How COVID-19 is affecting society

[bubblesort]

Some politicians are often using militaristic language when addressing the fight against the spread of the virus (notably Macron in France). One of our (ex) politicians noted how almost 90% of those on the frontlines were women in care/social services, in hospitals, hospices, elder-care homes, etc. yet the masculine form was always used. She was speaking about the discourse in French language of course (héros, anges gardiens, etc) but I couldn’t help seeing it in English also, just in more subtle ways. Anyhow, I found her comments about the way we use words like war, battle, fight, frontline, etc. interesting.

Also, I was reading this article about Vera Lynn just now. I’m not sure how many of you know her and the famous song “Well Meet Again”, the CBC used to sign off every night with “I’ll be seeing you” song. It’s sort of related to what I’m speaking about in how we view bravery, that it is something masculine, if you read what I’ve quoted,

We’ll Meet Again: how Vera Lynn’s song inspired everyone from Kubrick to the Queen

The ‘Forces’ sweetheart’ and national treasure has died aged 103. The story behind her best-known song is one of romance and British pride

www.telegraph.co.uk

Yeah, this "war" stuff has always bothered me. Everything has to be about "war" and "boots on the ground". I think it's a legal term of art to use military funding to deal with a problem, because the military is the only thing we properly fund in America.

I think the worst application of the term "war president" was by Bush the lesser, when he used it to justify killing hundreds of thousands of people in Iraq for nothing.

 

[bubblesort]

I think insomniacs are doing much better than day people during this shutdown. Even if you are telecommuting, you can sleep in more, because there's no commute, and you can steal naps during the day a lot easier at home than at an office.

With any luck, this crisis might help inspire us to get rid of the evil 9 to 5 workday, which is the bane of insomniacs all over the world.

 

[Beebo Brink]

I still wonder if it's due to differing ethnic distribution of biochemistry pathway variants (very touchy subject) - but I bet it's just another F**ING wealth problem again.

Poverty is bad for your health. Lifelong malnutrition, limited access to healthy foods, and limited health care, not to mention that poor neighborhoods get the toxic dumps, air pollution and bad water. I also wonder about age distribution within the black communities. I'd hazard a guess that more young people leave those rural/poor areas so that the overall demographic skews older.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Poverty is bad for your health. Lifelong malnutrition, limited access to healthy foods, and limited health care, not to mention that poor neighborhoods get the toxic dumps, air pollution and bad water. I also wonder about age distribution within the black communities. I'd hazard a guess that more young people leave those rural/poor areas so that the overall demographic skews older.

There's a similar situation in the UK:

BAME groups hit harder by Covid-19 than white people, UK study suggests

Research indicates virus has disproportionate impact on non-white critically ill patients

www.theguardian.com

Other possible factors might include several generations in the same family living together more frequently than do members of other populations and disproportionately high numbers of people drawn from particular groups working in jobs that increase the risk of exposure.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Ultra Virus – the constitutionality and legality of the Coronavirus Regulations

8th April 2020 The Coronavirus Regulations are the law of the land, and as they are the law of the land they must be obeyed, and the reason we have emergency laws is because of emergencies, and thi…

davidallengreen.com

Distinguished legal commentator David Allen Green suggests that, while the UK's Coronarvirus Regulations are absolutely necessary at present, the way they were introduced puts them on a very uncertain legal basis should anyone mount a serious challenge to their lawfulness.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Now that I've been working from home for 3 weeks, I'm not sure I'm willing to go back to the office, even when it's "safe" to do so. I'm feeling sooo much better due to the extra sleep I get in the morning, time to exercise, and no long commute into work. For my job in particular, there is very little functional difference since I spent all day in the office sitting in my corner and communicating remotely with all my clients. Weeks could go by in which my only conversations with co-workers were personal chat rather than work-related.

Assuming that I don't lose my job (unlikely for now, but who knows where we'll be a year from now), I could see myself continuing to work from home for the foreseeable future. And depending on how much of my life-long investments are left, I may well have to continue working past my planned retirement age. But if I could do that from home, I don't find that an onerous option to contemplate.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

So, going to reply to several things. While I'm sure systematic racism pays some part in the different ethnic groups being hit harder than others, my mom mentioned something else that's a factor [which while poverty can play a part in these as well, isn't the only factor] and that's genetics. Diabetes and other high risk groups seem to crop up in certain groups; it is not 'you fat, you gonna be diabetic - if that were the case my mom would be, and she's not, I got it from my thinner father.

So while poverty and even systemic racism within our systems is a factor, I'm sure, there is more at play - in there with the fact that some factor is making some people recover and others die horribly

-------------------

My spouse's biggest complaint, now that his co-workers are also working from home is that they are working longer hours, so he's being forced to work longer hours.... Because no long Atlanta commute. [Or Houston commute, but he doesn't work as directly with that group.]

 

[Anya Ristow]

I thought it was “behatted”?

How can behatted mean you're wearing a hat when beheaded means you're not wearing a head?

 

[Veritable Quandry]

How can behatted mean you're wearing a hat when beheaded means you're not wearing a head?

"Dust" means to either apply or remove a fine powder. Because English.

