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Everything posted by wild_turkey
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No one here said they are happy that unvaccinated or immunocompromised people die. I said that I am tired of modifying my behavior (e.g. wearing a mask on a plane) to protect unvaccinated people. I will continue to wear a mask when in a situation that I am required to do so, but I’m also happy to see masking requirements regressing. Huge difference from that and being happy that unvaccinated people die.
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Omicron and Delta were deadly waves for unvaccinated people. I don't know of a resource that looks at the U.S. as a whole, but the Texas DSHS website breaks down cases and deaths according to vaccination status within the state of Texas. It would be reasonable to extrapolate this data to the U.S. as a whole. https://www.dshs.texas.gov/immunize/covid19/data/vaccination-status.aspx During Omicron, the daily death rate for unvaccinated people peaked at 14.8 deaths per 100,000 people. During Delta, the daily death rate for unvaccinated people peaked at 19.9 deaths per 100,000 people. Those are not great numbers, but they are in unvaccinated people who have been given every opportunity to get a simple shot to save themselves and they refuse to do so. Compare those same waves of Covid with vaccinated people which saw a peak of about 1 death per day per 100,000 vaccinated people for each wave. That's pretty damn low for people who did the right thing, got their shot, and had some personal responsibility when it comes to their own health. Even though lots of vaccinated people still got Omicron and Delta, those waves of Covid can hardly be portrayed as "highly fatal" for vaccinated people. Omicron was basically a cold for most vaccinated people. Where there seems to be some disconnect between your opinion and the opinion of many others here (myself included), is whether or not we should give a shit what happens to unvaccinated people at this point in the pandemic. You seem to lump vaccinated and unvaccinated people together because deaths are deaths. I agree that any deaths are tragic, but I am far beyond the point of going out of my way to do anything to protect a person who was too selfish to get a shot for the greater good. They've made their decisions and my personal opinion (which I believe is shared by many other fully vaccinated people), is that we are tired of being asked to modify our lifestyle and behaviors because a section of our society wouldn't get a simple shot. What happens to unvaccinated people only matters to me from the standpoint of whether or not our healthcare system is being overrun by their presence in our hospitals, which currently is not the case. It sucks when they die, but it also sucks when people die from any other reason that was entirely preventable. People aren't arguing to ban fast food because heart disease and diabetes are major killers. Let people make their own foolish healthcare decisions if they want to. I'm not here to tell you that you should or should not care about unvaccinated people. That's up to you. I'm just explaining that for many of us, the only relevant statistics for the pandemic at this stage are how the virus is affecting vaccinated people, which has been fairly minimal for a LONG time now. Not just since February 2022, but since summer 2021. So yeah, we're over it. And no, I don't want to wear a mask on a plane if I don't have to. I did my part wearing a mask on planes - and every day all day at work (healthcare) - for the past 2+ years. It's time to move on.
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Our current 7 day average deaths is 471/day and trending down. Even if it levels off and we assume 471/day for the rest of the year, that’s 172,000 deaths/year. A soft estimate is that 90% of deaths are unvaccinated. That’s about 155,000 unvaccinated deaths and 17,000 vaccinated deaths. Are you wanting to continue a mask mandate in airports and planes because you think it will reduce either of those numbers? Do you honestly believe that masks on planes will significantly reduce the number of unvaccinated people dying of Covid? Like somehow these people have skipped a life saving vaccine and every other precaution we’ve attempted, but if we just force everyone on a plane to continue masking, then it will magically save a large number of them from dying of Covid? Or are you more concerned about the 17,000 vaccinated people dying, most of whom are fairly old with multiple comorbidities and not even flying in the first place? Are you thinking airplane masks will save people who aren’t even boarding planes? I’m just confused at what your goal is and what the endpoint is? The mask mandate for planes does not seem like an effective ongoing precaution given what we know about the current Covid victims. It seems like a misplaced priority.
