2 decades since 9/11

 Two decades ago today  (09/11/2001) was a day that changed the course of history.

4 airplanes were hijacked and were aimed at buildings associated with US American economic and military power.

2 planes crashed at the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City! 

1 plane crashed at The Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense.

1 plane crashed in the fields of Pennsylvania after the passengers confronted the hijackers on United 95. It was believed that the hijackers intended to aim that plane towards somewhere in Washington DC, maybe the Capitol or the White House. 

The hijackers were associated with Al Qaida, a terrorist group that is  aligned with jihadi movements around the world. Al Qaida was led by Osama bin Laden, a Saudi millionaire that already masterminded other terrorist attacks including the attack on US embassies in Kenya & Tanzania, USS Cole. and attempted assassinations of various political leaders around the world. 

Osama bin Laden was believed to be hiding in Afghanistan, a landlocked nation with a lot of mountains. At the time, Afghanistan was run by the Taliban, a fascist group that enforced a very strict observation of Islamic rules. They were very notorious for their strict enforcement of gender norms even to the point of banning the education & employment of women and forcing them to wear burquas. 

After the 9/11 attacks happen,  US Americans wanted revenge! There was barely any room for pacifist thoughts to be expressed! This was war! 

A few months later, the US military invaded Afghanistan. The main goal was to find Osama bin Laden. The side goal was to rebuild Afghanistan into a more modernized country that would no longer harbor the likes of the Taliban & Al Qaida.  Overthrowing the government run by the Taliban was the easy part. The hard part was eliminating them completely. Remember, Afghanistan is mostly mountains, and the Taliban were trained in guerilla warfare. 

 In fact, the US government once helped Osama bin Laden and what later became the Taliban when they were fighting the Soviet invasion from 1979-1988.  This was the downfall of the Soviet Union. 

After the US military invaded Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden found his way out of Afghanistan and escaped to nearby Pakistan.  The US military found him in 2011, executed him on the spot, and dumped his body into the ocean.

But even then, the US military remained in Afghanistan with the goal of keeping the Taliban out of power.

Over time, the US general public was already losing patience with US military adventures overseas. The US military adventures in Iraq, Syria, and Libya created a power vacuum that was exploited by terrorist organizations like ISIS.  Also, people are were demanding that the US focus its resources at home.

The last straw for US public support of military adventures overseas was the coronavirus crisis.  This crisis exposed the extreme inequalities and inadequacies when it came to economic & public health policies.  Why be getting involved in foreign battles when many people in the US have inadequate access to health care? Why be getting involved in foreign battles when many people were struggling with poverty and unemployment during the lockdowns?

Trump negotiated a withdrawal from Afghanistan to take place in 2021. Biden became president in 2021 and had months to prepare for a safe and smooth withdrawal. However, he didn't anticipate a quick collapse of the pro-US Afghan government in the face of fierce Taliban attacks.  He didn't adequately prepare the evacuation of pro-US collaborators among the Afghan population.

And to add insult to injury, the scene at the last US-controlled airport in Kabul was a reminder of the Fall of Saigon in 1975, when the communist overthrew the pro-US government of South Vietnam and the US embassy in Saigon had to be evacuated.  

The Fall of Kabul, with the visual images of refugees trying to hang on to the wings of the planes, will resonate for a very long time.  It is a major guarantee that this will be featured in anti-Biden ads if Biden chooses to run for re-election in 2024.  Even if Kamala Harris runs for president in 2024, the fact that she's Biden VP is enough for opponents to associate her with the chaotic scene at the airport during the Fall of Kabul. 

What Vietnam and Afghanistan had in common was that the US took the side of a very disorganized government up against a well-organized opponent skilled in guerilla warfare.  It didn't matter that the US had the most well-funded military of all time, or that we had the most sophisticated equipment. Disorganized and unreliable allies will nullify those advantages in the face of a well-organized enemy.  The troops in the US military just want to go back home. To the Viet Cong and the Taliban, this was their home.  Meanwhile, the incompetent leadership that was running Saigon & Kabul were rich enough to evacuate to safer grounds, while the general public remained vulnerable to a vicious & vengeful movement taking over! 

