Sunday, May 3, 2020

4/30/20: Link Day!

APRIL 30, 2020: LINK DAY!

TO READ PREVIOUS BLOGS: TERRYBAUM.BLOGSPOT.COM
LEFT: A Lovey Front Garden
PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED.


So, today being Link Day, we will have three -- count 'em THREE! -- kinds of links:
FIRST: Activism Links
SECOND: Important Info Links
THIRD: Fun Links

ACTIVISM:

At this point, being totally befuddled about what I personally can conjure up to lead the world toward salvation, I'm ready to join with what exists, which Carolyn has already done. She's fond of:
Go to their website and you will see lots of different activities focussed on the Bay Area. On Sunday at 3pm, I'm going to do:
This used to be an event that met weekly in a bar in the Mission to write postcards to Congressional Representatives. Now they meet on Zoom. The issue changes from week to week, depending on Congress's agenda. They send you postcards to print out, which you then write on and send out yourself or give to them at some later time. So you must have a printer to do it, but they invite you no matter what.

There are many other activities, all of which are coordinated so that people are meeting on Zoom.

Since Bloggelinis live all over the country (well, actually all over the world), this is the link to the national group:
I think the advantages of getting involved with people near you, even though you can't actually get together at the moment, are obvious.

Now, this is for the WHOLE WORLD, folks:
This is a coordinated program to write letters about people all over the world who have been imprisoned unjustly. You write one letter of protest to the authorities and one letter of support to the imprisoned person or the people representing them. It is quite overwhelming to read the stories or watch a video. You CAN easily sign a lot of petitions by signing one. Once they have your info, you can just click on a LOT of petitions. I could see going to this website once a week to sign all the petitions. Then just pick ONE PERSON to write letters to or about. I mean, if you handle more, that's great. But I started crying after one video.

A LITTLE PERSONAL SIDELIGHT:
These are two activist groups that Carolyn volunteers for. Carolyn and I have a long history of me talking the talk while she walks the walk. I think the first time was 40 years ago when I read an article about the elastic at the top of socks restricting circulation. I vowed to cut the elastic in all my socks. A week later, I noticed Carolyn's socks were falling down. I asked why and she'd cut the elastic on them all, as I had so very strongly recommended. I cut the elastic on one sock, saw it fall down, and quit right there.

The most NOTORIOUS incident was also decades ago, when I saw an ad for a movie called "PIECES." The ad showed a young woman splayed on the ground with all her limbs severed. It trumpeted, "PIECES! It's exactly what you think it is!"

I was, understandably, totally outraged. I said to Carolyn on the phone, "This is it! We have to do something! We must protest this movie!" A few days later, Carolyn called me from Ashland, Oregon where she was living, very excited to tell me about her action. She and her friend Seven (a man) had made a gigantic papier mache penis and a gigantic papier mache saw and had protested in front of the movie theater in Ashland, castrating the paper penis. They were arrested for disturbing the peace, which they certainly were. This greatly complicated their lives and severely irked their nearest and dearest. She wanted to know what outrageous thing I had done to protest. But after my rant to her on the phone, I'd forgotten all about it!


IMPORTANT INFO:

Ever heard of the Epidemic Intelligence Service? Me neither, until I read this New Yorker article. These are doctors who are trained to communicate to the public during an epidemic, to get people to change their behavior. Controlling an epidemic is AT LEAST as much about people's behavior as it is about medical treatment. This article is about the difference between Seattle, where the trained doctors were in charge of communication, and New York City, where the politicians were in charge. It's completely fascinating to learn about the SCIENCE of communication. That's the first half of the article. The second half is about the disaster of New York City. I didn't feel the need to read all of that.

Skip the first few minutes of painful Trump clips, to watch this MSNBC interview with a doctor who is renowned, experienced, believable and grim. According to him, our greatest problem is a lack of HONEST CLEAR COMMUNICATION. (See link above.) He says it is as certain as the Law of Gravity that the virus will return in the Fall. Very powerful talk. Thanks to Rosalia Stamatakos for the link.

This is important for us all to know because a change in your sense of TASTE or SMELL could be a sign that you've got the virus! Is this the weirdest virus in the history of medicine or what??


FINALLY, FUN STUFF:

This astonishing video could have also been included under important info. I've never heard Vick before, but he is one righteous dude. Brilliant too. Do watch.
Thanks to Kathy Lipscomb for the link.

Another don't-miss video by a woman totally unknown to me whose last name is Adley and who is hilarious. After watching it, you will understand everything -- or not. Thanks to Lesley Harter for the link.

Must be seen to be believed. I think Tara Ayres sent this to me.

I will close with a poem by Haroon Masid, sent to me by Michele Linfante:

We fell asleep in one world, and woke up in another.
Suddenly Disney is out of magic,
Paris is no longer romantic,
New York doesn't stand up anymore,
the Chinese wall is no longer a fortress, and Mecca is empty.
Hugs & kisses suddenly become weapons,
and not visiting parents & friends becomes an act of love.
Suddenly you realize that power, beauty & money are worthless,
and can't get you the oxygen you're fighting for.
The world continues its life and it is beautiful.
It only puts humans in cages. I think it's sending us a message:
"You are not necessary. The air, earth, water and sky without you are fine. When you come back, remember that you are my guests. Not my masters."
 
Thanks for your time, Bloggelinis.
I hope something clicked with you. Terry



No comments:

Post a Comment