Search Results

Texas Commissioner of Agriculature, Sid Miller. Bio here Our ballsy Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Sid Miller. issued a press release urging the Governor to call a Special Session stating: "Is Governor Abbott genuinely committed to slowing this unchecked expansion, or is he sending a signal to data center developers, their investors, and campaign contributors that they still have a window to accelerate projects so they can be grandfathered in before the Legislature has an opportunity to act?" Please also note at the bottom of the full release page, Miller's urgent concerns about the screw worm. We hope the feds and the Governor are listening. Now, of the millions of words about AI, we turn to independent writer, Charles Hugh Smith's whose own work was -- legally -- expropriated by AI. Smith, so simply makes the case for our claim that War and AI are not free in, "Without Subsidies, AI is Unaffordable." So, what do we regular folks do? We get together and we examine the facts. Meanwhile, might the ballsy Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller be going independent? We hope to find out. That's what our July 22 Real Data Center Town Hall is about. Reserve seat now as seating is limited: RSVP

Has Texas Ag Commissioner, Sid Miller gone independent? LIV thinks so. Two days ago, our ballsy Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller, issued a press release urging the Governor to call a Special Session, "Is Governor Abbott genuinely committed to slowing this unchecked expansion, or is he sending a signal to data center developers, their investors, and campaign contributors that they still have a window to accelerate projects so they can be grandfathered in before the Legislature has an opportunity to act?" Of the millions of words about AI, we turn to independent writer, Charles Hugh Smith's whose own work was -- legally -- expropriated by AI. Smith, so simply makes the case for our claim that War and AI are not free in, "Without Subsidies, AI is Unaffordable." The agenda for the Real Town Hall will soon appear on this page. RSVP to reserve a seat now. So, what do we regular folks do? We get together and we examine the facts. That's what our July 22 Real Data Center Town Hall is about. Reserve seat now as seating is limited: RSVP We have local, state, national and international independent news facts to share below. Read, share, become a member of and get active in LIV. LIV. Team LOCAL: Bastrop residents! Please attend the next Bastrop County Commissioners Court meeting on Monday, July 13 at 9 am. On the agenda is a discussion (no action to be taken) of the County's policies for tax abatements. Also, there is Item 11 on the appointment of a steering committee that will work with the newly hired legal/lobbying powerhouse (Holland & Knight) to address "regulatory authority," by the County. What they do will be front and center at the July 22 Real Town Hall. We will have a Sunday afternoon meeting on Zoom to discuss these items. If you're interested in joining us contact us at contact@livtx.org or call 512.360-8754. Texas: Harvey Kronberg (Quorum Report), at 3:16 tells us why Secretary of State, Jane Nelson is not leaving. She is unwilling to be replaced by Gov. Abbott's pick, election denier Nate Schaltzine. Thanks Jane. National: Politico, July 8, 2026: On the current health crisis of former Senate Majority Leader: Mitch McConnell’s absence is throwing Trump’s Pentagon budget boost in doubt. " "McConnell — who chairs the Senate Appropriations panel that controls Pentagon spending — has been a powerful critic of the administration’s approach to securing a $1.5 trillion boost for the military. His support will be key in moving any funding plan forward, and his absence could stall or kill those hopes." Stay tuned for this big news! International: Watch this extraordinary show or read the transcript here. Prof. John Mearsheimer on the Glenn Diesen show, July 3, 2026: There is no "truth" in war, just gamesmanship on both sides. But, are we done yet, with fake war news by the NY Times? The Times recently reported 150,000 Ukrainian deaths since 2022. Mearsheimer explains how the horrific body count is likely closer to 1 million. The entry of some NATO countries into the Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil are now dangerous to Europe. Let's walk this back and get a real Pentagon audit. Can we turn our attention to the most important issue in Texas and the world? How to grow healthy food and to protect our water and land? Hope to see you at this annual event -- LIV is always an exhibitor. Will you join us August 4-5 in San Marcos at Texas State University for the Southern Family Farmers & Food Systems Conference? Check out the Speakers. Volunteer opportunities at our booth.

