Entertainment
The NAACP is fighting back against AI data centers
xAI’s notorious data centers near Memphis, Tenn., are appropriately named Colossus 1 and Colossus 2. The supercomputers that power the Grok chatbot are indeed enormous — they’re also environmental menaces, according to the NAACP.
The civil rights organization sued Elon Musk’s xAI last year over Colossus’ numerous methane gas turbines, saying the company used a legal loophole to install them without permits and, in doing so, threatened the health of the nearby Black-majority community of Boxtown. Somewhat shockingly, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agreed with the NAACP, ruling in January 2026 that Colossus’ turbines were not exempt from air quality permit requirements. Curtailing the turbines, which emit nitrogen oxide into a community already dealing with high levels of pollution, was a victory for the NAACP and Abre’ Conner, director of the organization’s Center for Environmental and Climate Justice.
Just this month, Conner and the NAACP were buoyed when New York state introduced a three-year moratorium on data center construction, potentially giving legislators time to enact regulations for the energy-sucking facilities. Conner, a lawyer and longtime environmental justice leader, spoke with Mashable about her mission and how the data center build-out is reminiscent of the destructive highway construction of the last century.
Tell us why the NAACP is making data centers a priority.
Conner: A lot of the time, people will attribute the AI bubble that may pop up on their search screen to something that lives in the cloud, but it doesn’t. It uses physical infrastructure to power these AI requests.
The reason we’re so interested and concerned about this is that for decades, the NAACP has understood that environmental and climate justice issues are racial justice issues. A lot of the technology and promises, as it relates to energy, have shown up in Black communities and frontline communities in the past, from fracking to crypto mining.
A lot of this industrial build-out tends to be concentrated in particular places, and we saw that very pointedly last year when Elon Musk and xAI decided to build a data center near Boxtown, which is in south Memphis, and that’s a historically Black community. What was even more concerning was that there was a typical process you went through to get a permit, and then, at that point, it would be decided whether you could operate and what that operation should look like. And that data center was operating with unregulated methane gas turbines.
So we had concerns about whether we would see more of these operations now that you have tech billionaires [showing interest] in other communities. Of course, we did start to see the AI boom [manifest] throughout the year in different ways; different nondisclosure agreements being signed, backroom deals, and more pollution that was starting to be more concentrated in communities that have been fighting back against environmental and climate justice concerns for years.
[B]ecause it’s people in the tech space, they’re promising that somehow [the data centers are] different. Even though they’re using the same industrial build-out — the same types of diesel generator backups, methane gas — somehow that’s going to be less harmful to people’s health when it was done in the past.
What have these tech companies been telling community members?
[That’s] if they even show up and talk to the community members at all. A lot of times, they’re not talking to community members; they might be talking to one or two elected officials. They might talk to someone at an agency level, maybe. But there aren’t a lot of conversations actually happening with the people most impacted. That’s part of the problem — there’s not a lot of transparency. By the time people find out about it, the zoning is being redone, and construction may already be happening. In the case of xAI, they’re already operating, and then they want to go and have a conversation with the community after they’re already in it.
Because [the tech companies are] going into places where there’s been disinvestment over decades and decades, we’re seeing the same playbook used, like promising a community fair or investment in a school. That has nothing to do with the pollution they’re actually bringing into the communities, or the hundreds of millions of gallons of water they’re utilizing in order to run the data center, or the noise concerns. We’re seeing some of the same plays we saw in the coal-fired power plant boom, from fracking and crypto mining.
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But what’s interesting and different is that because it’s people in the tech space, they’re promising that somehow [the data centers are] different. Even though they’re using the same industrial build-out — the same types of diesel generator backups, methane gas — somehow that’s going to be less harmful to people’s health when it was done in the past.
Abre’ Conner at an NAACP event in Los Angeles.
Credit: Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images For NAACP
It seems reminiscent of the construction of the U.S. highway system in the 20th century, when Black and minority neighborhoods were leveled for the expressways. Are there parallels?
Absolutely. Redlining, the idea of NIMBYism, all that kind of framing is what we’re seeing now. There’s also this promise of a better future, but when people working at these companies are asked, “Would you want that data center in your backyard?” They’re like, “Well, let’s take a pause.”
When we look at redlining to highways to trains, there was a systemic racism component to it. If the [tech companies are] getting advised to, for example, build in places where there is already existing infrastructure, that is just going to deepen the environmental and climate concerns from people who don’t want more pollution in [their] communities.
