The government won’t protect your data. The government is buying your data.
Your phone told somebody where you slept last night. Nobody hacked it. The apps on it are built to share your location, and a whole industry exists to buy it. Here’s the pipeline. You download a free app - a weather app, a game, a prayer app, a period tracker. The app grabs your location…
A computer picked the wrong man. Police arrested him anyway. Memphis isn’t using this software - “at this time.”
Now that I have your attention on the Flock Camera issue - I think it is worth revisiting an issue I’ve been writing about that should be just as chilling - if not more. In January 2020, Detroit police arrested a man named Robert Williams on his front lawn, in front of his wife and…
A camera photographed your car today. Nobody needed a warrant to search where you’ve been.
I’ve been doing some research on Flock cameras. Here’s what I found. A camera probably took a picture of your license plate today. It saved where you were, what you drive, what time you passed, and even the dents and bumper stickers on your car. You didn’t do anything wrong. It kept the picture anyway.…
How xAI could actually help its neighbors
The xAI files Every essay in this series is pinned to a question on the board at rachelandthecity.com/the-xai-files. First published on rachelfortn.com on 6 July 2026, during the campaign for Tennessee’s 5th District. Moved here with the text as it was. The world’s largest supercomputer sits in Memphis’ backyard. While at least 32,000 Memphis homes…
Congress’s own AI report told them how to protect you from AI. They did one thing on the list.
This morning I told you how the House built a bipartisan AI task force and then dissolved it the day the report dropped. I’ve been reading the report - this is what I found. A lot of the 85 items in the report are about helping the government and industry use more AI - adoption,…
Congress built an AI task force, then sent it home. Bring it back - for good.
I found out something about Congress this week that blew my mind. I’ve been talking about how we need an AI task force in Congress for a few weeks now, so I started to do the research on how to make that happen. What I found was a 273-page report. Turns out the House built…
What is the mitigation plan for xAI battery parks?
The xAI files Every essay in this series is pinned to a question on the board at rachelandthecity.com/the-xai-files. First published on rachelfortn.com on 2 July 2026, during the campaign for Tennessee’s 5th District. Moved here with the text as it was. Let’s talk about disaster mitigation, because that is an important part of a representative’s…
They admitted it again: Trump is holding housing hostage to make it harder to vote
He canceled the biggest housing bill in 30 years to force through a law that thins out the voter rolls. I wrote a while back about the Republican Party admitting something they usually keep quiet about. It’s worth bringing up again, because of what just happened. Today, Trump canceled the signing of the biggest housing…
xAI’s turbines are poisoning Boxtown’s air - and the Trump DOJ just moved to kill the lawsuit
The xAI files Every essay in this series is pinned to a question on the board at rachelandthecity.com/the-xai-files. First published on rachelfortn.com on 19 June 2026, during the campaign for Tennessee’s 5th District. Moved here with the text as it was. Imagine being a slave - and not being told you were free until two…
Elon Musk just became the world’s first trillionaire. You helped pay for it.
I thought everyone knew this - but I guess it bears repeating since I’ve seen so many posts defending Elon Musk becoming a trillionaire. CNN looked at how Musk got there, and the truth is Tesla and SpaceX don’t exist in the form they do today without government help. Our tax dollars ended up saving…
Forcing data centers to come clean before they break ground
The xAI files Every essay in this series is pinned to a question on the board at rachelandthecity.com/the-xai-files. First published on rachelfortn.com on 13 June 2026, during the campaign for Tennessee’s 5th District. Moved here with the text as it was. There’s a bill in Congress that would make it harder to pull off what…
Congress Is Writing a Law That Makes It Harder for Any President to Stop Sharing Spy Secrets With Israel
Two must-pass bills quietly pull your vote and your view out of how entangled America gets. A lot of people are worried about these bills - so I dug in. Congress is writing a law that says a future president has to file paperwork before he’s allowed to stop sharing American spy secrets with Israel.…