Offended?

I'm tired of being nice.

I'm tired of being used.

I'm tired of you.

I have no use for your shit.

I'm not here to cater to your whims.

Go fuck yourself.

To Whom It May Concern - cc: NC

Dear Governor McCrory,

We are all the same, no matter how much you wish to deny it. 
"The genetic difference between individual humans today is minuscule – about 0.1%, on average" It is this infinitesimal amount that accounts for our differences: skin, hair and eye color, sexual orientation, gender, diseases, i.a. but make no mistake a human is a human is a human.

So here's the short version - we are all human beings. I don't care if you are gay or straight you are still a human being. And then comes the part you really have a hard time grasping - we are all Americans. ALL AMERICANS. The Constitution says we are all EQUAL - I'm thinking it must be true.

No matter how much the bigoted Americans want to play fast and loose with it - the Constitution guarantees that we are all equal under the law. 
No matter how much the whiners want to carry on about how they are being persecuted because they can't persecute and openly hate on the gays and other minorities - the Constitution guarantees we all have the same rights. 
No matter how much gays are treated as second class or non-citizens by ignorant homophobes - the first line of the Declaration of Independence spells out quite clearly that: "All Men(People) Are Created Equal" - this, incidentally, is backed up by the Constitution.

So here's how it stands...  YOU did not do your homework before signing that ridiculous, bigoted HB2 into law so now you look like an idiot to the whole country not just the people of North Carolina. Suck it up little man and repeal HB2. Since it only took one day of a special session at a cost of approximately $42,000 to taxpayers to pass it I'm betting you could turn this around in a day as well. 

The people are counting on you to do the right thing and they are also counting the days until Election Day when you will be voted out.                                       #OneTermPat

Do You Hate?

I need to know... do you hate?

If your answer is... emphatically - "NO, of course not."

Then I must ask... 

Why do you support it thru complacency and tolerance of extremist views within your politics and/or religion?

You do realize that by not speaking out you are as complicit as those acting on their hatred.

You may not say the words but by not denouncing them you are endorsing them.

You may not perpetrate the violence but you might as well be doing the beating, lynching, raping and killing.

We are all the same, no matter how much we wish to deny it. 
"the genetic difference between individual humans today is minuscule – about 0.1%, on average" It is this infinitesimal amount that accounts for our differences: skin, hair and eye color, sexual orientation, gender, diseases, i.a. but make no mistake a human is a human is a human.

                    

Your Vote Counts

The only reason I will vote for Hillary in November is because she will be the Democratic standard-bearer. It will be important to rally our party if we want to retain our Rights and Freedoms that we have fought so long and hard for. To lose everything because we feel that to vote for Clinton undermines our values is ridiculous. What truly undermines Democratic, Progressive and Liberal values is by allowing the Republican nominee to gain the Presidency through pettiness and apathy on our part. This is the main difference between the DNC and the GOP - Conservatives will vote for whoever their nominee is to take the Presidency - no matter how abhorrent their choices are this year they will vote Red.

And then . . . they came for me . . .

I'm writing this for real... Splitting the ticket is a guarantee the Republican will win - as much as I want Bernie I want MY RIGHTS more and if Clinton is the nominee I will vote for her. As a gay, Atheist woman in the South I know there will be fall-out for me under either Trump or Cruz. Under Trump I might be screwed but under a Cruz theocracy I will be truly repressed. 

I'm reposting these two from another discussion I was in. People may think I'm being paranoid but let's be realistic this country has NEVER faced an election like this before. The GOP want to fundamentally change what this country stands for and they have fear-mongered a fearful, willfully-ignorant and hate-filled base into falling into line behind their diatribes against anyone who is not like them (white, Christian, conservative).
****

"I have to be honest, down here in NC (hell the South in general), I'm starting to get more than a little nervous as to what November may bring us, being as both on the state and national level crazy is in the air. McCrory may be down in the polls now but the loons in this state may stay home instead of voting him out because "there's no need to get out the vote if he's losing in the polls" and many won't vote for Clinton just because she's Clinton. As much as I want Bernie come November I want to retain my rights as a gay, Atheist woman more and will vote for Hillary if she is the nominee. I have to look at it as reasonably as I can and I know dividing the Democrats will give whoever the Republican nominee is the win. No matter if it is Cruz or Trump(or a 3rd party win at the Republican convention) the one thing the GOP has that the Liberals don't is unity in the face of adversity. The Left will undercut all our gains in Equality and Freedom because we're pouting over "our" candidate not being the "chosen one". We will throw away Planned Parenthood and a woman's right to control her own body, gay rights, voting rights, civil rights, public education, Separation of Church and State, the knowledge that America is not nor ever was a Christian nation and give corporations and the 1% more of an opportunity to denigrate the majority of US citizens. A write-in vote or no-vote is the same as a vote for the Republican because all the cynicism will add up to a land slide for the Christian-Conservative, Right-Wing Republican nominee - President Cruz or President Trump - YOU WILL HELP HIM WIN."

and this...

"And you think the Republicans are a better choice? 
Clinton's views are not mine but I don't see her turning this nation into a theocracy the way Cruz has verbalized(promised) or the xenophobic hate-fest that Trump has so openly called for. 

