I think Bolton's views are bad and his books tendentious, but we're better off as a free society having people like him keep diaries and write memoirs. On balance, I tend to think the benefits of open debate outweigh the imperatives of secrecy.

4)
finally, take care of your physical health - those annoying, occasional issues at 40 become constant, debilitating issues after 70 - get them taken care of now

if you don't have your health, everything else becomes secondary

3)
find a hobby that makes you feel like you are creating something - cooking, sewing, woodwork, gardening, painting - and do it

get outside on a regular basis - even if its only to gaze out a window - nature is spiritually renewing

2)
develop a group (IRL)- whether family or friends that feel like a refuge against any outside storm & meet up often

find something that calms you and practice it regularly - whether than is meditation or reading the comics

1)
70+ here

you r the best judge of how much reality vs needing protective walls you can handle - not the rest of the world

become part of a community (IRL) that u can turn to in a crisis & know they will act (usually that is a faith community, but not necessarily)

What did Amnesty do to Ukraine?

Publish report after report of Russian war crimes and abuses and one report based on interviews with Ukrainian civilians where it was stated that Ukrainian forces had stationed themselves in some occasions on civilian neighbourhoods, leading to civilian losses.

One mother told how her adult son had used to take food to Ukrainian soldiers whose unit was stationed near their home and her son was killed in a Russian attack against the unit.

And this upset Ukraine and its supporters abroad who wanted the war to be seen as Absolute Evil vs Absolute Good.

And so we got the hate campaign against Amnesty from Ukraine and from its fans - not supporters, but adoring fans is more appropriate term - who couldn't handle what was a very modest criticism based on interviews of Ukrainian civilians.

You people demanded that Amnesty should be shut down.

There has never been any prolonged war where both sides - no matter how wrong and abhorrent one side's aggression and how justified the other's defence - wouldn't have committed actions that can and should be criticized.

But you couldn't accept that. You wanted the war in Ukraine to be a fairytale.

Every single post by Amnesty on Twitter got hateful replies from supporters of Ukraine, just like every single post by UNRWA was attacked by supporters of genocidal Apartheid Israel.

When human rights in China or Iran were criticized, you people were demanding that Amnesty should be shut down.

You people wanted all the good work that Amnesty does to be destroyed because it had dared to interview Ukrainian civilians and report what they told.

You didn't care what that would mean, how oppressive regimes would benefit and human rights would suffer.

That was utter disgrace from you people.

2/2
Love pours in for a dying octopus as she tends to eggs that will never hatch
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/inter...?
Fans and caretakers have expressed an outpouring of grief and love for Ghost, a strikingly beautiful giant Pacific octopus, as she nears the end of her life.

I use to watch my mom eat boiled okra and 😝, even though I loved okra all other ways

but a few years ago, I discovered baby okra and sad to say - I have now become my mama

and here I have been thinking that what the world needs right now is some Maimonides in the major faiths of the world

I had totally forgotten I even wrote this post

7 months feels like we have been through several lifetimes

My answer to my own questions at the time was "yes"

Seven months later I feel it is the only answer that is actively being confirmed