A Farmer Arrested for Going 5 Seconds over His Time Limit at Data Center Meeting • Hacker News Board

Re: A Farmer Arrested for Going 5 Seconds over His Time Limit at Data Center Meeting

#21

Post by cranky908canuck » Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 9:11 PM UTC

psidebot wrote: post #16

The article definitely misrepresents what's in the video. He wasn't arrested for speaking 5 seconds over. He was standing right in front of the councilors shuffling papers back and forth for nearly a minute while the crowd was screaming and clapping. Officers asked him to leave, then told him to leave multiple times he categorically refused, all while public order was progressively deteriorating.

If you google "farmer name activist" the results light up like a christmas tree. (Where the actual name is substituted in, of course.)

Regardless of the merits of the actual issue being protested, presenting this as "poor innocent farmer arrested for going five seconds over" doesn't seem accurate.

I previously observed that of course getting arrested wasn't something he would have planned...

OTOH, given that this is the second time the "five seconds over" story has been posted to HN, seems like somebody is leveraging the 'Streisand Effect'.

Re: A Farmer Arrested for Going 5 Seconds over His Time Limit at Data Center Meeting

#22

Post by mindslight » Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 9:17 PM UTC

helterskelter wrote: post #19

_russross wrote: post #18

I don't have a problem with data centers and would welcome one nearby if it was a good deal for the area. But I'd want binding contractual agreements about environmental guarantees and requirements for building out new renewable energy generating capacity of 100% or even 150% of what the data center itself needs (and not just outbidding buyers of existing grid capacity). Instead we are handing out regulation waivers…

Problem is that there's always some poorer community, or one with more corrupt government officials, willing to allow a buildout for next to nothing. And when they plug into the grid the next county or state over you're electric rates are going up anyway.

The other problem is the rule of law is breaking down, so those contractual promises aren't really binding - rather the federal regime can always override any such restrictions with tales about energy policy or needing to compete with China (even as they squander our advantages on both). When you're one bribe away from being on the end of a vice signalling two minute hate, it's best to not give them a foothold in the first place.

Re: A Farmer Arrested for Going 5 Seconds over His Time Limit at Data Center Meeting

#23

Post by mindslight » Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 9:21 PM UTC

pokstad wrote: post #15

thot_experiment wrote: post #3

No actual human fucking wants data centers. Every day I wake up and it feels we're moving closer to torches, pitchforks and guillotines.

You’re posting on a website hosted in a data center. Lack of self awareness.

First, this is just the standard "You're criticizing X, yet you use X. Checkmate" trope.

Second, there is an obvious difference in scale here which you're ignoring.

Third, a website that can run on a pair of servers doesn't actually need to be, and the world would be better off if fewer were.

Re: A Farmer Arrested for Going 5 Seconds over His Time Limit at Data Center Meeting

#24

Post by saulpw » Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 9:21 PM UTC

helterskelter wrote: post #19

_russross wrote: post #18

I don't have a problem with data centers and would welcome one nearby if it was a good deal for the area. But I'd want binding contractual agreements about environmental guarantees and requirements for building out new renewable energy generating capacity of 100% or even 150% of what the data center itself needs (and not just outbidding buyers of existing grid capacity). Instead we are handing out regulation waivers…

Problem is that there's always some poorer community, or one with more corrupt government officials, willing to allow a buildout for next to nothing. And when they plug into the grid the next county or state over you're electric rates are going up anyway.

Okay, and? Just because they'll find some other place to put it with worse terms, doesn't mean you should let them have it in their preferred location with bad terms.

Re: A Farmer Arrested for Going 5 Seconds over His Time Limit at Data Center Meeting

#25

Post by IncreasePosts » Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 9:21 PM UTC

philajan wrote: post #17

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #5

Do we have a better source for this story? Ideally with updates?

The local news includes the body cam video. Summary: The farmer was asked to leave by an officer. The farmer acknowledges the request and then walks to the head table to start handing the members documents. He was asked again to leave a couple of more times replying with “On what grounds” and then comes the “…flat and final ‘Arrest him’” that the article mentions. Some context was left out between the his three minut…

This reminds me of a kid in my college who got "tazed for not using his blinker", but what really happened is he got pulled over for not using his blinker, refused to give ID, refused to get out of the car to be arrested, and then fought the officer as he tried to pull him out of the car

Re: A Farmer Arrested for Going 5 Seconds over His Time Limit at Data Center Meeting

#26

Post by binary132 » Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 9:22 PM UTC

patrick451 wrote: post #11

IncreasePosts wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No human wants data centers but lots of humans want to use services provided by data centers.

The boom in datacenter construction is driven mostly by the AI boom and most of us are sick everything AI too. We don't want to read AI slop, watch AI videos, talk AI customer service or visit a vibe coded website.

Don’t forget getting targeted for scams by slopbots on forums and chat platforms

Re: A Farmer Arrested for Going 5 Seconds over His Time Limit at Data Center Meeting

#27

Post by bvcp » Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 9:25 PM UTC

thot_experiment wrote: post #3

No actual human fucking wants data centers. Every day I wake up and it feels we're moving closer to torches, pitchforks and guillotines.

Apart from water usage which can be solved by using recycled water or closed loop cooling i fail to see what all the hysteria is over. Communities dont own power production and if usage causes costs to increase then investment in more production will follow.

The level of vitriol i see in all countries over data centers is looking more and more as a proxy against ai.

You can really see how a terrawatt of ai compute in space will make alot of sense vs on earth.

Re: A Farmer Arrested for Going 5 Seconds over His Time Limit at Data Center Meeting

#28

Post by alex0015 » Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 9:25 PM UTC

teeray wrote: post #10

IncreasePosts wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No human wants data centers but lots of humans want to use services provided by data centers.

The intersection of users and neighbors of AI data centers is probably much smaller than you think.

I can imagine a situation where this is true, like if it was used by some company to train an internal model or a model that never got released.

But even assuming the data center was only used for AI model training, more or less everyone who uses any electronics now either uses generative AI directly themselves or uses services whose employees use generative AI at work to create those services. AI is extremely popular and widespread now among many large and diverse groups of people.

Re: A Farmer Arrested for Going 5 Seconds over His Time Limit at Data Center Meeting

#29

Post by Avicebron » Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 9:26 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #7

thot_experiment wrote: post #3

No actual human fucking wants data centers. Every day I wake up and it feels we're moving closer to torches, pitchforks and guillotines.

> Every day I wake up and it feels we're moving closer to torches, pitchforks and guillotines The billionaires who are consolidating control over the media and social media would want nothing more.

You keep saying this, care to explain?

Re: A Farmer Arrested for Going 5 Seconds over His Time Limit at Data Center Meeting

#30

Post by zzrrt » Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 9:27 PM UTC

pokstad wrote: post #15

thot_experiment wrote: post #3

No actual human fucking wants data centers. Every day I wake up and it feels we're moving closer to torches, pitchforks and guillotines.

You’re posting on a website hosted in a data center. Lack of self awareness.

The data center hosting this website is already built, unlike the ones people are fighting against.

I'll grant the general public may not understand enough that they already rely on "datacenters", but there are reasonable arguments against gigawatt buildouts for AI, while still using technologies that run in datacenters in general.