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  #21  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 1:04 AM
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Health concerns trumping green virtue signalling

It was a inane green tax/ban to begin with, disposable plastic bags have less impact on the environment than paper bags and don’t carry bacteria around like reusable bags.

States that introduced “green” regulations that taxed single-use plastic grocery bags in an effort to eventually annihilate them are now welcoming them back as health officials caution of possible contamination with reusable bags.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said Thursday he was suspending the ten-cent tax on single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and other retail businesses as one of his actions “to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...contamination/


https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opin...ve-our-planet/
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  #22  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 1:06 AM
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Another positive, probably, is that because we're all being so careful now then maybe the incidence of usual garden variety colds and flu will go way down.

I always have a little stockpile of cold caplets ready to use but I suspect they will be gathering dust for the foreseeable future. I hope.
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  #23  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 6:12 AM
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Authors and script writers will finally have fresh ideas for new movies.
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  #24  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 6:51 AM
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I am in the federal public service and will be working from home for at least a few months. My employer said that it would never happen due to the nature of what we do but it has now as we can't be working close together like we were until last week.

I have only really been spending money on food. I can now invest some money and people tell me that doing it soon would be wise.

Another thing is that I've had more time to organize the house and lean the garage. There is too much snow to access the shed but I'm hoping to do that in a few weeks if lots of snow melts.

The food at our grocery stores in Timmins has never been better. The meats, vegetables and fruits have been great. Fresher than usual likely because of the higher sales volumes.
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  #25  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 8:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Loco101 View Post
I am in the federal public service and will be working from home for at least a few months. My employer said that it would never happen due to the nature of what we do but it has now as we can't be working close together like we were until last week.

I have only really been spending money on food. I can now invest some money and people tell me that doing it soon would be wise.

Another thing is that I've had more time to organize the house and lean the garage. There is too much snow to access the shed but I'm hoping to do that in a few weeks if lots of snow melts.

The food at our grocery stores in Timmins has never been better. The meats, vegetables and fruits have been great. Fresher than usual likely because of the higher sales volumes.
Is the government going to pay for your Internet while you work at home? How do they handle confidentiality of data in terms of ensuring that whoever lives with you doesn't have access to people's personal data? Do they just trust you'll logout if you have to go to the washroom, etc.? I'm not insinuating anything bad will happen--just genuinely curious how stuff like this is handled.

I'd hold off investing a bit longer. There's a lot of talk that markets are going to retest recent lows and then take off. The economy is going to lag behind.

It's weird how some food items are being bought up. A lot of it can't be stockpiled and it makes no sense that people would be eating more.
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  #26  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 11:08 AM
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Personally there haven't been any benefits. I'm single and gratefully childless so it's changed nothing about my home life, just given me more of it. I'm not especially introverted or extroverted so I need a healthy balance of both. I miss seeing family and friends. There are only so many games of Overwatch I can play before I need some human interaction lol. Working from home has been easier in terms of my responsibilities, but much longer hours. My point of view is definitely clouded by the winter we've had, and the fact this is our second stretch of being confined to the home for weeks in as many months. It's not all-consuming, I'm still laughing along with movies and happy to chat with friends, but I've been a much darker-than-usual place mentally for months now and I'm getting fucking sick and tired of it. I just need the snow to go. I'm sitting here right now writing this post and eating a chocolatine because it's too rainy to go for a run. I've packed on about 7 lbs in the past couple of weeks.

Socially, I enjoy reading about all the positive effects on the environment. I love how people are supporting each other (for example, there have been stories about riders on the city buses, which are now limited to 9 passengers, getting off to allow others to get on - not just giving up their seat to elderly people, but their entire ride; lots of stories about people delivering groceries to vulnerable people, etc.). Although my collar is pretty white, I'm glad to see society's understanding of essential workers is evolving. It warms my heart to hear, for example, people calling in to Open Line asking why if the Federal Government's benefit needs to be $2,000/month for people to make ends meet, why is welfare in the province only around $750? Our society is definitely being kinder to its people, even in a place that was already quite good at that.
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  #27  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 1:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
Is the government going to pay for your Internet while you work at home? How do they handle confidentiality of data in terms of ensuring that whoever lives with you doesn't have access to people's personal data? Do they just trust you'll logout if you have to go to the washroom, etc.? I'm not insinuating anything bad will happen--just genuinely curious how stuff like this is handled.

.
I believe most large employers (including government most certainly) who allow remote access for their employees have secured VPN/encryption systems that people log into before they can get onto networks.

Also, AFAIK all Internet providers have cancelled the data limits for their clients that had them. So those people who did not already have unlimited Internet access at home, now do have it.
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  #28  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 1:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
Is the government going to pay for your Internet while you work at home? How do they handle confidentiality of data in terms of ensuring that whoever lives with you doesn't have access to people's personal data? Do they just trust you'll logout if you have to go to the washroom, etc.? I'm not insinuating anything bad will happen--just genuinely curious how stuff like this is handled.

