I'm Tired

 “How many have to die before we will give up these dangerous toys?”
― Stephen King,  

Guns

 

 

Usually I don't begin quoting Stephen King until the first day of autumn, but after last nights events (see my previous post) and the apparent assassination of right-wing influencer and CEO of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, I turn to horror to find my center. The lights you see, shining through my bedroom window, are the lights from the various police, fire trucks, D.A. vehicles, and ambulances. They light shined through my window until 5:00 a.m. this morning. You see, there was an officer involved shooting across the street from where I live, basically right under my window. It's overwhelmingly stressful. (Update)

 

I couldn't stand Charlie Kirk, I believed he was verbally dangerous, and was dangerous politically motivated but I would have never wished this for him. I will not be celebrating his death. As someone said today, we must try to reach deep down in our souls and find our better angels. 

 

(Feeling Quiet)

 

About 18 months ago I witnessed a man shooting a gun, at his wife, in the back alleyway of the condos where we live. He shot toward her second floor condo, while we were driving next to him toward our parking spot. It was terrifying, and it stayed with me for months. I wrote about it here. Eventually I let go of that incident, but I hear gunshots in my neighborhood regularly. Mostly I close my eyes, and try to meditate it away. Mostly. But sometimes I hold in my fear, because what can I do about my situation? Well, we are considering moving, our condo has gained just enough equity to cover a down payment on a new place, and moving costs, but we can't move right this minute. I want more savings toward the move, so we don't go broke by starting over. 

 

Life is hard. Charlie Kirk dying at 31 is horrific. A young father of two, and husband to his wife, Erica, with a full life ahead of him. We must address guns, but we won't, and nothing ever change. We must address political apeshittery, but we won't. We must stop thinking of each other as the enemy, we won't. But sadly, nothing ever changes. 

 

Shortly after the events of 9/11, American's came together. Then we drifted apart.

 

Tomorrow is the 24th anniversary of that horrific event.  

 

(Sigh)

 

I'm tired. 

 

“Time seemed frozen, the applause went on and on even though heads were turning, necks were craning; someone had screamed because there was a man in the gallery and the man was holding a rifle and this was something they had all seen on TV, it was a situation with classic elements that they all recognized. In it's own way, it was as American as The Wonderful World of Disney. The politician and the man in a high place with the gun.”

 
~Stephen King,

  The Dead Zone

 

 Here is a booklet from the Department Of Homeland Security on how to keep yourself safe, should you find yourself in an active shooter situation. It's worth downloading.

 

 Active Shooter and How To Respond ( DHS ) 

It Feels Like A New Day

"National parks and reserves are an integral aspect of intelligent use of natural resources. It is the course of wisdom to set aside an ample portion of our natural resources as national parks and reserves, thus ensuring that future generations may know the majesty of the earth as we know it today."

~John F. Kennedy
World Conference On National Parks (June 23 1962)

I was born six days after John F. Kennedy spoke those words. I wish public parks were as important today as they were in 1962. For that matter, I wish there wasn't such a drive to continue to invade and impose into our places of natural beauty for any reason, let alone for the greedy reasons that we tend to hear about most often... drill baby drill.

California has some magnificent parks. From the great big ones where one could get lost for days, to the small ones like this one, Greenridge Park, but more and more they are taking a financial hit, and it came very close to the permanent closure of many California parks after Governor Schwarzenegger's his term in office. Thank goodness, Governor Brown was able to take steps to fund most of the parks, at least in the short term, but there is still a lot to be concerned about. But with a surplus in the budget that California is currently enjoying, there is a lot of possibilities.

Sometimes things work out so strange. I was hoping President Obama would be more proactive with the environment, but he hasn't done much in regards to conservation. And I thought we had a champion in Al Gore, but I don't think I really know what his values are anymore. If I ever really did. I guess some things aren't always what they seem to be, but it really hurts all the same when someone you thought you could count on becomes someone you don't recognize.

