various (this is D)

[schneefink]

It's getting harder and harder to read the news. I hope it's only my perception, but I can't remember a time where I was aware of so many crises happening all over the world at the same time. Wars in Syria and Iraq, in South Sudan and other countries where I'm not even aware of it (the list of ongoing armed conflicts on wikipedia is fucking terrifying), terror groups like Boko Haram, the Ukraine conflict, Israel/Palestina, Ebola, neo-nazis gaining power in Europe, police/justice corruption in the US, ongoing economic problems and especially youth unemployment in so many places, there are still countries where oppression is normal like North Korea, refugee tragedies every day and also on Europe's borders... I'm pretty lucky where I am, but it's still terrifying. Years ago I read "if you're feeling inadequate just remember that those people in front of you probably also read Harry Potter fanfic in their free time or knit or obsessively follow a sports team or have to deal with family drama etc.", and that was reassuring at first, but ever since then reports of people dying hit me harder, and people being at an enormous disadvantage just because of circumstances or prejudice or bad luck make me want to scream in frustration. Life is not fucking fair.

(Another thing about the Scotland elections: apparently they lowered the required age to vote to 16. They did that in Austria too a few years ago and I still think it's a terrible idea. Not to say that 16-year-olds are stupid, but the vast majority of them don't have the life experience or exposure to a variety of information and realities that would allow them to form their own opinion independent of their upbringing and they're extremely easy to influence. 18-year-olds have the same problem, but they've hopefully at least had a bit more life experience.)

Happier things: Vorarlberg pictures!


Me walking along the Lünersee. The weather was amazing, exactly for the two hour window it took us to walk around the lake. When we went up in the gondola it was still raining down in the valley and everywhere around us, and when we went down again it was just starting to rain at the lake too. Unfortunately my grandfather's taste in which photographs to take is a bit different than mine/he didn't have good luck with people looking at the camera.


The best picture of the double rainbow that I got, but very pale in comparison with reality. In reality it was extremely bright and colorful, and for a few minutes there was even a third rainbow. It was a full half-circle and I was walking toward it in the middle, it was great.

A few months ago I got my first filling at the dentist, under local anesthesia. It didn't hurt at all and I wondered why so many people complained about going to the dentist. (Many more in books that I read than people I actually encountered, but still.) Last week I went again, this time for a much smaller hole, so he apparently thought that anesthesia wasn't necessary. Now I completely understand. Ouch.

I'm procrastinating on C which I planned to do to procrastinate on B which I planned to do to procrastinate on A. A is my thesis that I really have to work on. NHL training camps have started and someone just recommended a 500k fic. This is hard.

Comments

[kittydesade]

It's not just you, if that helps. And I lack the sleep necessary to determine whether it's because information flows faster and more freely than it has in the past (barring that you live in certain countries with dictator conditions) or if it's because the world really is worse off or a combination of both. I await the next update from the Doomsday clock with trepidation.

The pictures are lovely, at least!

[schneefink]

Probably a combination of both. But even if it only seems worse than before, that's still not really a comfort... But the potential for things to get better is still there, that has to count for something.

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

Just one tiny little thing to take of your list - there were no riots in Scotland. In Glasgow around 100 people from each camp (yes and no) accumilated in the city centre to celebrate/protest the outcome of the vote. A handful of hooligans cause a bit of grief, but only 6 people were arrested - this is comparable to any football game in the UK. Then some social media pranksters tried to blow it out of proportion and managed to get it on the news radar a bit - even if just to say there wasn't a story. Twitter Power ;)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/scottish-independence/glasgow-riots-dishonest-social-media-users-accused-of-fuelling-panic-with-pictures-from-london-riots-9745736.html

Sorry that you're feeling so down at the moment. I always feel very blessed to live in this time and place - if I get overwhelemed by news I just have to remind myself of what my grandma's generation went through - 2 WW, economic crisis, political upheaval, illnesses. The difference nowadays is not that there is more unrest in the world, it's just we are so much better informed now. Now it's Syria, Ukraine and Ebola, in the past it was Congo, Ruanda, Vietnam & Korea, swine flu, AIDS & mad cow disease.

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

Thanks, good to hear! Usually I try to do some research but I just wasn't feeling up for it.

Yes, we're probably living in a better world than our parents/grandparents in many ways - I'm reasonably sure there won't be WWIII in the next few years - but that's just a relief, not a comfort. (And history is not linear, which is also not a happy thought.)