Christopher Mitchell
@sportshotchris.bsky.social
Working on high-quality Internet access for all... Sports Shooter... Podcaster who listens to so. many. podcasts. ¯\_(ツ)/¯ "Demons and dreams make demands" - TD Mischke
Pinned
The State of State Preemption: Stalled – But Moving In More Competitive Direction | Welcome to Community Networks
Today, we unveil our updated list of the 16 states in the U.S. with preemption laws still in place that either prevent or restrict local municipalities from building and operating publicly-owned,…
buff.ly
The number of states with barriers or prohibitions against municipal broadband networks has now fallen to 16! Minnesota removed their barriers this year and my colleague Sean updated our post explaining what remains blocked.
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
NEW:
In 2024, Tierra Walker was sick and getting sicker. She was also pregnant.
She knew abortion was illegal in Texas, but thought there was an exception for women like her, whose health was at risk. Doctors told her there was no emergency.
Then she died.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
In 2024, Tierra Walker was sick and getting sicker. She was also pregnant.
She knew abortion was illegal in Texas, but thought there was an exception for women like her, whose health was at risk. Doctors told her there was no emergency.
Then she died.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
“Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas.
Walker is one of several women ProPublica found with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions.
www.propublica.org
November 19, 2025 at 11:08 AM
NEW:
In 2024, Tierra Walker was sick and getting sicker. She was also pregnant.
She knew abortion was illegal in Texas, but thought there was an exception for women like her, whose health was at risk. Doctors told her there was no emergency.
Then she died.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
In 2024, Tierra Walker was sick and getting sicker. She was also pregnant.
She knew abortion was illegal in Texas, but thought there was an exception for women like her, whose health was at risk. Doctors told her there was no emergency.
Then she died.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
Excited to talk again with @saschameinrath.bsky.social on Community Broadband Bits - we talk about the latest in satellite shenanigans (including frickin lasers) and what we can expect from the tech as well speed test issues and why science should matter in Internet access policy.
The Satellite Solution That Won’t Scale - Episode 666 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast | Welcome to Community Networks
Sascha Meinrath joins Chris to unpack how BEAD funding is drifting toward satellite solutions that can’t scale—and why misleading speed data, space congestion, and political pressure could derail real...
communitynetworks.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Excited to talk again with @saschameinrath.bsky.social on Community Broadband Bits - we talk about the latest in satellite shenanigans (including frickin lasers) and what we can expect from the tech as well speed test issues and why science should matter in Internet access policy.
An entire podcast with me and Hillari Lombard talking about why you may love Internet access but probably hate your Internet service provider ... podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
Why your internet sucks (with Christopher Mitchell)
Podcast Episode · Moderate Party · 10/27/2025 · 56m
podcasts.apple.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:54 PM
An entire podcast with me and Hillari Lombard talking about why you may love Internet access but probably hate your Internet service provider ... podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
Elon Musk is a genius.... at something. Mostly taking big risks that other people get to pay for and sometimes he gets caught.
fortune.com/2025/11/08/b...
fortune.com/2025/11/08/b...
Elon Musk’s Boring Company fined nearly $500K after it dumped tunnel drilling fluids into Las Vegas manholes—and then ‘feigned compliance’ and was caught doing it again | Fortune
A Nevada regulator accused Boring of dumping wastewater into a county sewage system, the latest in a series of violations against the tunneling startup.
fortune.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Elon Musk is a genius.... at something. Mostly taking big risks that other people get to pay for and sometimes he gets caught.
fortune.com/2025/11/08/b...
fortune.com/2025/11/08/b...
While Elon Musk demands $1 trillion in pay, Comcast and T-Mobile are helping King Trump to build a gold ballroom, and millions of Americans are going hungry thanks to the Trump shutdown, give some money to your local foodshelf. If you don't know where, start here maybe www.feedingamerica.org
U.S. Hunger Relief Organization | Feeding America
Feeding America is a nonprofit network of 200 food banks leading the fight against hunger in the United States. Learn how you can help end hunger in America.
www.feedingamerica.org
November 9, 2025 at 3:23 AM
While Elon Musk demands $1 trillion in pay, Comcast and T-Mobile are helping King Trump to build a gold ballroom, and millions of Americans are going hungry thanks to the Trump shutdown, give some money to your local foodshelf. If you don't know where, start here maybe www.feedingamerica.org
I've listened to several interviews now with Karine Jean-Pierre and all of them were somewhat interesting in her incoherence. But this was the best I've seen a host do with someone who claims to have something to say while refusing to say it. I cannot imagine wasting time on her book.
I Too Had a Disastrous Interview with Karine Jean-Pierre
open.substack.com/pub/mikepesc...
open.substack.com/pub/mikepesc...
I Too Had a Disastrous Interview with Karine Jean-Pierre
Last week, Karine Jean-Pierre, the Biden White House press secretary, released a book titled Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House Outside the Party Lines. With a book comes a book tour; may...
open.substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 12:10 PM
I've listened to several interviews now with Karine Jean-Pierre and all of them were somewhat interesting in her incoherence. But this was the best I've seen a host do with someone who claims to have something to say while refusing to say it. I cannot imagine wasting time on her book.