The US government was totally unprepared in evacuating refugees. Based on Afghanistan's landlocked location, it would be harder to get them out as compared to Vietnam.  The US government was also unprepared for a resettlement program for Afghan refugees coming to the US.  Add to the fact that this is going on during a pandemic, we would also have to vaccinate incoming refugees and quarantine them until they are fully vaccinated. 

There is one major advantage in having Biden as president instead of Trump!  Trump thrived on racist fear-mongering, especially against refugees from Muslim-majority countries. Even though Biden made politically incorrect statements in the past, I don't think he has hatred in his heart towards people from Muslim-majority countries.  I think he'll encourage the American people to treat the refugees with dignity. 

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As for life in the US, the general public is less naive than it was back in 2001.

Back in the summer of 2001, the US was feeling at the top of the world. The Cold War was over for a decade!  We had peace & prosperity at home (at least for most people).  It was the dawn of the internet age. It was easy to take progress for granted.

(note: here's an article on life in the summer before 9/11 

Dan Zak and Ellen McCarthy, “The Summer Before 9/11: Freewheeling. Foreboding. Then came the fall.,” Washington Post, September 03, 2021,                                                         https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/09/03/summer-before-9-11/.

--

But now in 2021, the US has been humiliated in front of the world with the Fall of Kabul. We are still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, with many people still refusing to get vaccinated. Our hospitals are overwhelmed.  Those who were unemployed due to the pandemic are struggling to get their life back together.  People in major urban areas are dealing with an increasing cost of living, leaving many homeless.  There also seems to be less optimism about race relations as compared to when Obama won in 2008. 

And now China seems to be becoming the new world power.  If China wants to re-conquer Taiwan, who is going to stop that? 

 Businesses are already scared to offend China's government. Film companies from outside China are afraid to make any movie critical of China's government. The NBA doesn't want players, coaches, or managers to express sympathy towards the victims of China's government oppression. 

And even where I'm at in Hawaii, people are conflicted between

• recognizing it was wrong for the US to take over Hawaii in 1898
• meanwhile fearing a US withdrawal would mean China takeover of our strategic location

And even if Hawaii becomes independent, China could still pressure Hawaii to not establish relations with Taiwan or else.  China already applied that pressure to other Pacific islands. 

At this point, the best we could hope for is that Taiwan could be the trap for China the same way Afghanistan & Vietnam was the trap for the US. 

==============================

And now for the usual "where were you when 9/11 happened?" questions.

The 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center happened around 8:48 am New York time.  Hawaii is about 6 hours behind. That means it would be 2:48 am in Hawaii.  I was sleeping when it all occurred.

At the time, I was living in the dormitories at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.  I was ready to get rid of the TV in my dorm because it wasn't working. At the time, there was no smartphone that most people check when they wake up.

Around 6am, I was wakened up by a phone call from my mother saying something about an explosion at the World Trade Center.  I thought it was just going to be like the bombs that exploded there back in 1993 that caused some casualties but didn't cause anywhere the near damage that occurred on 9/11.

Learn more at 

Sarah Pruitt, “7 Facts About the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing,” History, August 24, 2021,                                                                                 https://www.history.com/news/world-trade-center-bombing-1993-facts.

As I mentioned, the TV wasn't working. My roommate was sleeping and didn't want to wake him up. I did listen to the radio (with headphones) for the latest news.

I later went to the cafeteria and someone said there could be an attack in Hawaii being that Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941.

Classes went on as usual on campus.

The first class I had that day (sociology class on ethnic relations), the professor briefly mentioned the terrorist attack, and then went on with the planned lesson for the day. I actually agreed with his approach. Acknowledge the event, but also that we shall go on with the plans for the day.  After all, we were not in direct danger.

In the second class (intro to theatre), the class was cut short. 

In the university's Campus Center, there was a Big Screen TV.  It was just press conferences. But even then people were huddled around the TV paying close attention.

I didn't see a video of the actual attacks until days later.

Remember, this was before YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram existed.  

And later that day, I was working at the dormitory's reception desk. I was already employed by UH Student Housing, but it was my first day at that specific building I was working at.

---------

At the time, I didn't have a set schedule to shave my facial hairs. A few days later, I was meeting a friend I knew from my high school days and he said my unshaven face could make me mistaken as someone from the Middle East. (I'm actually of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Portuguese and German ancestries). Being that hate crimes have been committed against those who are or look Middle Eastern in the days following 9/11, I did shave my facial hairs as soon as I got home.  Luckily I wasn't confronted by racists over this at the time.  But I know that not everyone had that luck. 

