Give restaurants a break
Restaurants, coffee shops, and pubs on Kauai (and elsewhere) have absorbed the biggest blow from the government response to the COVID attack. But with focus on Kauai, thanks to measures taken by the governor and mayor, this island appears to be COVID virus-free. So why should these businesses be further burdened with mitigating practices when there is nothing to mitigate?
The problem with the “new normal” is that it is not normal. The old normal is the default. People aren’t going to stay six feet away from each other at all times. The world is just not built that way. So why should restaurants be forced to pretend that it is? Six-foot distancing to prevent a disease from spreading is a fallacy. Who came up with that, anyway? I mean, why not seven feet?
Government should give people more credit for common sense and get out of the way. Restaurants and coffee houses are going to have enough challenges re-starting without the government nagging at them to abide by ridiculous rules.
Richard Morse, Kilauea
County council end this lockdown
First I would like to thank you for all your hard work, I am sure the past 6 weeks have required hard decisions that can’t make everyone happy. I applaud the decisions the mayor has been sharing.
However, after only 21 cases (only 1 was suspected to be community exposure) and no new cases for almost 2 incubation periods I do not see the reasoning behind mimicking Oahu’s restrictions. As a state we are unique in that what works for one island does not work for all. Please encourage the governor to allow us more freedoms as we as a community responded in unity to get through this faster.
We are trading lives not saving. Yes no one has died from Covid-19 on Kauai, but how many families are experiencing domestic abuse, sexual assault and neglect behind closed doors during this lockdown? We cannot assume because services are still available during these times that people have opportunities to receive them. The work load for Human Services was at a breaking point before this and it will only get worse. Stress and depression will set in and I believe we will see an increase in drug use and suicides if we do not relieve some of our restrictions.
Please end this lockdown, allow people to work, remove beach restrictions, if we can keep 6 feet apart at Costco we can do that at the beach as well.
Mahalo for being a public servant, please listen to your public.
Bethany Woodward, Kilauea
COVID-19 beach rules
Here are the most recent rules regarding beach activity in Hawai‘i:
1. Beach Closures. All beaches in Hawaiʻi are hereby closed. No person shall sit, stand, lie down, lounge, sunbathe, or loiter on any beach or sand bar in Hawaiʻi, except as allowed in Section III.C.4 below and when:
a. transiting across or through beaches to access the ocean waters for outdoor exercise purposes, such as surfing, solo paddling, and swimming, so long as social distancing requirements are maintained;
b. running, jogging, or walking on the beach, so long as social distancing requirements are maintained.
Makaala Kaaumoana, Hanalei Makai Watch
There must be something in the water in Kilauea: all the weird anti-vax, anti-lockdown Stuff on Kauai seems to originate there. Bottom line is that if you flat out don’t believe in science, none of this stuff is ever going to make sense. Maybe those guys should move to Texas or Georgia and become part of their experiments.
It’s the Vortex
Yeah, lets let kin all the tourists from those states that have red hotspots, and lets let in all of those floating petrie dish passengers and crews, and lets not wear masks, or social distance. in fact, lets just walk up to each other, open our mouths, and spit inside to really show how much we think, this is a hoax. Why not? Lets cull the herd and herd immunity! Huzzah! Sure, let’s just pretend this does not exist.
Now, for you brain dead idiots out there, let us review. This virus kills people that do not social distance, wear masks, or ignore its reality. It has no feelings and doesn’t care what you think. it wants inside you, and either to pass itself on to someone it can kill or hang out in you long enough until it gets in there real deep and hangs out.
If you believe in reality, you will think re opening is the worst thing possible. We on our island are a floating petrie dish. Ige wanted to make an “example” of us, as a “petrie dish”. He certainly is. I voted for the guy, and right now he is on my not so good list. I am very disappointed in how he has run this whole thing. He seems to support Trump. And we will now see deaths, lack of ventilators, and all of the horrors we have not seen yet. Because you will open up the state again, and let the floods of people from places that have hundreds, and sometimes thousands of deaths still a day come here, to hang out, relax, breathe on you, and enjoy themselves. At your expense. We have been spared because we locked down, not because the disease is a hoax, you lunatics.
