOM) pools: (1)
The abiotic constraints for soil fauna and SOM formation pathways are represented in the ‘Climate’ and ‘Soil type’ panes; (2) the importance to consider quality and quantity of C inputs is showed in the ‘Litter quality’ and ‘Ecosystem size hypothesis’ panes, as well as in the different soil compartments associated with contrasting plant inputs (the rhizosphere primarily associated with root exudates, the detritusphere with litter fragments, and the bulk soil with sporadic inputs from litter leachates (orange drops) and bioturbation; (3) the role of soil fauna feeding preferences and how C flows through the soil food web and into SOM pools is illustrated in different soil compartments, of which (4) soil fauna increases the connectivity; and (5) soil fauna pools beyond living biomass are presented in the ‘Carcasses’ and ‘Consumption and excretion’ panes.
The latter also links to important feeding traits: a detritivore such as an isopod ingests a great amount of litter, most of which is excreted as feces, because of lower food quality and assimilation rates, while a predator such as a centipede comparatively ingests much smaller amounts of prey, as a result of higher food quality and assimilation rates. Purple arrows indicate C flows through living organisms and black arrows after-life transfers of C and nutrients into SOM pools. The figure was entirely designed by CPiG (Carolina Levicek), including all individual elements.
Fig. 2 | Conceptualization of the role of different soil fauna trophic groups under contrasting plant inputs. The quality and availability of plant inputs can be seen as a continuum from the rhizosphere to the detritusphere associated with contrasting soil faunal and microbial communities. The three-way interaction between plant carbon inputs, soil microbes, and soil fauna determine the dominant mechanisms for soil organic matter (SOM) formation and the dominant SOM pools (particulate organic matter, POM, and mineral-associated organic matter, MAOM), given that abiotic conditions are kept constant.
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While details of the ceasefire and its longevity remain unclear, the fact that this deal was even on the table is a significant setback for imperialist ambitions.
By FABIO BOSCO
After threatening to “wipe out Iranian civilization,” Trump backed down. He accepted a 15-day truce, signaling the possibility that he might accept defeat. Israel accepted the truce in theory, but in practice has already broken it by bombing a refinery in Lavan, Iran, [while continuing its military action in Lebanon—editor]. Since this is a truce, and not an agreement ending the war, everything could change. Furthermore, the outcome of this war could directly and profoundly influence the crisis of the world order and the trends of the class struggle in much of the world. Therefore, it is necessary to wait for its definitive results before drawing conclusions. But it is undeniable that the terms of the truce point to the possibility of a defeat for imperialism.
After 40 days of aggression against Iran, with over 15,000 bombings, widespread destruction, and 2000 Iranian deaths, virtually none of the imperialists’ main objectives were achieved.
Despite Trump’s claims to the contrary, the Iranian regime may have lost more than 40 leaders, but it survived and grew stronger both within and, especially, outside the country, while also consolidating the IRGC’s power over the entire regime.
The nuclear and ballistic missile programs are still up for negotiation, but it is unlikely they will be eliminated. They may be limited in exchange for the total or partial suspension of heavy sanctions and the unfreezing of millions in Iranian funds abroad.
Israel asserts that Lebanon is not part of the agreement. This is an important issue, and we will see how it materializes. The reality is that Hezbollah’s resistance has not been defeated to date, and a retreat of imperialism in Iran does not favor Israel, even though, regrettably, this has not been a priority for the Iranian regime in the negotiations.
U.S. control over Iranian oil has not been established, contrary to Trump’s previous statements. Could this change in the negotiations? It is possible, to the extent that Iran is interested in modernizing its oil industry and selling oil at market prices, which are significantly higher than the prices paid by China. But nothing here resembles the Venezuelan example from January.
The full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will take place under Iranian control, and there is a possibility of tolls being imposed by Iran and Oman, which did not occur before the attacks.
This provisional outcome weakens imperialist policies in the region and around the world.
