Cancel Culture and Vaccines

 Yeah, 2 big subjects this week. But 2 important subjects.

Cancel Culture. Just saw a really good panel on it. Everyone of us has said or posted something we really shouldn’t have. We’ve taken pictures with things we maybe shouldn’t have. As we gain wisdom which comes from age and experience we cringe. The worst thing about Cancel Culture - there is no room for apologies and discussion of why it was wrong in the first place. Very few enjoy upsetting other people. Oh when we are younger their is this feeling that we are exerting our independence from our parents. I grew up with a mother who was racist and anti LGBTQ. I was blessed with a father who taught me people were people and there was absolutely nothing wrong with a person of a different race or in the LBGTQ community. But I still did and said things as a teenager that embarrass me and I have worked hard to purge myself of. Thank Heavens there was no Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc when I was that age. I’m 58 and still put both feet in my mouth sometimes. It’s okay to say that someone is wrong but explain in a non-confrontational way. Give them a chance to grow.

Vaccines. I got my first Coronavirus vaccine yesterday. Phizer if you’re curious. Not that I have enough exposure to worry about. It is the right thing to do! I got it not for me, though not having my lungs fill with fluid isn’t a bad reason, I got it for people like my Dad that was on anti rejection drugs for a heart transplant. People like my husband that had scars on his lungs from severe flu complications. I got it to reach 75% herd immunity. Yes my arm is sore and I got like 12 hours of sleep but even if the 2nd shot makes me run a fever? Big deal! I’ll take ibuprofen and get through it. I don’t like wearing a mask - claustrophobia and can’t stand things covering my nose and mouth but I wear the thing when I need to. Since hubby died I’ve developed a I don’t care if I die but I’m not going looking for death. When he comes knocking it will be okay.

A weekend away.

 I took this past weekend off from Social Media. Oh I checked it to keep up with friends and news but no commenting and no posting. It gave me time. I also realized somethings.

1. Americans are used to thinking that the USA is invincible. I think the Coronavirus Pandemic has proved that was a load. 1/6 proved it. The invincibility that is assumed is just a thin veneer and when that is broken there are some who fall into a fear response. 

2. Back when the virus first hurt the USA I predicted 18 months to get it under control. It was announced last week that every adult over 18 would be eligible for a vaccine. That’s exactly 18 months. We now have vaccines and treatments that if given soon enough prevent hospitalization and all the vaccines have a good chance of keeping folks out.

3. No matter how much we hope Coronavirus will go away it won’t. Because it’s a virus. It has the ability to mutate and to hibernate- it’s a characteristic of all viruses. So it’s not going away any more than influenza is gone - we just know how to manage it now in most cases it’s an inconvenience instead of fatal.

4. People are too entrenched in a political party. Will I automatically vote for the Democrat in 2024? No it depends on the candidates. In 2016 I was really underwhelmed by both candidates and frankly I voted for the one I could live with.

5. People use their religion to justify anything. But that isn’t anything new - The Spanish Inquisition anyone? Religion is to bring you peace not to beat others over the head with. Even the Bible says to go to your closet to pray otherwise you are an ass in the eyes of the Lord.  All religions have been corrupted by those in power.

6. The United States of America will not stand forever if we, it’s citizens, don’t remember and cherish that this country is a melting pot of cultures, religions, and races. We need to realize that the Constitution clearly says in order to form a more perfect union. The founding fathers knew it wasn’t perfect and would never be perfect. They realized we should always strive for better. To always go forward, be more inclusive and not ever go backwards.

The News and the puzzle.

 I live in a vaccine of my own making. I rarely leave the house and have even fewer conversations in person. I do read a lot of news articles. The articles focus on one thing. My mind turns that information into a puzzle piece. 

Last week there were articles on the stimulus bill, increase in vaccination rates, the availability to vaccines for every one moving from July to May (in January they were saying September) and Governors of red states dropping mask mandates. The only thing they seem to have in common is the Pandemic, right? But there are a lot more connections. It took a few days for the pieces to fall into place. 

1. It seems that Republicans are tired of the Pandemic. Hey Democrats are tired of it too. 

2. Republicans knew the Democrats were going to pass the stimulus bill without them through a loophole. Yes I’m a liberal and usually vote Democrat but I know they used a loophole. Don’t think Republicans don’t use loopholes - Fillibuster anyone??? 

3. Vaccinations are now a 2 million per day! Way faster than I thought. Every adult can have a vaccination at least by the first week in June.