Only 21 ambulances

 Oahu has about a million residents. Guess how many ambulances we have to serve the entire island. 200? 100? 50?

Let's hear it from Honolulu Emergency Services Department as quoted by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Oahu has just 21 ambulance units staffed by about 250 paramedics and EMTs. *

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Think about that - only 21 ambulances in the entire island. Only 21!

This is why the government is limiting gatherings.

Because we DON'T HAVE ENOUGH RESOURCES to deal with the increasing covid cases.

WE ONLY HAVE 21 AMBULANCES!

Should we have more? OF COURSE!

But we don't!

Think about that before going unmasked at crowded gatherings. There WILL NOT be enough ambulances when you need them!

To learn more about how overwhelmed our paramedics are during the coronavirus crisis, especially dealing with the unvaccinated. Check out

Sophie Cocke, “Honolulu Emergency Services Crews Struggle to Keep Pace With COVID-19 Calls,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, September 5, 2021,

 https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/09/05/hawaii-news/ems-crews-struggle-to-keep-pace-with-covid-19-calls/

more about trust/distrust of institutions and vaccines

 My recent blog posts highlight how people take the distrust of authority, institutions, and government too far when it comes to the coronavirus crisis and the covid vaccine. 

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/08/should-you-trust-or-distrust-authority.html

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/08/libertarians-maturity-covid.html

A few days ago, a person I met when I was a student at UH-Mānoa mentioned on social media that she got a covid infection in which she experienced fatigue, rashes, hives, body aches, fever, sore throat, and a loss of taste & smell. She admitted that she didn't get vaccinated because she thought eating a vegan diet and staying physically fit would be enough to immunize her from covid. She also stated that she (and some of her unvaccinated friends) didn't trust the pharmaceutical industry & for-profit health care systems in general. She now states that she regrets being unvaccinated.   

As I mentioned in previous blogs about how the government & media sometimes can be wrong about some things and correct about others, the same is true about private industries.

Here are my thoughts on the pharmaceutical industry:  I benefit a lot from their products (oxybutynin for overactive bladder, Immodium AD in case I get diarrhea, Tylenol for headaches, etc).  And I'm so glad they made vaccines to keep me from needing more meds. I do understand that like all industries, it's not immune from shady characters (like Martin Shkreli aka Pharma Bro) and it's not immune from mistakes. When those things happen, those involved should be held accountable. But I'm not going to pretend it's all bad, because all industries have their positives and negatives.

=====

And also here in Hawaii, a map of Oahu has gone viral (pardon the pun) about which areas got higher coronavirus infection rates

The area with the highest infections is Waianae, on the west side of Oahu.  That area is majority Native Hawaiian.

What doesn't get much talked about is the areas with the least amount of infections are Kaawaa, Hauula Kahuku, and Laie, all areas with a lot of Native Hawaiians.  All of those communities are on the northeast side of Oahu. 

So the high covid rates in Waianae are really more about a geography thing than a Native Hawaiian thing. 

But this map has gotten people talking about the lower vaccination rates among Native Hawaiians as compared to European-Americans and Japanese descendants in Hawaii.

The commonly cited reason is that some Native Hawaiians distrust government & other institutions being that their native land was taken over and exploited by outsiders. 

But when Hawaii was an independent nation, the native government took public health seriously to the point of requiring smallpox vaccinations & other restrictions to reduce infections of foreign diseases that already killed off many Native Hawaiians.  

learn more at

Ku'u Kauanoe, and April Estrellon. “What We Can Learn From Hawaii's Past Pandemics.” Honolulu Civil Beat. November 15, 2020                                           https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/11/what-we-can-learn-from-hawaiis-past-pandemics/.

At the beginning of the pandemic, one of the main reasons the people of Hawaii (both native & non-natives) took it more seriously than the continental US is because of our knowledge of the history of how after the Europeans arrived, that Native Hawaiians (who lived in isolation from the rest of the world) died from foreign diseases because they haven't yet developed immunity that the Europeans developed over centuries of exposures.  Because of this, the lower covid vaccination rates among Native Hawaiians are surprising.

Last Thursday (08/26/2021), many Native Hawaiian leaders in the realm of politics, education, and health care came together (while practicing social distancing) near ʻIolani Palace for a press conference to encourage other Native Hawaiians to get vaccinated and follow other public health guidelines.

