Leo Burnett
cascobay.bsky.social
Leo Burnett
@cascobay.bsky.social
civic tech, Maine politics, decolonial history, tech privacy, housing justice.

wabanaki land - machigonne aka portland ME
Ask anyone in Maine what Angus King has done for them through his decades of elected leadership and you'd struggle to get an answer. This man has coasted on a reputation of being "independent" for years, despite the fact that he's in total lockstep with the corporate center of both parties.
November 10, 2025 at 3:58 PM
King repeatedly makes sweeping speeches about defeating fascism — then votes to confirm Trump judges and to undermine what leverage Dems do have. The speeches get a headline from the Press Herald while King's actions in caving to authoritarians is distorted into some sort of brave serious leadership
November 10, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Two years ago, I wrote about Kings decision to run for re-election at the age of 79 - and about the continued media deference to his moderate, pro-establishment politics. @mainemorningstar.com

mainemorningstar.com/2023/11/02/s...
Sen. King should be challenged for failing to represent interests of young Mainers • Maine Morning Star
When I was younger, I loved any story about kids teaming up and solving a big problem together. There was this powerful sense of justice to it all.  People don’t take kids seriously. On a societal lev...
mainemorningstar.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:54 PM
I do. But that’s an irrelevant question. The Israel lobby is one of the most prolific spenders in US election history - it’s not just one PAC but a network of PACs and individual donors. And unlike Platner’s parents, those donations + relationships expect support for a genocidal foreign government.
November 7, 2025 at 1:25 PM
I'm sure the AIPAC donations she's almost certainly going to accept will speak for themselves
November 6, 2025 at 7:38 PM
"We have allowed tech companies to mediate the most basic functions of our lives, from cooking to travel to sleep. The AWS and ES outage is a stark reminder that we should do what we can to limit the control these tech companies have over our lives."

www.404media.co/the-aws-outa...
The AWS Outage Bricked People’s $2,700 Smartbeds
When Amazon Web Services went offline, people lost control of their cloud-connected smart beds, getting stuck in reclined positions or roasting with the heat turned all the way up.
www.404media.co
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
I recommend checking out the Data Vampires series from Tech Won't Save Us, to start: www.techwontsave.us/data-vampires
Data Vampires - Tech Won’t Save Us
www.techwontsave.us
October 22, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Wow this one is so good. They made a book at some point with all these prints in it.
October 8, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Candidates who are either corny themselves or let their staffers have a little fun are good. You can't find this analysis anywhere else.
August 19, 2025 at 5:29 PM
thanks for sharing. i'm a fan of their manifesto - especially the writing about the problem. we tend to see a lot of "problem with big gov IT projects" framed in purely dollars and efficiencies and time - not in the actual tangibles of missed appointments, evictions, no money for food, etc.
August 14, 2025 at 3:49 PM
The state of Maine desperately needs a data privacy bill of rights and policy governing AI use in government.

Tech is already spending big; the comprehensive data privacy bill last session was the top recipient of lobbying money @mainemorningstar.com

mainemorningstar.com/2025/07/17/w...
Who were the biggest spenders on lobbying the 2025 Maine Legislature? • Maine Morning Star
While the Maine Legislature pushed off its decision on whether to adopt a comprehensive data privacy law until next year, the proposal to make regulations in Maine among the strictest in the country w...
mainemorningstar.com
July 30, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Think about it: if an officer has a body camera on but, say, obstructs the view of the camera: what other evidence exists of an interaction? Could the officer say "I see a weapon" or "suspect draws weapon" — regardless of whether they actually see a weapon? this gets put in the report.
July 30, 2025 at 3:33 PM
The AI models, which are built in ways that are opaque and discriminatory, could be making assumptions or inaccurately reporting things.

Officers could be speaking and narrating an event as it's happening in ways that aren't truthful - just to have the report reflect the reality they want reported
July 30, 2025 at 3:33 PM