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8 votes
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Elon Musk’s ‘Vegas Loop’ called a ‘death trap’ as Las Vegas traffic piles up
16 votes -
What ‘The Squad’ tells us about progressives’ ability to win voters of color
10 votes -
‘Drive My Car’ takes Best Picture prize at National Society Of Film Critics Awards
3 votes -
Do you feel like many systems are on the verge of collapse?
My post will be US-centric, because that's where I live, but obviously you're welcome to talk about your own location as well. With this new COVID-19/Omicron surge, strange things are afoot....
My post will be US-centric, because that's where I live, but obviously you're welcome to talk about your own location as well.
With this new COVID-19/Omicron surge, strange things are afoot. Specifically, those in charge of our systems and government have chose to ignore it, rather than institute more shut downs, mandates, stimuli, etc. It appears as though the plan now is to let it burn through the population and see how that shakes out.
But if you peruse r/nursing and r/teachers like I do, you can really see how deep the cracks are becoming. Infections are up, as are hospitalizations, and with more and more professionals out sick, we're seeing huge staff shortages in both education and health care. These industries in particular are essential, and the professionals in these jobs are on the front line of our problems. Health care professionals obviously need to be there to help the sick. And teachers need to be there not only to teach, but so that parents can go to work. They're being sacrificed to our economy.
But as teachers, for example, get sick or get burned out and quit, it puts continued strain on the education system as a whole. We're already seeing staff shortages in other areas of education, such as food service, bus drivers, substitutes, paraprofessionals. With how contagious this variant is, it's only a matter of time until school systems collapse in on themselves due to a lack of people running the show. And when kids have no place to go, parents will have to figure something out or stay home themselves, pulling them away from their jobs and their income.
With all help being pulled away from Americans--help such as eviction moratoriums, financial stimulus, unemployment benefits--what might happen if these things begin to cascade? There are already plenty of anecdotal reports from those in health care that hospitals are full, short staffed, and falling (and you can check here to see hospital status in your state). It can take hours, if not days, to find a bed for someone in the ER. As for education, increasingly both teachers and students are out sick with COVID, yet administrations are fighting tooth and nail against any kind of remote learning, only exacerbating the problem. Remote learning, as you know, requires a parent to be home with the child, which takes them away from work, income, and economic productivity.
And meanwhile, the media seems mostly quiet about how things are actually going. The line is that Omicron is "mild" but if you look at hospitals and schools, it seems like that might just be verbiage to reduce panic in the populace. Omicron isn't mild for the health care system. Better hope you don't get in a car accident. And in medical terms, "mild" is a pretty broad thing. It could mean you're home sick for two weeks, feeling like death, but not bad enough to be hospitalized.
And then there are other front line workers, grocery stores, supply chain, all experiencing similar sickness and staff shortages. But I haven't been keeping up with that as much lately as I have been with education and health care. If anybody has information about these sectors, I'd love to hear it.
My gut feeling is that the economy is actually on the verge of collapse, and this "let it rip!" strategy is a hail mary to see if the status quo can be maintained by sacrificing the health and well-being of a lot of people. Any other mitigation efforts could topple the economy as we know it (and as those at the top benefit from it), so the people in charge of our systems have decided that we're not going to try to fix things, we're just going to hope it works out in the end and deal with the death and illness. For me, the proverbial canary in the coal mine for this was the recent extension of the student loan payment pause. Borrowers had been blasted for months, both phone calls and emails, telling them that loans would need to be paid after January 31st, it was happening, get ready for it. And then poof... nope. Extended. The government knows. People are stretched thin as it is and restarting loan payments could be the thing that triggers the economy to tumble. Even if borrowers can pay, it sucks money out of the consumer economy which can have far-reaching effects.
Many, if not most people are absolutely fatigued by this pandemic. I am, you probably are. But it has revealed so many cracks in our flawed system and it really feels like the people in charge of things--whoever that is--are gripping on for dear life, just hoping the flaws can remain because it benefits them, praying that the system holds. I just don't see it. I don't see how we make it through this without some kind of major fall. People want to ignore it all, because it's frightening and it's negative, but it's happening right in front of our eyes. Our most important systems are broken and those with the power to fix them aren't doing it.
I'm curious as to what Tildes thinks.
31 votes -
Q shaman prison interview
13 votes -
ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia exploring sale of the CW
4 votes -
California police search and detain trans women at [very] high rates
9 votes -
Webb telescope successfully unfurls its tennis court-size sunshield in space
26 votes -
2021 was the year lawmakers tried to regulate online speech
10 votes -
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes found guilty
26 votes -
A kind consideration: Sign up for your country's bone marrow registry
As the new year is setting in, I wanted to give a shout out and advocate to this great cause that has the potential to drastically change someone's life. Be The Match is a US-based organization...
