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antoine-roquentin · 3 years

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NERVTAG gave no details about where in Kent the variant was first located, but the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium said that a key sample came from a patient living ‘near Canterbury’. A medical source, who wanted to stay anonymous, told me that the variant was first identified in Margate and came from someone with a weak immune system. Some in Kent jibbed at the prospect that the new virus would be known to history as ‘the Kent variant’, drawing a parallel with Trump’s ‘China virus’ or the ‘Spanish flu’ that didn’t even come from Spain (it first reached epidemic level in military training camps in the US).

It would be difficult to find a place where coronavirus was more likely to flourish and to enhance its mode of attack than Thanet and Swale. As in much of coastal Britain, few of the towns here are still working ports or seaside resorts. What industry there once was is largely gone, taking with it the few well-paying jobs. Of the fifteen most deprived neighbourhoods in Kent, seven are in Thanet and six in Swale. ‘We lost the mining industry and Ramsgate harbour, which was a big employer,’ the Labour councillor Barry Lewis says, lamenting the repeated blows to Margate over the past forty years. The hotel and tourism industries collapsed ‘when everybody started going abroad for their holidays’. The last big manufacturer in the area was the Pfizer plant near Sandwich, which closed in 2011 with the loss of 1500 jobs. The jobs that remain are often on zero-hours contracts. A map showing areas of maximum deprivation fitted neatly over one showing high rates of viral infection.

Everything about the average working life of someone in Swale or Sheppey puts them at risk. Much of this is to do with the need to go out to work. As Jackie Cassell, a public health specialist at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School who grew up on Sheppey, put it, ‘poverty is a mechanism for increasing social contact.’ People on the island are more likely than the population at large to use public transport to get to work, doing shifts of eight or more hours a day in warehouses or on construction sites. And people with little money are more likely to look after sick or ageing relatives. In a study of working patterns, Cassell found that on average someone who goes out to work has twelve prolonged or close periods of contact with people and seventeen brief or distant ones; those working from home have only two close or prolonged periods of contact and two brief or distant ones.

The effect this has in practice depends on the nature of the job and the employer. Riddell, the railway conductor and trade union official, says that the proportion of train passengers wearing face masks varies from line to line, but the stretch from Sittingbourne to Sheerness on the west side of Sheppey is particularly risky for rail staff because ‘between 50 and 60 per cent of people, mostly the young ones, don’t wear masks.’ As a conductor, he is allowed stay in the front cabin with the driver and doesn’t have to check passengers’ tickets. But Sue Saunders, who works as a cleaner on the trains, has to walk through the carriages spraying sanitiser and cleaning surfaces. ‘We have visors, masks and gloves,’ she says, ‘but we fear for our safety and several of my friends have caught Covid.’ The cleaners are often the only official-looking people on a train and, according to Saunders, are frequently stopped by passengers who want information. She says that sanitising could be done when the trains are standing empty between journeys, but the train companies want passengers to see that the cleaners are at work.

Compliance with restrictions on social interaction largely lapsed over the summer. Sharon Goodyer, who runs the Margate Food Club, says that her volunteers sometimes couldn’t safely distribute food in poor areas because they had to push past people sitting in doorways and mixing in the street. ‘I have a feeling,’ she says, ‘that if this new variant started in Margate, then we earned it.’ But she points out that even poor people need to get outdoors: ‘You can’t be too judgmental if you’re living in a nice house and don’t have mice dying under your chair.’ Barry Lewis mentions one street in Margate with two hundred overcrowded houses where residents rent tiny rooms at high prices. ‘It’s almost a prison, so to get out to the front of the house is your normal way of life and to be stuck in one overcrowded room is not possible.’

The arrival of the variant changed attitudes. Vanessa Crick, a mother of three in Herne Bay, a rundown town on the coast between Swale and Thanet, has two jobs, in the local library and in a supermarket. ‘Since last November,’ she says, ‘more people have started wearing masks because they are frightened for their granddad or their nan.’ Charlotte Cornell, who runs a charity distributing laptops for homeschooling to children in deprived areas, says that none of the families she deals with is cavalier about the virus: ‘They are all terrified of it.’

When public health experts were sent to Kent at the end of last year to investigate the reasons for the local epidemic, they suspected that the spread would be attributable to human actions at home or in the workplace. Everything they knew about the lives of people in Thanet and Swale would favour accelerated transmission of the virus. The physical environment was a factor too: decayed seaside resorts have many former hotels with sea views whose faded grandeur make them ideal for conversion into care homes. Last May, seventeen residents died from Covid-19 in one such care home in Margate, but mass deaths in care homes were a scandal all over Britain and hardly peculiar to Thanet.

A more likely reason for the rapid spread is that many people had good reasons for not getting Covid tests. People who test positive but need to go out to work and won’t get sick pay can’t afford to quarantine. ‘Young males in economically deprived areas do not want to get tested,’ Jackie Cassell says of Swale. She points to a study in Liverpool where only 4 per cent of people in one of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods volunteered for a test. Since the pandemic began, the government has been voluble about the restrictions it has imposed but evasive about how far people comply with them. A study by King’s College London showed that, while 70 per cent of people said they would self-isolate if necessary, only 18 per cent did so.

People not getting tested because they can’t afford to quarantine will keep a low profile. But other groups aren’t keen to catch the attention of anyone in authority. Graham Tegg, the director of the Kent Law Clinic, which provides free legal assistance, says there is ‘an underground system’ of migrant workers, many of whom have lived in Britain for a long time, who want to keep their distance from state institutions. Many of his clients are Czechs, Poles and Roma. Some pick fruit and vegetables or work in packing factories; collected by minivans in the morning, they work for ten hours and come back in the evening in the same van. ‘Three or four of them may be living in the same small room,’ Tegg says, providing perfect conditions for the virus to spread.

But most people in Thanet and Swale are ‘disconnected from authority’, according to Barry Lewis: the only time they see authority in action is when the police stop them doing something they want to do. Some of them are third-generation unemployed whose only prospect for making money is in the black market or the drugs trade – described by one resident as the only growth industry in Thanet. ‘What we have here is a whole community who have no investment in society at all,’ Sharon Goodyer says. ‘What do they owe anybody? They don’t. They don’t have a decent education, a decent home, a decent job. Why should they behave responsibly?’

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leigh-kelly · 3 years

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Completions and Connections: Quarantine Christmas

So 2020, huh? Ugh. Santana and I had started the year amazingly, with Tyler turning a year old and me kind of setting up a schedule that let me go on assignment more than I had in his first year—though, so much less than I had before I had a wife and a son to want to be home with. Things were good...and then they weren’t. But obviously everyone can relate, you know, it didn’t happen in a bubble or anything.

I was in Sweden when Santana called me utterly freaking out. Because I was always pretty isolated from the news when I was traveling and she hadn’t seemed especially worried about COVID until shit hit the fan, I was taken almost entirely by surprise. She told me that it looked like everything was going to shut down, she didn’t know what was going to happen with the borders and she wanted me to come home as soon as possible. Honestly, in hindsight I should have had her bring Tyler to Sweden where there was actually a competent federal government, but obviously that’s not what happened.

I called my boss immediately and within hours, I’d abandoned my shoot and was on a plane bound for New York. Nothing else really mattered to me except getting home to them and since everyone was in a collective state of what the fuck, no one even argued with me about it. Two days later, Discover pulled all of their foreign correspondents anyway, so I pretty much got out just in time. We figured it would be two weeks, a month maybe, and then things would get back to normal. Little did we know how wrong we were.

Back in New York, things were...weird. People packed up and left the city in droves, everything looked abandoned and I immediately wished that we had a place in the mountains that we could go to. We probably could have bought something, that was true, but Santana had her practice and we both knew she wouldn’t abandon that, she’d worked too hard for it.

Yeah, so speaking of that. Tyler’s daycare shut down with everything else, I was home indefinitely, but my wife, my beautiful, amazing wife, still had to go to work every day. That was the scariest thing for us, knowing that she could be exposed at any given moment, knowing that she could bring it home to Tyler and I. We knew she was as safe as could be, she stockpiled PPE on a regular basis because she dealt with disease anyway and was super precautious about protection, but we couldn’t help but wonder if it would be enough. For two days, we discussed whether she should go stay with Unique and isolate from us, but Tyler was still nursing and we thought it would really mess him up if she was gone. We had no idea if we were making the right choice, but it was a choice we had to make.

Everything was a major adjustment. Tyler and I had to learn a new routine during the day where I pulled ideas from Pinterest to do with him and ordered about a zillion boxes from Amazon full of activities. I took him out on walks in the early morning before people were outside, letting him breathe the fresh air when it was safe and taking pictures of the empty city, figuring at some point Discover might want them for a series and quite honestly, missing being behind the lens of a camera. I learned to bake bread, I made elaborate dinners and I fought so much boredom, remembering every day that it was better to be bored than dead.

It was different for Santana though. Though she wasn’t working with diagnosed COVID patients, she never knew what was walking through her door. Each night, she came home with marks under her eyes from her N-95, a band indent around her head from her face shield, and her face just so tired from doing the best she could to provide her patients with care in the midst of everything else. So I held her tight, I told her how much I loved her, how proud of her I was, but that didn’t help on the nights she heard that a patient had died, that didn’t help when she heard from contact tracers that someone had been to her office who tested positive and she shut herself up in the guest bedroom away from Tyler and me and waited anxiously for her latest round of test results.

But onto the more positive, our boy absolutely thrived. Turns out I was kinda good at the whole stay at home mom thing and I was glad that I found fulfillment in that. Plus, I wasn’t halfway around the world when he took his first steps, didn’t miss him say “mama” for the first time and all of that good stuff. We FaceTimed with my parents and Santana’s all the time, made sure they got to see him grow. When things got a little better in the summer, Tina would join us on our walks with her son and the two boys would babble away to each other from their respective strollers. And most importantly, we learned to look for the good, we tried to ignore the worst in people and see the best because it was really the only way we could get through it.

Christmas was three days away and though we wouldn’t do our customary dinner with Santana’s parents, she and I were still really excited that our boy was in love with the lights on the tree, that he was big enough to sit on the counter with us while we made Christmas cookies, could sit through half of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer before he got fussy. Maybe Christmas was really different then it had ever been before—and Christmas was obviously so important to Santana and I—but that didn’t mean that it couldn’t still be magical.

“Office is officially closed until December 27th.” Santana burst into the house that evening, her red scarf wrapped around her neck and the biggest grin on her face as soon as she pulled off her mask. “Let me shower and change and then I’m going to give you two the biggest kisses.”

Like she did every day when she came home from work, Santana immediately stripped off her clothes and put them in the washing machine and jumped right in the shower. I missed being able to kiss her as soon as she walked in the door, but we both knew it was much safer to wait twenty minutes until any surface germs were off of her. Tyler didn’t exactly get it, he still whined and waited outside the bathroom door, but he was always the first one she kissed, our sweet little boy.

“Come on, Ty, let’s make Mama an espresso so she can sit down and relax with us when she gets out.”

I took the baby into the kitchen with me and made Santana’s afternoon drink, sprinkling a little cinnamon on top, because it was almost Christmas after all and I wanted it to be special for her. When she came out of the shower, she took Tyler from my arms and kissed him all over his face, laughing right along with him and his sweet little giggles. Then she sandwiched him between us and kissed my lips, smiling as she did. I knew that her job was more stressful than ever and the five days off would do her some real good.

“What’s on the Christmas agenda tonight, Britt?” She asked, putting Tyler on her hip and taking her cup from me.

“My parents want to FaceTime, if that’s okay with you.”

“Obviously, we haven’t talked to them since last week.”

“Yeah, well, you know how my mom is.” I shrugged, thinking that she was probably a little pissed that we told her not to come for Christmas and Ty’s birthday, but it was what it was. “It probably won’t be long, who knows?”

“Are you okay, babe?”

“Yeah I guess I’m just aggravated with her. She’s asked me like four hundred times if we changed our minds about her coming. This is like Thanksgiving all over again.”

“I mean, I get it, it sucks. Everyone wants to be with their families and I can’t wait until this is over so we can take Ty to Colorado, but we’re just not there yet.”

“Can I tell you a secret?”

“Obviously, Britt, you tell me all your secrets. You couldn’t even hang onto my birthday gift for more than a day after you got it this year.”

“I love Christmas Eve with your parents, it would have been nice to have mine here, but I kind of selfishly am looking forward to this year being just the three of us. Last year poor Tyler was so tired when we got home from your parents’, Christmas Day will be better with him on his regular routine.”