I imagine the reaction from governments to data centers is very different depending on where they are. Tennessee, for example, is not a hotbed of environmental activism, while a state like New York is considering moratoriums on data centers. How does that geographic inconsistency affect your efforts?
For me, as someone who’s been doing environment and climate justice work for a decade and a half, what’s extremely hopeful for me is where seeing people across political lines, in urban and rural communities, all asking questions. They’re saying, “Do we have enough answers in order to move forward with a data center in our community?” That is something that’s really different than what we’ve seen in other industrial build-outs in the past.
People are asking, “Why are you signing a nondisclosure agreement about our public resources? Shouldn’t we be able to see what you’re all talking about if we’re paying taxes in this community? Shouldn’t we be part of that conversation?”
Because people are seeing their utility bills go up, they’re seeing the impacts of data centers even before one shows up. That’s changed the landscape of the conversation. That’s why we’re seeing places like New York, saying, “Do we have enough information to move forward?” In [the NAACP’s] playbook for 2026, that was something we shared. If there’s not enough information, call for a moratorium until you have the information needed to move forward in a way that feels responsible to the community that will feel those impacts.
Questions are being asked [of the tech companies, like], “OK, you’re saying jobs. How many?” The highest we’re seeing is in the dozens; a lot of them are temporary.
Are the tech companies trying to sell the idea of job creation with these data centers?
It’s absolutely the same playbook of, “There’s going to be jobs. It’s going to be good for the local economy. This is something we’re going to do in the cleanest way possible.” Questions are being asked [of the tech companies, like], “OK, you’re saying jobs. How many?” The highest we’re seeing is in the dozens; a lot of them are temporary, a lot of them are on the construction side, a lot of them are going to deepen the same concerns that we see when it comes to working on sites when you’re going to be exposed to a bunch of pollution non-stop.
In our frontline framework that we released last year, over 100 organizations, allies, and coalition partners came together to say that jobs cannot be more important than the health of the community members who live there.
What is it like working in environmental justice in 2026, when the federal government is so pro-AI and has expressed very little concern about the environment and minority communities?
When we saw Project 2025, we knew what that was going to look like. We knew there wasn’t going to be a rollback of our environment and climate protections. We knew that was coming.
For the NAACP, at our roots, it’s always been about people power. It’s been about highlighting what we could do with or without government support on the federal level.
Back in North Carolina, in Warren County, when you had a Black community saying, “We don’t want dumping in our community,” there wasn’t any federal government support per se at that time. The state was even saying, “Well, we’re not really sure we want to be involved in that.”
It was the people on the ground who mobilized and said, “We will not take this anymore.” They created the audience that was needed on the national level, and that’s what we’re seeing now. Even though we don’t have an administration at the federal level that is helpful, hopefully people are understanding just what this means. We’re in a midterm year; we have an opportunity to have people in office who represent our perspectives. The mobilization, the organizing, the work on the ground will always be there, and as long as we’re there with the communities willing to push back, I think we still have a fighting chance regardless of who’s in office.
Read more about the NAACP’s environmental work here.
Entertainment
This Microsoft Office 2021 and Windows 11 Pro bundle drops to under $50
TL;DR: A lifetime license for Microsoft Office Professional 2021 bundled with Windows 11 Pro is on sale for $44.97 (reg. $418.99) through Feb. 22 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
$44.97
$418.99
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Microsoft Office remains a fundamental software for work and school, but subscription fees aren’t for everyone. For those who prefer a one-and-done approach, this bundle pairs a lifetime license for Microsoft Office Professional 2021 with Windows 11 Pro for $44.97 (reg. $418.99) through Feb. 22 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Office 2021 Professional delivers the core suite that remains central to many daily routines: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, Access, and Teams. These are full desktop versions, which are ideal for those who want offline access and a traditional layout. The familiar ribbon interface streamlines document creation and analysis, offering customization for layouts, fonts, and formatting. For those who don’t need cloud-first tools, Office 2021’s setup is a practical advantage.
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The bundle’s other half is Windows 11 Pro, Microsoft’s current professional-grade operating system. Along with a streamlined design, it offers productivity and security features like BitLocker encryption, Windows Sandbox, Hyper-V virtualization, and advanced account controls. Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant, is also integrated — ready to summarize web pages, generate drafts, answer questions, or change settings from the taskbar.
