I’m Tired Of Violence
I’m tired of violence
I’m tired of all the death. I’m tired of seeing so many beautiful people leaving this world way too soon. Most of all, I’m tired of people who are STILL refusing to acknowledge the problem. And it is a problem.
I understand that there are people who use guns lawfully, to hunt and provide for their family, and to those people I say go for it, that is your right after all. However, the sad truth is that there are many sick (both evil and mentally ill) people who have taken advantage of that right, and use it to harm and murder innocent people.
Do you remember in elementary school during lunch time when a rowdy group of kids would get the whole class in trouble? Then the teacher would hold you in during recess for a stern talk, but you would protest because you hadn’t done anything wrong. You had been following the rules just fine, but the rude kids had taken advantage of the situation and ruined all of the fun for everyone, and everyone was punished.
The reality is that for every mass shooting you see on tv, there are 10x the amount of people using their guns lawfully and respectfully, be it a fun target practice in their backyard, shooting a deer for dinner, or defending their home against invaders.
While I was away for school, I met up with my mom for a weekend and she told me that she was thinking of buying a gun for defense. I was shocked and sad when she told me that sometimes at night when she hears noises she gets scared. She lives in the house alone with our two cats, and there have been numerous car and house break-in attempts in our neighborhood, as well as a murder by gun that happened just a couple of blocks away from our house. I told her that I understood her concerns, and she ensured me that she would be taking gun safety classes and that she knew how serious of a commitment this would be.
Now, I believe that guns should be able to be used for defense. However, the weight of owning a gun should not be taken lightly. The reality is this: Guns are made to kill, and when they don’t kill, they injure. Severely. I recently watched a video of President Obama in which he compared gun control to car regulations, a comparison which I have also used for a long time. The process of earning your driver’s license is lengthy and while it differs from place to place, in my experience it required in-class driver’s education, a completed behind the wheel program, and 40(?) hours of driving that my mother had to sign off on. In addition, you had to take multiple paper tests and background checks. A car’s primary purpose is transportation, while a gun’s is violence. So why is it that the process of obtaining a driver’s license is so much more tedious than simply going down to the town gun show and picking up a rifle?
I know this is long, but there’s honestly no way I could shorten this without losing any important detail because let’s face it, there’s still so much more that needs to be said on this issue. To summarize my thoughts, it is your right to be able to use a rifle to defend and provide for your family. Unfortunately, there are those that have taken advantage of your right and they can’t handle the responsibility. By imposing more thorough background checks and mental health screenings, we will be making sure that guns stay in responsible hands.
We are a country in which guns and ‘the right to bear arms’ is so ingrained into our culture. Because of this I don’t think we will ever be as peaceful as other nations that do not have the same problem we have. But that’s the way it is, and we’ll never truly be able to erase every trace that the current gun situation has left. Whether you think ‘guns don’t shoot people, people do’, or that guns need to be completely erased from our country, we all need to realize that the way things are right now is unacceptable, and things need to change. People are being killed because of the way things are, and the only way to do that is stop acting like children and come to a reasonable compromise.
