Items

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  2022-03-31

  Suicide Statistics Against Queer Youth

  Suicide statistics against queer youth released by the CDC in the first half of 2021. According to the CDC, 1 in 4 queer children attempted suicide.
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  2022-01-18

  Is ‘fat positivity’ healthy or dangerous? COVID puts the question in stark relief

  This is a news story from New York Daily News by Cathy Young. This is an opinion piece questioning what body positive activists have been claiming about obesity and COVID, with many claiming weight has little to no effect on recovering from COVID. Quoting the CDC, Young says that obesity puts people at greater risk of dying from COVID than those of normal weight. Other parts of this opinion piece deal with the language surrounding the body positive movement, and how there is no distinction made between listening to medical advice and getting harassed. The author says that this is a major issue because it makes it so people reject sound medical advice at the expense of their own health. She says that while outright harassment is cruel, genuine concern and wanting people to improve their well-being is not. There is also criticism towards feminist writers in this article, such as Kate Manne, a philosophy professor from Cornell University, that claims all dieting is "morally bad." Young acknowledges that dieting can be unhealthy, but it is not unhealthy in and of itself. She thinks that if you have realistic goals, maintaining a healthy weight is not impossible. At the end, Young explains that this body positivity movement is destructive towards people, and that those struggling with weight issues should be met with compassion, but not "acceptance." This essay shows some of the social impacts of COVID. With some people reporting weight gain during lockdowns, it is easy to see why body positivity would be encouraged as a result. Though, since obesity puts one at higher risk for more complications with COVID, or any other disease for that matter, it should not be encouraged, in my own opinion. It is one thing to be shaped differently, it is quite another to accept being obese when it poses many health risks.
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  2022-04-15

  Moderna is Developing Two New Vaccines-- And One Could Protect Against the Common Cold

  This is a news story by health.com written by Alyssa Hui. This story is about Moderna expanding its biotechnology into creating new vaccines using similar techniques the COVID vaccines have used. One of these vaccines will be used to help combat RSV, which is a virus that hospitalizes an average of 177,000 adults per year, according to the CDC. Another illness that Moderna is looking to use vaccines against are four other endemic human coronaviruses. Moderna does not claim they offer 100% guaranteed protection, but that they can benefit people greatly for reducing chances of contracting certain illnesses. Moderna wants to ensure that the vaccines are safe and will go through testing procedures to do so. They are hoping that there will be more uses for mRNA style vaccines in the future, and not just for the coronavirus.
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  2020-12-25

  Christmas

  This picture of a mask is one I wore throughout the holiday season. I wore it seeing family, going in public, and going to establishments. While I have been wearing them throughout the pandemic I wore them a lot more during the holiday season. This made my christmas different because I had to distance and wear a mask the entire time around the people I’ve known the longest for the first time ever.
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  2020-05-05

  Coping Strategies for LEOs and First Responders

  First Responders, by nature of the job, daily charged with helping people through their worst moments and traumatic events. Some might say that first responders should be able to handle it, after all, they signed up for the job. But first responders, just like the rest of us, are human. No one can ever really be prepared to handle stress like that on a day after day after day after day basis. In order to help out first responders, the CDC created this website with information on how to deal with the usual stress of the job plus the new issues and problems that 2020 has decided to throw at us. I thought it important to include here, not just for posterity, but the more places this information is posted, the more available and easily accessible it is for someone who may need it, but not know where to look.
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  2020-03-29

  Fauci Estimates That 100,000 To 200,000 Americans Could Die From The Coronavirus

  However, Fauci cautioned people not to put too much emphasis on predictions noting that, "it's such a moving target, that you could so easily be wrong and mislead people."