Friday links: 18 March, 2022

Good morning, friends! Our brief taste of spring is mostly over; with the exception of Sunday, which will be in the low 60’s, all our weather will be cooler and more normal for this time of year. Which is fine. The warmer days were nice while they lasted, and they’ll be back!

I slept a little better last night, so I’m not dragging *quite* so badly this morning. The week after next is when the school system goes on Spring Break, however, and we’re also going to take the week off. I think we both need it, and I’m really looking forward to being able to turn the alarm off for a bit. : )

Here’s what I found interesting online this week!

 

America’s rush to normalcy has robbed us of the time to grieve our Covid dead

Collectively, we as Americans don’t have much in the sense of shared grief rituals. That’s not to say that there aren’t cultures within the US that don’t have their own ways of expressing grief; there certainly are. But as a society as a whole? We seem to throw up monuments and, at the very most, if we’re going really crazy, hold a yearly ceremony to commemorate the dead. That’s pretty much it, and with Covid? We have people who don’t even want to admit their family members died of Covid. Some people are angry at any reminder of this pandemic (such as seeing people still choosing to wear masks, as I am!). How do you grieve almost a million dead Americans, and many, many more dead around the world when the loudest among us want nothing more than to pretend none of this ever happened? How do you grieve a loved one when those around you refuse to believe their cause of death is real and is still out there?

There’s so much about American society that could use improvement, and this is just another area. I think the article makes a lot of good points, and that in our rush to return to life looking like 2019, we’re completely disregarding the massive losses so many of us have suffered.

 

Solar Panels Built from Waste Crops Can Make Energy Without Direct Light

I’m all for using every little bit of what we have in order to make the best of our resources. This article features solar panels out of recycled vegetables, which is just genius! Imagine being smart enough to be able to develop something like that (my brain *definitely* does not work that way, so I’m deeply envious!). I hope this takes off and spreads around the world! I’d definitely take some previously-bound-for-the-compost-pile solar panels!

 

Death threats targeting Democrats prompt State Rep. Deb Conroy to shut down Villa Park office

*sigh*

This is my state rep, and she’s been dealing with a security nightmare after a man made death threats toward her. She now can’t go anywhere without police protection.

I’m so disgusted by the juvenile political discourse in the US. We have so many people who think it’s perfectly fine to speak to and about others like the high school bullies they likely once were, and to use social media in order to further their hateful behavior. I’m deeply grateful that the proper authorities took this seriously (you can read about the man charged with making these threats here; you can read exactly what he wrote to Rep. Conroy), but…why on earth did he think this was okay? What on earth in his life gave him the impression that this was acceptable adult behavior? What’s wrong with him???

It bothers me *so* much that people who think and behave like this are just out there, walking around, likely armed. I don’t feel safe at all knowing that this man was around here, armed, and the only reason he’s off the street right now is because he had a big mouth. These people frighten me deeply.

 

Climate change will make your allergies worse: Study

Heads up, my sneezy friends! I suffered from terrible allergies as a kid, but they improved as I waded into my teen years. They’re back, however, and they likely contributed to my recent diagnosis of cough-variant asthma. Our changing climate is adding around 40+ days of allergy fun per year, so stock up on tissues and bulk Claritin while you can!

 

And that’s it for this week. I’m really hoping to catch up on sleep this weekend. This week has lasted approximately 237483792473289 months, so I’m definitely looking forward to an extra nap or ten. My husband mentioned wanting to do *something* this weekend, though he of course had no suggestions as to what that *something* could be, so we’ll see. Whatever you do, have fun and be safe about it. Shalom, friends. : )