Dogpatch Press

Fluff Pieces Every Week

Category: Politics

November 9, 2020

Joe Biden will bring furries back to the White House.

by Patch O'Furr

There’s an unbelievable memory for Lindz, an inventor in California. Lindz loves the Burning Man event that takes place every year in Nevada. One year he went there with a giraffe suit, which led to building a giant robotic giraffe. They go to special events together. They’ve been to furry conventions, and in 2014, they were invited to a Maker Faire on the White House lawn.

Lindz in 2018: “I still have a hard time believing this really happened, but it did, 4 years ago this week. @.@ How things have changed…” (It’s on video and got a lot of headlines.)

When Obama left office, the changes that came led a poet to write about it:

There’s no art in this White House.

There’s no literature, no poetry, no music.

There are no pets in this White House, no loyal man’s best friend, no Socks the family cat, no kids’ science fairs.

Elayne Griffin Baker’s poem went viral when Bruce Springsteen shared it. (Read the rest.) I don’t think Lindz’s memory is what they had on their minds, but of course it was — that’s the beauty of this humanity thing.

Times are changing again and there’s a new family coming to the White House. President Biden, Madame Vice President Harris, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, Second Gentlemen Douglas Emhoff, and Champ and Major.

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November 2, 2020

Protests in Poland “a premonition for what will happen” if LGBT rights are lost in the USA — Q&A with furry artist Jeanwoof who does charity for rights in Poland.

by Patch O'Furr

The 2020 U.S. election is in progress, the future is at stake, and a tipper sent me this story. “It may be a premonition of what will happen here if abortion and LGBTQ rights are suspended by the supreme court.”

Maybe you’re sick of relentless gushing doom about politics. Sorry I can’t make it stop with the fabulous power of furry news reporting. But I can make a story for furries in and out of the U.S., and help you think about protecting rights everywhere. This won’t just tell you to vote, it’s about using fandom power!

Soatok Dhole explains why it matters.

Politics? In My Fandom? 

It’d be great if we lived in a world where I could opt out of political discourse entirely, but that only exists when you have the systemic advantage in our imperfect society. And since me being LGBTQIA+ is unavoidably political, and we’re a minority, opting out of politics means submitting to whatever dark fate toxic people decide I deserve.

Soatok says “The furry fandom – which you can think of as the largely queer sector of geek culture – has a problem with negative peace”; and it’s hurt by the Trump administration’s effort to overturn marriage equality plus 33 more steps to push anti-LGBT hate worldwide.

The problem is not just about Trump — it’s about ultraconservative attacks on rights everywhere. You can’t get peace from it by turning off the news, so to make better news, let’s meet a furry who does art charity to advance people’s rights in Poland.

Hi Jeanwoof, can you give a brief bio about yourself?

Hi, I’m a 26 year old woman living in Northern Poland. I’m very active in the fandom — drawing furry art for 6 years, and for 3 years I’ve been doing a small furry convention (Kungfur) with friends. I attend local conventions and sometimes you can see me at Eurofurence in the Dealers Den or Artist Alley. I’m a fursuiter too, but I don’t wear my suit as often as I want to.

by Jeanwoof

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July 31, 2020

Texas civil rights activist murdered by right-wing extremist with furry fan background

by Patch O'Furr

Months of protest and two killings

Michael Ramos was a Black and Latino man killed by Austin police in April 2020. Since April, hundreds of concerned citizens have been organizing demonstrations as the Mike Ramos Brigade to protest police brutality and call for justice.

This week, their member Garrett Foster was killed while supporting the cause. A video from the scene had a witness report of how they were attacked by a reckless driver who drove into the crowd and shot at them from inside the car. Foster’s killer drove away, but they got his license number.

Garrett Foster died on Saturday, July 25. He was a military veteran and had been pushing his disabled fiance in a wheelchair on another one of nearly 50 days of protesting together. “Garrett’s death painfully reminds us of Heather Heyer’s death in Charlottesville when a pro-Nazi white supremacist deliberately drove his car into a crowd of protesters.” – Mike Ramos Brigade

From the car plates, the killer was identified as Daniel Perry. His lawyer admitted he was the shooter.

