I have been thinking and praying about the condition this country and the world are in concerning COVID-19. We have been under stress and duress for six months now, and there is no end in sight.
What I am about to propose will no doubt draw ire from many. It may draw praise from a few. But I feel compelled to state my case.
In 1941, and for almost four years after that, our young men and women went to war. Most willingly gave up their life to fight an enemy we could see. Many thousands of them never returned. They died for a cause we believed was right and just. They went to save the life and liberty of the people of this country. They went to protect moms and dads, brothers and sisters, grandmas and grandpas and cousins and friends. They were called “The Greatest Generation.”
Today, we are fighting an invisible enemy. It’s not just a virus. It is much more than that. It is an enemy of totalitarianism. It is a government, from local to state, which believes it is doing the right thing by telling people that they must do as they say, without argument, or we will arrest you and put you in jail. It is a government that doesn’t care if small businesses close forever. It is a government that believes people’s lives and livelihood don’t matter. It’s all for the greater good.
I believe it is time for “we the people,” the ones described in the Declaration of Independence, to stand up to this totalitarian rule.
But here is the rub. In 1941 it was young men who fought and died. In the case of this virus, it is the elderly and infirm who must fight and die. Yes, you heard me right. If we discontinued COVID testing, treated those who needed treatment and went about our lives the way they did when polio was the issue, when the flu strikes each year, when H1N1 was the news of the day,we would be fine.
I will tell you I am one of those who are considered vulnerable. I am 74 years old. I did my time in the military during Vietnam. I have always been a patriot. I am the son of a WWII veteran and the grandson of a WWI veteran. I am willing to put my life on the line again and fight this invisible enemy. Are all the vulnerable patriots in this country willing to put their lives on the line to fight for our way of life? Are we ready to throw away the mask, delete the social distancing, open the beaches, restaurants and businesses? To take back control of our own destiny? To go to the front line to protect your children, grandchildren, family and friends? To revive the land of the free and the home of the brave?
If you like this, feel free to copy and paste or forward. If you think I am some heartless kook who needs to be locked up, fine. Unfriend me. I really don’t care anymore. I am tired of watching so many of my friends and neighbors follow like sheep to slaughter. I am tired of my government telling me where I can go and what I can do.
•••
Dave Stokley is a resident of
Lihu‘e.
Dave, well stated, and refreshing to hear from someone that has served and sacrificed in the past and is willing to potentially sacrifice in the future. You just don’t find that in 2020 in the USA.
The Governor (Government) can’t evaluate tradeoffs and has no plan. Once the lockdown/quarantine started in Hawaii, a plan to open up the State should have been started the NEXT day, and been transparent. Waiting for a vaccine is not a strategy! This should be a wake up call to encourage other industries, through numerous incentives, to come to Hawaii, as this State only produces sun, surf, and beaches and relies only on Tourism. Your grandchildren and great grandchildren will be given the bills to stay home and watch NETFLIX.
Doctors and scientists are not trained to evaluate the consequences of shutting down the economy. We cannot pay attention to ONLY one metric….positive testing and deaths. Supposed COVID deaths, worldwide, is 880,000, with a world population of 7.8B. You do the math on the mortality rate. What is the metric that we are targeting?? Are we really going to wait for ZERO people tested???…..never going to happen!! There should be a plan for the 65 and older, who make up almost 80% of COVID deaths, yet almost all are not part of the workforce. Mitigate this age group, and get everyone else back to work.
The “Hidden Epidemic” includes effects of social isolation (quarantine), depression, anxiety in children, drug overdoses, suicide, HPB, domestic violence, increase in violence, general healthcare for people unable or unwilling to go to hospitals for required surgeries…..this is the flip side to the “quarantine” that few talk about. This is not about the ability to save some people. The cure is worse than the disease!
Stop the madness!
