The sounds of silence so soothing to hear where visions of my past so often appear. We all should remember the tranquility of those simpler days where we had seasons in the sun. Rita, Ann, Mary-Lou and Sue were just a few of the girls I once new. The games we played is where innocence was displayed. Now, that I have reached the Autumn of my years I still reflect of those bye gone days. Fortunate I was to have traveled the globe and seen the world through so many different eyes.

In the years leading up to the Great Pandemic the world was already poised for the tempests that would sweep across the globe. The sheer magnitude of human suffering was already amplifying the tragedies that are playing out today. With malice intent and by shroud manipulation by the power structure of the world have always had deaf ears to the cries of the impoverished multitudes.

I was raised in a dysfunctional household and suffered much abuse at the hands of my mother. I never really developed a strong sense of self esteem or self confidence and was not popular in school, in part because my childhood was not one that was conducive to making friends and encouraging relationships. I left home in my early 20's and never returned.

The sense of protection I had during confinement, being locked up at home and getting out as little as possible, has now disappeared.

Think about your average problem in life- maybe your boiler is broken and you have to shower in cold water until you can afford to get it fixed. Maybe as hard as you're grinding you still can't afford one months rent so you're staying in an abusive home. Maybe you have fallen into a deep depression because of the pressure you feel to exist in school or work. Maybe your friend got locked up recently. Maybe your father left when you were little. Maybe even, your girlfriends parents don't like you because you're an artist. What if I told you all these things have been ingeniously bred for hundreds of years through capitalism, colonialism, imperialism? Is that hard for you to believe? You may be suffering from capitalism stockholm syndrome.

UN calls for strengthening preparedness, risk assessment, and alert systems to save the lives of millions of people in the future.

Can you remember your first crush? Mine was Alyssa, the pretty girl with brown hair in my first grade classroom. I don't remember much about first grade. But I clearly recall that electrifying feeling of chasing her attention.

Just over 4 years ago, on November 9, 2016, I woke up, as many other fellow Americans, to the fact that Donald Trump had won the electoral college vote. Like my fellow Americans, I showered and got dressed, crying through the process and dabbing makeup on my now puffy eyes. My black suit seemed appropriate in light of the day’s events.

This article was originally posted November 10, 2013 on my blog, but I recently found it and thought a little polishing is all that's needed to repost. WARNING: some mild language and a lot of progressive ideas.

TOGETHER! WE all went through the last couple of days, none of US knowing what way things would go. WE are people going through the same thing at the same time. Whatever society wants to call it, a PANDEMIC, EPIDEMIC, VIRUS, PLAGUE, BIBLE PROPHECY. Whatever you want to label it WE are dealing with it TOGETHER.

Revolution. The romantic, idealized, dramatized, and sanitized idea of an in-some-way-oppressed people rising up against the city, nation, corporation, or socio-economic structure that oppresses them. This revolution often is framed in two extreme ways: one, as a violent, bloody, visceral, terrible war; or two, as a romantic, pacifist, do-no-harm-and-no-harm-will-come-to-us civil resistance akin to Dr. King or Ghandi; to change from within those people and structures who do us harm by singing about love. American attitudes about revolution have long been disproportionately described as “peaceful good, violent bad”, and this is the prefered social narrative of rich liberals in the United States.

Joe Biden has won! Everywhere on social media, I see the world celebrating his return to the White House; and more importantly, rejoicing that Trump is finally out. Some people are throwing parties, other people are condemning those people … but what we all have in common is that 2020 has given us some good news, for once. But, because of that, it's easy to lose focus now.