By: Diane Benjamin
For awhile yesterday this video was not in the story: https://blnnews.com/2026/05/05/nchs-violence-reason-for-evacuation/
Evidently some people don’t understand that students acting like animals at school wouldn’t hesitate to call in a fake bomb threat to get out of going to school.
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Today is Data Center Day:
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Did you know the United States has 6 underground data centers? https://brightlio.com/underground-data-centers/
Building on farmland is ridiculous. Once built, very few jobs are created. They do not create an economic boom. Underground reduces the amount of water needed for cooling. The heat generated by the computers can be captured to heat nearby buildings.
I strongly recommend reading that article. Data Centers must be required to provide their own power. Underground uses less. Local governments that allow building above ground will regret it. Of course it’s the citizens who will be footing the bills.
Data Centers will be built. Bloomington-Normal is not the right location unless underground caverns/bomb shelters exist we don’t know about.
Lots of information about data centers exist. The question is: Will local governments be smart enough to research or just jump on the latest fad?
Well you don’t need a cave or old mine to get the natural cooling benefits for a data center. You could just build one below grade, like a basement or a bunker. It will still dramatically reduce the ambient temperature and reduce the power demand for cooling.
Common sense regulations for data centers.
1) Build it underground.
2) require a Closed loop water cooling system to minimize water usage.
3) cooling system should only use reclaimed waste water to avoid any need to take from our limited clean drinking water supply.
4) require data centers to produce their own onsite power, literally cut them off from the grid. This should eliminate any risk of them driving up local energy costs for homes and businesses.
5) Don’t build on farmland.
So far, only Mclean County has outlawed data centers from being built in agriculture zones. None of the other above regulations exist yet from any of our local governments. Let’s pressure the city councils and county board to adopt all of these regulations now, before a secret backdoor deal for a data center is crafted. Maybe these regulations will deter any data centers from being built. Maybe if a company still wants to adhere to these rules, then large data center could one day exist here, and the regulations could preemptively address all of the concerns a bipartisan majority of citizens have about them.
My apathy prevents me from caring. or voting.
I was recently in Rantoul and drove thru the ruins of the former AFB. To the untrained eye about 50% of the facilities/land are currently in use. A data center should be built there as I am sure utilities are already in place and land would be fairly inexpensive.
TVs, cell phones and computers are already spying on you in your own homes, In your vehicles, track you when you go out, etc. Someone please explain to me why we have a right to privacy but screw your rights not any more.
Water and power need to be spelled out. Maybe tonight at the public forum they will be.
One other thing that needs to be considered. America’s in a flat‑out race on AI, and if we don’t stay out front, we’re going to get pushed around — economically, militarily, on security, the whole deal. Meanwhile I keep seeing Democrats shutting down data centers with a knee‑jerk “no,” like they don’t even want to talk about what’s at stake. Honestly, the only thing that would flip some of them is if Trump came out and said he doesn’t want data centers and doesn’t care about winning the AI race. Then suddenly they’d be all in.
I think you’re right. On the other hand, AI needs to be unplugged, everywhere. The amount of unemployment this is going to cause is unfathomable. It’s interesting how the capitalists pushing AI are going to turn the world to socialism because half, or more, of the working population will be unemployed.
History is littered with outdated journalism bs. Others will be created
But AI won’t be unplugged. You either have to be the steam roller or you get steam rolled. That’s the choice.
I agree we need to regulate the manner in which AI data centers are built and the infrastructure on which they rely. Unfortunately, President Trump passed an executive order that individual states are prohibited from passing regulations on AI companies and the construction of data centers. I hope states challenge that EO as it’s an unconstitutional power grab and should be struck down via the 10th amendment. States and localities should have the power to determine what their communities will and will not tolerate in terms of this development. It gives each state the opportunity to experiment with the best system, and show us the beat model to use.
The development of AI is a good reminder of why capitalism is so valuable- it creates the space for such world-changing technology. But it’s also a reminder of why we need our government to regulate that system. In the pursuit of making as much money as possible, AI companies have little regard for the safety of this powerful technology, which could lead to devastating consequences if AI becomes misaligned wirh human priorities. Competition is great, but we need to make sure that we are kept safe as this technology could either contribute to solving many of our problems or ending our species. As much as I dislike government regulations, I trust them much more than the tech oligarchs to keep development heading in the right direction.
It’s an area that Trump needs to change direction. He’s way too cozy with AI companies and that EO shows that’s he’s willing to bend the knee to their demands. With gas prices and grocery prices spiking heading into the midterms, I don’t think we can afford to keep flailing on this issue. It’s a topic on which liberals and conservatives tend to agree in that we should move forward, but very cautiously. I hope Trump seeks out that common ground like he did with prison reform during his first term. But Im doubtful that he will given his close relationship to AI companies.
Calling everything AI, public safety, national security and governance makes it all sound so critical.
Also, calling everything human capital management and Internet of Things and so called risk and compliance is an easy sell and politically correct. It’s marketing platforms (China like governance architecture and model) What they teach in college too.
We pay for it one way or another and technocrats/execs and consulting/platforms and managed service vendors get.a huge piece of the pie.
Discernment is needed and the ability to ask questions about it all.
It’s not all about safety.