iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Corporations can spend unlimited cash electing their straw men, and the Supreme Court says you don't get to know who's buying whom. The Transparent Election Initiative thinks The People can overrule that. I agree. jimhightower.substack.com/p/montana-pr...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 25/09/2026

I got together with TavisSmiley to debunk Ken Paxton's popularity, among many, many other topics! jimhightower.substack.com/p/friday-sig...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 24/09/2026

Trump's EPA says communities don't need to be notified about a data center moving in, and there's no public comment needed on air pollution. You'd learn about it from the bulldozers. jimhightower.substack.com/p/the-people... #DataCenters #EPA

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 22/09/2026

Trump says Democrats want to blow up Mount Rushmore. Tim Scott says they want to rip our hearts out. The GOP is reviving McCarthyism. Full commentary: jimhightower.substack.com/p/gop-leader...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 18/09/2026

Forty (!) years ago this week, our friends at @farmaid.org organized the first United Farmer & Rancher Congress, bringing together nearly 2000 delegates from across the country to solve the farm crisis, since the government wasn't interested in supporting the workaday people that feed this country.

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 17/09/2026

They studied the harm, then sealed the study. Corporate data centers are hiding safety studies behind NDAs while cutting deals with local officials nationwide. Louisiana got a "no harm" verdict they weren't allowed to read. jimhightower.substack.com/p/corporate-... #BigTech #DataCenters

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 16/09/2026

Tune in today or listen on the podcast!

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 15/09/2026

Abbott courted AI billionaires with taxpayer subsidies and no local oversight. Now rural Texas hates him for it, and when he ordered data centers to report water use, 70% ignored him outright. Full story: jimhightower.substack.com/p/gregs-foll... @momsagabbott.bsky.social

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 11/09/2026

Trump's FCC is trying to stop you from seeing this.

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 10/09/2026

Trump told towns fighting AI data centers they "want to end up backwards and poor," and says they should "let data reign." Reign, like kings, with Musk and Bezos on the throne. People of every political stripe are fighting back. jimhightower.substack.com/p/the-presid...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 08/09/2026

Musk and Thiel have decided they're better than you. To these plutocrats, government exists to protect their pile from the Common Good. We've beaten this arrogance before and we can again. Full commentary: jimhightower.substack.com/p/billionair... #Oligarchy

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 04/09/2026

Big Tech is promising your town jobs, tax revenue, and a shiny future. What they're not mentioning: your water bill, your electric bill, and what happens after the construction crews leave. Part 2 of our plain-English AI series is up. What's really going on with the data center boom?

jimhightower.substack.com

Friday Signpost: Data Centers, Explained: What They Are and What They're Costing Your Community (Part 2)

Data centers aren’t new—they’ve been around for decades. The current building frenzy is something else entirely, though. Here’s what’s what.

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 03/09/2026

Gates & Murdoch are playing cowboy on 300,000-acre ranches they can't run. Biggest landowners now hold 42M acres, up from 27M in 15 years, and your taxes subsidize it while families get locked out. jimhightower.substack.com/p/billionair...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 01/09/2026

A Silicon Valley billionaire is quietly writing the laws that make homelessness a crime. Joe Lonsdale's think tank ships bills to statehouses: sleep outside, face a $5,000 fine or jail. 16 states and Trump have signed on. @homelesslaw.bsky.social jimhightower.substack.com/p/whos-behin...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 31/08/2026

DALLAS! TUESDAY 9/1! Rarely do I get to share billing with a goat, but Sweetpea is special: she's part of @claytontuckertx.com's campaign, and we're raising money together for him at this event in Dallas. secure.actblue.com/donate/rodeo...

A flyer for an event with Jim Hightower, Clayton Tucker and Sweetpea the Goat.