“I agree, and I honestly am looking forward to just relaxing with you guys, no stress, no drama, no dealing with my grandmother who can’t even bring herself to look at our son.” She shook her head. “Plus, it’s our anniversary, I do love the idea of not having your parents in the apartment that night.”

“Oh really?” I smirked and she laughed, before Tyler pat her face and shouted ‘Mama!’

“I know, baby boy, Mommy and I are totally ignoring you. “Let’s go play for a little while before we have to start dinner.”

So I was obsessed with watching Santana on the floor with Tyler. It started when he was a baby and she’d lay beside him got tummy time. I could never resist taking out my camera and getting a few shots of them together, especially because he was the spitting image of her and they just looked absolutely beautiful together. Santana always teased me about how many pictures I had, but I couldn’t help myself ever. They were too much and I loved them with everything in me.

Santana got so involved with playing with Tyler that I assured her I’d make dinner and slipped off into the kitchen, leaving them on the floor playing with his ball tower. It was hard to believe that our kid was almost two, that it had been so long since she and I reunited on Christmas Eve in the grocery store. But it was perfect. It really was, even in the midst of 2020, I had nothing to complain about in my life. We were healthy, we were happy and though we’d really been isolated from everyone else, we knew how loved we were.

We had barely finished eating dinner when my phone rang and I sighed a little when I looked down and saw that it was my mother. I really didn’t want another fight with her and as much as I wanted her to see Tyler, even through the screen, it had been hard. She was a hippie at heart and she didn’t do well with feeling like the government was controlling her, so I had to explain only about a thousand times that it was for her safety and everyone else’s.

“Hi Grandma.” I held the phone in front of Tyler and he grinned and waved.

“Hi Mamaw!”

“It’s my little Ty! Oh how I want to kiss your face and squeeze you!”

“Here we go.” I mouthed to Santana who rolled her eyes.

“Don’t you think Grandma should come for Christmas? I promise, I’ll bring lots of presents.”

“Mom!” I turned the phone away from him and toward me. “Not cool.”

“It’s just me and your father, Brittany, it’s not like we’re bringing the whole world to see you.”

“We said no. We’re not seeing Santana’s parents, we’re not seeing our friends. The case count is rising and it’s only going to get worse after Christmas. We refuse to put anyone at risk.”

“Whitney, listen.” Santana took the phone from me, sensing my frustration. “I promise the first thing that we’ll do when this is over is come to Colorado, okay?”

“But it’s been a year since I’ve seen my grandson, your parents have at least seen him outside.”

“I know, and if you lived closer, we would see you outside too, but that’s just not what’s going on.”

“It just doesn’t feel like the holiday season.”

“It’s one year, Mom.” I took the phone back. “That’s it. And I’ve told you this more times than I can count. You calling and harassing us and trying to bribe Tyler isn’t going to change that.”

“I think dinner’s ready, I have to go.”

She hung up the call before I could say anything else and Santana came behind me and squeezed my shoulders. I relaxed into her body and she kissed my neck, knowing that always got my mind off of anything else. But then, Tyler started crying and I kind of wanted to punch my mom since he enjoyed talking to her so much and I didn’t think it was fair that she was taking out her frustrations on him.

“C’mere, baby.” I lifted him out of his high chair and gave him a squeeze. “It’s bath time!”

It was kind of funny how after Tyler was born, I became so much less awkward around people. Whenever I was able to stay put in New York, I had taken him to his Music Together class, to the park, wherever I could, you know, back when those things were still open and having him almost made me have some kind of common ground with other human beings so I didn’t just blurt out whatever was on my mind as often. Not to say it didn’t still happen, I was still me, after all, but I think Santana and I both really changed once he came along, in the best way possible.

The next day, we FaceTimed with the Changs, Kurt and Dave who had been working from home and isolating outside of the city since March and Mercedes, who had been pulling a real Taylor Swift and writing album after album in quarantine. While Tyler napped, Santana and I finished wrapping the last of his presents and got them all situated to put under the tree for the next night. I was beyond excited for the non-traditional Christmas, just ready to watch Christmas movies and drink hot cocoa in our pajamas and I knew Santana was too.

The next morning, Tyler woke us up before six and I told Santana to stay in bed while I went across the hall to get him. He completely beamed up at me, though his eyes were still tired, and I lifted him into my arms to bring him into our bedroom. Once he was in the bed, he crawled around, pawing at Santana’s face and she finally sat up with a laugh, kissing him all over his face.

“Merry Christmas Eve, little dude.” She told him. “You know Santa’s coming tonight.”

“Santa! Santa!” He clapped, though neither of us were really sure he even knew what that meant.

“What do you want to do today, babe?” Santana asked me and I shrugged.

“I mean, we’re doing the Christmas movie marathon tomorrow and you know, we ate all the fudge your mom dropped off...”

“So you want to make fudge?”

“I mean, you’re the keeper of Maribel Lopez’s secret fudge recipe, it only seems right.”

“If you want fudge, you get fudge.” She smiled and I did a little happy dance in the bed. The fudge was honestly so good that sometimes, when I was gone for longer than I’d like and I was hitting that homesickness point, Santana would send it in a care package. Yeah, my wife was cute like that, she didn’t stop sending me care packages just because we had rings on our fingers. The best, seriously.

So we made the fudge. Then we went for a walk in the park, where there were thankfully not too many people to have to dodge and we looked up at the sky, thinking it really looked like snow was coming. A white Christmas would be nice and probably the most un-2020 thing to happen so I really kind of was looking forward to it. Once Tyler was asleep in his stroller, we went home and Santana carried him upstairs to his bed and we went to do one last double check on the gifts.

“You’re sure you’re cool with being Santa tonight?” She asked me.

“We couldn’t take him to Macy’s and he needs to have a picture with Santa, of course I’m cool with being Santa. We got the suit and the pillows and the beard, I’m so ready.”

“You’re really the best mom, you know that right?”

“Please...you’re like super mom or something.”

“Just let me give you a compliment, Britt.” She rolled her eyes. “I hate that everything has sucked pretty bad in the world, but him having you around every day, and me not having to freak out about if he was safe while I went to work is definitely the best thing that ever could have happened.”

“It feels really good to be able to do it. I don’t know, looking at the map in his nursery showing me in New York for the past nine months has been really good, I feel like I miss a lot when I’m gone.”

“Do you not want to do it anymore?”

“No, I do, I’m just grateful for the time. And to be honest, I don’t think my job is ever going to go back to looking like what it used to, so maybe that means a lot more time with you both.”

“We’re so lucky, you know? I thought about it a lot this year, like what if I would have been single when this happened and isolated from my parents and my friends. It’s hard enough some days, but going through it alone...”

“Yeah, I know. I totally do. Even in the shittiest year, the world is a whole lot better with you and Tyler in it.”

After another hour or so, Tyler woke up and was ready to play. We pulled over his learning tower in the kitchen and he stood at the counter with us as we cooked our Christmas Eve feast. Just because it was the three of us didn’t mean we weren’t going to do tamales and a pork shoulder like we did every year at Santana’s parents—although luckily, we’d prepared the tamales ahead of time—and even though it was a little early, Santana poured bourbon into our eggnog and we started celebrating.

After dinner, I went upstairs and changed into my Santa suit. Maybe people would think it said something about gender roles or what the fuck ever that I was the one to dress up as Santa, but it wasn’t like that. I just thought it would be really fun and figured we could get our Christmas picture of Tyler. While Santana had him in his bedroom, I slipped out of the door to our apartment and waited with my mask in the hallway for Santana to open up to my knocks. When the door swung open, she held Tyler in her arms and I gave my best ‘ho ho ho’ carrying two gifts for him.

“Mommy!” He shouted, clapping his hands and giggling. “Mommy!”

“That’s not Mommy, silly boy.” Santana laughed, eyes sparkling. “It’s Santa Claus.”

“No, Mommy!”

“Alright.” I chuckled, taking off my beard and hat so as not to confuse him. “You’re right. C’mere, buddy.”

Santana just laughed and laughed as I took him into my arms and handed her the gifts. He was a smart one, that was for sure, and he patted my cheeks as I carried him over to the Lord Tubbington proof Christmas tree and sat down on the floor with him.

“You’re right Ty, Santa isn’t coming until after you’re asleep, I was just being silly. But look, we have some presents for you.”

We sat with him as he took his time opening his gifts, a new pair of Christmas pajamas and a copy of Olive the Other Reindeer to read at bedtime. He was really excited about the book and roughly turned the pages, trying to see all the pictures. Then, we took him up for his bath and got him settled into his new pajamas and into his bed. Santana read to him and I sat back and watched, just so in love with the two of them. I didn’t even bother to take pictures though, I just wanted to be in the moment and Santana occasionally looked over at me and smiled. Even with the shit year we’d had, it really was the perfect Christmas Eve and once Tyler’s eyes slipped closed, I leaned over and kissed Santana on the lips.

“Merry Christmas, my love.” She smiled.

“The merriest yet.”

#brittana #completions and connections #christmas fic

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ateezgf · 4 years

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they could have contracted at that club and spread it to other people after. people have a right to be mad like some have lost loved ones

im pretty sure they got tested after going out based off the information i’ve been seeing, so that’s likely not the case. especially since they’re high-profile idols under major companies. i’m pretty sure their companies are all on top of their health so that they can keep working and keep promoting during this time. not to mention that they would come in contact with all their other members as well (jungkook - 6 other members, mingyu - 12 other members, jaehyun - 8 other members [considering ONLY NCT127], eunwoo - 5 other members) and that isn’t even considering staff members, stylists, managers, bodyguards etc. so if they did contract it when they were out, they would’ve known. their companies would’ve known. hell, i’m pretty sure the general public would’ve known they contracted it when they went out to the restaurant and bar, aka they weren’t at the club.

im not saying people aren’t allowed to be upset, because well yeah. but if they went out during that window of time where there were no confirmed cases and no strict guidelines being implemented, then are they really at complete fault here? like, i understand that it’s a global pandemic right now. im not dumb. theyre not dumb. as high-profile idols, they should’ve been taking extra precautions at the mere mention of the disease. im not sympathizing with them and coddling them trying to say they’re perfect and did no wrong whatsoever. but this was a week before things got serious. people were still saying it wasn’t serious. especially when there were zero confirmed cases. a week before my state went on lockdown, everyone was still living life normally. there was talk about covid, but everything was still open. i was still working in a crowded mall on the weekend before strict guidelines were implemented. people were still going out like normal JUST like they did. then confirmed cases happened and things shut down JUST like their situation. so to be mad at people for living life normally a week before the big announcements and laws came forth seems to be really dumb???? the man in itaewon that went to the club and tested positive for it was a week after they went. and again, should they have gone out? probably not. but they were still allowed to. they were allowed to live their life normally just like you and just like me before the outbreak, which is what makes this very confusing. especially when the proof dispatch (who is always reaching for a scandal, especially for bts) is providing is a grainy picture that doesn’t resemble the person they’re referencing.

do i think it’s a bit annoying that people are on their asses for going out (not even to the exact club) A WEEK before the outbreak when there were not strict guidelines/lockdowns to abide to, especially when they were all tested negative and therefore couldn’t have passed onto anybody else? a little before it’s not like they could’ve predicted this happening.

do i think they should’ve been more mindful about going out considering status and job in the conditions? yes, but tbh it’s not like i can stop them from hanging out with their friends just like anyone else.

however,

what people should be mad about in regards to this situation should be that dispatch decided to name drop high-profile idols the exact moment the creator of the nth room was shown to the public. people should be putting their focus on the fact that dispatch is trying to divert attention from this case because they know that kpop fans will lose their mind over something small over this.

#discourse tw #long post #anonymous #answered

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steadymantra · 3 years

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FOOD THAT BOOST’S IMMUNE SYSTEM IN ADULTS

In a post COVID ravaged world, everyone has just one question on their minds, “How can I strengthen my immunity from the inside?” Overall, your immune system performs an excellent job of protecting you from disease-causing germs most of the time.

But occasionally it fails: when a pathogen infiltrates your body and makes you ill. Is it feasible to intervene and strengthen your immune system throughout this process? What if you changed your diet? Should you take vitamins or other supplements? Make any additional lifestyle adjustments in the hopes of eliciting a near-perfect immunological response?

You can find your answers to all these questions and more throughout the course of this article.

How to boost immune system naturally?

The prospect of increasing your immunity quickly is appealing, but the capacity to do so has proven to be challenging for a variety of reasons. The immune system is, in fact, a complex system, and not a single organ. It requires balance and harmony to work properly.

