https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2020/03/thoughts-on-coronavirus-crisis.html
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2020/04/thoughts-on-coronavirus-crisis-part-2.html
1.) My life as a school employee working at home
As mentioned in the previous blog post, I am a non-teaching school employee (library clerk). My "work" now is basically taking part in an all-staff teleconference every weekday morning in which we're given updates.In that previous blog post, I mention the challenges the teachers mentioned about distance learning. I mentioned that you can learn facts from books and screens, but learning skills required a guide on your side to correct you. And lo and behold, teachers are now being asked to keep their lessons simple because it's nearly impossible to teach new skills from a distance. So now, it's basically just having students apply what they learned in previous quarters.
This past week, we heard some huge news.
The first was Hawaii governor David Ige proposing a 20% pay cut for most state employees (10% pay cut for first responders) and sure didn't go well for the staff during our teleconference.
I do think David Ige is trying to scare people mentioning the "20% pay cut" and after negotiations, it might be a lower percentage. I do think he said "20% pay cut" so that if (for example) it's a 8% pay cut, people feel relieved, whereas if he started by saying "8%" people won't feel relieved at all. Politicians are manipulative like that.
David Ige said he'll instate the pay cuts by May 1. The backlash got it delayed June 1, hopefully (for us state employees) it won't be as drastic.
The other news announced Friday afternoon was that the school campuses will continue to be closed until the end of the school year and distance learning will continue. I'm sure we'll be talking a lot about that come Monday morning teleconference.
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2.) My other work at home
Being that I currently have more free time, I now have more time to organize my stuff at home.It's like the summer of 2012 all over again, but not as extreme.
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-war-against-clutter.html
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-apartment-gets-make-over.html
also for 2018 housecleaning
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2018/12/my-life-in-2018.html (scroll down to part 4 in that blog post)
This time, I did another round of clearing out junk that I accumulated. Not as much as 2012, but still a sense of relief.
A few years back. the big dresser near my closet was moved to make way for the internet cables being installed. It only moved a few inches, but the boards holding up my folders fell off. I kept delaying reinforcing the boards so they stay up. But you what? I decided to get rid of those boards and just put storage containers in their place. It did wonders :)
I reorganized some of the tubs where I stored stuff.
I worked on my photo albums.
And earlier this past week, I got a duster and dusted some of the shelves and my computer stand. I got rid of some junk that was taking up space.
I cleaned up the bucket where I kept some stuff from childhood.
I still got some vacuuming to do.
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Also at home, I get to work on my entertainment business.
As I mentioned in last month's blog post, Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior released "Naptime Music: an instrumental album".
Little did I know that the release date will happen just when the pandemic hit Hawaii.
But now that I have more time at home, I get to work on my music videos for the tracks on the album.
Whereas for the past instrumental album (Urban Honolulu Metal Industries), I did an average of 2 videos per month, I already got 6 down within the past 4 weeks. The way things are going, I might get them all done before June.
If all goes right with that, I can continue to work on the next album for Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior, which will be an electronic music album. I plan to get that done before the end of the year.
3.) Shifting of state employees
Many state employees have been sent home due to the lockdown, and some positions involve work that can't be done from home.
However, the Unemployment Insurance (UI) office has been overwhelmed due to the high numbers of new claims.
In most organizations, if there's one department that is getting a bigger burden, while other departments are getting reduced burdens, the smart thing to do is shift employees from less busy departments to the more busy departments.
The state legislature has been very angry at the executive branch for being slow in shifting workers. But it's not as simple as it sounds as there are complex logistics involved with that.
For now, there are trying to pull workers from departments that rely on DHRD (Dept. of Human Resource Development) for their HR needs. The DOE and UH system have their own individual HR office and so far, we haven't been called in to help the UI office.
Andrew Gomes, “Hawaii to Redeploy Initial Idle State Workers by Monday,” Honolulu Star Advertiser, April 9, 2020,https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/04/09/hawaii-news/state-to-redeploy-initial-idle-workers-by-monday/
Some employees from the Hawaii State Library (that's the main branch of the Hawaii State Public Library System) are currently helping the UI office.
mentioned in this article
Diane Ako, “Labor Department Reports Progress in Unemployment Filing Backlog,” KITV, April 14, 2020, https://www.kitv.com/story/42008507/labor-department-reports-progress-in-unemployment-filing-backlog.
