This Land Is Whose Land?
Good Trouble for the Week of 6.20.25
“Once the land is sold, we will never get it back,”
This week:
Public land - available for use by anyone - may be sold away forever for the Big Beautiful Bill
When did the ‘Libs’ become the intolerant ones?
And, if you want to understand this Trump era. Maybe start watching wrestling? Or take up surfing with your MAGA uncle.
Big Beautiful BS
Like a shitty rotten onion, the layers upon layers of grift in the Big Beautiful Bill keep revealing themselves.
One of the latest may unlock 250 million acres of public land in the West to be sold off to the highest bidder. This comes under a revision in the US Senate’s version of the bill, passed by the House a couple of weeks ago-a 1,000-page document which, infamously, was not fully read by many who voted for it.
That version, at least, didn’t include the sale of federal public lands to help pay for many of the proposed tax cuts.
However, some Senate Republicans don’t want to let that one slide.
From SF Gate: Controversial senator trying to sell millions of acres near Yosemite, Tahoe
(Utah Senator Mike) Lee has been unrelenting in his push for the sale of public lands, saying it could promote economic growth and housing across the western U.S. and could generate upward of $10 billion for the federal government.
Senator Lee’s version would:
Requires the sale of 2–3.3 million acres of public land—publicly managed forests and Bureau of Land Managmeent lands—to be sold over five years across 11 western states
For the first 10 years, the land could only be sold for housing or related infrastructure, but after a decade, that restriction vanishes, opening the door to virtually any kind of development, from strip malls to oil rigs.
Expand eligibility of more than 250 million acres to ‘any interested party’
Requires federal interior and agriculture secretaries to identify underused lands near infrastructure, then sell off acreage in tranches every 60 days—with no public hearings or comment period
The bill would also open new oil drilling in the Arctic and offshore drilling in the Gulf and Alaska, and eliminate funding for renewable energy projects on federal lands
“Shoving the sale of public lands back into the budget reconciliation bill, all to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, is a betrayal of future generations and folks on both sides of the aisle,” - Michael Carroll with The Wilderness Society.
(From Firewatch) This is not legislation. It is liquidation. A Quiet Betrayal: The Largest Public Lands Sell-Off in Modern History
The proceeds from this unprecedented land purge would be used to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. The West is being carved up, parceled out, and sold off to subsidize the already rich. What Teddy Roosevelt called “the great natural resources of our country” are being treated not as a shared inheritance but as political spoil.
One thing We Can All Agree On?
Selling off public lands is, in fact, universally regarded as a bad idea in the US. Even amongst those who voted for Trump.
However, many may not know this isn’t just theoretical. Our land is TRULY being put on the auction block. And for no other reason than to attempt to fix a budget shortfall that could be fixed in a myriad of other ways (raising tax rate and closing tax loopholes for the wealthy and corporations), and don’t result in a permanent loss of hiking, camping, and nesting grounds.
The job to be done is to make sure everyone knows and makes their wishes known.
Misery Acquaints a Man with Strange Bedfellows
Of all the issues that could unite a Libertarian, a Conservative, and a Liberal…this could be the one.
While environmentalism is often associated with liberals, there are typically right-leaning groups who believe in preserving public lands as well.
Hunters/Fishermen, who want to preserve natural habitats for gaming
Libertarians, who are against government overreach
Each of them most likely voted for Republican Senators/Representatives and would likely have a more impactful voice in persuading them to help block this sale.
In this fight, the enemy of my enemy may be my friend.
Also,
Senate Passes Landmark Stablecoin Bill in Major Boon for Crypto Industry (Decrypto) The bill’s name: The GENIUS bill.. why does everything have to be such an ego-stroke for this guy?
When did Liberals become so “Uncool?"
As in, when did those who preach tolerance and fun get cast as the intolerant stick-in-the-muds?
“I don't think liberals do that, to be honest with you. I think there's a real like, ah, well, not only are you out, you're on the other team, which is even crazier to me. Imagine playing a game (where) Every time your wide receiver drops a catch, every time your point guard passes the ball out of bounds, not only do you bench them, you bench them to the other team. That is an unsustainable way of growing a coalition.”
It’s caught up to Progressives, with real political implications:
I think that undersells something that’s more true, which is that a voter will look and say: The Republican Party is assholes to other people. I don’t like that. But the Democratic Party is an asshole to me.