There are still a lot of experts who despite spending years of their career studying the immune system, don't understand about the complexities and interconnectivity of different immune responses. As of now, the influence of lifestyle on the development of natural immunity is not comprehensively understood.

But it doesn't imply that the impacts of lifestyle on the immune system aren't significant and should not be researched any further. In both animals as well as people, researchers are investigating the impact of nutrition, age, exercise, psychological stress, and other variables on immune response. Meanwhile, general healthy-living techniques make sense since they are expected to improve immune function over time, as they display some other documented health advantages.

Healthy ways to strengthen your immune system

Your first line of protection for bolstering your immune system should be to live and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Following basic good-health principles is the single most important action you can take to proactively keep your immune system in excellent functioning order. When you shield your body from environmental intrusions and supplement it with healthy-living tactics like the ones listed below, all aspects of your body, especially your immune system, perform better.

Quit smoking

Consume a diet rich in fruits and vegetables

Engage in regular physical activity

Keep a healthy weight

If you consume alcohol daily, do so in moderation

Get enough sleep

Take precautions to avoid infection, like washing your hands often and properly cooking meats

Make an effort to reduce stress

Be up-to-date on all prescribed immunizations. Vaccines prepare your immune system to combat illnesses before they enter your body.

Why is eating healthy important?

The in-built battalion of your immune system starts its march within your stomach, just like any other battle force. Immune system soldiers in good health require consistent nutrition. Scientists have long observed that poor and malnourished individuals are more prone to getting bedridden with infectious illnesses. For instance, experts are of the opinion that some dietary components, such as a high simple sugar intake or processed foods, would have a negative impact on immune function. These opinions were formulated by research conducted on the impact of diet on the human immunological system.

There is some indication that different deficiencies in the body's micronutrient levels, such as selenium, zinc, iron, folic acid, copper, and vitamins A, C, B6, and E, influence immunological responses in animals, as evaluated via their test tube body fluid samples. However, the significance of these immune system abnormalities on animal health is less evident, and the effect of comparable abnormalities on human immunological response is yet to be determined.

So, what are your options? If you feel that your diet isn't meeting all of your micronutrient demands — perhaps because you don't enjoy veggies or that certain foods are unavailable where you live— taking a daily mineral and multivitamin supplement may provide additional health advantages in addition to any immune-boosting effects. Taking massive amounts of a single vitamin does not work. More isn't always better. Ensure that your supplementary vitamin dosage is regulated as per your health advisor's directions.

Immunity boosting foods for COVID

The food you consume registers significant impact on your overall health and immunity. Consume meals low on carbs to help reduce high blood pressure and blood sugar. A low carb diet can help reduce the progression of diabetes, while a protein-rich diet will keep you be in shape.

In addition, eat vegetables and fruits high in ascorbic acid, beta carotene, and other necessary vitamins on a daily basis. Certain foods, such as mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, and green vegetables like spinach and broccoli, are also effective candidates for enhancing the body's resistance to infections.

If going out to buy foods isn't an option due to local lockdown in your area, you can take omega 3 fatty acid capsules to boost up your daily nutrition intake.

Ginger, gooseberries (amla), and turmeric are examples of natural immune boosters. Some of these superfoods are regular components in Indian cuisines and snacks. Garlic, Basel leaves, and black cumin are among herbs that might help increase immunity. Sunflower seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, and melon seeds are high in protein and vitamin E.

Natural probiotics such as yoghurt, and fermented foods are also good sources of rejuvenating the balance of gut bacteria, which is essential for nutrition absorption by your digestive system. These are also fantastic solutions for the elderly.

Foods that weaken immune system

The immune system protects the body from communicable diseases such as the common cold, flu, cholera, typhoid etc. Nutrition is a crucial aspect in maintaining a healthy immune system.

High blood sugar levels have been linked to a weakened immunological response in studies. Restricting your intake of beverages and sugary foods can help you regulate your blood sugar and boost your immune system.

1. Processed foods

Many processed foods are high in bad fats, carbohydrates, and chemicals. These are used to improve the texture, taste, and shelf life of a food, but several research studies demonstrate that they may impair the immune system.

Some processed meals containing a lot of ingredients are:

microwaveable meals

canned foods

chips

cakes and cookies

According to one 2017 research, consuming foods containing chemicals may raise the risk of a number of chronic metabolic or inflammatory diseases. Sucralose, carboxymethylcellulose, aspartame, sodium, polysorbate-80, and carrageenan were among the additives investigated in the study.

The researchers also discovered that persons who consume a lot of additives are more likely to be obese, have insulin resistance, and immune-related inflammation.

Meanwhile, according to a 2014 review, a high consumption of salt, refined sugar, and saturated fatty acids, along with a lack of omega-3 fatty acids, can all contribute to damage the immune system.

2. Foods that are high in sugar

People who consume a lot of sugar have a higher chance of developing various chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.

Common sugary foods include the following:

marmalades, preserves, and sweets

flavored milk and sweetened dairy products

cakes and cookies

sugary breakfast cereals

sugary drinks, like soda and soft drinks

A high-sugar diet may also impair the immune system's ability to fight illnesses. This might happen by a decrease in the efficiency of white blood cells that helps in boosting inflammation.

3. Foods that are high in refined carbohydrates

Processed and high-refined-carbohydrate foods, such as refined sugar and white flour, have been linked to increased oxidative stress and inflammation, both of which can impair the immune system.

Refined carbohydrates can be found in the following foods:

white rice

sweets, cakes and cookies, made with white flour

white bread

The Final Takeaway

Anyone wishing to boost their immune system should avoid diets heavy in processed carbs, additives and sugar. These foods may have an anti-immune effect.

On the other hand, a diversified, nutrient-dense diet, may help enhance your immune system and minimize inflammation.

#immunity #immune #immunehealth #healthy #food #vitamin #vitamins

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chelsie-carson · 4 years

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Downton Abbey’s Phyllis Logan on a sequel, feminism protests, the struggle facing theatres, and her love of animals

Like most in-demand actors, Phyllis Logan’s diary has been unusually bare these past few months. When the coronavirus lockdown was introduced, it immediately closed down film and theatre productions across the world.

But the Downton Abbey star says no matter how busy her future schedule might be, if a sequel is announced to the period drama’s movie spin-off, she would clear the decks to be part of it.

The actor, originally from Johnstone in Renfrewshire, has been in the primetime series since it started 10 years ago, playing housekeeper Mrs Hughes.

She said: “The will is certainly there with everybody – the cast, producers and writer Julian Fellowes – but no one knows what will happen, especially with this lockdown.

“We’re ever hopeful, so fingers crossed. When it could happen, I don’t know – we could all be in our graves by then if this goes on much longer! But if people are given enough warning then I think most of us would make it a priority, no matter what is in the diaries. I think we would be happy to clear our diaries.”

Phyllis has grown used to fans approaching her to talk about Downton, which saw her character wed Mr Carson, played by Jim Carter, in the final series.

“I enjoy it when people come up and say they enjoy the show, or they like the characters together,” she continued. “It’s wonderful to think so many people have been touched by it in some way. It’s given a lot of pleasure to people and I wish it would continue.

“Although, I do like to think I don’t look like Mrs Hughes off-screen, I’m not quite as fuddy-duddy as her. A lot of people say it’s not me, but my voice they recognise.

“Perhaps that’s why I was given the job in Highland Vet – because of my voice.”

Highland Vet is a new documentary series on 5Select, following the team at the most northern mainland vet practice in Britain. D.S. McGregor and Partners cover Thurso, Wick and Caithness, dealing with farm animals, equine, domestic pets and wildlife.

For animal lover Phyllis, who has had a long association with the SSPCA, being asked to provide the voice-over narration for the series was a perfect job. And, as it turns out, it has kept her occupied during lockdown.

“I didn’t have to think about it for very long when I was approached to do it, because it’s right up my street, and it being filmed in the north of Scotland was the icing on the cake,” she admitted.

“You can tell the vets have great heart in dealing with the different animals and their passion and dedication is lovely to watch. It’s heartwarming, exciting and also sad at times, but you look at it and think how lovely it would be to know a vet like that.

“I recorded the first episode in the studio and then work on the next episode came on the day of lockdown. When I went into Covent Garden it was like a ghost town, a bit spooky. It was just me and the engineer in this vast studio, and from then on I was told they would send equipment to my house for me to record the voice-over from there.

“Thankfully, my husband is good with that sort of thing – he’s been very useful, I have to say. It’s been a blessing to have been able to do this – apart from anything else it’s kept us from going mad and a bit stir crazy. It also means I’m still doing some work and being paid for it into the bargain, which is a real blessing.”

Phyllis lovingly recalled Carlos, the rescue lurcher from Battersea that she and her husband, Pirates Of The Caribbean actor Kevin McNally, rehomed.

“He was a lovely fella, so chilled out and laid-back,” she said. “I used to take him walks to Chiswick House, which had beautiful grounds and a big dog walking park. He would run around with all the other dogs and when he went into fifth gear it was a sight to behold. It would make your heart soar to watch it.

“I was lucky to get to do that for the 10 years we had with him. He was quite irreplaceable. We went a bit mad when he passed four or five years ago, and had a small bronze statue made of him. It looks like he’s flying through the air. It’s very tactile.”

Phyllis has been sharing lockdown with Kevin and their son, 24-year-old David, who is a musician.

Just days before the country shut down due to Covid-19, the 64-year-old celebrated the release of her latest film, Misbehaviour, which became a victim of cinema closures.

The film, also starring Keira Knightley, Jessie Buckley, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Greg Kinnear, is based on the true story of the 1970 Miss World competition, which saw protestors disrupt the contest that was eventually won by a black woman for the first time.

“We had a small premiere in a Covent Garden hotel which we all went along to, and it was in the cinema for five minutes before lockdown started, so not a lot of people saw it there, which is a shame because it’s a good film,” Phyllis said.

“I remember watching the real thing back in the day. I would have been 13 or 14, and I used to love watching Miss World. I remember vividly Bob Hope being pelted on stage. It was quite a shocker but now I think I’d be right up there with the rest of them, throwing bags of flour – although if you were trying to throw bags of flour now you’re liable to be mugged, it’s in such short supply!” she added. “It became a much bigger movement but that incident put it on people’s radar.

“I’m looking at what is happening now and I think it’s brilliant everyone is out protesting, even during lockdown. If I wasn’t such a stick in the mud about keeping to my own area then I’d be up there myself.”

Phyllis – who has another film, The Last Bus, awaiting release – is also an accomplished stage actor and fears for the future of theatres.

“They struggle to survive at the best of times and if they can’t open at full capacity you do wonder how they can keep going,” she said. “It’s not feasible unless there is proper government investment to see them through the worst of it.”

While the long-term future of theatres remains in limbo, in the short-term, TV and film production will return, and Phyllis says she’ll be watching on closely.

“It’s going to be a bit daunting for the first ones out the trap, they’ll provide the litmus test for how it’s going to go, and everyone’s eyes will be on it,” she said.

“I’m sure companies will be all over the health and safety aspect. I don’t have any worries – I’d be happy to dive straight back in.

“I’m champing at the bit to return and it’s good that Highland Vet is made, because it gives something new for people to watch rather than the endless repeats of whatever’s on.

“Except for re-runs of Downton Abbey, of course, people can watch that as much as they like because hopefully I’ll still get some residuals from it, which will keep me going while I’m not working!”

Phyllis left Scotland in her mid-20s to successfully crack London, having quickly made a name for herself after graduating from the RSAMD in Glasgow.

Having worked on stage in Dundee and Edinburgh, she won a BAFTA for Most Outstanding Newcomer To Film for her role as Janie in her first film, Another Time, Another Place, in 1984.

Other film roles include the Mike Leigh movie, Secrets & Lies. Prior to Downton Abbey, she was best known for playing Lady Jane Feisham in Lovejoy, opposite Ian McShane.

And while it’s been many years since she last worked in Scotland, she does return as often as possible.

“It’s impossible just now, but I try to come back regularly,” she said. “My sister is in Prestwick, my nephew is in Broughty Ferry and I have relatives in Johnstone. I’m looking forward to when I can come back.

“As far as working on a Scottish production, I’m always open to offers. I’ve been speaking to people working in the production side who had moved to London from Scotland for work, and they’re now heading back to make their lives there because enough is happening in Scotland to make it viable.

“That’s encouraging that there’s work to be had, and hopefully that will continue once we’re over this.”