4. US population is roughly 330 million in change. 28.7 million of that population have received full vaccination (2 shots). A 1 shot vaccine entered the distribution early in the week. Herd immunity occurs at between 70 and 80% of population or roughly 231 million. Meaning 202 million citizens need to be vaccinated. At current vaccination rates that is 101 days. Currently infection rates have plateaued.

5. Governors are dropping mask mandates. I believe Texas ends their Mandate Monday. Alabama’s ends April 9th. Some of it might be tired of reminding citizens to wear mask. Some might be the miss information that mask don’t protect from the virus. Some might be the Governor thinks their state will reach herd immunity sooner. They are probably adding recovered patients into the herd immunity projection.

Now that I’ve laid out how I organized the articles here is my conclusion. The Governors are playing Russian Roulette with their citizens. The Republicans are letting the Democrats and specifically President Biden do the heavy lifting. My opinion is that if there is not another spike in late April early May we will see Republican lawmakers going on the news saying there was no reason for the stimulus. Only time will tell.

Reading

 I read a lot, more than you think. Often it is rereading or as I call it visiting friends. But I recently started reading a new to me series of loosely connected Trilogies. It’s the Governor series by Lesli Richardson. https://tymberdalton.com/books/series-info/governor-trilogy/

Right now the first book Governor is free as an Amazon Kindle book. Which is why I started it a week ago. I was hooked and have greedily devoured them. Made friends along the wayside. So what if those friends live in the pages of a book. Lots of readers have “book boyfriends”.

The books cover triads that are involved with politics. It covers love, sex, politics and I seriously love some of the rants. All the politicians are socially liberal and fiscally conservative, which is my political philosophy. 

Why I stopped going to church

 I have nothing against religion- any religion. Religion should bring you peace and the strength to get through the storms of life. I never found that in a church. Every single time I went to the church for help nothing. No help at all. 

As a teen playing in the church orchestra I was there for every service. So I heard the same service repeated several times every Sunday morning. I started reading not just the versus that was a part of the sermon but the entire chapter. The number of times those verses were twisted to mean something else was high. Once I started writing research papers, I learned it’s easy to take a comment from a completely unrelated article to make my point. Even if that sentence was used to demonstrate the opposite of the intent  of the article. 

I took it upon myself to read the Bible not as a religious, handed down from a higher power but as a collection of commentaries on the purpose of religion. As none of the New Testament was written until 50+ years after the events. They were stories passed down orally. Did you ever play telephone in school? Teacher whispered to one student and they whispered it to another and so on and so on? Did it ever make it to the last person the same? Not in my experience. So why shouldn’t I take the Bible as nothing more than partially remembered stories? A secular example - George Washington didn’t chop down a cherry tree. I always thought Nixon was impeached - nope he resigned before the article was written.

Then the people in the church. On Sunday morning they are kind and loving - Monday morning they are selfish and indifferent. More worried about the amount in their bank account than the welfare of their fellow man.

It took years but I finally found a path for myself. It’s pretty simple - I will be as good of a person as I can be, ask for forgiveness when I fall short, and uplift those that need and deserve it. I don’t have a “religion”. I have a belief system cobbled together by research and experience. It works for me. I don’t need a building to follow the path I’ve set.

Love & Hate & Impeachment

 I love few things and hate only one. Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. The only thing I have time and energy to hate is the fact my husband, friend and confidant died. Why bother with hating a person? In the end the hatred only hurts me, it has no effect on the other person. Oh I still have a temper and unlike when I was younger and hold it in until I literally would wonder how I got somewhere because I blacked out. Losing time sometimes hours is no fun. Now I prefer to vent so I don’t reach that point. 

With that said I do not hate Donald Trump. To be honest I just think he’s a waste of oxygen. Son why bother to hate him? He’s overweight, 74, and has criminal charges coming down the road. And then my personal belief that life is 100% fatal for 100% of the population. So why bother expending energy hating him? As for the Impeachment - expected, hoped I was wrong, but with the current political climate? Who is shocked? Certainly not me.

Missed Monday and Comic books

 I missed yesterday’s post. So instead I’ll leave you with this.

• X-Men is about civil rights. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get X-Men.

• Black Panther is about colonization. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Black Panther.

• Captain America literally fought nazis. He is the embodiment of fighting the alt-right. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Captain America.

• The Empire in Star Wars is fascist. The Rebel alliance are Anti-Fascist. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Star Wars.

