Lately, it seems every drug contains the words "safe and effective" somewhere in the description. Is there any drug that actually is 100% safe or effective for everyone, or even anyone? No, I'm pretty sure there is not. Even aspirin has side effects.

I think "safe and effective" should be removed from descriptions of any and all drugs. Because they seem to be far more about marketing than health. Plus, just reading them now gives me covid vaccine flashbacks and I don't feel happy about trying/ trusting any drug that claims to be safe and effective. A little honesty would be nice.

Halloween night was pretty here. Lots of leaves fell from the trees so the ground was coated with orange, yellow, and red. I loved the rainy Halloween nights like that when I was a kid. You could hear the leaves smooshing as you walked through them.

Yesterday was a stressy day. My coffee slipped off my desk and all over myself and everything else. It was a particularly GOOD coffee day and the mug was full. I was looking forward to coffee and writing. For whatever reason losing the coffee just flipped my day. I even cried a bit. I'm a bit worried I'm just getting old and upset about little stuff too easily. I wouldn't mind getting old so much if I could keep the parts of me that I actually like, as they are.

Sometimes when I'm upset and feeling kind of lost and hopeless the song, Mona With the Children, by Douglas Cameron, comes into my head and gets stuck there.

On social media I wrote:

OK. So you hate Israel, hate Palestine, hate Iran, HATE HATE HATE. They are all just people. Who are you really hating? Mona with the Children - Never forget Doug Cameron's song and the real young woman who was murdered for the hatred of others.

I don't know what it says about me that this is where my mind goes. Is my brain just telling me to stop hating myself? Only my brain knows. Do you remember the song? Hard to believe (for me) that its already 40 years ago since that song came out.

I feel that people these days are on constant Witch hunts. As if there is some great prize for rooting out anyone who does not strictly and completely adhere to the public's expectations/ demands. Its like walking/ talking around in a big trap with a hair trigger. Why do they want to live this way?

I posted a reply to a young person asking about a Witch name, in Reddit.

If you want another name why not use Rainbow which has meaning for you? Is there some reason you think you can't call yourself Rainbow? I don't use another name for myself. I choose who I talk to about my feelings/ beliefs and my family aren't concerned about any of it. So I don't need to hide my identity. I think having a witch name is building a character rather than becoming someone who is a Witch. But, that's just my feelings. Call yourself Rainbow, and go boldly forth, learn all you can. :)

Also, about finding people with your same interests in your area - likely they exist but are quiet/ cautious about it, just the same as you are. Slip something into conversation with people you have something in common with, people your own age, people with similar hobbies, etc. Show some curiosity about crystals, tarot, etc and find others who are also curious.

I really do believe there should be no Witch names. It does seem to make everything like some fantasy or game instead of reality.

I have been given a hard time by some Christians online, but they were not people I knew or kept any interest in. There may be some people who do need to hide their beliefs, even now. Some who live in a heavily Christian dominated location may want to avoid all the conflict and upset and keep their views to themselves. That is understandable. No one loves being nagged or worse.

But, if you don't need to hide your beliefs, why choose to hide your identity? Can't you be a Witch without obscuring it in some way. Aren't you happy to use your own name and call yourself a Witch? If not, why not. That's something to spend time thinking about. It could be you haven't found the right path for yourself yet. Look into other beliefs and variations of Pagan beliefs and ideas. Find something, a niche, group, or culture, that fits you and makes you feel good. I made this as a logo today. I'd like to make the Ontario trillium green, a darkish green. I might figure out how to do that sometime.

What if people paid in $ for crimes instead of jail time? Like paying a traffic fine, as an example.

Jail time seems unbalanced for the crime committed and jails are crowded. A murderer gets a few years, insurance fraud gets more than murder, all depending on the randomness of Courts, judges, and expensive lawyers. Eating a person you've just killed on a bus... it happened in Canada and he was out in a few years. I've yet to see anyone murdered come back to life but it seems murder is not all that costly in time. Maybe... it could be counted on a different scale. Cash value instead of time served. It's a start.

I think the old idea of work houses could be brought back. Prisoners work in order to buy their freedom, eventually. I don't see that ever happening these days. Like capital punishment, it isn't likely to come back. (Capital punishment and the death penalty are not the same thing. Young people don't know and assume a lot).

So, just fine them and let the credit agencies nag at them for payment. If its good enough for people who haven't committed a crime, other than getting in debt, why not? A little stress and endless calls from credit agencies always tracking them down, isn't too tough a punishment.

I don't think jail time was ever working as punishment anyway. It was supposed to reform people. How can you really ever reform or punish someone for a crime like murder? Other crimes like assault, robbery, etc. as long as no one was killed. There should be a line somewhere. It gets complicated when you decide if "left for dead" is the same as murder/ killing. I think so. Why should a killer benefit from the luck or determination of someone else to live.

So most criminal activity could be set as a dollar amount payable to the Canadian government (or whatever the local government is). Not as a punishment just a heavy fine. A better deterrent than jail. For one thing it will cost the government less than housing, feeding, entertaining them. Making use of credit agencies means the government won't have to hire extra staff, unless it goes through Canada Revenue, which I guess it must at some point. Of course, payments for crimes will not get any tax credits or refunds. That would be silly.

Maybe the government could collect enough to lower taxes. I just keep finding all kinds of good options for this idea.

Disengaging with narcistic people as a way of protecting yourself. Not great for relationships with immediate family over the long haul. In the end, you lose track of yourself due to ignoring yourself.