(x)

#phyllis logan #highland vet #quarantine life #downton abbey

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izubabes · 4 years

Note

So my test came back positive for COVID-19 I’d be lying If I said I wasn’t scared but as you might remember I have twin daughters both 2 months old and I still breastfeed but my family watches them for me while I’m in quarantine.I need some fluffy Enji x young wife reader who decorate the house for Spooky season.Enji leaves to grab some paperwork from the agency,but really he stops by Starbee’s to get some drinks and comes home to the twins dressed in they’re costumes.✨🕸🍂🎃

I am sending positive thoughts your way, my dear. I genuinely hope this brings you some comfort while you recover. Get plenty of rest, drink plenty of fluids, feel better soon. You got this, love! 💓

I understand the anxious feeling, my own test results came back positive two days ago… :(

“Honey!” you called out, attempting hang up some faerie lights on the walls. It was a task easier said than done. You just needed to reach a little bit higher. “Please don’t touch the pumpkins yet, we’re carving them later. Actually, bring them over here!”

The Number One Hero has never carved a jack-o-lantern before.

Enji had first told you about his ‘little secret’ while you were both out grocery shopping and he watched you gush about decorating the house. You had suggested placing jack-o-lanterns on the front doorstep which is when the question arose about what you were talking about.

I mean he must have celebrated Halloween as a child, right?

“You’ve never carved a pumpkin before? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“I don’t find it funny, Y/N.”

“Oh my gosh, you’re serious.”

However, you remembered your husband wasn’t one to joke around and his silence only added onto his annoyed expression.

It’s a complicated but funny memory .

Currently, both of you were sprucing up your home for Halloween or ‘Spooky Season’ as you like to call it, he thinks it’s cute, since your husband had never gone full out festive before. Several lit cinnamon apple candles gave the interior of the house the perfect autumnal scent and a cozy atmosphere. Quiet music hummed in the living room, courtesy of your Spotify playlist.

“Just so you know, I’m done with the outside of the house.”

He walked towards the living room, a pumpkin in each of his arms. “I wasn’t touching the pumpkins,” Enji, somewhat embarrassed he had been caught, attempting to put down the cursed objects and stared it down menacingly, aware of its threat to his pride.

At least, until he dropped them.

“Damn,” He was busy trailing behind them in an effort to stop their mischief but stopped short when he saw you struggling. “Y/N,” he warned you with a concerned tone, “if you’re not careful, you’ll definitely fall.”

“Hold on, darling. I can do it,” You brushed off your doubting husband in order to prove him wrong. He watched you try to make yourself taller, standing up on your tiptoes while on the highest step of the ladder.

Enji watched you try to make yourself taller, standing up on your tiptoes while on the highest step of the ladder. His taller figure stood behind yours, providing support in case you miscalculated and slipped. “There we go!”

As if on cue, both of your little ones started crying for some attention. They had likely woken up from their naps and wanted to be held by their parents for a bit. You needed a decorating break anyways, but being a full-time mama is a 24/7 job.

“Darling,” you sighed, handing him a bag of fake spiderwebs. He noticed your hesitation as you stood in place and glared at him. “Can I trust you to put these up on the walls while I check on the girls?”

“Of course,” he affirmed, slightly offended that you thought he couldn’t handle it, “what’s the problem?”

You gave a weak smile in return and reminded him of last year’s events of when he accidentally set the webs on fire because they had gotten tangled up. The fire department had to be called and the media published a news story with the burnt front lawn on the front page. Endeavor’s PR team had fun week coming up with an reasonable explanation.

“I’m only kidding, honey,” you giggled, placing a soft kiss on his cheek. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Enji could tell right away that the house had a completely different vibe than before, it was unfamiliar to him but he found it comforting. All of the hard work you had put into the decorations paid off since everything looked perfect. Now, he wanted to do something special for you in return.

“All right, here’s Haruhi!” You gushed, gently cradling your baby girl in the secured tandem wrap on your chest as she wiggled and squeaked with joy. “Do you want Daddy to hold you?”

The first time your husband ever heard of baby wrapping, he was absolutely horrified. Was it safe? Yes. Was it helpful? Yes. Would he be scared every time you did it in front of him? Of course.

“Come here, sweet girl,” Enji felt his heart swell with love as soon as he was able to hold his daughter and stare at her soft features. It had been a while since he had last held a baby of his own but nonetheless he was overwhelmed with pride.

“Who’s my cute little Hanami?” You bonded with your other infant, giving her gentle kisses while she cooed in response. Chubby little hands gripped your shirt while you whispered loving words to your baby. “My twin flames!”

Hanami and Haruhi were the two beautiful twin daughters you had been blessed with after marrying Enji. He fawns over them any chance he gets. While pregnant, you had everything you needed, on top of being treated like royalty, provided by your doting husband. It was such a drastic personality change, soft and gentle with you, but stern and bold when compared to his engagement with the public.

Being married to a pro-hero made life difficult in terms of being able to maintain personal privacy, however your does all he can to keep you happy and safe. Enji shows his love through gifts and he loves spoiling you any chance he gets. Therefore, he would go get you one of your many favorite things in the world.

Starbucks.

He needed to find a decent excuse, fast. Scrolling through his work emails would be a good cover. “Sweetheart, I received a message from the office. I need to pick up a report one of the interns processed.”

“Right now?” The cheery expression on your face quickly fell into a upset frown, he almost backed out on his choice. “Could Shouto come drop it off instead?”

“I’d rather not bother him right now,” Enji explained, hoping you’d drop the matter, “he has remedial classes.”

“Shouto?” You chuckled in disbelief, not believing your husband although it was the truth. He watched you pull out your phone, surely in an attempt to text his son, “Remedial classes? There is no way, he’s too smart.”

Before you could send the text message, your twins both projectile vomited onto your chest and themselves. It was to be expected and was normal to you but your normally level-headed husband thought otherwise.

“Oh my god, are they okay!?” Enji panicked, forgetting his teachings from the online parenting classes he paid for. “Are you okay?”

“Honey, they’re fine,” you calmly reassured, although the expression on your face didn’t match your current mood. “Put Haruhi in here. I had to give the girls a bath either way, go ahead and run to the office.”

Enji shook his head, worried to step foot outside the house after the incident. “I can’t leave you here alone covered in... uh...”

“Baby vomit?” You finshed, pushing him towards the front door. “Enji, I’ve dealt with worse. I went through labor. I can handle it.”

“But Y/N—!”

He watched as you eagerly waved from the doorstep, unaware he was out of the house. The twins were secured in their baby wrap, arms waving around with your help. “Come back soon, honey!”

Autumn had arrived much sooner than expected and Enji was secretly glad you had forced him to buy a trench coat when you went shopping last weekend. He was unused to the feeling of being taken care of, he was hero, it was his job to care for others. It was quite interesting to find a spark in life again, he hasn’t felt so validated in a long time.

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ* *✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

“Y/N, are we making jack-o-lanterns? Or are you just torturing that pumpkin?”

Pieces of the giant fruit were flung across the table while you wrestled the carving knife into its flesh for the millionth time. Todoroki could only watch in disbelief at the effort you put into attempting to create a face. So far so good, right?

“Ha!” You squealed, pulling the sharp object out and flinging it around. Todoroki managed to safely get it out your grasp before you stabbed him. “I got the little sucker out of there. Check out my masterpiece.”

“Of course,” he played along, hiding his urge to laugh at the pumpkin, “that’s a nice cat.”

“It’s supposed to be a face…” you sighed, wiping your hands off on your apron. Todoroki watched you reached for a platter on the countertop, “Oh well, do you want a slice of pumpkin bread?”

“I’d love some, thank you,” he accepted, taking a seat at the table.

At first, when Enji had remarried he was surprised at how close you and Shouto had become. His relationship with his children was still recovering but he was happy you were able to connect to them.

You sat across from him and smiled before asking the fatal question, “Enji told me you had remedial classes, is that true?”

“What?” He choked on his bread before answering, “Of course the Old Man told you.”

“I was just worried about you,” you reassured, chuckling in order to ease the tension. He was about to explain himself but your babies’ cries cut him short. “Hold that thought, I have to check on the girls. Wanna come see them?”

“Uhm sure,” Todoroki followed you into the twins’ nursery and awkwardly stood there while he watched you check on the girls. “Hi, my loves! Shouto is here to visit.”

You secured them into their baby wrap and motioned for him to come closer, bringing attention to the items in your hands. “I bought these off of Amazon,” you squealed, shaking the packages. You handed one over while you dressed Hanami. “Aren’t they super cute?”

Shouto softly smiled as he took a look, “Adorable, the twins will look good in them.”

Baby onesies made to look like Endeavor’s hero costume and your own when you were active. He wouldn’t admit it but his father’s merchandise was pretty cool.

“Thank you! I should get some that match your hero costume–!”

“–Is it fun being a mom?”

“I love it!” You answered, buttoning your baby’s shirt. Shouto watched as your infant became fussy. “Haruhi, come on,” You playfully wrestled with your daughter for the eighth time in order to get her to listen, “Daddy will be home any minute, be a good girl.”

“Let me try,” Shouto suggested, gently sliding the onesie on the baby. Haruhi’s hands reached upwards, eagerly wanting to touch his face.

You heard keys jingling at the front door, signaling your husband was home. The baby costumes were supposed to be a surprise so you knew you had to act fast.

“Shouto, can you–?”

“I’m on it.”

You dashed down the hallway to the door in order to stall your husband. Enji knew something was up as soon as he noticed your disheveled state. “Are you alright, Y/N?”

“I have a surprise for you, but you have to close your eyes!” You smiled eagerly, jumping up and down.

“Okay…” he gave you a confused expression, before motioning to the beverages in his hands. “I have one for you too.”

A warm feeling in your chest made you absolutely ecstatic. He had gone out to buy Starbucks for you? Heart eyes for days but you knew you had a better surprise in store for him.

“Thank you, Enji!” You placed a sweet kiss on his cheek before heading back to the nursery. He set the drinks down on the living room table, listening to your voice echo the house, “Wait here and close your eyes.”

“Here,” Enji could hear the smile in your voice but was quickly confused as he heard you address someone else, “hold Hanami and I’ll go get Haruhi. Or hand her off to Enji.”

He was surprised to see his teenage son standing there with his other baby. Their eyes locked before Enji spoke up, “It’s been a while, Shouto...”

“I was just here to see the twins,” he replied curtly, stepping close to the door. He spared you one last glance and a gentle wave, “I’ll be leaving now, Y/N. Thank you.”

“Thank you for the help, Shouto!” You beamed, waving back, “if your friends want to come visit, they’re welcome anytime.”

Enji peered down at his little girl, who was staring his face, before bursting into an innocent smile. He noticed the material of her clothes appeared familiar before the realization hit him completely.

“Is this…?” He whispered, too overwhelmed to finish the question.

“It gets better!” You gushed, sitting next to him and showing him your other daughter’s outfit.

“Those are my girls,” he replied smugly, before leaning his head on your shoulder. “Thank you, Y/N.”

“For what, Enji?” You glanced over at his proud face.

“Everything.”

Enji is known not to be the most patient man in the world but he would do anything to keep his sweet wife happy. Even if it means going along with her giddy antics. You had brought back a fiery light into his life that he didn’t know he ever lost. He felt like a changed man and he was, Enji would go to extreme lengths just to keep his precious family safe and well.

“I love you, Enji.”

“I love you too, Y/N.”

*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ* *✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*✭˚･ﾟ✧*･ﾟ*

Scrolling through Twitter that night, a specific hashtag caught your eye. You had to read it again in order to make sure it was real.

Trending #1 in Japan: #DomesticEndeavor

A video of your husband at a Starbucks was uploaded while he ordered the drinks from earlier in the day.

“Venti Very Berry Hibiscus Lemonade and Venti Iced Peach Tea Lemonade,” Enji answered, avoiding eye contact with the barista in hopes of keeping his cover.

“YOU CAN HAVE THEM FOR FREE!” The baristas in the background shouted in unison, star struck faces while they rushed to prepare his order.

“Endeavor maybe a pro-hero but he’s a normal man after all, huh?” The person recording the video giggled, “this is going viral.”

Enji was embarrassed at the fact that more people were whispering about him at the coffee shop and zoomed out there as soon as possible.

The video ended with the employees fangirling and shouting, “HE TIPPED ME FIFTY DOLLARS! ENDEAVOR FOR LIFE!”

8 notes · View notes

mostlysignssomeportents · 4 years

Text

Pluralistic: 26 Mar 2020 (EFF's videoconferencing backgrounds, the ideology of economics, LoC plugs Little Brother, Canada nationalizes covid patents, Exponential Thread, Sanders on GOP stimulus cruelty, record wind power growth, social distancing and other diseases, Badger Masks)

Today's links

EFF's videoconferencing backgrounds: With a deep cut from the NSA's secret listening post.

