[Garak]

I have a relative, a doctor - ENT specialist, and he's in full panic paranoia mode. Firmly convinced this is all the Chinese waging WW3 on everyone.

[Mezla PigDog]

I've been too busy to watch Johnson's address on Sunday or pay close attention to the latest guidance since it didn't change anything for our house (lucky middle class wankers who can work from home in perpetuity). Now I am caught up I am really quite appalled. Basically low paid workers are being forced back out into the world while community transmission is still too high for our limited test, track and trace system to cope and the NHS doesn't have the PPE to keep healthcare workers safe.

I can only assume they have made a calculated risk knowing that testing and PPE consumable stocks are not going to improve so they gone with herd immunity and hoping for the best with scientific and technological breakthroughs. Maybe in a couple of weeks they expect test, track and trace will be better. That or the Tory hawks have won and people like me who can stay at home can control our destiny while others less fortunate have to go out and risk it. I do wonder if some of the scientists might resign soon.

It is a force of nature and to some extent people are going to die regardless but if you can't protect the healthcare workers or teachers you are forcing out there on behalf of the government then surely there are laws in existence in this country to prove the UK government is being criminally negligent making policy that will definitely increase the rate of infection.

My sons nursery emailed today saying they are preparing to reopen on 1st June. He's in private nursery as he isn't old enough for school yet. They follow government guidance for nurseries but they are a private enterprise. How do I know the older staff aren't being forced back to work when they would rather not? I have no idea what the right thing to do is.

[Macros]

i was going to send that link to my work colleague who thinks its all a hoax, but as Tiste says, he will just respond "sure the dentist and opera singer were fine, it was all paranoia!"

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Germany Sees New Coronavirus Cases Nearly Triple As Infection Rate Rises After Lockdown Restrictions Eased

[...] Still, the German government has moved forward with easing lockdown measures over the past week. Shops and schools have reopened, and Germany's national football league, Bundesliga, aims to become the first major European league to restart competitions. Restaurants and museums have reopened as well in some parts of the country.

With the reopening, Merkel[...] issued guidance for Germany's regions to put an "emergency brake" on eased lockdown restrictions if necessary. Three parts of the country have already applied the measures.'

https://www.newsweek...ictions-1503512

'Britain is in a lonely place right now. It resembles the scene of a bad traffic accident where shocked passers-by look away with pity and horror in their eyes. Alarmed by what they see, governments around the world practise their own form of social distancing. Once again, Britain is the sick man of Europe.'

https://www.theguard...k-man-of-europe

'It's no accident Britain and America are the world's biggest coronavirus losers

The world's highest coronavirus death tolls belong to two countries whose leaders came to power promising the restoration of greatness and control – the United States and Great Britain. Neither can claim to have been caught by surprise: both nations had the benefit of time, ample scientific warnings, and the cautionary examples of China and Italy.

[...] Here in the UK, we comforted ourselves with the belief that while our own buffoonish rightwing leader had his faults, at least he was no Donald Trump. But in the end, Boris Johnson has managed to stumble over even this lowest of hurdles. The UK government's response to the crisis has turned out to be nearly as flippant and ill-prepared as the US's.

Two nations that prided themselves on their extraordinary economic, historical and political status have been brought to their knees. Their fall from grace is the outcome of a damaged political culture and distinct form of Anglo-American capitalism.

[...] By the time Covid-19 hit their shores, the UK and US were lacking not just the politicians but the bureaucracies required to respond effectively. [...] The intellectual and practical infrastructure to deal with facts had been vandalised.


[...] A nurse will wear a bin liner as PPE in the US for longer than a failing bank can go unfinanced.

Hollow triumphalism about making America great again and Britain taking back control becomes more and more likely in such a system. Trump and the Tories alighted on this formula not entirely out of mendacity or ideology. Without radically challenging Anglo-American capitalism, they have nothing else to offer their voters. And so they must separate economic suffering from politics, and attempt to blame it on immigrants and outsiders. They must blame other countries and international institutions – the EU, WHO, Nato – for the feelings of helplessness experienced by their own citizens. The swagger is a facade. Behind it hides a rotting national landscape.

As the bodies pile up, the failure of the US and the UK will be somehow spun into victory. The triumphalism will intensify; that is certain. The only question now is how many will continue to believe it.'

https://www.theguard...onavirus-crisis

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 12 May 2020 - 08:27 PM

[Malankazooie]

Item in my newspaper about reduced reporting of child abuse the past two months. Not a good thing, because teachers are the front line defenders of children and are obligated, by law, to report any evidence of abuse. With schools closed, these cases are going unreported. I hope that when we are on the other side of this, there will be a reexamination of how we view the roles of teachers and compensate them accordingly. Teachers have been undervalued and underpaid for far too long.