Jake,
I am in. At 68, it is my problem not everyone else’s. There is no science behind these government guidelines. None. We the elderly and compromised have to fight this battle, not the rest of our population. Eyes, nose, mouth and O2 levels are our defensive weapons. The elderly can wear mask and safety glasses while monitoring their O2 level. Not everyone has or should do that. If O2 level drops below 90%, get to a doctor, ask for HCQ-Zpak and supplemental O2 and then go back to your foxhole. Don’t go to the hospital or nursing home for sure. There are no active cases on Kauai today. Why would we still wear masks everywhere we go? Where is the science in that stupidity. If the politicians take their pay to $0 until we open the economy, I’ll start listening to these numbskulls. God help our island because I can assure you, politicians can’t. Think about what we are doing to all our people by destroying businesses that enable them to survive. And I do understand this virus in detail, right down to the transmission mechanisms.
Bravo Dave, Jake & Rick for bravery in voicing your opinion on the insane approach to this virus. You’ve put all my same thoughts on paper. Thank you.
Bless you and thank you, Dave. I am not a kupuna yet but I have a lot of experience with them. They are the brave, independent souls with life experience and fierce independence. They are not the ones who encourage or enforce these COVID regulations. Unfortunately, my generation is: The comfortable, middle-aged philistines who neglected to appreciate and also teach our own children (a) US Government 101, American history, and civics, (b) what it really means to sacrifice and fight to preserve our way of life as the 442nd did in WWII, (c) how precious are the basics of the US Constitution and our fundamental rights enumerated therein. It used to be a virtue to be able to take care of oneself so that others did not have to care for you — not imposed by law but self-imposed as a matter of human dignity and self-respect. Now, our most basic movements are regulated under the new, mandated virtue of this-is-how-everyone-must-care-for-others (e.g. “my mask protects you and your mask, me”). How about: “Protect yourself and respect others. Maintain good hygiene practices and avoid situations where you feel unsafe.” We have simply (maybe inadvertently) exchanged one set of virtues for another, and sacrificed our entire way of life in the process. Freedom for all of us is what makes caring for any one of us not just possible but patriotic; unfortunately our government mistook our cooperation in March as an invitation to indefinite subjugation. Thank you for speaking out.
There’s quite a few youtubers that agree with your points. Youtube is in cahoots with the left and has been limited free speech by removing videos,etc. There is a doctor named Sucharit Bhakdi from germany who had his account closed banned after he used science to dubunk the pandemic. He wrote a book called “Corona, False Alarm?” I suggest looking into it has valuable information. Also theres guys like Dave Rubin from the rubin report and the tatum report that are building a following to fight this madness.
Been “awaiting moderation” by TGI (whatever that means) to the following comment since 3:28 p.m. yesterday. What is up, TGI?
Bless you and thank you, Dave. I am not a kupuna yet but I have a lot of experience with them. They are the brave, independent souls with life experience and fierce independence. They are not the ones who encourage or enforce these COVID regulations. Unfortunately, my generation is: The comfortable, middle-aged philistines who neglected to appreciate and also teach our own children (a) US Government 101, American history, and civics, (b) what it really means to sacrifice and fight to preserve our way of life as the 442nd did in WWII, (c) how precious are the basics of the US Constitution and our fundamental rights enumerated therein. It used to be a virtue to be able to take care of oneself so that others did not have to care for you — not imposed by law but self-imposed as a matter of human dignity and self-respect. Now, our most basic movements are regulated under the new, mandated virtue of this-is-how-everyone-must-care-for-others (e.g. “my mask protects you and your mask, me”). How about: “Protect yourself and respect others. Maintain good hygiene practices and avoid situations where you feel unsafe.” We have simply (maybe inadvertently) exchanged one set of virtues for another, and sacrificed our entire way of life in the process. Freedom for all of us is what makes caring for any one of us not just possible but patriotic; unfortunately our government mistook our cooperation in March as an invitation to indefinite subjugation. Thank you for speaking out.
