Sleepless

“It was only in the 1940s and 1950s that organized medicine and the law combined to force these long-standing operations out of business and to disrupt the networks of communication by which women had found their way to them. Our popular image of illegal abortion as hard to find, extremely dangerous, sordid, and expensive dates from this period”

Independence from tyranny Independence from slavery Independence from debt Independence from servitude Independence from corporate terrorism Independence from indoctrination Independence from consumerism Independence from racism Independence from sexism Independence from bigotry (intentional and unintentional) Independence from corporate media Independence from capitalism and it’s destructive wake Independence from ignorance Independence from entitlement Independence from the corporate take over of our government which was instilled to be by and for the people Independence from the destruction of our constitution Independence from binary understandings Independence from environmental destruction as a byproduct of progress

Independence to travel freely

Independence for creative forces Independence for the queer heart and mind Independence for free love Independence for human kind Independence for all earthlings Independence for the reimagined future Independence for the love of freedom and the true nature of our planet

We are wild creatures, lest we forget in these days of being told what to eat and where and how to look. We are wild beasts yearning for freedom from ‘earning’ a living- instead of just living. We inhale and exhale a fire so faint between status updates we hardly feel it’s presence any longer- but WE ARE FIRE Our nature is to gnash our teeth, to rise against tyranny, to recognize and defeat those impeding justice. Who are we when we stand by idly and wonder out loud “Who is going to fix all of our problems?” If you’re not looking yourself in the mirror and seeing the answer then you’re getting in the way.

I think it’s time for a new Independence Day. July 4th only serves as a distraction from our fractured reality.

The Kool-Aid is the poison you willingly imbibe. Light that shit on fire friends.

never says sorry,  ever, or only says sorry when they want something or they are forced to by others around them

yells at you for small things, like accidently dropping food on the counter, forgetting to put something away, or things that aren’t your fault like running out of cereal, or being attacked by an animal or person; blames you for things they do or just generally anything that goes wrong

ignores you/neglects your emotional needs, like spending hours on the computer and never wants to spend time with you/values things or work more than you

never compromises, always need you to do things their way or else its “the wrong way” and/or belittles you for it. always needs you to be interested in their life/things but isn’t interested in your life/things

belittles you for your opinions or feelings and makes you feel like they’re not valid or that theyre dumb.

if they’re religious and they’re your parents, they are always ready to pounce on you when they think you are not doing the right thing or threatens to kick you out of the house if you are not/or dont do the things they say or want/think are godly

always has to control how you look/act/dress

is mean to you then acts nice immediately after and expects everything to be ok again expects you to forgive them right away or else you’re in the wrong

buys you things then acts like its your fault that you dont like them/want them and/or forces you into eat them/wear them/use them by yelling at you or belittling you 

acts like your emotions are wrong

keeps you from your friends and family in roundabout (or obvious ways) and possibly acts like this is your fault

tells you that they have never done what you say they did, even though they did, never admits faults (gaslighting)

Another day in America, another mass shooting.  Another speech by the president asking for the most basic gun controls, another day conservatives scream about the coming tyranny of gun confiscations. Another plea or common sense, another day of gun and ammo sales going through the roof.  Another set of families trying to cope with the sudden loss of loved ones, another call from the NRA to make guns more readily available.  Another shooter who in a civilized world would not have been allowed to purchase guns, another day mental health services are cut.  Another day our citizens are killed by a tool whose entire purpose is to kill, another day of people rolling out the intellectually lazy argument of “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”  Another list of names to add to the hundreds of thousands of others who’ve been killed by guns the past few decades, another day people go out of their way to pretend the deaths are isolated, unrelated and unpreventable.  Another day someone shoots people due to some perceived grievance, another day people feed the fear, anger, hatred behind the killings and act like there is no connection.  Another day where children are killed in cold blood, another opportunity for “false flag” conspiracies and deniers to minimize the loss.  Another day politicians will talk about “sending our prayers to the victims’ families,” another day they don’t do anything meaningful to address the problem.  Another stunned community dealing with overwhelming grief, another very profitable quarter for gun and ammo manufacturers.  Another set of chalk outlines on a school room floor, another day where nothing is done to prevent it from happening again.  Another day when the media pretends to care about killings, another day they feed a constant red meat diet of misogyny, racism, xenophobia, religious persecution…to their audience.  Another police officer holding a press conference to describe a shooting, another day an unarmed person is killed by another law enforcement officer.  Another day a child finds a loaded gun and kills themselves or someone else, another day physicians around the country are not allowed to ask if there is a gun in the home.  Another day of eighty people dying from gun-related causes, another day the CDC isn’t allowed to research and study gun deaths. Another day a couple has a heated argument, another day a woman is shot and killed because there was a gun in the house.  Another day a woman is shot and killed by an estranged boyfriend or husband, another day a state legislature refuses to pass a law preventing people with a history of domestic violence and restraining orders against them from purchasing and possessing a gun.  Another emotional teenager in a moment of lax judgment takes their own life, another day the gun lobby talks about the need for guns in the home.  Another day a person walks into a movie theater with multiple weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammo and opens fire, another day someone is arguing high capacity magazines are necessary for hunting.  Another day a “good guy” who legally purchased gun shoots and kills a half-dozen people, another day someone rolls out the trope, “the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”  Another day  of eighty Americans killed by guns, another five years goes by in other industrial countries before they reach that number.  Another day someone who does own a gun doesn’t shoot someone, another day they think because they don’t use their gun improperly guns shouldn’t be regulated.  Another day of people say, “if people want to get a gun they will because criminals don’t follow the law,” another day they’ll argue for drug laws, drunk driving laws, speed limits, etc. with no sense of irony.  Another day where someone else’s children are killed by guns, another day people will call for nothing to done because it didn’t happen to them. Another day someone calls for universal background checks, another day of opposition by people who have Red Dawn fantasies of protecting the homeland with AR-15s against a military with jets, tanks, and cruise missiles.  Another day someone suggests we close the gun show loophole for gun purchases, another day someone will say, “You know who else took away guns?  Hitler.”  Another mass shooting in America, another day every single person who defends and argues for our current approach to guns is morally culpable for the deaths.  Another mass shooting in America and no one is surprised anymore because it’s treated as just another day.  It’s just another day in America because eighty people die from guns every single day and we not only don’t do anything to reduce this number, we are allowing laws to be passed that are making this number bigger.  It’s just another day in America because Americas love guns more than they love civility.  It’s just another day in America because Americans have delusional fantasies of Cowboys and Indians, John Wayne, John McClane, Wolverines, Dirty Harry, and Bryan Mills.  It’s just another day in America because America is too arrogant to admit it does something wrong.  It’s just another day in America because it more important to hold on to a centuries-old idea than evolve ethically, socially and culturally.  Tomorrow more people will be killed with guns in America and no one will think twice about it because it will be just another day.