December 27, 2025 / updated December 29, 2025
by Mark Tiler Richmond, Politics & Law Correspondent and Paul B. Macro, Business & Economics Reporter
Both sides of the data center moratorium debate have begun mobilizing for the Bricklyn Federal Council’s January 6, 2026 meeting to be held at the Bricklyn Longhouse — a venue used for meetings when a large crowd is expected.
The data center moratorium resolution, introduced by long-time Federal Councilor Bob Senbrick, would block any applications for data centers for up to two years, during which time the Federal Council would assess whether current regulations are adequate to deal with likely data centers and their impacts. For the full text of the proposed moratorium resolution.
Colorful competing posters are visible on streets throughout the Tri-Partite Realm, having been hammered or stapled in place at a pace usually only seen when Federal Council elections take place. Here are two of the most prominently displayed posters. The first (immediately below) shows a “Mr. Data Center” speaking out against the moratorium resolution. The second highlights data centers as energy guzzlers.
Above poster distributed by the Coalition to Build a Better Bricklyn, a group just formed by the Bricklyn Chamber of Commerce to advocate against the proposed moratorium.
The poster below is from the Bricklyn Environmental Alliance which is coordinating efforts by those supporting the data center moratorium resolution.
➤ READERS: Please see the Note from the Editor at the bottom of this page for important additional information about this poster.
We welcome Letters to the Editor. Please email to: bricklynvt@gmail.com
To the Editor: My, oh my! Isn’t it too much that the Bricklyn Environmental Alliance, the very group leading the charge against data centers and artificial intelligence, has used a graphic that I’d bet was generated by AI! Admit the truth you tree-huggers, you also love to use AI. — Bartholomew Roberts Fortune, Bricklyn, VT.
To the Editor: On behalf of the Bricklyn Environmental Alliance (BEA), I want to apologize to our fellow Bricklynites about the error we made in not realizing that the illustration we used for our support the data center moratorium poster was generated by use of AI. The illustration was provided us by an excited new member of the BEA. He told us that he had drawn it, and we believed him as our AI proofreader (also a new member) failed to do the required AI check for the illustration.
We’re looking further into how all this occurred. But suffice it to say that this mistake further strengthens our concerns about the insidious nature of AI, when it is now becoming increasingly difficult to tell AI-generated art from art made by sentient people such us Bricklynites. — Jenny Brickdeur, Director of the Bricklyn Environmental Alliance (BEA), Bricklyn, VT.
➤ Note from the Editor:
posted Dec. 29, 2025
Let’s Check the Facts:
In light of the letter to the editor we received and published (see above) from “Bartholomew Roberts Fortune,” along with the reply letter from. Jenny Brickdeur, Executive Director of the Bricklyn Environmental Alliance,, we at The Bricklyn Eagle did some fact checking of our own and contacted both BMr. Fortune and Ms. Brickdeur. Here is what we discovered.
Bartholomew Roberts with his ship, The Fortune, and captured merchant ships in the background. A copper engraving from A History of the Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson c. 1724. From Wikimedia..
Pirating a Name:
To begin with, when asked about his name, Mr. Fortune quickly acknowledged that his real name is Mason B. Blair, and that he used his “pirate” pseudonym in his letter to The Bricklyn Eagle, as well as on other occasions. The name is that of the early 18th century Bricklyn-born pirate, Bartholomew Roberts Fortune.
Seeing this apparent pseudonym being used, we should have questioned the identity of the individual sending us the letter to the editor.
Even more importantly, we should have recalled that a man using this pseudonym had been arrested two years for donut theft — a crime that cuts to the moral fibre of Bricklyn. The Bricklyn Eagle, in its Sept. 30, 2023 print edition briefly noted this arrest in our Police Blotter column (not available in the online Outland-oriented edition of The Bricklyn Eagle).
Seeking to Trick the Bricklyn Environmental Alliance:
Further discussion with Mr. Blair revealed that just two weeks ago he joined the Bricklyn Environmental Alliance and volunteered to design a pro moratorium poster for BEA, citing his experience as a graphic artist — in fact, Blair has no experience as an illustrator or cartoonist.
Mr. Blair told us that he recruited a friend to also join and volunteer at BEA. This individual offered to help the organization detect the use of AI in text and image. Blair’s friend falsely vouched that Mr. Blair was the creator of pro moratorium (“Eat More Energy”) poster, which BEA subsequently distributed throughout the Realm of Bricklyn.
Payoff for Tricking the BEA into Using the AI Generated Poster:
But most damning of all, Blair told us the scheme was the brainchild of someone from the Bricklyn Chamber of Commerce. Blair and his friend were each to be paid 1,000 CuDos (roughly $750 U.S.) as soon as the Bricklyn Environmental Alliance made use of Blair’s AI-generated “Eat More Energy” data center poster. Mr. Blair also knew from his informant that the Chamber would then mock the fact that the BEA was using an AI-generated poster, potentially damaging the credibility of the BEA in advance of the Federal Council’s January 6th meeting.
The Bricklyn Chamber of Commerce & the Bricklyn Environmental Alliance Respond:
We asked Tom Brickorti, CEO of the Bricklyn Chamber of Commerce, to respond to what we learned. Brickorti told us he was “shocked” and could “in no way condone what happened,” adding that “the Chamber will also investigate this bizarre and misguided scheme. What’s we will issue a full apology to Ms. Brickdeur and members of the BEA.”
Ms. Brickdeur told us that she will discuss the matter with the BEA Board of Directors to determine what, if any, further steps the BEA will take.
In the meantime, given the newsworthiness of the above incident, we are leaving posted the images of the two data center related posters, but with an alert to our readers to be sure to view this Note from the Editor.
To the Editor: Thank you for revealing who was behind this sorry whodunit. I should also acknowledge that I’m a small business owner (of Bonnie’s Fudges downtown) who recently joined the Bricklyn Environmental Alliance because of my concerns about AI. But I do have a question for Editor Brickman. Do you vouch that you wrote the Note from the Editor you just published without any use of ChatGPT or other AI? — Bonnie Plater Berensen, Bricklyn Jct., VT.
Reply from the Editor: None of the text in the Note from the Editor was generated by AI. But we did use AI for help in generating our photo illustrations. We’ve explained our use of AI at greater length on our page: “On the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence by The Bricklyn Eagle.”
Previously posted in The Bricklyn Eagle:
➤ 12.20.25: Does the Office of the Chief Prognosticator Use ChatGPT or Other AI Programs?
➤ 12.16.25: Data Center Moratorium Resolution Introduced. Hearing Scheduled
➤ 12.01.25: Does a Moratorium on Data Centers Make Sense for Bricklyn?
➤ 11.28.25: Federal Council Member Calls for Two-Year Moratorium on New Data Centers
