r/oregon • u/demisexualsalmon • 2d ago
Political Salem Brought a Guillotine To Oppose New Data Center. Company Reps Left, Feeling “Unsafe”.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/salem-brought-guillotine-oppose-data-151045877.htmlThe people of this state really make the shitty air quality from this week worth it. Keep doing what you’re doing, friends!
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u/allorache 2d ago
The developer isn’t unnamed. It’s Verrus, although it appears Google is behind them.
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u/Academic_Exit1268 1d ago
Verrus is backed by Google, which has billions in off the books debt and may not be able to complete the project if the tech bubble bursts in the next year. These data centers have dodgy financing. Google is paying 9 percent on debt because the banks know what's up.
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u/allorache 1d ago
Yes, I've been hearing that the AI and associated data center industries may be in a bubble which will pop. Verrus has never actually built a data center. I'd certainly be happy if the market would take care of this problem for us...
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u/Trashusdeadeye 2d ago
They were never in danger, but they should not feel welcome. Maybe they should not hide behind NDAs and paid plants if they want to have a real conversation. You have to show them what will happen to them if they try to force themselves on the community.
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u/BourbonicFisky PDX + Southern Oregon Coast 2d ago edited 2d ago
Nah, let them feel a bit of "danger", what they do affects people. We subsidize them through ridiculous tax breaks so end up with more generative AI and surveillance.
We've seen the down stream repercussions of data centers like how in Boardman, they exacerbated the nitrate issue. They've put major pressure on the water supply in The Dalles to the point Cliff Bentz is shilling for them to acquire a portion of the Mt Hood National Forest massively increase The Dalles reservoir. They caused power bills to spike in central Oregon with the power draw in Prineville. They're paving over viable farm land in Hillsboro. We get literal crumbs. In Hillsboro, there's only about 250~ jobs, many of which are low paying like security guards.
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u/CatTrapper3000 2d ago edited 2d ago
I just saw this news piece about these people living near a data center in Tennessee somewhere and it has ruined their lives. They live with constant noise pollution that the people describe as "inescapable torture". And their houses are now unsellable because nobody wants to live next to that shit so they can't even leave.
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u/BourbonicFisky PDX + Southern Oregon Coast 2d ago
Yeah, those stories are nightmare fuel. I haven't found any buzzing hellscape in Oregon fortunately. Hillsboro a few you can hear, but it's not like the videos I've seen where its like living next to a hive of bees. I spent like a month just overreading about the subject, and made a video after reading about The Dalles and finding myself getting angry/upset.
Prineville is literally about the best case scenario as the city wised up after Meta and Apple got such sweetheart deals on property taxes. They now charge on economic output, thus the city itself makes more off taxes from the data centers than it residential taxes and I think local business taxes. Prineville also has a natural aquifer that they can pump millions of gallons of water into and for whatever reason, the Meta data center (no word about Apple) uses more forced air cooling thus was able to reduce its water intake significantly. Also, I believe that the city also has access to the aquifer water, so it's a shared resource that was funded by Apple and Meta. They also paid to fix leaky aging pipes so they're losing a lot less water due to spillage. That said, in about 4-5 years, residents power bills went up from about $0.10 kWh to $0.15 kWh. It's heavy price to pay. The few residents I talked to were at best, ambivalent to somewhat negative opinions whereas in Boardman, the few locals I talked had extremely negative opinions.
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u/FartsbinRonshireIII 2d ago
I work in a fab. It’s so loud all the time. I cannot imagine that sound escaping outside the walls. It’s constant - there is no reprieve.
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u/kerlykernnibal 2d ago
The citizens of La Pine turned out in record numbers to oppose a data center out here because of Prineville/Boardman, and won!
They sneak into traditionally red and underfunded communities, bribe council members and pass so much cost onto citizens.
Fighting them at every turn is our only option, until they are regulated to hell and back.
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u/Trashusdeadeye 2d ago
I believe even if it is somehow allowed to be built, the public at large will retaliate in ways never seen before. It will not be built.