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist; And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist; And then they came for the Jews, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew; And then . . . they came for me . . ."
Martin Niemöller

I don't want to have to worry about anyone speaking up for me, that's why I'm speaking out now."
****

I have been trying to not be so emotional in what I write but it is not just the idea of a possible future - it is the present I have seen in the 12 years since moving to NC that disturbs me. If it was feasible to move North I would because Jim Crow never died down here he was just waiting to make a come back. Trump, Cruz and the rest of the repressed right wing don't care about anyone except themselves and those who copy their propaganda of hate and religious oppression. 
A friend posted in a discussion: "3rd and lastly ... I am sick and tired of having to vote for the person I find least nauseating. If it means blowing things up for four years, so be it. We survived Bush we'll survive Trump and then maybe things will flip around on the other side." -- I also wish I did not have to pick the "least nauseating" but surviving Bush was very different from what these lunatics, yes lunatics, represent. We may survive a Trump or Cruz Presidency (although for some Americans it may be beyond oppressive)but the repercussions will reverberate for decades. 

Both Republicans are a true danger to the majority of the people in this country, one is a hate-mongering xenophobe and the other wants to instill a theocracy. 
I repeat from above: "We will throw away Planned Parenthood and a woman's right to control her own body, gay rights, voting rights, civil rights, public education, Separation of Church and State, the knowledge that America is not nor ever was a Christian nation and give corporations and the 1% more of an opportunity to denigrate the majority of US citizens." and the Supreme Court will be decimated for decades. I have this same discussion with friends, acquaintances and strangers who think we should just gut it out if Trump or Cruz wins. You may not have the same worries that many others do: being LGBT, a minority of race or religion, non-religious, a woman, middle-class or lower-middle class, poverty level, senior citizen, disabled, i.a. but realize that sometimes the end sometimes justifies the means.

Everyone has their faults but it's when you have to search for the positives and they still aren't there(Trump/Cruz), well then, you have to wonder about YOUR decisions. Clinton has some positives and that is what I have to focus on when I think of having to vote for her. Out of all the devils I know I prefer Hillary over the other two.

I believe if Bernie does not get the nomination he will acknowledge the greater good of the Democratic Party to be united and urge his followers to back Clinton. I believe Bernie Sanders believes in America and her people and he truly wants what is best for us - a "Government of [ALL] the people, by [ALL] the people, for [ALL] the people,..." and he knows Hillary will give us that way more than any Republican would ever even think of doing (or want to).

Am I Insane?

She is me and I am her and no one likes us. 

I try so hard to be likable, kind, good, compassionate and not angry. 
But. 
But the anger is always there. Bubbling away like an underground stream. A contaminated, vile underground stream. The level of hate is ridiculous - I have no patience for you. For your stupidity, your willful ignorance, your martyrdom, your self-pity, your insolence. I feel a level of violence well up inside me that frightens me. Normal people do not experience this. My heart clutches in my chest, I can barely breathe and all I want to do is strike out. You won't like me when the part of me that is fed up with you emerges.
I am not responsible for her. 
Not her emotions. Not her feelings. Not her insecurities. Not her.
It's about that time again. The hospital. 
I try to even out but it does not work anymore. 
The stress, the anxiety, the loathing - it never really leaves.
I'm sad but I don't need your pity or contempt.
I'm coming to terms with what must happen - the conclusion to the angst.

Smells That Taste

Plug-ins. Most everybody uses them - I do not. They smell. There are too many smells. Wait let me clarify - too many artificial smells around now. I had a neighbor who had a plug-in in every room of her house and two in the kitchen. Her house smelled. Artificial floral. Hanging in the air around you and on you. When you left you smelled like her house. I borrowed metal cake pans from her and could not use them. They smelled of floral plug-ins. The smell had permeated or attached itself to the metal. They smelled even after being washed several times. She made cookies at Christmas that tasted the way her house smelled. She did not notice the smell, the taste of the smell, because not only did she live with all the floral plug-ins but also with scented laundry detergent, scented fabric softener, scented dryer sheets(at least 2 of those at a time), scented shampoo, conditioner and body wash and, of course, perfume. I used to love the smell of clothes and sheets hung out on a clothesline but now the scent of everyone's dryer sheets hangs in the air. We have become a land of smells that no one can really smell so we add on more artificial smells in the hope that the next candle, bowl of potpourri, plug-in and now additional add-in scents for the washer and dryer(like the scented products we already have are not scented enough)
Here's the thing - all these smells are artificial, man-made. They are made up of chemicals. One more thing... they are bad for you.

Scent of Danger: Are There Toxic Ingredients in Perfumes and Colognes?

Five ‘Must-Knows’ on the Dangers of Synthetic Fragrance

Chemical Sensitivities » Why Go Fragrance Free?
**The term invisible disabilities refers to symptoms such as debilitating pain, fatigue, dizziness, cognitive dysfunctions, brain injuries, learning differences and mental health disorders, as well as hearing and vision impairments.  These are not always obvious to the onlooker, but can sometimes or always limit daily activities, range from mild challenges to severe limitations and vary from person to person.