Join Former TX Ag Commissioner Jim Hightower
Live in Dallas!
- For an evening with -
CLAYTON TUCKER
for AG COMMISSIONER
FOOD • WATER • LAND
& SWEET PEA THE GOAT!
Tuesday, Sept. Ist
5:00 PM
Hosts
Nancy & Rod Sanders, Carol Taylor, Carry Potts, Hannah Cutshall, Nancy Breitfeller, Yasmin Simon and more for a fun and informative evening discussion about winning the Texas Ag race this November!
Address available upon RSVP
ClaytonTuckerTX.com/AgRanch

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 28/08/2026

Every week there's a new headline about AI changing everything. But what actually IS it? Not the hype, not the panic -- the real explanation, in plain English. Spoiler: it's a lot less magic than they're selling you. jimhightower.substack.com/p/friday-sig...

jimhightower.substack.com

Friday Signpost: They're Calling AI a “Revolution.” Here's What's Actually Going On. (Part 1)

The first in a two-part series explaining, in plain English, what artificial intelligence is and why it’s everywhere right now.

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 27/08/2026

I don't hate poor people. Do you? So why are our poverty policies so hateful? The powerful rig the rules, then blame the folks they robbed. Read the whole thing: jimhightower.substack.com/p/i-dont-hat... Take action with @repairers.bsky.social!

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 25/08/2026

Good news: empty schools are becoming affordable homes for priced-out teachers. San Diego, Austin & South Miami are turning vacant classrooms into family apartments and cutting rents by half. @stateinnovation.org Full commentary: jimhightower.substack.com/p/not-all-pr... #AffordableHousing

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 20/08/2026

The Treasury Secretary says the rich-poor gap is "over." His proof? A billionaire got sick of hearing about it, so he decreed it dead. You'll know it's over when your paycheck covers your bills. Full commentary: jimhightower.substack.com/p/why-is-tru...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 18/08/2026

Musk and Bezos want to pave your farmland to build robots that replace you. Thousands of billionaire-backed data centers, quietly approved, draining our water and power grid. They call it progress. I call it feudalism. jimhightower.substack.com/p/big-tech-i... #BigTech #DataCenters

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 13/08/2026

Austin spent decades branding itself "weird" — then priced out the artists who made it that way. Neon artist Todd Sanders, 30 years in business, just got squeezed 80 miles out of town by developer-friendly tax hikes. jimhightower.substack.com/p/moneyed-po...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 11/08/2026

Missouri GOP tried to use the initiative process to kill the initiative process. Voters weren't fooled: 80% rejected the scheme. 15 more states are pushing similar bans. This is the playbook now. @fairnessproject.bsky.social @piperformissouri.bsky.social jimhightower.substack.com/p/voters-reb...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 06/08/2026

CEO pulling $23M/year needed corporate money to cover a $492 home generator repair. $600M in exec perks uncovered last year — free tickets, booze "for research," you name it. Full commentary: jimhightower.substack.com/p/corporate-... #CEOPay #EatTheRich

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 04/08/2026

"Who the Hell elected you to dictate our future?" The AI gold rush is old greed in new packaging. This is populist rebellion, not envy. jimhightower.substack.com/p/the-data-c... @mediajustice.bsky.social @kairosfellows.bsky.social

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 01/08/2026

They called me a “big government socialist” for trying to help farmers sell their own food. My answer: the “free” in “free enterprise” isn’t an adjective, it’s a verb. Full story: jimhightower.substack.com/p/friday-sig...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 30/07/2026

Elon Musk says he'll save humanity by colonizing Mars. If he means it, he should go first. He runs three companies, grabs subsidies, cheats workers, then sues anyone in his way. Full commentary: jimhightower.substack.com/p/why-trust-...

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Clayton Tucker @claytontuckertx.com · 29/07/2026

We just became the best-funded grassroots campaigns for Texas Ag Commissioner in decades, easily since @jimhightower.com. We did it $50 at a time from regular folks -- not from billionaires, corporate PACs, or data centers. Together, we're proving organized people can beat organized money.