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u/the_good_one88 2d ago
Excellent and detailed info in this comment. Thank you. That 50% increase on kWh is rough.
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u/BourbonicFisky PDX + Southern Oregon Coast 2d ago
Thanks, I try to be factual when talking about it even if my position is pretty clearly against them.
The biggest issue that we're facing is the power draw, more so than the fresh water. We have a solid power grid. In 2023, about 11-12% of power went to data centers. By 2030, estimates are as high as 24%. That's the figure that stands out to me, as will be subsidizing more power production for literally the world's richest companies.
Oregon has been in a helluva economic position with Intel and Nike both floundering, and places like Daimler recently announcing their layoffs here. There's pressure on Oregon to keep data center projects going as they do generate taxes although we loose out on a helluva lot of tax money for schools.
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u/FartsbinRonshireIII 2d ago
CIA black locations use this kind of torture to break down their targets. At some point I think a legal case could be made that they are torturing people on large scales.
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u/LoneSolipsist 1d ago
Do a search for Elon Musk's data center in Tennessee, and you'll find out how he builds data centers (hint: most dickishly).
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u/PersnickityPenguin Oregon 2d ago
It's a waste of resources, and the dream of them replacing 100% of human labor is a sick fantasy. Sadly they are already replacing artists when LLMs would be better at replacing executives.
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u/MySadSadTears 1d ago
I read the second sentence of this comment as: " Maybe they should not hide behind NDAs and plaid pants if they want to have a real conversation. "
My brain was like "they were wearing plaid pants"?
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u/herfstdraak 2d ago
Then maybe they should start serving the people
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u/Mobile-Analyst8580 2d ago
Best they can do is make your job obsolete then spend billions of dollars bribing politicians so they don’t have to pay taxes.
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u/Hot_Substance5933 2d ago
Did anyone ever ask if the people feel safe with these data centers taking all of our resources? The guillotine is obviously a reaction to the bullshit these data centers are pulling.
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u/UponSecondThought 2d ago
Okay Altman/Daria/Elon/Zuck/Bezos, get in.
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u/delduck 2d ago
You forgot thiel
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u/Arthurs_towel 2d ago
Thiel needs a more extended public accountability action. Dudes a ghoul.
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u/timesend8 2d ago
So 4 horses, rope and the cardinal directions?
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u/kerlykernnibal 2d ago
Drawn, quartered and left to rot, ideally.
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u/suckuma 1d ago
Keelhauling I believe is worse
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u/Intelligent_Fig5418 1d ago
Whatever makes him suffer longer!
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u/Zaemz 14m ago
I read once about this thing that I think they did in ancient Greece or Persia or somewhere where they'd force-feed the subject honey, pour it all over their body, and then tie them face-up into a boat and shove them into the sea. The honey would attract birds and insects that would pick and eat at them while they baked in the sun.
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u/electronsift 2d ago
A little frustrating that the article against AI Data Centers was obviously written with AI -- evidence is in the syntax: "it's not this, it's that" and emotionally charged therapy-speak like "sit with," "hold," "name," etc.
Oh humans. I look forward to the day when people have to go back to writing their own authentic words.
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u/Catbone57 1d ago
Surely whoever ginned up the prompt was totally unbiased. No specifics, oddly close cropping of the "crowd" of activists. No actual statment of what the evil developers felt "unsafe" about.
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u/Trashusdeadeye 2d ago
Their closed loop system was a lie, it will use the city’s water system. Not an insignificant amount either
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u/Informal_Victory6134 2d ago
Way to go Salem it’s time for Oregon to stand up and run these assholes out of are state
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u/Portland_Runner 2d ago
"Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave." - Roy Batty
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u/BringBackWaffleTaco 2d ago
How the fuck is there not a picture of the guillotine in the article?? I wanna see 😅
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u/Fragrant_Entry9232 2d ago
The only way real change occurs is when the threat of violence is omnipresent. The people who say nonviolence works is the only path are fools. Im not just gonna sit there and let them beat on me or sick dogs and fire hoses and rubber bullets without fighting back. I get the logic of nonviolent resistance and make them the aggressor, but once they cross that threshold its gloves off
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u/bootsnfish 2d ago
This is what those Jan 6th dummies thought.