As the new year is setting in, I wanted to give a shout out and advocate to this great cause that has the potential to drastically change someone's life. Be The Match is a US-based organization that supports signing up people for the national bone marrow registry where if you are a match, you could help someone overcome a variety of ailments such as leukemias, lymphomas, aplastic anemia, immune deficiency disorders, and some solid tumor cancers.
Signing up is very easy. You will use the previous link to sign up, they mail you a swab which you will use to swab your mouth, and you mail it back. The information is added to the registry and if you are a match, will receive some communication letting you know of the need. They compensate you for travel and expenses so if you have to miss work, you will still receive money for any lost wages. I know the actual procedure can sound frightening but I can guarantee if you are called upon to donate, that it will be one of the rarest opportunities we get in life to truly assist someone in need. I have personally not gone through the full donation process but was under consideration a couple of years ago as a potential donor. If you don't meet the qualifications to donate, please consider sharing the sign up link with someone who you think may be willing.
I'm not aware of similar organizations in other countries but if you have the knowledge for a specific country, please post in the comments below.
15 votes -
We still haven’t properly reckoned with Monsanto’s destruction
13 votes -
Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of January 3
This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...
This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.
This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.
8 votes -
Public Domain Day 2022: Works from 1926 are open to all
20 votes -
By 2025, American democracy could collapse, causing extreme domestic political instability, including widespread civil violence. By 2030, the country could be governed by a right-wing dictatorship.
26 votes -
US Capitol rioters’ tears, remorse don’t spare them from jail
16 votes -
What happened in Colorado was something much scarier than a wildfire
14 votes -
Emirates’ (probably) terrifying Boeing 777 flight to Washington
8 votes -
US schoolteacher says she spent five hours in voluntary self-isolation in a plane's toilet after testing positive for Covid-19 on a flight to Iceland
8 votes -
Betty White dies: Legendary ‘Golden Girls’ star and multiple Emmy award winner was 99
39 votes -
NASA says Webb’s excess fuel likely to extend its lifetime expectations
19 votes -
GM heralded this plant as a model for its electric car future. Then its batteries started exploding
8 votes -
List of Seinfeld fictional films
10 votes -
John Madden, Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster, dies at 85
10 votes -
Video shows Los Angeles police officer open fire in shooting that killed teen girl
7 votes -
Iran nuclear talks resume with Tehran focused on sanctions relief
5 votes -
Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of December 27
This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...
This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.
This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.
6 votes -
Utah billionaire leaves Mormon church, donates $600,000 to LGBTQ group
13 votes -
Our ladies of the perpetual high
9 votes -
The carpetbagger’s guide to home ownership
4 votes -
Twenty years ago, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings changed the future of Hollywood
5 votes -
Joan Didion, ‘new journalist’ who explored culture and chaos, dies at 87
4 votes -
Rushad Eggleston -- guitar fantasy # 1 (2020)
3 votes -
Nirvana attorneys seek dismissal of ‘Nevermind’ ‘child porn’ lawsuit, calling it too late and too ‘absurd’
9 votes -
Pokey Lafarge - Fine To Me (2021)
2 votes -
US Army creates single vaccine against all COVID and SARS variants, researchers say
15 votes -
“They just came and started breaking houses”: After our investigation prompted action in Congress, a major Dominican sugar exporter razed workers’ homes as US diplomats drew near
8 votes -
The White House will freeze Federal student loan repayments until May 1
22 votes -
Inside China and Hollywood’s frayed relationship: ‘We need to stop trying to keep the status quo, because the status quo is gone’
2 votes -
Rebuilding the Oroville Dam spillways
7 votes -
LA Film Critics Awards: ‘Drive My Car’ wins Best Picture, ‘Power of the Dog’ runner-up
2 votes -
Lorne Michaels considering ‘SNL’ retirement: “A really good time to leave”
5 votes -
Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of December 20
This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...
This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.
This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.
7 votes -
Inside the fall of Kabul: An on-the-ground account
6 votes -
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (Glitch Mob Remix) (2011)
7 votes -
When Jimmy Stewart played the villain
4 votes -
The National Conservatism Conference and the shifting priorities of the American Right
4 votes -
Starcadian - Culture (2021)
4 votes -
On communicating accurately with Americans
11 votes