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aries: don’t let anyone burn out the fire thats inside of you. you have what it takes to push past everything that stands in your way, and you will because you have this rage inside of you, this magnificent light that burns from the inside and out. don’t loose your fire, or i’m afraid you would loose yourself. taurus: even though you hide yourself from the rest of the world you have flowers growing throughout your soul, even in the darkest parts of you. You are nature and the dirt it needs, you are grounded and strong like the trees in the forest around you. you have a fight inside of you, you just have to learn how to stand up and move on. gemini: you are life, you are the wind and the freedom it leaves behind. you are the sun that radiates light on summer days, and the rain that falls into puddles in the spring. you are everything in between, and all of it at the same time. a walking contradiction, but you will win the battle within you. for you are a fighter filled with inner strength, for you are the light and dark. cancer: you are strong, stronger than you let on. don’t let all the tears that you drown in tell you otherwise. you are the moon and secrets kept behind walls you built up on your own, hoping to stay in them without someone knocking them down. break them down, break free. just because the walls are breaking doesn’t mean your heart will too. leo: you have so much confidence built up inside of you, you are the sun and all of its light. you are the laughter in the children on sunny days, and the wildflowers growing in fields of yellow. you are also the blackest parts of the ocean, containing your emotions that form into bursts of angered rages. you can’t live like this, hurting yourself and others? don’t demand people of things just because you’re keeping parts of yourself hidden. virgo: you are dangerously beautiful, you are the freckles that my grandmother called angel kisses. you are as pale as snow, and your heart is cold like it to. but you know its not true, you just have to learn how to love yourself. your flaws will always be visible, but they make up who you are and I could connect constellations from your beauty spots, and scars and you would become the universe. simply breathtaking. libra: you are filled with laughter, you are the smiles in the melancholy people with horrible pasts, but heres something that you need to learn, how to make yourself smile and actually feel it deep inside. you have this remarkable persona that makes everyone stop and stare, and you’re too blind to see how wonderful you are. you’re too blind to see that people care for you. you’re the daylight, and the start of a new day. you are the sunset and the beginning of a new tomorrow. scorpio: you are a thousand pieces of different parts of the world, you are the world. all of its beauty, and all of its secrets combined into one. you are as fiery as the deepest parts in a volcano, and the saddest parts at the bottom of a vodka bottle. you are no where in between, you’re either cold as your heart is black or passionate as your heart is when you finally meet someone who opens up your soul and when that happens you will be nothing but light. sagittarius: you are a restless soul, breaking hearts including your own. your fears wont always be visible, because you’re a fighter who got through them already. if you can do it once you can do it again. don’t let the cruelty of human nature destroy your inner self, you can be you with out making reckless decisions. you can be you without being someone else. capricorn: you have firm grip on your life, no one can break that away. you know who you are, and you know what you want. you can create tears in other peoples eyes, just as fast as you can close off yourself from the world. don’t. you need your inner self to radiate through, for you can show people fun, and steadiness and patience and determination out of this world. you are a strong human being, you will find your light or maybe you just haven’t realized that you already have. aquarius: you are all the constellations, and all the seasons. The stars shine through you, and you move like water with each change in the world. You are the life within spring, and the fire in summer, the colors of fall and the death in winter. You are the revolution within yourself, no one in the world is like you. You are your own person. you have your own feelings, and your own mindset. but it’s never okay to keep them concealed inside. let them shine through like the galaxies within you. pisces: you are eloquence and beauty, and your creative colors flow from you. Everyone can see your colors, your vividness. you are a piece of art the world has created, all of your happiness and all of your sadness make you who you are. Stop changing yourself, you already know who you are.
zodiac poems, april 12th (via zodiacinsanity)
I agree with 99.9% of this.
I hate Donald Trump, and I disagree with 95% of the words that leave his mouth. I don’t care too much for Hillary, and I understand the concern about her scandals. I love Bernie, and while as much as I genuinely hope that he had a shot at the presidency, I’m just doubtful that he’d be able to beat Hillary, let alone Trump. I’m torn between feelings of Hillary’s potential indictment. Part of me says yes, because then Bernie will hopefully be able to run, but that part of me says no because she has more of a chance at beating Trump. But also, statistically the presidency goes from democrat to republican to democrat to republican, so it is more likely that a republican will be president, i.e. Trump. The only potentially positive part that could come out of having a republican president and congress, is that they could finally work together, instead of congress blocking everything the president tries to do. However, the republicans themselves don’t really like Trump, so who knows if progress would even be made in that regard?
Either way, I’m definitely voting democrat in this election, because if Trump is elected I’m probably going to cry. Definitely going to cry. A lot. He would hopefully be able to at least do something for our economy, given the businessman that he is. And maybe since the republicans don’t like him, they could just block him for four years then we got Kanye 2020, right? I want to see Bernie run again, but he’s already 74 and I just don’t know.
Who am I kidding, I’m probably just gonna write in Vermin Supreme.