Learn more at 

Jayna Omaye, “Native Hawaiian Leaders Urge the Lahui to Help Stop Covid-19 Surge,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, August 27, 2021,                         https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/08/27/hawaii-news/native-hawaiian-leaders-urge-the-lahui-to-help-stop-covid-19-surge/.

KITV. “COVID-19 surge pummels Hawaii and its native population.” August 26, 2021.                                                                                 https://www.kitv.com/story/44611918/covid19-surge-pummels-hawaii-and-its-native-population.

That's the thing, people are more likely to listen to those they trust. Because of past negative experiences with institutions, many people just assume that means everything the institution does is all wrong.

This is why the government & other institutions must collaborate with people who understand the marginalized communities.

There has been a lot of outreach with the Micronesian community in Hawaii after they experienced a major outbreak early in the pandemic.  Public health guidelines were translated into several Micronesian languages, and vaccination clinics were set up in areas with many Micronesian residents (ie Kuhio Park Terrace, Mayor Wright Housing).  Because of this, there are now fewer reports of covid cases and vaccination hesitancy among Micronesians in Hawaii.

And now the new Honolulu police chief Rade Vanic has shown that he is taking outreach with the Micronesian community seriously after the controversy of the police shooting of Chuukese teenager Iremamber Sykap and other racial profiling allegations. 

articles mentioning about  HPD outreach with the Micronesian communities

Peter Boylan, “Honolulu Police Department Takes Steps to Form Micronesian Alliances,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, May 20, 2021,    https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/05/20/hawaii-news/honoulu-police-department-takes-steps-to-form-micronesian-alliances/.

 Peter Boylan, “Honolulu Police Department pledges more public transparency,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, June 17, 2021,                   https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/06/17/hawaii-news/honolulu-police-department-pledges-more-public-transparency/.

Jayna Omaye, “First-of-its-kind Micronesian Youth Center Opens in Liliha,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, July 22, 2021,                          https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/07/22/hawaii-news/first-of-its-kind-micronesian-youth-center-opens-in-liliha/.

(note: Sykap was one of my students from back when I was a substitute teacher. I blogged about it at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/04/former-students-and-tragedy-on-kalakaua.html

And the most important thing is that when people at institutions are held accountable, there is less hesitancy to trust them when things go correct.

Police, pharmaceutical industries, public health organizations, and the media all play a necessary role in society. When things at those institutions go wrong, people become less trusting towards those institutions even when those institutions also do some things right. 

That being said, I encourage people to not just automatically assume everything an institution does is always wrong just because they did some things wrong in the past. 

should you trust or distrust authority?

 There's a difference between a healthy and an unhealthy distrust of authority. Real maturity requires knowing this.

I question a lot of government policies. But I don't just automatically assume everything the government is doing is wrong.

I question the bias within the media. But I don't just automatically assume everything the media says is a lie. 

People are complex. Most people are correct about some things but incorrect about others.

Real complex thinkers understand this! 

Real complex thinkers investigate the issue instead of just assuming "this leader is lying" or "this leader is the messiah"

Complex thinking and investigating the issues takes time & work.  That's why most people take the easy way out and just assume the government "never tells the truth" or "always tell the truth".

But the more you learn from various sources, the more you know when to trust or distrust those in authorities. 

When the facts and evidence are presented and it's overwhelming, sooner or later, you have to go along with it, even if it doesn't go along with your previous ideology.

Many people are having trouble with that concept during the coronavirus crisis. 

The covid vaccine has been tested and been proven to reduce the chance of getting severely ill when your body catches the virus. The overwhelming majority of those in ICUs are the unvaccinated.

These facts mentioned in the previous paragraph remain true even if 

• the government sometimes lies about things 
•  media has a liberal bias. 

Time to deal with the facts as they are, even if they don't match your ideology

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BONUS PIC:

from https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10215653102960561

There's a difference between a healthy and an unhealthy distrust of authority. Real maturity requires knowing this.

