Items

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  2022-05-26

  From COVID-19 to shootings: Is mass death now tolerated in America?

  This is a news story from The Associated Press. Just recently, there have been over one million COVID deaths recorded in the United States. The author of this piece asks if Americans have just begun to tolerate mass death. Racial and social inequalities are also cited, where the author claims that those of certain backgrounds are more likely to die sooner or more violently. The COVID deaths are then related to the recent shooting deaths, such as in Buffalo and in Texas. While the gun violence deaths are lower than the COVID deaths, the author uses this to show that little is being done for either to help lessen the amount of deaths. I don't agree with the author completely on this due to dying from COVID being very different from dying from a mass shooter. With COVID, people could pass it along unknowingly and get someone infected, as it is an asymptomatic spread. With a mass shooter, it is much less predictable and far more sudden. From what I have seen on my social media, I did not see anyone I follow really mark the 1,000,000 COVID death milestone, but many have expressed outrage over both the Buffalo and Texas shootings. I don't think the question should be whether Americans accept mass death or not, but of methods of prevention. Obviously, gun ownership won't solve all problems. The police that had guns were waiting outside the school as the shooter was slaughtering kids and adults. Though, one man with a gun, a border patrol agent, is who finally shot the mass shooter and killed him. This is more of a question of character, as well as how competent police forces are in these scenarios. I do not think the author made a fair comparison because protecting yourself from COVID to prevent death would be an entirely different process than protecting yourself from a mass shooter. While the goal of preserving life is the same, the methods differ. Outrage isn't an issue because I have seen people upset over death from COVID and mass shootings. The main problem I see is that people have trouble coming together on a solution.
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  2022-05-09

  I can't even make this up anymore

  First off, I do not agree with the attached pdf to this story. When I first looked at this awful website, and saw that they had FREE DOWNLOADABLE PRINTS, I immediately sighed because this is the type of stuff that's turning people AWAY from getting a vaccine. These people are the reason why people can't trust "media". It is also very obvious that these people have never taken a history or any type of political science class in their lives. Let's analyze a little bit of what they say. First off, in their step 1 of "create a problem" they compare COVID-19 to something like the flu. Given, I'm sure people have died from the flu. I mean, the influenza pandemic was a thing in 1918. Also important that they even wore masks then! Their step 2 is "provoke a terrified reaction". What I'm getting from this is, we shouldn't be worried. But we should. Any pandemic should be worrying. I can also guarantee you as well that these people didn't give a shit when the AIDS/HIV Epidemic was literally killing so many queer people at an alarming rate, and wasn't addressed until 6 years later after it started. Anyways, the steps that talk about "contact tracing" and "health passports" things are interesting. They talk about surveillance, but surveillance has been happening since the dawn of time. I'm sure muslim's everywhere in the United States could talk more about surveillance than I could as a white person. Health passports? You have to have certain vaccines to attend public school or even a public university. Also, actual passports are a thing. You know, the thing you need to tell other people who you are and where you're from when you visit their country. I'm going to jump to step 10's "Impose a Cashless Economy," anyone that has ever handled cash during a job knows how gross cash is. This pamphlet must've been when the pandemic first happened, because that's when my last job couldn't take cash because we were too afraid to touch anything. Now knowing the information I know now, a lot of places take cash now. But also, people are gross. Half of the time, people are sneezing into their hands or not washing their hands and come out of the bathroom and go to pay and give you cash. Don't even get me started on people pulling money out of their bras. Throughout this entire pdf, they talk about the elite. Which is probably the only thing I agree with them because the rich got richer during the lockdown and even made prices higher. This type of propaganda could be harmful to someone that was already on the fence about vaccines, but the fact that this information is out there instead of the actual science based truth is harmful. It uses familiar words from history to persuade people to not get the vaccine.
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  2021-10-03

  A Century Later

  A look at a global pandemic from a 21st century American point of view, nearly a decade after the last pandemic of the world.
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  2020-09-18

  Sex Work in Africa During Covid-19

  As subsaharan Africa already had a pandemic of HIV/AIDS prior to Covid, it has made sex work even more dangerous in Africa. For many, it has also lead to a reduced income and increased harassment.
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  2020-07-14

  What Happens When A Pandemic And An Epidemic Collide

  From the article: "The ability of the world to mobilize quickly in the fight against COVID-19 owes a lot to the groundwork laid in the fight against HIV, said Dr. Deborah Birx, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy. She is a member of the White House's coronavirus task force. 'It's the platforms that we've built together and the relationships that are going to be our solutions not only for HIV but our response to COVID-19 around the world,' she said in remarks at the virtual AIDS conference."