Jim Hammerand
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jimhammerand.bsky.social
Jim Hammerand
@jimhammerand.bsky.social
380 followers 920 following 280 posts
Journalist and photographer in the Pacific Northwest (Edmonds, WA)
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Reposted by Jim Hammerand
kenjennings.bsky.social
I miss when you could post Brave Norman Rockwell Townsperson and the caption could be, like, “R.E.M was wrong to leave ‘Fretless’ off of Out of Time” instead of “The secret police should stop murdering people.”
February 15, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
gabrielzucman.bsky.social
The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering

The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
February 15, 2026 at 2:47 PM
jimhammerand.bsky.social
Lake Chelan this morning
Clouds over still waters of Lake Chelan
February 14, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
dbrauer.net
Reminder: @bradtabke.bsky.social is a Minnesota legislator from a district so purple our legislature stopped for weeks while GOP tried to steal his seat YET helped organize legal observers AND confronted ICE to protect residents (many ineligible to vote for him) AND helped stop a concentration camp
bradtabke.bsky.social Brad Tabke @bradtabke.bsky.social · 6d
So proud of Minnesota! Because of all the work you’ve done and the support across the country, the US Senate has ended - for now - funding for ICE!!

We need to keep it up to ensure they stop hurting us and actually leave our communities. Not one more penny for ICE!!
February 12, 2026 at 9:56 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
edzitron.com
Tomorrow's Premium: The Great Data Center Financial Crisis, where 20-40% margins are only possible after years of construction and billions in debt, and if we don't have $100bn in demand by 2028, everything's a wash.

