sad/scary stuff

I’m tired of guns now

yllwdaisies sad/scary stuff

America, you told me I needed to carry a gun.
You said if those that went out dancing in Orlando had a gun, this wouldn’t have happened.

Though, I’m not sure where a gun would fit in my party dress.

My dress didn’t have pockets.
My dress was short and light.
It swayed as I moved.
A bulky holster? On my dress for a hot Floridian night?
It wouldn’t go.

So I got shot instead.
Because I had no gun.

Then I did carry a gun.
For protection while I tried to make money for my family.
I had a family – five kids.
I had trouble holding a traditional job, but I could sell CDs.
I carried a gun just like you told me to do, America.

Someone said I was a nuisance, and called the police to come find me.
They found me.
They pinned me to the ground.

Then they shot me.
Because someone said I had a gun.

So then I carried my gun.
I was not considered a nuisance by anyone.
I was driving with my loved ones when I got pulled over.
I did as America told me.
I had my gun with my concealed carry.
I told the officer I had my concealed carry gun.
I told him I was going to reach for my wallet.
That’s what you told me to say, America.

What you didn’t tell me was that he would shoot me anyway.
Because I did as you said I should.

So what now? What do you want from me?
I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me.
Where does that leave us?
I no longer feel safe.

I’m tired of guns now.
Can I shoot them to make them go away?

Note: I have been distraught about Orlando for the last few weeks. Then yesterday morning, woke to hear about Alton Sterling. I heard something about a man in Minnesota and the fb video, but couldn’t stand to hear/see more. I still haven’t seen either of the videos, for love of myself. But I read the account of Philando Castile by his fiancée today. And I got sick. That is to say that I had to go to the bathroom because I got physically sick. In the bathroom, I started coming up with this. I grabbed my phone and started putting down my thoughts and the above is what came out.

Tags: Orlando, guns, NRA, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, good guy with a gun.

just having fun as the KKK

yllwdaisies racism, sad/scary stuff

Just saying what the heck is WRONG with people doesn’t even begin to address this. It’s not enough anymore. Now we have to point it out when we see it. There’s just too much of it.

links to news articleWith social media, these former “closet racists” have found acceptance and are moving out into the open.

Which is a good thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they are coming out of the woodwork.

I went to college with a guy who wrote off the KKK as urban legend, essentially. He said they don’t really exist anymore. Even after several examples of the hate group I showed him in current time. And he dismissed it, saying it’s harmless. HARMLESS.

This is real, and it’s happening TODAY. And people think it’s ok. It’s not ok.

People think it’s acceptable to dress up & pretend to be part of a hate group. A hate group, that I add is still very active today. We’re seeing black churches being burned down at an alarming rate. The NAACP bombing. And lots of little other crimes not brought to mainstream news.

It’s not ok to dress up as the KKK. It’s not “fun & games”.

hate speech vs free speech

yllwdaisies complaints/hating, religion, sad/scary stuff, terrorism + 9/11

There is a new slew of comic book superheros that are women, and of course you know that I love that! One such (newish) superhero is a Muslim teen, born in Jersey City. She is Kamala Khan by day, and morphs into Ms. Marvel when the going gets tough!

Well, in San Francisco, a hate group has bought advertising on public transportation. Anti-Islamic advertising, that likens Islam to the Nazis. I don’t want to show their ads, but I think I must to truly show how despicable they are. But FIRST, let me show you what someone has plastered OVER their ads. Which I THINK ARE AWESOME.

kamala khan1

kamala khan3

kamala khan2

Now, here’s the thing. Someone at the city of San Francisco (or in the company of the transportation system, I don’t know if it’s a private company or city-owned), sold the advertising space to a known hate group. The Freedom Defense Initiative is considered a hate group, same as the KKK.

I get that the First Amendment is a BFD here in the US. But I never quite got how it supersedes hate groups. Hate groups are ok here in the US; their rights are protected. The Westboro Baptist Church is protected to the extent of the hate they spew at funerals (even of veterans that died so they could have that freedom).

