The Weekly Wrap: July 3, 2022

I share information for a living.

As a librarian, it's one of the core tenets of what I do. I share information in this weekly post. I share information on Twitter and my blog. I share information with my friends and family (probably to the point of annoyance).

Sharing information is something I am passionate about. I strongly believe that, in sharing information, we all become our better selves and, therefore, a stronger community.

Right now, there are attempts to keep people from sharing information. This is nothing new. People have always been afraid of information empowering others. It's why slaves were prohibited from learning to read. It's why totalitarian regimes only permit state sanctioned news. It's why there is a resurgence in banning books in schools [gift link] and even private businesses. 

Now, anti-abortion legislatures are attempting to pass laws that prohibit others from telling pregnant people they can get abortion in other states. A particularly nasty piece of legislation making the rounds in South Carolina would prohibit websites from providing information about abortion. (Reading that law it could be interpreted that even a company like Comcast could be held liable for providing information about abortion.)

Aside from this disgusting me to the core, how do you even enforce these proposed laws? This is going to get unbelievably worse than it already is. It's designed to be complicated so that people will be too afraid to do anything.

That's the point. They want to scare people into silence.

I am against this. I am against all of this. 

When people have complete access to information they can make fully informed decisions. When people have access to information, they can compare their options and pick the best choice for their needs. When people have access to information, they can learn that their fundamental human rights are being violated.  When people have complete access to information, they can learn just who is trying to oppress them.

If people are trying to stop you from learning, ask yourself why. What are they hiding? What are they trying to prevent? Why? Then ask yourself why again. 

Never be ashamed of asking questions. Never be ashamed of wanting to know more. 

​Information is a fundamental need. Information is a right. Information is education.

​Information is power. 

---

• Rage Share: Idiotic beliefs about the female body are driving legislation. [All in Her Head]
• What's it's like to ride an overnight Amtrak train. [WaPo - gift link]
• Aquatic wildlife is beautiful. [NPR]
• A history of the Stanley Cup's beauty marks. [RMNB]
• Where airline crews rest. [CNN]
• If you can't build up, you must build out. [The Deleted Scenes]
• Example #453 of why women are delaying (or skipping) having kids. [BBC]
• This is why you don't cite Wikipedia. [Sixth Tone]

• A look at who determines we're in a recession. [Planet Money]
• Tiny things are just delightful. [Atlas Obscura]
• The problems with ageism. [Life Kit]
• Gentrification and fried fish. [Dish City]
• The market for your attention. [Hidden Brain]

• We polished off the Flux season of Doctor Who. This season was short - only 6 episodes - and it was a lot. At some point, I just decided to let the narrative wash over me instead of keeping track of all the plot. It was all pretty frenzied and convoluted. But, my favorite monster came back and I love Jodie Whitaker's take on the Doctor. [HBO Max]
• This made me chuckle. [Daniel LaBelle]
  

• White fish is not something that graces our table often. This week, I made garlic butter baked cod. It was super easy and something we will definitely try again. I served it with a side of steam-in-the-bag green beans and crescent rolls. [Budget Bytes]
• I made sausage and kale skillet. Our friends call it "pizza stew" since it has lots of za vibes to it. I agree with their take. Since the kale at our store wasn't the best, I supplemented with half a bag of spinach. Worked perfectly. Our kiddo actually tried three chickpeas which is an epic win. [Budget Bytes]