• Doctor Who was about an alien fighting for all of humanity in spite of totalitarian regimes. If you don't get that, you don't get Doctor Who.

• The Punisher isn’t meant to be a role model for police or armed forces. So much so that the writers of The Punisher made him actively speak out against it in a comic. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get The Punisher.

• Deadpool is queer. He’s pansexual. Fact. If you didn’t get that you didn’t get Deadpool.

• Star Trek is about equality for all genders, races and sexualities. As early as the mid-60s it was taking a pro-choice stance and defending women’s right to choose. One of its clearest themes is accepting different cultures and appearances and working together for peace. (It’s also anti-capitalist and pro-vegan). If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Star Trek.

• Superman and Wonder Woman (and a whole host of other superheroes) are immigrants. The stance of those comics is pro-immigration and pro-equality and acceptance. If you didn’t get that, you didn’t get Superman or Wonder Woman.

• Stan Lee said, “Racism and bigotry are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today.” If you’re bigoted or racist, you didn’t get any of the characters Stan Lee created.

• The stories we grew up with all taught us to value other people and cultures and to treasure the differences between us. Only villains were xenophobic, or sexist, or racist, or totalitarian. I can’t understand how anyone can have missed that.

• If you’re upset that there’s a black Spider-Man, or a black Captain America, or a female Thor, or that Ms. Marvel is Muslim, or that Captain Marvel was pro-feminism or any of the other things right-wing “fans” say is “stealing their childhood” - you never got it in the first place. The things you claim are now “pandering to the lefties” were never on your side, to begin with.

If you consider yourself a fan of these things, but you still think the LGBTQ+ community is too “in your face”, or have a problem with Black Lives Matter, or want to “take the country back from immigrants”, then you’re not really a fan at all.

Geek culture isn’t suddenly left-wing... it always was. You just grew up to be intolerant. You became the villain in the stories you used to love.

Copy/Paste, don't share. (I did that. You can, too.)

What a week!

 Cloris Leachman the original Queen Hippolyta in Wonder Woman died. The next day Cicely Tyson died. Body cam footage of a woman being trampled to death on 1/6 from her POV. Trump’s lawyers quit. Wow.

I kind of overspent. Mostly because I got some KN95 mask and a new purse. The mask cause I’ve avoided Covid this long really don’t want to get it now. Oh and the 2 month supplies of food and litter for the cats.

I’m going to be a Budget Friendly Recipe page on Facebook - it’s how I eat anyway so....why not.

First full week of a new President and shockingly the news isn’t filled with “Overnight the President tweeted...”. It’s been Nice. The three times a week Covid briefings are good. Though when they get technical my eyes glaze over and I go “Huh?” But I like listening to people smarter than me or experts in their field.

Been a long time.

I've decided to reactivate this blog. I've spent four years dealing with a tragedy and now it's time to get back to actually living my life.

So what happened? My husband died. Don't let anyone ever tell you that it just takes time to get over the loss of your partners. I will tell you the truth - you never get over it.  You just learn to live with it. Oh I don't break down every day or week or month now. But I do have moments where I want to chuck it all. Those moments pass. Sometimes quickly, sometimes not so quickly. I get through them. I think of hubby daily but most of the time it's just a good memory or a what would he have thought about that?

I'm down to two cats - Halle a chocolate smoke Napoleon or Minuet (depending on registry), the breed is a cross between a persian and a munchkin. Minuet - Catster She will be 11 in May. And Hawk, a 3 year old Blue Silver Classic Tabby Maine Coon. They are my reason for waking up in the morning.

I got through the 2020 election year and so far (knock on wood) I haven't been infected with Coronavirus. Those two things are worth celebrating. I got rid of my vehicle, insurance and maintenance were killing my budget. My feet work fine and now there is Instacart and Lyft or Uber. (I use Lyft because I get 1 mile on my Delta frequent flyer for every dollar of my ride. (Had to get a money saving tip in.)

I'm currently looking at apartments. Because the upkeep of the house for just me is ridiculous. Besides it's way too much unused space! I actually live in an area smaller than a studio apartment in this house. Right now my biggest question is 1 bedroom or studio. I'm liking the idea of a studio apartment, less to clean. The other question is location. I have narrowed it down to 2 or 3 places. Just want to make sure I have room to do my crafting and design work. Though if I can work things out I might just stay here. Who knows. God knows I didn't plan to be a widow this soon.

I'm going to try and post every Monday and if a thought hits me in between. This blog really has no point just a place better than Facebook to post my thoughts.