Good afternoon.

I recently joined the movement to push back on Spotify for running ads for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). I cancelled my long-time subscription and am now navigating the questionable interface of Apple Music.

Look. I’m not so naive that I think Apple is somehow a perfectly moral company.

But I’m also not so nihilistic that when I come across a tangible way, even small ones, that I can put my money where my values are, then I do my best to do what I can.  

Below, I share what I learned at last week’s data center town hall in Ashburn and lament the billions of dollars President Donald Trump wants to spend to clean up his tariff mess. 

Plus, I don’t care how rich and successful he is, I feel bad for Eddie Murphy. 

US Rep. Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia’s 10th congressional district takes questions at a town hall in Ashburn on December 4, 2025. (Michael O’Connor/Dogwood)

I spent Thursday evening inside the auditorium of Loudoun County’s Stone Hill Middle School listening to dozens of people lament the proliferation of data centers and the rise of AI. 

I learned two things. 

First, the anger over data centers is real. I’ve read about it for a while now but this was my first time hearing about it directly from people. 

And second, a lot of the anger over data centers in Virginia is focused on the massive transmission lines needed to power them. Min Pak and Maritess Pak, a husband and wife, each shared their deep fears about the impacts a power line proposed to run near their home would have on their children. 

A hearing about the power line, dubbed the Golden to Mars Transmission Line Project, is slated for Dec. 15 and Loudoun residents are mobilizing against it. 

Kerry Canfield is among them, and she too has concerns about these power lines. She asked the elected leaders on hand not to refer to them as “power lines” given how much bigger they are than typical power lines.

“We don’t know the health ramifications of those, we don’t know the community ramifications of those,” Canfield said of the power lines. “We need a solution now.” 

One solution many are pushing for is for transmission lines to be buried underground, which is more expensive than having them above ground. State Del. JJ Singh and state Sen. Kannan Srinivasan, who were both on hand to hear residents’ concerns, have been working in the General Assembly to put transmission lines underground, but it’s proven to be no easy task. 

“We faced significant pushback in the Senate on that bill for a few reasons,” Singh said of recent legislation. “In particular, the data center industry is very powerful.”

• Speaking of data centers, Dave Ress at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has a report that includes a look at how much political influence the industry is buying in Virginia.                                                                                                                             

• State Sen. Louise Lucas is pushing back on claims that Fairfax County doesn’t get a fair amount of funding from the state. “The days of Fairfax County taking advantage of my constituents is over,” Lucas posted on X. “We will not be bullied or lied to by the richest community in the Commonwealth that is constantly begging us for more funding.”

• The New York Times reports on the unsettling new way grocery stores are using AI to charge shoppers, including a middle-school teacher in Virginia, different prices. You can watch More Perfect Union explain what’s known as “surveillance pricing,” too. 

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on the red carpet while arriving to attend the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President Donald Trump’s style of governance can be frustrating, to put it mildly.

But the mess he’s made with tariffs is particularly infuriating because their risks were well understood: tariffs, economists warned, would raise prices for consumers and put the squeeze on small businesses. 

Countries were expected to and did respond with targeted economic tactics of their own. China’s boycott of American crops has hurt farmers. And so, Trump is using federal dollars to bail out American farmers for a situation he created. 

The New York Times lede in its coverage sums things up nicely: “President Trump rolled out a $12 billion bailout for struggling farmers on Monday as he looks to shore up the finances of some of his most loyal supporters whose financial fortunes have been hurt by his trade war.”

So much for the administration’s obsession with cutting government spending. 

Agriculture is a huge industry for our state, and I hope to connect with farmers in the weeks ahead who can shed more light on their experiences. 

Please be in touch if you know of any or have any thoughts yourself. You can reach me at michaeloconnor@couriernewsroom.com. 

Honoree actor-comedian Eddie Murphy attends the WSJ. Magazine 2019 Innovator Awards in New York on Nov. 6, 2019. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

It’s no hot take to say that Eddie Murphy is one of the greatest comedians of all time. 

But for anyone who needs convincing, direct them to the new Netflix documentary, Being Eddie. 

As a guy raised on the Nutty Professor, Life, and Holy Man, I grew up with his signature laugh and brilliant acting imprinted on my pop culture soul. This background made Being Eddie a fun and entertaining watch. 

But reader, I was struck by the deep sadness Murphy seems to carry with him. From the challenges of his childhood, to his dizzying rise to fame, and now as an artist working in the lonely heights of his profession, it was hard not to feel bad for the guy—even if he lives in a home with a retractable roof. 

I’ll end with a paraphrase of one of my favorite lines Murphy said in the documentary: If you put your kids first in life, you’ll never make a mistake. 

May every parent, myself included, live up to that worthy goal.

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