However, I have heard complaints from library staff from other public library branches who feel that it is an "injustice" that they're being asked to help the UI office. They said they're going to "fight this".
I have a different perspective.
Being that I'm with DOE, we haven't yet been asked to help out with UI. If I was asked, I would like to know the details that are in fine print (like how are we being trained, what are our hours, how are we being supervised, can we work part-time, do I really have answer phone calls all day, etc), but I don't feel like being asked to help is an "injustice". Now if the supervisors are being jerks, then I'll consider that an injustice.
4.) Silencing of workers
Now, for the real workplace injustice.
Only a lowlife scumbag would demand employees be silent about horrible workplace conditions.
In the US Navy, Captain Brett E. Crozier went public about his concerns about coronavirus infections on his ship and what little has been done by the US Navy to help.
For that, he was fired and demonized by the Navy Secretary Thomas Modly. For his rants, Modly had to resign. Good for him.
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/04/18/breaking-news/reinstate-reassign-navy-to-decide-fate-of-fired-captain/
Crozier is the real hero who cares about national security (which is more about who got the biggest bombs or the best war strategies).
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Hospital staff who have been publicly complaining about the lack of PPE and other poor working conditions have been fired.
examples
Kayleigh Skinner and Erica Hensley, “Two Mississippi Doctors Fired After Speaking Out About Coronavirus Safety,” Mississippi Today, April 5, 2020,
https://mississippitoday.org/2020/04/05/two-mississippi-doctors-fired-after-speaking-out-about-coronavirus-safety/
Noam Scheiber and Brian M. Rosenthal, “Nurses and Doctors Speaking Out On Safety Now Risk Their Job,” New York Times, April 9, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/business/coronavirus-health-workers-speak-out.html.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/business/coronavirus-health-workers-speak-out.html
It's the hospital administrators in those cases that need to be fired. Those hospital administrators need to understand that in the social media world, these things aren't going to be secret whether they like or not. I'll go as far as saying that hospital administrators should EMBRACE the fact the working conditions WILL NEVER BE A SECRET in the social media world, and react accordingly by actually improving conditions instead of being angry at employees who go public about the conditions.
5. ) Race-related issues
In the previous blog post, I mentioned about the anti-Asian hate crimes. I mentioned that some of the hate crimes aren't only committed by European-Americans, some are committed by African-Americans and I noted the possibility that some Latinos are involved too.
Since then, I have learned that Jose L. Gomez (obviously not an Anglo name) stabbed an Asian child at Sam's Club in Texas.
Pilar Melendez, “Stabbing of Asian-American 2-year-old and Her Family Was a Virus-Fueled Hate Crime: Feds,” Daily Beast, March 31, 2020,
https://www.thedailybeast.com/stabbing-of-asian-american-2-year-old-and-her-family-was-a-coronavirus-fueled-hate-crime-feds-say?source=articles&via=rss.
While many Latin@s (aka "my people") are justifiably outraged by the racism they face from the Anglos, they also need to be also aggressively critical towards racists within our ethnic community!
Meanwhile, Freedom Inc.’s Southeast Asian Team has written an open letter asking people to stop sharing videos of African-Americans attacking people of Asian ancestry because they feel such videos promote anti-black stereotypes.
Freedom, Inc.’s Southeast Asian Team, “Open Letter from Freedom Inc.’s Southeast Asian Team On Covid-19 and Black Solidarity,” Madison365, April 14, 2020, https://madison365.com/open-letter-freedom-inc-southeast-asian-team-covid-19-black-solidarity/
But is the solution pretending that only European-Americans commit anti-Asian hate crimes? HELL NO!
Look, African-American activists NEVER hesitate to protest crappy treatment they face when entering Asian-owned stores! They NEVER hesitate to point out that anti-black racism isn't only coming from European-Americans.
But we're supposed to pretend that anti-Asian hate crimes are only committed by European-Americans?
