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Comment by discardable_dan | Hacker News Reader

My actual issue with Mark Rober isn't his exploitation (that's all of YouTube), it's that he intentionally skirted international travel laws in April 2020 to film his "Can sharks smell blood" video, including being known-positive for Covid and still traveling to another country (via private jet) and interacting with (masked) locals while his entire party was not distancing or taking mask precautions.

He did this two months after he made a video explaining how easily the virus spreads.

It's clear Rober is in in for the money, and using science as a hook. Everything else in his behavior is utterly unsurprising if viewed through that lens.

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This does not seem true.

You make two claims

1) "including being known-positive for Covid and still traveling to another country"

2) "intentionally skirted international travel laws"

He "teamed up with the Discovery Channel" for this video. I find it unlikely Discovery Channel" would partake in this. All evidence seems he followed the protocols at the time.

Do you have a link for these claims?

He used a private jet to travel to the Bahamas even though travel was restricted due to COVID. There is video evidence (uploaded by him) of him and his collaborators, all from the US, in the Bahamas and not wearing masks. I'm not going to link the video, because he doesn't deserve the views, but you can find it yourself on Google.

He might have recovered from Covid before traveling. Either way, he posting a highly-publicized video in which he used his wealth to skirt international travel restrictions during the first months of a global pandemic. He did this mere months after posting a video about how easily such viruses spread. This is irresponsible at best.

> He used a private jet to travel to the Bahamas even though travel was restricted due to COVID.

He had recovered from COVID and was not subject to any personal restrictions on travel. Commercial flights has been suspended at the time, while private ones had not. He didn't skirt any travel restrictions, and AFAIK he didn't use his wealth to do it (it was a Discovery Shark Week project, and Discovery hired the jet.)

So, commercial travel was banned. Instead of being able to fly normally, he had to take a private jet -- because the islands said commercial flights from the US weren't okay. How else would you describe this, if not circumventing restrictions? That's like saying people who fly on private jets aren't circumventing TSA security, because TSA isn't required for private jets.

This also doesn't justify his behavior once in the Bahamas, which included no social distancing or masking.

Mark talks about it in the video https://youtu.be/vePc5V4h_kg?t=110

Order of events:

0. Mark tests positive for covid-19

1. He self-isolates

2. Later he tests negative

3. But by then the Bahamas has banned US travelers on commercial flights

4. Mark takes a private jet to get around the ban.

I liked the squirrel video tho

Most people like his videos. That's kind of the point OP is making. That is, behind these innocent cheery videos is somewhat of a fuck-off..

* I don't know enough about Rober to have an informed opinion. Based on his charity drives for autism and other acts, I thought he was a decent guy.

Based on the Porch Pirate video, I wouldn't even be surprised to learn those squirrels were trained. :(

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