I don’t think you fully grasp the seriousness of this deadly virus. We are all tired of wearing masks and self-quarantining, but this has nothing to do with totalitarianism. It has everything to do with public safety and the desire to do the best we can to keep the pandemic under control. If we were to follow what you are suggesting, we would run a much greater risk of contracting the illness and suffering serious consequences — or even passing it on to a friend or loved one. None of us wants that. The best way of controlling your “destiny” is to hunker down, adhere to the guidelines of the health experts and wait for a vaccine.
Aloha Steve, the gov’t and vaccine pharmaceutical companies love you and need more of you. It is you who can fuel the sales of the vaccine coming to save people of your understanding or mis.
Almost every person who dies under age 90 dies from pre-existing conditions identical but variable to the same pre-existing conditions those with the die from, it’s just that without the virus you have to blame the pre-existing conditions p, well and their toxic prescription drugs.
However with Covid19 you can forget and skip over these similar pre-existing conditions and their prescription drugs and just blame the virus for the whole thing, death, and scare more people and ramp up vaccine sales. Amen! I’ll take one in each arm.
Gosh, Auntie, I sure can’t get anything by you, can I? Your argument is . . . flawless.
Unless you are a Trust Fund Baby, on the Welfare dole, or over 67 and collecting SS, then how to you plan on paying your mortgage, healthcare, car payments, homeowners insurance, car insurance, electric bill, cable bill, food bill, cellphone bill, and saving for retirement…??????? With all the Government checks flowing in each week?
COVID deaths and positive tests will never be zero. Even with a vaccine, which only 1/3 of the population even gets each year, influenza kills 60K-80K per year.
What for a vaccine? Not gonna solve our problems.
Please cite all your sources for those numbers. This way we can see where you are trying to misrepresent the truth.
Also, you are basically saying the only people who can pay for things are ultra rich or completely poor. You’ve made that claim several times in different posts. Do you realize that it makes no sense?
I work, that’s how I afford to pay for things. Maybe you just need to check your priorities if you’re having that much trouble with finances.
Mr. Stokely, put on your mask !
Michael I know how hard it is not wanting to except that those you’ve placed your trust in DECEIVING you. Please look at this before those in power ! Amazon, Facebook, Twitter take this of the web like they have so MANY DOCTORS who disagree with the political agenda of those wanting the U.S.A. wiped from the face of the earth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf0pYH-sqWk..
You’ve been deliberately SCARED along with MILLIONS of others because much of what has been learned about this subject has been deliberately kept from the people.
I’m am 3rd. generation of Proud hard working AMERICANS who have served in WWI, WW2, Korea, Viet Nam. Not all of us came home. Their is NO REASON Kauai needs to be SHUT DOWN. NO ONE can keep EVERYONE ALIVE FOREVER. Fact is ! We all die. God Bless you and yours. ALOHA
What does your doctor tell you? The operative sentence in your screed is “I don’t care anymore.”
Well said brother…nice to see there is some sense in Hawaii.
Welcome Home!
Why not keep the masks, distancing, wash hands and open up? Seems like a good compromise. The problem with this are the people who don’t agree with science.
Dave you are right, the cure will be worse than the disease.
mAhalo Dave “stoke-ley” i would comment in favor of your publishing, but TGI dismisses every thought every similar opinion that I or others try to assert. As a USAF retired status veteran “Brat” i don’t warrant equal time, especialy since top secret all military conferenc “hawaii noose placed” 1959(age 11) of 73-years experiences Hickham AFB, nor did i make the grade, “a black sheep”, etc, and other commentator whose concern is that i get psychological assist or directed to “take your meds”. I am but a messenger of truth and integrity. Dad saved me his entire military career footlocker. His legacy as Dave’s require that i EXpose! Right about now, we await building a funded Mana, Ballistic Missile intercept/launch facility and WHY polihale “closed indefinitely, so Military madness takes over what was “civilian” territory, PMRF West kauai, two Polihale ridges, and the new mess bridge-build Hanakapiai, and now another miissing wailua man who went hiking trail Kalalau! I worry for WE the people are being taken down, set-up like Brun, or contract suicide a young couple between kamalani south and Nukolii north, awa finding another wailua kane deceased “dismembered” near loop road or backside of powerline trail where his Toyota truck was towed and set ablaze! Too many radical SUP-posed leaders who promote collusion, criminality, and the biggest fraud in History! NO treaty of Annexation, NO judiciopoliticopopo jurisdiction etc! THEY are the terrorists, NOT Brun!