What about all the people that now have to stay home even more, and can’t go out and are stranded because the rest of you want to go out? Who is going to care for the vulnerable? I can sure bet it won’t be those of you screaming its all a hoax.
Shame. This is lunacy!
Do people not realize we’ve had only 21 cases and no deaths BECAUSE of the lockdown? What do you all think will happen if we lift it now…?
Visitor arrivals have been steadily climbing. I am seeing more and more rental cars parked at the beach and in driveways of vacation rental houses here on the Westside.
Look what’s happening in places on the mainland that have started reopening. Surges of more positive cases.
People who think we’re not going to see a second wave here, on Kauai, are delusional.
Richard Morse, are you a scientist? Do you have ANY expertise in infectious disease control?
The reason for the six-feet distance is that people have studied the spray of droplets from sneezing and coughing and have determined how far these droplets typically travel. They can actually go out as far as 12 feet from the source given enough time, but the further out, the more diluted the particles become. This ends up being a balancing act. Yes, “normal” human interactions require close contact. Preventing the spread of the virus requires NO close contact. Only a fool would said it is more important that we maintain “normal” interactions when those interactions could cause people to die. It would also be foolish to say that everyone should stay away from everyone at all times. Thus, some MIDDLE GROUND is chosen to try to MINIMIZE the impact.
Now, we can debate until the cows come home about what that middle ground should be, but those of you demanding a “return to normal” are actually DEMANDING THAT CERTAIN PEOPLE BE SACRIFICED FOR YOUR NEED TO NOT BE INCONVENIENCED. I just want it to be clear as you people continue to ask for this how it is being seen by others. Arguing about your Constitutional rights being infringed upon by being required to wear a mask in public is a similar sign that certain people simply do not care about the health and well-being of others. We see who you all are, and it will be remembered because it is an immoral stance.
Does WHO recommend routine wearing masks for healthy people during the 2019 nCoV outbreak?
No. WHO does not recommend that asymptomatic individuals (i.e., who do not have respiratory symptoms) in the community should wear medical masks, as currently there is no evidence that routine use of medical masks by healthy individuals prevents 2019-nCoV transmission. Masks are recommended to be used by symptomatic persons in the community. Misuse and overuse of medical masks may cause serious issues of shortage of stocks and lack of mask availability for those who actually need to wear them.
Sorry your wrong. It’s been shown that more then 20% of the people carrying the virus , and contagious, never show any symptoms.
I think the problem with reopening is that we do still have incoming travelers, and not all of them respect the quarantine.
Even if all of them did, it’s known that some carriers remain asymptomatic–so even after their quarantine is completed, they could trigger new cases. And that would require a repeated lockdown period.
Can’t we at least enforce the 14-day quarantine on incoming travelers, trusting afterwards that they are not among the few asymptomatic carriers–while accepting that another lockdown may eventually be necessary? Under those circumstances I can see reopening our local economy, while continuing the use of masks & distancing until a vaccine is available.
Morse, my man! Let me Google that for you: Stay 6 feet apart so particles from each other’s exhale don’t reach anyone else. It’s a compromise, yes, and why not 7? Hey, if you want to go above and beyond the suggestion, no one is stopping you!
And about government giving people more credit for common sense… I think you prove the point all by yourself.
COVID-19 is a LIE! Fake News! LIBERATE KILAUEA!!!