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 28/07/2026

An obscure trillion-dollar tech boss called you foolish for questioning his AI takeover. He admits it's about profits, not people. Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg: same tune. Full commentary: jimhightower.substack.com/p/ai-billion... #AI #Billionaires

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 23/07/2026

The FCC just approved a plan for 50,000 orbiting space mirrors to light up the night sky, no public input required. Brendan Carr's own words: "harms are unlikely to occur." Would you want night turned into day over your house? @aas.org jimhightower.substack.com/p/ignorance-...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 21/07/2026

John Deere billed a Montana rancher $4,000 for a $600 repair — because he wasn't "authorized" to fix his own tractor. Farmers organized, sued, and won this month. @repairorg.bsky.social jimhightower.substack.com/p/corporate-... #RightToRepair #JohnDeere

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 17/07/2026

What gives me hope? Hope! If I got my news from the nightly broadcasts and big web media, I'd be depressed too. But travel anywhere in this country and you'll find people who are tenacious, thoughtful, creative, & fun. That's what a movement actually is. jimhightower.substack.com/p/friday-sig...

What gives me hope? Hope itself.
If I got my news from the nightly broadcasts and big web media, I'd be depressed too. But travel anywhere in this country and you'll find people who are tenacious, thoughtful, creative, and fun.
That's what a movement actually is. Not a word, not an organization, not an ideology. Just ordinary people trying to figure things out. And you can't stop that.

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 16/07/2026

Billionaires stop paying Social Security tax after their first $185K. Everything above that is free money to them. 95% of us pay on every dollar we earn all year. Fair? Read the full piece: jimhightower.substack.com/p/lets-incre... @socialsecurityworks.org #SocialSecurity #TaxTheRich

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 14/07/2026

Musk owns 40% of SpaceX stock but controls 80% of shareholder votes. He rigged it so he's unfireable — unless he fires himself. Read the full commentary: jimhightower.substack.com/p/beware-of-... #ElonMusk #Plutocracy

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 10/07/2026

Chuck Schumer wrote a strongly worded letter. That'll show 'em. Most politicians run to HOLD office. I ran to USE it. There's a difference, and it's the whole ballgame. What do you want from the people you elect: speeches, or action? Full video: jimhightower.substack.com/p/friday-sig...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 09/07/2026

Corporations have legal rights to life, liberty, happiness. Trees don't. Quebec just passed a Declaration of the Rights of Trees, part of a growing Rights of Nature movement. If paper corporations get rights, why not forests? jimhightower.substack.com/p/shouldnt-n... #ClimateJustice

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 07/07/2026

Musk's AI data center: 57 unpermitted gas turbines, toxic pollution, Black neighborhoods. Families sued. Trump's DOJ jumped in to protect Musk instead. That's the system working exactly as designed. jimhightower.substack.com/p/of-course-... #ElonMusk #CleanAirAct

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 02/07/2026

The National Restaurant Association charges workers $15 for mandatory "safety training," then uses that money to lobby to keep the tipped wage at $2.13/hour. Frozen since 1991. Sound like a scam? It is. jimhightower.substack.com/p/how-inequa...

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 30/06/2026

Six unelected judges, 38% approval, and all of them insisting they're not partisan. Gorsuch says integrity's "in his bones." Barrett denies being a "partisan hack." Roberts claims judges aren't politicians — the same Roberts who helped install Bush in 2000. The People are supreme, not the court.

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 27/06/2026

Spoke at the @texasdemocrats.bsky.social convention last night. My message: the six Bs (bosses, bankers, billionaires, big shots, bastards, bullshitters) have been running roughshod over us. We're not fire hydrants, and we're gonna show them that come November.

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 27/06/2026

Ran into at old friend at the @texasdemocrats.bsky.social convention tonight. Forever in solidarity with Dolores Huerta. ✊

Dolores Huerta and Jim Hightower embrace as they say hello for the first time in many years.

