@BosmangBeratna

(The political-science training in me recognizes game when they see it.)

It sucks how little people in general understand when they're being played by sabre-rattling diplomatic tricks like this.

But on the "plus" side, the UN is damned ineffective in a) world security, b) combatting climate change, and c) reducing corruption, so... 🤷🏻‍♂️ Not the biggest loss?

The real heartbreak here is people thinking anyone's in control here. Plenty want to be! But there's no magic off button.

@BosmangBeratna

Been that way since the start. It's clever diplomacy. The UN and Israel have never been in agreement over Israel's obligations in Gaza and the West Bank - Israel disagrees with a Geneva Convention that would be used against it, so it didn't sign the Rome Statute, and N has especially hated the UN since the court accepted a Palestinian petition to review the '14 campaign for war crimes, so it's been very smart of N to whip up loathing of the UN to bolster his allies in this war.

@BillyBones

Post script, depending on the person:

"--thank FUCK!" 😅

@damselfly59

Oh, now that is an amazing first line for a story!

@tyghebright

😬 Did you wake up as a human today?! You poor beetle!

TFW you planned to go for a walk an hour ago, but you ended up finishing some admin work first. 🙃 And almost found yourself slipping into the first full editing task of the day, too.

ML! Go talk to the trees before you start your work day! FFS.

A few wee admin tasks before bed, but I came across a simple folksy tune that I just had to stop and listen to twice.

Hope it finds some of you in the right mood, too. 💛

'Night, CoSo.

#CoSoMusic
https://youtu.be/V7TAOyU8OeU

@Museek

Oof. You brought out the big guns today, Museek. Every single one still gives me shivers.

@WordsmithFL

Points for both brevity and monstrosity!

@Indefinite_Article

Oof. This one could go in so many directions. Is dad dead? Super scary! Is dad alive but in trouble? With news of someone else in trouble? Also worrisome. ☹️

@skuwiph

*shudders* Scary Stories for Tech, Vol 1!

@Neomathis76

🤔 Are you taking Calculus, or is Calculus taking *you*?

@IRNMKE3

😬 In this economy?! Dangerous!

@daniel

So many good options!

And now, I'm going for a walk.

Maybe some fiction-writing tonight? (I have a story about grief I want to finish and send off soon, which suits the day.)

However you need to grieve, and however you *come* to your grief for the world, know that it's important work you're doing--*healing* work, for you and the world around you.

I'm grateful to be walking this path with so many people who come to this work from such differently vital points of view.

🕊️

This one was tough, so I needed two days to write it. We're entering a period of remembrance for October 7, and yet it's been impossible to do the work of memorial properly, because many false stories about what happened to victims were used to fortify the world in its leap to an ongoing nightmare of war.

The dead deserved better, and still do. So too do the living, who suffer today because we have not learned how to grieve responsibly.

Will we ever?

#Death #Israel
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/how-we-remember-matters

@LiseL

You've heard of micro-sleeps, yes? I do believe I've mastered the art of micro-eeps! 😅

@gemswinc @Novels56 @jenebene

More mindless data entry for an hour or so.

#RandomQuestions

What's the scariest story you can tell in one sentence?

@gemswinc

WHAT ARE WORDS, CINDY.

For a few seconds, I was reeling because I felt like word three was breaking all the rules of English spelling. Then of course the only fit came to mind. 😅

@LiseL @Novels56 @jenebene