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Our current 7 day average deaths is 471/day and trending down. Even if it levels off and we assume 471/day for the rest of the year, that’s 172,000 deaths/year. A soft estimate is that 90% of deaths are unvaccinated. That’s about 155,000 unvaccinated deaths and 17,000 vaccinated deaths. Are you wanting to continue a mask mandate in airports and planes because you think it will reduce either of those numbers? Do you honestly believe that masks on planes will significantly reduce the number of unvaccinated people dying of Covid? Like somehow these people have skipped a life saving vaccine and every other precaution we’ve attempted, but if we just force everyone on a plane to continue masking, then it will magically save a large number of them from dying of Covid? Or are you more concerned about the 17,000 vaccinated people dying, most of whom are fairly old with multiple comorbidities and not even flying in the first place? Are you thinking airplane masks will save people who aren’t even boarding planes? I’m just confused at what your goal is and what the endpoint is? The mask mandate for planes does not seem like an effective ongoing precaution given what we know about the current Covid victims. It seems like a misplaced priority.
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In your opinion, what would be a reasonable end point for requiring masks on planes? Specifically, what metric would you be looking at to determine when it will be safe for people to fly without a mask mandate? Number of cases? Number of deaths? Hospital or ICU capacity? Something else? Currently, the 7 day average for Covid deaths in the U.S. is under 500/day. At least 90% of those are unvaccinated, so it's a safe assumption that less than 50 vaccinated people are dying in the U.S. each day. As for the unvaccinated, do you really believe that an airplane mask mandate is going to be the thing that saves them at this stage in the pandemic? How much lower are you wanting these numbers to be before you would consider making masks optional in airports and on planes?
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Most people would probably agree with you on bottled water, as well as toiletries limitations. I would personally love to see those things change back. Individually none of these things are a big deal. Whether it’s banning liquids or requiring a mask, neither are going to prevent people from actually traveling if they want to travel. Collectively though, they gradually add up to make the travel experience less convenient or less comfortable. My point is that an ongoing travel discomfort like wearing a mask should be required only if there are significant public health benefits, so that it doesn’t become like the bottled water inconvenience that’s just an inherent part of plane travel being a pain in the ass. Some people are using “It’s no big deal” as if that should be reason enough to keep doing it. If that’s the case, should we continue masking on planes forever? Why would we ever drop the requirement if it’s not really a big deal? Why not mask up at the grocery store too? Central Market is way more crowded than the airport and they have worse air filtration, and it’s not a big deal to grocery shop with a mask on.
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Absolutely agree but it goes both ways. There are a lot of people who sit in the middle of the political spectrum and try to make decisions about things like masks based on what makes the most sense at the time and not what political party we identify with. This may come as a shock to some people here, but it’s possible to recognize that masks have been an important part of our fight against Covid-19 and they did help prevent spread, but also that they are not necessary indefinitely and we have collectively reached a point where things like air travel can occur safely without requiring all passengers to be masked at all times.
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“It’s no big deal” is not a valid reason to continue requiring masks on planes in April 2022. I’ve had no problem wearing a mask on a plane for most of the pandemic, but I don’t want to continue to be required to do so simply because “it’s no big deal.” Could I continue wearing a mask if Covid cases were still out of control, or a new variant was evading the vaccines? Absolutely, but that isn’t the case at this point in time.
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Mask requirements undoubtedly hurt the tourism industry. Dropping the mask requirement will be a net positive for the tourism industry, even if a small percentage of immunocompromised people feel less safe and decide to stay home from a trip they would've otherwise taken.
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1. Valid point, but you could also get noise cancelling headphones if listening to people talk bothers you. 2. You can still wear your mask if you want to avoid smelling other people's farts. 3. Does a mask requirement have any effect on how close people stand to you at the airport? People still cram in line even in peak Covid with mask usage. 4. That's up to your husband. If the lack of a mask requirement keeps him from traveling in the future, he was probably just looking for an excuse to get out of it anyways. 5. Complete agreement, but we can't expect people to wear masks forever simply for the sake of visibly separating assholes from non-assholes.
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I understand what you are saying, but flying on a plane (or doing anything in crowded public spaces) was always a risk for an elderly immunosuppressed person, way before Covid started. Maybe people didn't think about it as much 3 years ago, but the risk was always there. Assuming that person is fully vaccinated and boosted against Covid, is the risk of air travel significantly higher in April 2022 compared to April 2019? And that person is still free to wear an N95 mask if they are concerned about it, which is probably way more than most immunosuppressed people would've done pre-Covid.