Idiot "woke" activists claim that "people of non-European ancestries can't be racists because racism is only about institutional power." Seriously, STFU!
Jose L. Gomez sure had the power to stab an Asian 2-year old child! Does stab wounds from Jose L. Gomez hurt less than a stab wound from an Anglo racist? Pretending that he's Anglo doesn't help me AT ALL! I am only helped by the facts, even the facts that aren't "woke"! This soft bigotry of low expectations helps exactly ZERO people!
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It isn't only people of Asian ancestry who are facing backlash over the coronavirus.
In Hawaii, a European-American family that was visiting Hawaii was verbally harassed and then threatened by a moving car, with the attacker blaming them for bringing the virus here.
Ashley Nagaoka, “Visitors Who Took Advantage of Cheap Airfare Attacked in Waikiki Amid Growing Virus Fears,” Hawaii News Now, March 26, 2020, https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/03/26/visitors-waikiki-attacked-during-apparent-coronavirus-fueled-rant/
As mentioned in a previous post
In Hawaii, there have been protesters with signs telling visitors to "go home". Yes, I know it's to prevent more viruses from spreading. But do you think that hostility will subside when the pandemic subside? Once you get people angry like that, that anger doesn't fade easily when the triggering situation fades.
Don't be surprised if these protests against tourism encourage more hate crimes against European-Americans (even the ones that were here before the virus crisis began as if bigots even care about that).
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In China, it is the African immigrants that are facing racist backlash over the virus.
After 5 Nigerians in Guangzhou tested positive for the coronavirus, the government demanded ALL who are of African ancestry be placed in involuntary quarantine. This also led to massive evictions by landlords and other acts of discrimination.
Alexandra Sternlicht, “‘black People Are Not Allowed’: Reports of Discrimination After Chinese City Orders Mandatory Quarantine for African Residents,” Forbes, April 13, 2020,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandrasternlicht/2020/04/13/black-people-are-not-allowed-reports-of-discrimination-after-chinese-city-orders-mandatory-quarantine-for-african-residents/
Laurie Chen, “African community targeted in China virus crackdown,” Yahoo News, April 10, 2020,
https://news.yahoo.com/african-community-targeted-china-virus-crackdown-053136117.html
Last year, LeBron James criticized a team manager for tweeting in support of the Hong Kong freedom protesters. It was pointed out by many that LeBron James is a hypocrite because he supports Black Lives Matter but doesn't support freedom movements overseas.
Will LeBron James now finally criticize how the Chinese government mistreats people? Or does he think that black lives only matter if they're in America?
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6.) Excessive restrictions placed on stores
In most places, big-box retailers like Walmart and Target are kept open so that people can continue to buy essential items.
But in Michigan and Vermont, shoppers aren't allowed to buy certain items from those stores
Mary Hanbury, “Angry Shoppers Slam New Rules Preventing Walmart, Target, and Costco Stores from Selling 'nonessential' Items Such as Toys and Clothing in Certain Parts of the Us,” Yahoo News, April 14, 2020, https://news.yahoo.com/angry-shoppers-slam-rules-preventing-153710207.html
Under Vermont's new regulation, these retailers must "cease in-person sales" of the following products: "arts and crafts, beauty, carpet and flooring, clothing, consumer electronics, entertainment (books, music, movies), furniture, home and garden, jewelry, paint, photo services, sports equipment, and toys," it said.In Michigan State, meanwhile, any big-box store that is over 50,000 square feet is required to rope off its carpet or flooring, furniture, and paint departments along with its garden centers and plant nurseries.
Here are some reactions noted in that article
I have to work at home and i need my printer and computer. DAAAHHH!! I need ink and paper. Let ban government from working they are non essential to the publicand this
even at pandemic CLOTHES are ESSENTIAL🙄 so don’t be trying to say they are not and barring people from buying them kids are now home they will need things,
I posted this on Facebook
Yeah, I bought some so-called "non-essential" items from WalMart the last few weeks. Like storage containers because I now have extra free time to re-organize my stuff at home. A new wallet because the old one was falling apart and the last straw was that it got soaked in a recent rainstorm. I replaced old towels and shower curtains. I was buying that stuff the same time I was buying all the essentials (like food and juice and vitamins) so that I don't have to make too many trips. I was propping up the economy and some of it trickles down to the staff so they can pay their bills, and some of it trickles up as tax revenue to keep our government running. Also, about those storage containers, I wasn't able to take them on the bus so I rode home in a taxi afterwards, and the driver said he was getting less business than usual and I gave him a good tip!