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
“They’ve got money for ICE and golden ballrooms but not for hungry families” is so easy it’s almost funny
Johnson: Snap benefits is a unique situation. I got a summary of the legal analysis…the contingency funds are not legally available to cover the benefits right now
October 27, 2025 at 4:41 PM
“They’ve got money for ICE and golden ballrooms but not for hungry families” is so easy it’s almost funny
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
I cannot tell you how many tech journalists at prominent media organizations do not understand this
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
October 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM
I cannot tell you how many tech journalists at prominent media organizations do not understand this
Imagine writing about electricity prices in a top newspaper and not mentioning the games big investor owned utilities play to screw their ratepayers. Shocking. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Electricity prices are climbing, but not for the reason you think
It’s not data centers or AI, it’s something else.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Imagine writing about electricity prices in a top newspaper and not mentioning the games big investor owned utilities play to screw their ratepayers. Shocking. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
Insightful story here by Route 50 that cites our own @sportshotchris.bsky.social on how federal policy failures and disinvestment keep Native and Black farmers offline but also includes examples of how community broadband is providing a way forward in solving the digital divide
Broadband’s broken promise: How federal failures and funding fights keep Native and Black farmers offline
Across the US, Indigenous and Black farmers face ‘digital redlining,’ a web of barriers to affordable broadband even as billions in federal dollars flow to internet providers. Rooted in high costs, po...
www.route-fifty.com
October 23, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Insightful story here by Route 50 that cites our own @sportshotchris.bsky.social on how federal policy failures and disinvestment keep Native and Black farmers offline but also includes examples of how community broadband is providing a way forward in solving the digital divide
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen...they promptly let the individual go."
The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.
A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.
A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
October 16, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen...they promptly let the individual go."
The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.
A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.
A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
On our latest podcast @mmasnick.bsky.social of @techdirt.com joins @sportshotchris.bsky.social to unpack the myths around Section 230, how reform efforts could backfire, and why protecting free speech requires more nuance than most policymakers are willing to give
Don’t Break the Internet - Episode 662 of the Community Broadband Bits Podcast | Community Broadband Bits | Episode 662
Mike Masnick of Techdirt joins us to unpack the myths around Section 230, how reform efforts could backfire, and why protecting free speech online requires more nuance than most policymakers are willi...
share.transistor.fm
October 13, 2025 at 8:20 PM
On our latest podcast @mmasnick.bsky.social of @techdirt.com joins @sportshotchris.bsky.social to unpack the myths around Section 230, how reform efforts could backfire, and why protecting free speech requires more nuance than most policymakers are willing to give
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
George was just trying to get to work.
ICE pepper-sprayed him, dragged him from his car, locked him in a detention center, and placed him on suicide watch. He even missed his young daughter’s birthday in the process.
This man is a veteran and American citizen. Don't look away.
ICE pepper-sprayed him, dragged him from his car, locked him in a detention center, and placed him on suicide watch. He even missed his young daughter’s birthday in the process.
This man is a veteran and American citizen. Don't look away.
"They put me on suicide watch and they put me in the cell, I'm naked, in like a hospital dress and just a concrete bed with like a mattress, like a thin mattress and, they leave the light on 24/7."
@timmiller.bsky.social talked to a veteran who ICE wrongly detained and brutalized
@timmiller.bsky.social talked to a veteran who ICE wrongly detained and brutalized
October 10, 2025 at 7:02 PM
George was just trying to get to work.
ICE pepper-sprayed him, dragged him from his car, locked him in a detention center, and placed him on suicide watch. He even missed his young daughter’s birthday in the process.
This man is a veteran and American citizen. Don't look away.
ICE pepper-sprayed him, dragged him from his car, locked him in a detention center, and placed him on suicide watch. He even missed his young daughter’s birthday in the process.
This man is a veteran and American citizen. Don't look away.
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
Ed has this exactly right. Watch this space. More mayhem coming.
"None — repeat none — of America’s fentanyl has been found to originate from Venezuela. Yet Trump and Pete Hegseth, his compulsively strutting “secretary of war”, insist that the country is fuelling America’s opioid epidemic." Me on Trump's wag the dog script. www.ft.com/content/5b3e...
Venezuela is Trump’s useful enemy
Despite the president’s claims, the South American country is nowhere close to being the US’s biggest drug supplier
www.ft.com
October 7, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Ed has this exactly right. Watch this space. More mayhem coming.
heh, well done Google AI. But seriously, of course Mr. Free Speech Warrior/Lock him up for bad speed Musk is building Starlink with Chinese funds. It would be surprising if he wasn't, frankly. www.propublica.org/article/elon...
October 7, 2025 at 12:12 PM
heh, well done Google AI. But seriously, of course Mr. Free Speech Warrior/Lock him up for bad speed Musk is building Starlink with Chinese funds. It would be surprising if he wasn't, frankly. www.propublica.org/article/elon...