[amphibian]

Malankazooie, on 12 May 2020 - 09:33 PM, said:

Item in my newspaper about reduced reporting of child abuse the past two months. Not a good thing, because teachers are the front line defenders of children and are obligated, by law, to report any evidence of abuse. With schools closed, these cases are going unreported. I hope that when we are on the other side of this, there will be a reexamination of how we view the roles of teachers and compensate them accordingly. Teachers have been undervalued and underpaid for far too long.

I agree that teachers need to be paid more.

However, I do not think that can happen under the current taxation/educational funding scheme across the country. People get fucken livid if their school taxes go up 2% in a year. People also think that the schools should magically get funding from the federal government and then refuse to force the rich and the corporations to pay their taxes, so they get jammed with all the taxes that they think the schools should be getting and get mad over that or "just move to the places with the good schools and pay taxes there".

It's an extremely terrible situation and the teachers union is trying to change it slowly. But it's damned hard to change something this big and this entrenched.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

I've been contemplating the likely effects of COVID-19 on office buildings, particularly since I haven't sold all my shares in one office-heavy REIT yet.

'Office REITs at risk as companies rethink WFH policy

REITs overall take a beating in today's session as uncertainty continues over whether businesses will be able to reopen soon.

But office REITs face the question of whether demand will permanently shrink as companies allow more employees to work from home and rethink the cost of renting space in expensive cities.'

Experts seem to favor the idea that WFH will decrease demand for office space. However, long-term leases are difficult to get out of... so long as businesses don't go out of business. Some of the comments on this article sum up other countervailing possibilities:

'I think the following points favor office space over the long term:
1. WFH for some is a burden, not a perk
2. Productivity related to WFH will have been found to have decreased during the pandemic
3. How do you on-board new employees? WFH might be an easier transition for employees, who have worked for a company for a while, but imagine what it is like for a newbie?
4. People, especially younger, want to live in cities. So, does one really want to spend all day & night in their studio apt.?
5. Everyone looks at WFH as temporary, which is a mental salve, but I am sure if you told people it was permanent, some would simply freak!
6. Wait for all the cybersecurity breaches to come, associated with WFH...
7. Some of us have kids at home.
There will be some offsets to WFH as well. Like more space between employees in the office. Less bullpen like office setups and a return to individual offices as a perk for certain employees.'

https://seekingalpha...hink-wfh-policy

It was apparently widely assumed before the pandemic that work from home is generally less productive than working in the office. However, some studies show that at least for certain jobs WFH is more productive and leads to happier employees. OTOH, just as the US apparently soured on contactless card payment after rushing the technology in a non-ergonomic form, delaying its widespread adoption, a slapdash move towards virtual work could make it seem bad for productivity... especially if general pandemic, job security, and economic fears are making it difficult for employees to focus and reducing productivity. But employers may take all that into consideration when evaluating the effectiveness of WFH, and weigh it against what they may save in rent.

'Crowded meetings in conference rooms also won't be possible. Emanuel said his conference room that normally fits approximately 25 people could hold maybe six or seven well-spaced people, but even then, there's still a risk. Others said even that seemed too optimistic. While some workers might enjoy the extra arm room, the amount of space needed would also likely require employers to stagger schedules to avoid overflow. "You'll have to limit the number of people who can come in," said Emanuel. He suggested employers might do things like have people with even birthdays come in one day, and people with odd days come in another, then shake it up according to people's social security numbers. "So you're not seeing only the same seven people in your office," Emanuel explained.

[...] Bringing WFH-ers back will be exponentially trickier for those companies who have rented space in high-rises with elevators in cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. "Those might be the last places that people return to work," said Mina. "In particular, elevators are a great way to spread a lot of virus around." "I'd rather go to a concert," said Gordon. Emanuel agreed crowded elevators "can't happen. We're not going to be able to do that." Instead, Emanuel said, office buildings will need to allow a maximum of 2-3 people at a time'

https://www.vice.com...-long-long-time

'Surprise! Work-from-home makes staff more productive

Harvard Business Review report notes how personal and professional lines blur, resulting in more work hours.

[...] This early, it appears that human resources managers' worst fears about WFH—that, freed from eagle-eyed surveillance by supervisors, employees will slack off and waste valuable time binge-watching K-dramas or updating their social media—seem to be unfounded. In fact, the opposite could be happening.

[...] Whether it's because they're channeling their anxiety about the future, energized by not having to spend hours commuting to work, or just happy to still have a job, employees working from home are, believe it or not, working too much.

An article in Harvard Business Review pointed out that the risk of "WFH burnout" is substantial.

"The lines between work and nonwork are blurring in new and unusual ways, and many employees who are working remotely for the first time are likely to struggle to preserve healthy boundaries between their professional and personal lives."