When all is said and done, I voted for President Obama, and I wouldn't change my mind for anything. I think I have grown to appreciate the man for his ability to try and now his ability to know when to stop trying. The bible says even God stops knocking at some point. In retrospect, I think the frustration I would feel over President Obama's over reaching in his efforts to reach bipartisan conclusions, forced me to put a little more thought into what I really hold important. Perhaps in the next four years President Obama will do more about protecting the environment, so when I am finally at the age that all I can do is sit on a park bench and feed the birds, there will be a park bench to sit on.

Hope... it does a body good!

It's a strange feeling as I sit here writing this. President Obama was sworn in yesterday, officially, and today he is sworn in again for all to see. In some ways it feels like he is beginning his first term, and not his second. He has shown a lot of strength since the shooting in Connecticut. And a lot of courage to. I know that if the republicans, and the NRA wanted to be a part of a positive change in how we go forward concerning gun ownership, he would have been happy to have their input. Unfortunately, the NRA only wants their way or no way. And they don't care who they threaten. But President Obama didn't cower in fear, instead his is walking into the future and allowing his conscience to be his guide.

Thank You SO Much Mr. President!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Sarah Palin once asked... "So, hows that hopey, changey stuff workin' out for you?"

Well, 1/2 term Governor Palin... Pretty DAMN WELL! Oh and by the way, the British didn't want to take our arms, they didn't want us to begin our own nation. Sheesh. And shes allowed to pretend she knows how to sue a gun.



~Happiness :)

~Me

With The Permission Of The Ignorant

"It was the meanest moment of eternity."

~Zora Fuller Ross, Independence!


It's Sunday. I am sure of that. I have been talking to God quite a bit in the last couple days, barely able to put my feelings into understandable thoughts. Thank God, God knows me and understands me before I even begin. Horrible things happen every single day. Awful obscene things. They happen to the elderly, and the babies. They happen to the rich and the poor. Awful moments know nothing of race or religion. The hour and day makes no difference to the turning of the world. No one who wakes up in the morning, knows if they will have the distinct joy of seeing an amazing sunset as the day slips into night. And just as I was sharing with my friend Paul the other day, life is pretty darned random, but yet when you least expect it, a pattern will occur to once again remind you that sometimes things happen specifically in some scheduled universe we mortals are not necessarily privy to, and sometimes we do know it's coming and we ignorantly choose to ignore it.

In my life I have been guilty of relying on the random to explain away responsibility. It wasn't my fault that I got a flat, who could have known that if I hit that pot hole, it would leave my tire damaged. The pothole was perfectly random, but the knowledge that there was at least a small chance of hitting one, rather than paying attention to traffic hazards, was somehow pushed to the back of my mind as just one more of God's little jests in a random universe. God had nothing to do with it. If God does indeed have a sense of humor, he wouldn't have used it to flatten my tire. He would have used it to help me find a random banana skin to slip on. Which let's face it... is not only hilarious, but makes a good use of all parts of a delicious fruit.

The shooting that happened on Friday... :::weep::: seems in some ways to be a random act of a sick mind, when in fact, I think we all know, it was as far from random as anything gets. The Aurora Colorado shooting last summer could be explained as a random act of a dangerous mind, as could the mall shooting a week ago in Washington, as could the shooting at Virginia Tech, and Columbine, and the Luby's massacre, and the shooting of Gabby Giffords, 1 California Street, and just Saturday evening a man was arrested in Southern California for shooting more than 50 rounds into a parking lot near Macy's at the Fashion Island Mall in Newport Beach, and the murder/suicide in Las Vegas yesterday, the football player who killed the mother of his infant daughter and then himself. All random acts of the deranged. The psychotic. The evil. The mentally disturbed. The sick.

Actually, each and every time someone is murdered with a gun, either as part of a mass shooting, or suicide by one's own hand, the responsibility lies not just with the one holding the gun, as they couldn't have done it without the permission of the ignorant.

As our president wept yesterday on live TV, I felt nothing but disgust at his inaction on gun control. That is one of the reasons I can very close to not voting last November. As he spoke of the shooting in Connecticut, I couldn't feel sorry for him, I was too busy grieving for the children and teachers who did nothing wrong. They were innocent. But they paid for the selfishness of those too worried about their own self-serving agenda. "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." "If you take all the guns off the street than only the criminals will have guns." "It's my right under the 2nd Amendment." BLAH... BLAH... BLAH. The ridiculous justifications make me sick. Physically sick. Twice yesterday. Once today.