Those of us in our 70s have not heretofore experienced a pandemic and are therefore given the luxury of terming public health measures as marks of “totalitarianism”. (Certainly, there are other actions in the news that are more worthy of that over reach.). The suggestion that we sacrifice ourselves on the alter of a better future for our children is, in reality, a suggestion that we force others into the same “sacrifice”. It also makes the assumption that no younger people will bear the potential terrible price of a fatal or debilitating case of Covid 19. Are we so certain that a 43 year old professional dancer was some sort of “weak link” to have died of this illness? That doctors and other front line workers, along with 180,000+ people, “would have died anyway”? Sadly, there are few strictly individual choices when dealing with infectious disease. Talk of “going to the front lines” by ceasing to follow public health directives is not a “fight” against a virus. It’s an invitation to spread it and risk the unintended but predictable consequences of that choice.
Right on Dave! We the people just want to live and work and love and not be controlled with fear and the threat of fines and imprisonment! If you dig deep into the stats and the good verses bad coming out of this lockdown world, you find that this so called response is saving lives, but in reality it’s costing more. Lets not have the cure be more deadly!!
Thank you for so eloquently writing how I think on this subject. When did we become a nation afraid of our own shadow?
My wife is a heart risk patient
We are in love for 40 years
She wants to go and live or die free not locked in a closet
Mr. Stokley, Thank you for your service but I fear you have been deceived by the great deceiver. I wonder if you buckle your seat belt, pay your income taxes or drive on the correct side of the street? All are former signs and examples of government overreach to exasperated citizens of the time. I remember my mom thinking back in the 60s that seatbelts we’re an example of big brother. The truth is this president thought this was just one more thing he could lie his way out of but the virus wasn’t listening and now, 6 months later we have 184000 people dead and averaging 1000 dying per day. Remember the president saying at first that this won’t even come close to infecting anyone near you in those first days of Covid19 in America? This is a health issue not a political one but the president is running to stay out of jail unlike his advisors and appointees who have been caught. So please, Mr Stokley, buckle up and wear a mask.
How, when commenting on an article about local government and control, did it suddenly come around to President Trump ?? Really, some on the left are deeply disturbed as they can find a way to blame him for anything. The weather, earthquakes, grass fires and just about everything else. All of the policies regarding the Covid lock down’s and policies came from either the Governor or our Mayor, not the President. Cripes, get your facts straight please !!!
You really don’t think trump had anything to do with the spread of Covid-19 or the attitudes about the spread of Covid-19, or the steps taken by Govs and Mayors regarding Covid-19, or any and all the comments supporting his downplay? You REALLY believe he had not a single little itsy bitsy thing to do with all of this?
Kauaidoug, your fear mongering comments, founded on flawed information, are not helpful. Please consider the latest information from the CDC: “The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) this week released a report that shows the types of health conditions and contributing causes mentioned in conjunction with deaths involving coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
In the latest update, the CDC pointed out that only 6% of deaths related to COVID-19 listed COVID-19 as the only cause of death. The vast majority of patients that were listed as COVID-19 related deaths also suffered from serious comorbidities.
The CDC is reporting 167,558 COVID-19 related deaths in the United State as of August 28, 2020. Out of the 167,558 COVID-19 related deaths, only 10,053 (6%) mentioned COVID-19 as the only cause according to the CDC’s new numbers. The other 94% of the COVID-19 related deaths had comorbidities associated with those deaths.