Remember John Galliano? The famous designer? He got in trouble for hate speech in France. Other countries take Hate Speech more seriously. But only certain targets of hate there (from what I can see). I say that because Charlie Hebdo can publish all sorts of filth about religions, and it’s free speech. But France arrested 54 people for expressing their freedom of speech. I guess hate speech is not tolerated in their country, but it depends on what type of hate speech you have, and who it is you’re hating on.

I really don’t want to promote the ad, but I do want you to see how outrageous it is. It’s ridiculous, stupid, outrageous. Comparing to the Nazis? Really? Anyway, since I don’t necessarily want to promote it on my front page, I’m putting it after the jump. The only thing after this is the unadulterated ad.

Oh, go read my post on galliano. For real.

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Stop buying bottled water

Video yllwdaisies commercialism, sad/scary stuff

If the extra plastic consumption does not bother you, please at least consider that the CEO of Nestlé truly believes that water is NOT a human right. ‪#‎StopBuyingBottledWater‬

I’ve posted before about water. Because it’s kinda crucial.

Let’s talk about the Hobby Lobby situation

yllwdaisies change, politics, religion, sad/scary stuff, the law

I get that people should be free to exercise their religion. But I *still* don’t get how corporations are people. Am I missing something? People are people. Corporations are legal entities. I don’t get (still) how a corporation is a person. Yes, I know I’ve been told this for years, that corporations are people. I must be missing something, because I just STILL don’t get it.

Let’s go back to my first sentence. I get that people should be free to exercise their religion. Honestly. Not like in some states (like FL, TN, NC) where they’ve tried to make Sharia law illegal. What is Sharia law? Simply religious belief. So, this religious freedom is extended for a corporation, but not for people. As I believe it was originally intended.

Now, let’s take a look at Hobby Lobby specifically. In their specific case, I get that they are against these “abortion drugs”. We’ll interchange the terms “abortion drugs” and “emergency contraception”, as we will use them to refer to the same thing. Now, you’re against emergency contraception. You are anti-abortion, and emergency contraception is the equivalent of abortion to you.

But here’s the thing…. you INVEST IN THESE SAME DRUGS. Your 401k plans invest in the companies that MAKE these drugs. So… um… where’s the morality then? Oh. Because you’re MAKING MONEY from it. I see.

And what about the 90% of your goods that come from a country that has FORCED ABORTIONS. That’s ok too, right? Because you can get your products for cheap, and sell for a greater profit.

Ok. So, to recap. Money is good. Abortion is bad. However, it’s ok to make money off of abortion, but not to provide emergency contraception in case a zygote has formed. Just in case. Not even an embryo yet. Maybe not even a zygote. But the lady does not want to find out later, and have to perform an ACTUAL abortion, which likely will happen if she was planning on getting one of these emergency contraception drugs.

Hobby-Lobby-decision-birth-control-

kid gets away with murder, literally

yllwdaisies gov't, loopholes/sneaky, race/culture, sad/scary stuff, the law

I was in TX last month visiting my new favorite person in the world! My sister just had a baby, y’all!!

Anyway, in TX, I saw something on the news about a 16-yr old boy who was driving drunk & killed 4 people. So, when I came back home, I looked it up to see what came of it. Apparently, it was a little while ago, and this is what I found:

pic links to article
pic links to article

They’re not rapists, they’re football stars!

yllwdaisies sad/scary stuff, the law

I usually have CNN on over the weekend. Even if it’s just on in the background as I’m doing things. Same with when I have a day off. If I’m on your twitter feed, you sometimes see my angry tweets at #CNN or #msnbc, b/c it’s my only way to yell at the tv.

Well, I wasn’t really paying too much attention yesterday, but then the Steubenville rape trial came on. They aired a segment with the sentencing. And they showed these 2 young men crying, and were talking about how their college football career was being hurt.

And I was like…. whaaaatttt?!?!!!

Did they just empathize with 2 men who committed a violent crime against a 16-year old girl????!!!

No.

I must have heard them wrong.

No…. they’re saying how now these 2 young men will have to register as Sex Offenders for the rest of their lives, under Ohio law.

Um… yeah. Because they ARE sex offenders. What do you think RAPISTS are?

Rape is a violent crime. A CRIME. They ARE sex offenders, and SHOULD register as such.

What sort of HORRIBLE animal rapes a girl, and pose for pictures for social media. They were laughing, hootin & hollerin in pictures w/ an UNCONSCIOUS, STRIPPED girl!