The ideology of economics: Economics doesn't have "laws" it has "policies."

LoC plugs Little Brother: Open access FTW.

Canada nationalizes covid patents: An Act respecting certain measures in response to COVID-19.

Exponential Threat: Trump threatened to sue media outlets that aired this spot.

Sanders on GOP stimulus cruelty: "Millions for plutes, but not one cent for workers."

Record wind-power growth: Covid stimulus could start a Green New Deal.

Social distancing and other diseases: Do we trust IoT thermometer companies, though?

Badger Masks: UW Madison's open facemask design.

This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019

Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

EFF's videoconferencing backgrounds (permalink)

Telework is a quiet reminder that we live, in some sense, in an age of wonders. As terrible as lockdown is, imagine it without any way to videoconference with your peers and colleagues.

But it's also a moment where we tremble on the precipice of cyberpunk dystopia, when calls for mass surveillance – both for epidemiology and stabilizing states that are bruised and reeling – meet a world where everything is online and amenable to "collection" by spooks.

This is, basically, the moment that EFF has been warning about for 30 years: the moment when the "digital world" and the "real world" fully merge, and where the distinction between "tech policy" and "policy" dissolves.

One way you can help keep this in your colleagues' minds is to use EFF's amazing, free/open graphics as your videoconferencing background (most of these are the creation of the brilliant Hugh D'Andrade).

Now, those are all great, but this one is Room 641A at AT&T's Folsom Street center, where the whistleblower Mark Klein was ordered to build a secret room so the NSA could illegally spy on all US internet traffic.

The ideology of economics (permalink)

Thomas Piketty's "Capital in the 21st Century" advanced a simple, data-supported hypothesis: that markets left to their own will cause capital to grow faster than the economy as a whole, so over time, the rich always get richer.

https://boingboing.net/2014/06/24/thomas-pikettys-capital-in-t.html

He's followed up Capital with the 1000-page "Capital and Ideology" – whose thesis is that the "laws" of economics are actually policies, created to "justify a society's inequalities," providing a rationale to convince poor people not to start building guillotines.

The first ideology of capital was the "trifunctional" system of monarchist France, dividing society into "those who pray," "those who fight," and "those who work."

After the French revolution, we enter the capitalist phase, then social democracies, and now, "meritocracies."

"Meritocracies" invest markets with the mystical power to identify and elevate the worthy, in a kind of tautology: those who have the most are worth the most. You can tell they're worth the most because they have the most.

("That makes me smart" -D. Trump)

In Piketty's conception, "Inequality is neither economic nor technological. It's ideological and political," where "ideology" "refers to a set of a priori plausible ideas describing how society should be structured" (think: Overton Window).

https://bostonreview.net/class-inequality/marshall-steinbaum-thomas-piketty-takes-ideology-inequality

The major part of the book seeks to explain how the post-war social democracies gave way to the grifter meritocracies of today, pulling together threads from across the whole world to tell the tale.

On the way, he described alternatives that were obliterated, and others that were never tried, and shows how "meritocracy" gave us Trump, xenophobia, Brexit, and the Current Situation.

In particular, he's interested in why working class people stopped voting (spoiler: they no longer perceive that elites will pay attention to them irrespective of how they vote) — and what it would take to mobilize them again.

The elites' indifference to working people is grounded in an alliance between the Brahmin Left (educated, well-paid liberals) and the Merchant Right (the finance sector). Notionally leftist parties, like the Democrats, are dominated by the Brahmin Left.

But more than any other, Macron epitomizes this alliance: proclaiming his liberal values while slashing taxes on the wealthy — punishing poor people for driving cars, exempting private jets from his "climate" bill.

Life in a "meritocracy" is especially cruel for poor people, because meritocracies, uniquely among ideologies, blame poor people for poverty. It's right there in the name. French kings didn't think God was punishing peons, rather, that the Lord had put them there to serve.

"The broadly social-democratic redistributive coalitions of the mid-twentieth century were not just electoral or institutional or party coalitions but also intellectual and ideological. The battle was fought and won above all on the battleground of ideas."

As Marshall Steinbaum writes in his excellent review, Piketty's work doesn't just highlight new ideas in economics: it highlights the intellectual poverty of the economics profession and its tunnel vision.

"Economists cannot be allowed to be the arbiters of the intensely political concerns Piketty takes up in the book, and the good news is that there is reason to believe they won't be."

LoC plugs Little Brother (permalink)

Honored and pleased to have my book Little Brother included on the Library of Congress's excellent collection of open-access ebooks in its collection, which you can always access gratis but which may be of especial interest during the lockdown.

https://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2020/03/more-open-ebooks-routinizing-open-access-ebook-workflows/

If you enjoyed Little Brother and its sequel Homeland, you might be interested in the third Little Brother book, Attack Surface, which Tor is publishing on Oct 12.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250757531

If you're looking for more topical reading, Infodocket's carefully curated list of coronavirus resources is here for you:

https://www.infodocket.com/2020/01/31/2019-novel-coronavirus-resources/

Canada nationalizes covid patents (permalink)

Canada's Parliament has passed Bill C13, "An Act respecting certain measures in response to COVID-19," amending patent law to create automatic compulsory licenses for any inventionused to fight covid, including diagnostics, vaccines, therapies or PPE.

https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-1/bill/C-13/third-reading

As E Richard Gold writes, it's an "important signal that Canada will not support IP delays…While most firms are helping find solutions, this will prevent those who try to take advantage-by raising prices or limiting supply-or those who cannot deliver to block what is needed."

Exponential Threat (permalink)

"Exponential Threat" is a remarkable – and factual – political ad, one that contrasts Trump's statements on coronavirus with the spread of the disease in America.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkMwvmJLnc0

More remarkable: Trump has threatened to sue the media for airing it, which is a totally cool and normal thing for someone who has sworn a solemn oath to uphold the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to do.

https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/2017/web/hero_images/Redacted_PUSA_Letter.pdf

"In case you needed more, here's an (admittedly incomplete) list of Trump statements on the novel coronavirus and COID-19"

http://www.joeydevilla.com/2020/03/25/exponential-threat-the-covid-19-themed-ad-that-the-trump-pence-campaign-doesnt-want-you-to-see/

Jan. 22: "We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China."

Feb. 2: "We pretty much shut it down coming in from China. It's going to be fine."

Feb. 25: "CDC & my administration are doing a GREAT job of handling Coronavirus."

Feb. 25: "I think that's a problem that's going to go away. They have studied it. They know very much. In fact, we're very close to a vaccine." [White House | New York Post]

Feb. 26: "We're going very substantially down, not up."

Feb. 27: "One day it's like a miracle, it will disappear."

Feb. 28: "We're ordering a lot of supplies. We're ordering a lot of, uh, elements that frankly we wouldn't be ordering unless it was something like this. But we're ordering a lot of different elements of medical."

March 2: "You take a solid flu vaccine, you don't think that could have an impact, or much of an impact, on corona?"

March 2: "A lot of things are happening, a lot of very exciting things are happening and they're happening very rapidly."

March 4: "If we have thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work – some of them go to work, but they get better."

March 5: "I never said people that are feeling sick should go to work."

March 6: "I think we're doing a really good job in this country at keeping it down… a tremendous job at keeping it down."

March 6: "Anybody right now, and yesterday, anybody that needs a test gets a test. And the tests are beautiful. They are perfect just like the letter was perfect. The transcription was perfect. Right? This was not as perfect as that but pretty good."

March 6: "I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it. Every one of these doctors said, 'How do you know so much about this?' Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done that instead of running for president."

March 6: "I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault."

March 8: "We have a perfectly coordinated and fine tuned plan at the White House for our attack on Coronavirus."

March 9: "The Fake News media & their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power to inflame the Coronavirus situation."

March 10: "It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away."

March 13: National Emergency Declaration.

March 17: "I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic."

Sanders on GOP stimulus cruelty (permalink)

This Bernie Sanders floor speech in the Senate on the GOP's relentless attempts to punish poor people in the covid relief package is a must-watch

https://www.reddit.com/r/SandersForPresident/comments/fp3my0/bernie_goes_full_sanders_on_the_republicans_for/

tldr: GOP Senators are freaking out because some people in line to get the pittances they're doling out actually earn EVEN LESS than $1k-2k/month, and so they might get a raise in the form of covid relief.

That is, rather than taking the fact that this bare-minimum subsidy package exceeds "normal" income as a wakeup call to raise the minimum wage for the first time since 2009, the GOP is calling for cuts to aid to the most vulnerable Americans.

As Sanders points out, these same Senators had no problem with the Tax Scam, which poured trillions into the accounts of the richest Americans, directly and indirectly through stock-buybacks, which also left US business vulnerable and in need of trillions more today.

Now those bailed-out plutes want workers to risk death to "restart the economy," and the GOP will ensure they'll starve if they don't.

As ever, The Onion nails it:

https://politics.theonion.com/gop-urges-end-of-quarantine-for-lifeless-bipedal-automa-1842461351

"GOP Urges End Of Quarantine For Lifeless Bipedal Automatons That Make Economy Go"

Record wind-power growth (permalink)

As the world's wind-generation capacity increases, you'd expect annual growth to fall proportionately (it's easier to double a very small number than a very big one!), but this year should see the largest proportional growth ever, a 20% increase!

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/25/worlds-wind-power-capacity-up-by-fifth-after-record-year

That number is uncertain (hello, coronavirus), but on the other hand, there's a massive stimulus package in the offing that could be used to restart the economy by saving the planet with renewable energy.

The non-adjusted, pre-virus projection for this year's total growth in wind power was an additional 76GW (to meet climate projections, that number has to rise to 100GW/year, and then to 200GW/year).

Social distancing and other diseases (permalink)

Though the evidence is a little shaky, it appears that social distancing has dramatically reduced the spread of other infectious diseases, like flu.

https://qz.com/1824020/social-distancing-slowing-not-only-covid-19-but-other-diseases-too/

The data comes from an Internet of Shit "connected thermometer" company that (allegedly) anonymizes its data and uses it for health surveillance; they report a massive drop-off in high temps relative to other years and pre-distancing levels.

The claims are plausible, but they're also an ad for an IoT company that sells a product no one needs, so take them with a grain of salt.

I'd be interested in STI transmission after weeks/months of government-recommended masturbation-over-hookups:

https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/imm/covid-sex-guidance.pdf

Badger Masks (permalink)

A local hospital asked researchers at the UW Madison Engineering Design Innovation Lab to design them a field-expedient face-shield that could be mass-manufactured to protect its staff from coming cases.

https://www.wired.com/story/tinkerers-created-face-shield-being-used-hospitals/

Using hardware-store parts, the UW makerspace, and teleconferencing with self-isolating collaborators, the team designed an excellent mask, the Badger Shield:

https://making.engr.wisc.edu/shield/

They've manufactured and delivered 1,000 Badger Masks to the hospital and a Ford plant in MI is making 75,000 more this week for Detroit-area hospitals. Here's a technical spec you can follow if you have access to equipment and parts:

https://www.delve.com/assets/documents/OPEN-SOURCE-FACE-SHIELD-DRAWING-v1.PDF

It involves just 3 pieces: polyethylene sheets (laser- or die-cut), an elastic headband, and a 1" thick strip of self-adhesive polyurethane foam. For initial production, Midwest Prototyping used office-supply-store electric staplers for assembly.

The design process started with a teardown of an existing, approved mask, and the project lead, Lennon Rodgers, worked with collaborators to replicate it, sanity-checking successive designs with his wife, an anaesthesiologist.

They started hand-delivering prototypes to the hospital, who refined the design further, swapping in latex-free elastic and lengthening the shield. Tim Osswald from UW used his polymer engineering expertise to find a supplier who could create a custom die.

Now, more than 1M Badger Masks have been sought, with manufacturers like St Paul's Summit Medical tooling up to meet demand.

Other designs are popping up across America. San Francisco's Exploratorium is making 200+ shields/day using its own makerspace.