And one of my friends posted this on Facebook
Also, who is deciding what is essential?? What if I need art supplies because that’s my job? That would be essential. Maybe I need clothes because my one pair of pants ripped. Ugh. Dumb.
Michigan's governor Gretchen Whitmer is alleged to be under consideration to be the running mate for Joe Biden. Her excessive restrictions on those stores are becoming a major PR blunder. Those restrictions are easy targets for attack ads by the opposition.
You know the phrase "for every action, there's a reaction".
In her case, "for every over-reaction, there's another over-reaction"
It's her excessive restrictions on stores that sparked the flame for the public protest against the lockdown. These protests have recently spread to other states.
Here's some article about those protests being an over-reaction to Whitmer's over-reaction
Paul Egan and Kara Berg, “Thousands Converge to Protest Michigan Governor's Stay-Home Order in 'operation Gridlock',” Yahoo News, April 16, 2020, https://www.yahoo.com/news/thousands-converge-protest-michigan-governors-191743463.html
Scott Bixby and Will Sommer, “Michigan Conservatives ‘not Concerned’ About Covid-19 Block Ambulance During Protest Against Social Distancing,” Daily Beast, April 16, 2020, https://www.thedailybeast.com/michigan-conservatives-not-concerned-about-covid-19-block-ambulance-during-protest-against-social-distancing
In one of those protests, an ambulance was blocked from reaching its destination.
Right-wing conservatives blasted antifa, BLM and other left-leaning protesters for blocking traffic and making it difficult for ambulances to navigate. I hope they condemn this too!
7.) Masks being made
I'll end this blog post on a more positive note
The beauty of the free market is that when there's a demand, people step up to meet that demand.
Now that many people need masks, there are many are making masks.
Some people with sewing skills are making masks for their families, friends and even to the general public.
And businesses who traditionally make other stuff are now in the business of making masks.
Disc Makers, a company that specializes in the manufacturing of CDs, vinyl and other music-related merchandise are now making face shields.
Disc Makers, "Disc Makers Starts Making Face Shields to Protect Frontline Pandemic Responders" YouTube video, 02:43. Posted [March 27,2020]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCPieOfEOlg
(note: Disc Makers is a business partner with CD Baby, the music distributor for Pablo the Mad Tiger Warrior)
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Being that most masks cover the mouth, that does come with some inconveniences for people who rely on lip-reading for communication. Eastern Kentucky University student Ashley Lawrence has come to the rescue making masks with transparencies where you can see the other person's mouth
Claire Kopsky, “College Student Makes Masks for the Deaf,” LEX18, March 31, 2020
https://www.lex18.com/news/coronavirus/college-student-makes-masks-for-the-deaf-hard-of-hearing
With her mission centered around the deaf and hard of hearing community, she is going the extra mile.
"We're trying different things to for people with cochlear implants and hearing aids if they can't wrap around the ears," Lawrence said. "We're making some that have around the head and around the neck."
She explained the necessity for the plastic window on the masks is why she started this project in the first place.
"For anyone who uses speech reading, lip reading, anybody like that," Lawrence said about the purpose of the masks. "And people who are profoundly deaf who use ASL as their primary mode of communication. ASL is very big on facial expressions and it is part of the grammar. So I don't know if you have seen Virginia Moore on Andy Beshear's things at five o'clock, but she's very emotive, and if half of that is gone because you're wearing a mask then half of what you're saying is being missed, so even if it's not physically talking and just using ASL, then you need to have that kind of access."
I think those masks come with another advantage.
We can see the other person smile.
Otherwise, we'll be walking around being in suspicion of each other because we can't see them smile and we end up of just assume they're frowning behind the mask.
A smile brightens everyone's day and being able to see a smile behind the mask will make our day brighter as we attempt to survive the coronavirus crisis.
