@oconnell@federate.social
@oconnell@federate.social avatar

oconnell

@oconnell@federate.social

Former Digital Editor at the Texas Observer, looking for work. GLAAD Media Award and National Magazine Award-nominated editor and journalist. Friend to cats.

This is my serious work account. Follow my personal account https://kolektiva.social/@kitoconnell

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

oconnell, to queer
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Topaz holding court at the Absolutely Fabulous Southern Ladies Social League Brunch at the Austin Eagle Leather Bar.

All donations support a local nonprofit for aging adults.

oconnell,
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Minnie Bar is about to give us some advice on gay sex.

oconnell, to journalism
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Content mill megacorp Valnet owns sites like Gamenet, Screenrant, MakeUseOf and many others. Authors are paid sweatshop wages to mass produce SEO-friendly garbage articles, as this YouTube video reveals.

Video creator fireb0rn interviewed multiple current and former writers and reveals a class-action lawsuit accusing the sites of paying less than minimum wage:
https://youtu.be/lMMSuPvjvag

oconnell, to austin
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UT has laid off about 60 people who worked in departments affected by the state ban on

UT Austin announces layoffs as a result of SB 17
https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/ut-austin-announces-layoffs-as-a-result-of-sb-17

oconnell, to Texas
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I'd like to get in touch with a current employee of the Department of , particularly if you are or otherwise +. It's for a story, but you can be anonymous.

Secure email: Make an account at proton.me and email me at kitoswn@proton.me from a personal device/private network, or reach our for my Signal/etc.

Please boost for visibility.

oconnell, to Texas
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Inmates in some #Texas prisons get less than 4 hours of sleep per night, and even that gets interrupted. Absolutely horrifying to contemplate.
https://www.texasobserver.org/criminal-justice-prison-sleep-tdcj-sleep-deprivation-lawsuit/ via @TexasObserver

#prison #HumanRights #news #politics #USpol #CriminalJustice

oconnell, to brainfood
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“Unfortunately, much of that damage, it has been done not only to those families, but it’s been done to American .”

In my first byline for @FAIR, I spoke with Alex Jones experts about the recent about the Sandy Hook conspiracies and the lingering harm caused by the he spreads ... https://fair.org/home/new-doc-traces-alex-jones-footprints-on-our-post-truth-landscape/

oconnell, to Texas
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Major Update: The Court of Appeals today upheld a lower court ruling blocking Department of Family and Protective Services (aka CPS) from invasively investigating families with children https://www.aclutx.org/en/press-releases/texas-appeals-court-upholds-rulings-blocking-state-investigating-trans-youth-and

oconnell, to queer
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Just out: A right-wing think-tank is threatening unless they halt donations to + causes, and there's signs that Best Buy is going along with it, according to SEC filings. https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/best-buy-offers-screen-lgbtq-nonprofit-donations-conservative-pressure-rcna145603
(CW: Article quotes explicit in the communications between this group and Best Buy)

oconnell, to journalism
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It's the end of the month and I'm still recovering from the layoff, so please pardon me while I promote myself again.

If you enjoyed my writing or posts this month, please consider joining or donating:

ᗌ Patreon (preferred) https://patreon.com/kitoconnell
ᗌ Paypal https://Paypal.me/kitoconnell
ᗌ Ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/kitoconnell

Thanks to everyone who's already supported me, and remember you can help just by sharing my work with your friends, family and comrades.

#journalism #fundraiser

oconnell, to mastodon
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I'm very slightly colorblind and telling the difference between a boosted and unboosted post on #Mastodon is really hard for me (on the light theme especially). #accessibility

oconnell,
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@deborahh @sanfierro sorry I was unclear, my issue is with the little whirly arrows at the bottom after you personally boost something

oconnell, to privacy
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'Just because you have customers’ data doesn’t mean you should use it. And if you use customers’ information in ways they don’t expect, they’ll get upset!'

’s Mishandling Of Customer Data Has Users Heading For The Exits
https://www.forrester.com/blogs/glassdoors-mishandling-of-customer-data-has-users-heading-for-the-exits/

oconnell, to Palestine
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Today, Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order supposedly intended to crack down on "antisemitism" on college campuses, but in the actual text makes it clear that the target are pro organizers. He specifically names Students for Justice in Palestine and the Palestine Solidarity Committee.

