Public Service Announcement: The Blog Is Safe

So here's something weird. I opened my blog tonight to respond to a comment and discovered it was blocked by the following message:

Maybe you saw this message as well. Baffled, I started doing some research. I've checked the security information on Google/Blogger and there are no security issues with my blog. The above warning can appear for two reasons: 1. if a Google scan detects it has been hacked, that it contains malware, or social engineering techniques; or 2. if someone reports the site for any of the above. 

I reported that my blog had been falsely flagged and finally found the tiny link that let me access my family record. Phoebe and Bryan also reported the false claim. It appears to have been returned to normal accessibility, except that as I started writing this it still had a small notice warning readers that my blog could be dangerous. These types of incidents can shut down a site permanently, which would erase a family record that I've kept since Cooper was two-months-old. That would be a devastating loss.

This has never happened in thirteen years of keeping this family history. It seems oddly coincidental that this appeared the day after I posted about Peter and Cooper getting vaccinated.

I hope this was an anomaly, that an automated Google scan flagged my blog for some reason. I really hope that my blog wasn't reported for being deceptive. There is a shocking amount of misinformation in the world about vaccines. I truly hope that I don't have to battle that misinformation here on my blog.

Just in case the blog was reported by a reader, let me give some insight into our choice to have them vaccinated (and our other children vaccinated when it becomes available to them). I shared this with a friend yesterday in a text and it seems an appropriate way to explain, so I'm quoting myself here:

They both got their first dose today. As soon as I saw appointments available for them, I signed them up. I'm in that part of the population that can't be immunized for something because of a reaction I had as a small child, so I understand your wariness. But I also know that I depend on herd immunity and every time I hear about a whooping cough outbreak, my anxiety increases because I know that I'm not protected against it. Since I know that stress, I decided it was important to get us all vaccinated to help those that can't be. And I read through the data from the advisory board's meeting yesterday. The vaccine was 100% effective in the trial group for this age range. That's amazing! Anyway, I'm not trying to sway you, just explain some of my thought process when deciding to get them vaccinated right away. Also, they haven't seen any friends in person in a very long time, and I'd like to give them that opportunity.

We understand that the youngest member of our family is at risk. There is a false belief that children can't get serious cases or die of COVID. I chatted with an old friend recently and learned that her mom, who is a nurse, watched a six-year-old die of COVID. That reinforced in my mind that we've made the right choice. We have done everything in our power to keep our family safe, and we will continue to do so. But, my goodness, it has been mind-bendingly hard. The vaccine is truly miraculous, an absolute gift from God, and we will count it as one of our blessings.

This blog has been a blessing to our family as well. We hope that we can continue to have access to it and use it to record our family history.