The imperialist-Zionist dream of a new Middle East under Israeli hegemony is slipping away. Iran emerges stronger and keeps its sights set on Israel’s main ally in the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates, as well as other signatories of the shameful Abraham Accords, which normalized relations with Israel at the cost of Palestinian lives.
Another regional power, Saudi Arabia, is moving away from normalization with Israel and is betting on military agreements with Pakistan and Turkiye, in addition to building alternative routes for oil exports. It is also possible that it will seek a necessary accommodation with Iran, despite Iranian attacks on the country.
The future of Israeli territorial expansion in Lebanon and Syria is uncertain. Zionist leaders wish to proceed with their plans to seize southern Lebanon, expel the population, and turn it into a permanent occupation. They also aim to expand the occupation into southern Syria, integrating the occupied territories from the Golan Heights all the way to Sweida, passing through parts of the Quneitra and Daraa provinces. However, Israel depends directly on the military, political, financial, and diplomatic support of U.S. imperialism, which places the future of war in the hands of President Trump, but also makes Israel dependent on Arab regimes’ own desire to resist or capitulate. The example of Iran strengthens the option of resistance. The Zionist failure in the war against Iran is likely to weaken Al-Hajri and the Druze leaders who are banking on relations with the Zionists.
As for Palestine, the end of the genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and al-Quds/Jerusalem is not yet in sight. Despite the weakening of imperialism/Zionism, the Palestinian issue has not been given central prominence in negotiations with the United States. Issues such as the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the West Bank, and Al-Quds/Jerusalem, and border control between Gaza and Egypt, and between the West Bank and Jordan, remain unresolved.
Finally, Netanyahu will face a tough electoral test in the elections that are expected to be called by October at the latest. The failure of the aggression against Iran weakens his position.
Global impact
On the international stage, the global capitalist economy is weakening. The World Bank forecasts lower growth and higher inflation due to the war.
Transatlantic relations between the United States and Europe are strained. It is possible that European imperialism, battered by U.S. impositions, will attempt to develop alternative energy sources (nuclear and renewable) and its own armed forces (including an expansion of France’s nuclear arsenal) to reposition itself in the international inter-imperialist struggle.
Russian imperialism, one of the main beneficiaries of the war, saw its profits rise from oil and gas exports at higher prices. Oil prices fell with the ceasefire, but are likely to remain higher than pre-war levels for some time. However, Russian gains may remain limited by the Ukrainian military offensive, which reduced Russian production capacity by 20% to 40%.
Chinese imperialism has fared well. It has avoided inflation in oil and gas prices, strengthened energy alternatives (coal and renewables), pressured Iran to accept the ceasefire, and bolstered its image of predictability in contrast to U.S. imperialism. While U.S. aggression against Iran opens the door for other imperialist powers to follow suit, the costly U.S. military failure temporarily rules out any attempt to take Taiwan by military means and strengthens efforts to pressure the Taiwanese bourgeoisie and the population regarding the “benefits” of unification (despite the dictatorship).
Overall, the U.S. failure demonstrates that no superpower is invincible, echoing the example of Russian imperialism in Ukraine. And it strengthens the struggles of oppressed peoples around the world.
Furthermore, it accelerates the inter-imperialist arms race, the energy transition in imperialist powers that are not self-sufficient in oil and gas (China, Japan, and Europe), and new techniques of conventional warfare with the widespread use of missiles and drones, as well as asymmetric warfare tactics.
Trump has suffered a blow. And he is likely to try to retaliate.
The negotiations will confirm (or not) the trends that stem from the proposed 14-day ceasefire. In any case, Trump will seek to win at the negotiating table what he failed to achieve through war. One of these goals for him is access to Iranian oil, which is strategic in the dispute with Chinese imperialism. Trump may try to trade the lifting of sanctions for some degree of access to this strategic energy resource.
