4 ms·

How is "more than 100" people "rallying" even remotely newsworthy? What's the threshold, three?

nqzero 10mo ago
there are dozens of us !
__float 10mo ago
Three people could be a group of friends. More than 100 is clearly different. Given that there are usually _zero_ people rallying in Lansing, this is notable enough for the local newspaper.
cramcgrab 10mo ago
Since the population is around 112k-114k people that would be around 111,900 people didn’t rally on the low end.
- DaSHacka 10mo ago
  Lol, I prefer that version of the headline: "99.9% of residents did not show up to protest new datacenters in Michigan"
  - noitpmeder 10mo ago
    You could use that same statistic for literally every protest ever, doesn't mean they're not worth the causes
vkou 10mo ago
> What's the threshold, three? The threshold is an organization organizing it. Getting 100 people out demonstrates your political power to your supporters and the people you seek to influence. Getting 1,000 people demonstrates that you have more of it.
evil-olive 10mo ago
if you read the article instead of just criticizing the headline: > They listened to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel criticizing the lack of transparency with DTE, the utility that's associated with the Saline Township proposal, and legislators who protested tax breaks for data center projects. > ... > "We're talking about 1.4 gigawatts, which is, of course, enough to provide energy to a city of a million people," Nessel said. "I think we should be taking this extremely seriously, don't you? Do you guys trust DTE? Do you trust Open AI? Do we trust Oracle to look out for our best interests here in Michigan?" this wasn't just a random group of 100 people, they were organized enough to get the state AG as well as multiple state legislators to speak. seems fairly newsworthy to me.
sankyo 10mo ago
It would be noteworthy if 100 people showed up to my 5 year old's piano recital. not so much for a 300 acre noisy, water hogging data center.
topspin 10mo ago
In Lansing, it was below freezing and windy most of the day. If I noticed 100 people standing around on the pavement for hours in that, I'd probably imagine they deserved at least some regard for their concerns. But then, I'm not a Michigan politician that needs to get gamer Johnny out of my basement and on to a cushy non-profit no-show kickback job, courtesy of whatever big tech outfit wants a data center.
ipnon 10mo ago
There is very little common space in Michigan. There is a lot of private land, and a lot of public land, but very few spaces where people congregate. So when they do, it stands out quite a bit.
lingrush4 10mo ago
It wouldn't be newsworthy if we could trust our representatives not give extra weight to the opinions of the people who yell the loudest.
al_borland 10mo ago
It’s not just this group. A co-worker of mine went to his town meeting about a proposed data center. When he showed up it was standing room only and they had to move the meeting to a bigger venue. I’ve heard stories like this from a few people now around Michigan where they have been trying to put data centers. No one wants them.
phantasmish 10mo ago
It’s a movement at 50[1]. [1] A. Guthrie, 1967

nqzero 10mo ago

there are dozens of us !

Three people could be a group of friends. More than 100 is clearly different. Given that there are usually _zero_ people rallying in Lansing, this is notable enough for the local newspaper.

cramcgrab 10mo ago

Since the population is around 112k-114k people that would be around 111,900 people didn’t rally on the low end.

DaSHacka 10mo ago
Lol, I prefer that version of the headline: "99.9% of residents did not show up to protest new datacenters in Michigan"
- noitpmeder 10mo ago
  You could use that same statistic for literally every protest ever, doesn't mean they're not worth the causes

vkou 10mo ago

> What's the threshold, three? The threshold is an organization organizing it. Getting 100 people out demonstrates your political power to your supporters and the people you seek to influence. Getting 1,000 people demonstrates that you have more of it.

evil-olive 10mo ago

if you read the article instead of just criticizing the headline: > They listened to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel criticizing the lack of transparency with DTE, the utility that's associated with the Saline Township proposal, and legislators who protested tax breaks for data center projects. > ... > "We're talking about 1.4 gigawatts, which is, of course, enough to provide energy to a city of a million people," Nessel said. "I think we should be taking this extremely seriously, don't you? Do you guys trust DTE? Do you trust Open AI? Do we trust Oracle to look out for our best interests here in Michigan?" this wasn't just a random group of 100 people, they were organized enough to get the state AG as well as multiple state legislators to speak. seems fairly newsworthy to me.

sankyo 10mo ago

It would be noteworthy if 100 people showed up to my 5 year old's piano recital. not so much for a 300 acre noisy, water hogging data center.

topspin 10mo ago

In Lansing, it was below freezing and windy most of the day. If I noticed 100 people standing around on the pavement for hours in that, I'd probably imagine they deserved at least some regard for their concerns. But then, I'm not a Michigan politician that needs to get gamer Johnny out of my basement and on to a cushy non-profit no-show kickback job, courtesy of whatever big tech outfit wants a data center.

ipnon 10mo ago

There is very little common space in Michigan. There is a lot of private land, and a lot of public land, but very few spaces where people congregate. So when they do, it stands out quite a bit.

lingrush4 10mo ago

It wouldn't be newsworthy if we could trust our representatives not give extra weight to the opinions of the people who yell the loudest.

al_borland 10mo ago

It’s not just this group. A co-worker of mine went to his town meeting about a proposed data center. When he showed up it was standing room only and they had to move the meeting to a bigger venue. I’ve heard stories like this from a few people now around Michigan where they have been trying to put data centers. No one wants them.

phantasmish 10mo ago

It’s a movement at 50[1]. [1] A. Guthrie, 1967