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General News COVID- 19 a.k.a. Coronavirus

Discussion in 'Current Events, World News, & LGBT News' started by Kyrielles, Mar 13, 2020.

  1. Nightlight

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    As for me, I'm more concerned about any impacts that COVID-19 would bring to the world. Some sources say that there will be inflation to the economy. I miss going to the gym now, which I kind of hated going before this happened.
     
    #41 Nightlight, Mar 24, 2020
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2020
  2. CyclingFan

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    I'm not sure what country in East Asia you live in, but have you experienced a lot of inflation there? And by you, I don't necessarily mean you, but your country, and recently?

    I'm in the US. We last had inflation that was 'bad' (and it wasn't destroyingly so), roughly 40 years ago. Here, we have "overlearned" the dangers of it, so tiny amounts cause a lot of people to freak out at even tiny amounts. Too bad they didn't react that way to COVID-19 :slight_smile:

    Inflation can of course be bad, especially if it gets out of control. There are long cultural memories of wheelbarrels of cash that should be worth a lot of money, but are suddenly useless. But just as destructive, maybe even more crushing, is deflation, and that's the real risk here. If a stimulus is too much, maybe we get some mild more inflation than we've expected. But if the stimulus is too little, we get deflationary pressure, as debts become unpayable, the whole thing seizes up, and Great Depression 2.

    I'd actually be happy to see a couple % of inflation. It would be like a mild fever that fights off the infection
     
  3. Nightlight

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    Since I haven't experienced any huge inflation in my lifetime, I wouldn't be able to identify it immediately.
    I read this from a Korean article, quoted from an American person named Billy Bambrough? He apparently writes for Forbes magazine.The point of the article was that Bitcoins are going to be super important in future economic systems. I'm no economics expert, so I just read it and went "Ahhh cool I guess?" Bitcoins are supposedly unstable investments I've heard...
     
    #43 Nightlight, Mar 25, 2020
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2020
  4. DecentOne

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    I’m being very careful in social distancing. I don’t think I’ve been in a room with other people (other than my wife) for a week (for an essential quick trip to get groceries), even longer since I’d been at work (I can work from home, and we all have been home for more than two weeks). I used the drive-thru to pick up my medicine from the pharmacy this week, so didn’t even go inside for that.

    I’m very concerned about what social distancing is doing for mental health. I need to see people. I’ve found that I can go out for a walk after dinner on nice nights and see people walking their dogs. We don’t have to come within 10 feet of each other, just wave and say “hi”. I am missing my LGBTQ center and hobby group, but the hobby group has started checking in by video conference so we’re not feeling so isolated.

    This social distancing must be so awful for kids who are not out to their parents, and are feeling trapped at home 24/7. Our LGBTQ center is trying to get some of us adults (I said yes) to help with online video/voice conferencing for support groups that otherwise were a lifeline to the younger participants.

    Stay safe and healthy folks. Isolate your physical self (your body, and the bodies of at-risk loved ones will thank you), but find ways to have social support virtually (your mental health will thank you, as will your friends).
     
  5. Michael

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    Same here! It's frustrating at many levels. We can only do our best self isolating, keeping the social distance,etc.
    We might make it. We've had enough bad news! Right now we need to keep this faith alive, not spread more negativity. When people are demoralized, they just give up and forget to take precautions.
    Again, we might make it, if we all cooperate and stay calm.

    I'm not sure which country you are in, but please try to reach local social services, and your landlord. Explain the situation to them. Isn't there any local community of ex-pats that could be of any assistance, give you good advice? There must be...
    Keep in mind this is not your fault, and we are all together in this.
    I'll be thinking of you.
     
  6. alwaysforever

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    We've been in a lock-down here for a couple of days. I have spent a lot of time alone over the years, so isolating hasn't been too bad. It's been eye opening to see how much friends struggle. I worry about family members working in hospitals, and friends who work in essential services.
     
  7. CyclingFan

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    Everytime I hear someone pump up Bitcoins or other 'cryptocurrency', I always want to know, and have verified, what their position is in it. Any investment really, but these are a bit of a gray area currently. Heck, even the provisions on disclosure on stocks and bonds in the US have been weakened over time.

    Forbes used to be considered a good business magazine, but with the advent of the internet, they are basically a blogging platform. Billy Bambrough doesn't write for Forbes any more than you could say that you or I are writers employed by Empty Closets, just because we're both posting here.

    Bitcoins, and other cryptocurrency, have been super unstable investments. I mean, if you can get in early on one, sure, you can make a ton of money, and they will always tout that big run up. But by the time the general public has heard about something like that, the easy money has been made. The smart money is trying to dump it off onto dumb money.

    Something else I think is funny about bitcoin is how they at the same time talk about how dumb government currencies are, and yet, when it gets down to it the big proponents always talk about how much they're worth in good times, but then are real quiet when they go through one of their frequent 'instabilities'.

    Are you in Korea? I hope you are staying safe. I fear we are about to hit something very nasty here in California
     
  8. EleanorHunter

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    My state has been locked down for about three days. I ended up deciding to go home to my parents and sister. I talked through all of my steps with them, detailed everything I'd been doing for the past few weeks/the crowds I was around (surprisingly not a lot, despite being on a populated campus). I even kept a symptom log for a little while on days where I wasn't feeling very well, to see if there were patterns that matched COVID-19. So far, nothing. It's been two weeks since I started social-distancing/quarantining.

