DAGR Weekly Reader W4-JUL
The “What We Democrats Need More Of” edition
Senator Elissa Slotkin with Stephen Colbert
An extended interview on politics, policies, elections and what Democrats need to do to win. Included here are the gerrymander effort in Texas, and Slotkin’s views as a former CIA analyst on the ‘deep state’ theories tossed around. It’s a good one, no joke!
The Late Show, YouTube, 16-min video, Jul 31, 2025
Texas State Representative James Talarico: The Speech We Needed
For a local event, the crowd of some 3000 was impressive. And impressed. Talarico is one of those new Dem politicians that preaches a positive message about people-supportive policies. He gives with no quarter for the forces of darkness that have grabbed the levers of control in the US.
You Tube, 12-min video, Jul 30, 2025
Forget Berlin and Paris — Athens Is Leading Europe’s Digital Shift
Konstantinos Komaitis, digital policy expert and a special advisor to the Permanent Mission of Greece to the UN in Geneva on internet governance issues, points to Greece’s gov.gr as a model of the people-facing online service that Europe is trying to develop.
Konstantinos Komaitis, TechPolicyPress, Jul 29, 2025
The West’s Data Centers Suck (water and power)
From simple searches to chatGPT, the big digital buildup threatens the grid and water supplies. Taken together with what we don’t know about risks, this is another reason to regulate AI before it regulates us. If it hasn’t already.
Jonathan Thompson, High Country News, Jul 28, 2025
Q&A: Paul Taylor on the Rural Hospital Crisis and Medicare Advantage
Much noise about rural hospitals closing as a result of Trump’s Big Ugly Bill passing into law. Why? It’s not that complicated. After 34 years at the helm, the CEO of Ozarks Community Hospital knows just how catastrophic Medicare Advantage plans have been to rural hospitals. Now he’s calling for change.
Madeline de Figueiredo, The Daily Yonder, Jul 25, 2025
And ICYMI ….
The Group Behind Project 2025 Has a Plan to Crush the Pro-Palestinian Movement
Even before President Trump was re-elected, the Heritage Foundation, best known for Project 2025, set out to destroy pro-Palestinian activism in the United States. It was one to nip in the bud ... It seems a little more 'impactful' than a simple Epstein distraction effort … but the news coverage got right by us two months ago! Note: This is not about US foreign policy, but about the effort to muzzle free speech in the US, to advance an authoritarian take-over.
The New York Times, May 18, 2025 Gift Link