And if I have to choose between the party that’s an asshole to me because I’m not perfect or a party that’s an asshole to someone else, even if I don’t like it, I’m going to choose the party that’s an asshole to someone else.
- US Rep Sarah McBride, 1st openly trans member of Congress, on the Ezra Klein show
Maybe it is just that the other side is more fun right now:
Maybe what Progressives need are just more hobbies.
But to win over people who aren’t already political junkies—it’s important to recognize that (Trump’s) political credibility comes in large part from the fact that he doesn’t think of himself as political. The same is true of nearly all the other “manosphere” hosts who powered Trump’s reelection. Andrew Schulz and Theo Von are comedians. Dave Portnoy talks sports and reviews pizza.
Each of them followed the same path: focusing first on interests, then issues, and only years later turning to elections.
David Litt: Democrats Need More Hobbies: A party of political junkies will struggle to win. (The Atlantic)
NOTE: I worked with David, a former Obama speechwriter, on UNDP’s “Don’t Choose Extinction”. He has a new book coming out: It’s Only Drowning: A True Story of Learning to Surf and the Search for Common Ground about learning to connect with his 'Joe Rogan loving brother-in-law through learning to surf. Available June 24.
Maybe Dems need to watch more wrestling?
Is Tucker ‘Turning Heel?’
One of Trump’s (and Republicans’) most reliable ‘hype-men’ seems to have turned on them. Does this reflect a bigger shift in
This presidency is defined by chaos - although people do seem to be catching on to patterns. TACO and the continual two week promises as a couple examples.
But, perhaps the way to think about it is through professional wrestling.
Trump is both a fan and a regular participant. And, perhaps, a student of the ‘sports’ ability to hold its audience’s attention week after week.
One of the tropes of pro wrestling is the ‘heel turn’, when a wrestler (often a fan favorite) changes sides (in this case to become the villain). It’s a classic strategy for keeping the audience engaged. Any match can be a moment for a plot twist that plays out a whole new set of drama to be played out.
Was Elon really on the outs? Or was this also a ‘heel turn’? (to which we now see him turning back). Same with Steve Bannon, rival to Elon for Trump’s affection.
And now Trump’s ultimate fan boy, Tucker Carlson. While each of these may have a philosophical ‘beef’ with a Trump executive decision, each knows ‘all can be forgiven’. Because ultimately it makes for great theater.
With WWE, McMahon perfected a sports-and-entertainment behemoth that kept 12-year-olds like me glued to the TV. With Trump, Zucker and his competitors were crafting similar news-and-politics-and-entertainment products. Flashy graphics, flying taunts, unraveling democracy: Who could look away?
The Atlantic How Wrestling Explains America Mar ‘23
Fulfilling Trumps ultimate goal which is to hoard our attention (well maybe second to grifting us for money).
Today was a reminder: we are still here. Still organizing. Still rising. Still unafraid. “We don’t do kings in this country. We do solidarity. We do community. We do justice—and we do it together.” - NoKings.org
No Kings Day
4-5MM+
the estimated # of people who came out to march in last weekend’s No Kings Day protests. Per a collective crowdsourcing effort led by Strength In Number.
1MM
reportedly in Boston alone
1.2-1.8%
of the total US pop attended a rally somewhere, if these #’s hold true
3.5%
the ‘magical’ threshold of public participation in non-violent protest for ensuring serious political change, based on historical precedence
2100+
events held across the US and the world under the banner
The Biggest Loser: The Public Is Rejecting Trump’s Degenerate Police State Antics (TalkingPointsMemo)
The 3.5% Protest Rule That Could Bring Down Trump Pod Save America
What’s Next?
Indivisible, the organization behind NoKings continues to organize and activate people to get and stay involved.
The next protest? July 17 Good Trouble Lives On (swear we had nothing to do with this) is organizing demonstrations in honor of the 5th anniversary of John Lewis passing.
Other Stuff:
OverTourism
The Louvre Museum Shuts Down After Spontaneous Staff Strike (The Cut) The unexpected strike started with staff walking off the job in protest of conditions at the museum amid an overtourism crisis.
Protesters against overtourism take to the streets of southern Europe (Reuters)
Campaigners mount coordinated protests across Europe against ‘touristification’ (The Guardian)
Flatter is Faster?