Here’s something to think about. To all of you who have not taken your health seriously throughout your lives it seems that many of you are the people in fear of this virus. This is for those of you who chose to drink soda instead of water, those who chose fast foods, fried foods, refined foods, sugary foods, processed foods INSTEAD OF vegetables, fruits, fish, whole grains, and unprocessed meats. To those who chose not to exercise. Perhaps now you have type 2 diabetes? Perhaps now you are obese? Not only were all of you taxing the healthcare system with your health issues BEFORE COVID-19 and making healthcare costs go higher, but if you are on Medicaid or Medicare (aka free health insurance), the taxpayers are paying your bills. That is selfish! Now that you realize that you are vulnerable because of your past choices, you are pointing the finger at everyone else and calling them selfish for wanting to go back to work and make a living and perhaps even sit on the beach?!? Unreal. People who have been serious about choosing to live a healthy life should not have to continue to pay for the ones that did not.
Probably one of the most ignorant comments I’ve read in a while…
JJ, I’m not really sure who you are arguing with but just wanted to give you a little fact check.
Medicare is not free. People who are over 65 and receive Medicare have money deducted from their Social Security payments each month in order to pay for it. I have been working for almost 50 years and have been paid into that system. Please don’t make stuff up.
If insensitive people don’t keep the 6 feet away rule. when someone get to close to you, “just fart!”
Editor. Is there a reason why you are not publishing the comments I send in?
Still under house-arrest so I think I’ll play ‘fallacy sleuth’ today. A brief lesson in logic to quell the intolerance and ignorance in some of these comments…
The “genetic” fallacy:
“all the weird anti-vax, anti-lockdown Stuff on Kauai seems to originate there”
The genetic fallacy is simply discounting a truth or perspective based on where it came from rather than consider its merits. ‘You come from Kilauea. You deny science.’ When in fact, there is a very good point made. It is deemed “safe” for Costco to be open provided everyone is able to keep 6 feet apart. If Costco moved the contents of their warehouse (benches, racks, registers, everything but the walls) to the beach, would it be any less “safe” for shoppers? The answer is no, but the carts would a lot harder to push. Are Costco and Walmart open and the beach closed because food is ‘essential’ and we will take the risk? It would be simple to distribute food to people without them entering a warehouse. Grocery stores don’t ‘need’ to be open to distribute food. The beaches are supposedly ‘closed’ to certain activities for our ‘safety’, but they are no less ‘safe’ than socially-distanced shopping. That is a truth that has nothing to do with denying science. Calling someone a ‘science denier’ without any facts, BTW, is called an ad-hominem attack. And yes, it makes YOU look like the science denier.
The “either-or” fallacy:
An either-or fallacy is setting up an argument where only two possibilities exist when in fact there can be multiple possibilities. IF you don’t wear a mask or argue about “being required to wear a mask in public”, you “simply do not care about the health and well-being of others” . This fallacy promotes the idea that there are only two options, namely, you care about the well-being of others and wear a mask, or you don’t care about the well-being of others and don’t wear a mask. Some don’t wear a mask because they are under the magical age of 5. Some don’t wear a mask for health reasons that are nunya business. Some don’t wear a mask because they are exercising. Some don’t’ wear a mask for the same reason they don’t drive a Prius or Tesla; because it’s just virtue signaling. How about not wearing a mask but keeping distance? How about knowing you have antibodies and can’t be a host for the virus? I won’t wear a mask and yet I still care about the well-being of others…even ones I disagree with on message boards. I don’t need to tell anyone the reason why. I also don’t spit in people’s faces, sniff their hair or instill irrational and un-scientific fear with my words. Experts gave very good reasons to NOT put on a mask in March. Those reasons didn’t just evaporate; they are still valid, scientific reasons; no one has proven otherwise. If they had, shouldn’t we question the ‘wisdom’ of the ‘experts’? But it is, in nice terms, an either-or fallacy to imply that the reason one doesn’t don a mask is ONLY because they don’t care about the health and well-being of others. I actually won’t wear a mask, while keeping my distance, precisely because I DO care about other’s well-being. Wearing a mask in public is not healthy, mentally or physiologically, for you and it’s not healthy for others. Wishing the opposite or repeating the mantra, “My mask protects you…” on a daily basis won’t make it true. Someday maybe I’ll write a dystopian teen novel about that…
Another ‘ad hominem’ and faulty “appeal to authority” fallacy:
“are you a scientist? Do you have ANY expertise in infectious disease control?”