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I'm sure there are some people "spiking the football" because a reduction in mask requirements validates their political viewpoints. Perhaps those are the types of people you prefer to engage in conversation with because it gives you something to argue about. If that's the case, then I will step aside and let you continue doing that. My initial comments and questions were pretty benign and you've already made an assertion about my intelligence level, so maybe that's just who you are. The vast majority of us are happy about this for the simple reason that it allows us to be more comfortable while traveling and it represents a return to normalcy. I personally supported widespread mask use for the first ~16 months of the pandemic and again during the Delta and Omicron spikes, including on airplanes and in airports. I travel a fair amount for personal reasons and I attempt to be compliant with my own mask use in the airport and on planes. I don't whine about it and I don't attempt to skirt the rules, but that doesn't mean I enjoy wearing a mask, nor do I think it provides any public health benefit at this stage of the pandemic. It made a lot of sense until recent months, but Covid cases are low, deaths are low, and vaccines/boosters are readily available. It's time to move on from this.
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Since there seems to be a handful of people still in favor of requiring masks on planes, could you please explain your reasoning for this stance? Is there a valid reason for wanting everyone to wear masks on planes? The reason I’ve seen tossed around here appears to be some version of “People should continue being required to wear masks on planes because people who complain about wearing masks on planes are babies.” That’s not a reason at all. It’s a worn out attempt at virtue signaling or belittling people who you view as different (inferior to) yourself. I would be interested to know what the actual reasons are.
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Stranded dolphin dies after Texas beach goers try to ride it
wild_turkey replied to The Maestro's topic in Daily Texan
Covid-25 -
I’m staying at Encore in 3 weeks. Stayed at Wynn/Encore many times so I’m familiar with their stuff. We have dinner reservations at Sinatra the first night and CATCH (Aria) the second night. I’ve had both before and enjoyed both. Our friends who are going are less seasoned Vegas visitors have not eaten at either. Any compelling reason to switch either of these reservations to somewhere else? We aren’t afraid to spend money on food, just like a good vibe and a good meal. I just booked these because I’m familiar with them.
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How brutal are we talking about? I’m flying out of DAL in 3 weeks. I have Precheck.
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Masks on planes needed to be optional as of 2 months ago. The requirement for U.S. citizens to get a Covid test within 1 day of re-entering the U.S. needed to end 6 months ago. The people responsible for these ongoing requirements are idiots who are making public health decisions with no scientific basis, which is about par for the course since March 2020.
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Watched it over the past week. Pretty well done series and seems fairly accurate. Even though I knew the gist of the story from loosely following it in the news over the years, it’s still fairly shocking and infuriating to watch it in a drama series.
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winning time: the rise of the lakers dynasty. hbo in march.
wild_turkey replied to henrygandorf's topic in Movies and TV
Paul Westhead launching into Shakespeare at his press conference killed me. -
Jackson Hole is great. You can do stuff in town, explore the Tetons, or go over to Yellowstone. Have you been to Banff? It’s another great option, perhaps one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. It’s a nonstop 4 hour flight from Houston to Calgary, then an easy drive into Banff. And a third option, my personal favorite mountain destination, is Telluride. There are 2.5 hour nonstops HOU-MTJ, then drive about 2 hours down to Telluride. I like that it’s smaller than Jackson and you are right in the mountains as opposed to looking at them from afar. If I was camping, I would choose a campground in GTNP over Telluride. But for staying in town, give me Telluride over Jackson any day.
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Anyone have a recommendation for a good place to buy trees? Other than just the obvious Archie’s, Mike’s, and Calloway’s garden centers?
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I think it depends when you go. Later in spring through summer is more likely to have sargasso. It was okay when we were there last week.
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We’ve only lived in FW for about 5 years but we enjoyed going downtown pre-Covid. Among our regular places were Del Frisco’s, Del Frisco’s Grille, Bird Cafe, Grace, Taverna, Reata’s rooftop for drinks, Flying Saucer, AMC for a movie, Scat Jazz, or late night drinks at Thompson’s. In the last couple of years, it just seems like a ghost town whenever we are down there. Bird Cafe and Taverna have both closed, lots of shops have closed. We attributed that to Covid but maybe a lot of it is the management. Hopefully someone gets it figured out. Having an active downtown makes the city feel more vibrant.
