Author Archives: Walt Brickman, Editor, The Bricklyn Eagle

Data Center Moratorium Supporters & Opponents Mobilize Amidst Evidence of Poster Chicanery

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.

Federal Council member Bob Senbrick — Councilor Bob Senbrick. credit; Bricklyn Eagle photographer Ann Tiler Anderson, with help from DallE-3 AI.

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.

Illustration of a character named Mr. Data Center, a smiling robot with three server racks, promoting opposition to a data center moratorium with speech bubbles saying 'We love AI', 'Energize me!', 'No Moratorium!', and 'Build more of us!'

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.

A colorful poster depicting a large, cartoonish face on a building, expressing opposition to energy-guzzling data centers, with the text 'We don’t need energy guzzling data centers!' and 'EAT MORE ENERGY!!'. The background features wind turbines and solar panels.

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.

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).

A pirate-themed LEGO figure holding a sign that reads 'ARREST: DONUT THEFT 09/28/23', with a police officer holding a donut in the background. — Mr. Mason B. Blair (aka Pirate Bartholomew Roberts Fortune). Photo taken on Sept. 19, 2023 at Bricklyn Police HQ. Arrest for theft of police donuts, a Class A misdemeanor. Police photo prepared with assistance of GPT-4o AI.

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.

Tom Brickorti of the Bricklyn Chamber of Commerce — Tom Brickorti, CEO of the Bricklyn Chamber of Commerce. Photo from Bricklyn Eagle archives.

Jenny Brickdeur, Director of the Bricklyn Environmental Alliance. credit: Eagle photographer Ann Tiler Anderson, with assistance of GPT-4o AI.

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

Does the Office of the Chief Prognosticator Use ChatGPT or Other AI Programs?

Dec. 20, 2025

by Mark Tiler Richmond, Politics & Law Correspondent and Paul B. Macro, Business & Economics Reporter

In light of the Federal Council’s decision to request the advice of Bricklyn’s Chief Prognosticator on the wisdom of adopting a two-year moratorium on the approval of new data centers, The Bricklyn Eagle wanted to know the extent to which the Office of the Chief Prognosticator is currently using artificial intelligence programs, like ChatGPT.

Deputy Prognosticator Henry Wasserbrick told us that he could not respond to our question because “the Office of the Chief Prognosticator’s data collection and analysis methodologies have always been, and remain, confidential.”

Three Lego figures in a library setting, one wearing a wizard hat and reading a newspaper, with two others observing. Computer screens display data charts in the background. — Staff of the Office of the Chief Prognosticator. From left to right: Deputy Prognosticator Henry Wasserbrick; Chief Prognosticator David Bricks; and Assistant Prognosticator Andrew Tiler Sørensen. Credit: Bricklyn Eagle staff photographer Ann Tiler Anderson, with assistance from DALLE-3 AI.

As Wasserbrick noted: “The integrity of the Chief Prognosticator’s role is vital. Ever since the position of Chief Prognosticator was established it has relied on a data-driven, but intuitive and iterative processes known only to the Chief Prognosticator, the Deputy, and the Assistant to the Chief.”

“But it should be kept in mind,” Wasserbrick added, “that any report we provide to the Council will be just one of a number of pieces of information the Federal Council will have before them. I cannot stress enough that they are the decision makers, not the Chief Prognosticator.”

Was AI Used in the Chief Prognosticator’s Report on the Value of Mediation in Bricklyn?

Cover page of a report titled 'An Evaluation of the Value of Mediation to Resolve Disputes in Bricklyn', prepared by the Office of the Chief Prognosticator. The design features a blue background with computer graphics and the date 'August 11, 2025'.

The Bricklyn Eagle asked Miles Smartbrick, Associate Professor of Data Sciences at Bricklyn University, to examine the most recent report prepared by the Office of the Chief Prognosticator, titled An Evaluation of the Value of Mediation to Resolve Disputes in Bricklyn, to determine whether any of that report was generated using artificial intelligence.

As Professor Smartbrick told us, “I read the report and then analyzed its text using three well-reputed AI text detection programs. The programs respectively found that between two and four percent of the report may have been generated by AI. Those low percentages make it very likely, but not conclusive, that AI was NOT used in preparing the report on the value of mediation.”

A LEGO scene depicting two characters sitting at a desk in an office filled with books, discussing something with a microphone and documents in front of them. — Professor Miles Smartbrick (on left) and Bricklyn Eagle reporter Mark Tiler Richmond (on right) in Smartbrick’s Bricklyn University office. Credit: Eagle staff photographer Ann Tiler Anderson, with assistance of DallE-3 AI.

Smartbrick added two cautionary notes:

“Unfortunately, there appears to be a sort of ‘arms race’ in terms of detecting AI. I say that because there is now anti-detection software which ‘reprocesses’ AI-generated text to avoid detection of its origins as Ai. One writer has called this ‘AI fighting against Ai.’

“What’s more,” continued Smartbrick, “even if it is highly probable that the report was not AI-generated, this tells us next to nothing about whether the Office of the Chief Prognosticator used AI as a research tool or for general brainstorming on how they might focus their research into the value of mediation.”

“Finally, I need to add,” said Smartbrick, “I have no idea how the Office of the Chief Prognosticator melds data analysis with its own supposedly ‘intuitive’ insights. That’s why a number of us consider the Realm’s use of a prognosticator a form of ‘magical thinking’ that makes little scientific sense.”

