Election Connection – Book Banning/Challenge Update

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This is specific to a Texas school district, but challenges are happening across the country.

A federal judge has ruled that the books in question be returned to the library within twenty-four hours and left accessible while the case is ongoing. They are prohibited from removing any books while the case is in litigation.

According to this CNN article, while the Texas school said the books were removed as part of their normal weeding procedures it is clear that there were outside influences at play based on the subjects removed, including topics of race and LGBT+.

Disagreeing with the subject matter is not a reason to remove the books from the library. I also disagree with the comment in the article that pastors should be involved. Absolutely not. The separation of church and state is critically important both to the founding of this country and its ongoing evolution of welcoming all, despite the recent contradictions to that.

Part of the problem is the ignorance of those complaining about the books. They call many LGBT+ books pornographic when they are not sexual in nature and simply talk about feelings and gender as any adolescent character in a book would do. They are also trying to restrict CRT (critical race theory) which none of these books teach despite perhaps being written by a person of color or are about a person of color. As has been explained over and over again, CRT is not something that is taught in the schools, not even at a high school level. It is typically a subject in post-graduate and law schools.

As a writer, I understand that not all books are for everyone, and I agree that parents can determine the appropriateness of books for their children within reason (as I have done for my children without banning books for everyone), but I expect that we should trust in the schooling and expertise of librarians and teachers who have studied this field for a number of years.

I am also concerned about a random group of uneducated people coming in and removing books rather than letting individual parents and children make the determinations for their families on what is age-appropriate.

I hope the country steps back from the abyss; we are well beyond the slippery slope, and we need to offer modern books with timely subject matter while also encouraging the reading of classics while explaining the reasons that some of the material isn’t appropriate, and maybe never was.

Times change. We should change with them.

Inspire. December.

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For nothing will be impossible with G-d

Luke 1:37

It’s been a rough one, and so it’s been a little rough getting to the inspiration portion of our post, but we will get there. I have been enjoying the little things of Advent: the readings, the faith enrichment I’ve been attending, the multicultural program on holiday lights, a workshop on the Redemption of Scrooge which links into our own priorities for this holiday season.

I’m also seeing how close G-d is to the surface of my life. In recent years, I have truly felt His presence, but the number of actions that had to take place recently really shouted out loud that G-d is everywhere. I believe that, and have always believed that in my heart, but to see it in tangible action can be overwhelming and the gratitude for that is at play and it sings out and amazes me.

Despite only recently finding Jesus Christ, I’ve always been a religious person in my own way, teaching my family our traditions, lighting candles at Chanukah, eating matzoh at Passover, fasting at Yom Kippur, but in finding Jesus, I have also found other ways to see G-d’s presence that I wasn’t always fully aware of.

Some back-story. On the home page is a personal update that included my falling down the stairs. I have been healing, slowly but surely, and I haven’t been able to drive. I’ve only just started driving locally. My husband has been alternating between vehicles depending on which car has more gas, where it’s going, or just arbitrarily choosing which car to take. He picked up my daughter and her friend from work the week of Thanksgiving, and was waiting in traffic, completely stopped with his turn signal on, when a pickup truck slammed into the back of the car. At the last minute, the pickup driver realized he was too close and moved to the right, trying to avoid us, but hit our car on the rear right side rather than dead on in the middle of the trunk. I think this caused more damage than it would have the other way.

Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Because of the holiday it took nearly a full week to get an estimate and find out that the insurance company would not repair it but deem it a total loss.

The idea that a car that we used multiple times daily, trying to teach two kids to drive, and get us from here to there in a town with limited public transportation isn’t worth the cost to fix it is something I will never understand. I do understand the cost-benefit analysis that goes into the decisions, but for us that car was worth much more than its monetary value and I don’t mean sentimentality, but necessity.

We were reasonably upset.

As it was before the accident, my husband was driving me (and everyone else in the household) everywhere; some days he was driving from one place to the next, never leaving the car until we were all home for dinner.

For one of the faith enrichment evenings, I got a ride from some friends of mine. (This is where G-d comes in). Afterwards, we were going back to their car when another mutual friend walked with them and was talking to them, asking if they knew anyone who was looking to buy a car – she was selling her father’s car. I immediately asked how much she was selling it for.

One week and a day later, we had a new (to us) car. We’re waiting for the insurance money to pay her for it.

Had my husband driven me, I would not have known about the car.

Had another friend driven me (as was the plan), I would not have known about the car.

Had the woman been parked in a different area of the parking lot, I would not have known about the car.

For me to be in the back seat of my friends’ car when this woman told them about her father’s car, and them just hearing about our car accident (and that we only found out that day it would be totaled) was nothing short of a miracle.

It was G-d’s hand in everything, and sometimes we stay aware of His influence just enough to recognize it and jump on it, and of course, when something like this happens, proclaim it.

Have a blessed finish to your Advent and a Merry Christmas.

COVID Information Updates

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As the virus continues its rampage throughout the United States and in other parts of the world, I wanted to update my information center.

