You are a moderator here and need to hold yourself to a higher standard.

Not to mention, vaccination and masking to prevent getting the secondary virus activated by covid that's been called
"long covid", which can cause major heart issues, down the line.
Wearing a mask during flu season is just good practice, might as well continue until C19 rates are low, worldwide.
I've also found that, due to masking, I've not had a spring cold in 2 years, nor spring time allergy issues.

A hidden benefit. I had my first cold in two years last month and I forgot how much they sucked!

So in essence, only opinions mirroring that of your own constitute the "higher standard"?

'kay...

We all should have learned by now that there's no sense wasting time or effort presenting facts to the anti-vaccers as they're determined to find bs reasons to refuse getting the shot.

So be it. The good news is that of the approx. 550 people now dying daily from Covid 96.7% of them have not been vaccinated, according to CDC records. The CDC says that for the past 6 months the estimated 276,000 people who have died from Covid approx. 95% were unvaccinated.

The CDC says that all age groups from 18-80 combined your odds of dying from Covid are 26 times greater if you're unvaccinated vs. having received 2 shots and 41 times greater if you're unvaccinated vs. having received 2 shots plus a booster.

If those odds don't convince you to get the shot nothing will. I guess the good news is that each day there are about 500 fewer idiots than the day before??

Sad but true. Ross Rowland

So you and others can share your politically charged/influenced posts here and Rick shouldn't? (one side or another irrelevant) One hell of a double standard if you ask me.

IF such discussions are allowed here (they haven't and most were deleted until the last year or two), everyone participating can share their ridiculous opinions, moderator or not. But that's outside the topic of the thread, which has already drifted.

Will the mask mandates impact your ridership? Time will tell, however most people who would make a scene or complaint about it see the notice on websites or through other means and choose not to come in the first place. How many of these people there are is hard to measure, and may or may not change overall numbers as demographics of -who- is visiting your operation change post-covid.

Most people don't want to wear masks- we see this all around us. Most wont if they aren't asked.. Many will if they are. Some will leave, some won't come in the first place. But right now the government isn't giving us much of a choice. Whether that is right or wrong, good or bad is another topic and a can of worms all on its own. It's a discussion/debate I like to have, but its a little moot here having that discussion when it won't change the mandate.

-Sam

Hot take from the guy who questions a certain ethnicities' ability to govern themselves. Who takes the old man yelling at a cloud seriously anymore?

When you have declined the option to talk and persuade with those you disagree, and instead choose insults, you decline your claim to reasonableness.

No. I'm talking about getting political in general and casting aspersions on huge swaths of the country in specific.

It's one thing to have a different opinion. It's a different one to be undiplomatic about it.

"Physician, heal thyself."

A quick Google search shows that worldwide 11.4 BILLION vaccine dosses have been given and 4.6 BILLION folks are fully vaccinated.

Please document these "mounting cases of side effects" and what percentage of the Billions and Billions of doses these side effects add up to.

It's not like there have been false claims that the vaccines change your DNA:

https://www.reuters.com/article/factche ... SL1N2PK1DC

Oh Wait.

Brian

I'm not management.

You're asking for the captain of a ghost ship. "Management" is somewhat of a flimsy premise at best. It's like going to the bathroom during a meeting and coming back to find you were elected president of the club...............

Said, apparently without any sense of irony after lecturing others about setting an example.

And here's Ross whose dedication to public health doesn't stop him from wishing people dead.

It is amazing to see what ferroequinoaustists will do and how the contours of their behavior seem to align with the those of APSD..


What Are The Traits Of A Sociopath?

What are considered sociopathic traits or sociopathic traits? Here are some of the potential signs and traits of a person with antisocial personality disorder:

A lack of empathy for others
Little to no genuine remorse
The manipulation of other people
Lying and deceit
A sense of superiority over others
Little to no regard for right or wrong
The belief that rules do not apply to them
Getting into legal trouble or a little regard for the law
A lack of responsibility or engaging in irresponsible behaviors
Aggression or hostility
The exploitation of other people
Substance use

https://www.mind-diagnostics.org/blog/s ... -sociopath

This thread's gonna get shut down soon enough (and I support it happening), but before it does:
Nobody's going to convince anyone of anything they don't already believe for this topic. It's a given, no matter what your take on this.
That said, people gotta post what they think to be 'facts,' and declaring the other side as comically misinformed. It's not made any easier with all the stuff people are declaring as 'fact' that in many cases is totally made up (for example, the declaration that hundreds of FIFA soccer players have died from the vaccine, and it's easy to look up that there's not been such a sudden dying off of such players to the numbers for any reason), both pro and anti vaccine.
We live in a world where people live and die on results of motivated reasoning, confirmation bias and fueled by the Dunning–Kruger effect. They start with the desired result and cherry pick their way backwards for only that which confirms what they want to be true.
People have always done this, but with the internet, they give it voice.
And I mean the same for both sides of this (or any other debated) topic.
The bottom line is that there does appear to be a new variant that is freaking out the Chinese and folks in the medical field everywhere.
No matter how you think about this, we're hardly done with it for a while. Having gone through NBC defense training in the Army, I'd always known this wasn't going to go away quickly, but even I'm surprised that we're really no end in sight at this point.
After the initial lockdowns and panic, people started declaring anything that would support a return to pre-2020 life. I can't blame them there, but people are short-sighted by nature. So now you have CEOs who lack forward thought demanding everyone return to massive buildings that would essentially be petri dishes for such an airborne contagion.
The bottom line is; it is what it is. Declaring your own personal reality on others won't change it. And you're never going to convince others against what they already think on the subject so please, stop trying.

Wow, ... This was totally predictable.

Well folks, ... We clearly are a nation divided. As Mr. Bishop stated, people have their positions, and no one is going to change their views. On this point he and I agree.

I am not a medical doctor. I am not claiming in anyway that I am an expert on the topic of COVID-19. However, I am a COVID-19 survivor. The Chinese Wuhan virus did not adversely effect me. I recovered relatively quickly. My choices and actions are based, in large part, on my personal experience with the virus.

I have not been given, nor will I get, the vaccine. That is my choice. Every person has the right to make their own choices.

I have no desire to tell you what you should do. What you decide to do is your choice alone.

We have had members of the rail preservation community who have not successfully recovered when exposed to the China Virus. For some people, contracting the virus can produce a very bad outcome.

Regarding those who have died, I find it reprehensible that anyone would suggest that their deaths are a good thing. As much as I might disagree with your position, I am not going to wish you dead.

If you want to get the vaccine, go get it! ... If you want to get the booster, I'm not going to stop you. If you elect to not get the vaccine, I respect your choice and wish you well.

As for the issues of masks on trains, if you feel your Constitutional rights are being abridged, seek a lawful means to challenge the restrictions. I am not happy about being made to wear a mask. In the early days of the China Virus, I could not find a legal argument which was likely to prevail in Court. Today, the arbitrary and capricious nature of these mandates are beginning to create pathways for a successful legal challenge.

However, there is a better approach for dealing with these mandates. ---

Make sure you vote for elected officials who are not going to impose these mandates in the first place.