This is a one-time purchase, not a Microsoft 365 subscription, so it does not include ongoing feature updates or cloud storage perks. Hardware requirements are modest — 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage — but users should still check compatibility before upgrading.
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This deal is well-suited for professionals, students, or small-business owners who prefer to own their software and skip subscription extras. If you fall into that group, $44.97 is a stellar price for securing both Office tools and Windows 11 Pro with no recurring fees. For those weighing their options, this bundle offers value and simplicity in one purchase. Get it today at this low price until Feb. 22 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Entertainment
The Iconic, R-Rated 90s Video Game That's Screaming For A Film Adaptation
By Robert Scucci
| Published
If you grew up in the 90s playing first-person shooters on MS-DOS, you probably have fond memories of sneaking in sessions of Duke Nukem 3D. While we never had gaming consoles in my household, my parents had no qualms about me playing PC games like Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein. For reasons I will never fully understand, Super Mario Bros. was forbidden fare, but blasting space demons and zombies with rocket launchers and mowing down Nazis with machine guns was considered a perfectly acceptable way to spend a rainy afternoon.
I think the real reason was that my parents did not want to spend money on a console when we already had a perfectly good computer sitting in the family room. In retrospect, I kind of respect that decision. It meant I had access to adventure puzzle games like The Seventh Guest and Myst, along with the above-mentioned shooters that were absolutely not meant for kids my age.
In 1996, Duke Nukem 3D was everywhere, and I remember watching my dad get hooked on it one weekend in his office. I could hear explosions and laughter through the door, which naturally made me curious. That was my introduction to a game that was wildly inappropriate for a kid, but I was lucky enough to have parents who let me watch R-rated action movies as long as we talked about why certain behaviors on screen were not meant to be copied in real life.
That brings me to the real heart of this article. Why, in the year 2026, do we still not have a Duke Nukem movie? The property feels tailor-made for an R-rated action comedy. It is violent, self-aware, and ridiculous. There are strippers and aliens, pigs dressed as cops, lizard troopers, and catchphrases pulled straight from films like Aliens, Dirty Harry, They Live, Jaws, and Pulp Fiction. Duke Nukem 3D is routinely cited as one of the greatest video games ever made, and the franchise reportedly generated well over a billion dollars by the early 2000s. A faithful adaptation would go absolutely gangbusters.
A Simple Yet Effective Action Hero
A movie based on the Duke Nukem character would not be difficult to pull off because the story is intentionally lean. Duke arrives in Los Angeles aboard his space cruiser, ready for a much-needed vacation. His ship gets shot down by aliens who have invaded and taken over the city, and he is understandably irritated about having to clean up their mess. Armed with his Mighty Foot and an arsenal that includes shotguns, triple-barrelled chain guns, grenade launchers, and pipe bombs, Duke tears through Assault Troopers, Pig Cops, Battlelord Sentries, and Enforcers.
What truly sets Duke Nukem 3D apart from its contemporaries is how interactive the environments are. Duke crawls through air vents, blows apart buildings by hitting detonation switches that are just laying around willy-nilly, kicks fire hydrants and drinks from water fountains to power up, and even tips strippers for a quick show before getting back to work. It is juvenile, excessive, and completely unapologetic. When Duke says he is here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, a quote attributed to Roddy Piper in They Live!, he means it.
The amount of controversy the game attracted from special interest groups over its content is exactly why Duke Nukem would thrive as an R-rated action comedy today. With the right creative team attached, the tone does not need to be reinvented or overhauled at all.
Attempts Have Been Made
There has never been a shortage of interest in bringing Duke Nukem to the big screen. As early as 2001, when the franchise was riding high, Threshold Entertainment attempted to get a feature film off the ground, but it never made it out of development. Another effort surfaced in 2008 from Max Payne producer Scott Faye, though that version stalled just as quickly.
The closest we came to a Duke Nukem movie was in 2018, when Paramount Pictures and Platinum Dunes were having discussions with John Cena to take on the lead role. It was a near-perfect casting choice, but the rights were in transition at the time, and the project was quietly shelved.
The most recent development came in 2022, when Legendary Entertainment announced that it had acquired the rights to produce a Duke Nukem film, with Cobra Kai creators Josh Heald and Jon Hurwitz attached. Since then, updates have been scarce, which unfortunately feels par for the course for this franchise.