How many more children?

I don't know. I hope I don't find out. But I am fairly sure... someday... it will happen again. Especially if we Americans continue to live in the fantasy that we are the best country on the planet. That we can do no wrong as a society. That the world wants to be just like us.

No They Don't.

Want a wake-up call?

Yesterday, some Pakistani school children held a prayer vigil for the victims of the shooting in Connecticut.

I am proud to say that I live in the state with the toughest gun laws in the country, but it didn't come about without the tragic loss of life. Too many lives.

Will anything change?

Not without the permission of the ignorant. Sleep well tonight, knowing your life is, for now, in their hands.

Please visit the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence to leave a message of condolence and learn the facts.

~Me

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day~72 Deepest Sympathy And Love For Aurora

If tears could build a stairway,
And memories a land,
I'd walk right up to Heaven
And bring you home again.

~Author Unknown


**Warning... this post is not a lighthearted one. If I offend anyone, I apologize... but I am not sorry.


FUCK YOU! The Rant Paragraphs...


Every time I hear someone say American is the greatest country on the planet I want to borrow their rose colored glasses, so I could see the world the way they do. And yet at the same time, I want to point out how very wrong they are. I did a little Googling, and as an example, we don't lead the world in EDUCATION, but want to know what we do lead the world in... HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTINGS. That is what we are doing for our children, that's the world we are giving them.. AMERICA... LEADING THE WORLD IN SCHOOL SHOOTINGS SINCE 1999. 1999... And the Columbine Massacre.


Both Mitt Romney, and President Obama held their respective press conferences today, and neither candidate had the BALLS to say ENOUGH. GOD BLESS AMERICA  and GOD BLESS THE FUCKING NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION. If I hadn't made up my mind before, it's made up now. If President Obama doesn't do anything SUBSTANTIAL about gun control between now and November, I will NOT vote for him, or anyone else who can't stand up the NRA. And don't give me that BULLSHIT about if you don't vote you can't complain... SHUT UP! As a matter of fact I can, and I will. LOUD. Because that's what AMERICA is about. The freedom to speak. To seek change. To insist that our government DO IT'S JOB!


The Government has kept us safe since 9/11? No, not really. The government has us being molested at airports. The Obama administration has more guns on the street now, then when George W Bush was in office, and oh by the way, we weren't being molested at airports during his administration.


There are more Americans, then members of the NRA. It's time for those of us who can think straight to make our voices known, not just loudly... DEAFENING!


PRESIDENT OBAMA. DO SOMETHING NOW! I DON'T WANT A PRESIDENT WHO CAN'T STAND UP TO THE NRA!


WEEP... The Sadness Paragraph...


Every time one of these shooting takes place, invariably I will learn about someone's life. Someone extraordinary. And while I may have never met them, I never forget them.


(Dr. Michael Griffith)
1991 - Lubby's Masacre


(John Scully)
1993 - 101 California St Shooting


(All The Children Of Columbine)
1999 - Columbine High School, Columbine, Co.


(Amish School Children)
2006 - Amish School, Bart Township, Lancaster, Pa


(Gabby Giffords)
2011 - Tucson Shooting, Tucson Az


(Jessica Ghawi)
2012 - Aurora Century Theater Shooting, Aurora Colorado


In Aurora, as of right now... 71 Shot or Injured. 12 Dead.


Enough...weep... weep... weep. I am sorry, I will PRAY for you is just NOT ENOUGH.


Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence (Website)


Brady Campaign (On Twitter)


Please take a moment to sign the Petition at the Brady Campagin to Prevent Gun Violence.


Share These Badges In Support Of The Victims Of The Aurora Shootings. (From ABC7 News San Francisco Facebook Page)
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~Me :(

NOTE: I am taking a few days off. I thought I would make it to my goal, but I just feel the artist in me draining out, and an exacerbation of my Fibromyalgia flowing in.  I will be back soon I think. Gotta take care of the health first.


:(