This day in history (permalink)

#15yrsago If the Constitution was a EULA https://web.archive.org/web/20050330012000/http://slate.msn.com/id/2115254/

#10yrsgo Discarded photocopier hard drives stuffed full of corporate secrets https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2010/03/18/hightech_copy_machines_a_gold_mine_for_data_thieves.html

#5yrsago TPP leak: states give companies the right to repeal nations' laws https://wikileaks.org/tpp-investment/press.html

#5yrsago Woman medicated in a psychiatric ward until she said Obama didn't follow her on Twitter https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/woman-held-in-psychiatric-ward-after-correctly-saying-obama-follows-her-on-twitter-10132662.html

#5yrsago Sandwars: the mafias whose illegal sand mines make whole islands vanish https://www.wired.com/2015/03/illegal-sand-mining/

#5yrsago Australia outlaws warrant canaries https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/03/australian-government-minister-dodge-new-data-retention-law-like-this/

#5yrsago As crypto wars begin, FBI silently removes sensible advice to encrypt your devices https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150325/17430330432/fbi-quietly-removes-recommendation-to-encrypt-your-phone-as-fbi-director-warns-how-encryption-will-lead-to-tears.shtml

#1yrago Article 13 will wreck the internet because Swedish MEPs accidentally pushed the wrong voting button https://medium.com/@emanuelkarlsten/sweden-democrats-swedish-social-democrats-defeat-motion-to-amend-articles-11-13-731d3c0fbf30

#1yrago EU's Parliament Signs Off on Disastrous Internet Law: What Happens Next? https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/03/eus-parliament-signs-disastrous-internet-law-what-happens-next

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources: Slashdot (https://slashdot.org/), Naked Capitalism (https://nakedcapitalism.com/), Late Stage Capitalism (https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/).

Currently writing: I'm getting geared up to start work my next novel, "The Lost Cause," a post-GND novel about truth and reconciliation.

Currently reading: Just started Lauren Beukes's forthcoming Afterland: it's Y the Last Man plus plus, and two chapters in, it's amazeballs. Last month, I finished Andrea Bernstein's "American Oligarchs"; it's a magnificent history of the Kushner and Trump families, showing how they cheated, stole and lied their way into power. I'm getting really into Anna Weiner's memoir about tech, "Uncanny Valley." I just loaded Matt Stoller's "Goliath" onto my underwater MP3 player and I'm listening to it as I swim laps.

Latest podcast: Data – the new oil, or potential for a toxic oil spill? https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/03/23/data-the-new-oil-or-potential-for-a-toxic-oil-spill/

Upcoming appearances:

Quarantine Book Club, April 1, 3PM Pacific https://www.eventbrite.com/e/quarantine-book-club-cory-doctorow-tickets-100931360416

Museums and the Web, April 2, 12PM-3PM Pacific https://mw20.museweb.net/

Upcoming books: "Poesy the Monster Slayer" (Jul 2020), a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Pre-order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=socialpost&utm_term=na-poesycorypreorder&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781626723627

(we're having a launch for it in Burbank on July 11 at Dark Delicacies and you can get me AND Poesy to sign it and Dark Del will ship it to the monster kids in your life in time for the release date).

"Attack Surface": The third Little Brother book, Oct 20, 2020. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250757531

"Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a new introduction by Edward Snowden: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250774583

This work licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commerically, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution.

How to get Pluralistic:

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Pluralistic.net

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https://pluralistic.net/plura-list

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https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic

When live gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla

#pluralistic

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kibocode2021 · 3 years

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ECommerce is maybe the ideal way retailers can grow today!

ECommerce is maybe the ideal way retailers can grow today. In June 2020, eCommerce climbed 76.2 percent YoY, and it's very likely to grow faster still. Today's eCommerce market is also getting crowded, with over 7.1 million online retailers globally. Winning in this competitive environment requires sophisticated and customized eCommerce marketing. According to Gartner, companies that invest in online personalization technologies are outselling their counterparts by approximately 30 percent.

However, eCommerce marketing can be both catchy and time-consuming. Many marketers spend hours each day trying to customize and perfect unique aspects of their brand's eCommerce experience. This can involve producing content for every one of the personas, hand-crafting product recommendations, testing tens of new promotions, and more.

Fortunately, smarter and much more automated eCommerce features can help you adopt innovative marketing strategies with less effort. For example, artificial intelligence (AI) can enable you to create personalized product recommendations that in fact get better over time with no manual intervention. You wind up selling more while freeing up the time to organize your next major product launch.

As a marketer at Adobe, I know firsthand how eCommerce technologies can help you reach and nurture new electronic clients. In this website, I will discuss seven ways Kibo code quantum Commerce makes online marketing brighter, more personalized, and a lot more successful.

#1: SERVE FRESH, PERSONALIZED CONTENT

Content helps customers locate you on Google, and it's a critical part of the customer experience. But content is not sufficient -- it also must be personalized. The more personalized your content is, the longer visitors will remain on your site -- and the more likely they are to purchase. Thirty-seven percent of executives say that personalized content and product recommendations increase customer lifetime value.

Page Builder, available exclusively with Kibo code quantum eCommerce, is a package of content creation tools which makes it easier to quickly assemble content and tag it for various audiences and stages of the customer travel. It lets business users create, edit, and print content pages with no developer. Key functions include flexible drag-and-drop designs, reusable content blocks and blocks, video backgrounds, and point-and-click button creation.

It's a fast and very affordable way to build web pages without the frustration of searching multiple royalty-free inventory libraries for photos, videos, and other rich media.

Overall, Page Builder allows online businesses to craft much more personalized content in less time and for much less money. Plus, as I inform our customers, it really pays for itself. On average, companies that switch to Kibo code quantum Commerce spend 61 percent less time producing content.

#2. PROVIDE PERSONALIZED PRODUCT RECOMMENDATIONS

In addition to personalized articles, online shoppers need personalized product recommendations. Research suggests the vast majority of customers (84 percent) will look at brands' product recommendations at least sometimes.

A great illustration of this phenomenon is shopping on Amazon. Based on what you do on the site, you'll see product ratings," also bought" recommendations," also viewed" recommendations and more. This approach is a big part of why Amazon accounts for 40% of online commerce in the U.S. Client expectations are likewise being set outside of the shopping experience. Netflix, for instance, provides individually-curated content recommendations and "binge-worthy" suggestions to viewers.

It's no surprise, then, that merchandise recommendations account for up to 31 percent of eCommerce site revenues. Adding product recommendations to your website, however, requires intelligent technology. Manually creating product recommendations for each persona and every phase of the customer travel can be hugely time-consuming. And guide merchandise recommendations can easily get rancid as seasons and market conditions change.

Automated product recommendations that rely on machine learning, nevertheless, really improve over time. And they can raise your conversions by around 70 percent. I urge them to anybody who is marketing online.

#3. COORDINATE STRATEGIES ACROSS CHANNELS

For the best results, your advertising and marketing strategies should connect numerous stations. For instance, clients could earn loyalty points for your internet store by sharing your content on social media. Your website might feature content from consumer communities. Or clients who return merchandise to your store could get coupons that are redeemable online.

I've found an eCommerce platform with support for omnichannel commerce is essential for effective cross-channel advertising. Otherwise, cross-channel marketing can be almost prohibitively labor-intensive and error-prone.

#4.BUILD CUSTOM SITES FOR DIFFERENT BRANDS, MARKETS, AND SEGMENTS

As your company grows and your merchandise catalogue expands, your website will get larger and attract people -- may be a whole lot more people. At some stage, you might choose to set some of your goods into their own branded stores, which means it's possible to provide a more targeted experience to your clients. Or you might choose to add new sites with local language and cultural cues for clients in various geographies.

But growing your business can be hard if you have to set up and configure new software each time you put in a brand new online storefront. Kibo code quantum Commerce permits you to manage multiple sites for different brands, client segments, or geographies from a single admin interface and database. It greatly simplifies the administration of your digital stores and permits you to examine your company throughout channels.

All this means you can easily add and administer all the websites you want to deliver a high quality personalized experience. In my experience, this type of capability is critical to your own brand's ability to climb.

#5.GIVE VISITORS A CONCIERGE-LIKE EXPERIENCE

ECommerce advertising isn't a one-way exercise in which your brand talks and clients listen. Ideally, it's a two-way interaction, or it ought to be. Today's clients are frustrated with slow email and call center response times when they have questions -- and also these response times are only getting more. In fact, a recent analysis shows that 62 percent of organizations discount customer service emails.

That is where live chat comes in. Live discussion can help you engage customers who are stuck and help move them down the funnel to buy. Kibo code quantum Commerce integrates with dot digital Chat, Drift, along with other live chat applications so you can offer help exactly when your buyers need it. Chat agents can be triggered by client behavior in your website or initiated by visitors who need assistance. Or you can use chatbots for easy questions. Already, almost 60 percent of live chat connections demand chatbots in some way.

With live chat and chatbots, you can answer clients' questions quickly and accurately, eliminating barriers to purchase without a great deal of additional time, effort, or cost. I believe it's one of the easiest ways to show clients that you're placing them .

#6. GET PEOPLE ONTO YOUR MAILING LIST

Email marketing remains around for a reason: It works. On average, every dollar invested in email advertising generates a return of $42. And email marketing is a important part of most companies' eCommerce advertising plans. You may use it to keep clients informed and to alert them to new, personalized supplies. Email may also help you reach customers who have abandoned their shopping carts.

For email marketing to really get the job done, however, you need to continually grow your listing with qualified new prospects. Ideally, every page of your eCommerce website should get an email contact type that blends into the rest of your shopping experience. If you capture email addresses, your marketing team can send customized offers to customers and direct them back to your website. I also suggest that an email address catch field should be a part of the checkout procedure for new clients.

#7. CONTINUALLY ANALYZE WHAT'S WORKING AND WHAT ISN'T

ECommerce marketing is a shifting target. What works today won't always work tomorrow. That's why always assessing how customers interact with your own promotions, articles, etc., is critical. Kibo code quantum Commerce can be obtained with a Business Intelligence module that allows you analyze customer behavior across all of your brands and sites, discovering insights which will allow you to better your own

eCommerce

experience and drive conversions and expansion.

As soon as it's easy to get caught up in day-to-day operations if you're growing quickly, I recommend that marketers dig into business intelligence reports quarterly or monthly to identify trends and evaluate strategies. In these dynamic COVID-19 days, the frequent analysis could help customers stay ahead of mercurial customer shifts.

WHAT'S NEXT?

I feel that high-quality eCommerce marketing does not have to be painful. With greater automation, you can really adopt more sophisticated strategies and get far better results in less time. Instead of constantly tinkering with individual campaigns, you can look ahead towards your company's next new prospect.

#ecommerce #kibocode #kibo

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ahiddenpath · 4 years

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36 Questions to Make You Fall in Love

SO my boy Eugene Lee Yang released a video where he answered the 36 first date questions to make you fall in love. Apparently, the idea of the questions is to create an emotional connection upfront.

(Related: It’s been interesting to see what Youtube/video content creators have come up with to produce content from home during quarantine!).

ANYWAY I thought it was an interesting “get to know you” thing, so I’MMA DO IT TOO below the cut! It is extremely long.

1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

I have way too much anxiety to impose on a stranger to this extent, so I’d magically have my friends teleported to my home (pre or post quarantine).

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way?

Fame is a nightmare scenario for me.

3. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?

Yes, but only with service providers. I can and will utterly blank on what I need and what my dang name is when asked, “How can I help you?”

4. What would constitute a "perfect" day for you?

Ha! Right now, just a day without covid-19. I miss the outside world. Even things like browsing a store sound heavenly.

But... The best days of my life thus far were my Hawaii vacation, especially snorkeling and hiking through a rain forest. So... I’d want a day where I wake up early in Hawaii to snorkel and hike, and then drink mai tais and watch the sunset with my husband.

5. When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

...I sang “Let’s All Sing Like the Birdies Sing” in the shower today...

6. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?

Oh, yikes, my mind. My mother’s father started degrading from Alzheimer’s when I was about 10.

(I’m assuming this refers to having a healthy mind throughout your life, and not remaining frozen in your 30-year-old mindset/experience set).

7. Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

No, not at all. Definitely hoping it’s not Alzheimer’s related.

8. Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.

Well, I assume you and I both love Digimon!

As for my husband, we’re alike in habits and hobbies, but different in personality. We’re both introverted homebodies who love video games/nerd stuff in general/learning. We also highly value security, so we tend to work hard and save. I’d say we’re both grounded and reasonable, although I’m the more emotional one.

9. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

This is too hard! I’m constantly feeling so grateful. I love existing as me! I seem to have a strong sense of self, and of where I stand, and that’s so dope. I’m also intensely grateful for my husband, who is so generous with his love and affection and care. And I’m glad that I found a career that suits me so well.

10. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

Er.

I had a difficult childhood. It’s hard, because my Mom loves me and my brother and sacrificed so much for us... But she (and all of our relatives) failed to protect me from my father’s various flavors of abuse. We were both also under a ton of pressure to excel academically.

Still, I can’t change the past. I’d rather donate to women’s shelters and resources for people dealing with abuse at home.

11. Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible.

