Brendan O'Connor
@bhoconnor.bsky.social
From the blue mtns of the Shenandoah Valley. Deep-running love for American & Irish folk music, solidarity politics, breakfast of all kinds, & economix. Integrating my 15+ years of comm. organizing into a PhD in community psych. https://linktr.ee/bhoconnor
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
Huh maybe it’s not a good idea to have a monopoly on cloud infrastructure. Who would have thought? 🙄
October 20, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Huh maybe it’s not a good idea to have a monopoly on cloud infrastructure. Who would have thought? 🙄
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
WE WON: "This case -– perhaps the most important ever to fall w/in..this district court squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in US..have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally “yes, they do.”"
October 1, 2025 at 12:03 AM
WE WON: "This case -– perhaps the most important ever to fall w/in..this district court squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in US..have the same free speech rights as the rest of us. The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally “yes, they do.”"
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
So that’s just everyone then
Wow. On NPR, @gbrumfiel.bsky.social reports a Social Security official “copied the Social Security numbers, names and birthdays of over 300 million Americans to a private section of the agency's cloud.”
The source is a whistleblower, who is named: Charles Borges, SSN chief data officer.
The source is a whistleblower, who is named: Charles Borges, SSN chief data officer.
August 27, 2025 at 1:48 AM
So that’s just everyone then
Folks should consider weighing in on @bsky.app communinty guidelines (& i'd suggest doing it in a way that gets at questions of governance, etc. too, eg potential roles for workers, users, etc. on the Board & beyond):
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Bluesky Community Guidelines Feedback Form
Thank you for reviewing the proposed Community Guidelines. Your feedback is essential to helping us ensure Bluesky remains safe and welcoming in the core rules we enforce on the app.
Please review th...
docs.google.com
August 16, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Folks should consider weighing in on @bsky.app communinty guidelines (& i'd suggest doing it in a way that gets at questions of governance, etc. too, eg potential roles for workers, users, etc. on the Board & beyond):
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Even the idea that these officers would say this suggests our conception of the problems & potential solutions are so shrunken that they can *only* emerge if we expand into the space of democratic reform squarely focused on a multiparty democracy.
WATCH & LISTEN.
While masked agents were violently attacking a delivery worker this morning, bystanders repeatedly asked to see their badge numbers but they refused.
Bystander: You guys are ruining this country, you know that, right?
Agent: Liberals already ruined it.
Bystander: You guys are ruining this country, you know that, right?
Agent: Liberals already ruined it.
August 16, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Even the idea that these officers would say this suggests our conception of the problems & potential solutions are so shrunken that they can *only* emerge if we expand into the space of democratic reform squarely focused on a multiparty democracy.
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
It’s official!
We’ve raised more than $40 MILLION for independent bookstores since we launched in 2020! 🥳📚
We’ve raised more than $40 MILLION for independent bookstores since we launched in 2020! 🥳📚
July 24, 2025 at 8:50 PM
It’s official!
We’ve raised more than $40 MILLION for independent bookstores since we launched in 2020! 🥳📚
We’ve raised more than $40 MILLION for independent bookstores since we launched in 2020! 🥳📚
It’s Abu Ghraib all over again.
But inside our borders.
But inside our borders.
July 21, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Important history
I was interviewed by Michigan Public Media about what will happen when Republicans cut funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
The history (and future) of public media in the US - WDET 101.9 FM
Historian and author Josh Shepperd joined the show to talk about the history of public media and efforts by the Trump administration to cut funding.
wdet.org
July 20, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Important history
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
The success of the AI industry should be judged by how much high quality, economically viable, widespread leisure time it produces for humans. So far it is not looking good.
July 17, 2025 at 2:37 AM
The success of the AI industry should be judged by how much high quality, economically viable, widespread leisure time it produces for humans. So far it is not looking good.
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
Ahmed Eloumrani, a driver-owner
April 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Ahmed Eloumrani, a driver-owner
Check out @compdotco-op.bsky.social for some solid offerings for the tech needs of co-ops & orgs in solidarity economy spaces! Awesome to see another tech cooperative making moves
We've been working on some big contracts, but honestly our pride and joy is our Business Starter Pack. It gives new coops a fully designed website, a social media strategy guide, a technical roadmap, and digital workspace onboarding at an affordable price. It's so rewarding to help new coops thrive.
April 26, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Check out @compdotco-op.bsky.social for some solid offerings for the tech needs of co-ops & orgs in solidarity economy spaces! Awesome to see another tech cooperative making moves
Wow, classic from 1929!
We would like to welcome The Skeleton Dance to the free and open source art community.
The Skeleton Dance, Voted the 18th Best Cartoon of All Time, Is Now in the Public Domain (1929)
April 26, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Wow, classic from 1929!
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
They want us to think we’re alone. We are not. The Resistance is Everywhere.
Welcome to Resist List. Your online hub of the ongoing resistance to the growth of authoritarianism in the United States.