Here's $10 off annual.
edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo...
If Non-OpenAI/Anthropic AI Compute Isn’t A $100 Billion A Year Business By 2028, 75%+ Of AI Data Centers Will Go Under I realize this sounds dramatic, but hear me out. If we assume a comparable amount of US-based data center deals happen in 2026, that means that we’re going to need at least $80 billion in annual compute business to make any of it make sense. I realize that somebody could say that Anthropic, OpenAI and hyperscalers are spending $X on compute, but remember: hyperscalers are spending nearly $700 billion in the next year, and while some of that $178.5 billion in debt may be considered theirs, the vast majority of it is likely from independent developers hoping to scoop up some of the revenue from the “insatiable demand for AI compute.” What’s truly insatiable is AI’s appetite for debt. AI is so expensive to build for that it necessitates massive amounts of upfront capital, and because most AI data centers are being built by either brand new entities or cryptocurrency miners attempting to move onto their next grift, the debt is often high-interest, and gosh darn do these motherfuckers need a lot of it. There are also blatantly obvious signs that the demand doesn’t exist, the most glaring being that NVIDIA has pledged $26 billion of its own money to pay its customers to rent back its GPUs per its last earnings: Multi-year cloud service agreement commitments as of October 26, 2025, were $26 billion for which $1 billion, $6 billion, $6 billion, $5 billion, $4 billion, and $4 billion will be paid in fiscal years 2026 (fourth quarter), 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030, and 2031 & thereafter, respectively. Some cloud service capacity may be reduced, terminated or sold to others by the CSPs, in which case our commitments will be reduced. We expect cloud service agreements to be used to support our research and development efforts and DGX Cloud offerings. NVIDIA is also planning to lease 200MW of data center capacity funded entirely by junk bonds, for some reason. … Why AI Data Centers Are So Uniquely Unstable So, why hasn’t this been a problem in the past? Scale: in the past, data centers were way, way smaller. It was a big deal back in 2023 when Applied Digital vowed to build a 5MW data center that would have 300 GPUs, and likely a lot cheaper to build. Up-Front Cost For Critical IT: building an AI data center is a fucking nightmare for your balance sheet, as you need thousands of GPUs that each cost $50,000 or more and require massive server racks, networking and all sorts of other crap to make them run, and when they finally turn on, revenues have to fill a massive hole. Up-Front Cost For Construction, Power and Cooling: All of that specialized GPU compute requires a bunch of specialized cooling and infrastructure, as well as way, way more power. They Take Years To Build: Depending on the data center, construction can take anywhere from a year to three years. Stargate Abilene started construction in 2024, and won’t be finished until 2027 at the earliest. All of these factors create massive, impossible-to-avoid charges up front, which requires massive debt to fund them, followed by onerous construction timelines, at which point these data centers better have a fucking customer, or they’re absolutely quad-fucked. The Money Does Not Exist To Make AI Data Centers Make Sense So, one clapback against this piece is to suggest that OpenAI and Anthropic will combine to spend over $550 billion by 2030, and my answer there is “how?” You see, neither company can actually afford to pay that much, and thus rely on a near-constant flume of venture capital to the point that new rounds require a fucking We Are The World telethon to get done. Anthropic’s $30 billion round had thirty seven different investors, which heavily suggests we’re hitting the limits of what venture capital, private equity and even hyperscalers can afford to fund these companies. And to be clear, even with an IPO, neither of these companies can afford to pay their current commitments, and both of these companies are the only entities using large amounts of compute. Anthropic needed that money less than five months after it raised $13 billion! OpenAI is already trying to raise another $100 billion despite receiving $22.5 billion from SoftBank less than two months ago! And really, where’s the rest of the demand? Because unless the AI compute industry is going to 10x in the next 12 months, the demand does not exist! If the argument is that AI startups will want to rent these GPUs directly, then I simply must ask where that money is coming from, because they’re all unprofitable too? Tell me: what happens when the majority of this data center debt goes tits up? That’s the scenario we’re setting up for. How The Chain Of Pain Breaks The Back Of The Data Center Boom There are really two scenarios here: either there’s a massive, unbelievable surge of AI demand that floods AI data centers with tens of billions of dollars of revenue in the next year, or the majority of data center debt deals are left unpaid. Regardless, the raw economics of the AI data center boom are horrendous. Even in the best-case scenario, with guaranteed tenancy for years, these data centers are so debt-dependent and drenched in depreciation, opex and maintenance that even the most meager margins are hard to attain. Even if you believe that every data center occupant will be timely with its payments, my model shows that even the slightest push or delay can send costs spiralling out of control, and any failure by OpenAI or CoreWeave will likely create a cascade effect, choking off any potential new data center deals and breeding anxiety in the hearts of those who have already issued them. CoreWeave is likely the first domino to fall, and when it does so, it’ll rip a hole in Applied Digital’s balance sheet, and potentially kill Core Scientific, a company with a negative 46.7% operating margin who counts CoreWeave as its largest customer. AI data centers cost too much to build and by extension require too much debt. Their margins stink, their customers are all either compute-curious hedge funds or unprofitable startups, and - I don’t say this lightly - rely on a near-distant future where $50 billion to $100 billion of AI compute spend pops up effectively overnight. And then there’s Oracle, who has tied itself to a billion-dollar failson in OpenAI. Even if it can get the lousy 30.9% margins I believe it’s making on Stargate Abilene, the costs associated with building, maintaining and running it are likely to swallow either Oracle or Crusoe whole far before the completion of the data center. Oracle can try and cover the losses by selling more shares and raising more debt, but at some point it…
February 13, 2026 at 3:21 AM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
reuters.com
Moderna curbing investments in vaccine trials due to US backlash, CEO tells Bloomberg TV reut.rs/3NBzBtS
Moderna curbing investments in vaccine trials due to US backlash, CEO tells Bloomberg TV
Moderna does not plan to ‌invest in new late-stage vaccine trials because of growing opposition to immunizations from U.S. officials, CEO Stephane Bancel said ‌in an interview with Bloomberg TV ​on Thursday.
reut.rs
January 22, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
jamellebouie.net
“my ‘we’re not out scouring the streets to disappear people or deny people their civil rights or due process’ shirt is raising a lot of questions that are answered by the shirt”
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d
Homan: "ICE is a legitimate federal law enforcement agency. We're not out scouring the streets to disappear people or deny people their civil rights or due process."
February 12, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
cwnewser.bsky.social
A Reuters photographer captured this image of a page from Pam Bondi's "burn book," which she used to counter any questions from Democratic lawmakers during an unhinged hearing today.

It looks like the DOJ monitored members of Congress’s searches of the unredacted Epstein files.

Just wow.
February 11, 2026 at 11:06 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
kelciemmorris.bsky.social
There are really no words for this.
Israel used weapons in Gaza that made thousands of Palestinians evaporate
US-made thermal weapons burning at 3,500C caused 2,842 people to "evaporate" in Gaza, Al Jazeera investigation finds.
www.aljazeera.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
propublica.org
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.

