IN THE DESERT_, GONZO_____ WALKS__.

Billionaire land ownership is back in the spotlight after an Instagram post mapped the spread of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates' farmland across the United States.

What's happening?

In a collaborative post with Localize (@localize.food), Grant Stoll (@GrantOnSoil) described Gates as the largest private owner of U.S. farmland. The biggest concentrations are in Louisiana and Arkansas, and there's notable acreage in Nebraska and Arizona.

Using a state-by-state map, the post presented Gates' farmland as a nationwide portfolio stretching across several major agricultural regions.

Stoll wrote, "Bill Gates owns more American farmland than any other private individual, spread across nearly 20 states."

Why is this concerning?

Farmland shapes food production, water use, and wildlife habitat.

When a small number of owners control large tracts of land, that raises understandable questions about stewardship, leasing, conservation, and access for working farmers.

Ownership patterns can influence what grows, how people manage land, and whether smaller farmers have a fair shot at expanding their operations. In states like Louisiana, Arkansas, Nebraska, and Arizona, those choices can also intersect with flood risk, drought, and water demand.

Better transparency can help people understand where their food is coming from. And they may even be able to advocate for legislation that regulates land in a way that doesn't favor billionaires.

What can I do?

Consumers can support farming models that keep more value in local communities. Shopping at farmers markets or joining a community-supported agriculture program can help smaller operations remain viable in an increasingly expensive land market.

And while any one landowner can attract attention, local policy often has the bigger day-to-day effect. Taking action in your community by doing things like attending local meetings could shape policy for the better.

it's pathetic that there are some supposed "progressives" who dismiss the issue of bill gates' monopolization of farmland as "conspiracy theorism" from "backwards hicks" when it's so obviously a serious issue.

(via ‘I Would Never Do This To You:’ Protesting Flock, Arizona Man Presents Plan to Surveil Government Officials)

On July 20, Jacob Petrosky stood in front of the Casa Grande, Arizona City Council during a public comment session and made an announcement.

“I’ve spent the last several months talking to people all over Casa Grande, and one thing keeps coming up: Safety. So, today I’m excited to announce a new company called Shepherd Safety,” he said. “Our mission is simple. Keep government officials and their families safe.” It would be no different than how the city monitors its citizens using Flock cameras, he said; he planned to launch satellites that would use AI to monitor “where government officials go, where they stop, who they meet with, and when they return home.”

He said he’d already started compiling profiles on their vehicles, spouses vehicles, children’s vehicles, and planned to combine that data with Bluetooth signals, advertising IDs, and commercial data sources, “so our authorized users can replay the movements of every government official and their immediate family,” he said. Local businesses would be invited to join the network, to “protect” officials while they shop, eat at restaurants, and move around the city.

recognize that a massive portion of the infrastructure and power consumption of the internet is devoted purely to advertising, to tracking everyone who uses the internet for purposes of advertising to them, for websites of businesses that have no reason to exist outside the context of global capital, for web services that exist only to lock youth out of using the internet (and to force adults to prove they're not kids in order to use the internet by collecting personally identifiable information), and a bunch of other bullshit that just does not need to exist!

Greece suspends asylum applications for migrants from North Africa by Laura Gozzi (BBC).

Greece passes draconian legislation with prison terms for rejected asylum seekers by Helena Smith (The Guardian).

Greek coastguard threw migrants overboard to their deaths, witnesses say by Lucile Smith and Ben Steele (BBC).

Bill on Detention Centres for Asylum Seekers Published by Jelena Ćirić (Iceland Review).

Italy sends 40 rejected asylum seekers to Albania by Karl Sexton (DW).

Record number of migrants, refugees reached Canary Islands by sea in 2024 (Al Jazeera).

Here is the link to the article. I put her family's GoFundMe below, they have almost reached their goal.

I don't have much to say here that hasn't been said better before, because this keeps happening.