Trump is also likely to seek to impose his will on other countries, particularly in Latin America, in order to throw a smokescreen over his failure in Iran. Cuba, suffocated by the energy blockade imposed by Trump, will likely be the next target. Other countries holding elections, such as Hungary, Colombia, and Brazil, are also likely to be the target of efforts to influence their outcomes in favor of far-right candidates.
Domestically, in the United States, his situation is more complicated due to the outcome of the war, likely crises between bourgeois factions, and a loss of popularity stemming from inflation, the violent actions of ICE, and the pedophilia and influence-peddling scandal involving his friend Epstein. All of this comes on the eve of the midterm elections, in which Trump will likely attempt to interfere to prevent an electoral defeat from undermining his presidency.
The Iranian working class will have to resume the struggle against dictatorship and capitalism.
The ceasefire, if extended indefinitely, will eliminate the scenario of the destruction of life and the country through imperialist-Zionist military action. In this scenario, the working class will benefit from the end of military intervention, and from the consequent erosion of support for imperialist military aggression among the population and the diaspora. Reza Pahlavi and the MEK will return to their rightful irrelevance.
But just today, Iranian judicial authorities called for the acceleration of executions. Therefore, the working class will have to resume the struggle for an end to executions and for the release of political prisoners (more than 50,000), as well as for democratic freedoms of expression and organization, and for social justice. This will only be achieved with the end of the dictatorship and capitalism.
To this end, it will be necessary to strengthen the independent organization of the working class through trade unions, the student movement, organizations for women’s rights, and those of oppressed nationalities (Kurds, Balochis, Arabs, …), as well as the large diaspora capable of building international solidarity with these democratic and social struggles.
Our position
The IWL-FI supports the struggles against all forms of imperialism (U.S., European, Chinese, Russian, or Japanese) and welcomes the potential military defeat of imperialism-Zionism at the hands of the Iranian military forces.
If the balance of power allows the Iranian regime to take a clear stance in negotiations with Trump for the end of U.S. bases in the region, for an end to aggression and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Syria and Lebanon, and for an end to the genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, a more decisive victory over imperialism and Zionism will have been achieved.
At the same time, we will support all forms of self-organization by the working class and Iranian social movements in their struggle to end the executions of political prisoners and secure their immediate release, and for democratic freedoms and social justice.
Finally, we reiterate the call to take to the streets in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We will have a comrade from the IWL present on the Sumud Flotilla to Gaza and will strengthen solidarity activities such as Palestinian Political Prisoners’ Day (April 17) and the Nakba anniversary on May 15.
First publishedherein Portuguese by the IWL-FI
The post Trump and Netanyahu fall short as two-week ‘ceasefire’ begins first appeared on Workers' Voice/La Voz de los Trabajadores.
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Image by Logan Voss.
“Why do you think you can stop a $1.2billion University of Michigan and Los Alamos project?” was the first Instagram message we received at the launch of the Stop the Data Center campaign in Ypsilanti, Michigan. For us, the question was not “why?” but “how?”
Our campaign is built against an exceptional and horrifying facility right in our backyards. We have had some huge wins in recent months through the connections within our community and through connections with other site fights and AI resistance efforts nationally and internationally. Site fights cannot win solely by the power of the local people: huge inspiring underground networks back these fights, write policies and moratoriums, resource actions, share lessons, and make their stories loud. We hope you tell our story after reading this piece and our energy aggregates. If you are reading and want to help stop a nuclear weapons research facility data center in a beautiful small town in Michigan: here is your call to action and your invitation to link in!
The Origin of the Campaign
In December 2024, the University of Michigan (U-M) and Los Alamos National Laboratory announced that they would build “the world’s fastest supercomputer” — “the biggest, baddest” for “national security.” This collaboration with the makers of the atomic bomb would destroy a beloved local green waterfront park in the process. Not only is the park where our kids learned to ride their bikes, where we throw birthdays and host gatherings, not only is it where we fish and kayak on the ancient river with our neighbors; but long before we lived here, the park has been home to herons, cormorants, and bald eagles. People of every political background gather here and live in its watershed. And, in a bipartisan chorus, a kind of comradery so hard to come by in 2026, all of our canvassed neighbors – from Trump 2028 flag-wavers to queer commune dwellers – agree that no one wants to sacrifice our life and this watershed for this facility.