Four years ago a YouTube guy caught Carlson fishing in Central Park, legally. So, you may have caught the announcement by Tucker Carlson that he has left the Republican Party and is pledging his support for a new independent party. No, I don't think he's running for President, but someone might be. Who knows. Some otherwise smart people in independent media are kicking sand on the idea of a new independent party and the so-called "spoiler effect" of third parties. This piece with Krystal Ball on Breaking Points who acts like she does have a crystal ball is blatant political bias. High off NYC Mayor Zoran Mamdani and DSA's wins in New York last week, Ball was not her usual bright self, scoffing about a third party getting 10-20% of the vote and calling it a "spoiler." That's one helluva a spoiler effect, ya think?! No one in the world that we know of thinks starting a new party can win elections...yet, unless there is a tectonic shift in American politics the likes of which haven 't been seen since Abe Lincoln. It has happened, folks, and it was one of America's most tumultuous times. It doesn't take a genius to realize that we are now in a time of tumult and two-party systemic failure. Ironically, the rise of Mamdani and DSA is a tectonic shift in NYC politics. But, that's OK so long as you stay inside the Democratic Party. (That's why we used to call DSA the "democrat's socialists.") Anyway, I'm guessing that Krystal and other naysayers have not yet read Lee Drutman's book, published in 2019, for crying out loud, "Breaking the Two-Party Doom-Loop." And, for another crying out loud, Drutman is a self-identified Democrat who cherishes democracy first. He also is a leading academic voice for a full break with two-party politics. If the libertarian Republicans are breaking out of the GOP, we applaud them and urge them to help bust down the door of the two-party monopoly. Let's just hope, whatever they do, it is in service of all us independents who may not find them exactly our cup of political tea. Drutman argues there's room in American politics for five parties. Might that be because he noticed that 45% of American voters call ourselves independents! See Ballot Access News' Rich Winger's review of the book on the LIV blog, get you a copy and become a member of LIV.

July 4th is the 250th birthday of the United States of America. We'll talk about how independents can celebrate it at this Monday night's meeting with Mike Collier, independent candidate for Lt. Governor.. LIV meets every Monday night at 8 pm online: RSVP now Our June 29th meeting with special guest, Mike Collier, will focus on his court battle on petition obstacles to place his name on the November ballot. Mike is running as an independent for Lt. Governor, arguably the most powerful seat in Texas Government. In this discussion, we will make the connections between fair ballot access for independents and what has emerged as a, if not THE, top issue in the Texas midterm election -- AI data centers. Topics include: • Mike Collier's legal battle from the man himself on behalf of distinguished plaintiffs. • How to get a statewide moratorium on data centers. • Which candidates are taking AI/Data center donations? •. Why the "security establishment" was given invited testimony at last week's hearing on water and data centers held by the Natural Resources Committee. To prepare for this meeting: Please read LIV's recent posts HERE and HERE. If you signed up with us for a "real" town hall at a recent EdgeConneX open house sponsored by Bastrop County, you have not been put on our general email list. IF you want to be, please sign in at LIVTX.org. SAVE THE DATE for a real Town Hall tentatively scheduled for Wed., July 22 at 6:30 pm, Location TBA. We will keep you informed. If you attended at least one of the three EdgeConneX sessions, please use the form posted on our RSVP page to share your experience. If you learned something, we want to know! Thank you.

Mike Collier on WFAA TV about his lawsuit to open up Texas ballot access for independent candidates. Join us on Monday night to meet him: RSVP here We were there on the filing deadline yesterday, June 25, when Mike Collier filed petitions to get on the ballot as an independent for Lt. Governor to run against Dan Patrick. On Monday night, we're also going to make the connection between Mike's legal challenge to Texas' draconian petition rules and data centers. This will explain how issues become top issues in. Texas. You can still help Mike by going to the bottom of this page, to sign his Petition to Expand Voter Choice. We're also thrilled to announce that :Liz "Sumter" Gadjos has been certified for the ballot to run as an Independent for Hays County Judge! We have known Liz for well over a decade as one of us dedicated to water, land and open government. She's already making waves, pun intended. See Liz2026.com and Liz in the San Marcos Record. Data Center Update! The Tuesday, June 23 hearing of the Texas House Natural Resource Committee has already made the rush for data centers a top concern in the midterm election in November. Watch the committee members whale on the data center developers at Tuesday's hearing. Did they show the same concerns over the last two sessions? Now, we need to ask every member of the House and Senate where they stand on urging the Governor to call a special session. If they won't do that, that tells us how really concerned they are. Texas has legislative sessions every other odd year. This "data center dance" cannot wait until the next regular session in 2027. Only the Governor can call a special sess ion. We need one to get everyone on record about reining in an industry galloping across Texas without regulatory controls to protect our grid, our water and our wallets. Abatements for data centers (not to mention Elon Musk's SpaceX) are all kind of Texas wrong! Special note to Bastropians: We are working to ensure a town hall that our local Bastrop Commissioners Court failed last week to do with three-in-a-row meetings (dog and pony shows) held by data center developer, EdgeConneX. If you attended one of the three EdgeConneX sessions, please use the form posted on our RSVP page for this meeting to share your experience. If you learned something, we want to know! Also, please take a moment to become a dues-paying member of LIV and to like us on Facebook.