 I have a healthy distrust of authority and I'm vaccinated

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libertarians, maturity & covid

 Earlier this summer, I noted that the libertarian movement has taken some steps backward in their maturity level.

https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/07/libertarians-maturity-in-2021.html

That blog post barely scratched the surface when it comes to the major issue of our time: the coronavirus crisis.

image by Alissa Eckert, MS, Dan Higgins, MAMS,

I admit,  when the coronavirus crisis started, I thought the world was over-reacting. I mean, we've been through the news cycles surrounding SARS, H1N1, Zika, Ebola. I thought "here we go again, it will just fade away like those other viruses". 

But this was the real deal. This virus spread faster than the other viruses, and it had some serious side effects, including lung damage and even death. Yes, some people came out OK, but not everybody is those "some people". People who were skeptics of the seriousness of the coronavirus and didn't wear masks nor practiced social distancing learned the very hard way how dangerous the virus was! Herman Cain was the most famous example.

At some point, when the reality around you changes, you have to adjust accordingly.  You can't be so married to an ideology that you refuse to divorce yourself from the ideology when it has been proven wrong in a very public way.  You have to adjust to reality and admit that some of your beliefs don't always apply to every situation. 

During the first shutdown, I adjusted accordingly by starting to wear the surgical masks, avoid gathering in groups, and practicing social distancing.

When things opened up briefly during the summer of 2020, I noticed others were wearing plastic shields at the YMCA while working out. I ordered some with the intent of using them instead of the masks. By the time they arrived in the mail, the YMCA changed their policies that if you're going to wear the shield, you also need to have the mask on.  I did just that everywhere.  

The mask is mostly to protect others from the contagious germs you're carrying around. The shield is to block other people's contagious germs from getting into your respiratory system.

Are a mask and shield perfect forms of protection? Nothing is perfect, but it's better than not being protected at all.  After all, seat belts save lives even if they didn't save everyone. 

Going back to the summer of 2020, when things briefly opened up, everyone acted like the pandemic was over. Case numbers went up. Things had to shut down again.

The vaccines became available to the public in the spring of 2021.

Nobody promised that the vaccine offered 100% protection. The vaccine was meant to train your body's immune system in case it comes across the real coronavirus. The intention of the vaccine is that in case you catch the virus, your body doesn't experience the same level of illness that an unvaccinated person has experienced. 

But even with those limitations, most people got vaccinated as soon as they could.

 It looked like victory was here!  The feeling was we can get back to normal. 

However, some people wanted to go back to the old normal without making the adjustments needed to make the old normal possible again.

Some people refuse to get vaccinated, refuse to wear masks, and want to continue gathering in large groups as if the pandemic has never happened. 

And because of those fools, the coronavirus is able to continue its spread and has mutated into a more powerful delta variant that is more contagious and more dangerous.

The hospitals are filling up with new coronavirus patients, and the overwhelming majority of them are unvaccinated. 

That enough should be a wake-up call that it might be a good idea to get vaccinated. 

But people reacted to mere suggestions to get vaccinated as an infringement on their liberty.

They threw hissy fits at businesses requiring customers to wear their masks.

And this is where much of the libertarian movement (especially the paleo-libertarians) lose their credibility with me.

Look, I prefer a less intrusive government. I believe in legalizing a whole bunch of consensual activities.  I think we should de-escalate much of our law enforcement. I think a government that governs least tends to govern best.

But I also believe in a government that offers some level of protection to the people.

In the case of the coronavirus, it's not its dangerousness, it's the contagiousness.

I could eat junk food all day, I'm just hurting myself if I do.  I don't spread my fatness (and a risk of diabetes, heart problems, and stroke) by breathing toward a nearby person.

But if I get the coronavirus, I would spread it toward anyone who is breathing near me. 

And even worse, some of those people who could be nearby could either have a weak immune system or live with someone who does. 

And even someone who looks fit & healthy could get the worst side effects of the coronavirus. 

And the hospitals only have a limited amount of space to take care of infected patients.

Do you think hospitals have enough to take care of the majority of the population at any single time? HELL NO!

Hospitals don't even have enough resources to even take care of 5% of the population at a single time. 

Hospitals have to ration resources when there is a high infection rate.  This happened in India recently where millions live in crowded conditions and there aren't enough vaccines to go around. This happened in Italy in the early stages of the coronavirus crisis in the spring of 2020.

In cases like these, it is legitimate for the government to step in to reduce the spread of the virus. 

It is legitimate for the government to require masks and to reduce the carrying capacity of businesses.