For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death.”
Thank you David for your thoughtful letter. I hope that most people will be able to set aside their fears and look at the historical facts that you reference in your letter. There are indeed examples for us to take heed of. We always have benefit of greater understanding when we set aside emotion and take the bigger picture into account.
We can be thankful for the wonderful safety we enjoy here on Kauai, and thankful that we have been blessed with low case numbers – but we need to look at the relatively low risk and determine if our desire for safety (especially in light of the current data on this virus – and how it is primarily harmless to citizens who do not have other health issues or currently do not take medication that suppresses immune function) warrants such devastating actions.
The actions we have taken to shut down travel for such an extended period, close our public schools, demand that our restaurants try to function at 1/3 capacity and watch as businesses try to function without our regular visitor flow – is taking a devastating toll on our island.
I, personally , am lucky because I am semi-retired, not suffering from a large debt burden, don’t have small children who need to be supervised while I try to work at a job with less than half the normal capacity for income. But, my heart breaks for the people who have had to watch goals and dreams crash, and for children and young adults who no longer have excitement for their future.
The people who I hear from who continue to plead with our Mayor and Governor to keep the islands closed are by in large people who enjoy the boost in unemployment, do not need steady income, and have been prime candidates for the fear campaign that has been pushed by our media.
Please dear people – look into all of the aspects of these regulations and mandates. Identify where they make no sense, and recognize who benefits and how much more is lost.
We all want to keep our vulnerable safe – but we will never be able to live a life without risk. Let’s allow for more personal responsibility and rightful opportunity.
WOW. incredibly well-written, thoughtful, and SPOT-ON argument from one of our nation’s heroes.
we need more people to stand up to our oppressive government.
how quickly sheeple are willing to give up civil liberties, for a pandemic that only has a 99.96% survival rate.
i’ll take Dangerous Freedom over Peaceful Slavery any day, every day.
maybe it’s a little premature, calling for a restoration of our freedoms -we are only 6 months into “two weeks to flatten the curve.”
Thank you for posting your honest feelings.
The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article recently. New Thinking on Covid Lockdowns: They’re Overly Blunt and Costly. Blanket business shutdowns-which the U.S. never tried before this pandemic-led to a deep recession. Economists and health experts say there may be a better way.
Like many Islands around the world, Kauai took advantage of it’s potential for isolation and it’s good leadership to create a quick and successful response to a major threat to all of us. Unfortunately, the lack of suffering created some very high Ivory Towers for some to reside and complain in rather than give credit where it is due for NOT HAVING TO LITERALLY SUFFER.
If you think that lifting travel restrictions will bring a return to what was normal then YOU JUST DON’T GET IT!
All that ended for years to come. We will be surprised to see even 10% of the Cruise Ships operate. Tourism as we knew it is over! Like we told the Steelworkers once upon a time, it’s time to retrain in a new career. They were stubborn and did not. Same thing for Coal Miners.
I had three careers and started each one from scratch, not because I wanted to; but, because I had to. Each day you waste complaining about the present is time wasted preparing for the future!
Aloha Pete, all those spikes on the other islands indicate those who tested and showed no need for hospital or sickness, and they, all of them, gained the inborn automatic natural immunity to arm themself with for next year’s bout of the more virulent virus that comes every year.
To survive, even virus have to get tougher year after or succumb to the human immune system.
The more who test positive the more who gain immunity and bring us closer to herd immunity which means the virus can not find enough weak people for them to survive in.
In other words only the sick and those tested positive will have the immunity to ward off the next round of virus; and those still virgin to the virus, next year may suffer the wrath of exposure to a more powerful virus that will sweep through our virus-virgin island and death will sweep up those with the pre-existing conditions, conditions that kill most people with or without the virus.