The good news in the Bastrop big tech mess is we have met Maria Victoria Bowen of Stony Point, where 100 families live right next to EdgeConneX's first data center...with 6 more to come, so far as we know! It's no coincidence that Mike Collier filed suit to challenge the ballot access petition laws that require 81,000 signatures from voters who didn't vote in the primary....in 30 days, mind you. Our own Linda Curtis has joined a prestigious group of former officials as a plaintiff. The filing deadline is June 25. Go Mike!!! Bastrop Dog and Pony Shows So far as we're concerned, the foremost duty of elected officials is to inform their constituents.The entire Bastrop Commissioners Court has failed from day one when EdgeConneX data center developers came to town well over two. years ago, and received a 75%, 10-year property tax abatement that was rushed through in a shroud of darkness. Three open houses -- erroneously called "town halls" -- were held last week by EdgeConneX, sanctioned by the entire all Republican Bastrop Commissioners Court and we're still in the dark as. And, almost at the very same time the all-Democrat Austin City Council decided, in secrecy, the fossil fuel future of Austin. See David Weinberg's article in the Austin Free Press. What are good citizens -- from all corners on the political spectrum -- to do? Work with the growing independent movement to organize, and learn from those people and officials who are getting things done and demand open government. We will be at the Bastrop Commissioners Court tomorrow -- Monday June 22 at 9 am -- to remind them of their duty. IMPORTANT TUESDAY, June 23, 10 am, the Texas House Natural Resources Committee Meets. They will discuss water and data centers. We hope to see you there! Note: You can also watch from and submit testimony from home. Please read SAWDF's report to prepare for Tuesday (June 23) Texas House Natural Resource Committee Hearing on data centers and water. Additions! These are the written public comments offered by Linda Curtis to the Bastrop Commissioners Court on June 22, 2026. This is video of six speakers on June 22 at Bastrop Commissioners Court. We have asked the Commissioners to put on a real town hall and will be having out own in early July with other groups. Stay tuned! This is the Hill County Proclamation everyone is watching as it sets the standards for rural pushback. Quorum Report, June 22, As data centers come under more scrutiny in Texas, lobby prepares for vigorous session and new clients Texas Living Waters Recommendations for Balancing the Water Needs of Data Centers and Large Water Users in Texas with the State’s Vision for Long-Term Water Security

Are Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick dancing with bots or do they really care about Texans, our land, our water and our democracy -- the right to public information? Bastrop County is one of several "ground zero" Texas communities suffering from an invasion by AI data centers and industrial projects that have -- so far -- refused to refrain from tax refunds and abatements, not to mention following the spirit and intent of open government laws. (More soon on this latter topic.) As you may know, LIV just got run over by Elon Musk lobbyists' Mack Trucks when the oh-too-willing Bastrop Commissioners Court pulled the trigger on sponsoring SpaceX for state subsidies. No one we know believes SpaceX or Musk needs a subsidy unless they live on Planet Mars. On Wednesday, June 10th, Governor Greg Abbott's big announcement calling for "sweeping data center regulation, including eliminating sales tax exemptions" (Texas Tribune) for the industry, signals he's hearing it from Texans. This is especially true for rural Texans who feel as helpless as the State keeps their counties. Governor Abbott has at least tasked the PUCT (Public Utility Commission of Texas) and ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) to require data centers to ensure residential taxpayers aren’t burdened by electric infrastructure costs and that data center interconnections will result in reduced residential electric bills. He directs them to act on that directive within their existing authority by July 27, and then tell him what they need in the 2027 legislative session to finish the job. The only problem is this. The Governor wants to wait for the 2027 legislative session for any real reforms, so he's not hearing it loudly enough...yet. If we wait until 2027, how many hundreds of data centers will be grandfathered in, while all the lobbyists figure out how to thwart those reforms for others waiting in the wings? Texas already has 405 existing data centers and another 442 planned or underway as of late 2025 according to Axios.com. The Governor should call an Emergency Special Session We urge you to watch this 21-minute PBS mini-documentary on Stargate, a massive AI supercluster, that gave zero notice to residents of Abilene before they started turning dirt. Governor Abbott is the only one with the power to call a special session, That said, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wields a great deal of power to force the Governor to call a special session. Let us not forget the no less than three special sessions on the so-called "bathroom bills" Patrick insisted were an “emergency.” If you live in Central Texas, especially Bastrop and Travis Counties, please consider attending these events with data center developer EdgeConneX. Please note that we do not expect a true “town hall,” but rather an open house with EdgeConneX employees and “subject matter experts” answering questions at stations of tables. EdgeConneX Data Center Open Houses (see the flier here) Tuesday, June 16, 6 to 8 pm, Elgin, North Bastrop County Community Annex 702 Bull Run Wednesday, June 17, 6 to 8 pm, Smithville,, Smithville Recreation Center 106 Royston Thursday, June 18, 6 to 8 pm, Bastrop County Community Center 15 American Legion Drive Tentatively, the most affected area, Cedar Creek, does not yet have a meeting planned. We believe this is in progress, but stay tuned. Ask your own questions, or refer to the questions we will provide at our Monday night Zoom meeting on June 15. RSVP HERE. If you see no one recording your interaction at a table, do so on your phone. Please share this information with us or reach out to us the day following the meeting at contact@livtx.org or 512.360.8754. Again, our Monday Zoom Meeting will focus on preparing for these meetings. RSVP HERE.