    While I'm still terrified that I made the wrong choice, there were even more factors. For one thing, my parents live in an area where there were hundreds more cases than where I was, where only one or two were confirmed. My mom works retail, and my dad was visiting clients during the time that I had started quarantining at college. So the odds of me bringing it with me were less than me arriving after they had already been exposed. It's been hard to focus and make progress and reach out to my friends from home, but the anxiety of being in an apartment alone was so overwhelming.

    I know deep down that it's not the end of the world just yet (China seems to be on the mend), but it's been so weird to be legally ordered to stay in my house and look at every person with a survivalist lens, making sure I'm far enough away. And the comments people are making about letting people die for the economy or that death is inevitable so whatever... it's just all wild.
     
  9. musicteach

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    We’re officially out of school until at least May at this point. The band’s trip has been canceled, which is disappointing but understandable. We’ll just use this show that’s already prepped for the fall season, just have to make some adjustments to the drill. Everybody has already paid for their trip so we’ll have to deal with that. But it’s like I told them this was something that none of us could have predicted.
     
  10. Rin311

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    Thank you. It’s just a matter of time until this is done with and we’ll all have to muddle through until then.
     
  11. LaurenSkye

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    I just have to get this off of my chest. It's been two weeks since I've been on this site, because I have no internet access at home, my primary access is from the library, which has been closed for the past two weeks, and will be closed at least one more week, likely more. I am currently house sitting for a relative who is in the hospital (not because of the virus) and so now I have internet access. I have a history of mental illness (not violent), as well as depression and anxiety which I am taking medications for. The whole "stay at home" is more than a "minor inconvenience" for me. As is, I've been more worried about my mental health than anything else. Staying at home for more than a day or two in a row bugs the hell out of me.
     
  12. EleanorHunter

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    I think a lot of people are forgetting about the mental health side of this. It sucks, because it's not like people can go against state orders or risk spreading the virus, so mental health just suffers no matter what. I'm sorry you have to be going through this. We're here for you!
     
  13. Tightrope

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    This is hard. Yes. There are others on the forum who suffer from depression and anxiety and we'll have to work harder through this. It's also a good idea to work even harder at not getting ill because being sick and depressed at the same time is not good. I was sick for a week last summer and hadn't had to stay in bed for years. It felt like that week was a month.
     
  14. Mirko

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    I can understand your concerns for your mental health/well being. I don't know if it is at all possible, but if you can, it would be worthwhile to spend a bit of time outside - even if it is just for a walk around the block. We (i.e. EC) has posted some resources that could help with maintaining mental health. Perhaps some if it will be useful to you.
     
  15. Loves books

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    I can’t go anywhere. My mother refuses to drive me to a shop and I can’t drive. She says if the virus comes in to the house it’s through her. I’m essentially a prisoner up a mountain. She washes the grocery packages in disinfectant mixed with water. We have several sodden boxes in our fridge. The one time I was allowed out I had to keep my coat and shoes in the spare room for two days in case the virus was on them. I think if I stayed six feet away from people I’d be fine. My mother won’t even hug anyone anymore. I think she’s overreacting slightly. We are not going to die if she doesn’t dip the cardboard the eggs come in in disinfectant. I’m not touching the fruit she also washed in disinfectant. I can’t peel grapes. Also leaving food in the car for two days so the virus will die is crazy. I need to go somewhere, anywhere. I don’t care if it’s deserted, at this point I’d happily stand in a room of infected people just to get out of here. I can go outside my door and go for a walk I’m in the countryside and it’s rare to see a car I’ve never met anyone while walking. I’m not in the mood to tramp down a road and climb the driveway afterwards.
     
  16. gravechild

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    My father is the exact opposite: goes out every day unnecessarily, and even before the virus, had horrible hygiene habits (laying on bed with shoes on, eating food off the counter, not washing hands). I've started mentally seeing and treating him as if he's already caught it, because if anyone is going to be infected first, its probably him.
     
  17. EleanorHunter

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    My mom told the entire family that she was running out to drop off a letter at the post office, and then disappeared for hours. She came back hours later after going to a grocery store in another town, because she's convinced that since that town has no cases, she's fine for exposure. Then she was upset when we didn't move fast enough to bring everything inside/disinfect it. It was about ten minutes of her creating more problems for herself for no reason and then being mad at us for them. We already have a huge grocery pickup scheduled for Monday, which she's making my sister and I go out and get.

    We're careful because my dad will die if he gets the disease, and we all know it (and she guilt trips us about it from time to time). But she doesn't want me going out either because I've had asthma all my life and had pneumonia a few years back. So I just get guilt tripped about not doing anything. There's really no way to win.
     
  18. zuice

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    We are in a pandemic and enrollment was not opened for entry in the USA Affordable Care Act health insurance program. This is what happens when The Fed is focused on more corporate bailouts to increase companies' stock share prices and stock share dividends.
     
  19. Vega222

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    What's going on with Covid-19 in your country these days? How it impacts your daily life now? Is it going to go away soon in your country?
    I don't read any news and don't know much.
     
  20. DecentOne

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    In my county there have been 250 deaths. I knew one of those people really well. We can’t have a memorial service, because that is too dangerous still. We can’t even comfort each other with a hug. Things are opening up a bit but just as that is happening we’re hearing there are rises of cases. It is driving the activities to the internet, and I’m feeling so disconnected from the LGBTQ community because hanging out on Zoom after a day of work on Zoom just isn’t feeding my need for connection. I’m skipping most of the LGBTQ stuff as a result. I can still go for walks outdoors, but I have a mask in my pocket to put on if I meet someone and we stop to talk.