If you were to follow the science you would be lining up now for virus exposure to avoid the next year virus already mutating into an Iniki.
There are so many at risk on Kaua’i, just look at the epidemic of obesity, is anyone , doctors, trying to un-risk those at risk?
No, the médical and pharma need disease to make their millions; they need you to remain high risk…unfortunately many of the obese high risk don’t think they are…next year be ready, but you won’t will you?
Interesting absence is that not a single doctor, scientist, or immunologist has bothered to educate us about how exactly the immune system works to give us immunity. Too many opinions and denials based on ignorance of facts.
What you have described is “Heard Immunity” not herd, because you heard this drivel on FOX or someplace like it. Just one example of your simplistic description and solution: Cells don’t work out out all Winter and get “tougher” for next year. Cells have membrane protein that acts as a “nametag” for the cell. This is critical for cell combination and that protein can be the vaccine target. New infections or virus variants have new nametags that can go unrecognized. It’s way more complicated. Your “Heard Immunity” makes you “Silly Billy,” not Cousin Billy.
Cuz.. the next time you here the dribble just give um the F.O.A.D.P.A. message and make it well intended…..
I, too, am 74 and served in Vietnam but remember that very differently than you. Because so few enlisted, there was a very contentious draft that was initially random but then became a lottery. When your number was called, off to Vietnam you went. There were constant riots and protests over the draft. “Hell no, I won’t go” was a common saying in the late 1960s. Given a choice, most would have chosen to avoid Vietnam. Same today: given a choice, most would chose to stay safe and avoid COVID.
We are under medical martial law by order of our governor and our mayor. They have become responsible for the destruction of our economy. Two weeks to flatten the curve has beCome totalitarian madness without any end in sight. What is the agenda? Who benefits from this takedown. The globalist deep state and the one percent that want one world order and a large population reduction. Are the mayor and governor knowing supporters of this agenda. It sure does look like it. Or may they just drank the kool aid that is being served up everyday by the mainstream media.The lame stream media has be noting more than propaganda and fear porn, control by all the big pharmaceutical companies that are planning to make a killing with their vaccines. In more ways than one. The censorship on citizen journalists in social media like YouTube has become extreme, much like the book burnings of past totalitarian takedowns. It is time to wake up, stand up, and push back before we lose our constitution and our civil rights.
” The globalist deep state and the one percent that want one world order and a large population reduction.”
Oh baby, you are all in aren’t you?
There’s a new cult opening up on the North Shore. You might want to check that out!
Pete, as I recall, you were also a big advocate for the use of RoundUp as completely safe and totally harmless. How is that going for you lately?
It still is. I do admit that switching from the public protest arena to the emotional civil court juries was a successful tactic for those who care little about truth!
Pete, to believe there’s a globalist deep state at the helm is FAR healthier and rational a stance than anyone who believes our soldiers fight and die for our country. Our unsustainable outrageous global war economy is the biggest threat the world has ever seen. Covid-19 is merely a direct byproduct, a fallout, the end result of DARPA and big “defense” bombing the world to bejesus for money and insane AI superpower, destroying the earth and all its biodiversity in the process. Don’t believe it? do your homework. Start with researching DARPA’s “Insect Allies” project. It you don’t understand by now there’s a deep underlying rat behind the cover-up planned out in late 2019, the stage set long before the ridiculous “Military Games” played out in Wuhan last Fall, you are totally hoodwinked. We should have paid attention to the anti-war message of Hunger Games, but the ignorant masses were too busy cheering it all on in the sidelines glorifying ugly military flyovers, the star spangled flamboyant Lady Gaga preaching the games must go on, while displaying all our girls and boys as “tributes” to the sacrificial alter of the global military corporate kingpins destroying Earth and all its people.
Thank you sir for your service and your comments. Very wise words. I always choose freedom. Freedom to choose what is best for me, for my family. And that those choices will be best for my community. To trust in government to make those choices is a big mistake.
