One of the most cynical comments ever made came from Joseph Stalin: "If one man dies of hunger, that is a tragedy. If millions die, that's only statistics."
It does raise a valid question, though: How many people constitute a "gathering?" During the COVID-19 pandemic, the answer is literally life-and-death.
It seems that in most jurisdictions, that number is ten. (Coincidentally, that is the number it takes to make a minyan for a Jewish service or quorum for organizational meetings.) A few places have raised that number to 50 or more; but for now that number seems to be ten.
What that means, of course, is that most sporting events and rallies are out of the question, with or without spectators. Every annual or otherwise periodic bike ride I know of has been canceled or postponed for this year. That includes the Portland Naked Bike Ride, originally scheduled for 27 June.
The thing is, public nudity is illegal in Portland, as it is in most places in the United States. But the city allows the event to go on every year because of its official status as a protest. The ride attracts around 10,000 riders a year and no police force, no matter how numerous or well-equipped, could cite or arrest all of them. So the Portland police allow them to ride as long as they stay on the route with the rest of the riders.
Now, one nude bike rider, that's a different story. Comedian Trevor Noah brought up this point when ride organizers announced they are "encouraging everyone to go out and ride naked on their own." Noah asked the most pertinent question: "Is that gonna work?" He explained that if "there's 10,000 naked bike riders, that's an event." But, he continued, " if there's one naked dude on a ten-speed? You just nasty."
(part about Portland Naked Bike Ride begins at 3:00)
More to the point, though, an individual or even a small group of riders might not enjoy the same level of safety a mass of thousands would have.
So just how many riders does it take to make an event? Can Trevor Noah answer that?
It does raise a valid question, though: How many people constitute a "gathering?" During the COVID-19 pandemic, the answer is literally life-and-death.
It seems that in most jurisdictions, that number is ten. (Coincidentally, that is the number it takes to make a minyan for a Jewish service or quorum for organizational meetings.) A few places have raised that number to 50 or more; but for now that number seems to be ten.
What that means, of course, is that most sporting events and rallies are out of the question, with or without spectators. Every annual or otherwise periodic bike ride I know of has been canceled or postponed for this year. That includes the Portland Naked Bike Ride, originally scheduled for 27 June.
The thing is, public nudity is illegal in Portland, as it is in most places in the United States. But the city allows the event to go on every year because of its official status as a protest. The ride attracts around 10,000 riders a year and no police force, no matter how numerous or well-equipped, could cite or arrest all of them. So the Portland police allow them to ride as long as they stay on the route with the rest of the riders.
Now, one nude bike rider, that's a different story. Comedian Trevor Noah brought up this point when ride organizers announced they are "encouraging everyone to go out and ride naked on their own." Noah asked the most pertinent question: "Is that gonna work?" He explained that if "there's 10,000 naked bike riders, that's an event." But, he continued, " if there's one naked dude on a ten-speed? You just nasty."
(part about Portland Naked Bike Ride begins at 3:00)
More to the point, though, an individual or even a small group of riders might not enjoy the same level of safety a mass of thousands would have.
So just how many riders does it take to make an event? Can Trevor Noah answer that?