Maybe this question was asked in ernest but I suspect it was just a coy way of calling someone ‘stupid’. This is also roundabout way of committing the ‘appeal to authority’ fallacy. One doesn’t need to be a scientist or infectious disease expert to know that there is no magic to a six foot distance. Here’s another faulty ‘appeal to authority’: Don’t wear masks, it’s ‘silly’ for the healthy to be wearing a mask. No, put on a mask, a cloth mask, to protect yourself and others. Well, which is it? Both pieces of advice came from the same ‘expert’. We don’t accept ‘science’ because of the source, we accept it based on it’s merits.
The “false cause” fallacy:
A false cause fallacy means falsely presenting one thing as the cause of another.
“no deaths BECAUSE of the lockdown” (your emphasis, not mine)
I’ve hit on this fallacy a lot! Few seem capable of following this truth, or maybe nobody reads the TGI comments, or maybe some/most just have a hard time grasping the order of events, and the concept of cause and effect. In order to have deaths there must be infections. The only detected infections on this island have been in people that picked it up elsewhere and brought it here. Only one case of 21 could not be confirmed to be from travel. Many travelers surely brought the virus here (300,000 visitors from all over the world!) prior to the lockdown and there was no spread. Do you really think there were no infected people on the island prior to late March when the lockdown was put in place? Then you are denying the evidence printed in our own newspaper! Confirmed travelers from California and New York arrived on the island already infected with the virus and had ample contact with island residents and there were NO further detected infections. I say ‘detected’ because there might be some that are now afraid they will be stoned to death if they admit they have so much as a sore throat. If an alien, from outer space, came to Kauai and read the comments section or opinion page of TGI they would be led to believe that there was a virus jumping from tourists to residents, infecting and killing dozens, or hundreds, or thousands!, of otherwise healthy people on the island, before the lockdown. And AFTER the lockdown the infections magically disappeared. The lockdown didn’t stop the spread. The lockdown COULDN’T have stopped the spread because there was none to stop. If my car is stopped and apply the parking brake, did my brake stop the car? It stopped, or rather never started, all on it’s own! All those on Kauai that are or were infected with Covid-19, please raise your hands! (crickets)
“Hey, if you want to go above and beyond the suggestion, no one is stopping you!”
This one actually is NOT a logical fallacy! It’s true! Want to wear a mask? Wear a mask! Want to stay 10 feet apart? Stay 10 feet apart! Want to get your haircut or nails done? Get your hair cut or nails done! Want to stay off the beach? STAY.OFF.THE.BEACH!
The “slippery slope” fallacy:
“Even if all of them did, it’s known that some carriers remain asymptomatic–so even after their quarantine is completed, they could trigger new cases.”
The slippery-slope fallacy says that if one thing happens, an even worse thing will happen. If we allow a tourist to come here, they will be infected, skip quarantine and we’re all going to die! Well, there is a reason behind a “14 day” quarantine. If one is carrying a virus, it is assumed, based on what we know about viruses and the reliable information that the communist Chinese government has told us about this particular virus, that after 14 days either they will have developed symptoms or their immune system will have cleaned out the virus and they will be virus free. How could one “trigger new cases” if they are virus free?
The ‘wishful thinking’ ,‘false cause’ and ‘appeal to emotion’ fallacies:
“This virus kills people that do not social distance, wear masks, or ignore its reality”
This one makes for a dramatic story…like the Terminator…that simply isn’t true. A virus kills a host that isn’t strong enough to host or destroy it. Social distance might reduce your chances of being exposed to it. Wearing a mask might keep you from touching your face, but not likely. Ignoring reality doesn’t change reality. As much as you would like to personify the virus, that means giving it characteristics that a person would have, and wanting it to have human characteristics, like only killing those that don’t social distance, is “wishful thinking”. Likewise, wishing that “And we will now see deaths, lack of ventilators, and all of the horrors we have not seen yet” because you have TDS does not mean those things will happen. In fact, we have been told, no one in the US has yet died from a lack of a ventilator. Wanting something to be true does not make it true.
