In The Aftermath Of Roe V. Wade Being Overturned, Here’s Some Resources:

9/11 happened 20 years ago today. I remember being confused about why they were sending us home early from kindergarten, I remember seeing the man I was told was President Bush speaking on TV, and I remember for the first time in my life seeing teachers and adult strangers who truly looked scared. I was 5 then, and I am 25 now.

About 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks. Well over 100 times that many people have died as a result of the US response.

Our government’s response could have been simple, a narrow mission aimed at capturing or killing the architects of 9/11. We eventually achieved that objective, but only as part of a massive, world-changing Global War on Terror which has made us all both less safe and less free. The tragedy of 9/11 was used to justify a campaign that likely ended over a million lives altogether, including:

Brutal invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, which were some of the longest wars in US history. Along with the damage caused directly by these wars, they also prompted the creation of ISIS and the complete Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Drone warfare in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Niger, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and other places we don’t even know about.

The use of internationally banned and discouraged weapons in our wars, including cluster bombs, depleted uranium shells, Mark 77 firebombs, incendiary white phosphorus munitions, and anti-personnel landmines.

Torture, both in US military detention and illegal “black sites” run by the CIA and others in numerous different countries. This includes the illegal, unaccountable, and sadistic activities at Guantanamo Bay, stolen territory which is used to commit blatant human rights violations. This came alongside a rise in the US use of extraordinary rendition, a form of kidnapping which is a violation of international law.

The empowerment of the Saudi government (which had actual ties to Osama bin Laden), and the aggressive provocation of the Iranian government (which reached out to help the US in the immediate aftermath of 9/11).

Massive spending on “counter-terrorism” training for governments around the world, often strengthening the grip of corrupt and violent police forces on local populations.

An expansion of secret US Special Operations missions in countries around the world. In the mid-2010′s, journalist Nick Turse revealed that US SpecOp soldiers are deployed in the majority of the world’s countries each year.

A massive reduction in civil liberties and privacy rights in the US, including the PATRIOT Act, the 2008 FISA Amendments, the 2012 NDAA, the rapid growth of the NSA and the surveillance state, and more.

The creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which is today one of the most scandal-ridden departments in the federal government. This includes the 2003 creation of ICE, who have been responsible for the creation of prison camps for immigrants.

A rise in Islamophobic discrimination and government policies, with the US government approach to surveilling Muslims serving as an inspiration for policies which oppress Muslims around the world today, from France to China.

Accelerated militarization of US police, as surplus military equipment from our foreign wars flowed straight into local police departments.

Trillions of dollars wasted on enriching private military contractors and weapons companies, money which is then funneled into lobbying for even more war.

Large, untold counts of lives lost as an indirect result of all the above. These deaths have mostly been imposed on the countries where we’ve intervened, but I would argue for the inclusion of many of the 30,000 suicides of US veterans since 9/11.

Growing up against this political background was hugely influential for how I came to view the world, and the War on Terror was ultimately one of the things which got me interested in politics in the first place. With time, I learned that we were not obligated to do all of this by the loss of life that occurred on 9/11. We are not honoring the memories of the dead when we create more dead. 

The War on Terror has been a global disaster of gargantuan proportions. All of its architects have blood on their hands, and we will suffer from the consequences of their actions for decades to come.

Today, 20 years later, I will not be honoring 9/11 by giving a speech about the bravery of our military generals. I will not be cashing a check for writing the exact same 9/11 anniversary essay that gets written every year. I will not be announcing a special 20% discount on inventory, nor will I be giving a lecture about the dangers of foreigners.

This September 11th, I am going to go on a hike, to sit in a bookstore, and to eat a meal outside in the cool breeze of a warm evening. Doing this- living my life normally- is the only reasonable response to two decades of attempts at using this day to stir up fear and hatred. As for the future, I look forward to continuing to fight with others for true peace and security: an end to war, military aggression, and imperialism.

“The Beatles were hard men too. Brian Epstein cleaned them up for mass consumption, but they were anything but sissies. They were from Liverpool, which is like Hamburg or Norfolk, Virginia a hard, sea-farin town, all these dockers and sailors around all the time who would beat the piss out of you if you so much as winked at them. Ringo is from the Dingle, which is like the f***ing Bronx.

The Rolling Stones were the mummys boys they were all college students from the outskirts of London. They went to starve in London, but it was by choice, to give themselves some sort of aura of disrespectability. I did like the Stones, but they were never anywhere near the Beatles not for humour, not for originality, not for songs, not for presentation. All they had was Mick Jagger dancing about. Fair enough, the Stones made great records, but they were always s**t on stage, whereas the Beatles were the gear.”

— Lemmy Kilmister

Average global temperatures per year since 1880 until 2023.

One thing I’ve never understood about D&D druids is how they’re so often imagined as stationary. They’re found ‘guarding sacred sites or watching over regions of unspoiled nature’. And, I know. This is mainly because of the imagery and popular imagination around sites like Stonehenge. But.

If I had the druid spell list? I would take Create Bonfire, and I would take Goodberry, and I would take Create or Destroy Water, and I would pack up a sleeping bag, and I would just start walking. Where? Everywhere! What’s down that road? What’s over that hill? What’s up this river? What’s past this forest? What’s over those dunes? Let’s go see! I can’t starve. I can’t parch. I can’t freeze. I can go forever. So I’m gonna.

