THE DATA CENTER



audrey

July 11, 2026



Today is the second day of the Morgan County Fair and I've been told that google, in all its oh so magnanimous and charitable nature has made it so the parking and ice cream is free. Why? I'm sure they'll say its community outreach but really its like giving a cookie to appease an angry toddler, or like corporate giving pizza parties instead of proper benefits. To say I am pissed is an understatement. Fuck google, fuck whoever gave the go ahead for that at the fair and especially a huge fuck you to the county commissioner, one of which is Don Adams (more on this chode later) and everyone else involved with making this data center in Monrovia a reality. "Such language!" you might say. Cussing is the least of the issue, polite language and polite behavior is part of the poison that lead to this problem. I love Indiana, I love a lot of the people here and I love the calm, quiet culture that unfortunately is exploited by these assholes.

So, a short history on this from an ill informed local: Google came in under a shell company to court the county government and seduce them into giving the go ahead to buy out something like 350 acres on the east side of Monrovia. Officials signed NDAs and later it was revealed that this is in fact google, palms were greased and they got the go ahead to purchase even more land which amounts to I think is over 500 acres of agricultural and woodland. Farms were bought out, businesses the whole shebang. That was I think in 2024. As soon as people found out what was going on there were protests and people screaming in public meetings which, for those who don't live here, is very exceptional behavior. I didn't find out about it until this year because for my own health I've stayed out of the loop of political goings on. I get too heated and out of shape and stressed and that is exactly what happened when I found out. I was nauseous, my blood raged into my face and ears, the fury and disgust was a visceral response and I still feel that way when I think about it. We have been told our whole lives that if you want a say in local governance, that you have to get out and vote. You can go to these council meetings and make your voice heard, and this is a government made by the people, for the people. That our government operates on a mandate from the people. What an utter load of horseshit. That is not at all how it works, I'll tell you how it works. There is a social class of people in each county who are already involved in administration such as the school system and major local companies. They run for office, they put their bandit signs on the side of the road and pretty much everyone under the age of 60 don't know anything about these assholes so have no idea who to vote for or what difference it makes so a handful of people attend the local election, vote based off of ? and then the lucky asshole whose straw was drawn gets to go work for the state. Not for the people, the state. I have a suspicion that how all this works is they attend what amounts to an orientation on how to do the job and then take instruction from their superiors like any other corporate job. Nothing about this ever points back to the peoples will and that was made painfully obvious during this whole data center fiasco. Don Adams says, and I quote, "This thing has immense possibilities for what this county can become, and you'll just have to trust us, Even if you don't trust me, you'll have to."

Translation into the speech of us common peasants: "This thing is gonna make us a lot of money, so so much money. Its going to be good for me. We get to decide what happens to you and if you don't like it that's just too bad!"

The massive outcry from my normally quiet "mind your business and take care of your family" community is not something often seen here. We are mostly a libertarian leaning loosely republican lot. People here believe that if you play by the rules, pull your own weight and keep the peace that life will be good for you. People here don't make a fuss. They have made one HELL OF A FUSS. What difference did it make? Not much it seems.

People in government like Don Adams think they get to decide what's best for us and any notion that they need to take heed of the citizenry is an outdated one. They also happen to be so damn old that its unlikely they'll ever have to come to terms with the consequences of what they've done. I will, my son definitely will.

I have so many concerns about what this is going to do to our local ecosystem and to our bodies. Maybe the worst of it will be noise which is absolutely bad for insects and wildlife, but what else is going to happen? I've heard so many horror stories and there's no way I'll ever know what's true. Is it going to cause cattle to have stillbirths? Is it going to render the people near it sterile? I live pretty close to where this is going to be. From space if you want to find where this monstrosity is going to be just find the darkest, greenest place in Indiana and look just north. Where those beautiful green fields were is where this thing is going to be. Everything I've heard about what has happened up in Fort Wayne since they've built up there isn't great either. To put it plainly, I'm actually kind of scared. Friend of mine said he heard these are going to be surveillance centers for all those flock cameras and nsa type stuff.

After I had my major melt down once the news finally trickled down to my ears it occurred to me that the only thing I as an individual have power over is what I'm working on my own land, which is fostering an environment that nurtures native plants, insects and animals. I'll keep doing that and try to make it better than before, invest in some seedlings and whatnot. If society crumbles into the ground at least the plants might make it.

Some of the folks in Monrovia have filed a lawsuit which I don't have much faith in doing anything. Google is a monolith, and as much as I hate them I'm using this website with you guessed it, a google account. They're everywhere, they cannot be reasoned with or argued against. They have so much money they cannot be bought off or sued into the ground. I hope our neighbors who are in that lawsuit at least walk away with a nice wad of cash, if you cant fight the beast you can bleed it a little bit.

I'll finish this with one thought for you. Indiana is a state of quiet peaceful people who just want to build a life they can be proud of for their families and themselves. What is going to happen when these gentle people have been pushed too far? When following the rules doesn't mean anything anymore? I'll tell you one thing I sure as shit am not taking any of googles free ice cream.





This whole LURK thing.



audrey

May 21, 2026



Lurk is well on it's way to being a serious contender against mega-corp social media sites in my unenlightened opinion. As an avid social media hater I'd rather update a spider inside an old boot about my day to day activities than ever log back into facebook again, Fuckerburg is a slimy disgusting alien creature from outer space and normally I'd be a fan of that sort of thing. "Zuckerburg the Space Cannibal Takes over the Earth" sounds like a fun 80's scifi film. At least that ship is sinking. Tiktok got nuked in 2024 and what remains is a shambling corpse. I've not touched any of these new sites like Blue Sky and have no intention to do so. The only site I use on a daily basis is Pinterest and mostly that's an aesthetic feedback loop with ads.

I did see something about this site on my monthly foray into tiktok and was immediately intrigued. I'm proud to say I dove headfirst into this platform in these early days, however I was already considering purchasing my own domain so this came up in the opportune moment. I am a bit worried about the proprietorship and personal rights but the terms seem pretty cut and dry and I hope they stay that way. The world desperately needs a internet revolt against these massive corporate entities. I plan on making an additional page for my site that has a wealth of resources for like minded people who want to exist and create in the digital world without having to pay for it. I don't necessarily think we need to return to the wild days of the internet, just need to make these corporations understand that digital tyranny doesn't pay. There's always another way to do things and really we don't need what they're selling.

So far it seems to be drawing a lot of younger people, which is probably a good thing although I'm generally alienated from trendy types. From my experience new platforms have a fun initial period where people really push the limits of what it can do and then eventually everything settles into a rhythm and develops its own culture. I hope I can actually make a dent in this with my own content so it doesn't just turn into another echo chamber of self aggrandizing vapid twits with copy paste personalities and no real goals, ambitions or anything of value to contribute to the greater whole. Yes, the cynicism isn't charming but its hard to avoid. I really hope Lurk manages to survive the modern plague of frivolous attention and become a new cornerstone of the free web. I think it can if the right people put in the effort.