If it takes another five years for anything concrete to happen, so be it. I just hope Cena is still able to step into the role. Projects like Ricky Stanicky have already proven that his comedic timing is a perfect match for a character like Duke Nukem. The image of him kicking a fire hydrant for health before tossing a pipe bomb into a movie theater and getting frisky with the ladies deserves to exist outside of my imagination.
What this movie needs is simple. Enemies that respawn endlessly, one-liners delivered without restraint, and waves of identical henchmen getting obliterated as Duke reluctantly fights his way back to vacation. This does not need to be high art. It needs to be an ultra-violent alien invasion, solved by the coolest video game character to ever appear on a computer screen.
Entertainment
Keanu Reeves' Sci-Fi Stoner Comedy Is Secretly The Best Sequel Ever
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure proved to be a breakout smash, appealing to sci-fi fans with its time-traveling plot and appealing to general audiences with its affable stoner comedy. The movie (the first big role for former John Wick icon Keanu Reeves) soon got a sequel, one that broke all the rules and subverted all of our expectations. You can now stream this underrated film for free on Tubi and discover for yourself why Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) might secretly be the best sequel ever made.
The premise of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is that the titular duo are inexplicably responsible for creating a future utopia, but a bad guy who wants to stop the party sends robot duplicates to kill our heroes in the present day. These bad bots actually succeed, throwing Bill and Ted to their doom before these would-be rock stars can win a local Battle of the Bands. But these two meatheads won’t let a little thing like death keep them down, and once they run into a new frenemy in the afterlife, they realize that their bogus journey is just beginning.
Sci-Fi’s Slacker Dream Team Returns
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey has a tight cast of excellent performers, including George Carlin (best known outside this franchise for Dogma) as a groovy mentor from the day after tomorrow. The Grim Reaper is played to hilarious perfection, by William Sadler (best known for Shawshank Redemption), while Alex Winter (best known Adulthood) plays one half of the titular time-trippers. The other is played by Keanu Reeves, who transformed the notoriety of this franchise into headlining roles in action masterpieces like The Matrix and John Wick.
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey wasn’t so bogus for audiences: against a budget of $20 million, this film earned $38 million. This was less than the original movie, and Bogus Journey was considered a minor failure until it earned a cult following on home video and streaming. That cult following helped this movie get a sequel, and 2020 (the pandemic? Talk about a bogus journey!) saw the release of the long-awaited Bill and Ted Face the Music.
Declared DOA By The Critics
When Bill& Ted’s Bogus Journey came out, many reviewers decided this sequel was totally heinous. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 56 percent rating, with critics acknowledging that this follow-up film had the same sense of humor as the groundbreaking first film and the same cast giving the script everything they had. They just felt like this second trip to the well delivered diminished returns compared to their original romp through time and space.
However, the movie impressed certain reviewers more than others, including legendary film critic Roger Ebert. In his review, Ebert said that Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is “the kind of movie where you start out snickering in spite of yourself, and end up actually admiring the originality that went into creating this hallucinatory slapstick.” This is a solid take, and the movie is filled with so many deliciously stupid punchlines that it’s easy to forget how smart the setup to these jokes really is.
A Sequel That Raises The Stakes
I’ll actually go one better than the late, great Ebert and say that Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is secretly the best sequel ever made. It would have been insanely easy to just give us a lame retread of the first film, with our not-so-dynamic duo traveling to more time periods and teaming up with more historical figures. Instead, the sequel zigs wherever you expect it to zag, sending our boys to Heaven and Hell in sequences that further our understanding of these characters in unexpectedly complex ways.
It helps that Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey adds fun new characters, including both the evil robots and the Grim Reaper. William Sadler is always game for genre work, and he turns his Reaper into the best kind of comic figure: a man who takes himself way too seriously. Watching him get his butt kicked in board games is hilarious, and by the end of the movie, he proves himself to be the ultimate third wheel of Wild Stallyns, a band that might just save the world.
A Hauntingly Good Sequel
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey will appeal to sci-fi fans looking for something more lighthearted to watch, but it also has undeniable mass appeal thanks to its witty writing, rapid-fire jokes, and affable cast. It’s the kind of movie you can put on at a party, and people can vibe out with between conversations. But it’s also the kind of movie you can watch on your own to enjoy its surprising depth, sophistication, and craft.
Will you agree that Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is the best sequel ever made, or would you like to send this ‘90s classic on a one-way trip to the past? The only way to find out is to stream this quirky comedy for free on Tubi. If nothing else, this is the perfect way to see how future action icon Keanu Reeves got his start!
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