It's been a weird weekend. Someone's in the hospital. Hours even of a glorious Saturday were spent near the computer, reading new Christian books and waiting for news, but I didn't get much web-surfing in on Saturday night either. Tell me, readers; do you like link logs with one or two links, or link logs that are closer to full-length posts? Anyway, this one contains a mix of personal stuff, hard-hitting stuff, and pleasant fluffy stuff. There is no obligation to click on any link here. Read (or listen to) what you choose.
Animals
The East Sussex Wanderer shared some clear close-up shots of pretty little moths...
...but what really caught my attention was the Wanderer's study of the White Admiral, Limenitis arthemis. So far as I know the little moths in this week's post at that site have not crossed the Atlantic Ocean. The White Admiral has; like its distant biological relative the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), it really is an Admiral of the Ocean Seas. These butterflies and some other species named after interesting characters, the Monarch, the Painted Lady, the Cabbage White, and the Mourning Cloak or Camberwell Beauty, cross the ocean often enough to be on the lists of British, American, European, and sometimes even North African butterflies. Usually they go by ship. All Monarchs seem to come from North America, but the Admirals and some other transatlantic species have formed native populations on both sides of the ocean.
Quite a study of the pupa. Ovid, who wrote the first surviving book about Metamorphoses, should be proud.
Censorship
The next stage after tolerance of censorship:
We need laws. Anyone who's been involuntarily hospitalized, in the absence of unmistakable evidence that person was dangerous, is entitled to damages, from the hospital and/or the person(s) who sent them there, that amount to a guaranteed base income for life. All payments to be delivered to the person, in cash, in envelopes that proclaim in big bold letters, "Partial Compensation for Damage to (Name)'s Career. (Name) Is Sane. Dr. (name of admitting psychiatrist) Is Not."
Glyphosate Awareness
Y'know what'd be scary for Halloween? Print "Roundup" in a similar-looking typefont on a white or blue apron...you could be more detailed with the costume, but people will get the point. Go from door to door with the kids and, while they're scooping up the sugar, talk to people--briefly and non-judgmentally--about glyphosate. Not all of the scientific studies of this chemical are free to download and print yet, but many are. I think the reports on the studies in the Defender are about the right reading level for people who don't read the Internet, but some people might at least be flattered, whether or not they'd be better informed, if you dropped a scientific document on them.
I'm getting server error messages from MomsAcrossAmerica.com. Whether that site's down for routine maintenance, being remodelled and improved, or being attacked, Google can't say. How peculiar. Feel free to click on the search label "glyphosate" at the bottom of this post, which should open most of the documents containing links to glyphosate studies discussed at this web site. Even more glyphosate links are collected under the hashtags #glyphosate and #GlyphosateAwareness at:
Poem
Maria Pavlik:
Retirement Is Hospice
My husband had TIAA. For people who want to buy into the system of letting others manage their money and then tell them to "retire," it was a good system. Both of us could have lived decently in a decent suburb on his income, alone, if necessary. Nice little house with office, library, and guest bedroom; recent-model car; heat to the temperature his blood pressure meds called for, all winter; biweekly day trips and monthly road trips, because that's Washington. Annual "Health Fairs" for all the retirees in the area, with free blood screening for cancer and many other tests that aren't normally free of charge. Since we worked for our spending money he could afford to lose some money on a political campaign. Never a minute's worry about money when he needed medical care--which, up till the last six months, was seldom. Regular check-ups with the doctor of his choice, an old school friend. TIAA did select "participating providers" of medical care but they offered a very wide range, including historically Black institutions and traditional Asian practitioners. And my husband, "the black one" in a full-spectrum Indian-mix family, never felt isolated by his complexion. Lots of people at TIAA were Black and/or melanistic; some even came from southern India.English was his first language, but some people at TIAA spoke all kinds of other languages and were there in case anyone felt too ill to speak English.
But seriously..."Retirement is for all"? My husband did not agree with that, nor do I. He was pushed out of a job he'd never liked much, and his first concern was finding a better job. He had no plans to retire, nor did he. I have no plans to retire, either. My elders didn't really...some of my extended family have retired from this or that due to disabilities or just changes of interest, but that sitting-by-the-fire-and-playing-card-games thing, no waaay. When people paying you a pension recommend that, they want to stop paying that pension sooner. Bodies and minds that people don't use, they soon lose!
It'd be very nice if every corporate or federal office in charge of retirement pensions were up to TIAA's standards, so I recommend checking out this link and considering what other retirement plans might be lacking. One way to bring them up to standard? Stop draining them. Don't be part of the crisis. You can always retire when you are totally unable to do anything else. As long as people can be useful to others, all the evidence indicates that useful work does them good. At a certain age it's socially acceptable to tell an employer to "Take This Job and Shove It," then start doing a job that is more fun...but people must do something to stay alive!
When I've had a taxable income, I've paid into Social Security. No complaints; I had parents at the time and didn't mind paying for some part of what they drew out. I've even calculated my own Social Security taxes, which is a form of torture for anyone with dyscalculia. Of course I know how, in theory, fractions of percents work, but in practice the only reason not to round that seven-and-eleven-and-ahalf business off to ten-and-ten has to be pure spite. But those parents taught me from childhood that Social Security was an unsustainable pyramid scheme that could only possibly seem to work for one or, at most, two generations; that it was not going to work for me, and the siblings and I should plan on its falling apart before any of us reached age 70.
I say retirement is for whatever age a person is when person decides it's time to die. As long as there's something you can do, do something--to help others, if you don't need the money to pay your own expenses. If rich, take it as an indication that you're called to adopt an orphan, and work in order to teach the orphan about work by example. If pushed out of a job that got you into TIAA, give thanks, and stay with it, in case you ever really need it...but I'd hate to think of planning to need it for more than a few months.
I have given some thought, since I don't have children and will probably never be able to adopt any, to aligning myself with one of those religious orders where people with major disabilities can depend on others for some help with the transition to the work they can still do. George Peters gave me a good example of adjusting to blindness (a strong possibility for anyone who works with computers) but it was a major adjustment, and I'd hate to have to depend on government or on any big regimental system to get through it. So, public announcement: I am a lifelong Christian. My whole-Bible beliefs and practices are not fully compatible with those of any denomination, but it's all about the one thing. I am at the disposal of any Christian group that considers ten or twenty years of my talent to be enough to invest in a monastic-style retirement, if, when, and only if and when I become blind or unable to walk.
With other disabilities, I think I can manage on my own, though people have been wrong about that. This Saturday I've stayed close to the computer, even gone online to check e-mail and caught myself checking Disqus too, but mostly reading Christian e-books and praying, because someone has finally been dragged to the hospital. Apparently he was hiding what sounds like a large, painful, malignant tumor under a baggy work uniform for years. Upon hospitalization he reportedly said "I wish I'd gone to the doctor the first time someone noticed this and told me to go to one." He has a point. But I hope and pray I never have to make that kind of decision. I'd much rather live in preparation for a sudden death, as my parents, husband, and other beloved elders did.
Safety
Why we should never push cars to the highest speed on the speedometer dial, just to find out if they will really go that fast...
War & Peace
This Palestinian is speaking for Prager U, which is generally favorable to Republicans and Israel, so there may be some question how many people actually living in the Gaza region would have agreed with him. But I wish all who want to "Stand With Palestine" would hear him out and consider his point of view. If in fact many "Gazans" agree with him, Israel might want to stop bombing them and try working with them. (Note that this is an older video. Bassam Eid (spelling??) still knew people who wanted coronavirus vaccine!)
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