Good morning! Friday again, and the summer is starting to feel like an hourglass, with the sands on top slipping away more and more every second. My teacher sister-in-law goes back to set up her classroom in two weeks; a teacher friend in Tennessee went back yesterday. It’s definitely going to be an interesting year… (*nervous laughter*)
My back is *not* great today. Something got messed up in
it the other day when I sat down, and it hasn’t been good since. I can still
move and walk and get around, but bending is difficult, and occasionally my
back spasms in a way that makes the world feel like it’s ending. I’m crossing
my fingers that it calms down. I don’t have time for this!
Here’s what I found interesting on the internet this
week!
Exclusive:
Hyundai subsidiary has used child labor at Alabama factory
How incredibly shameful is this? It’s 2022, and we’ve
still got children, some as young as 12, working in factories. These kids weren’t
going to school and getting the education they needed; instead, they were
working adult-length shifts at a plant that has been cited for safety issues,
including amputation of limbs. How many people had to turn a blind eye
for this to continue as long as it did? We’re all responsible for this; we’ve
created a society in which this is the better and maybe more sustainable option
for struggling families, and we’ve created such demand for these products that
companies are willing to hire children in order to meet that demand. This is everyone's fault; we're all responsible for this, and it breaks my heart.
Truly time to rethink what we buy and if we truly need
it, and how little our country offers families, because kids should be in
school, and working adults should earn a living wage.
Man
charged with hate crime over vandalism of café; planned drag show cancelled
This is about 45 minutes away from me (basically, if
there’s something cool nearby, it’s about 45 minutes away. I have no idea how
that always works out!). A dude, backed by a local group with ties to hate groups (I’ve
seen pictures of him with these people), didn’t like a bakery holding a drag
show, so he vandalized the bakery like a petulant tantrumming toddler who couldn’t get its
way. Drag is just a form of theater, and regardless of the misinformation these
awful groups are trying to spread about it, this is a private business and they’re
allowed to host the events they want. Imagine thinking you’re participating in
freedom by stopping businesses from hosting theatrical events. What a barren
wasteland this dude’s life must be if this is how he chooses to spend his life.
Epidemiologists
warn the US reaches a critical moment to contain monkeypox
I’m already seeing
people on Twitter bloviating about how they’re not going to comply with any precautions
in order to avoid monkeypox, which can be incredibly painful, disfiguring, result
in blindness, and is deadliest to children under 8. This article is from the
beginning of the week; monkeypox cases have increased since then (we have multiple
cases in my county). There have already been children diagnosed with the
disease.
School is starting. Our plan of doing nothing about
containing this illness seems short-sighted and foolish, and I’m deeply
worried.
Beloved
monarch butterflies now listed as endangered
Years ago, when I was dating my ex-husband (who was in
the military), I went to visit him in Florida during the winter. Where he was
stationed was a winter stopover for monarch butterflies, and as I watched out
the window from the restaurant we were eating in, a kaleidoscope of monarchs,
hundreds and maybe even thousands of them, descended upon the bushes and
plants outside. It was magical and one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever
seen. To think that this is in danger of ending is sobering.
Monarchs are important pollinators; without them, we’ll
be in serious trouble. My town has milkweed planted in many of the local parks
(we tried planting it in our yard, but it didn’t take, so we’ll need to try
again). We need to save these beauties.
Ken
Paxton Among AGs Suing USDA Over LGBTQ School Meal Directive
I saw this the other night and was immediately filled
with such disgust and loathing, it could have choked an elephant. So, President
Biden signed something that basically said, “Hey, you can’t deny kids food just
because they’re queer.” And some awful, awful people heard that and said, “The
hell we can’t! It makes us feel big and manly to ensure that kids go hungry because
we don’t like their sexuality, so we’re going to sue so we have that right!”
If you’re stopping hungry people from eating, you’re a
bad person. Full stop. BAD. PERSON. I’ve spoken here before about my volunteer
work, some of which involves creating lists of food pantries around the country,
and there are already enough places that OPENLY discriminate against their
clients, which absolutely disgusts me (and the vast majority of these places
are churches, which is appalling. If you’re out there supposedly feeding people
in the name of God, I expect better from you than discrimination. At this
point, I’m actually surprised when a place *doesn’t* have some form of
discrimination listed on their site, it’s that pervasive). It’s bad enough that
there are people out there denying food to adults. To CHILDREN??? Denying food
to hungry children doesn’t make you righteous. It makes you AWFUL.
The US is one of the only countries in the United
Nations that hasn’t designated food as a human right. Our application of
morality to who deserves food is $&#*@&$(#* ridiculous. People need
food to live; thus, food should be a human right. (Applying morality to who
deserves food is extra rich coming from a country where up to half the food we
create ends up in landfills, amirite???) I could rage about this for days. People
need food to live. If they cannot afford food, for whatever reason, feeding
them without judgment is the right thing to do, and anything less is monstrous.
I absolutely 100% cannot with these people.
*deep breath*
And that’s it this week! I have so much writing to
catch up with this weekend, so fingers crossed I’ll find the time to get that
all done. We’ll likely end up at my sister-in-law’s at some point so the kids
can play, and I have another page of resources to put together for homeschool,
so it’s going to be a busy one.
Whatever you’re doing this weekend, be safe, and I
wish you peace. Shalom, friends. : )
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