Honestly, the druid should be the picture of the wandering vagabond. They have everything they need. You can just walk and keep walking, wherever the wanderlust takes you. You wanna go across an ocean? You can make drinking water. Ships should pay to carry you. You wanna go across a desert? A baby druid with one level and 2 measly spell slots under their belt can still make food and a gallon of water a day for 10 people. Druids should be the explorers, the navigators, the pathfinders. They can travel endlessly, without hurting that which they pass through, the very picture of ‘leave nothing but your footprints’. They can walk the earth, stopping here or there along the way to help where they need to help, and fight what they need to fight, and then they can move on again.

Yes, some druids get tired and settle down. Circles are formed, and that’s how baby druids get their starts, finding a circle. And some areas do need a permanent circle to defend or watch over them. But I do think there should be more of a picture, more of an image, more of an option, for the druid as the wanderer, the rover, the vagabond. A pocket full of berries and a wave of a hand for some rain. Just head out and follow your feet. What could stop you?

(Particularly the Stars druid, my beloved. Could there be a better picture of a navigator? That’s where a Stars druid belongs, at the prow of a ship, or guiding their people across trackless dunes, or carrying news across vast ice fields under an endless polar night to keep tiny isolated hamlets connected. Follow the stars, follow your feet. Yes, accomplish things in the process, but the journey itself is also enough. Just walk. Go. The stars will guide you).

Sorry. In real life, so often, I just really want to see what’s down that road, or over that hill. And, like. As a druid you could just go. You have all you need from a standing start. Well. You’ll have to get clothes and good boots and shit, but you can totally feed and water yourself for completely free and regardless of natural resources out there.

More druid wanderers, is my point here. Yes, still some druids guarding henges and forests, but more druids just walking about, poking their noses into things. There is no better spell list to indulge your wanderlust and curiosity. And that’s without getting into wildshape and the eventual ability to explore under the oceans and into the air. There’s a whole world full of nature. You don’t have to tie yourself to one little bit, unless you want to.

The Media Bias No One is Talking About

The mainstream media has historically tried to balance left and right in its political coverage, and present what it views as a reasonable center.

That may sound good in theory. But the old politics no longer exists and the former labels “left” versus “right” are outdated. 

Today it’s democracy versus authoritarianism, voting rights versus white supremacy. There’s no reasonable center between these positions, no justifiable compromise. Equating them is misleading and dangerous.

You hear the mainstream media say, for example, that certain “Republican and Democratic lawmakers are emerging as troublemakers within their parties.” These reports equate Republican lawmakers who are actively promoting Trump’s big lie that the 2020 election was stolen, with Democratic lawmakers who are fighting to extend health care and other programs to help people. 

These are not equivalent. Trump’s big lie is a direct challenge to American democracy. Even if you disagree with providing Americans better access to health care, it won’t destroy our system of government. 

You also hear that both sides are gripped by equally dangerous extremism. Labeling them “radical left” and “radical right” suggests that the responsible position is somehow between these so-called extremes. 

Can we get real? One side is trying to protect and preserve voting rights. The other side is trying to suppress votes under the guise of “election integrity.”  

But there isn’t and never was a problem of “election integrity.” The whole issue of “election integrity” in the 2020 election was manufactured by Donald Trump and his big lie about voter fraud, and was bought and propagated by the Republican Party. 

Today’s Republican Party is behind what historians regard as the biggest attack on voting rights since Jim Crow, but the media frames this as a right-versus-left battle that’s just politics as usual. Equating the two sides is false and dangerous.

Or compare the coverage of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, on one hand, with the coverage of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar on the other. You’d think they were all equally out of the mainstream, some on the extreme right, some on the extreme left. That’s bunk. 

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, in addition to spreading dangerous conspiracy theories, harassing colleagues, and promoting bigotry, don’t actually legislate or do anything for their constituents. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar both organize to help everyday people, deliver for their constituents, and have pushed legislation to provide universal school meals, expand affordable housing, and combat the climate crisis.

Equating all these lawmakers suggests that the responsible position is halfway between hateful, delusional conspiracy theories on the one hand, and efforts to fight white supremacy, save the planet, and empower working people on the other. 

It’s similar to what the media did following Donald Trump’s infamous condemnation of “both sides” after the deadly violence sparked by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. In the ensuing weeks, America’s six top mainstream newspapers used just as much space condemning anti-Nazi counter-protesters as they did actual neo-Nazis.

But research shows white supremacists pose a significantly graver threat than those trying to stop them. White supremacists are animated by racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of bigotry, violence and hate. 

Battling white supremacy is not the same as advocating it. Passing laws to prevent voter suppression is not the same as passing laws to suppress votes. Fighting for our democracy is not the same as seeking to destroy it. 

The media equating both sides, one “left” and one “right,” suggests there’s a moderate middle between hate and inclusion, between democracy and proto-fascism. 

This is misleading, dangerous, and morally wrong. Don’t fall for it.

“People might be confused about how a Republican Party that once worried about government overreach now seeks to control medical care for transgender children and retaliate against a corporation for objecting to a bill targeting LGBTQ students. And why is it that the most ambitious Republicans are spending more time battling nonexistent critical race theory in schools than on health care or inflation? To explain this, one must acknowledge that the GOP is not a political party anymore. It is a movement dedicated to imposing White Christian nationalism. The media blandly describes the GOP’s obsessions as “culture wars,” but that suggests there is another side seeking to impose its views on others. In reality, only one side is repudiating pluralistic democracy — White, Christian and mainly rural Americans who are becoming a minority group and want to maintain their political power.”

— The GOP is no longer a party. It’s a movement to impose White Christian nationalism.