A rapist.

They weren’t crying in court, after given their sentence, b/c they were sorry for what they did.

It was b/c they were sorry they had to pay a price for what they did.

But these rapists are being sympathized with. Even before CNN aired such a stupid viewpoint piece yesterday. They were sympathized with… when all those young kids at the parties were tweeting, twitpic-ing, instagramming a crime being committed. Then, the town trying to cover it up. Unfortunately, they shot themselves in the foot when those town-folk also raised kids that aired their dirty business out into the twittersphere. Incriminating evidence.

And now, today, Fox News aired the same clip I saw on CNN yesterday. However, Fox didn’t silence out the name of the real rape victim like every other broadcast did. Ugh. I’m hearing this gal’s getting death threats now on social media.

Here’s a Onion story that aired on Comedy Central back in 2011:

152 shots in less than 5 mins.

yllwdaisies complaints/hating, loopholes/sneaky, military, politics, sad/scary stuff, the law

The Hartford Courant disclosed a new piece of info this wk that we didn’t know before… That Newtown shooting… 152 shots were fired in less than 5 mins. B/c in that Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle, were multiple, extended 30-round magazines. His mother would not have been able to purchase this if, in 2004, Congress had not let the Assault Weapons Ban expire.

He wouldn’t have been able to buy a magazine with more than 10 rounds in it if the 2004 law had been renewed. So, he would have had to re-load 14 times. Lag-time where he could have been stopped. The Assault Weapons Ban also banned 30-round magazines.

He’d need to re-load over a dozen times to do what he did in 3-4 reloads, more chance for error (drop a mag, or have something jam, or stumble). If the law had been renewed, he’d still only have had access to a 10-round magazine. Not the 30-round mags that his mama was able to purchase since the law didn’t renew.

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let’s talk about guns

yllwdaisies my thoughts, sad/scary stuff, school

On Friday, December 14th a horrific thing happened. So horrific, that I can’t even tell you about it. That day was actually the first time in a decade that I did not use any sort of media, save the initial way that I found out. I got a tweet sent to my phone, something about a shooting. I was at work, at my desk, so immediately I clicked on google to check the news. As my cursor hoovered over the ‘Google News’ link, I stopped. Instead, I got up from my desk, and went to the desk of our social media person. If she tweeted it, she must know about it. So, I simply asked her.

She said there’d been a shooting at a school. At an elementary school. And children were killed. She was trying not to read about it too much, so she didn’t know much more than that. That was when I decided that I also didn’t really need to know much more than that. Elementary school? That meant 5-10 year olds. I really did not need to know any more than that 5-10 yr old children were killed for no good reason.

How did it come to this? Why? How?

That day, I did not watch any sort of news. Not online, radio, or tv. I didn’t check The Facebook. I couldn’t do it.

The next day, out of habit, I clicked on my facebook app soon after waking. I initially saw posts about guns. Pro- and against. I didn’t even scroll. Just on the screen when it opened where talks of guns. I instantly turned it off. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t discuss guns. This wasn’t the time to discuss guns. I had heard (overheard really) enough to know that there was a man, mentally unstable, who got a hold of the gun & went on this rampage.

I couldn’t talk about guns. This actually had very little to do w/ the 2nd amendment, and EVERYTHING to do w/ caring for one another. Caring. Not enabling. Instantly I was reminded of celebrities who had spiraled out of control, only to die well before their time. Rock stars w/ entourages, entire staff of ppl solely for them, and yet no one says a word as they slowly kill themselves. Let alone their family. I know I’ve written about this before.

God knows that if I gain a good 10 lbs, I’m reminded that I need to exercise & eat right. I’m reminded of my family history of diabetes. But more importantly, I’m reminded that there are ppl in my life that love me, and love having me around.

If I’m doing something wrong, I get lectured. Lectured. It’s a funny word. Such a negative connotation. But usually lectures are for the greater good, non? You attend lectures for knowledge. When your parents/elders, or siblings/equals, lecture you, it’s b/c they want to see you well. Live well.

So, this was not really the time for talks on guns. It was a great moment to call to the attention of America to look out for your fellow man. Do right by them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That being said…. I”m not saying there is no discussion about guns to be had at all. I’m just saying that the time for gun regulations was after the Columbine shooting. How did those boys get those guns?

