Preston Maness ☭<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/@remixtures" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>remixtures</span></a></span> </p><p>>Various AI-powered software programs were purchased under the governor’s border disaster declaration or in response to Abbott’s executive orders to prevent mass attacks, agency records show.</p><p>The defense sector is all a big grift.</p><p>>Several AI companies, including those that sell tech to DPS, have registered lobbyists in Texas this session, according to state records, including Clearview AI, Flock Safety, and LEO Technologies, which sells the Verus surveillance software. One company also has connections to state law enforcement in Texas: Skylor Hearn, a former DPS deputy director, was a registered lobbyist for Clearview AI in 2020 and 2021 and joined the company as its government affairs director in 2022. During his tenure at the firm, he testified in other states against banning or limiting police use of facial recognition tech. This session, Clearview AI has three registered lobbyists in Texas. </p><p>The revolving door keeps revolving.</p><p>>The Republican lawmaker cautioned that, while he would not necessarily call the agency’s capabilities a “dragnet,” he had concerns about protecting Texans’ privacy: “It does come into question whether we are creating a wide area of study of people who have not committed a crime and trying to use that for law enforcement purposes.”</p><p>"That's not bullshit. It's repurposed bovine waste."</p><p>>Meanwhile, Senator Parker’s bill, SB 1964, would require Texas agencies to more thoroughly report on how they use AI and what risks of “unlawful harm” these systems have. Under the bill, state agencies would be required to create impact assessments of any AI-powered tools they deploy—though the reports would be considered confidential and exempt from the Texas Public Information Act. </p><p>Intelligence for me but not for thee.</p><p>>“People want to make sure that the government isn’t just surveilling people who aren’t doing anything wrong just because they can. ..."</p><p>Completely missing the point. The government *defines* what "doing anything wrong" *is*. "Only going after bad guys" is tautological nonsense in this context.</p><p>>Shah, the attorney from Just Futures Law, said the dangers of surveillance technologies are easily overlooked because they are not viewed as inherently or imminently violent.<br>><br>>“It’s just that it’s creating the infrastructure in which you can be harmed,” Shah said. Plus, she added, many surveillance tools were originally designed for warfare, or by former military intelligence personnel, and should be viewed through that lens and not as the “soft side” of policing, which is how some AI companies market the tools. <br>><br>>“These are wartime technologies that are now in the hands of local cops,” she said. “We should be really worried.”</p><p>At least one person quoted in the article understands the problem. Talk about burying the lede, <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://texasobserver.social/@TexasObserver" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>TexasObserver</span></a></span> :P</p><p><a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/TexasObserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TexasObserver</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/DragnetSurveillance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DragnetSurveillance</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/Surveillance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Surveillance</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/texas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>texas</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/AI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AI</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/PoliceState" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PoliceState</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/DPS" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DPS</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/ALPRs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ALPRs</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/ALPR" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ALPR</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/ANPR" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ANPR</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/ANPRs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ANPRs</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/LicensePlateReaders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LicensePlateReaders</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/FacialRecognition" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FacialRecognition</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/Biometrics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Biometrics</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/Flock" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Flock</span></a></p>
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#texasobserver
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Preston Maness ☭<p><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/staying-afloat/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">texasobserver.org/staying-aflo</span><span class="invisible">at/</span></a></p><p>>“We need to have a culture of efficiency in our state,” Walker said. There are plenty of ideas for conservation and reuse of water in the State Water Plan that need funding, she said, especially in smaller rural communities that don’t have as much technical expertise as larger cities and their utilities. “There’s a lot of good things we can be spending money on.”<br>><br>>While both the proposed legislation and the current state water plan acknowledge that Texas also needs to conserve water and fix existing water systems, so far leaders seem more focused on grander plans to build new infrastructure. </p><p>Until Texas bans lawn watering state-wide, we ain't fuckin' serious about the water crisis. </p><p>>These days, SAWS [San Antonio Water System]—which serves 2 million people in Bexar, Medina, and Atascosa counties—has nine different sources of water. The utility can now draw from four additional underground aquifers, its own recycled wastewater, and three reservoirs, including Medina Lake. But because of drought, San Antonio hasn’t used Medina Lake for years.<br>><br>>SAWS has invested instead in its “advanced storage and recovery” system as a better insurance policy. The utility doesn’t always use its full annual water rights from the Edwards Aquifer, especially during rainy times. So SAWS has turned to injecting extra Edwards water into a different rock formation directly below the H2Oaks Center, the Carrizo Aquifer, to use later during dry summers and droughts. Utility staff refer fondly to this reserve as “the bubble.”<br>><br>>All this water used in homes, businesses, and public buildings throughout San Antonio eventually flows from drains and toilets downhill to the city’s lowest elevation point, where SAWS has built its wastewater recycling plant. Here, trash—mostly “flushable” wipes that in reality are not at all flushable—gets screened out of the water, and the plant’s workers diligently cultivate microbes that eat the city’s biological waste. <br>><br>>At the end of this lengthy process, the treated water flows into the Medina River, just above where the Medina itself flows into the larger San Antonio River. The water entering the river looks clean, like a small waterfall more than anything. Trees surround the wastewater plant’s outfall, the air smells fresh, and birds fly by. <br>><br>>“You should take us for granted,” said SAWS CEO Robert Puente, who previously served in the Texas Legislature and chaired the House Natural Resources Committee, in an interview with the Observer. The utility has plenty of water for at least the next decade, and longer if San Antonio’s recent population growth levels out, he said. </p><p>Excellent! So we already have a model for what every other city needs to be doing.</p><p><a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>water</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/hydrology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>hydrology</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/texas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>texas</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/drought" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>drought</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/Municipal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Municipal</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/utilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>utilities</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/SanAntonio" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SanAntonio</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/TexasObserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TexasObserver</span></a> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://texasobserver.social/@TexasObserver" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>TexasObserver</span></a></span></p>
Preston Maness ☭<p><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/brazos-river-development-pollution-drifting-toward-disaster/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">texasobserver.org/brazos-river</span><span class="invisible">-development-pollution-drifting-toward-disaster/</span></a></p><p>>What’s more, Dow-Freeport is operating with a wastewater permit that expired in 2019 but has been “administratively continued” by TCEQ, according to an agency spokesperson. That means Dow is allowed to follow outdated rules while a TCEQ review of the facility’s new draft permit drags on.<br>><br>>“It is concerning that this is coming up on five years, which is, frankly, the length of time a new permit would have been,” said Josh Kratka, a senior staff attorney at the National Environmental Law Center. While Kratka doesn’t know what’s transpiring between Dow and TCEQ specifically, he explained that many companies try to convince regulators that they can’t reasonably comply with pollution limits in order to delay enforcement. “Rather than really crack down, enforcing a solution quickly, the regulators just give them more time,” he said. </p><p>This article was written in 2023. So far as I can tell, the permit in question, WQ0000007000, was originally granted in 1978. Its latest "approval date" is from 2016, and its latest "expiration date" is... STILL 2019. And yet the permit is still "active" rather than expired.</p><p>You can check at: <a href="https://www6.tceq.texas.gov/wqpaq/index.cfm" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www6.tceq.texas.gov/wqpaq/inde</span><span class="invisible">x.cfm</span></a></p><p>Put in "WQ0000007000" for the State Permit No., click Add, then click Search.</p><p>(Sidenote: still using ColdFusion? In 2025? Damn).</p><p>Ouch.</p><p><a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/TexasObserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TexasObserver</span></a> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://texasobserver.social/@TexasObserver" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>TexasObserver</span></a></span> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/BrazosRiver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BrazosRiver</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/Brazos" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Brazos</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/Brazoria" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Brazoria</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/Texas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Texas</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/TCEQ" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TCEQ</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/FreePort" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FreePort</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/CleanWaterAct" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CleanWaterAct</span></a> <a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/CleanWater" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CleanWater</span></a></p>
Preston Maness ☭<p><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/rio-grande-water-drifting-toward-disaster/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">texasobserver.org/rio-grande-w</span><span class="invisible">ater-drifting-toward-disaster/</span></a></p><p>>In McAllen, about 60 percent of municipal water use goes to water lawns, according to Jim Darling, a former McAllen mayor and head of the Region M Water Planning Group.<br>><br>>...<br>><br>>This efficient drip irrigation method is used on about 20 percent of local citrus orchards, he said. The other 80 percent flood entire fields, using twice as much water. Historically, the water savings of drip irrigation haven’t mattered much to farmers, who pay only $10 per acre-foot (about 326,000 gallons).</p><p>Absolute insanity.</p><p><a href="https://tenforward.social/tags/TexasObserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TexasObserver</span></a> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://texasobserver.social/@TexasObserver" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>TexasObserver</span></a></span></p>
MissConstrue<p>Y’all, here’s a shocker! <a href="https://mefi.social/tags/ICE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ICE</span></a> has known <a href="https://mefi.social/tags/Nazis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Nazis</span></a> on staff. For example, James “Jim” Joseph Rodden, a 44-year-old who works as an assistant chief counsel for ICE in the Dallas area. Rodden represents the agency in immigration court hearings where judges decide whether an individual is removed from the country.</p><p>Here’s some choice words of ICE attorney Rodden; Quote: It is our holy duty to guard against the foreign hordes. Nobody is proposing feeding migrants into tree shredders,” the account posted in March 2024. “Yet. Give it a few more weeks at this level of invasion, and that will be the moderate position.”</p><p>There’s more, and it’s worse. Support free press, consider subbing to the <a href="https://mefi.social/tags/TexasObserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TexasObserver</span></a>, they do good work. Also, fuck ICE. </p><p><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-prosecutor-dallas-white-supremacist-x-account/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">texasobserver.org/ice-prosecut</span><span class="invisible">or-dallas-white-supremacist-x-account/</span></a></p>
Ehay2k<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://texasobserver.social/@TexasObserver" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>TexasObserver</span></a></span> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mstdn.social/@stevanzetti" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>stevanzetti</span></a></span> </p><p>Great piece by the <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/texasobserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>texasobserver</span></a> that outs a white supremacist, full-on racist who posts on Xitter. Who is this bigot? Why, he works as counsel for <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/ICE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ICE</span></a>, naturally. </p><p>Let's see if he gets fired.</p>
Baloo Uriza<p>And this is in <a href="https://social.tulsa.ok.us/tags/TexasObserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TexasObserver</span></a> y'all.</p><p><a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/traffic/dallas-police-warn-drivers-of-heavy-traffic-possible-street-closures-sunday-due-to-protests/287-7ade1bfa-94ac-4c40-b1b1-88e12f081a31" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">wfaa.com/article/traffic/dalla</span><span class="invisible">s-police-warn-drivers-of-heavy-traffic-possible-street-closures-sunday-due-to-protests/287-7ade1bfa-94ac-4c40-b1b1-88e12f081a31</span></a></p><p><a href="https://social.tulsa.ok.us/tags/Dallas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Dallas</span></a> <a href="https://social.tulsa.ok.us/tags/USPol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USPol</span></a></p>
Flipboard<p>Texas has a dire shortage of social workers. <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://texasobserver.social/@TexasObserver" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>TexasObserver</span></a></span> explores how the state is shooting itself in the foot by imposing a lifetime ban on candidates who’ve been convicted of certain crimes such as assault. The law came into place in 2019 and does not allow for rehabilitation or glowing recommendations — it’s one strike, and you’re out. James Knight and Daryl James spoke to Katherin Youniacutt, a grandmother and recovering alcoholic with more than 10 years of sobriety who is still being punished for a mistake she made in 2007.</p><p><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/social-worker-license-lawsuit-texas-law/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">texasobserver.org/social-worke</span><span class="invisible">r-license-lawsuit-texas-law/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/SocialWork" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SocialWork</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Crime" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Crime</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Texas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Texas</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/TexasObserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TexasObserver</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Newstodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Newstodon</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/NewstodonFriday" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NewstodonFriday</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/FollowFriday" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FollowFriday</span></a></p>
Flipboard<p>Documentary photographer Alan Pogue has been contributing to <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://texasobserver.social/@TexasObserver" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>TexasObserver</span></a></span> for decades. Here’s a selection of some of his greatest work for the magazine, which is coming to the end of its 70th anniversary year.</p><p><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/alan-pogue-photo-essay-observer-seventieth-anniversary/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">texasobserver.org/alan-pogue-p</span><span class="invisible">hoto-essay-observer-seventieth-anniversary/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Photography" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Photography</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/PhotoJournalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PhotoJournalism</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/AlanPogue" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AlanPogue</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Texas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Texas</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/TexasObserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TexasObserver</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Newstodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Newstodon</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/NewstodonFriday" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NewstodonFriday</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/FollowFriday" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FollowFriday</span></a></p>
Preston Maness ☭<p><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/criminal-justice-prison-sleep-tdcj-sleep-deprivation-lawsuit/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">texasobserver.org/criminal-jus</span><span class="invisible">tice-prison-sleep-tdcj-sleep-deprivation-lawsuit/</span></a></p><p>"The unit’s schedule—packed with programming, check-ins, and appointments on a 24-hour basis—leaves only three and a half hours for sleep, only two and a half uninterrupted, according to court documents in a long-running lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ)."</p><p>2.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep? That is fucking bananas. And a human rights violation. And a form of torture. Seems like a slam dunk eighth amendment case. But of course not:</p><p>"His case went first to the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi. Initially Magistrate Judge B. Janice Ellington said in 2013 that Garrett had 'no constitutional right to a predetermined number of hours of uninterrupted sleep' and that he would have to prove he suffered harm from sleep deprivation."</p><p>What kind of dipshit judge thinks 2.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep isn't harmful?</p><p>"Now the Fifth Circuit has stepped in to say that the lower courts had repeatedly unfairly ruled that Garrett had to prove actual harm caused by the lack of sleep. Instead, the court said, he only had to prove that the prison conditions posed a substantial risk to incarcerated people’s health."</p><p>Well that's a ray of fucking sanity.</p><p>"There, they previewed findings from a forthcoming report entitled, 'The Nightmare of Sleep in Prison.' Among their recommendations: increasing dedicated sleep time. They define a healthy amount as at least four 90-minute cycles of uninterrupted sleep, or at least six hours."</p><p>6 hours of sleep ain't much better! Whatever happened to 8 for sleep, 8 for work, 8 for what we will?</p><p>The depravity of the criminal justice system knows no bounds.</p><p><a href="https://octodon.social/tags/tx" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tx</span></a> <a href="https://octodon.social/tags/texas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>texas</span></a> <a href="https://octodon.social/tags/txpol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>txpol</span></a> <a href="https://octodon.social/tags/CriminalJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalJustice</span></a> <a href="https://octodon.social/tags/TexasObserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TexasObserver</span></a> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://texasobserver.social/@TexasObserver" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>TexasObserver</span></a></span></p>
Susan Larson ♀️🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🌈<p><a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Texas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Texas</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/ActiveClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ActiveClub</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Leader" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Leader</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Blurred" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Blurred</span></a> His <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Face" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Face</span></a> But Forgot to <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Scrub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Scrub</span></a> His <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Socials" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Socials</span></a>. </p><p>In an online conversation with the <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/TexasObserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TexasObserver</span></a>, <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/RhettMurryLoftis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RhettMurryLoftis</span></a>, a 23-year-old <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/resident" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>resident</span></a> of <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Weatherford" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Weatherford</span></a>, admits he is a <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/fascist" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fascist</span></a>, and that he leads the <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/ParkerCounty" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ParkerCounty</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/ActiveClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ActiveClub</span></a>. </p><p><a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Women" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Women</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Transgender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Transgender</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/LGBTQ" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LGBTQ</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/LGBTQIA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LGBTQIA</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Conservatives" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Conservatives</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Extremism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Extremism</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Hategroups" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Hategroups</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/RepublicanParty" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RepublicanParty</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Hate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Hate</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Bigotry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Bigotry</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Violence" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Violence</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Genocide" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Genocide</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Discrimination" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Discrimination</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Racism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Racism</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Homophobia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Homophobia</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/Transphobia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Transphobia</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/ThePartyOfHate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ThePartyOfHate</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2024/02/15/texas-active-club-leader-blurred-his-face-but-forgot-to-scrub-his-socials/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">bellingcat.com/news/2024/02/15</span><span class="invisible">/texas-active-club-leader-blurred-his-face-but-forgot-to-scrub-his-socials/</span></a></p>
Walt Wooton<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@jeffjarvis" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>jeffjarvis</span></a></span> At a distance, it's difficult to see how firing the editor and a star reporter at <a href="https://spartanburg.social/tags/HoustonLanding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HoustonLanding</span></a> , thus decimating staff morale, solves that problem. Apparently the staff has warned the board about the effect on retention, recruitment, and fundraising. It's difficult to see where <a href="https://spartanburg.social/tags/EngagementJournalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EngagementJournalism</span></a> fits into the grand plan. It's an example of why local news non-profits need staff representation on their boards. The <a href="https://spartanburg.social/tags/TexasObserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TexasObserver</span></a> fiasco taught us that.</p>
💐 🏖 🌺 𝕂𝕚𝕂𝕚<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://texasobserver.social/@TexasObserver" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>TexasObserver</span></a></span> I haven’t made up my mind about this, as there are just too many demands on subscription support (including streaming), but the <a href="https://mas.to/tags/TexasObserver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TexasObserver</span></a> seems to be an excellent publication, worthy of our support, and $1/month is not much of a stretch.</p>
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