I'd hold off investing a bit longer. There's a lot of talk that markets are going to retest recent lows and then take off. The economy is going to lag behind.

It's weird how some food items are being bought up. A lot of it can't be stockpiled and it makes no sense that people would be eating more.
I have BELL Fibre with unlimited Data Plan. So my internet costs have not gone up and I don't expect the government to subsidize my access to the web.

I'm Navy (in Ottawa) and have been working at home for the past two weeks. We have access to our secure Defence Wide Area Network (DWAN) via Defence Virtual Private Networking Infrastructure (DVPNI). My section has been deemed a level 3 priority so we are not allowed access to the network during the daytime, but we are allowed to go on it from 1700-0700 the next day. I'm able to download what ever documents or emails that I need and our section has been able to hold numerous meetings and briefings over ZOOM (all information is of the UnClassified level).

We expect at least another 3 weeks of working from home (more than likely longer) but a bunch of lessons have been learned:

DND needs a larger conduit pipe to allow more access to DVPNI.
ZOOM is an excellent tool and I'm sure there are others platforms just as capable.
Virtual conferencing works and is the wave of the future. The campus at Carling actually has a kick ass set up for this but the Minister and CDS located downtown were slow to set up the system at their offices. This will certainly be addressed once this blows over.
All those folks making bank going on conferences all over the world will see this airmiles cash cow disappear.
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  #29  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 1:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
Is the government going to pay for your Internet while you work at home? How do they handle confidentiality of data in terms of ensuring that whoever lives with you doesn't have access to people's personal data? Do they just trust you'll logout if you have to go to the washroom, etc.? I'm not insinuating anything bad will happen--just genuinely curious how stuff like this is handled.
Generally speaking, if a company has managed to have SOME employee working from home/on the road previously, it's a matter of scaling (and licensing $) to bring more online the same way. Most companies already have some sort of VPN/portal/VDI connection capability, if they have ANY mobile component.
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  #30  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 4:26 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jawagord View Post
It was a inane green tax/ban to begin with, disposable plastic bags have less impact on the environment than paper bags and don’t carry bacteria around like reusable bags.

States that introduced “green” regulations that taxed single-use plastic grocery bags in an effort to eventually annihilate them are now welcoming them back as health officials caution of possible contamination with reusable bags.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said Thursday he was suspending the ten-cent tax on single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and other retail businesses as one of his actions “to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”


https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...contamination/


https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opin...ve-our-planet/
BAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH\AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH



No seriously fuck anyone getting on with that reusable bag shit.


If you want to do so go right the fuck ahead, but don't fucking attack my standard of living because someone else feels guilty about driving.


The fact that disposable bags are more hygienic is so obvious it doesn't even need to be said.

Remember the same people who are taking your bags, want you to stop showering.
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  #31  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 4:29 PM
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Authors and script writers will finally have fresh ideas for new movies.
This cannot be understated, we are in a brand new era, a cultural revolution on a scale that hasn't been experienced since the 1960s.
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  #32  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 5:58 PM
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Not a lot of bright sides to the pandemic, but spending more time with the family is nice. My kids are only about 1.5 years apart but they're used to doing their own thing in terms of having different activities, different friends, etc. They are spending loads of time together and bonding on a whole new level which is nice.

Also, I don't have a home gym per se but I have a treadmill with some free weights that I've been using almost daily for the first time since my kids were born. So that's a plus.

Getting more rest is nice too...
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  #33  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 6:26 PM
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Originally Posted by LakeLocker View Post

No seriously fuck anyone getting on with that reusable bag shit.


If you want to do so go right the fuck ahead, but don't fucking attack my standard of living because someone else feels guilty about driving.


The fact that disposable bags are more hygienic is so obvious it doesn't even need to be said.

Remember the same people who are taking your bags, want you to stop showering.
Does this mean pulling around a bundle buggy for groceries wont be allowed?

If so that puts a major monkey wrench in my routine.
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  #34  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 7:39 PM
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Does this mean pulling around a bundle buggy for groceries wont be allowed?

If so that puts a major monkey wrench in my routine.
My point is outside of a crisis do whatever you want. Freedom is an awesome thing and I hope the outcome of this crisis is more freedom(for the world) and not less.
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  #35  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 7:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
Is the government going to pay for your Internet while you work at home? How do they handle confidentiality of data in terms of ensuring that whoever lives with you doesn't have access to people's personal data? Do they just trust you'll logout if you have to go to the washroom, etc.? I'm not insinuating anything bad will happen--just genuinely curious how stuff like this is handled.

I'd hold off investing a bit longer. There's a lot of talk that markets are going to retest recent lows and then take off. The economy is going to lag behind.

