Deep in the sweltering pine flatwoods of Central Florida, a modern-day gold rush plays out every late summer. And some of them gold miners are finding themselves in handcuffs more and more often. The prize isn't a precious metal, but the small, oily fruit of the Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens). Once considered a worthless nuisance by ranchers, saw palmetto berries have become a multi-million-dollar cash crop, highly prized by the global pharmaceutical industry for prostate and urinary health supplements. With prices fluctuating between $0.75 and $3.50 per pound, a single day’s foraging can yield hundreds of dollars. But as the value of the berries has skyrocketed, so has the state’s response to unpermitted harvesting. Today, Florida finds itself locked in a complex legal battle, pitting sophisticated agricultural crime rings against cash-strapped local foragers, with a heavily armed law enforcement apparatus caught in the middle. Two Sides of the Thicket 1. The Law...
SILICON VALLEY IN THE PASTURE FORT MEADE, FL— There is a distinct magic to rural small-town local government. It seems they operate entirely on the foundational energy of an aggressive homeowners association, which is to say, with absolute power, a baffling sense of entitlement and 'No Common Sense!! They say that 'Disrespect is a Dish Best Served Cold'....but the government of Fort Meade seems to have gotten burned a bit after ignoring the protests residence voiced against the construction of a data center near their town. Recently, the city commission of Fort Meade, a quiet, historically analog-style community of around 5,000 known mostly for cattle grazing and phosphate mining—looked out at a 1,300-acre cow pasture and made a bold executive decision among themselves: “You know what this dirt needs? Artificial Intelligence.” In a swift, unanimous 5–0 vote, and against the wishes of many residents, the commission approved the $2.6 billion Stonebridge hyperscale AI dat...