Notice I said regulation, not prohibition. God forbid I insinuate taking away anyone’s right to an amendment that was conceived at a time when men forcing themselves upon their enslaved women was not considered rape. For as progressive as we think we are, we hold onto some pretty archaic truths.

At any rate, I do have friends who are licensed to carry a concealed weapon, and they do; and I have no issues with it. I’m not concerned with those licensed to carry. Statistics prove that they’re not the ones killing others in society. It’s the unlicensed carriers.

There needs to be regulations on how folks go about OBTAINING guns. Gun shows. Internet. Street solicitation. Guns are readily available. And not just small handguns, like a pregnant girlfriend of mine carries. But semi-automatic machinery, built for combat. Assault weapons.

We went after Iraq for weapons of mass destruction that they did not have. Why not stop the assault weapons trade here in our own country.

I’m not glad this happened so that we are FINALLY ready to have a conversation about this. The time for conversation about this has long gone, time & time again. The time for this conversation was in ’99, after Columbine. I understand we were stunned then. We could not imagine that something like this could have happened, or could ever happen again, as we were all on the same page that it was horrific. Other shootings happened, but they were spread out, and not like the Columbine shootings. Not by a youngster, and not at a school.

But then in 2007, an 18-yr old shot up a Salt Lake City mall. Who’d imagine, in the midwest? Two months later, Virginia Tech. This time was the perfect time to discuss gun control laws. But nothing. That same year, a couple weeks before Christmas, another midwest mall is shot up, this time by a 19-yr old w/ a semi-automatic. If 1999 & COlumbine was not the time for these talks, then 2007 most certainly was the most appropriate time. Three shootings by young men who should not have had access to those guns, shot 74 ppl.

We also had an opportunity as a nation to have this conversation again in 2011, when Gabby Giffords was shot, along w/ 18 others.