Thanks to former State Rep. Glenn Rogers for sending this great opinion article, "Reform Ballot Access," Glenn Rogers, May 31, 2026, Dallas Morning News (DallasNews.com) Our discussion on data centers and more is rescheduled for NEXT Monday, June 15. We are way busy right now gathering signatures for independent candidates with filing deadline on June 25. If you can help, give us a contact us @512.360-8784 and/or contact@livtx.org. News! Bastrop County: Three back-to-back meetings held by Bastrop County with EdgeConneX data center developers are scheduled for the 16th, 17th and 18th. See flier HERE. Note: Though this flier uses the words "Town Hall," we believe they are really more like open houses with company representatives at tables to answer your questions. Watch your LIV email for more information soon! Message to Texas Politicians: Dosey Doe your data center partners at your own political risk. Matagorda County: Yup, you heard that right. Texas Agriculture Commissioner and Republican Sid Miller and the Democratic nominee for Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Clayton Tucker, are speaking together at the Matagorda Fairgrounds on June 11, 6:30 to 8:30 pm about data center impacts. The event is hosted by the group Matagorda County Against Data Centers. See Quorum Report HERE. mentioning Sid Miller's participation. SpaceX Subsidies: Last week, we neglected to share with you the Austin American-Statesman opinion-editorial on Space X subsides. The paper came our squarely against "corporate welfare," in their opinion editorial "Texas incentives weren't meant for companies like SpaceX" Our friends in the Texas Forward Party are organizing petition events for Mike Collier's independent bid for Lt. Governor. Lots more information HERE. If you want to help out in your community and see nothing organized, reach out to us at LIV!

On May 25, Memorial Day, Pope Leo XIV broke with tradition speaking to the Vatican to urge a worldwide pause on AI. He brought Anthropic, Chris Olaf. Incredible. As the world is watching AI, trying to decide whether it will serve or wreck humanity, we the people need to get a handle on reality. We all can presume that some elements of AI were rushed out of the gate. As we're out petitioning, young people who are using AI, are expressing fears about their future. Thank god, on Memorial Day, Pope Leo XIV broke with tradition speaking directly at the Vatican and as reported in the Vatican News: “Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together." Those were opening words of his first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence," 265-pages summarized HERE. If that wasn't dazzling enough for you, Chris Olah, Anthropic's cofounder was there at the Pope's invitation and spoke, See Olah's talk HERE . KXAN-TV (Austin) May 26, 2026 • Linda Curtis speaks for LIV The next day, May 26, not coincidentally Runoff Election Day and the day after Memorial Day, the Bastrop Commissioner's Court unanimously rammed through the “nomination” of Elon Musk's SpaceX for a $3.75 million state sales tax refund through the Texas Enterprise Zone Program. Our biggest concern because we are one world: The Bastrop County SpaceX decision has signaled to industry the world over that Bastrop is open for "bidness," for corporate high rollers seeking tax and regulatory breaks from the County and state of Texas. Read our written comments the Court ignored HERE. and, also ignored by the court our Citizen Guide HERE. Get ready for the next rounds coming on data centers from EdgeConneX with events organized by Bastrop County on June 16, 17 and 18th. We'll share more on our Monday night online meeting about public information requests due to us on June 3. The Brave and Wonderful Hill County Sued by a Data Center Hill County Courthouse, built in 1890 is a Texas Historic Landmark. Hill County Commissioners Court (county seat, Hillsboro) has been sued by a data center for putting a yearlong pause (moratorium) on data center and power plant construction in unincorporated areas, citing an influx of as many as eight data centers planned there, many of which could have their own power plants. The Court’s vote was 3-2. “I’m not trying to break the law, I’m not trying to thumb my nose at the governor or the Legislature, but my constituents, my people, are literally begging for help right now, and I have no other mechanism but this,” County Judge Shane Brassell, a Republican who leads the commission and voted for the ban, said in an interview Thursday. We applaud this Texas-style statesman ---they’re so hard to find these days! We look forward to potential relief from the courts! See Data center developer files lawsuit over ‘illegal’ moratorium in Hill County, Texas We'll stop here for now. See ya Monday night!