It is legitimate for the government to temporarily shut down places notorious for crowds like bars, clubs & events.

And anyone who knows me from before the pandemic would damn well know that I love nightclubs & other events.  I love festivities.

But I also love not being put in a position to catch extremely dangerous & contagious viruses.

Nightclubs are the one place where people go to do the exact opposite of social distancing. A major goal for most people there is to find someone who would let them bump & grind together. Sound like fun until too many people are getting a dangerous & contagious virus in that setting. 

These shutdowns are supposed to be temporary. 

For those throwing hissy fits claiming these shutdowns would lead to tyranny, that has proven wrong when local governments ease the strictness of the shutdowns when the covid case numbers go down. In fact, in Hawaii, they were ready to get rid of the restrictions when the vaccination rates were going up. 

But every time restrictions get less strict, the ratlickers (those who refuse to vaccinate, wear masks, and avoid crowds) start to gather in large groups like the pandemic hasn't happened. And the covid cases goes up again.

Because of these ratlickers, Hawaii's state and county governments are now requiring employees to either get vaccinated to get tested weekly.

And yet the ratlickers and much of the libertarian movement (especially the paleo-libertarians) are throwing hissy fits and complaining about tyranny.

Nevermind that we are still having it much easier than those who were living in Hawaii during WW2 when martial law was enacted. All lights had to be turned off at night, and people had to carry gas masks everywhere they go. Those who even looked Japanese were treated with suspicion.  Those who practiced traditional Japanese customs were treated with extra suspicion. People living with the current coronavirus restrictions have it much easier in comparison. 

Some people refuse to believe the news reports of the coronavirus crisis because much of the mainstream media is center-left liberals.  But the presence of such bias in those media outlets doesn't mean they're always wrong! 

Let's put it this way, if the same person who throws a rock at your head also happens to say "Vitamin C is good for you", the proper response is NOT "I'm going to avoid Vitamin C".  The proper response is to acknowledge that people are complex and they can be correct about one thing and incorrect about another.

Too many people's response to the craziness of the Radical Left is to automatically believe everyone who leans left is wrong about everything. THAT IS NOT CRITICAL THINKING! 

But for many of the Trump supporters and paleo-libertarians, critical thinking goes out the window, and they knee-jerk reject anything said by anyone who leans center-left or radical left. 

Yes, I get it, people like Joe Biden or David Ige are not perfect people. They're not the best communicators.  But when it comes to the coronavirus crisis, they are following the actual science instead of conspiracy nutcase interpretation of science. 

As actual leaders, they have to adjust to the situation as it is, instead of being so married to an ideology that they can't be flexible!

Managing a crisis requires flexibility. This flexibility sometimes frustrates people.

 I remember occasionally being frustrated by school administration's flexibility when I was a substitute teacher. But there's a reason for such flexibility from administration because changing circumstances require a change of plans. And being a mature person requires putting my frustration on the side and deal with the changing circumstances as they are.

Obviously, managing government policy during a crisis has much more far-reaching impacts than dealing with it on a school level.

 Governments dealing with crises have to make a change of plans when the knowledge of the crisis changes. When new knowledge comes in, the government has to be flexible. When case numbers go up, the government has to be flexible. When economic impacts are being revealed, the government has to be flexible.  When the public health impacts are being revealed in real-time, the government has to be flexible. 

David Ige understands that. Dr. Fauci understands that.  Mature adults understand that!

That doesn't mean just be silent & obey "our masters". 

We still have the freedom of speech to speak up when things are going wrong.

In fact, it is BECAUSE people speak up that leaders like David Ige are flexible and therefore change plans. Real leaders accept input from others. 

It is the rigid attitudes like those of Donald Trump that cause additional problems.

Yes, I know that Trump's Operation Warp Speed ramped up vaccine production, though we also have to acknowledge that major vaccine producer Pfizer is a German company and therefore outside Trump's jurisdiction. 

But for too long during Trump's term in office, he refuses to admit when he has been incorrect. He refused to admit that his demands that states re-open things had disastrous results. He refused to admit he was wrong to not wear masks. He refused to admit that his rallies and White House gatherings were super-spreader events.  He is so obsessed with being Never Wrong that he failed to realize that real leadership during a crisis requires admitting mistakes and/or changing plans. When he got infected, it revealed to the public the weakness of his rigid Never Wrong persona. It was that issue that doomed his re-election campaign. 

