Friday links: 18 February, 2022

 Good morning, friends, and happy Friday!

All our snow had melted, and then we got hit again yesterday with a brief-in-duration snowstorm (only about five hours) that covered the ground completely again! It shouldn’t last too long, though; I think we have some days over the weekend in the 40’s, so everything will be gross and melty and sloppy. The snow was so pretty when it was coming down, though!

Here’s what I found interesting on the internet this week!

 

Chris Crouch was anti-vaccine. Now his pregnant wife had COVID, and he faced a terrible choice.

Spoiler alert: things turn out ‘okay’ for Chris’s wife (‘okay’ because she and the baby survive, but who knows what, say, her lung capacity is, or how she’ll fare after being so ill for so long, and nearly dying. You don’t just bounce back from that), but there is a COVID death mentioned afterwards. These stories fascinate me. At least they realized their mistakes, though; I’ve seen people post about how awful the vaccine is, only to follow it up minutes later with prayer requests from loved ones dying of COVID. I will never, ever understand that.

 

Libraries are more popular than ever and library workers don’t earn livable wages: the state of US public libraries.

An important article. I love my library and use it frequently, and I would gladly sacrifice some new books or services if it meant that the workers there earned a livable wage, because that’s what they deserve- especially these days, when libraries are being asked to do more than ever. I’ve seen libraries set up as COVID test sites, libraries being asked to hand out masks and at-home COVID tests; librarians are regularly called on to help their patrons fill out all sorts of forms (some for things like food stamps and housing). And don’t forget the library down the road from me, which had to close due to threats from patrons who were angry over having to wear masks in the building.

Pay library workers more. Whatever they earn isn’t enough.

 

It’s time to stop the insanity that is killing public education.

I love this article. I’m not Baptist, or Christian (if you’re new here, I’m Jewish), but I’m in complete agreement with this article. Despite currently homeschooling my daughter in order to keep her safe (her school recently went mask-optional, and my husband and I aren’t comfortable with that at the moment), I’m a HUGE advocate for public schools, and I’ve been disgusted for years by the people trying to ruin them, who are trying to pretend that large swaths of history didn’t happen and are desperate to sanitize everything their children learn about and turn it all into pretty little lies that fit their nationalistic narrative.

Our kids deserve better, and no matter your religious perspective (or lack thereof), Mark Wingfield has written a wonderful article that highlights how the current struggle to whitewash public education is garbage.

And in something older…

 

“Money buys time”: Woman Posts Eye-Opening “We Don’t All Have the Same 24 Hours” Tweet That’s Gone Viral

This is an older article, but it’s relevant to my life right now. Since we started homeschooling, my days look different, and the ways I’ve been able to use my time have changed. I spend the majority of my time before 3pm sitting with my daughter and helping her learn. I’m no longer able to keep a super tidy house or work on my own projects during those hours, so that’s a bit of a source of frustration for me, but I’m happy to have this opportunity to keep my daughter safe, so it’s a tradeoff. BUT…it affects everything else. I don’t have the same amount of time as other people, because when school’s done, I’m making dinner and playing catch-up on all the other things that didn’t get done when I was going over history and math with my kiddo.

Not everyone has the same amount of time, for many different reasons. Be kind. Be understanding.

Bonus fun bit: I was quoted in the article. ;)

 

That’s all for today! We’re going to get dressed and started on math. Not many plans for the weekend, really, just catching up on everything I no longer have time for during the week (LAUNDRY, ANYONE???). Hitting up some grocery stores after school today, so that’ll be fun- am I the only one who actually likes grocery shopping? It’s always a fun adventure to scout out those good deals, I think.

Shalom, friends! Have a great weekend.