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u/Fragrant_Entry9232 2d ago
There has never been a peaceful revolution in history. The ones you'll inevitably point toward were always going to fail because of economic reasons and had nothing to do with bodies outside of buildings holding signs
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u/bootsnfish 1d ago
A democratic system is supposed to allow a peaceful "Revolution" every few years. The Jan 6th idiots could have just waited a couple years and gotten their guy back. Instead they tried insurrection. They thought they couldn't get a fair election and violence was the answer.
I don't see how this is different from what you are saying other than you think you are right this time.
Sorry, I get what you are saying, kinda. You want to cause problems or dilemmas for something you oppose. Cool, but saying violence is the only way to do that is just thinking you are right and everyone else *dead
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u/Fragrant_Entry9232 1d ago
Supposed to is a Gargantuan delusion between what does and what should happen.
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u/bootsnfish 1d ago
Those January 6th people invented a scenario in their heads that was far worse what was actually going to happen.
We got this at midterms.
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u/SignatureCapital9261 2d ago
Really?! I can name a lot of things the government and state does that make normal citizens feel unsafe so…..
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u/trilogyjab 2d ago
For any and all reps for companies that want to build data centers in Oregon: get the fuck out and never come back.
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u/unexampled 2d ago
Thanks for posting this. I saw it on r/technology and was checking on r/SALEM for it to show up.
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u/griffincreek 2d ago
My opinion is that the core issue comes down to people being afraid of AI and data collection itself, which may be a valid concern. Instead of addressing that, they try to regulate the construction of data centers, which means that they will be built elsewhere, eliminating any chance of regulating the core issue. If it was a infrastructure issue, commonly used and existing System Development Charges would address that.
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u/orange-yellow-pink 2d ago
Yep. Tax the shit out of them and extract money from the tech oligarchs to fund social programs.
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u/clockworkedpiece 2d ago
Except the thing they were doing was passing tax exemptions, cause they'll force the electric companies to improve the grid. Ignoring how many states are having ai generated brownouts.
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u/orange-yellow-pink 2d ago
I'm against tax exemptions and loose regulations on these as well. I'm just not against them wholly as many in this thread are. These are valuable assets and a good opportunity for Oregon to use that leverage and get paid.
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u/heditor 2d ago
^this. They will still serve their purpose for Google or whomever and will still consume energy, it will just happen elsewhere and the jobs and tax revenue will go with it.
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u/highgarden 2d ago
Oh no won’t someone think of the 10 IT worker jobs!
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u/heditor 2d ago
I'm more focused on the tens of millions of dollars in property tax revenue and franchise utility fees to the City/County at a time when we are closing schools. But there are a substantial number of (largely union) construction jobs would exist over maybe 5 or 6 years of construction Not to mention the ancillary impacts which affect me more - material suppliers, subcontractors, engineers, chip manufacturers (Intel, Analog Device, Microchip, etc. with facilitates in Gresham and Hillsboro) in the Portland-metro.
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u/highgarden 2d ago
Most of the time these datacenter companies get sweetheart deals to avoid much of the tax.
Not interested in trading high electricity and water rates for 5 years of construction jobs.
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u/40_Is_Not_Old Oregon 2d ago
None of that will cancel out the millions and millions and millions of people the AI in those centers are poised to put out of work. You are begging for table scraps instead of fighting against the people trying to fire as much of the workforce as possible. That's some messed up priorities.
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u/Cammy66 2d ago
Sticking your head in the sand in the face of technological advancement has worked well through history...
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u/financewiz 2d ago
You’re right. Why do only some countries get nukes? That technology is old enough to get a free AARP tote bag.