Political thoughts from someone who knows nothing about it (I warned you)
I like Bernie Sanders a lot. I don’t think that he’ll be president. It would be really, really cool if he was. I just don’t think it’s going to happen. I will vote for him in the primary though. If anything, I think the outpouring of support towards his campaign is inspiring and hopefully proof of the inevitability of a political revolution to come. I don’t hate Hillary Clinton. I think you’re supposed to on the internet though. I’ve heard and read about the reasons she is a crooked politician. And I think that is bad. I guess you could say “but all politicians are” but it’s also possible she is worse than the other ones. Or maybe she really isn’t that much worse and the intense focus on her flaws are sexist in nature. That sentence probably made someone angry, though. It’s somewhat depressing that the first likely female presidential nominee turned out to be someone a large amount of people seem to intensely dislike. Like, smart people even. Feminists and stuff. They hate her. I think. I think the backlash towards her is legitimate in many ways. Some of it annoys me though. There is just a percentage of it that I find to be disingenuous. I think some of our generation is critical of her because they (we) are addicted to hate. Hating and calling out. I think hate is very popular right now. It’s fun. And it’s largely a defense mechanism to the exposure we now have to worldwide suffering. It’s a lot easier and much less emotionally exhausting to pick a few famous people a week for everyone to scream at than to spend time concentrating on and recognizing the part you undoubtedly play in the systematic inequality and suffering happening all around you. Because you do play a part. A real part. A part that if you fully understood you would most likely have a breakdown. So instead you scream at Azealia Banks. And that’s not to say there aren’t people out there who can participate in call out culture while simultaneously being aware and recognizing their own flaws and/or privilege. There’s just a good amount of people that I think don’t. Including me probably. I do it too. Why would I ever look inward when I can just let everyone know that I still think Trump sucks and then just call it a day? I’m not racist, he is! But we both are. Probably. He just is more than me. I hate Trump. I really think I hate him. I know on a humanistic level tnay he’s a person just like me but I genuinely find him to be someone I wish wasn’t allowed to talk anymore. He’s a dangerous force. He’s shining a light on terrible things and it’s horrifying to watch. And I can’t even imagine what it’s like for a minority in this country to hear him Especially a young one. That makes me want to cry. So those are my thoughts. Feel free to get mad at me. I honesty don’t know what I’m talking about. But in summary, I will vote for Hillary if/when she is the nominee against Trump. My friend said to me the other day, “If a white person genuinely thinks that a Hillary presidency is worse than a Trump presidency, that’s the definition of privilege”. I don’t know if she made it up or heard it from somewhere. But it feels true to me. Bye and please don’t scream at me. Actually you can. Just stop screaming so much. Do it a little less.
Sleepy Thoughts #3
Friday, May 20, 2016 10:38 PM: In pain on an air mattress at my grandma's 'cause I forgot my neck pillow that I sleep on while my industrial heals The most frustrating part of visiting my family is the difference of views. My uncle proudly says that if Bernie were to be elected then the national debt would be 17 TRILLION dollars, like it's the most absurd piece of information, while my grandma gobbles it up. I sit there biting my tongue while my mother looks at me to make sure I don't jump up and smash their radio to pieces. So I sit there, wondering why it's a bad thing that the national debt would be 17 trillion dollars. Especially since it's currently at 19.2 trillion and growing more every second.
Sister of Terence Crutcher, who has become another victim of the police brutality says she wants justice. She demands charges pressed against the officer, who killed her brother in cold blood. Please, welcome, Betty Shelby.
She is on paid leave now. She is on paid vacation for killing a black man for nothing.
We demand justice for Terence Crutcher.
Read more at BlackMatters
Life Hack!!
Did you know that instead of saying "his or her" when you're unsure of a person's pronouns, you can just use these wonderful things called "gender neutral pronouns"?! It's true! By substituting the word "their" for "his or her", not only do you save yourself more energy due to the significantly smaller amount of syllables, but you'll also include EVERY person, not just those that are male or female. Studies show that people who utilize this life hack are 79.43% less of an ass, and those around them are 89.38% less hurt or belittled!
I can’t find words to express how happy & proud I am of him for embarking on this difficult journey. If I wasn’t so exhausted I would write a more eloquent response, but instead I urge everyone to check out his videos.
“Matt Diaz Shows His New Body After Surgery.”
Today, I’d like to share something very special with you.
I’ve been waiting for the right time to make and post this video. I wanted to wait for my relationship with my body to really come into bloom, for enough time to pass since the initial video that went viral so it didn’t just seem like I was trying to capitalize on the buzz surrounding it.
But now, it’s time.
After over a year, 2 extensive procedures and a hell of a lot of effort:
This is my new body.
Please let me know what you think, and reblog it if you enjoy it!
Besides, how many times have white people been cast to play people of color, and no one protests? Suddenly when it's the other way around it becomes a huge issue?
Sophie Okonedo in The Hollow Crown
[images via]
Apparently I should be checking out this miniseries adaptation of Shakespeare’s history plays, immediate-style.