Let me bullet point it:

-Spent most of my time from 6 months old to 2 years old in a body cast because my hip wasn’t in the socket, and my muscles developed around it like that. Went to tons of physical therapy.

-Drew comics when I was 3 and 4 because I needed to get ideas out, such as they were, but I couldn’t write yet.

-I love cats, and have had at least one since I was five.

-My home situation was rough. I started trying to plan how to get out and be independent early and have been working and saving since I was 16.

-Interests/hobbies: animals, singing, nature, science, books, music, writing, video games, art, baking

-Met and started dating my husband at age 14. We’re blissfully married.

-First job was at an aquarium. Worked summers at a biotech firm during college. I’ve been working in biotech since I graduated. I currently research immunotherapies. I have a B.S. in biology.

-I have general anxiety disorder and see a therapist every other week. Therapy has been amazing, A+ would recommend.

-I’m an asexual cis lady

-I need to read and write to stay sane. Reading connects my mind to other minds, which helps me grow, understand, and think. Writing releases the pressure that builds up in my brain.

-I’m introverted, but friendly. Also, I’m an enormous dork.

12. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

Teleportation

13. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?

No, thanks. I realize the point is to share information about myself through my response, but... This just isn’t how humans are meant to live. We’re supposed to discover our way and forge our futures, not have answers magically handed to us.

14. Is there something that you've dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven't you done it?

...Sigh. My husband and I have dreamed of visiting Japan since we were teens. We were just starting to plan the trip when covid-19 hit. Thankfully, we hadn’t booked anything yet.

15. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

Being me, being happy, whole, fulfilled, and confident. There’s no one magic accomplishment that makes everything “worth it” or makes me feel like I “made it.”

16. What do you value most in a friendship?

Oh, oh, oh, there’s a lot to this! Obviously, a friend needs to be kind (you don’t want to spend time with a jerk), but they also need to be emotionally mature (lending a kind ear is good, but functioning as a therapist for a friend is exhausting). But it’s the best if a friend has both of those things, but also is interesting in some way. Like... maybe they’re funny, or charismatic, or share your hobbies. And it’s a great feeling when a friend reaches out to you and makes time for you now and then; it’s a vulnerable feeling to always be the one to reach out.

17. What is your most treasured memory?

My first kiss, which was with my husband when we were 15.

Also, my entire trip to Hawaii with my husband.

18. What is your most terrible memory?

I’ll probably go with the time my father called me into his room while I was doing homework- I was probably 16ish? He told me I’d never be as smart, talented, or successful as my brother, at great length, for no discernible reason. He said I’d have to work more than twice as hard as him to get by, since I was so deficient. I still have nightmares where this replays.

19. If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?

I would say that I would quit my job and travel with my husband, but... You know, covid-19. I’d want to spend a ton of time with my husband, see as much as I can of the world, and do whatever I can to get details in order and make things as easy on my husband as possible.

20. What does friendship mean to you?

It means that you love someone and actively want them in your life, and you treat them as such.

Life is short, and people only have so much physical and emotional energy. If you choose to freely and joyfully give it to someone, then that’s a big deal.

21. What roles do love and affection play in your life?

??? Same as anyone else, I’d assume. People need people, although everyone has different levels of need. I guess I do tend to avoid casual relationships so I have more energy for my closest relationships. I’m also extremely independent, so I think my needs are smaller than average.

22. Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner. Share a total of five items.

I assume that you, reader, are a cutie pie. Hello!

But let me talk about my husband! He is wicked smart, always learning for fun, and skilled at logic/reasoning. He’s also a hard worker, and the head of software development at his company at age 31. He is sooo shy and terrible at small talk, but I adore that he’s the quiet type, since the world is always so loud. He’s gentle and loving and kind, and he takes amazing care of me and is constantly looking for ways to do something for me. And he’s laid back and easy-going, which is so soothing.

23. How close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people's?

No and no.

24. How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?

It’s... complicated.

25. Make three true "we" statements each. For instance, "We are both in this room feeling ... "

WE ALL STAN THE CHOSEN. We are all excited for the Digimon Reboot to restart. We all love Koushiro!

26. Complete this sentence: "I wish I had someone with whom I could share ... "

...I want more writing and reading friends.

27. If you were going to become a close friend with your partner, please share what would be important for him or her to know.

I’ve had to explain to a lot of people that, despite being friendly and open, I’m introverted and independent, and a total homebody. I often find that people want to go to bars with friends, or maybe see movies or go to festivals. I would rather talk on a video chat while we each do our own thing. People tend to want too much too fast for my slow, cautious pace.

28. Tell your partner what you like about them; be very honest this time, saying things that you might not say to someone you've just met.

I like that you love Digimon and have somehow managed to read this much of this never-ending thing. Also, you look cute.

29. Share with your partner an embarrassing moment in your life.

I asked my husband out over the phone when I was 14. I was sitting on a wooden chair that was far, far older than me. Because I was so nervous, I was rocking the chair back and forth.

It splintered and broke while I was trying to ask my husband to my school’s homecoming dance, pitching me to the floor in the middle of the most crucial sentence.

30. When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?

Yikes, this is a lot, but I last cried in front of my therapist. I asked out loud, for the first time, why no one did anything to protect me as a kid and ended up bawling.

I can’t remember the last time I cried alone. Generally, I go to my husband for support.

31. Tell your partner something that you like about them already.

Your fine, fine taste in blogs.

32. What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

You know, I’m not sure. Millennials tend to have fairly dark/nihilistic senses of humor. I will say that, generally speaking, you should only “punch upward.” Ie, don’t kick people who are down. It’s better to joke about the rich than the poor, for example.

33. If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven't you told them yet?

Sometimes I wish I could articulate some things to my parents, but they wouldn’t hear me, anyway. I know because I’ve tried.

But my loved ones know I love them, so that’s taken care of.

34. Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?

The boring and honest answer is my important documents and my computer/external hard drive/charger/cellphone, followed by a fire extinguisher. But I realize the question is about what physical items I hold dear, so... Assuming my wedding bands are already on my finger, like always, and that I am wearing my glasses and some clothes, I’d grab my grandmother’s clock.

35. Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?

Jesus Tap-dancing Christ.

My husband’s. I love him beyond compare.

36. Share a personal problem and ask your partner's advice on how he or she might handle it. Also, ask your partner to reflect back to you how you seem to be feeling about the problem you have chosen.

I’m 31, and I’ve been thinking a lot lately about whether or not I want children. The trouble is, I feel like my country has gotten so much worse since I’ve been alive, and especially over the last four years (I’m American). Meanwhile, the environment is deteriorating globally... Would my child even have clean drinking water when they’re 30 or 40?

Is it ethical to have children under these circumstances?

And this is all before I even address the question of whether or not I want to be a mother, or if I think I would be a good mom! Yikes.

THAT WAS A LOT, are you still here? Thanks for reading xD

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craftylovewizard · 4 years

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Final Fantasy III Review

During this COVID period and with me finishing university, it has created a lot of free time for me. I had always been a fan of the Final Fantasy franchise and decided “hey with all this free time at home, why not try playing all the FF games”. This led me to FFIII - which although I do not have the proper console, an emulator worked fine on my PC.

The gameplay is a nostalgic trip back to the past, with blocky and low-res graphics. If I were to have this back in 1994-2004 when it was released, I would say that the graphics was probably one of the best back in the day. The sound quality is also great with a few familiar tunes - all which matched the gameplay and on-screen action.

The game centers around four orphans adolescents - ‘Warriors of Light’ - who has to restore balance to the world. The storyline and characters are cliche and lack personality - but honestly that did not bother me. What annoyed me was that the supporting characters who occasionally joins the party was... lets put it bluntly - useless. They join the party and rarely even engaged in battle, whether they helped or not made no difference.

FFIII employed the notable job system where characters can switch jobs at any time. There are 4 sets of jobs which are released after the player gains a crystal and a hidden job ‘Onion Knight’ obtained through the side quests. This was fun where you could test out different combinations and special abilities like Jump, Steal, Protect, Retaliate... However, to bring out the potential of the job you will need to train and level the job levels up. This meant that you do need to focus on jobs in the end as it does affect your battles.

There is the main character level and the job system level. The main character level can be tracked through the ‘status’, however the job system level is hidden. This meant that you will not know how many points is required for the next level. From the gameplay, I believe that job points are gained through the character’s action in battle. If the character had no actions, it meant it will not job level up.

My personal game ending line up consisted of all level 57 characters, with Luneth - Ninja Job level 36; Rafia - Geomancer Job level 96; Arc - White mage Job level 84; and Ingus - Monk Job Level 99.

Travelling and battling in FFIII was fun and unpredictable. I did try to explore all the areas and maps, trying to find hidden items and side quests. I believe there was only one side quest I did not complete as I could not figure out how to obtain the letters from the wise men. Through the side quests you will be able to obtain job-specific weapons from the legendary smith - which I did for Ingus. The side quests were fun, but it would have been more fulfilling if the job specific weapons had better stats.

The game itself is by all means not perfect, but it does provide adequate entertainment for several hours. I became invested in the game where I would think about the next dungeon or how to access the next side quest. It would have been more fun if I had the handheld console. One advice or quality about the game which really got to me was the fact that you cannot save data once you are in a dungeon - so make sure you save when you can! This is especially so before you enter the final game stage which has several “bosses”. I personally had to grind through 3-4 hours of gameplay to finish. If I died in the final stages I would have been very angry ahaha. One must also watch the opening credits - it is beautifully crafted like all the FF games.

I am not a gamer, but a normal person finding entertainment. I am glad that I got to explore the FFIII world. Would I play it again though? Maybe, just so I could explore the job system even more and use different jobs to complete the game.

Now... my next FF game - Crisis Core - FFVII - heard this is namely one of the best PSP games...

#final fantasy #FFIII #final fantasy iii #game #review #nostalgic

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generickink · 4 years

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Feb 14, 2020 Coronavirus Update: continue not panicking.

I’ve been reading over the last several days of World Health Organization (WHO) Stituation Report (sitrep) and listened to the last month of This Week in Virology (TWiV) podcasts, and some interesting information came to the front.

Here’s the tl;dr (AKA executive summary)

Public health response: Bad initial responses made the outbreak worse. Learn from what didn’t work and do do it again. Panic ensures more bad decisions.

What if it mutates and gets worse? That is really unlikely. Mutations are inevitable, but increased mortality usually means less transmission.

Are there treatments? Yes, but no guaranteed cures, just like almost everything else.

New official name: COVID-19. Learn it, love it, quit calling it by the city of first recognized case.

Pandemic risk: Started out as extremely low, now really extremely low.

Source of virus: Probably bats. Definitely not snakes.

Would I go to China? Hubei? Wuhan? Yes, yes, and yes. Would I do it right now? No, I need to pack. I can go in the morning. I have a current visa and a few yuan from my last trip, so I can make due until I can get currency converted. I also know how to wash my hands and perform other risk limiting actions.

Is it over yet? No, but barring more bad decisions here and abroad, it should be on the way to resolution.

Public health response: We are still in the don’t panic stage in most of the world. It appears that China didn’t move quickly enough to quarantine a small number of infected individuals and their contacts, then panicked and attempted to quarantine 10 million people, then 30 million people.

Large quarantines DO NOT WORK! They make the people in the quarantine zone panic and seek to find a way out, typically in ways that evade detection. Large quarantines can push an epidemic to become a pandemic. You also limit the access to the area from people that are coming to study the outbreak and care for the sick.

Bad quarantine decisions DO NOT WORK! In Japan, where one of the largest outbreaks outside of China has not officially occurred, around 3000 people are confined to a cruse ship because of an outbreak on it. These people, because they have not undergone immigration and customs processing are not technically in Japan, but are in international transit. (Update: people testing negative are being allowed to leave the ship. Finally, good news. It doesn’t mean that a poorly constructed and planned quarantine worked, because it probably led to more infections than moving everyone to a hotel where trained medical staff could have provided care in rooms larger than prison cells. Seriously. the average stateroom is tiny.)

What if it mutates and gets even worse? That doesn’t usually happen with viruses that jump species. They usually mutate and cause a less severe disease in the new host species after several transmissions. Right now, this virus isn’t very effective at spreading, but it could mutate to spread more easily. When that happens, most of the time, the resulting illness is milder. Infectious diseases need to be passed on to new hosts, so the more hosts it can infect, the better. It also improves its chance of spreading if it doesn’t cause severe illness.

Based on past outbreaks, this is a pretty standard pattern. The morbidity/mortality rate will fall the longer the epidemic runs, both because we get better at treating it, and because the virus evolves to treat us better. A dead host is not necessarily a good transmitter of every disease.

