I’m talking about an annual flue shot. If you haven’t already done it, do it now. You don’t want to get the regular flu anytime, but this year you don’t want to get it and have it weaken you, making you more susceptible to Covid-19. And you REALLY don’t want both at once.
I got my flu shot yesterday. Please get yours today.
Gotta love those fortune cookies. Not that they’re very tasty. But some give us a chuckle, others leave us scratching our heads, and some, like today’s Thursday Thought quote, remind us of an important truth.
“No act of kindness, however so small, is ever wasted.” — fortune cookie
When I go on Facebook from time to time, it’s fun to catch up on what friends and relatives are doing so many miles away from me. I avoid the games and things like matching my birthday to a mood or character trait, because those things are often gateways to getting info about me to either advertise to me or set me up for fraud or future contact I don’t want. I admit to giving in to checking out what my FB friends have passed on as “truth,” especially in these politically violent times, just so I can keep up with the misinformation and manipulation that’s being fostered. But I’ve felt like I had some measure of control over what I see and take in.
A Netflix documentary I just watched changed my mind. I didn’t realize what all the algorisms are doing, how I’m being monitored and molded. How I don’t realize what’s happening within my brain.
I recommend you watch this. As I said, it’s on Netflix, and it’s called “The Social Dilemma.” It will give you something to think about.
If you haven’t yet registered to vote, this day was created for you in 2012. The idea is to get as many people as possible registered to vote, because everyone should have a voice in how our democracy will be run in the coming years. If you think your one vote doesn’t matter, think about the math. Your one vote, added to another single vote, added to another…that’s how elections are won and lost and how propositions win or lose. And who gets elected and what propositions we’ll have to live with really DO affect each one of us.
Here’s a safe, bipartisan site you can go to to register on line (there are many others, of course): https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/ Or at the federal government’s site at https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote. Or fill out and mail in a paper voter registration form. However you do it, just DO IT!
Make a difference. Decide your own future. Register now, and be sure to vote.
K-cup coffee pods are very easy, very convenient. Which is why we buy 10 billion of them every year, enough to encircle our planet 10 – 12 times. The package says “recycleable” (at least the plastic portion), but the problem is that they often are not. That’s because the machines in recycling plants can’t process items that small. So they go into the landfill instead, which the Earth hates.
One bright note is the small program in Canada that turns them into cement. They dry out the K-cups, shred them, then burn them up at 2000 degrees Celsius. The ashes are turned into cement.
Although this is a small program, it offers hope. We aren’t going to give up our K-cups, except those of us who can handle reusable ones. We must, therefore, find a way to recycle them. Come on, scientists—Get with it!
Happy New Year! Or L’shana tovah u’metukah (long version of “Shana Tovah“), which translates to “for a good and sweet year.” As Rosh Hashanah begins, it brings good feelings we all need right now, Jewish or not. It’s a feeling of putting the old year, with all of its trouble, mistakes, and wrong-doing, behind us and getting a fresh start. It’s incentive to do things right, treat each other according to the Golden Rule, make wise decisions, have compassion for others, treat all of our brothers and sisters with dignity.
I’m not Jewish, but I thank my Jewish brethren for their tradition and the gift of Rosh Hashanah. Shana Tovah, my readers!
When I saw this I had to pass it on, because it expresses the feeling that has been pouring out of my gut for a very long time. I believe this attitude is what will cure our sick nation.
I shouldn’t have to defend my state (CA), but I’m going to because of a gap in reasoning and action going unrecognized right now. This isn’t a tirade or denigrating of our President, just a request for him to do something to take care of the problem he has pointed out, to meet the responsibilities of his administration.
President Trump keeps repeating what he perceptive as the cause for all the CA fires and the destruction, death, loss, and heartache those fires are causing: forest mismanagement. If he truly believes that, he needs to recognize that 60% of our forests are federal lands and that federal agencies should be doing a better job of managing those lands. If it means, as he says, raking leaves in forests, why isn’t it being done–or at least managed–by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, or other arm of the Dept. of the Interior? He believes that climate change, which scientists say play a large part in these fires, is a hoax. He’s entitled to his opinion. Even so, why isn’t our Federal government giving us the protection we need, protection he promised that would take care of us?
Cloth face masks are so much nicer than the manufactured type. We enjoy expressing ourselves with words on them, making half our face into an animal or clown, adding a big smile, showing our patriotism–anything to lift our spirits. We must remember, though, that those masks must be washed, both before the first use and every day after that. Many can go into the washing machine; all can be hand-washed.
HOW to wash them is equally important. Here’s a site that reveals what research has shown to be the best wash/dry method. It gives some very helpful tips to ensure that your reusable mask continues to keep you and others healthy. Go to https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/how-to-wash-a-face-mask
A proper tribute to the innocent victims of 9-11 is to honor their memory by not perpetuating the blind hatred that caused this tragedy.
