Skip to content

Tag: Featured

#Catscult Talks Stickers, Cats & Street Art: ‘It’s Cool To Be A Cat Person’
A psychedelic cat, made from two-mirrored halves of a cat's face, is surrounded by glowing green crystals, set against a grassy background and the word "dreams." (The Cats Cult, used with permission)
November 1, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

#Catscult Talks Stickers, Cats & Street Art: ‘It’s Cool To Be A Cat Person’

Posted in Austin, and Journalism

Are you part of The Cats Cult?

If you pay attention, and you know how to look, you can almost see their feline mind control rays washing over us, embedded in the WiFi signals. Every time your friend shows you an adorable cat .gif, the cult sinks its tendrils a little more into your consciousness.

I discovered The Cats Cult the way I discover many of my favorite artists — while on a long walk around Austin, a city that is highly decorated with graffiti, wheatpastes, murals, stickers and all forms of street art. The bright colors and psychedelic style attracted me to the image: an orange tom cat, third eye open, apparently wearing a red t-shirt and taking a selfie, all framed by a mystical triangle and the hashtag #catscult.

Read more#Catscult Talks Stickers, Cats & Street Art: ‘It’s Cool To Be A Cat Person’
Masked Up For Your Protection: In Praise Of Black Bloc Heroes (#GonzoNotes)
A black bloc activist turns to look at the camera, in a group of others dressed in similar black hoodies and face masks. Tahrir Square, Egypt, February 6, 2013. (Flickr / Ella, CC NC license)
October 30, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Masked Up For Your Protection: In Praise Of Black Bloc Heroes (#GonzoNotes)

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, and Journalism

What do you feel when you see the black bloc?

I feel pride, solidarity, and hope.

Though their faces are masked, I see a group of beautiful humans willing to get injured or imprisoned in order to keep all of us safer.

What the mainstream media wants you to feel is fear. Strangely, they want you to feel the opposite around the police, who come out to the protest dressed for war, driving military vehicles and with a sniper team ready on the roof tops. In addition to bullets, they’ve got bean bag guns, pepper bombs, noise cannons, the whole array of nightmarish “less lethal” weaponry that late stage capitalism can bring to bear.

Meanwhile, the black bloc have just their bare hands and their bodies, or if they’re lucky, a handful of flags on sticks and some homemade shields.

Read moreMasked Up For Your Protection: In Praise Of Black Bloc Heroes (#GonzoNotes)
October 25, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Reclaim Your Online Privacy: Alternatives To Facebook, Twitter & Google

Posted in Act Out!, Creative Commons, Journalism, and Video

Imagine a police state so bent on repressing dissent that people were targeted by the government just for visiting a web page or liking a page on Facebook?

This dystopian scenario isn’t science fiction, and it isn’t something happening in a far off country — it’s happening in the United States. No really, let’s take a look at a recent example: On an auspicious Friday the 13th in October, the federal government dropped its demand that Facebook turn over information about anyone who had simply “liked” a page dedicated to protesting Donald Trump’s inauguration. And while it wasn’t successful, this isn’t the first time the feds tried to target anyone who’d even looked up information on the massive January 20 protests.

While the government backed down when challenged by groups like the ACLU and cyberliberties watchdog Electronic Frontier Foundation, this was still a clear attempt to silence even the most basic forms of dissent and it’s almost certain we haven’t seen the last of this kind of thing. Keep in mind that dozens of people arrested for protesting the inauguration are STILL facing decades in prison, and we can only guess at the horrors the Cheeto Gestapo might have unleashed with access to even more information about Trump’s opponents.

And if you think this all sounds Orwellian, you are absolutely correct.

Read moreReclaim Your Online Privacy: Alternatives To Facebook, Twitter & Google
‘I Feel Like A Political Orphan’: Talking Sex Work & Cannabis With Mistress Matisse
A wooden swing hangs over lush green grass. A single green leaf sits on the swing. (Pixabay / Skitterphoto, public domain)
October 20, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

‘I Feel Like A Political Orphan’: Talking Sex Work & Cannabis With Mistress Matisse

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Sex & Relationships

“The idea that we’re protecting people by keeping sex work illegal is ridiculous,” Mistress Matisse told me. “We’re protecting no one like that.”

I’ve been a fan of Mistress Matisse for years, since I discovered her through her column “Control Tower,” which ran until 2011 in “The Stranger,” the same publication as Dan Savage’s classic sex advice column “Savage Love.” Along with a calendar of sex-positive events in Seattle (which I’d fantasize about attending from miles away Texas), “Control Tower” offered sensible advice on BDSM, kink, and nontraditional relationships.

Matisse is a pro-domme, an outspoken advocate for sex workers’ rights and, most recently, a cannabis entrepreneur. Her unique water-based THC and CBD-infused lube, Velvet Swing, is available for sale in Washington state. While Matisse reached out to me to promote Velvet Swing, I knew there’s a lot more to her than just giving people better orgasms by getting their genitals buzzed.

I most wanted to hear her thoughts on our bizarre political moment.

Read more‘I Feel Like A Political Orphan’: Talking Sex Work & Cannabis With Mistress Matisse
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
Kit
Leave a Comment

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:

Read moreOn Punching Nazis & Forbidden Knowledge In 2017 (#GonzoNotes)
Security Culture And Punching Nazis In Texas (Kit O’Connell On Radical Underground Podcast)
Colorful graffiti on an urban wall reads "Antifa Rythm." Photographed in Hamburg, Germany on August 5, 2015. (Flickr / txmx2, CC NC ND license)
October 14, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Security Culture And Punching Nazis In Texas (Kit O’Connell On Radical Underground Podcast)

Posted in Act Out!, Audio, Austin, Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

I really enjoyed talking with the Radical Underground podcast and the episode turned out great, full of lively conversation and fab music.

In our conversation, we talked about security culture and the ways our smartphones turn us into snitches against ourselves — but also touched on the human element, which is just as vital as technology when it comes to staying secure.

We also talked at length about the Oh Shit What Now collective, the recent incident at my “Punching Nazis” class in Houston, and other fascist and antifascist activity in Austin, Texas (including copwatching).

Read moreSecurity Culture And Punching Nazis In Texas (Kit O’Connell On Radical Underground Podcast)