It can be found here: Covid Information Center

What follows is some related links that I am sharing here and will update their respective subject posts by next weekend. There will be more as news warrants it.

If there’s something that you found helpful that isn’t on one of my posts, please comment below or email me. Use the subject line so I don’t misread your email as spam.

Fauci: We won’t be able to sit in theaters without masks until a year after an effective coronavirus vaccine is created

Emergency Preparedness and Checklists for Everyone

Biden-Harris Transition Website

Biden-Harris Plan for Covid-19 Reponse

Clicking for entire thread will take you to Twitter. (c)2020

UPDATE!

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The last three planned coronavirus posts (food, something to smile about, and writing in the pandemic) will be published between now and Tuesday and will be followed by the information hub directory. After that, the individual posts will continue to be updated and that date will appear in the title and on the hub so it can be easily seen that there is new information.

Stay home, and stop the spread. Save lives.

COVID-19 RESOURCE UPDATE (UPDATED 3/26/20)

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There have been updates to the two new resource posts including new educational resources and where you can help from home. I plan to have a religious resource post later this evening.

Here are some shortcuts:

What to Do in Isolation/Quarantine (UPDATED 3/26/20)(NOW WITH EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES)
Where Can I Help? (UPDATED 3/26/20)

Religious and Spiritual Resources (UPDATED 3/26/20)

I hope everyone is keeping their distance and staying well.

My thoughts are with all of you.

COVID-19 Update

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(This will also be added to original Coronavirus post that is linked at the top of my home page)

I recommend you follow Dr. Scott Gottlieb on Twitter. He is not currently a part of this Administration, but is the former head of the FDA and Harvard professor and offers good, thoughtful advice on dealing with this epidemic.

His USA Today op-ed: Take Smart Steps to Slow the Spread of the coronavirus

This is a transcript of his interview on CBS’ Face the Nation

Coronavirus Resources Update

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Talking Point Memo’s Josh Marshall has compiled a list of Twitter accounts giving real time updates and accurate information. If you’re on Twitter, check the tweet here, or go directly to the Epidemic Science & Health link, and follow these folks.

There is also a Coronavirus Live Update Website from Worldometer (h/t to actor Jim Beaver for the link) with statistics and numbers. However, please be aware that the number of cases is based only on those tested. Here in the United States, we are well behind the testing, so our numbers may be higher than reported. This also doesn’t include people who are carrying the virus but are asymptomatic.

I received an email from my health insurance company with their current policy on coronavirus testing. Check with your own health insurance provider to find out when and if you should get tested and how that procedure would work for your specific situation.

I will add this to my original post (link is at the top of my home page) which will continue to receive updated information as I discover it.

Book News

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​This update was supposed to appear at the end of last week. Unfortunately, chaos happened. Taking down the tree, planning my daughter’s sleepover birthday party, avoiding politics and failing all contributed to not completing my writing the way I wanted it to.

I did manage in the days before the chaos to get some introductions and background info on both House and Wales. They are by no means complete, and they’re barely first drafts, but they are something and I plan on continuing little by little. These updates not only get the job done, it gets it started and it gives me something to post on those biweekly Fridays.

Stay on track and Accountability.

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What Am I Working On?

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I sometimes wonder…

Am I a writer or an author?

A blogger or a freelancer?

A memoirist?

A dabbler? Professional?

A nobody?

Sometimes, I don’t know what I am or what I’m doing here and elsewhere. Maybe one day it will come to me or all fall into place or whatever it’s supposed to do.I know that there are things pulling at me, and I have stories and half-written anecdotes and notes since my high school and college days. Fan fiction gave me a language and a society – a camaraderie that is often not found, even in the writing groups I’ve attended. Not belonging because of the subjects or the philosophies or the age difference – I tend to be either the oldest or the youngest. Neither one is preferable. They are both on the outside looking in.

Some of my writings are avoidance; conversely, some of my writings are avoided, each with a labyrinth of excuses and reasons, one more valid than the next.

I recently heard something on one of my favorite television shows. It’s funny to admit or even to say out loud to those who aren’t in the fandom and therefore don’t understand the inspiration that I get from this program and its cast and crew.
This isn’t the first time that their words have helped me move forward with a less than tangible hand to hold and shoulder to lean on.

“You wanna know the secret to living a long and happy life? Follow your heart. You do that, all the rest just figures itself out.”
– Mildred (played by Dee Wallace) to Dean (played by Jensen Ackles)

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Page Update

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I’ve made updates to the following pages:

Quotations

Snapshots in Time

Honors

as well as a couple of posts about the honors and some aspects of last week’s travel (there will definitely be more on this coming soon).

Unfortunately, the blog doesn’t automatically tell followers if a page is updated, only if there is a new post. You will notice that if you go to the Writings page, most of the pieces have a photo on the link even if there are no photos on the post itself. Most of these are my own photographs that I’ve incorporated into the essay. I intend to have more photographs posting on their own, so I look forward to any and all feedback.

So, take a look at some of the new things, and tell me what you think.