Deputy Prognosticator Wasserbrick responded to Professor Smartbrick’s comments by indicating that he could not reveal the Chief Prognosticator’s methodology in preparing the report on the value of mediation, or any other report. Wasserbrick acknowledged that the Chief Prognosticator’s approach might seem to be “opaque,” but noted that this very opaqueness serves to shield the Office of the Chief Prognosticator from political influences and other outside pressure. As Wasserbrick explained:

“The Chief Prognosticator has a proven track record of providing useful advice to the Federal Council. Having said that, I must again stress that final decisions remain in the hands of the Council; we do not push for the adoption of any actions we might recommend, though, of course, we will explain to members of the Federal Council anything that is not clear from our written comments or reports.” ✥

Previously posted in The Bricklyn Eagle:

➤ 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

Colorful illustration of a stylized eagle head made of building blocks, featuring a prominent beak and bright blue eyes, set against a blue background with colorful circular elements.

We welcome Letters to the Editor. Please email to: bricklynvt@gmail.com

A stylized cartoon character resembling a politician with gray hair and a confident smile, standing at a podium with a microphone in a government setting. — Saul Burntbrick. Credit: Eagle staff photographer Ann Tiler Anderson, with assistance from DALLE-3 AI.

To the Editor: We want to thank The Bricklyn Eagle for looking into the culture of secrecy that seems to pervade the Office of the Chief Prognosticator. As Director of ROB-PIRG (the Realm of Bricklyn Public Interest Research Group) I can plainly say that our members were taken aback in hearing that our Chief Prognosticator cannot even tell your reporter whether his Office makes use of AI such as ChatGPT.

Instead, he sends out his Deputy to tell us that the Office of the Chief Prognosticator sees being “opaque” in refusing to talk about its methodology as a virtue!

ROB-PIRG is asking the Federal Council to immediately withdraw its request for advice from the Chief Prognosticator on the data center moratorium resolution. Let the public speak on this important resolution, not the Office of the Chief Prognosticator which may well find itself the beneficiary of the rapid growth of AI and data centers. — Saul Burntbrick, Bricklyn Jct., VT.

To the Editor: What a kerfuffle! While the business community has not always agreed with the advice the Chief Prognosticator has given the Federal Council, we have always found the Chief and his staff to be intelligent, perceptive individuals who put aside any bias they might personally have on any particular issue. Whether or not they use AI in their work is of no relevance to how they will assess the moratorium resolution.

Clearly we oppose this resolution (for a number of reasons that we will present to the Federal Council), but just as clearly we honor, not impugn, the decades of valued advice the Office of the Chief Prognosticator has provided our Realm. — Tom Brickorti, CEO of the Bricklyn Chamber of Commerce.

Data Center Moratorium Resolution Introduced. Hearing Scheduled.

December 16, 2025

by Mark Tiler Richmond, Politics & Law Correspondent

As expected, Federal Councilor Bob Senbrick at last night’s Bricklyn Federal Council meeting introduced a resolution calling for a two-year moratorium on the construction of any new data centers [link is to full text of resolution].

Proposed resolution document for a two-year moratorium on new data centers in the Tri-Partite Realm of Bricklyn, featuring the Bricklyn Federal Council seal.

Bricklyn Federal Council member Bob Senbrick — Councilor Senbrick. credit: Eagle photographer Ann Tiler Anderson, with assistance of GPT-4.o.

A group of LEGO figures representing a Federal Council meeting, with members seated at a table labeled 'FEDERAL COUNCIL'. — Council President Hilma Plater-Zybrick (center) and members of the Federal Council of the Realm of Bricklyn. credit: Eagle staff photographer Ann Tiler Anderson, with assistance of Dall E-3 AI.

The Council unanimously adopted Federal Council President Hilma Plater-Zybrick’s motion to schedule a public hearing on Senbrick’s resolution for Tuesday, January 6, 2026 and request comments from the Chief Prognosticator of the Realm no later than Friday, January 2, 2026.

As Plater-Zybrick noted:
“This is clearly a controversial issue facing our Realm. In light of its significant potential impacts, and in accordance with our Constitution’s provision that the Federal Council may request the advice of the Chief Prognosticator of the Realm on any matter the Council deems to have a ‘high likelihood of significantly affecting the future of the Realm of Bricklyn,’ we have requested the Chief Prognosticator provide his written advice on Resolution 25-73 no later than Friday, January 2, 2026.

“Any advice offered by the Chief Prognosticator shall also be made publicly available.”

The Office of the Chief Prognosticator declined to respond to The Bricklyn Eagle’s request to speak with Chief Prognosticator David Bricks.

➤ For Outlanders not familiar with the role of the Chief Prognosticator of the Realm, please take a look at this article.

Proponents and opponents of Resolution 25-73 are already marshaling their arguments for and against the Senbrick data moratorium resolution.

The Bricklyn Eagle will be covering the hearing, and any developments occurring before then. ✥

Previously posted in The Bricklyn Eagle:
➤ 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

A colorful, cartoon-style illustration of an eagle's head made from building blocks, set against a blue background with variously colored circular pieces.

We welcome Letters to the Editor. Please email to: bricklynvt@gmail.com

To the Editor: Not sure why the Council is asking Chief Prognosticator David Bricks for advice. At this point in the process let’s hear what the public has to say. Open discussion shouldn’t be short-circuited by calling for the Chief Prognosticator to weigh in now, no matter how far-seeing the Chief Prognosticator and his staff are thought to be. — Andrea Plater Applebaum, Bricklyn, VT.

To the Editor: I applaud Councilor Senbrick for his thoughtful approach in calling for a two-year moratorium. There’s no need for us to jump into approving massive data centers just because other places are. Let’s do a careful review and then decide the best path to take. — Phillip Tiler Pierson, South Bricklyn, VT.

➤ Note from the Editor:

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Was AI Used in the Chief Prognosticator’s Report on the Value of Mediation in Bricklyn?

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