Bravo! Very insightful analysis of the psychosis gripping the “sheeple”. Fear is the mind killer and the masterminds that control the spread of it have been planning for a long time.
And every example a strawman!
Just passing through. Loved these last couple responses from @everythingisawesome and @kaleaale. Copied to notes. Brilliant and well thought out as compared to the knee jerk “sky is falling, we like being mad at people “ rhetoric. Thanks!
I’ve been pondering this letter for a few weeks now hoping I’d see some common sense be implemented. I believe the mayor has probably done the best job he could and I’m sure this hasn’t be easy. But that doesn’t mean he’s done the best job that could have been done either. Being a caring person doesn’t equate to great leadership.
For those of you who sit in your home with fear and trepidation, waiting for the mayor to tell you when you can make your next move and to unveil “your rights,” you’re really not critically thinking. A critical thinker realizes that bringing in the National Guard and the police to stop people for absolutely no reason is not the land of the free. If you are a law abiding citizen, it is none of any one’s business where you are going. If grocery stores are open, gas stations are open, the hospital is open, than what business is it of theirs where you are going. You so easily gave up that right of yours.
Let’s talk about closing down beaches. Aside from a rain forest, and possibly even equal to, the ocean is the healthiest place on earth to build ones immune system and to fill up your cup during this stressful time. Why would anyone ever take that away from people of the island. You have everything there that kills virus’s. You have sunshine, heat, humidity…the things the virus cannot survive with. This virus is not like a missile seeking to find it’s next landing place. People, the chances of being at the beach and contacting the virus are as likely as you winning a 20 million dollar lottery. But yet it’s been taken from you. For literally no reason. Except to implement obedience, fear and control. We get 90% of our oxygen off the ocean. Instead of controlling, why not implement a healthy format. You have police there sweeping the beaches to write tickets anyway, why not have them babysit in case there is someone who is disobedient? There is healing on the beach, it should never have been closed down but encouraged.
Isolation is not healthy for anyone. Especially when fear is driven in to one’s head. Fear is paralyzing. It makes it so you don’t think clearly. Lets talk masks…probably of all the demands placed on this island, this would be the most ridiculous. You have no cases of Covid, and yet you must wear a mask once you step outside? How can that make sense to any of you? People, you must realize that being suspicious of everyone you pass likely has Covid is no way to live. You have already lost so much of your immune system by isolation, those masks just make it worse. Read the JAMA (Journal of American Medicine Assoc) newsletter from March 4th, 2020. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762694 (Below is an excerpt from the document)
When Should a Mask Be Used?
Face masks should be used only by individuals who have symptoms of respiratory infection such as coughing, sneezing, or, in some cases, fever. Face masks should also be worn by health care workers, by individuals who are taking care of or are in close contact with people who have respiratory infections, or otherwise as directed by a doctor. Face masks should not be worn by healthy individuals to protect themselves from acquiring respiratory infection because there is no evidence to suggest that face masks worn by healthy individuals are effective in preventing people from becoming ill. Face masks should be reserved for those who need them because masks can be in short supply during periods of widespread respiratory infection. Because N95 respirators require special fit testing, they are not recommended for use by the general public.
But hey, if it makes you feel better, by all means wear it. But don’t make the rest of us that want our immune systems to rebuild lose out on that opportunity. Not to mention that masks harbor virus’s and inhibit the intake of a full breath! Just ask someone with COPD!
