Saturday, December 21

Tag: vulnerable

Gabrielle Union – You Got Anything Stronger? Is Me At My Most Vulnerable
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BOOKS

Gabrielle Union – You Got Anything Stronger? Is Me At My Most Vulnerable

“Funny, tender, and so good.” —Mindy Kaling, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Why Not Me? Remember when we hit it off so well that we decided We’re Going to Need More Wine? Well, this time you and I are going to turn to our friend the bartender and ask, You Got Anything Stronger? I promise to continue to make you laugh, but with this round, the stakes get higher as the conversation goes deeper. So. Where were we? Right, you and I left off in October 2017, when my first book came out. The weeks before were filled with dreams of loss. Pets dying. My husband leaving me. Babies not being born. My therapist told me it was my soul preparing for my true self to emerge after letting go of my grief. I had finally spoken openly about my fertility journey. I was having second thoughts—in ...
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4 Essential Reads – How Vulnerable Is Your Personal Information?
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TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

4 Essential Reads – How Vulnerable Is Your Personal Information?

Eric Smalley, The Conversation When you enter your personal information or credit card number into a website, do you have a moment of hesitation? A nagging sense of vulnerability prompted by the parade of headlines about data breaches and hacks? If so, you probably push those feelings aside and hit the submit button, because, well, you need to shop, apply for that job, file that insurance claim, apply for that loan, or do any of the other sensitive activities that take place online these days. First, the bad news. If you regularly enter sensitive information online, chances are you’ve had some data stolen somewhere at some point. By one estimate, the average American had data stolen at least four times in 2019. And the hits keep coming. For instance, a data breach at the wireless carrier...
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Lost In Meta’s ‘Average User’ Data – The Thousands Of Vulnerable People Harmed By Facebook And Instagram
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SOCIAL MEDIA

Lost In Meta’s ‘Average User’ Data – The Thousands Of Vulnerable People Harmed By Facebook And Instagram

Joseph Bak-Coleman, University of Washington Fall 2021 has been filled with a steady stream of media coverage arguing that Meta’s Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram social media platforms pose a threat to users’ mental health and well-being, radicalize, polarize users and spread misinformation. Are these technologies – embraced by billions – killing people and eroding democracy? Or is this just another moral panic? According to Meta’s PR team and a handful of contrarian academics and journalists, there is evidence that social media does not cause harm and the overall picture is unclear. They cite apparently conflicting studies, imperfect access to data and the difficulty of establishing causality to support this position. Some of these researchers have surveyed social media users and fou...
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Being Black in the U.S. Makes People More Vulnerable to Chronic Stress and COVID-19 and Other Diseases
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COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

Being Black in the U.S. Makes People More Vulnerable to Chronic Stress and COVID-19 and Other Diseases

Racism is a chronic, uncontrollable, and unpredictable stress that can wreak havoc on the mind and body. The COVID-19 pandemic and the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery are two major catastrophes that shine a light on longstanding social inequities and injustices toward African Americans. Emerging research in the field of social genomics demonstrates how social stress, such as racism and discrimination, can shift the body’s biological resources toward a state that increases risk for disease. For example, our research group has found that racial discrimination may be affecting the way genes are expressed, leading to increased levels of dangerous stress hormones. These differences were found even when social determinant factors such as poverty and other forms of stress were accounte...
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How ‘vaccine nationalism’ could block vulnerable populations’ access to COVID-19 vaccines
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COVID-19, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY

How ‘vaccine nationalism’ could block vulnerable populations’ access to COVID-19 vaccines

Hundreds of COVID-19 vaccine candidates are currently being developed. The way emerging vaccines will be distributed to those who need them is not yet clear. The United States has now twice indicated that it would like to secure priority access to doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Other countries, including India and Russia, have taken similar stances. This prioritization of domestic markets has become known as vaccine nationalism. As a researcher at Saint Louis University’s Center for Health Law Studies, I have been following the COVID-19 vaccine race. Vaccine nationalism is harmful for equitable access to vaccines – and, paradoxically, I’ve concluded it is detrimental even for the U.S. itself. Vaccine nationalism during COVID-19 Vaccine nationalism occurs when a country manages to secure doses...
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Memorial Day: Why veterans are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic
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COVID-19, IN OTHER NEWS

Memorial Day: Why veterans are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic

As the nation takes a day to memorialize its military dead, those who are living are facing a deadly risk that has nothing to do with war or conflict: the coronavirus. Different groups face different degrees of danger from the pandemic, from the elderly who are experiencing deadly outbreaks in nursing homes to communities of color with higher infection and death rates. Veterans are among the most hard-hit, with heightened health and economic threats from the pandemic. These veterans face homelessness, lack of health care, delays in receiving financial support and even death. I have spent the past four years studying veterans with substance use and mental health disorders who are in the criminal justice system. This work revealed gaps in health care and financial support for veterans, eve...
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What the coronavirus crisis reveals about vulnerable populations behind bars and on the streets
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COVID-19

What the coronavirus crisis reveals about vulnerable populations behind bars and on the streets

The notion that COVID-19 is an equal opportunity killer has crumbled. The health and economic fallout from the crisis has disproportionately hit lower-income areas and communities of color. Nowhere is this discrepancy more evident than in prisons, jails and homeless shelters – made up disproportionately of poorer, black and Latino men and women. Here, COVID-19 cases have mushroomed due to dormitory-style living conditions and the inability of people, often with underlying health issues, to practice social distancing. As the virus rages on, comprehensive COVID-19 testing for these populations remains elusive. As experts on jails, health disparities and how to help former prisoners reintegrate into society, we believe that missteps in how we transition incarcerated individuals back to the ...
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The future of work will hit vulnerable people the hardest
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SOCIAL JUSTICE

The future of work will hit vulnerable people the hardest

People living with disabilities, youth, LGBTQ2 people, Indigenous people, certain racialized minorities, immigrants and those with low socioeconomic status, as well as those in some professions, will face complex barriers to entering the workforce in the future. A great deal of attention is being paid to the future of work and its impact on Canadians. Often missing from the discussion is the extent to which different workers will be included or excluded from the changing labour market. The future of work is characterized by a number of rapid and large-scale changes that will affect all industries. Labour market experts point to the growing integration of digital technologies in the workplace, including the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning, automation of job task...
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