Through public presentations, conversations and publications we ascertained that the facility is aimed at nuclear weapons testing and simulation, military drone surveillance and geospatial targeting. We do not want a data center. We do not want nuclear war. We do not support a nuclear warfare AI data center. We do not want to be in the eye of war. We do not want this war machine at this park, in Ypsilanti, or anywhere. And we will not stop until it is stopped.
Stop the Data Center Campaign wins have come slowly, but have since picked up momentum. Since October 2025, the University was pushed to waste time looking at other sites; nearby Ypsilanti City unanimously signed a resolution for Peace joining the Mayors for Peace against supporting nuclear weapons with our tax dollars or community resources; the timeline on the project was pushed back a year; the township unanimously signed a bill to pull the $100m taxpayer “strategic fund” awarded to the center; the project was pushed a second year; and our city has begun receiving international attention for the atrocity of this war facility. The township board passed a resolution against the data center, specifically decrying nuclear war. Breaking ground on this data center was punted into the Trump presidency, and while its proposal lacks unified vision and will be outlandishly expansive, we recognize that we are living in a time where tech’s “move fast and break things” has combined forces with the destructive power of fascism. What should be confined to sci-fi horror is a very real threat.
Successfully delaying the project has been hard fought, especially with adversaries we know are not playing fair. For example, Los Alamos held a “town hall” on U-M campus in Ann Arbor with only limited paid parking, not walkable or with straightforward public transit from Ypsilanti. It was not publicized in West Willow**,** the predominantly black and brown neighborhood where the facility is proposed to be built. Six activists showed up in protest and were immediately arrested – no warnings or requests to leave before being taken directly to jail. In fact, most were in the process of leaving and were chased to then be arrested. They were then charged with two felony counts of trespassing (at… a community meeting) and larceny (for… eating the food at the event). Months later, the charges were dropped directly by the County Prosecutor Eli Savit saying these unusual arrests violate our first amendment rights.
The hundreds of activists in our bottom-up campaign are linked by the shared desire to Stop the Data Center. There are not central operatives or even shared intermediate goals: instead, we support a diversity of tactics where every community member chooses their path based on their own skills and their own first order concerns. The concerns span across the political spectrum: environmental, political, infrastructural, existential, financial, about clean water or about cost of living, about property value or corporate lies, about university overreach or tax exemption, against AI, against military investment or against nuclear weapons.
What began as a wheatpaste and sticker campaign snowballed into a dedicated group of hundreds of people engaging in daily action. Our group chats are all always spitting fire and in action. Our campaign strengthens our local community and builds strong connections to other site fights nationally and AI resistance networks internationally. We are fighting this fight locally with the support of hundreds of activists from all over the world committed to stopping this data center.
Launching a Campaign
We’ve centered building relationships and growing an intergenerational, multiracial coalition because we understand that the data center is a threat to us all. Touted as the “New Manhattan Project,” the technology this data center will enable is decidedly death-dealing, and has the propensity to fuel destruction at a global scale. Stopping this nightmare from taking root requires a campaign that allows for a diversity of tactics, invites folks from all walks of life to participate, and builds on the wide range of skills and resources that exist when we come together. While the University of Michigan and Los Alamos laboratory are fantasizing about nuclear weapons, AI driven military technologies, and the blood-money warfare economies inevitably accumulate, we are committed to protecting our neighbors, community, and our planetary home.
As soon as the data center was announced, the Stop the Data Center collective formed a dedicated months-long canvassing wheatpasting and campaign to get the word out, linking to an instagram, substack, and whatsapp group. Canvassing was wildly successful; canvassers were regularly welcomed in to chat, given hugs, offered snacks, and people pulled out their phones and followed on social media immediately. Canvassing built support for our campaign against the data center, and set the groundwork for widespread wheatpasting.