For you young'uns who may not know who Will Rogers was, you need to. His quips come in handy to know that we haven't all of a sudden gotten stupid. Human beings, rich or poor, have never been even close to perfect. That is true of the Bastrop County Commissioners Court, an all-Republican Court. They appear not to have noticed Texas GOP Platform 78, as they plan to subsidize Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), controlled by the richest man on planet Earth. Local Republican activist, Carol Spencer, has attempted to remind us in her blog post, Enterprise Zone Tax Breaks? No!: "No Corporate Welfare: We encourage government to divest its ownership of all businesses that should be run in the private sector. We oppose all bailouts of and subsidies to domestic and foreign government entities, states, and for all businesses, public and private. We agree with the Texas Constitution’s requirement for fair and uniform taxation and oppose special treatment or tax breaks for favored industries or companies. We call for repeal or sunset of existing subsidy or special-interest tax exemptions, including the Special Events Trust Fund program, the Texas Enterprise Fund, Moving Image Industry Incentive Program, and lab-grown meat incentives, and now request repeal of Chapter 403.601 of the Texas Tax Code. […] (Plank 78, 2024 Texas GOP Platform, * [LIV note: The highly controversial Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) is not part of the Texas “Enterprise Zone Program” that is the subject of Tuesday’s hearing --- TEF is a slush fund run by the Governor to make cash grants to companies threatening to leave the state. Elon Musk has played that game before, so we would not be surprised if he tries to double-dip again.] LIV will provide citizen comments to the SpaceX Subsidies proposed by the Bastrop Commissioners Court this coming Tuesday, May 26. The meeting starts at 9 am, with the hearing at 9:30 am. We will meet on Monday @8 pm on Zoom to prepare citizen comments for the hearing. RSVP here to join us. See the items we've parked there for you to review before the meeting. We also hope the Texas Democratic Party improves their anti-corporate welfare plank at their convention this year. Stupidity got us into this mess, but brains and especially heart might get us out. Will Rogers, roping in a prophetic joke!

Please share this video from our Facebook page HERE. You can also read the article LIV Board Member, Debbie Russell, wrote about this pick in Democratic primary runoff: Why is Austin Dems’ Echo Chamber Determined to Stop Susanna Ledesma-Woody? Call, text or visit your friends in any of these Austin zips and neighborhoods. Most voters are in Precinct 4. They can vote for Susanna if they voted in the Democratic Primary in March or did not vote in the primary. Description of Susanna's District, Travis County Commissioners Precinct 4 South Lamar, Bouldin Creek, Travis Heights, Garrison Park, Manchaca, Onion Creek, Creedmoor, Bluff Springs, Dittmar-Slaughter, Dove Springs, Franklin Park, Riverside, Montopolis, Del Valle, Mustang Ridge, Garfield, Webberville, Johnston Terrace, Govalle, East Cesar Chavez, Holly, Rainey Street, Travis Heights, 78704, 78702, 78741, 78745, 78748, 78744, 78747, 78719, 78617, 78742

As we head into Memorial Day to honor all fallen soldiers in all wars, some political leaders need know Texans want no kings of any party. The State of Texas is rich with voters of all stripes who are fed up with corporate trough-feeding via tax incentives and how water and energy is gamed to subsidize the richest people and corporations in the world. LIV is taking on Elon Musk's Space X tax incentives at the Bastrop Commissioners Court public hearing on Tuesday, May 26 at 9 am. AND we support Susanna Ledesma-Woody in the Democratic runoff on Tuesday for Travis County Commissioner, Precinct 4 (SE Travis County). Share this LIV Media Advisory however you can: Bastrop County Calls Meeting on Election Day to Hand Tax Incentives to the World's Richest Man The Democratic Party political "boss" in Central Texas, now (again) is Austin Mayor, Kirk Watson. He is maneuvering to stop Susanna Ledesma-Woody from winning the Democratic runoff on Tuesday for Travis County Commissioner Precinct 4. If you're on Facebook, please like and share our video endorsement of Susanna HERE. Then reach Stephen, Susanna's campaign assistant for how you can help @512.814.5210. AND, reach your friends who you think likely live in the district -- see the list HERE. * Watson is also the former State Senator for Bastrop County, who sat on his hands during the Vista Ridge "San Antone Hose," water grab.