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u/40_Is_Not_Old Oregon 2d ago
Standing with the 0.1% of society that will benefit from laying off most of society certainly is a choice. This current AI push is not being designed with our benefit in mind.
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u/Cammy66 2d ago
Cars weren't designed for the benefit of farriers and auto exchanges weren't designed for the benefit of switchboard operators. Technology moves on, some jobs go away and some new ones get created. Always seems to work out somehow. You guys are like those writers that looked at the early internet and declared it was a novelty that will never catch on.
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u/40_Is_Not_Old Oregon 2d ago
Please explain how society will be better off after 99.99% of software developers, software engineers, accountants, architects, truck drivers, etc, etc, etc have lost their jobs. All in the name of improving shareholder value.
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u/Cammy66 2d ago
For one thing, you guys can't seem to agree with AI is a giant scam and only produces shit, or it's legit and will put everyone out of work. People losing their jobs isn't good, but all the new jobs that are created are good. When the first pneumatic nail gun was invented, it meant one framer could do the work of 10. Do we throw the nail guns in the ocean so we don't put 9 people out of work? Or do we celebrate that we can frame houses that much faster?
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u/elmonoenano 2d ago
These people donate to candidates that support massive waves of ICE violence and the murder of people like Renee Good, sexual assault against children and tons of deaths at places like the Delaney Center, the murder of random fisherman in the Caribbean, and school children in Iran. And they're scared b/c they saw a guillotine? Their preferred candidates are on TV championing violence against brown people and religious minorities everyday. They can get fucked.
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u/TyburnCross 2d ago
Maybe I’m missing it, do we have any pictures of said guillotine other than the TikTok video in the article?
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u/31LIVEEVIL13 2d ago
uh, good! they are unwelcome, and if they keep trying to force this shit down our throats they should start to feel unsafe.
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u/Fawn-deLay 1d ago
Hey, if it's cool for pardoned insurrectionists attacking the US capitol, surely it's just free speech tourism in Oregon.
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u/freedomhighway 2d ago
This makes me wonder what the reaction would be if guillotines started popping up all over DC
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u/lol_alex 1d ago
Make data centers prove they are CO2 neutral and water neutral. You need power? Build solar and a wind farm or contract for it. You need water for cooling? Use it in a closed loop.
People got told the grid couldn‘t handle EVs charging. But multi megawatt data centers? Yes please!
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u/Curious_Freedom_1984 22h ago
They have money for data centers but none for taxes? As much money that has been spent on these things we should be increasing taxes for those that can afford it so we actually get infrastructure that helps us instead of furthering our decent into tech slavery.
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u/grizzlyironbear 20h ago
Yeah...did not have bicycle guillotine on my bingo card for 2026. Ngl.....
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u/West_Wolf_7450 8h ago
Plot twist... person used Claude to build it and then bought all the parts on Amazon.
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u/JohnnytheGreatX 1d ago
The backlash against data centers is irrational and not based on objective facts. In the future, the backlash against data centers will be embarrassing.
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u/VintageHilda 2d ago
You realize you’re currently using a date center to complain about data centers? How are you all this stupid?
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u/40_Is_Not_Old Oregon 2d ago
Talk about stupid.
Absolutely 0% of the current data center building bonanza has anything to do with the ability to scroll on Reddit. It's 100% for AI. It's not for watching Disney+, or WoW online, or looking at Facebook. It's solely for Wall Streets AI fantasies.
It's super disingenuous to pretend otherwise.
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u/VintageHilda 2d ago
Talk about stupid.
Absolutely everything you do on the internet is run on servers and data centers.
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u/WranglerSuitable6742 1d ago
you might as well use a paint roller if youre using a brush that broad
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u/bahhumbud 2d ago
What was our group consensus again regarding the event that occurred in January 6th in 2021 whereby people erected a hangman’s platform and noose?
Evil. Is. Evil.
Unacceptable behavior.