A headline on the Bloomberg business website says it all: "Three Hours Longer, the Pandemic Workday Has Obliterated Work-Life Balance."

The article noted that some companies have noticed productivity increases, even as employees report feeling more stressed than usual.'

https://lifestyle.in...ore-productive/

'Microsoft finds their engineers are not slacking when Working from Home #WFH'

https://www.newsbrea...g-from-home-wfh

Employee home surveillance could also become ubiquitous and replace office supervision:

'Just because you're working from home doesn't mean your boss isn't watching you
Software that monitors remote employees is seeing a sales boom.'

https://www.vice.com...-long-long-time

Increased WFH will decrease commuting, and perhaps decrease automobile sales, hindering automation ETFs that rely on automobile manufacturing (though the likely exodus from public transport and acceleration of the transition to robotaxis and self-driving cars is likely to increase demand, as it already has in China---at least in areas where public transport and taxis are major means of transportation).

My particular holdings are near NIH, so who knows, maybe they could be repurposed as lab space?...

Much of the economy should probably be abolished anyway. Beyond simple subsistence and health, humanity's economic priorities should be science, technological improvements, and (as a distance fifth element, in terms of expenditures at least) the arts. The pandemic has gotten us closer to that rational ideal.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 13 May 2020 - 12:17 AM

[Cause]

If offices collapse I imagine we might finally seee cheap housing

[Macros]

don't be silly cause.

that would benefit filthy poor people

[EmperorMagus]

[quote name='Azath Vitr (D'ivers' ...
Much of the economy should probably be abolished anyway. Beyond simple subsistence and health, humanity's economic priorities should be science, technological improvements, and (as a distance fifth element, in terms of expenditures at least) the arts. The pandemic has gotten us closer to that rational ideal.
[/quote]

This a value judgement. There is nothing rational about it.

I also think it highly unlikely that WFH is here to stay.

I'm fairly certain that firms are seeing a massive productivity drop right now due to the fact that people in their homes are a lot less likely to focus on their work.

I would personally be pissed if my employer did not provide me with a space to work in.

Edit: And by firms I don't mean Microsoft and their engineers. But fields where the employees are not as technologically sophisticated. Let's say insurance companies, banks, etc.

This post has been edited by EmperorMagus: 13 May 2020 - 08:19 AM

[QuickTidal]

 billgates.png (545.58K)
Number of downloads: 0

[Tiste Simeon]

Is there a backstory to that QT?

[QuickTidal]

Tiste Simeon, on 15 May 2020 - 01:20 PM, said:

Is there a backstory to that QT?

You didn't hear? Gates is being held up as one of the people supposedly causing the virus because he wants to 'chip people to track them with a vaccine'....he's one of the big "boogeymen" of the Open Up movement.

It's disgusting, but they needed a boogeyman to rail against and because Gates has the wherewithal to help fund seeking a vaccine and is vocal about it....he's the target.

And no amount of reasoning with people who all are holding and posting from devices that ALREADY do a pretty solid job of "tracking them"...the irony is lost on them....as is the irony of the fact that Gates is one of maybe three people responsible for the whole of personal computers that these people use in their daily lives...

[Tiste Simeon]

Man people are stupid. I hadn't heard this latest round of idiocy though.

[Malankazooie]

I blame Windows 95 and Internet Explorer.

..... also, don't google "Plandemic".

[Tiste Simeon]

Oh I've heard of that I'm staying well away.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Asked whether they plan to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if and when a vaccine arrives, a majority of Americans (55 percent) say yes.

The rest — a significant minority — say they won’t get vaccinated (19 percent) or they’re not sure (26 percent).

If those results were to hold, tens or even hundreds of millions of unimmunized Americans could ultimately undermine any vaccine’s ability to stop the spread of the virus.'

https://news.yahoo.c...-143852222.html

'Prominent evangelical pastors, including one who has since died of COVID-19, have promoted baseless claims about Bill Gates, implantable microchips that could be used to control the population under the guise of tracking COVID-19 infections and immunity, and a link between coronavirus vaccination and the mark of the beast, a signifier, in biblical prophecy, of submission to the Antichrist. Such ideas have since spread beyond evangelical circles.'

[...] “one of the reasons why they have the dedicated political base that they do and … why they support [Trump] the way they do is because they truly believe they’re engaged in an end-times war, and everything from ‘happy holidays’ to vaccinations extends from that.”

[...] Sexton said that since the start of the pandemic, he’s observed what he described as the “quick radicalization” of several family members and childhood friends taking place within his own Facebook feed.