Wheatpasting happened all over town! The data center is slotted for Ypsilanti, a small town just outside of Ann Arbor where U-M main campus sits. Wheatpasters hit both Ypsi and Ann Arbor, focusing mostly on downtown areas, Eastern Michigan University (in Ypsi) and U-M. Folks printed flyers, used thermal printers and USPS labels to make stickers and printed big murals that were wheatpasted in different areas. Lots of different punks were wheatpasting, with different folks leading it. To facilitate this, people put together easy grab and go kits and passed them out.
This got the news out so effectively. People asking about it had hundreds of upvotes on reddit r/ypsi and r/annarbor. It only took a few months for the instagram to hit 1,000 followers. The first assembly meeting had 83 attendees!
Growing a Campaign
We know this is a long fight, and that it is one fight in a patchwork quilt of many. Our campaign is about growing community as much as growing a movement: we prioritize caring for each other along the way and opening the doors as wide as possible to bring all sorts of people into the mix. This looks like: food team bringing mostly vegan allergen-aware food to all the events, childcare at our big meetings, relationship-building being a priority, including a working group dedicated to welcoming and orienting people to the campaign, another working group aimed at making friends/bringing current friends into the fold, a celebration of art and music against the data center. We are always trying to reach out to more people, through canvassing (both door knocking in the neighborhood and bringing flyers and chatting with folks at local events), social media, yard signs, and wheatpasting the town. Of course, we could do more to welcome and care for each other, and if you have energy or ideas, you’re invited to join or start a working group!
We embrace the beautiful synergy of many people trying lots of different tactics to stop the data center. We don’t think any one person or group acting alone can stop the data center; instead we are all made stronger with each other, and invite everyone to try out what they think works and engage according to their skills. We talk strategy together and think deeply about how to effect change in the world. For example, lobbying the government has created slow downs for the rest of folks to use to build power and organize. Legal tactics that center government engagement can be low barrier welcoming pathways for folks who aren’t yet sure they want to participate in other tactics, like home demonstrations. The affinity groups doing home demonstrations add teeth and pressure for decision makers to work with the legislative groups, and create interest and drama for the media and social media teams. It’s all an experiment, and studying what happens when different people do different things is useful to everyone.
We use spokescouncil and assembly meetings to learn from each other, strengthen our strategy, and grow our campaign. Spokescouncil meetings are small monthly meetings where a single spoke from each working group attends to touch base, give updates, and coordinate. It is a place where different working groups can make asks and offers. For example, the food team can say, “If you’re hosting an event and want us to make food, please let us know, we are usually available. Also, especially working groups in the welcoming network, please send the good cooks our way, we could use a few more people on the roster; right now it’s a few people doing most of the cooking.” There is no central governing body: the working groups have full sovereignty over their organization and actions. If folks are excited about an idea, they can ask for help from others in the campaign, and we honor everyone’s autonomy and critical thinking skills in deciding on their priorities to stop the data center.
Monthly assemblies bring everyone together to coordinate tactics and envision our next steps. There are usually 50-100 attendees, and the assemblies are structured to be welcoming to new folks while also offering time to chat, mingle, and relationship build among more experienced folks. We start all together with a brief orientation and history of the campaign. We go over our two working agreements (1. Don’t publicly condemn each other 2. Don’t snitch). There are often between 15 and 25 working groups active at any time, and after they pitch their work to the crowd, we divide up into working groups where new people get oriented and plans are made for the coming month. There is always food and childcare. Childcare working group makes special effort for kids to be involved in fighting the data center, often through art projects!