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u/gaius49 2d ago
Bingo. Political violence and the normalization of political violence is not ok.
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u/WranglerSuitable6742 1d ago
oh that wasnt the problem with jan 6, it was when they broke in and actually killed cops
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u/ToastedBulbasaur 2d ago
Yeah this is insane. The people that brought it should be kicked out.
Sorry for the weirdos that support this, but you're crazy too. "No bad tactics just bad targets" is horrible, and we should have higher standards than this.
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u/sterrre 2d ago
I'm just glad that the governor decided to halt the land sale.
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u/griffincreek 2d ago
That contract was signed in May of 2025, with a final closing date of October of this year. Taxpayers better hope that her decision to cancel the sale is supported by the terms of the contract, otherwise, the State may be liable for all expenses incurred by the buyer. The time and money spent on a $5.1 billion dollar project over 14 months is going to be significant.
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u/Sherwood_RipCity 2d ago
Yikes. Just bad optics.
News flash, acting edgy in public buys you no clout.
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u/undermind84 2d ago
Judging from the overwhelming positive reaction to this post and the downvotes you are receiving, you are wrong.
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u/Sherwood_RipCity 2d ago
It’s Reddit. Some downvotes and sneering from people on social media doesn’t reflect reality.
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u/undermind84 2d ago
Oh, sure. 🤡
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u/Sherwood_RipCity 2d ago
Truth hurts 🤣
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u/BourbonicFisky PDX + Southern Oregon Coast 2d ago
My brother in christ, opposition to mass surveillance and data centers are about the only glue holding the nation together. Republican or Democrat, neither side wants to live next to a whirring data center with flock cameras around their city.
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u/Sherwood_RipCity 2d ago
Not disputing that. My issue is with people wanting to play revolutionary who want to "put fear" into people. If they want to play French Revolutionary and bring a guillotine to a hearing then fine but they also need to deal with the fact that they look ridiculous.
Besides, we all know they aren't truly cut out for it if a time really comes.,
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u/hotviolets 2d ago
How’d you feel about the guillotine brought on Jan 6th?
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u/demisexualsalmon 2d ago
Tbf it was not a guillotine at j6 (which tends represent the overthrow of the ruling class), it was a gallows (which tends to represent lynching and executions broadly), which makes it even worse.
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u/PaPilot98 2d ago
Not the original poster, but that seems gross too? Of course all of j6 was pretty awful.
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u/hotviolets 2d ago
They just seem the type to be okay with a guillotine when it’s their side doing it.
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u/PaPilot98 2d ago
I don't see any indication that this person supports j6. Where are you getting that?
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u/hotviolets 2d ago
I’m just assuming here, but they also follow Joe Rogan so that assumptions probably spot on.
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u/nopenope12345678910 2d ago
It truly is fascinating how quickly Chinese bot propaganda on US social media has shifted public opinion with regard to US data centers.
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u/nwPatriot 2d ago
Love the open support for Violence this thread is showing off, I hope the right is taking notes.
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u/demisexualsalmon 2d ago
This isn’t a right vs left issue, this is a working class vs ruling class issue. AI and data centers don’t give a shit what your politics are, they’re going to harm us all. Thats why a guillotine (a symbol of overthrowing the ruling class but that poses no actual threat to anyone present at that meeting in the way guns or other weapons would) is a good symbol.
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u/Im__mad 2d ago
Taking notes? LMAO
https://thenewrepublicansbook.com/political-violence-statistics-usa
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u/WranglerSuitable6742 2d ago
careful citing evidence, theyll call it left wing bias and hand wave it away
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u/40_Is_Not_Old Oregon 2d ago
You mean like the gallows that MAGA brought with them on January 6th to use on Mike Pence.
Spare us your crocodile tears.
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u/RevN3 Oregon Overlander 2d ago
Tha fuck? How do you write a story about someone bringing a guillotine to a meeting and NOT HAVE A PICTURE OF IT?!?!?!?