“I’m seeing a lot of people who, in the past, I would’ve characterized as mildly conservative, who are now embracing extreme views,” he said. “I think that the pandemic has not only brought up the narrative of the end times and conspiracies against Christians, but it’s also led to people looking for something to give them an answer, because obviously the government hasn’t done it.”'

https://news.yahoo.c...-183249943.html

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Be 100% Skeptical of 100% Coronavirus Cure
Sorrento Therapeutics claims it has a cure for the new coronavirus, sending its stock surging
Little-known Sorrento Therapeutics announced Friday that an antibody it is developing demonstrated full inhibition of the new coronavirus. "We want to emphasize there is a cure. There is a solution that works 100 percent," CEO Henry Ji told Fox News. The stock had more than doubled by midday as daytraders cheered the apparent end to society's troubles.'

https://www.wsj.com/...ure-11589564968

'Tiny Biotech Sorrento Claims It Has A Coronavirus Cure

[...] It's important to note Sorrento's test was preclinical. This means the biotech company hasn't yet tested its experimental coronavirus treatment in humans [as opposed to human cells in petri dishes etc.].'

https://www.investor...ys-it-has-cure/

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 15 May 2020 - 06:12 PM

[Cause]

Azath Vitr (D, on 15 May 2020 - 06:11 PM, said:

'Be 100% Skeptical of 100% Coronavirus Cure
Sorrento Therapeutics claims it has a cure for the new coronavirus, sending its stock surging
Little-known Sorrento Therapeutics announced Friday that an antibody it is developing demonstrated full inhibition of the new coronavirus. "We want to emphasize there is a cure. There is a solution that works 100 percent," CEO Henry Ji told Fox News. The stock had more than doubled by midday as daytraders cheered the apparent end to society's troubles.'

https://www.wsj.com/...ure-11589564968

'Tiny Biotech Sorrento Claims It Has A Coronavirus Cure

[...] It's important to note Sorrento's test was preclinical. This means the biotech company hasn't yet tested its experimental coronavirus treatment in humans [as opposed to human cells in petri dishes etc.].'

https://www.investor...ys-it-has-cure/

The leap from in vitro to in vivo is the difference between going to the gorcery story and the moon. The drug may interact badly with who knows what in the body, the bioavalbilty of the drug where it is needed may end being zero, there may be an enzyme in the body whcih destroys the drug. They know waht they are doing and what they are doing is spiking the stock price. The announcment is premature and irresponsible. Im sure the other scientists on the forum will agree.

I remember once listening to a presentation in south africa, a man claimed to have found an active ingredient from an african plant which cures maleria. He jst needed to identify excactly which compound in the plant killed the parasite. However he had trouble solubilziing the plant compounds in water so he added DMSO, a powerful solubilizng agent to his mix. Ill never forget the look on his face when my supervisor at the time asked him, did he do a control to check that its not just the DMSO, it also shreds biological membranes to such a degree that if you touch it with your finger you will taste it on your tongue, that is killing the maleria. Miracle cure bit the dust.

[Tsundoku]

Cause, on 15 May 2020 - 10:13 PM, said:

Azath Vitr (D, on 15 May 2020 - 06:11 PM, said:

'Be 100% Skeptical of 100% Coronavirus Cure
Sorrento Therapeutics claims it has a cure for the new coronavirus, sending its stock surging
Little-known Sorrento Therapeutics announced Friday that an antibody it is developing demonstrated full inhibition of the new coronavirus. "We want to emphasize there is a cure. There is a solution that works 100 percent," CEO Henry Ji told Fox News. The stock had more than doubled by midday as daytraders cheered the apparent end to society's troubles.'

https://www.wsj.com/...ure-11589564968

'Tiny Biotech Sorrento Claims It Has A Coronavirus Cure

[...] It's important to note Sorrento's test was preclinical. This means the biotech company hasn't yet tested its experimental coronavirus treatment in humans [as opposed to human cells in petri dishes etc.].'

https://www.investor...ys-it-has-cure/

The leap from in vitro to in vivo is the difference between going to the gorcery story and the moon. The drug may interact badly with who knows what in the body, the bioavalbilty of the drug where it is needed may end being zero, there may be an enzyme in the body whcih destroys the drug. They know waht they are doing and what they are doing is spiking the stock price. The announcment is premature and irresponsible. Im sure the other scientists on the forum will agree.

I remember once listening to a presentation in south africa, a man claimed to have found an active ingredient from an african plant which cures maleria. He jst needed to identify excactly which compound in the plant killed the parasite. However he had trouble solubilziing the plant compounds in water so he added DMSO, a powerful solubilizng agent to his mix. Ill never forget the look on his face when my supervisor at the time asked him, did he do a control to check that its not just the DMSO, it also shreds biological membranes to such a degree that if you touch it with your finger you will taste it on your tongue, that is killing the maleria. Miracle cure bit the dust.

So in Trumplogic: inject the DMSO ...