BREAKING: Investigation Exposes US Army Sergeant as Murderer of Garrett Foster. (Archive)

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July 27, 2020

A 1990’s fax to troll Confurence shows how long there’s been culture war with furry fandom

by Patch O'Furr

Hairy Horny Freedom

Media was different in the 1980’s. There was a TV channel just for music videos. Furry fans got their fix from Saturday morning cartoons or cult films on VHS. Smartphones, Twitter and Facebook didn’t exist. Sharing a meme could need paper mail or a fax.

On MTV, there were lots of metal videos with men who acted macho but looked like hot women. Think: bikers in mascara who switched meth for hairspray. They sang about love over widdly-diddly guitar wizard pyrotechnics. (They were rockin’ like Dokken.) There was an arms race to be the most Glam until Grunge bands stole their place. But first, they were challenged by disco DJ music, minus the hair farming and augmented by rapping and controversy.

In Miami, a club scene rose up that thrilled crowds with rappers doing porn lyrics. Horny young people loved it. The rappers were a few young guys in the Air Force with a music hobby named 2 Live Crew. A recent rap history podcast (Mogul) tells the story of how their song “Me So Horny” went huge even without MTV. It helped rap cross from black to white people, and also pissed off a lot of them.

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June 11, 2020

Oldest science fiction book store burns in Minneapolis uprising, fandom feels the heat

by Patch O'Furr

Dr. Peter Venkman : This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.

Mayor : What do you mean, “biblical”?

Dr. Raymond Stantz : What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.

Dr. Peter Venkman : Exactly.

Dr. Raymond Stantz : Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!

Dr. Egon Spengler : Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…

Winston Zeddemore : The dead rising from the grave!

Dr. Peter Venkman : Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!

Mayor : All right, all right! I get the point!

– Ghostbusters (1984)

Can you feel it? The Covid-19 pandemic makes it dangerous to give hugs (the furry handshake.) A new Great Depression might be on the way with millions unemployed. People are rising for justice while cities burn.

Uncle Hugo’s burned. It was a book store in Minneapolis, the oldest independent science fiction book store in the USA. One of the furry fandom’s original members worked there since it opened in 1974. Ken Fletcher was co-founder of Vootie, the voice of “The Funny Animal Liberation Front”, which helped to launch the furry fandom. He’s out of work for now (and might do a Q&A with me soon).

Directly south of the store, nine blocks down Chicago Street, was where the fire got a reason to start. On the corner at East 38th, Officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd. Viral video of the incident showed bystanders begging for help while other police stood in the way. It spurred national outrage against a white-on-black power flex. Soon, nothing could hold back the wrath of half a city rising against injustice, and burning a police station and more.

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April 14, 2020

Terror, Teens, and Furaffinity — How a chain of violent hate incidents links to furry fandom.

by Patch O'Furr

The biggest furry art site FurAffinity is hosting promotion for a neo-nazi mass shooter. Brenton Tarrant shot 100 people in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019. Tarrant came from internet radicalizing. He used 8chan to broadcast hate, and is now a far-right extremist hero for copycats around the world. FurAffinity has been closing many reports about it, including mine and others that tipped off this story. Furaffinity’s Code of Conduct (2.7) says: “Do not identify with or promote real hate or terrorist organizations and their ideologies.” They refuse to enforce it.

In Furaffinity’s policy, “organizations” may be a weasel-word to dismiss this as an isolated thing. Treating this as “just art” helps the goal of radicalizing — to worm inside with lying that hate isn’t tied to violence, and violence comes from “lone wolves”. (A goal to provoke, but deny it.)

Single data points make a much bigger chain. When insiders refuse to recognize it or do anything to help, they pass off responsibility to outside sources. This story will be one of those sources, along with FBI docs and current mainstream news that link a fringe of furry fandom to violent hate.

From top left: (1) Furaffinity post promoting the New Zealand shooter. (2) Vice explains hate symbols in it. (3) Furaffinity refuses to enforce their policy.

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March 2, 2020

Furries For Bernie talk about their support for the US presidential candidate.

by Patch O'Furr

Join Bernie Sander’s Furs on Telegram.

How we got covered by KQED in A Secret Weapon of the Progressive Left: Furries by Nastia Voynovskaya.