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 26/06/2026

Pete Seeger went to the old Chautauquas for the music and the girls. He stuck around for the speeches. That's the whole trick: invite people to something fun, then you can talk to them. jimhightower.substack.com/p/friday-sig... #JimHightower #PeteSeeger #Populism

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 25/06/2026

Americans use 10X more poison per acre on lawns than farmers use on crops. Your "well-manicured" yard might be an ecological disaster. jimhightower.substack.com/p/is-your-lu... @rewildorg.bsky.social

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 23/06/2026

Trump paid a wind company $765 million to cancel offshore wind farms — projects that would've beaten coal on cost. His reason: he thinks windmills are "ugly." Wind already outpaces coal nationally. The market disagrees with him. jimhightower.substack.com/p/good-news-... #CleanEnergy #Trump

jimhightower.substack.com

Good News: Wind Energy Now Surpasses Blowhards of Dirty Energy

Why is Trump paying companies NOT to build wind farms?

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Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 22/06/2026

In proposing to “share the wealth” of the AI boom with every American, Silicon Valley billionaires like Sam Altman are hoping to obfuscate their ulterior motive — burdening the public with costs of a very possible bust. @jimhightower.com

otherwords.org

AI Billionaires Are Gearing Up to Demand a Bailout - OtherWords

They say they want the public to "share in the upside" of AI. But what about the downside?

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 19/06/2026

When the pesticide lobby came after me, I fought back. My lead witness? @willienelsonmusic.bsky.social. My second? Barbara Jordan. But the story of the organizing behind it is what made this moment a success. jimhightower.substack.com/p/my-lead-of...

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Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 18/06/2026

NEW: AI industry powerhouses, including OpenAI, are losing hundreds of billions of dollars. They say they want the public to "share in the upside" of AI. But what about the downside? @jimhightower.com:

otherwords.org

AI Billionaires Are Gearing Up to Demand a Bailout - OtherWords

They say they want the public to "share in the upside" of AI. But what about the downside?

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 18/06/2026

What if treating your workers well was the business model? @pterrysburgerstand.bsky.social just launched profit-sharing + an employee ownership trust for 1,800 workers. This is what good business looks like. jimhightower.substack.com/p/business-t...

jimhightower.substack.com

Business That Delivers for the Common Good

P. Terry's in Austin has set up a company-wide profit-sharing system so their 1,800 employees get a share of business income in addition to their paycheck.

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 16/06/2026

Sam Altman wants you to "share in the upside" of AI. Convenient — OpenAI is losing hundreds of billions. Real plan: get taxpayers as partners, then demand a bailout when it fails. Keep an eye on AI oligarchs and policy with @themidasproject.bsky.social! jimhightower.substack.com/p/ai-billion...

jimhightower.substack.com

AI Billionaires Want You to Save Them When They Need a Bailout

Step right up folks!

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 11/06/2026

The people who rigged the system want you to stop saying it's rigged. A right-wing pundit says populist talk "undermines trust in government." But lawmakers sell themselves to bidders, the White House is a shopping mall for donors, & SCOTUS is a corporate subsidiary. Trust in THAT? We get louder.

jimhightower.substack.com

The System Is NOT “Rigged”… Say Those Who Rigged It

One right-wing pundit whines that it’s socially destructive for malcontents to suggest our laws are being manipulated to give more and more power to corporate elites.

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Jim Hightower @jimhightower.com · 09/06/2026

A million seconds = 11 days. A billion seconds = 32 YEARS. That's the scale of what's buying Congress. Both parties, heads in money bags. Two simple fixes exist. Zero action. @campaignlegal.org jimhightower.substack.com/p/the-gilded...

jimhightower.substack.com

The Gilded Age of Billion-Dollar Political Bribery

Oh, how I miss the olden days when a million dollar bribe would have been a scandal.

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