Welcome to Resist List. Your online hub of the ongoing resistance to the growth of authoritarianism in the United States.
February 20, 2025 at 1:56 AM
They want us to think we’re alone. We are not. The Resistance is Everywhere.
Welcome to Resist List. Your online hub of the ongoing resistance to the growth of authoritarianism in the United States.
Welcome to Resist List. Your online hub of the ongoing resistance to the growth of authoritarianism in the United States.
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
One of the employees fired from NASA told me how much their career meant to them: "Prior to everything happening today, NASA has been an incredible place to work — to dream big, to innovate, to do things that I never thought I could have done.”
Words by me. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Words by me. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
NASA begins mass firings of scientists ahead of Trump team’s deadline
Top advisers in the Office of the Chief Scientist are among the first to go amid downsizing effort.
www.nature.com
March 11, 2025 at 1:13 PM
One of the employees fired from NASA told me how much their career meant to them: "Prior to everything happening today, NASA has been an incredible place to work — to dream big, to innovate, to do things that I never thought I could have done.”
Words by me. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Words by me. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
WMATA -- the Washington DC transit agency -- adopted a new strategy a year ago, focusing on measures to improve "service frequency, reliability and security."
It worked! Ridership, customer satisfaction, & fare recovery are up.
Invest in transit.
www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_ra...
It worked! Ridership, customer satisfaction, & fare recovery are up.
Invest in transit.
www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_ra...
Rail News - WMATA: New strategy produced ridership increase, other improvements. For Railroad Career Professionals
Progressive Railroading Daily News
www.progressiverailroading.com
March 11, 2025 at 5:48 PM
WMATA -- the Washington DC transit agency -- adopted a new strategy a year ago, focusing on measures to improve "service frequency, reliability and security."
It worked! Ridership, customer satisfaction, & fare recovery are up.
Invest in transit.
www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_ra...
It worked! Ridership, customer satisfaction, & fare recovery are up.
Invest in transit.
www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_ra...
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
Trumpty-Dumpty is a bull. The American economy is his china shop.
March 11, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Trumpty-Dumpty is a bull. The American economy is his china shop.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Former NIH Director FRANCIS COLLINS SINGS AT RALLY to push back against Trump Administration
YouTube video by Diario AS
youtu.be
March 12, 2025 at 3:31 AM
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
Per Dr Atul Gawande, ex USAID: “All malaria supplies protecting 53 million people, mostly children, including bed nets, diagnostics, preventive drugs, and treatments – terminated.”
There are no words that sufficiently describe this level of cruelty and sadism.
There are no words that sufficiently describe this level of cruelty and sadism.
February 28, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Per Dr Atul Gawande, ex USAID: “All malaria supplies protecting 53 million people, mostly children, including bed nets, diagnostics, preventive drugs, and treatments – terminated.”
There are no words that sufficiently describe this level of cruelty and sadism.
There are no words that sufficiently describe this level of cruelty and sadism.
Wow, much respect for calling him & sharing this @jameshazen.bsky.social , it’s on my list
Called my rep, Addison McDowell (NC-06), to ask what he was doing about Elon Musk's illegal takeover of the Federal government. This was his response. He's supportive of this violation of the Constitution and has willingly surrendered his responsibility as a member of Congress. Unacceptable. #ncpol
February 26, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Wow, much respect for calling him & sharing this @jameshazen.bsky.social , it’s on my list
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
NEW — House Republicans are putting the brakes on town halls after blowback over the Trump administration's cuts.
One GOP aide said House Republican leaders are urging lawmakers to stop engaging in them altogether.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
One GOP aide said House Republican leaders are urging lawmakers to stop engaging in them altogether.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
House Republicans hit the brakes on town halls after blowback over Trump's cuts
A number of Republican lawmakers faced significant pushback in their home districts over Trump and Elon Musk's slashing of the federal government.
www.nbcnews.com
February 26, 2025 at 3:33 AM
NEW — House Republicans are putting the brakes on town halls after blowback over the Trump administration's cuts.
One GOP aide said House Republican leaders are urging lawmakers to stop engaging in them altogether.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
One GOP aide said House Republican leaders are urging lawmakers to stop engaging in them altogether.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
I created this public radio starter pack since more and more of us are joining Bluesky. Comment or DM if you want me to add you or someone else
go.bsky.app/MWHaGo5
go.bsky.app/MWHaGo5
February 26, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
Bluesky bookmarks when?
February 26, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Bluesky bookmarks when?
Elon Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter/X and loaded it with an additional $13 billion in debt.
bsky.app/profile/atru...
bsky.app/profile/atru...
Alina Habba: This is what we're about. We're running this county like President Trump runs the Trump Organization. Like Elon Musk running X. That's what we're doing.
February 26, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
This was just 233 days ago:
February 19, 2025 at 9:27 PM
This was just 233 days ago:
Reposted by Brendan O'Connor
"...a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power."
FDR 1938
FDR 1938
February 1, 2025 at 3:00 AM
"...a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power."
FDR 1938
FDR 1938