There was no time for breakfast. It would take a miracle to find parking for the Bernie Sanders rally in Richmond CA. We were nearby and already together after a dance party the night before. Now we could see him speak with 11,000 supporters.

Candy, BerryPecanTart and Lux rode with me. Wild Child and Zahi were there, and Apollo Wolfdog, who we didn’t know, made contact from seeing us in the crowd. We were a litter worth of furries in the blocks long line to get in while Bernie’s motorcade passed 10 feet away. The blazing sun and fursuit photos weren’t as big as a wave from the man himself.

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February 28, 2020

FBI Ties Nazifurs to Atomwaffen Division — Attacks Targeted US Gov Official, Journalists

by Patch O'Furr

New FBI arrests are putting the heat on Atomwaffen Division. They’re a group with a dream: White supremacy through violent terrorism.

This is the “but not that!” clause you always get from free-speech defenders. Supposedly, neo-nazis just hold opinions you should tolerate, but you never get a good reason why. In truth, if you leave them alone they WILL hurt people. This group is tied to 5 murders.

Now add hundreds of swatting incidents, as announced by the FBI. “Swatting” is a terror tactic of falsely reporting a crisis to send a SWAT team crashing through a victim’s door. It gets people shot by mistake. Their international conspiracy targeted a US Cabinet official under Secret Service protection, journalists who reported about hate groups, and a vape shop. They did it for power, revenge, and a day off from school. (Really).

Doing terrorism to avoid homework sounds like the plot of a whole comedy movie about racist boneheads. For now, laugh at the dopes with me, a cartoon dog.

They’re more evil than geniuses, but they know furries reject nazis. They know tough guys fear being yiffed into oblivion with a Furry Apocalypse. They’re the type raised on easily-abused tech platforms with a mix of moldy old bigotry, ironic memes, and anime. Of course they know nazifurs. FBI evidence confirms it.

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February 24, 2020

The Worst Year Ever gives the best look ever at furry antifascists; Furries rally for Bernie

by Patch O'Furr

The 2020 American election year has a high-stakes power struggle. But The Worst Year Ever podcast isn’t just staying in the studio to report about it. They’re going out in real life to visit as many different groups as possible and show solidarity. They even got up close and personal with furries!

This must-hear podcast comes from Robert, Katy, and Cody (who also do Some More News, Behind The Bastards and more, with over 340,000 Twitter followers lumped together.) They make top quality media backed by research, wit, and dedication to truth. That’s how the fandom was introduced here.

Until now, outsiders have seen glimpses of a furry fandom struggle with far-right groups. It ties to happenings around the country. But few have gone all the way down our rabbithole to learn unique background that no mainstream media has covered. I had never heard some of this.

How The Furries Fought The Nazis and Won — by The Worst Year Ever

  • Part 1 — A look at the background of nazifurs and the Midwest Furfest 2014 chemical attack. (47 minutes)
  • Part 2 — Fandom responses, a big shoutout to Dogpatch Press at 4:00, and a visit to MFF 2019. (36 minutes)

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January 21, 2020

What’s life like for a teenage LGBT furry fan in Iran?

by Patch O'Furr

Fursona of Rastin, a furry in Tehran

Governments are supposed to represent their people. Instead they often end up representing a few haves against many have-nots. It might put oligarchy and corporate greed first, or theocracy and military power. You can read between the lines of headlines about the USA vs. Iran.

But how often do people in both places talk to each other directly without borders, filters, propaganda, stereotyping, and forced conflict? And when they’re pitted against each other, what could these different societies possibly share in common?

Like pizza, you don’t need to speak the same language to love art. So furry fandom builds bridges around the world. That’s how Croc (@Microdile), a California furry, first made friends with Rastin (@Rastin_woof). Rastin is a 16 year old member of a generation living after the 1979 Iranian revolution, which put religion and laws together, unlike the USA which separates church and state (at least in theory.)

In the following Q&A, Rastin uses forbidden internet contact to discuss forbidden topics — criticizing authority, oppressed LGBT identity, parents who don’t understand, and fandom that isn’t shared by anybody near him. His fursona species isn’t even tolerated (dogs aren’t loved pets in Iran.) What stands out more than differences is the universal stuff in common: creativity and self expression, and wishes to escape to a more peaceful world.

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