Has being part of this community changed you in any way? I'm finding that I have less patience for any kind of ignorance, especially involving politics and religion, and am much more likely to speak up about it. The covid years, and just getting older may be playing a part as well. Atheism seems a much more sensible worldview to me now. That's a big change, as being in recovery is all about developing one's spirituality. I'm a little apprehensive about these changes. But in some way I feel like I've really come into my own. It's not wrong to speak up-strongly if necessary-if I'm willing to shoulder the consequences. I certainly don't have any desire to create unnecessary conflicts for myself, or those around me. And I have friends who will check me if I get too far off the mark. Am I going in the right direction?

Hey, people! Come on over to the SAV social club Chonkmaster created for us. You can stay on SAV and use the new site, too.

Last week's snowstorm dumped a ton of heavy wet snow in the northern regions of my state, causing long duration power outages and big headaches for lots of would-be insurrectionists. Not surprisingly, their elected representatives are feigning ignorance of the seriousness of the situation, and our Democratic governor won't send the national guard to help restore power unless asked. Understandable. He'd be a fool to unilaterally send soldiers to cut down trees and clear snow and debris on the private property of heavily-armed, paranoid anti-government right-wingers. Those soldiers lives would be at risk, especially if any of them were POC. There'd be talk of looting and worse. The rogue sheriffs of those counties, who made it clear they wouldn't enforce covid emergency policies and who spread distrust of non-whites and non-local government, would have a hard time stepping back and letting strangers on their patch. So once again, republican politicians have put their own supporters lives in jeopardy to get and keep political power. Their supporters will suffer and of course, blame the governor, and the government for their misery. More snow and sub-zero temperatures are expected. Blizzard conditions will bring down more trees and take out more power lines. Oh darn.

https://youtube.com/shorts/pQPM595XDyU?feature=share/

Think about the conspiracy theorists in your circle. In mine, every single one comes from a family that's deeply invested in maintaining a false narrative about problems within the family. The problems are things like undiagnosed/untreated mental illness, child abuse(all types) and/or addiction (again, all types.) Growing up in a family that can't face reality seems to prepare people to prefer falsehoods to truth.

The new booster is coming out in September, I believe. Had my last one in April. This week attended a day-long community ed event, held in smallish room. Small group- all vaxed, over 50. Got COVID. I can't imagine choosing to roll the dice without being vaxed. Yesterday was miserable, plus will have to take a week off work. I'll admit, after over 2 years without catching it, I was feeling over-confident. Even thought I might be immune. Or that maybe the risk was slightly overblown. How silly of me. My point is, if you're feeling antsy, and doing "normal stuff" is calling to you...hold on a few more weeks till you can get that booster.

Ron Johnson- "when opportunism and waffling collide"

Lately I've been lashing out at prolifers on line, even though I know it's a waste of time. I've had it with the smugness and lack of empathy hidden behind a facade of "Christian" virtue. Whether religiosity is a mental disease in and of itself, it certainly serves to camouflage a lot of unpleasant character traits in a lot of people. My friends are the real deal and use their faith to help and to heal-not to bully others. I'm kind of new to Facebook and public forums. Any advice on how to choose my battles more carefully?