I am typing this letter from a Starbucks in Tallahassee, where I am situationally aware, trained, and well armed. Although I do not expect anything drastic to happen today, I am still prepared if something does go down—either to get the heck out and dodge, or tackle whatever happens head on, and I am prepared to do so with deadly force if needed. Although I now maintain great situational awareness everywhere I go and have self defense training in disarming, and in fighting off, an attacker, there are times where I am legally left without the tool that could best level the playing field in protecting me—my gun.
Currently under Florida law, I am not allowed to carry on my campus, Florida State University. On my campus that reported 17 sexual assaults in 2014; on my campus that uses maybe...
Lifestyle
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We were friends for four years. Those four years were filled with endless adventures, giggles, and mad boy problems. We were together practically everyday and when we weren't we were texting. We were always mistaken for sisters... I mean we practically were, right?
We met in seventh grade gym class. You were like my savior. My first friend since I transferred to our school. We slowly got to know each other and by eighth grade we hung out every weekend and even had homeroom together. We always made sure to inform each other of EVERYTHING in our lives.
Freshman year came around and let me tell you we were TERRIFIED of going to high school. I remember us texting till 3 AM the night before out first day.
Eventually you got your first boyfriend. Lets call him Nick. Well when...
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Dear Joy, Michelle, Candace, Paula, and Whoopi,
I love The View. If you walk into my house at 11, chances are my mom and grandma are watching ABC. In a world where women’s voices are stymied and silenced, it is wonderful to see intelligent women share their opinions on what is happening in the world. That is why hearing your jokes about anorexia and bulimia made me so upset.
I know you said you were joking and (briefly) mentioned that eating disorders are illnesses, and while I commend you all for letting the audience know that eating disorders are indeed illnesses, joking about them does not reduce the stigma that surrounds them. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness. The physical, emotional and interpersonal effects of these diseases...
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Dear MareckScott,
I can sense your pain and frustration as you struggle to help your child. You are correct. An eating disorder (is NOT something someone asks for). It definitely is an illness.
I personally battled an ED when I was in high school and relapsed in college, and nearly died. This was many years ago. Like most parents, siblings and loved ones of someone battling and ED, they simply don't know enough about the life-threatening illness, and don't know how to help their loved ones.
When I was battling my ED, my father was in denial. Again, it was, in large part, due to lack of knowledge regarding ED's.Plus, there's shame often times associated with an ED, and there shouldn't be. The more family/friends can "accept" and "support" their loved one, and help them to secure the...
2,107
Dear Eating Disorder,
This is a Dear John letter. The time has come for us to say goodbye. You have been a loyal companion since my teenage years. We were high school sweethearts I guess. Though at times I made attempts as finding love elsewhere, I could never forget you. I always returned. You worked your way into my heart and my soul back when they were still discovering what should actually be there, and you convinced me that I could not live without you. And naively, I believed you. You tricked me. You lied to me. You made me hate me. Sometimes I even hated you. But I was never ready to close the proverbial door on you.
It is time. It was time. It was never time. How did you ever even get here in the first place? It doesn’t really matter now.
You will be moving out soon. You...
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Dear Governor Romney,
At the recent Conservative political Action Conference, you said in a speech that you were “severely conservative” as Governor of Massachusetts.
Are you still severely conservative? Because if you are, why don’t you answer the Gun Owners of America questionnaire on Second Amendment issues of concern to “conservative,” “moderate,” and even some “liberal” Americans.
We sent you a questionnaire not once, not twice but three times now. What did you send back? A form letter stating you are pro-Second Amendment — with absolutely nothing to back up this laughable claim.
As Governor, you were proudly anti-Second Amendment, but as you have with most issues, you have now changed your stripes to spots.
Do you want to clear up this possible misconception I (and...
2,522
Dear Mrs. Norton,
I'm the first person to admit that I don't always understand the appeal of some things. I've never been particularly fashionable or cutting-edge, and so I often find myself on the outskirts of what is popular. Parkour, for example, is something I don't particularly understand. Wearing tights as pants is another. Pretty much anything involving John Mayer. And you, Mrs. Norton. I just have never been able to bend my brain around your incomprehensible, interminable appeal. Perhaps I'm uncharitable – there are certainly enough people who have called me such for this opinion – but I tremendously dislike you. In fact, despite the numerous warnings I have received over the course of my life about the strength of this word, I would go so far as to say that I hate you.
I...
5,511
Dear President Obama,
With my greetings of Salam, Peace, to you and your family,
On the eve of your second term as our President of the United States…
As a democratically chosen representative of the people, for the people and by the people of these United States….
I respectfully ask for a few moments of your time, from one of your constituents from the loving city of Tucson, the beautiful state of Arizona…
I am currently in our nations capital for the inauguration of my first grandchild, a grandson. As you can well imagine, he has brought his family much joy and love, with our hopes for a safer and more loving, caring world for everyone.
The birth of my grandson, Rafi Binyamin, has given me more determination than ever to pursue the goals of a better world for each and...
2,538
Dear Ambassador
I have just received notification that grandmother Mary Anne Grady Flores was sent to prison on Tuesday to serve a six month sentence in the United States for having photographed a non-violent protest against drones at a point where she believed she was entitled to take pictures of the protest.
Before posting news of this amazing prison sentence on social media, I decided to contact you to register my astonishment and to protest most vigorously about the sentence. I have forwarded to you the report and shameful picture that I received courtesy of Democracy Now.
As a human rights activist, it becomes necessary for me to complain about human rights abuses in countries around the world, including the USA. The outrageous sentence imposed on Mrs Grady Flores may not...
2,396
Dear Secretary Kerry,
I am the woman who spoke to you from the audience at the March 11th Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on AUMF. You were asking for congressional authority to demolish ISIL or DAESH. You made it sound as though you have an explicit military target that can easily be bombed into obliteration.
When my Code Pink colleague challenged you, saying the American people are tired of endless war and don’t want to kill more innocent people, you invoked the specter of terrorists beheading journalists and burning a pilot alive. We’re all horrified by these atrocities. That’s why Americans like us are speaking out against the devastating violence perpetrated by the United States that fuels hatred against our country. U.S. drone strikes — supposedly “...
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