Hundreds of kids are still detained.

We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
February 9, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
pinknews.bsky.social
Lesbian singer Brandi Carlile sets up $25k grant to support Minnesota ICE detainees https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/02/05/lesbian-singer-brandi-carlile-sets-up-25k-grant-to-support-minnesota-ice-detainees/?utm_content=1770616800&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
Brandi Carlile sets up $25k grant to support Minnesota ICE detainees
Lesbian rock and country star Brandi Carlile has announced that she set up a $25,000 grant to help people detained by ICE in Minnesota.
www.thepinknews.com
February 9, 2026 at 6:00 AM
jimhammerand.bsky.social
Posting a superb owl (photgraphed at @woodlandparkzoo.bsky.social)
A snowy owl
February 8, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
natepentz.bsky.social
Alright, let's do this Eat Street crawl.
Pho' HOA
February 7, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
That highly classified whistleblower report Tulsi Gabbard covering up?

Guardian reports it’s an NSA intercept of a call between a close Trump associate and “an individual associated with foreign intelligence.”

Sounds similar to Trump’s campaign chair meeting Russian intel and sharing data in 2016.
NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump
Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
donmoyn.bsky.social
You should read this. It is the type of detail that experts in authoritarian regimes see as telling.
In this case, state agents are offered impunity from higher ups, and the legal system is rendered inoperative as a mode of accountability.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/u...
Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
edzitron.com
God damn it is undeniable how many people just outright hate AI. I don’t think any technology in history has ever revolted so many people in such a public and prominent way
edzitron.com Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 12d
If there is one thing Chance The Rapper fans love it’s bare metal compute. Absolutely perfect market. Just check out how enthusiastic his fans are! They love it and they’re ready to move their cloud infrastructure.
11 Reply fad2fresh 16h Oh no chancellor Reply 204 View 2 more replies pedrognlz 15h I feel like this is somewhat at odds with the message of your album 13 Reply benalvarez13 16h Sell out Reply 35 View 1 more reply gtkayy 15h Boooooo this is so disappointing!!!! Why are you doing ads for Al (o 19 Reply cmmnctn.brkdwn 14h chance. Come on man, you can't be serious Reply 13 m.e.g.h.an 17h An independent artist promoting anything for Al is crazy Chance.... Absolutely crazy 116 Reply lucassmitty5 15h Nah chance wtf. This crazy. 2016 you would hate this 25 Renlv Comments Reply papi_sativa 16h TO EVERYONE IN THE COMMENTS COOKING THIS I'M SO PROUD OF YALL! dY Reply theisydoesit 14h 14 9 7 Reply hi_majestic_ 13h No sir... don't cosign to no Al bs Reply ena.maa 10h This yall goat Reply saadiq.ranks 15h Badd read on your audience gang Reply kyetheguyofficial 16h What abt the enviroment Reply 3 5 38 293 View 3 more replies Comments alligryder 12h bruh wtf i can't believe you for this... i'm heartbroken over you supporting this:// Reply Reply swagalog101 12h LMAO Reply swagalog 101 12h OOH I LOVE AIIII I LOVE AI AGH! Reply View 1 more reply marcuscthomas 16h Art? ....Music? Reply taipayne 16h I honestly thought this was about to be an anti-Al campaign. Disappointing for sure, but everyone has their own path. Reply jessedriftwood 6h A is for aw damn this sucks Reply johncottermedia 17h Aw man lol Reply 4 26 2 15 6 8 1 30
February 7, 2026 at 6:55 AM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
robertscotthorton.bsky.social
Bondi's letter to Walz gets the use I anticipated from a federal judge. This is evidence of a US attorney general attempting to extort something from state officials, criminal conduct, or nearly so.
obarcala.bsky.social Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · 12d
In an opinion dismissing Trump's attempt to get an unredacted copy of Oregon's complete voter registration list, a federal judge cites Bondi's extortion letter to Gov. Walz as support for denying the government a presumption of regularity

