May Have Finally Gotten a Low-Grade Virus

The last few days I've wondered if I don't have a low-grade cold. Symptoms have been mild enough that it's hard to tell if this is really a cold or if I have something else going on here. Maybe I've developed a seasonal allergy or something. I broke out the covid testing of course but it has come back negative so far, so as far as I know, this is not covid-19, but I understand covid tests have a lot of false negatives so that's not very definitive either.

I am already vaccinated for covid-19 and flu this season (since September), and still following my masking and distancing protocols, so if this is a cold then something got through. Which is unfortunate but would still mean that my immunization, masking, and distancing protocols are still greatly reducing both the frequency and intensity of illness for me. Pre-pandemic I used to get nasty colds at least once a year--this is the first thing I've thought might be a virus that I've had since before the pandemic started in 2020.

Another thing that might help reduce sickness intensity for me is that I take mild sickness much more seriously than I did pre-covid, so I've been taking it as easy as I can. It's appalling for me to think how sick I had to be pre-covid to try not to go places, or even just take it easy and allow myself to recuperate. It's appalling that our society still expects people to drag themselves to work or school when they're dying of a virus so they can work themselves to death and infect others. Our society really is killing us in so many ways.

Anyway, I'm definitely going to keep making an effort to avoid getting viruses. It's not just covid I'll benefit from avoiding, either--there are plenty of other viruses I'd rather not get, especially the older I get. And if I do get a virus, I want to do everything in my power to recuperate from it and avoid passing it to others.

Down With "Productivity"!

Laying around doing nothing can be absolutely amazing and I wish it were easier to engage in this activity when one feels the desire for it. Sometimes I want to be productive and do things of course but I think a big factor in modern burnout is that people are criticized for wanting to relax and even for needing to rest despite the fact that it ultimately makes them less productive to not have adequate rest and relaxation.

The Senate Condemns Student Groups as Backlash to Pro-Palestinian Speech Grows

The Senate Condemns Student Groups as Backlash to Pro-Palestinian Speech Grows

 

On Friday, the U.S. Senate passed a unanimous resolution condemning what it called “anti-Israel, pro-Hamas student groups” across the country following a day of walkouts. Hundreds of students, led by Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, walked out of classes at Columbia University, Princeton University, New York University, and dozens of other colleges in what they described as a demand for a ceasefire in Gaza and end to U.S. military support to Israel. The Senate resolution condemned student groups for ostensibly supporting Hamas as part of a broader government and corporate pushback on protests over the war.

As the conflict intensifies, disputes are spilling over from campuses and government into many workplaces as well. Recent weeks have seen pressure by government officials against student activist groups, the creation of public blacklists in multiple industries, and a wave of politically motivated firings over people’s publicly stated views on the conflict.

“We are seeing people being fired from their jobs, being investigated by HR over their social media posts or conversations with colleagues, and having job offers rescinded. There is a clear trend that people’s jobs are being targeted right now,” said Dima Khalidi, the founder and director of Palestine Legal, an advocacy organization that seeks to preserve the civil rights of supporters of Palestinian rights in the United States.

The United States has been an active agent in Israel's aggression against Palestine, and I think it's clear that it wishes to silence dissent at home as well as abroad. The US government is and has been complicit in the genocide of Palestinians.