I don’t know how my immune system works but I’ve relied on it almost 80 years already without drugs or surgery or any doctor visits. The few times I got sick as a child (measles, mumps, the chicken pox,) Mom just said go to bed, drink lots water and eat chicken soup and drink ginger tea, and when you get well go back to school. I never got the 3 childhood diseases again, I guess my immune system gave me lifetime immunity. My Mom said it would. In the old days Mom’s knew better.
Covid19 is a very contagious virus. Without precautions, an infected person infects two others. Two infect four and so on until herd immunity is achieved. I leave it to the medical experts to say how many will die or suffer disability. The number is certain because hospitals would be overwhelmed like in Brazil and Mexico.
Our island would be devastated.
Tourists would not return for years. Residents would leave. Property values collapse.
Wealthy speculators would buy at bargain prices. Some time after return to normal, Americans seeking Paradise would buy or rent the abandoned residences.
Ethnic cleansing would be complete.
If the state can take away your freedoms once, it will do it over and over until they are long forgotten luxury. You have to challenge their logic, their reasons, their data, and their motives. There has to be debate otherwise the citizenry seems weak and passive. We will be crushed unless we demand a plan that protects the vulnerable while allowing society to function. Why has twitter, youtube, google, & fb been so aggressive to censor ideas about covid treatments and lockdown policy?? And dont even get me started on the BLM scam. This should be the question on everyones mind. It is now obvious the woke fear mongering technocrats of silicon valley have much more power than our American government. They can edit and censor the President’s only platform of free speech. Everything else he says gets edited, chopped , and spun through news outlets. I don’t think people know the level of censorship that is now upon us. Up 1000% Since the start of covid. Be skeptical, demand the highest level of reasoning and planning, and demand our rights not be infringed.
Oh yeah, donald J. (for genius) trump is not an idiot at all. He’s just made to look that way. When he described the Thugs in Black on an airplane the other day, he was just casually mentioning nuns on their way to the convention and it all got TWISTED!
Such a great letter Dave! I feel sorry for Kauaidoug that lives in the dark and trusts his liberal mayor and governor that have never had a plan for a thriving economy once again. Now that the CDC has confirmed that fewer than 7% of those with Covid had no underlying unconditions, and even at that, they have a 99.9% chance of NOT dying, this shut down was the biggest fiasco of our lives! Had we opened on Easter Sunday as was suggested, our businesses would be once again thriving. Just take a close look at those that didn’t shut down or did a temporary shut down with a gradual reopen plan. They are doing FANTASTIC!!! Sweden, South Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming, etc. For those of you that disagree with such a well written letter, you most likely feel the need for a babysitter…someone to tell you what to do and to give you your own little boundaries instead of being a FREE thinker and having FREEDOM as your compass. I am astounded at how many people actually enjoy being told what to do. That, I believe, is one of the biggest differences between our political parties. Freedom and Independence vs. Mandates and Dependence. You all take your mandates and the rest of us will take our Freedom!
So let me get this straight. You, jc, are willing to get Covid19 hoping you don’t get sick so you can effect herd mentality? If we had opened up as you suggest we would be in the same boat Oahu finds itself with far less ICU beds. Sweden has had more deaths than any other nordic country. The states you mentioned simply have not had the spread so they are in their first wave with Sturgis acting as a super spreader. Anacdotal evidence is that it is very hard to figure who will die from this and who won’t. There have been young healthy people die. They have found college athletes who contracted and survived Covid19 had enlarged heart issues that could be chronic. Herd mentality needs 70% or so to be effective. We’ve had 18700 fatalities so far so the deaths upon a herd mentality would be in the millions and one of them could be you or me. I don’t want to take that risk so I will do my civic duty to protect you as I protect myself and wear a mask. BTW I think the mayor has done as good a job as can be expected Ige, not so much.