It's weird how some food items are being bought up. A lot of it can't be stockpiled and it makes no sense that people would be eating more.
I left the federal governement a couple years ago, but at that time, remote access required approval above the director level and there had to be a rationale. You had to install the government's VPN solution on your computer and log in with something stronger than a password (it was a grid type thing with a bunch of alphanumeric codes). It was difficult to work because it kept booting you off. They were very strict about it. I had secret clearance but was not allowed to work remotely on anything with cabinet confidence. That was restricted to computers in the office.

I imagine it's different now that thousands of people are working remotely, but I am sure they are still very strict about it. A lot changed after the student loan data breach a few years ago. Nobody wants to be responsible for a similar breach.
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  #36  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 8:28 PM
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One bright side could be a reduction in other infectious diseases. With all this physical distancing and sanitizing of everything, I bet you all kinds of other contagious illnesses, like influenza, norovirus, and strep throat, have gone down dramatically in prevalence the last few weeks.

A study in BC suggested that physical distancing has halved the R0 of COVID-19 relative to what it should be; given influenza spreads in a very similar way, I imagine the R0 of influenza has been halved as well; that would bring it well below 1, meaning cases would be declining. Flu season next winter, and possibly even for years afterwards, could be way less severe.

Another thing could be sexually transmitted infections. In Canadian cities the past few years there's been a big jump in cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, attributed to the use of apps like Tinder and Grindr. With people (hopefully!) following physical distancing and not hooking up anymore, that growing outbreak might be stopped dead in its tracks this spring. Although none of those diseases are serious (easily curable with antibiotics and with regular testing, which is readily available through clinics, can almost always be detected before any long-term problems happen), they do contribute to increased antibiotic use which is not good.
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  #37  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2020, 8:56 PM
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Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN View Post
I have BELL Fibre with unlimited Data Plan. So my internet costs have not gone up and I don't expect the government to subsidize my access to the web.

I'm Navy (in Ottawa) and have been working at home for the past two weeks. We have access to our secure Defence Wide Area Network (DWAN) via Defence Virtual Private Networking Infrastructure (DVPNI). My section has been deemed a level 3 priority so we are not allowed access to the network during the daytime, but we are allowed to go on it from 1700-0700 the next day. I'm able to download what ever documents or emails that I need and our section has been able to hold numerous meetings and briefings over ZOOM (all information is of the UnClassified level).

We expect at least another 3 weeks of working from home (more than likely longer) but a bunch of lessons have been learned:

DND needs a larger conduit pipe to allow more access to DVPNI.
ZOOM is an excellent tool and I'm sure there are others platforms just as capable.
Virtual conferencing works and is the wave of the future. The campus at Carling actually has a kick ass set up for this but the Minister and CDS located downtown were slow to set up the system at their offices. This will certainly be addressed once this blows over.
All those folks making bank going on conferences all over the world will see this airmiles cash cow disappear.
I must add that the laptop I have is a DND issued one that cannot connect to the internet unless it is through the DWAN (PKI Card and DVPNI access). Nothing Confidential or above is allowed on this system.
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  #38  
Old Posted Mar 30, 2020, 6:39 AM
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Absolute freedom is hell. Balanced freedom is a good thing. Remember there are as many freedoms as individuals, groups, issues, subject matters, philosophies, etc. And, they all reinforce and reject each other depending upon the circumstance.

Good things: I have a feeling this pandemic will show some countries, including the US, that their form of providing health care needs rethinking. If only they notice and understand why they are about to suffer terribly. Sadly, even then, it would be a very costly lesson.

Science may regain a bit of its lost respect.

Speaking of science, viruses live longer on smooth plastic (i.e., plastic bags) and more easily transfer off onto other surfaces (skin) than they do on porous surfaces, like paper. Don't believe everything that comes your way.
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  #39  
Old Posted Mar 30, 2020, 8:21 AM
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I must add that the laptop I have is a DND issued one that cannot connect to the internet unless it is through the DWAN (PKI Card and DVPNI access). Nothing Confidential or above is allowed on this system.
It's the confidential data aspect I was most interested in hearing about. The VPN stuff, etc. is common sense and something we should all be using anyway.

I know in the past (not all that long ago) it seemed like a regular occurrence to hear about government or healthcare workers downloading files onto a laptop to take home to work on and then either losing the computer or having it stolen. More often than not those files contained a lot of confidential data which resulted in a lot of stress for people as their identities could have easily been stolen. Hopefully they've found a way to prevent people from downloading such files onto unsecured computers.
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  #40  
Old Posted Mar 30, 2020, 11:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Corndogger View Post
I know in the past (not all that long ago) it seemed like a regular occurrence to hear about government or healthcare workers downloading files onto a laptop to take home to work on and then either losing the computer or having it stolen. More often than not those files contained a lot of confidential data which resulted in a lot of stress for people as their identities could have easily been stolen. Hopefully they've found a way to prevent people from downloading such files onto unsecured computers.
Virtualised desktops within the company on-prem cloud are a good way around this. You could still screen-grab from home, but actual file access can be locked down pretty well, as all content is only really manipulated on the virtual remote desktop.
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