“Everyone with 500 employees and up that I talk to, off the record, including public companies, says, ‘I don’t need 30% to 40% of my team,’
The Biggest Companies Across America Are Cutting Their Workforces (WSJ)
Move fast and make things: the new career mantra from Reid Hoffman (SF Standard)
In San Francisco, Waymo Has Now Bested Lyft. Uber Is Next (Underscore_SF)
Middle East peace, climate change, Ukraine — if Sisyphus were assigned one of today’s global problems, he’d plead to be returned to rock rolling. So let’s focus for a moment on a global challenge that we can actually solve: starvation.
This Problem Is Easy to Solve (NY Times Opinion) A recent World Bank study estimated that each $1 invested in nutrition yields a return of $23.
This dashboard visualizes the human impact of funding changes for aid and support organizations. Each metric represents real people affected by policy decisions.
The Impact Counter tracks the impact of disrupted/terminated aid from USAID and Medicaid worldwide
280,000 eggs disappeared from America’s top producer. Then came a ransom note. The Great Egg Heist (Washington Post)
Increasingly, access to cultural life is paywalled. Sports is one of the last activities that can still be a shared American experience that cuts across class, race and geography, unfolding live, unscripted and in real time, in the real world with real people. But instead of uniting us, it’s been carved up.
$4,785. That’s How Much It Costs to Be a Sports Fan Now. (NY Times opinion)
This biker’s escape from Iran (he’s attempting to bike across Europe to Japan)
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AI Slop:
Large language models are a bad replacement for human therapy.
One of ChatGPT's popular uses just got skewered by Stanford researchers (SF Gate) A YouGov poll last year found that more than half of people ages 18 to 29 were comfortable with replacing a human therapist with AI for mental health discussions — and as companies big and small peddle AI therapy tech.
"We're talking about diversity in terms of the ideas being different from each other ... like in biology, we need a diverse ecosystem."
Study: ChatGPT's creativity gap (Axios) Groups that use ChatGPT together tend to converge on similar ideas, reducing the overall diversity of thinking
Resourceful Slop:
AI Fluency: The AI Fluency Framework (from Anthropic)
Learn to collaborate with AI systems effectively, efficiently, ethically, and safely via video lessons • 12 lessons • 3-4 hours
Prompt engineering best practices for ChatGPT (from OpenAI)
“The good news is AI is not going to kill advertising. The bad news is AI is not going to save advertising. We’ve got to save ourselves, by believing in what’s always made this industry special: human creativity.” - Tor Myrhen, Apple
Trump’s FTC may impose merger condition that forbids advertising boycotts (ArsTechnica) Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group are currently being reviewed for a proposed merger. The move could force them to advertise on Trump’s Truth Social and Elon’s X, among others.
We stand by our reporting, which is well-sourced, reliable and factual, no matter how inconvenient it may be.
Linda Yaccarino slams WSJ report alleging X threatened advertisers (Axios), which said at least six companies struck ad deals with X after receiving a threat of a lawsuit
I have some ideas for those forced to advertise on X
Say what you will about holding company investments in technology, including AI — these three holding companies are using a considerable portion of their cashflow for dividends — to keep shareholders happy and to shore up share prices.
Out of Cannes:
Amplified study reveals the $198-billion-dollar cost of improving dull media performance (Amplified)
Non-Dull media is approximately 11 times more effective than Very Dull and Extremely Dull formats
Very and Extremely Dull campaigns saw a 130% increase in wastage
Low-performing campaigns invest more heavily in “fast-decay” formats, hitting diminishing returns quicker and wasting more impressions
Very and extremely dull campaigns produce 37% lower STAS (short term advertising strength). As attention fades, so does influence.
Two decades ago, Reddit was created as a space for people to connect and share valuable information. Today, Reddit is the most human place on the internet, and one of the last places on the internet where brands can build authentic, trusted and engaged relationships with customers.
Live from Cannes Lions 2025: Introducing Reddit Community Intelligence™ (Reddit) Reddit Insights powered by Community Intelligence is a new toolset designed to help advertisers unlock strategic value from Reddit’s vast trove of conversations.
Exclusive: Reddit releases new "Community Intelligence" ad tools (Axios)
Also,
WhatsApp Introduces Ads in Its App (NY Times) a significant change from the apps original philosophy of No ads, no games and no gimmicks.
“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.”— John Muir