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
February 6, 2026 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
npr.org
A professional airplane enthusiast has been tracking the federally chartered deportation flights out of the Minneapolis airport as DHS sends immigration detainees to other states and, eventually, other countries. n.pr/4qlvIaa
Minneapolis now has daily deportation flights. One man has been documenting them
A professional airplane enthusiast has been tracking the federally chartered deportation flights out of the Minneapolis airport as DHS sends immigration detainees to other states and, eventually, other countries.
n.pr
February 6, 2026 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
clapifyoulikeme.favrd.social
I need someone to go pull this transcript IMMEDIATELY
E. The Sanctions Conference and the Court's Findings of Fact On August 22, 2025, the Court held a conference to discuss Mr. Feldman's conduct. It set out to understand how his citation errors came to be and to what extent he used Al assistance to generate his submissions to the Court. The Court began by placing Mr. Feldman under oath (Dkt. #223 ("Tr.") at 4-5) and then proceeded to ask him a series of questions. While Mr. Feldman did admit to relying on Al to a degree (see id. at 39-40, 68-69, 72), he failed to fully accept responsibility. His answers grew increasingly discursive and were often entirely unresponsive to the Court's inquiries. (See, e.g., id. at 17 ("The Court: Sir, you are not answering my question. Mr. Feldman: I'll get to that."); id. at 34 ("Sir, once again, I'm really just asking you to answer my questions[.]"); id. at 36 ("I keep asking you, and I'm not sure why you are refusing to answer me."); id. at 37 ("Sir, you are not answering my question. I'm not sure how many ways I can ask it."); id. at 42 ("But you are still not answering my questions, which is getting to the point of being frustrating.")). 15 Case 1:24-cv-09429-KPF Document 227 Filed 02/05/26 Page 16 of 33 Mr. Feldman struggled to make eye contact with the Court and described an approach to legal research that was redolent of Rube Goldberg. Leaving the conference without clear answers, the Court was left to draw its own conclusions, which it sets forth in the remainder of this section.
February 5, 2026 at 10:26 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Judge Reyes starts with a comparison: George Washington versus Kristi Noem.
[start quotation] MEMORANDUM OPINION On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: “America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions.”1 More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington’s vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take."[end quotation] Underneath is a screenshot of a tweet, which reads: " Secretary Kristi Noem @Sec_Noem I just met with the President. I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies. Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom-not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS. WE DON'T WANT THEM. NOT ONE. 6:52 PM Dec 1, 2025 13.2M Views
February 3, 2026 at 12:49 AM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
dbrauer.net
New York Times covers the Economic Siege of Minnesota’s ICE occupation, a deliberate administration strategy to punish an entire blue locality. We need more national coverage alerting the nation to what’s next for them. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/b... (gift link)
‘It’s Been Brutal’: Twin Cities Economy Suffers Under ICE Crackdown
www.nytimes.com
February 2, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
tiffanycli.bsky.social
Federal judge has ordered the release of Liam Ramos (the bunny hat boy) and his father. A brief and rather remarkable order. Clearly written to be shared widely, so please do. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Ultimately, Petitioners may, because of the arcane United States immigration system, return to their home country, involuntarily or by self-deportation. But that result should occur through a more orderly and humane policy than currently in place. Philadelphia, September 17, 1787: "Well, Dr. Franklin, what do we have?" "A republic, if you can keep it." With a judicial finger in the constitutional dike, It is so ORDERED. SIGNED this 31st day of February, 2026. 7um Jing FRED BIERY UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Credit: Bystander Matthew 19:14 John 11:35 There is also the photo of the boy from the viral stories included.
January 31, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
mayorofseattle.bsky.social
Today I announced an initial set of actions to protect city residents in the face of increased federal immigration enforcement activity. #thisisyourcity
January 29, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
zacariasm.bsky.social
Check out our latest episode of @thelatinonewsletter.org podcast 🎙️ with @nicolefoy.bsky.social on her reporting for @propublica.org
thelatinonewsletter.org The Latino Newsletter @thelatinonewsletter.org · 21d
Reporter @nicolefoy.bsky.social joins the Latino Newsletter Podcast to discuss her groundbreaking @propublica.org investigation that uncovered more than 170 U.S. citizens detained by #immigration — a number she describes as a "vast undercount"

Full episode: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
January 29, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Jim Hammerand
brucespringsteen.net
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM