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Tag: Climate Change

National Butterfly Center Returns After Fascist ThreatsA monarch butterfly spreads its wings as it perches on a flower.
Monarch migration is threatened by a loss of biodiversity. (Unsplash / Joshua J. Cotten)
November 11, 2022
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National Butterfly Center Returns After Fascist Threats

Posted in Journalism, and The Texas Observer

More than 100 butterfly enthusiasts descended on the border city of Mission over Halloween weekend to celebrate the annual Texas Butterfly Festival. The event marked a comeback for its host, the National Butterfly Center, which has been threatened and harassed by right-wing extremists who believe (falsely) that the wildlife sanctuary is a human trafficking hotspot. The center closed from January to April over safety concerns.

“We reopened the National Butterfly Center on Earth Day, and this year it was honestly a big celebration,” recalled Marianna Treviño-Wright, director of the center.

Although festival enrollment was down slightly due to the pandemic and political controversy, Treviño-Wright was excited to share her love of butterflies with dozens of new initiates. Accompanied by 20 or so guides, they spent four days tracking the annual migration of monarchs and other species throughout South Texas.

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Mutual Aid In The Media After The Texas Freeze (Podcast Appearance)The sun sets over a snow and ice covered field in rural Texas, February 15, 2021.
How did media and local governments react to mutual aid efforts in Texas? (Flickr / Jonathan Cutrer, CC-NC license)
April 6, 2021
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Mutual Aid In The Media After The Texas Freeze (Podcast Appearance)

Posted in Audio, Austin, Journalism, and Media

I appeared on a second episode of the It’s Going Down podcast about the Texas Freeze.

The first part of this discussion, published last month, focused on the disaster itself. In the second part the panelists (including myself) discuss how the media, populace and local governments reacted to the mutual aid efforts:

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Mutual Aid After The Texas Freeze (Podcast Appearance)Two wheel ruts trace a path down an extremely snowy highway outside San Angelo, Texas.
Texans depended on mutual aid from their neighbors after the freeze of February 2021. (Flickr / Jonathan Cutrer, CC NC license)
March 13, 2021
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Mutual Aid After The Texas Freeze (Podcast Appearance)

Posted in Audio, Austin, and Journalism

I appeared on the It’s Going Down podcast to discuss the climate crisis, mutual aid, and lessons learned from the deadly freeze in Texas during mid-February 2021.

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Why Aren’t More People Using Hempcrete? (Hemp Magazine)A man works on a conveyor belt spreading hempcrete into a home.
A Hempitecture worker build the Highland Hemp House, one of the largest residential hemp projects in the United States. (Photo: Hempitecture)
April 1, 2019
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Why Aren’t More People Using Hempcrete? (Hemp Magazine)

Posted in Hemp Magazine, and Journalism

Though hempcrete is healthier for both a building’s occupants and the planet, high costs and lack of research stand in the way of widespread acceptance.
Hempcrete, a building material made from the woody core of the hemp plant, could revolutionize sustainable architecture and engineering. If, that is, we can overcome a number of frustrating barriers that stand in the way of widespread implementation.

Made from just a few simple ingredients (often just hemp hurds, water, and lime), hempcrete is resistant to numerous hazards, including pests and fire. Hempcrete buildings even become carbon-negative over time as the walls absorb the carbon dioxide that’s exhaled by occupants.

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Seeking Justice In The Face Of Apocalypse & Tyranny (Gonzo Notes)LGBTQIA rights still matter when resisting tyranny
Marchers carry a massive parachute-style rainbow Pride Flag overhead at a LGBTQIA rights event in Syracuse, New York. June 19, 2010. (Flickr / Kate, CC-BY-NC license)
March 17, 2018
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Seeking Justice In The Face Of Apocalypse & Tyranny (Gonzo Notes)

Posted in Gonzo Notes, and Journalism

In the face of tyranny and environmental apocalypse, does our activism still matter?

I felt my heart sink recently when I saw an old comrade, largely retired from activism, questioning the value of his work. As a passionate advocate for LGBTQIA rights, he was one of the most radical and outspoken, never willing to settle down and wait for the human rights he deserved. I don’t in any way judge my friend for stepping back from activism, which is often a valid and eminently sensible decision. I’ve done it myself, lately, for various reasons including a legal battle I just won.

The stakes are higher now, to be sure. While Trump’s administration constantly seems on the verge of collapse, his election seems to signify a new era in which old standards of political behavior are abandoned in favor of accelerated, unchecked avarice and unmasked bigotry. Simultaneously, even the most pessimistic of climate scientists seems shocked at the rate at which things are getting worse for our planet.

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On Punching Nazis & Forbidden Knowledge In 2017 (#GonzoNotes)
In 1933, Nazis burned 10,000s of journals, books and documents from the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, an institution devoted to studying gender & sexuality and an early proponent of transgender rights. (Wikimedia Commons / National Archives & Records Administration, Public domain)
October 18, 2017
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On Punching Nazis & Forbidden Knowledge In 2017 (#GonzoNotes)

Posted in Gonzo Notes, Journalism, and LGBTQIA

Almost a month ago, in broad daylight in a busy urban neighborhood in Houston, nazis tried to shut down a book fair.

If you follow me online, you’ve heard about this incident: a group of about two dozen nazis targeted the Houston Anarchist Bookfair while I taught a class on antifascism (called “Punching Nazis”) inside. The volunteer security team prevented them from entering the building, and they left after throwing a temper tantrum for their livestream viewers. The book fair, and my class, continued after a brief but terrifying interruption.

Master gaslighters, as always, the nazis began their livestream by declaring themselves to be “peaceful,” then stood outside a community center armed with tactical gloves demanding that I — they called for me by name — come out and fight them. The bookfair’s organizers pointed out the likely results if we’d been drawn into a fight:

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