Sigh. Let’s finally discuss guns. Please.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • December 11, 2012. Clackamas Town Center, Oregon. 22-year-old Jacob Tyler Roberts stole a rifle & killed 2 people along w/ himself.
  • September 27, 2012. Minneapolis, MN. 36-yr old Andrew Engeldinger at Accent Signage Systems lost his job, & killed 5, wounded 3, before killing himself.
  • August 5, 2012. Oak Creek, Wisconsin. 40-year-old US Army veteran Wade Michael Page killed 6 Sikh temple goers, injured 4, before killing himself. Religiously motivated.
  • July 20, 2012. Aurora, CO. 24-year-old James Holmes killed 12 & wounded 58 at a midnight premiere showing of The Dark Knight Rises.
  • May 29, 2012. Seattle, WA. Ian Stawicki opened fire on Cafe Racer Espresso, killed 5 & eventually himself after a manhunt.
  • April 6, 2012. Tulsa, OK. 19-yr old Jake England, and 32-yr old Alvin Watts shot 5 black men (3 died), in a racially motivated shooting spree.
  • April 2, 2012. Oakland, CA. A former student, 43-year-old One L. Goh killed 7 at Oikos University, a Korean Christian college. It was the 6th-deadliest school massacre in the US & the deadliest attack on a school since the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.
  • February 27, 2012. Chardon, OH. Thomas “TJ” Lane killed 3 fellow students at his Chardon High School, injuring 3 others.
  • October 14, 2011. Seal Beach, CA. 41-year-old Scott Evans Dekraai, killed 6 women & 2 men at Salon Meritage hair salon.
  • September 6, 2011. Carson City, NV. 32-yr old Eduardo Sencion walked into an IHOP & shot 12 people; 5 died, including 3 National Guard members.
  • January 8, 2011. Tucson, AZ. 22-year-old Jared Loughner walked into a political event at a Safeway market & opened fire, killing 6 & injuring then Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ, shot in the head). Among the 6 killed were Arizona District Court Chief Judge John Roll & a 9-year-old girl. 19 total were shot. Loughner sentenced to 7 life terms plus 140 years, without parole.
  • August 3, 2010. Manchester, CT. Omar S. Thornton, 34, gunned down Hartford Beer Distributor after he was caught stealing beer. 9 killed, including Thornton, & two injured.
  • November 5, 2009. Fort Hood army base, TX. Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire, shooting 43 people & killing 13.
  • April 3, 2009. Binghamton, NY. Jiverly Wong, 41, opened fire at an immigration center before committing suicide. He killed 13 people, wounding 4.
  • March 29, 2009. Carthage, NC. 45-yr-old Robert Stewart walked into the Pinelake Health and Rehab nursing home, looking for his estranged wife who worked there. He killed 8 people. Stewart was sentenced to life in prison.
  • February 14, 2008. Northern Illinois University. Steven Kazmierczak, 27, opened fire in a lecture hall, killing 6 & wounding 21 before killing himself
  • February 7, 2008. Kirkwood, Missouri. Charles Lee Thornton, opened fire during a public meeting at City Hall. 6 died & 2 injured, before Thornton was killed by police.
  • December 5, 2007. Omaha, NE. 19-yr-old, Robert Hawkins, walked into a department store at Westroads Mall, & opened fire. He killed 9 & wounded 4 before killing himself.
  • April 16, 2007. Virginia Tech. Student Seung-Hui Choi, shot 56 people, 32 died, in the deadliest school massacre in US.
  • February 12, 2007. Salt Lake City. 18-yr-old gunman Sulejman Talović shot & killed 5, wounded 4 at Trolley Square Mall.
  • October 2, 2006. Lancaster, PA. 32-yr-old Charles Carl Roberts entered an Amish schoolhouse, separated the boys from the girls, then bond and shot the girls. 5 young girls died, 6 were injured. Roberts then committed suicide.
  • March 25, 2006. Seattle, WA. 28-year-old Kyle Aaron Huff started shooting at Capitol Hill; 7 died, 2 injured.
  • March 21, 2005. Red Lake, MN. Teenager Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather & grandfather’s girlfriend, then opened fire at Red Lake Senior High School, killed 9 people & injured 5 there. Weise then killed himself.
  • March 12, 2005. Brookfield, WI. 44-yr-old church member Terry Michael Ratzmann entered a church meeting at a Sheraton hotel, and opened fire. He killed the pastor, the pastor’s teenage son, and 7 others, before killed himself. 4 others were wounded.
  • July 8, 2003. Meridian, MS. Doug Williams entered a Lockheed Martin plant where he worked, and started shooting. He shot 14 people, targeting the African-Americans, & killed 7 before killing himself.
  • December 26, 2000. Wakefield, MA. Edgewater Technology employee Michael “Mucko” McDermott shot & killed seven coworkers at the office. He was sentenced to 7 consecutive life sentences. McDermott claimed he had “traveled back in time and killed Hitler and the last 6 Nazis.”
  • September 15, 1999. Fort Worth, TX. Larry Gene Ashbrook opened fire at a Christian rock concert & teen prayer rally at Wedgewood Baptist Church. He killed 7 & wounded another 7, almost all teenagers. Ashbrook then committed suicide.
  • July 29, 1999. Atlanta, GA. Mark Orrin Barton, 44, murdered his wife & two children w/ a hammer, then shot up 2 Atlanta day trading firms. Barton killed 12 including his family & injured 13 before killing himself.
  • April 20, 1999. Littleton, CO. Deadliest high school shooting in US history. Students Eric Harris & Dylan Kiebold shot up Columbine High School, killing 13 & wounded 21 others. They killed themselves after the massacre.

Can we discuss the gun problem in the US now?

Clinton liaison for Israel & Palestine

yllwdaisies amnesty, gov't, my thoughts, politics, religion, sad/scary stuff, terrorism + 9/11

Am I the only 1 who thinks that sending former US President Bill Clinton to motivate a treaty & peace between Israel & Palestine, is a likely solution?

He almost had them at the cusp of something back in 2000. No one has come close to what he’s been able to do in extreme foreign circumstances.

UPDATE (Nov. 21, 2012): I knew it! Well, I knew it’d take a Clinton! I just had the wrong Clinton pegged! I saw Hillary Clinton do her whirlwind tour yesterday, from Myanmar/Burma to Israel, Egypt, & the West Bank. AND NOW LOOK! CEASE FIRE. THANK YOU, Sec. Clinton.