 

[Free]

How can behatted mean you're wearing a hat when beheaded means you're not wearing a head?

Behave.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

So, going to reply to several things. While I'm sure systematic racism pays some part in the different ethnic groups being hit harder than others, my mom mentioned something else that's a factor [which while poverty can play a part in these as well, isn't the only factor] and that's genetics. Diabetes and other high risk groups seem to crop up in certain groups; it is not 'you fat, you gonna be diabetic - if that were the case my mom would be, and she's not, I got it from my thinner father.

So while poverty and even systemic racism within our systems is a factor, I'm sure, there is more at play - in there with the fact that some factor is making some people recover and others die horribly

I think, though, that the fact that obesity appears to increase the risk of developing diabetes doesn't preclude the fact that there's also a genetic component to the disease -- it's not either/or.

I think, too, that there's a very important distinction between diseases having a genetic component -- that is, individuals are at greater or lesser risk because of the genes they've inherited from their parents -- and members of particular ethnic groups (which are social constructions with some scientific elements) being at greater or lesser risk.

You'd have to identify something more commonly found in the genetic makeup of people within particular ethnic groups than among other populations which actually causes the phenomenon -- something like the gene that causes or prevents lactose intolerance, for example -- before you can say it's particularly to do with someone's ethnicity.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

I think, though, that the fact that obesity appears to increase the risk of developing diabetes doesn't preclude the fact that there's also a genetic component to the disease -- it's not either/or.

I think, too, that there's a very important distinction between diseases having a genetic component -- that is, individuals are at greater or lesser risk because of the genes they've inherited from their parents -- and members of particular ethnic groups (which are social constructions with some scientific elements) being at greater or lesser risk.

You'd have to identify something more commonly found in the genetic makeup of people within particular ethnic groups than among other populations which actually causes the phenomenon -- something like the gene that causes or prevents lactose intolerance, for example -- before you can say it's particularly to do with someone's ethnicity.

Oh no, I wasn't trying to say diabetes isn't also weight related, but... okay, as I understand it as a diabetic who has -always- had sugar issues, you either have [type II] diabetes or not, except if you are thin and active, it might present as hypoglycemia, and if you gain wait or grow less active, it becomes the opposite. My mom has always been overweight and not very active. If Diabetes II was -only- being fat, then she'd be diabetic, she's not.

And I certainly was not discounting other factors, just pointing out one that might otherwise get overlooked. Poverty sure as hell is a factor; it was likely one for my own diabetes, since if I hadn't been poor, I wouldn't have eaten so many high processed carb foods. Inadequate health care for years didn't help either.

And even with decent insurance? I think the only americans with adequate health care are the well off. Because I can still barely afford anything.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I keep reading reports in the British press about setting up "a virtual parliament" during the pandemic, to enable MPs to do their jobs while complying with the emergency lockdown and while self-isolating.

While I realise they mean teleconferencing, and possibly remote voting in divisions, I now can't stop imagining the PM's weekly questions with Boris Johnson, only in SL rather than Westminster, and trying to visualise appropriate avs for them all.

That time with Anshe and the flying penises would have nothing on it, I'm sure.

 

[Stora]

I think, though, that the fact that obesity appears to increase the risk of developing diabetes doesn't preclude the fact that there's also a genetic component to the disease -- it's not either/or.

To make it clear, you are talking about type 2 diabetes here ?

 

[Kalel]

Theres allot of talk among Caribbean communities about and old vaccine called BCG. Bacille Calmette-Guerin. primarily used against Tuberculosis and given to babies and small children early on since the 70s and 80s. countries that have universal vaccination policies requiring people to get it are doing better during the pandemic then the ones without such as the United States, Italy and the Netherlands... it's not a cure but could reduce the intensity of the coronavirus should you get it and allot of people already have this in their system. There is enough of a correlation that it has triggered Australia to do some independent research and testing to see if ti can help "Turn the tide"

Managed to find a recent article on it:

US scientists link BCG vaccination with fewer coronavirus cases, Indian scientists hopeful but cautious

"We found that countries without universal policies of BCG vaccination, such as Italy, the Netherlands, and the United States, have been more severely affected compared to countries with universal and long-standing BCG policies," noted the researchers led by Gonzalo Otazu, assistant professor of...

economictimes.indiatimes.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

If coronavirus doesn't discriminate, how come black people are bearing the brunt? | Afua Hirsch

The number of ethnic minority deaths is shocking. The pandemic is exacerbating inequalities, says Guardian columnist Afua Hirsch

www.theguardian.com

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

British news outlets 'could fail due to coronavirus ad-blocking'

Firms urged to abandon blocklisting as online stories generate record traffic but little revenue

www.theguardian.com

And presumably those in other countries, too, including the US.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

British news outlets 'could fail due to coronavirus ad-blocking'

Firms urged to abandon blocklisting as online stories generate record traffic but little revenue

www.theguardian.com

And presumably those in other countries, too, including the US.

This is a tricky one, because the same people would likely also direct outrage toward companies whose ads appear next to misinformation about the coronavirus.

 

[Tracer]

Since there are no live sports, Fanduel is promoting betting on eSports.... and on reality TV shows.