Trump may be gone from power, but the ratlickers in both the paleo-conservative and paleo-libertarian movements are still not learning the lessons of Trump's fiasco.

-------

And going back to the libertarian movement, there is some hope in that some are intelligent enough to know there is a government role in public health. 

Obviously, you wouldn't expect libertarians to support a government-run health care monopoly. 

In fact, libertarians were the main ones advocating getting rid of regulations that got in the way of dealing with the crisis.

Here's a good article about that

John Stossel, “The Red Tape Pandemic,” Townhall, March 25, 2020, 
https://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2020/03/25/the-red-tape-pandemic-n2565634

But even with that, other libertarians realize that regulations to stop the spread of the virus don't have to lead to tyranny.

In fact, the former chair of the Libertarian National Committee, Nicholas Sarwark shared this classic meme.

Some people are so eager to fight the state that they will help the virus.

That's an error.

Here are some other libertarian-leaning people who are serious about the coronavirus crisis, that you could follow on social media

(note: these links go to their Facebook accounts. Some of the listed also have accounts on Twitter & other social media outlets)

Adam Bates

Joe Bishop-Henchman

Andy Craig

Jackie Perry

Libertarians for Vaccines

(note: I could add more to the list as soon I'm aware of who to add)

These are what we call the "cool libertarians", so different from the paleo-libertarian ratlickers that drive good people away from the Libertarian movement, especially during the coronavirus crisis. 

=========================

UPDATE: check this video I made titled ....

"Take the Coronavirus Crisis Seriously, DAMMIT!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuHmN1Cz_xc

In Memory of Lisa Lam

 Lisa Lam was a classmate from my middle & high school years.

She's always been a nice quiet person with no drama! I remember working on some class assignments with her and we got along really well.

After high school, she moved to Seattle, got married, and had one daughter.

She passed away on August 6, 2021. I don't know other details related to her death.

I send my condolences to her husband, her daughter and the rest of her family & friends.

use whatever slang you want

People who have nothing better to do with their lives are complaining that the new generation of pop stars like Billie Eilish & Olivia Rodrigo are using slang words that originated among African-Americans.  People adapt to their environment, and we ALL use words that comes from MULTIPLE cultures without overthinking about it, because that's how we ALL use language!

What do you expect any American millennial/GenZ/etc to be speaking? If you're their age, you'll be learning and using words from TikTok. Tik-Tok is part of EVERY millennial/GenZ/etc's environment! Therefore, those words are part of the environment Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo are growing up in.

Do they expect Olivia Rodrigo to be speaking with a Filipina accent even though she never lived in the Philippines? Are we only supposed to use words created by only people who share the same ancestry? Do we get rid of the use of English words that originated in the Latin, Hebrew, Greek or German languages?

I say to Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and other young stars to use the slang you want to use and play the air violin for the "woke" pansies who don't like it!

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I'm old enough to remember when "bling" was a new word made popular in 1999 when Lil Wayne, BG, Juvenile, etc used in their song "Bling Bling". Why did that word "bling" not appear in earlier rap songs? Because "bling" was once regional slang limited to New Orleans, which only started to produce popular rappers in the late 90s, therefore you heard ZERO rappers in the East Coast/West Coast era using it. But now the whole world uses the word "bling".

So if a rapper from Harlem uses that word, is he/she "stealing" New Orleans culture?

No, because thanks to Lil Wayne & his crew, that word is now part of EVERYBODY'S environment!

They made music for EVERYBODY to enjoy, and that word is now for everybody!

Too bad if you don't like it!

After all, Lil Wayne & his crew wouldn't be able to credibly call themselves "Cash Money Millionaires" if they only got money from a group that's only 13% of the US population. They get their cash money by selling to EVERY part of the WORLD'S population. Even kids in remote villages are familiar with Lil Wayne's music.

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After all, you don't see me (having Latino ancestry) complaining about YG & Tyga using the words "Go Loko" and using Mexican imagery in their video.

Lowriders started among Chicanos, but I think it's all good when non-Chicanos like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, The Game, and YG drive lowriders in their videos!

And you don't see me (with a German last name) whining about City Girls and Afrika Bambaata sampling Kraftwerk (white German innovators of electronic music) early classic "Trans Europa Express".

I'm all about integration, and I encourage MORE integration!