That falsehood about the CDC stats was removed from Twitter. Find a new falsehood!
The Fools Fool!
Cowered Commee!
Still alive at 67 and have under lying health conditions that give me pause…..
I trust in a higher education and spiritual practices to see us through this new normal and I pray for world peace!!!!
Peace begins with me…. it’s an inside job to examine the feelings and beliefs of the often false claims of public education and military indoctrination.
I encourage you to get familiar with the truth about where you are and act accordingly!!!
No censoring here because it is written by fact…. and with Aloha.
HAWAIIANKINGDOM.ORG
So easy for those of you on Kauai to write these responses, we have no cases now. Oahu has brought in “traveler medical personnel” Kauai does not have the capacity in our medical facilities to handle more that just a handful of covid cases. You all sound so selfish and disrespectful. Wear a nice mask and wash your hands and quit complaining it will get better.
well played pete when you cant refute with facts go to the condescending, dismissive personal smear. But next time sprinkle in some expletives for effect and don’t forget the Neuro Linguistic Programming catch phrases like far right tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist fear mongering curve flatting hate speech We..got this..can do this..are in this together Kauai strong a-symptomatic systemic raceist. I know you can do it you got it!
Why should I spew that stuff when I got you doing it for me?
BTW
What did you think of the thugs in black on the plane “stuff?”
(I won’t accept the: “No more black thugs jumping on the plane” song)
Very interesting debate. I only wish the people of Kauai could make their own decision as to how to move forward from here . My wife and I are hopeful we will be able to spend two carefree weeks on the island this December. How the politicians decide to proceed will determine what we do. We certainly would like to do our part to help revive the local economy. Good luck.
great post dave. i am only 41 but i am so glad to see you standing up. my grandfather faught in WW2 and korea.
I’m a nearly 60-year-old mother of a 17-year-old in high school, watching these teens spend their ENTIRE senior year behind a freaking computer screen, practically from their bedrooms, dutifully doing their “distance learning” to supposedly “protect” their elders from a virus not likely to touch their young health. It’s beyond disgusting seeing this play out, with many “grown adults” my age or older simply so selfish they justify it. They are so self-serving, they actually believe their lives, their health, or their 80-90-year old parents lives could possibly be as critical and fragile as any 17-year old boy or girl. WRONG!
We need to think first of the social-emotional health, the happiness, and motivation of our nation’s youth first. And, I may add, that the USA’s totalitarian ways began the moment the sheeple believed any youth have ever “died or sacrificed their lives for our country.” War is for profit, always has been. After 19=years of non-stop useless wars for profit and the R&D arm of the Pentagon spending the past three years injecting bats, rats, and insects with coronaviruses on purpose to “protect food security, and national security,” while be bomb nation after nation for oil and other resources, no wonder this plague resulted from such death and destruction to the planet and biodiversity.
And there, boys and girls are where our people are sheeple the most. That we even compare the violence of war to a virus, compare numbers of deaths, when war is FAR, FAR, FAR worse an atrocity than Covid-19, affecting a FAR more vulnerable population. The USA has more guns than ANY nation in the world (more than any 3rd world including Yemen) and spends more than half the world combined on war and weapons (our military madness) which has NOTHING to do with protection and freedom and everything to do with dark money. And we wonder why we can’t contain a virus? God help us….
All I’ve learned from reading this and the comment is that this is never going to end. People want to be locked in their houses for the rest of their lives because this is never going to be fixed. People want the government to log some away for their own safety. I have nothing left to live for because of the lockdown, the government took away everything I cared about everything that made my life worth living everything I would get my life back on track all ended because the government decided to protect me. There’s a few things I can finish doing this year, and once they’re done I’m going to kill myself. Because there is no escape from this and I’m not going to live the rest of my life locked my apartment unable to see my friends family or play the games that made my life worth living day today. Especially since I can’t go to the gym anymore and I’m probably going to die from that I can’t exercise to get healthy