The next thing I hear is look how safe we’ve been from the virus. Very true…but at what cost people? At what cost? Getting the virus is NOT a death sentence. First of all, very few people, even being exposed will get it. Secondly, those that get it will have mild to severe symptoms, not to mention a built in immunity for the future. Thirdly, death is showing to be at 0.01% (These are numbers coming from true CV deaths, not the made up numbers.) That means that if 30% of the people of Kauai had the virus, fortunately we’d have great immunity on this island but secondly, that would be two deaths. We do have deaths each year from the flu so this is nothing different. People do die from the flu! Because of the shutdown, we have now faced suicides on this island, people will be losing their homes and their livelihoods, there’s an increase in alcohol and drug consumption, an increase in domestic violence. If it was my time to go, there’s no way I’d want the rest of the island to suffer. And remember, the virus is not like a swarm of bees that will attack everyone it can…you may never get it and yet we’ve turned our island upside down with fear and rules.
Have you thought about this? Instead of daily updates that bring new fear, new rules, no hope, how about if this time could have been used equipping the island with the appropriate medications that have been incredibly useful? There is Hydroxychloriquine and Remdesivir? Incredible success! Again,let’s please do some critical thinking here…have you ever asked yourself why the democratic states have the strictest shut downs and the republican states either didn’t shut down (and are having amazing success by the way) or opened a few weeks ago and the curve is still going down? It’s also the democratic states saying this medicine doesn’t work while the republican states are using it with great success. There is an oppression going on people. You don’t have to be republican or democrat to figure this one out. It’s pretty crystal clear….freedom vs. oppression! Cuomo even threatened any doctor using HCQ that they’d be thrown in jail! All the while he’s letting out felons.
And what happened to Kauai’s Aloha? Telling people to turn in people for stopping to take in the beauty of the ocean in or watching a whale? Please, if that doesn’t make you think of Hitler’s Germany asking the citizens to turn one another in, than you truly have your head in the sand. We are meant to be a community. Not a place of division.
And I’d like to address a comment made recently about another contributor being an anti-vaxxer. Where do you think this is all heading? Again, with fear comes control. If they can put enough fear in us, we would be desperate for a vaccine…that’s the hope of Pharma. However, do your research. Ironically, the people that got their flu vaccine this year, had a 36% increase in getting Covid. Again, very interesting. Before you jump to conclusions about people being antivaxxers, it’s not that at all. It’s anti non-safe vaccines. In order to have a safe vaccine, trials need to be done which takes years. There is a race to get one out, no long term trials so how do we know long term effects.
My final subject is the 14 day quarantine. I think it was a great idea! I think in the beginning, to slow down the spread, great idea. What’s not a great idea is having a swat team like experience come to your home to make sure you are abiding. There are better ways than to have multiple police vehicles showing up at your home randomly. This is something you’d do to a criminal. If you are a law abiding citizen with no record, simple visits would have been just fine. What message do you think that was sending? If you think this is okay, maybe you’d be happier in China.
I’m going to close with some quotes that I think speaks volumes.
Thanks for the 2 month free trial of communism, I’d like to cancel my subscription please, thank you.
It’s not the government’s job to protect my health. It’s the government’s job to protect my RIGHTS. It’s my job to protect my health. When you trade liberty for safety you end up losing both.
Everybody panicked. they were fed incorrect numbers by epidemiologists. This lead to a situation that is no doubt in my mind, when we come to look back on this, the damage done by lockdown will exceed any saving of lives by a huge factor. Dr. Michael Levitt
We will one day look back on this moment with shame
When sex offenders were released but priests and moms were arrested
Churches closed but abortion clinics open
Free speech and assembly banned, yet censorship celebrated
Economy ruined
All for what
A virus no deadlier than the flu
Back when I studied the Holocaust in school, I remember thinking, “How did Hitler get over 6 million people to follow along blindly and not fight back?” then I realized, I’m watching my fellow Americans take the same path.
In closing, here’s to the provision of proven medical options of effective medicines that can fight this virus and an answer to calm your fears, (maybe we could make sure our hospital has secured these) here’s to making your bodies stronger and healthier to protect from future virus’s, here’s to loving your neighbor and serving one another, and here’s to a government that serves it’s people instead of controlling it’s people. May we come out on the other side of this not wanting to stay away from one another but knowing that with each embrace, we are building our immunity and so much more. We were meant to be in community with one another!