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
I think we are going to see a lot of people radicalized by events in the coming weeks or months and the productive response won't be to sneer at them for not attaining political consciousness sooner
October 5, 2025 at 4:17 AM
I think we are going to see a lot of people radicalized by events in the coming weeks or months and the productive response won't be to sneer at them for not attaining political consciousness sooner
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
Opponents of this private equity takeover include consumer advocates like the Attorney General, state lawmakers, utility customers, environmental groups, large power users, and a judge who reviewed the terms of the transaction. And yet!
BREAKING: The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has voted to let BlackRock buy Allete, the company that runs Minnesota Power.
October 3, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Opponents of this private equity takeover include consumer advocates like the Attorney General, state lawmakers, utility customers, environmental groups, large power users, and a judge who reviewed the terms of the transaction. And yet!
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
This is the obvious absurdity of pulling ICEBlock. It is obviously legal, protected speech for anyone to say, in any forum, “I just witnessed some police activity at location X”. Indeed, people have been doing this regularly on social media since its inception.
"I think in a free country we should be able to post onto the internet, 'hey, there are masked agents on Broadway and Vine and not have the government or the tech oligarchs prevent us from doing that.' Shame on you, Tim Cook."
@radiofreetom.bsky.social joins @timmiller.bsky.social:
@radiofreetom.bsky.social joins @timmiller.bsky.social:
October 3, 2025 at 11:42 PM
This is the obvious absurdity of pulling ICEBlock. It is obviously legal, protected speech for anyone to say, in any forum, “I just witnessed some police activity at location X”. Indeed, people have been doing this regularly on social media since its inception.
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
Catch @sportshotchris.bsky.social on the, arguably, best episode of Connect This! ever as “Map Your Fiber” becomes the new outro. Wish Travis had spent more time talking about how USI (I) started mapping their fiber in GIS. #MapYourFiber #gis connectthisshow.com/2025/09/rece...
Secret Fiber Caps and Fiber Platforms | Episode 121 of the Connect This! Show – Connect This!
connectthisshow.com
October 3, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Catch @sportshotchris.bsky.social on the, arguably, best episode of Connect This! ever as “Map Your Fiber” becomes the new outro. Wish Travis had spent more time talking about how USI (I) started mapping their fiber in GIS. #MapYourFiber #gis connectthisshow.com/2025/09/rece...
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
"I think in a free country we should be able to post onto the internet, 'hey, there are masked agents on Broadway and Vine and not have the government or the tech oligarchs prevent us from doing that.' Shame on you, Tim Cook."
@radiofreetom.bsky.social joins @timmiller.bsky.social:
@radiofreetom.bsky.social joins @timmiller.bsky.social:
October 3, 2025 at 11:16 PM
"I think in a free country we should be able to post onto the internet, 'hey, there are masked agents on Broadway and Vine and not have the government or the tech oligarchs prevent us from doing that.' Shame on you, Tim Cook."
@radiofreetom.bsky.social joins @timmiller.bsky.social:
@radiofreetom.bsky.social joins @timmiller.bsky.social:
"Hakeem Jeffries is the kind of leader we need to combat the awful corruption of the Trump administration... wait.. what? He did what??"
www.axios.com/2025/09/28/e...
www.axios.com/2025/09/28/e...
Jeffries praises Eric Adams for "courageously" serving NYC after mayor ends campaign
The House Democratic leader said he will weigh in on the NYC mayoral race "well before" the start of early voting on Oct. 25.
www.axios.com
October 1, 2025 at 2:24 PM
"Hakeem Jeffries is the kind of leader we need to combat the awful corruption of the Trump administration... wait.. what? He did what??"
www.axios.com/2025/09/28/e...
www.axios.com/2025/09/28/e...
Some pretty cool solutions in dealing with the challenges of youth and smart phones... www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
Parents are bringing back the landline
Looking to steer kids away from screens and social media, more families are going analog.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 30, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Some pretty cool solutions in dealing with the challenges of youth and smart phones... www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
Fortune writes an entire story about Sinclair's effort to ban Kimmel "to protect communities" without making a SINGLE reference to Sinclair's long history of airing election fraud conspiracy theories and medical disinformation
Sinclair reveals that it asked ABC to create a CBS-like ombudsman while backing down on Jimmy Kimmel suspension
Sinclair said that removing Kimmel was free speech itself and it’s “inconsistent to champion free speech while demanding that broadcasters air specific content.”
www.yahoo.com
September 29, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Fortune writes an entire story about Sinclair's effort to ban Kimmel "to protect communities" without making a SINGLE reference to Sinclair's long history of airing election fraud conspiracy theories and medical disinformation
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
79. American citizen.
September 28, 2025 at 5:07 PM
79. American citizen.
Reposted by Christopher Mitchell
Private equity firms are looking to buy electric utilities for a simple reason: there’s money to be made, and potentially quite a lot of it, on the backs of captive utility customers apnews.com/article/big-...
Private equity sees profits in power utilities as electric bills rise and Big Tech seeks more energy
Private investment firms that are helping finance America’s artificial intelligence race and the huge buildout of energy-hungry data centers are getting interested in the local utilities that deliver ...
apnews.com
September 27, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Private equity firms are looking to buy electric utilities for a simple reason: there’s money to be made, and potentially quite a lot of it, on the backs of captive utility customers apnews.com/article/big-...