Oslo’s annual Holmenkollen Ski Festival and World Cup competition is going on right now, in spitting distance from me (you can see the ski jump from campus). I was going to avoid going out this weekend because transit was likely to be crowded, but last Thursday they cancelled all public viewing at the race.
The athletes are really upset, if you’re skiing 50km you kind of count on cheering support from the crowds.
As a local I gotta say I’m thrilled, going anywhere during SXSW is a nightmare. That said I’m sure this will affect businesses pretty hard but then again a lot of them never had my business anyway because a lot of the spots downtown are too expensive. While we’re at it can we cancel ACL too?
And all the performers, fans, etc. 
It’s not just economic, this sort of thing is bound to affect morale in the long run.
The city proper is roughly the size of Rhode Island. And the commuter basin is considerably larger. So the word “region” is just language admitting that the official city limits no longer has anything to do with reality. How much of the money stays “in” Austin instead of driving out to Buda with the bar owner, or filtering into Hilton’s corporate coffers? Impossible to say.
(later) Crap, I decided to go out, and the stop after mine the train packed with skiers. One moron, with an Italian patch on his jacket, was coughing nonstop until I fled 2 stops later.
If I stop posting soon, it will be because I am dead.
[ETA] To clarify, the person with the patch was definitely not Italian. I speak Italian, whatever he was speaking to his mate – I could hear some – it was not that. (I think I know what it was, but I intentionally did not mention it!)
Sorry if anyone thought I was disparaging Italians. The point is that quite a bit of the transmission in Northern Europe is from people visiting Italy, often to ski, and then spreading it. This person was obviously visiting here, had apparently visited Italy because of his jacket decoration, and was spreading something, hopefully just a cold.
If this post remains hidden from flags, so be it.
Wondering if and when Trump will cancel rallies. And what this means for the democratic rallies and campaigns.
If an insurance company punishes a company for Doing The Right Thing in the midst of a Pandemic
The insurance company should have it’s charter revoked and it’s assets ceased for conspiracy to endanger the public health.
In a better world, er society, yes. But in the U.S., corporations are people, my friend. It seems that you’re advocating murder!
heavy sigh
As a local, working near Barton Springs several days a week, both SXSW and ACL basically grind my workweek to a halt. I’m usually tightly scheduled to begin with (I work several jobs), and having to wade through the human zoo and massive influx of cars parked everywhere, including where I need to park after my 20-mile commute to the office.
The omnipresent electric scooter / moped / bike problems escalate the parking crisis. I get it that the tourists love 'em. I find these vehicles to be parked randomly and are usually in my way. Ever tried moving one of those electric mopeds? Heavy! The wheels lock instantly if you don’t pay! And an alarm sounds! I’d run it over but it’d probably screw my beater car up.
I don’t attend these events largely because they are priced well out of my budget. Not entirely sure if it’s fiscally wise to completely stop ranchin’ the tourists. They are good income for the City of Austin, local businesses, etc. These events do well for ATX’s public image. However once ACL and SXSW grew to span several weekends and/or weeks, Austin’s urban core is chaos and unnavigable.
Make sure you’ve got your errands done, and nothing scheduled downtown. Cheers!
If a city is the same as a region, yes.
It’s more like the head of a household, which collectively makes the median household income of $60k/year, missing out on a $150 quick gig that was otherwise so dependable that they plan for it in their budget. Since the head of this household where everyone works makes perhaps $30k/year, this is the equivalent of having to suddenly find two extra days of work to make up for this. In other words, it’s a hassle but not insurmountable.
But even this trivializes it, because the city of Austin (the “head of household” in my analogy is doing other things at the same time SXSW is going on. So instead of being one day missed here, two days worked there, it really is the equivalent of two full days of total economic loss to the city, which can’t easily be made up.
Health insurance companies routinely sicken the community, especially for communicable diseases, by limiting care while enriching themselves. It’s pretty much their business model.
Probably best not to.
I was in Oslo in 1975 and you could see the ski jump from the middle of town, or is that a different one?
And I am with @anothernewbbaccount lets put a hold on spitting for the time being.
Same hill, but they’re apparently rebuilt the jump at least three times since then.
And I am with @anothernewbbaccount lets put a hold on spitting for the time being.
Agreed. And while I apologize for the thread derail, I do hope that the concert cancellation in Austin was ultimately more timely than the ski cancellation here.
Millions of Americans will avoid getting the medical help they need and we need them to get because they’re afraid of the surprise medical bills that bankrupt so many people who get help when they need it. Not only will they pay for the health insurance industry’s malfeasance with the safety and in many cases lives of themselves and the people who depend on them, but the entire country will pay with it’s security as the disease spreads to more people quicker. The American health insurance industry isn’t just lethal to the under-insured, it’s a blight on all of us, and in the case of a pandemic like covid-19, a threat to the entire world.
As much as a I love what SXSW does, I must commend the mayor for what was done.
This is a serious illness. Testing has be terrible. The reason it looks so bad in Sth Korea is because they are spending so much on testing. Thus they will have higher rates of detection. But because of this, they also will have a lower death rate.
It is a serious issue. We don’t know how serious yet. I’d rather err on the side of caution.
I don’t think money is worth more than human health. (Especially considering how bad affordable healthcare is in America.)
This seems right up criterion’s alley…
I have to wonder how much economics and classism played a part in the decision. There’s a big rodeo in Austin every year at the same time as SXSW. It brings thousands of outsiders into town. Not one word has been said in the news about cancelling it. And there’s a big golf tournament planned for later this month that is still going ahead. It also brings a flood of outsiders into town. The rodeo begins on the 16th and the golf tournament begins on the 23rd. The virus surely will not disappear before the end of this month, but nobody has breathed a word about maybe cancelling those other 2 events. So it’s OK to have a city flooded with rednecks who may be infected with coronavirus, and it’s OK to have a city flooded with upper class snobs who may be infected with coronavirus, but a city flooded with musicians and techies and filmmakers is not OK? Did the city decide that they needed to accept the risk of allowing those other events to proceed to offset the losses from cancelling SXSW?
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