The order tells colleges to take action against , up to and including expulsion. https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-fights-antisemitic-acts-at-texas-colleges-universities

Part of a very long executive order, available at the link in the post, with the following paragraph highlighted: WHEREAS, multiple protests and walkouts have been staged by universities’ student organizations, with students chanting antisemitic phrases such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which has long been used by Hamas supporters to call for the violent dismantling of the State of Israel and the destruction of the Jewish people who live there; and

oconnell, to news
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“This is really its own illness, lots of times affecting young, healthy people.”

Millions of Texans have already come down with long symptoms, and many more could be at risk in the future if we don't make changes. For this @TexasObserver magazine feature, I interviewed both sufferers and medical experts about solutions we can take: https://www.texasobserver.org/long-covid-texas-clearing-the-air/

oconnell,
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Dr. Michael Brode of UT Health , a long expert from my article, sent me this updated video with the latest on emerging in long COVID treatments. Brode's videos are definitely worth watching if you're interested in this research. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQM2oE-wBSE&t=0s

oconnell,
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If anyone is curious, I already routinely mask up in most indoor situations and even some outdoor ones but, after working on this story, I actually purchased a portable HEPA filter that I can sometimes carry with me as a way to even further increase my safety.

oconnell, to austin
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Remote workers at Dell are no longer eligible for promotions unless they return to the office.
https://www.businessinsider.com/dell-remote-workers-promotion-return-office-push-flexible-work-2024-3

oconnell, to transgender
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” people are more likely to be victims, rather than perpetrators, of gun violence. Despite the data, the increasing number of mass shootings and gun violence in the United States has been accompanied by an uptick in anti-trans narratives blaming and non-binary people for gun violence.”

Important new SPLC report on : https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2024/03/22/anti-trans-rhetoric-helps-right-pivot-gun-violence-myths-sell-guns

+

oconnell, to journalism
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"And during the interview and during other interviews, he constantly says he doesn't care what people write or say about him. For someone who doesn't care about what people write or say about him, he sure does care about what people write or say about him."

People: Don Lemon Reveals Thoughts on CNN Firing, Nikki Haley,
https://people.com/don-lemon-reveals-thoughts-on-cnn-firing-nikki-haley-elon-musk-exclusive-8610214

oconnell, to journalism
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“The idea that a business could make nothing but money, and produce nothing but dividends, is one of the strangest and most popular capitalist fantasies.“

https://defector.com/the-coffee-machine-that-explained-vice-media

oconnell, to journalism
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“As soon as students arrive, they’re handed a press pass and become a cub reporter for the day. They also receive a backpack with their very own reporter’s notebook and pen to cover a breaking news assignment created just for them. The cub reporters participate in a mock press conference and work alongside a ... Newsday reporter to gather the most important information on their breaking news assignment — the Who, What, When, Where and Why.” https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2024/heres-how-newsday-brought-back-field-trips-to-its-newsroom/

oconnell, to random
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FWIW y'all, I became a subscriber of the @TexasObserver after they laid me off.

I don't agree with the board's decision to eliminate the Digital Editor, however I want to see that historic publication continue into the future, and I know all the journalists there are passionate about telling stories that matter. , so please don't abandon them on my account.

(of course, if you want to support me directly there are ways to do that!)

oconnell, to Zines
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Some of you might not know that, during the first year of the pandemic, I published an #antifa cookbook zine. https://kitoconnell.com/2021/11/30/soup-zine/

#zines #food #cooking #recipe

oconnell, to random
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Other places to find me and ways to support my work:

ᗌ Personal Mastodon @kitoconnell
ᗌ Social Links https://kitoconnell.com/discover (like my Linktree)
ᗌ Homepage: https://kitoconnell.com/ (I'm working on it)
ᗌ Patreon (keep me writing) https://patreon.com/kitoconnell
ᗌ Paypal https://Paypal.me/kitoconnell
ᗌ Ko-fi
https://ko-fi.com/kitoconnell
ᗌ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kitoconnell/
ᗌ Join my Discord https://discord.gg/9N3tbbqBh2
ᗌ Bsky https://bsky.app/profile/kitoconnell.com
ᗌ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kitoconnell/
ᗌ Twitter/X ... Please don't

oconnell,
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I think I'm now set up to take Ko-fi, because someone asked me about that recently. If you prefer it to Patreon or PayPal, give it a try. I probably won't crosspost much from Patreon unless people start joining.
https://ko-fi.com/kitoconnell

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