Are there treatments? There are some decent antiviral treatment plans that help in other severe coronavirus outbreaks, but a vaccine is months from being ready, and will be most useful in preventing future outbreaks from spreading.

Name that virus! There is a new official name for NCoV. WHO has named it COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019). Makes sense. Since “novel” (the N in NCoV) meant new, and this isn’t going to be the last coronavirus outbreak, it would just eventually cause confusion. Pronunciation? If I wanted to be pedantic, I’d go for CUH-vid, sort of matching the first syllable of corona. I’ll be using COVID to refer to NCoV from here on.

Pandemic risk: The risk of a pandemic appears to be over. Cases identified outside of China are steadily decreasing, which is a very good thing.

Above is figure 2 from the Feb 14, 2020 WHO sitrep on COVID-19. This bar graph shows reported cases outside of China that we have travel data for. Each day is a separate bar, and is divided by color to show where people had recently traveled to, or if they had not traveled at all. The curve shows a large spike of travelers to the Hubei province of China peaking in the last week of January. The second largest group, people that had not traveled recently, shows two spikes, the first coinciding with the Hubei exposed group, which we can assume are probably family members of the people returning from China who accompanied their sick family members to the hospital for a checkup. The second peak is about a week after the first one, and is again, probably friends and family who were infected by the returned patient. The rest are likely to be workers in the travel industry, perhaps working at airports.

Source of virus: Genetic comparisons of related viruses known to be present in wild animals in the Hubei have given good results. It most likely originated in bats, as it has high sequence similarity to the SARS coronavirus, which is a bat virus that doesn’t cause severe illness in the fuzzy little fliers. It may have passed through an intermediary host, though, as the market where the outbreak was thought to originate from does not appear to have had any bats for sale. If you find the thought of eating bat meat to be something that clearly is a high risk behavior, we should have a talk about the western food production and distribution system... and what frat boys will eat on a dare.

The WHO are recommending improved food supply control and market hygiene. This will be no easy task, as unregulated outdoor food markets are a part of Chinese culture, and when I was in China, I passed through a couple just while walking to a restaurant near the hotel. I considered picking up a watermelon on the way back, but I was stuffed.

Would I go to China right now? YES!

I have a current travel visa for China and would love to go back right now, when the weather isn’t quite as hot. Would I go to Hubei? Absolutely! No fear at all. If a university in Wuhan were to ask me to come over and consult on how to convince people to not be terrified by the epidemic, but to follow the same preventative measures used to stop SARS? Sure, but I’m not certain that I’d be the best pick for the job. I’d probably pack some N-95 masks, a box or three of nitrile exam gloves, and my international travel kit, plus clothes and I’ll be on the plane!

Wash your hands. Cough into a scarf or sleeve. Wear a mask and safety glasses that cover your eyes when you are out and about (I wear glasses, so I have to use the ones that fit over them). Don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth without washing your hands. Alcohol based hand sanitizer helps, but isn’t perfect, so wash your hands for 20-30 seconds with soap!

Is it over yet? No, and the people of China, especially Hubei will have a very difficult month, but it looks like the initial stage has passed. The quarantine/hospital tent cities make me nervous because I’m worried that people will try to hide instead of seeing a doctor if they feel sick.

When we panic, we invariably stop thinking rationally. Panic makes it harder to make good decisions. Find the person in the room that is calm. They have a better chance of knowing what to do than the person trying to build a pillow fort while hording all the surgical masks.

#covid2019 #covid #covid-19 #covid19 #wuhan coronavirus #wuhan virus #wuhancoronavirus #novel coronavirus #coronavirus #2019 coronavirus #2019 novel coronavirus #2019 NCoV #ncov #virus ncov #yes i would travel to wuhan

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newstfionline · 3 years

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Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Some Hotels Are Mandating Vaccines. Will Others Follow? (NYT) As travelers prepare for their next vacation, among the essentials to take—along with items such as a toothbrush, wallet and phone charger—could be proof of vaccination for COVID-19, depending on where they are booked to sleep. As coronavirus cases surge again across the country, driven by the highly contagious delta variant, a small number of hotels in the United States have announced that they will require proof of vaccination from guests and staff. The precedent for hotels requiring vaccination is already being set beyond the contiguous United States. In August, Puerto Rico issued an islandwide vaccine mandate that requires guests and staff at all hotels, guesthouses and short-term rentals, including Airbnb, to provide proof of vaccination or a negative PCR or antigen test taken within 72 hours before their visit. Although European destinations are rolling out various vaccine mandates, hotels are mostly not requiring proof of immunization. In Portugal, however, hotel guests need to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.

Louisiana gets a first look at the devastation caused by Hurricane Ida (Washington Post) People clung to rooftops awaiting rescue, entire towns were cut off from communication, and more than a million faced the prospect of days—even weeks—without power as Louisianans awoke Monday and began to take stock of the devastation caused by Hurricane Ida. Parts of the state remained unreachable, making it impossible to fully assess the damage. Four deaths were confirmed, but Gov. John Bel Edwards said he expected the toll to be “considerably” higher. Ida, which made landfall just before noon Sunday local time as a Category 4 storm, the most powerful storm to hit the area in over a century, continued to batter the region well into Monday. While New Orleans was spared the worst, thanks in large part to the $14.5 billion federally funded levee system built after Hurricane Katrina, communities west and south of the city were completely routed by the storm. There were widespread reports of downed power lines and trees, levee failures and flooding, collapsed buildings and people trapped in flooded homes. Utility officials said it would take days just to assess the damage before repairs could begin. Meanwhile, gas, food and water supplies were affected, with several communities instituting “boil water” advisories.

The World Is Still Short of Everything. Get Used to It. (NYT) Like most people in the developed world, Kirsten Gjesdal had long taken for granted her ability to order whatever she needed and then watch the goods arrive, without any thought about the factories, container ships and trucks involved in delivery. Not anymore. At her kitchen supply store in Brookings, S.D., Ms. Gjesdal has given up stocking place mats, having wearied of telling customers that she can only guess when more will come. She recently received a pot lid she had purchased eight months earlier. She has grown accustomed to paying surcharges to cover the soaring shipping costs of the goods she buys. She has already placed orders for Christmas items like wreaths and baking pans. “It’s nuts,” she said. “It’s definitely not getting back to normal.” The challenges confronting Ms. Gjesdal’s shop, Carrot Seed Kitchen, are a testament to the breadth and persistence of the chaos roiling the global economy, as manufacturers and the shipping industry contend with an unrelenting pandemic. Delays, product shortages and rising costs continue to bedevil businesses large and small. And consumers are confronted with an experience once rare in modern times: no stock available, and no idea when it will come in.

US judge revokes mother’s right to visit son over her refusal to get Covid vaccine (Guardian) A judge in Illinois revoked a mother’s right to visit her 11-year-old son because she refused to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. In what is believed to be an unprecedented ruling, Cook county judge James Shapiro said Rebecca Firlit, 39, who shares custody of her son with her divorced husband, could not see the boy again until she had taken the shot. “I was confused because it was just supposed to be about expenses and child support,” Firlit told the Chicago Sun-Times about the virtual court hearing, which took place earlier this month. “One of the first things he asked me when I got on the Zoom call was whether or not I was vaccinated, which threw me off because I asked him what it had to do with the hearing. “He said, ‘I am the judge, and I make the decisions for your case.’” Firlit’s lawyer, Annette Fernholz, said she had filed a legal challenge to the state appellate court, noting that the boy’s father had not been seeking such a ruling. Firlit, who has not said if she will get the vaccine, told the judge her decision not to take it was not political. “I’ve had adverse reactions to vaccines in the past and was advised not to get vaccinated by my doctor,” she said. “It poses a risk.” Her son, she said, was upset at not being allowed to see her and cries when they speak by phone.

Colombia’s Troubles Put a President’s Legacy on the Line (NYT) Iván Duque swept into Colombia’s presidency in 2018 as a young, little-known technocrat riding a surging right-wing movement. He tapped public anger against a peace deal that he said had treated the country’s deadly insurgents too softly. And he warned that the proposals of his left-wing opponent could stifle steady growth. Three years and a global pandemic later, it is Mr. Duque who is presiding over high unemployment and an angry electorate—and who is on the defensive about the steps he has taken to tame persistent violence by militants. Colombian voters go to the polls in May, when Gustavo Petro, a former presidential candidate, previous mayor of Bogotá and a onetime guerrilla member, could become the country’s furthest-left leader in its history at a time when leftists are again claiming victories across South America.

China limits children to 3 hours of online gaming a week (AP) China is banning children from playing online games for more than three hours a week, the harshest restriction so far on the game industry as Chinese regulators continue cracking down on the technology sector. Minors in China can only play games between 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays, weekends and on public holidays starting Sept. 1, according to a notice from the National Press and Publication Administration. That limits gaming to three hours a week for most weeks of the year, down from a previous restriction set in 2019 that allowed minors play games for an hour and a half per day and three hours on public holidays. The gaming restrictions are part of an ongoing crackdown on technology companies, amid concerns that technology firms—many of which provide ubiquitous messaging, payments and gaming services—may have an outsized influence on society. A state-affiliated newspaper has criticized the gaming industry and called games “spiritual opium.”

Taliban declare victory from Kabul airport (AP) The Taliban triumphantly marched into Kabul’s international airport on Tuesday, hours after the final U.S. troop withdrawal that ended America’s longest war. Standing on the tarmac, Taliban leaders pledged to secure the country, quickly reopen the airport and grant amnesty to former opponents. Getting the airport running again is just one of the sizeable challenges the Taliban face in governing a nation of 38 million people that for two decades had survived on billions of dollars in foreign aid. Just hours earlier, the U.S. military had wrapped up its largest airlift of non-combatants in history. On Tuesday morning, signs of the chaos of recent days were still visible. In the terminal, rifled luggage and clothes were strewn across the ground, alongside wads of documents. Concertina wire stills separated areas while overturned cars and parked vehicles blocked routes around the civilian airport—a sign of measures taken to protect against possible suicide car bombers entering the facility.

Moscow and Afghanistan (Washington Post) Russia’s ban on the Taliban as a terrorist group has not stopped Moscow officials from stepping in to support it by calling for the freeze on Afghanistan’s financial reserves to be lifted and for Western countries to lead a global conference to help rebuild the country’s economy. Russia’s presidential envoy for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said Monday that the international community should unfreeze the Afghan government’s reserves or risk a spike in illegal narcotics and arms traffic. Speaking to state-owned television, he also called for an international conference to support Afghanistan’s recovery under the Taliban’s leadership, so that the United States and its allies could “correct at least some of the mistakes they have made” in the past 20 years. Last week’s suicide bombing at the Kabul airport, claimed by the Islamic State-Khorasan, threw Russia’s fears about Afghanistan into sharp relief—that the Taliban’s governance effort could fail, that extremists affiliated with the Islamic State could gain a stronger foothold and that the country could slide into chaos, destabilizing Russia’s neighborhood. Moscow has been calling on the West to “accept the reality” of the Taliban’s victory, while pressing the Taliban to form a government that includes different political and ethnic groups. At the same time, Russian officials are warning that no one should expect the Taliban to meet Western standards for democracy and cultural and religious practices.

The Great Resignation is here (Wired) When Ashley was offered a job at a digital agency over Zoom during the last lockdown, they thought they had found the perfect set-up. Flexitime would be a given. Working from home would continue post-pandemic. The office would be a place to pop in only occasionally. By the time they’d started the new role six weeks later in Leeds, everything had changed. Cast iron guarantees of flexible hours had melted away. Promises of remote working had crumbled. Even before social restrictions had ended, staff were expected to be in the office every day, from 9am until 5.30pm. “It was incredibly frustrating,” Ashley recalls. “All these changes were done between my interview and my first day—and my new boss decided they didn’t need to explain their decision making.” Rather than ride out the disappointment and stick with the new role, Ashley decided to join ‘The Great Resignation’ and the millions of others who have quit their jobs over the spring and summer months. Workers are drafting up resignation emails, handing in their notices and heading for the exit door in their droves. The trend is worldwide. In the UK, job vacancies soared to an all-time high in July, with available posts surpassing one million for the first time. In the US, four million people quit their jobs in April—a 20-year high—followed by a record ten million jobs being available by the end of June. A Microsoft study has found that 41 per cent of the global workforce is considering leaving their employer this year. As more of the economy reopens following Covid vaccinations and the end of social restrictions, demand for talent is fast outstripping supply—it’s now an employee’s market.

#headlines #news

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