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We went to Tulum this weekend and had a great time. I'll provide some info in case anyone is considering a trip to Tulum and wants some perspective. Trigger warning: This post will be in regards to Tulum, Mexico. If you are interested in travel to Antarctica, that's a different thread and this won't be of much interest to you. Wife and I love the beach but we live in DFW, so we travel to beaches whenever possible. Our favorite beaches are in St. Barth, where we try to go 1-2 times a year, but it takes some effort to get there and that isn't practical for a weekend trip. Mexico is a great option when we need a quick getaway, especially when the Texas spring weather is still too chilly. Lots of options in Mexico and I can certainly understand that some people would prefer one area over another. I know people who love Cabo and have no interest in Isla Mujeres, and vice versa. To each his own. I'm not here to convince anyone that Tulum is better or worse than any of the other places, just different. Tulum suits us for a variety of reasons. We like that the hotels are mostly smaller boutique hotels without the mega AI resorts that occupy Cancun and much of the Riviera Maya. We like that there are no cruise ship day trippers. We like the jungle vibe of the Riviera Maya. We like that the crowd skews towards younger people who are mostly fit and attractive. We like that a thong bikini is standard beach attire, and if my wife wants to lose her top, that's fine too. We like the food scene and being able to walk along the main beach road and pop into any random bar or restaurant that looks appealing. We like that it generally has a live-and-let-live kind of vibe. It's not without its drawbacks. The biggest drawback for us is the chance of sargassum on the beach, which is unfortunately true of anywhere in the Caribbean. In St. Barth we can mitigate that by going to a different part of the island, but in Mexico, it's just a long continuous beach so we have to accept it for what it is. This past weekend, sargassum was moderate on Friday but then pretty mild on Saturday and Sunday. I consider that a win. There's also the fact that it's a 1 hour 45 minute ride from Cancun airport, but we can get a driver and relax along the way. The loud beach clubs can be annoying, especially if you accidentally book a hotel that's right next door to one. We've spent many nights in various Bagatelles but I think that phase of our life is mostly behind us, so we avoid places like Bagatelle and Taboo, and we pick hotels that are a safe distance away. It's fairly easy to spend a weekend in Tulum and avoid loud clubs entirely, or if clubs are your scene, then there's plenty to choose from. This past weekend we stayed just 2 nights. Fairly short but entirely doable and it beats sitting around our house bored. Flew out of DFW early Friday morning and were on the beach in Tulum by noon. Flew home Sunday afternoon. Easy non-stop flights on American, which should eventually be easier once the U.S. Covid test requirement is dropped. We stayed at Ahau which has about 20 rooms. It has a great location, walkable to most places, but not too close to loud clubs. The hotel has a beach club of its own that plays beach club music 11-7, fairly loud during those hours, otherwise fairly quiet. There was a live band on Saturday which was nice. Rooms are nice and clean but not overly extravagant. Our room's back porch faced the ocean and steps went directly into the sand. We would absolutely stay at this hotel again. We had dinners at Arca (excellent) and NU Tulum (good but not memorable). Also had drinks at Meze which has a great environment and the menu looks good. If we go back I would want to eat at Meze or Hartwood. Food prices are pretty typical for what we pay for a restaurant of similar quality in Texas. We did not go to the ruins or a cenote because that wasn't the goal of our visit. We wanted to lay on the beach and we had limited time. The ruins are easy to do and we've been there before. The good cenotes are farther from town and require at least a half day commitment, or possibly a full day. Perhaps next time. The Sian Ka'an nature preserve also looks like it's worth exploring. Long post, hope it's somewhat informative or helpful for anyone interested. Here are a handful of pics:
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winning time: the rise of the lakers dynasty. hbo in march.
wild_turkey replied to henrygandorf's topic in Movies and TV
We started this last week and love it so far. For the poster asking about whether your wife would like it, my wife knows dick about basketball and she’s very into it. We were very disappointed to sit down to eat last night and realize episode 5 hasn’t been released yet. Ugh, gotta wait now.
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