Home demonstrations have successfully pressured the township board to put the data center on the agenda for us. All summer we went to township board meetings with between 80 and 150 people speaking out against the data center. No members of the public spoke in favor of the data center. Still, the township board refused to put the data center on the agenda. Then one Saturday afternoon, about 40 people wearing wacky ties went to the homes of several loudly pro-data center township board members and chanted, “We tried emails, we tried meetings, now we are at your doorstep, yelling screaming” and “This is a meeting/ We are the council. Put us on the agenda/ The data center is cancelled!”. Demonstrators generally stayed on the sidewalk and disruptions lasted no more than ten minutes.
The next township board meeting, we were on the agenda and they passed several substantive resolutions against the data center. In response**,** Chris Kolb, the University of Michigan’s Vice President for Government Relations who is spearheading pro-data center propaganda, mocked township board members’ concerns about the home demos. Yet, after he and a dozen other university officials were visited during the regional gathering against the Los Alamos data center, he immediately hired private security to sit outside his house 24/7 (which has not prevented several more visits). The home demos have continued, with dozens of U of M and Los Alamos officials receiving visits.
We have a strong lineage of anti-nuclear war and peace activists in whose footsteps we follow. Postcards for Peace is one intergenerational working group carrying this tradition forward, sending postcards to the homes and offices of officials supporting the data center, pleading with them to consider our collective future. First, nearby Ypsilanti city has signed onto Mayors for Peace and sent a letter to all concerned parties asking them not to build this data center. This inspired Ypsilanti Township Board to pass a resolution against the data center on the basis of being against nuclear weapons.
Challenges Ahead
The stakes are high; Los Alamos is calling their investment in AI (of which this data center is the crown jewel), “the New Manhattan Project.” Surpassing the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb created by the first Manhattan Project, a Manhattan 2.0 has the capacity to change and literally destroy our whole world. The first atomic bomb was created without consideration of the implications for decades to come, ranging from school children hiding under their desk fearing total annihilation to the ongoing devastation wrought by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The people building this data center are focused on building the “fastest, baddest” computing system, and they do so without any concern around how this will affect the air we breath, the cancer rates of Ypsilanti citizens, the way more bigger nuclear weapons and plutonium pits will poison the only planet we have, and redefining our political and social relations based on the violence and destruction we will be capable of. Our world depends on our fight winning, but we are up against many powerful institutions.
The University of Michigan is a particularly powerful enemy. They have a state constitutional amendment saying that they do not have to follow local government’s laws and ordinances, so the township board cannot enforce their permitting procedure with the University. They don’t pay taxes on the land they own, and will not be required to even contribute to the municipality for fire protection and the other services the township offers. They have a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Los Alamos, protected by military security clearance, preventing them from having to share even the most basic details of the project (e.g., what cooling method will they use, what companies will they contract to build it?) Many other corporate data centers would have been defeated by the efforts that this campaign has taken so far.
Building Networks of Community Resistance
The specific data center we are fighting is a nuclear weapons AI data center, so we know it is designed for destruction. However, many data centers will be used to fuel US militarism and advance the warfare state without any explicit reference to nuclear weapons. The ten biggest data centers in the world are owned by the Department of Energy, the government body responsible for managing nuclear power. Under Trump appointee Chris Wright’s leadership, is primarily focused on nuclear weapons. Individual boycotts against ChatGPT will never be enough to stop the proliferation of AT data centers, which enjoy massive tax breaks and strong government funding. It will take tireless and collective mass organizing to stop them.
Data Centers are overtaking the country, being forced on many different communities, 15-20 are being proposed in Michigan in 2026. Our story of a community coming together and fighting back is one we want to share with folks and hope to be a model that can inspire other communities. As more local governments have stopped data centers, corporations and government entities have gotten more forceful. Because of the extraordinary powers of the University of Michigan to ignore local zoning, we have been forced to be more creative in our resistance. We hope that the spokescouncil model and tactics like home demos are useful to others fighting hard to stop data centers.
Building networks of collaborative campaigns and political and environmental education are key to stopping the onslaught of data centers and war machine facilities. There are more of us who will suffer from data centers than profit from it. We’re going to need each other to win this fight.
The post How to Stop a Data Center appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
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