Pablo's Blog

Sunday, October 29, 2023

2 decades of blogging, 1 decade on YouTube

I now have 2 decades of experience in blogging and 1 decade of making YouTube videos.

First, my blogging.

To learn the history behind my blogging, check out the following posts

from 2013 "1 decade anniversary of this blog" https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2013/10/1-decade-anniversary-of-this-blog.html

Actually, I joined Blogger in April 2003 as part of a group blog called "The Fiftieth Star". That was with me, Stuart Hayashi and a few others who wanted to promote an alternative to the center-left bias of the Ka Leo, the Honolulu daily papers and the Honolulu Weekly.
http://50thstar.blogspot.com/
(yeah, I know, it hasn't been updated in a while)

At the time, I was an undergraduate student at UH-Manoa and have been writing opinion articles in the school's newspaper Ka Leo O Hawaii.

As a writer, I had a small group of fans. But I also had an enemy named Tobin Jones who wrote screaming rants in response to my articles. I don't mind rational disagreements with my points, but Tobin Jones doesn't do rational disagreements, he does vicious slanders and accusations of me believing in stuff I dont believe in.

Well in October of 2003, Tobin Jones made another unhinged rant about another of my Ka Leo articles. Now, this was war!

So I started my blog. I shattered his cliches into pieces.

Eventually, that conflict faded and I used my blog to comment on a whole bunch of other topics.

I also wrote more on my blog history in this 2018 blog post " This blog is now 15 years old" https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2018/10/this-blog-is-now-15-years-old.html

Anyways, lots of things have changed in those 15 years!

Back then, things like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter didn't even exist yet! But now, they're the center of many news reports and basically the center of mainstream life!

Back then, the word "viral" still focused on diseases! The word now refers to anything widely shared on YouTube, facebook and twitter (as I mentioned, didn't exist yet when I started my blog).

Interestingly, 2 years after that post, the coronavirus crisis has happened, so now, the word "viral" has now focused on viruses again.

Friday, October 27, 2023

Silence & Violence

Many activists on social media (and elsewhere) shout the phrase "Silence is Violence"

That statement implies that you're either with us or with the bad guys. That being neutral gives aid & comfort to their enemies.

To those activists, violence isn't just bombs, bullets, kicks & punches. To them, violence is also any disagreement with them, any inconvenience to them, anything that gets in their way to victory.

They claim that the use of hurtful words is psychological warfare.

But the phrase "Silence is Violence" is a form of psychological warfare

Here's a perfect tweet on this from 2022

https://twitter.com/Louis_Allday/status/1573013966107906048

Louis Allday
@Louis_Allday
The way Twitter makes people feel compelled constantly to comment publicly about situations/issues they know little or *nothing* about is very damaging. As is the degradation of the basic understanding that some discussions are appropriate for public consumption & others aren’t.
8:18 AM · Sep 22, 2022

And that's the thing. It's unrealistic to expect everyone to be ready to go public on your side on every issue.

Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to have more people fighting on my side.

I mean, there's a reason I blog and make YouTube speeches. To get more people on my side.

But not everyone who is silent is doing it out of malice.

Some of the silence is due to things like

being too busy to survive (or helping their family to survive) to be paying attention to all that's going on in this world
Not enough time or mental energy to research the issues that are out there
Not having the mental capacity to understand all the issues
Some people are just very introverted. Public attention has the same harmful effect on them just like how peanuts & bee stings have harmful effects on those with allergies
Some people have difficulty expressing themselves
Some people are afraid to lose their job and are one missed paycheck (or direct deposit) away from becoming homeless.

Not everyone has the privilege to be publicly vocal about things.

Also, many issues have TONS of nuances that don't fit a 280-character-limit

And not everyone has the time and mental energy to explain the many nuances of the issues.

And to many activists, they consider the word "nuance" as fighting words. How dare you mention that things aren't as simple as a phrase that can fit within a 280-character limit.

For one example, there's the Israel-Palestine conflict.

New York Times writer Elizabeth Spiers had strangers on social media DEMANDING HER to make a public statement about the latest Israel-Palestine crisis.

Nevermind that she never lived there, and has other things in her life that also demand her full attention.

But she has written a very classic response to those idiot activists who say stupid phrases like "Silence is Violence".

The article title? "I Don’t Have to Post About My Outrage. Neither Do You."

Elizabeth Spiers, “I Don’t Have to Post about My Outrage. Neither Do You.,” The New York Times, October 17, 2023,

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/17/opinion/social-media-israel-palestine.html

Here are some excerpts from that article

But not everyone was taking a side. As I scrolled through my timeline, I saw lots of random citizens being told that if they didn’t speak out, they, too, would have blood on their hands.

People speaking from both the right and the left seemed to attribute my silence to depraved indifference to human suffering, though they were divided on which humans were suffering. As it happens, I had been dealing with shingles (zero stars, do not recommend) and the depression I struggle with periodically. I was tired and overwhelmed, as are a great many other people. But the voices yelling at me and anyone else who failed to post seemed to believe that not making a statement was itself a statement — and an immoral one, at that.

and the reason more don't take a public stance on Israel-Palestine

There’s a facile version of taking a stand on social media that generates righteous back patting but reduces complex issues to a simple yes or no. Taking simplistic stands can also lead to twisting words. Concern for Palestinians is portrayed as support for Hamas or hatred toward Israel or Jews in general. Anger about Hamas’s deadly attacks on Israeli citizens — or any mention of antisemitism — is portrayed as denigrating the dignity of all Palestinian lives. This kind of thinking is deeply unserious and further fuels hostilities, warping nuanced positions into extremism and mistaking tweet-length expressions of outrage for brave action in the face of atrocity.

and this

Sitting with uncertainty is hard, especially when social media has primed us to expect perfect real-time information during traumatic events and to want instantaneous answers and resolution. Moral certainty is an anchor we cling to when factual certainty is not possible. And the faster we express it, the more certain we appear. The most righteous among us post — and do it immediately.

Totally agree with that part. In most incidents, the facts of the case aren't made public within the first 48 hours. In many cases, even 48 days later, there are still facts not yet made public. There are things to investigate and verify before officials make official statements. But conspiracy theorists don't even have to wait 48 seconds before they spread half-truths and non-truths on social media.

That's why I tend to restrain my commenting on very recent incidents. I prefer to wait until the facts come out. It's also why I usually wait before I blog on the topic.

Now, the following paragraph is more classic than classic. It should be studied by future generations in high school & college courses. It's that important

Knee-jerk social media posts are not what bother me most, though. Instead, it’s the idea that not posting is wrong somehow — that everyone needs to speak, all the time. It discourages shutting up and listening and letting the voices that matter the most be heard over the din. It implies it’s not OK to have any uncertainty about what’s going on or any kind of moral analysis that does not lend itself to presentation in a social media post. It does not leave time or space for people to process traumatic events in the sanctuary of their own minds or to gather more information before pronouncing a judgment. It pressures people who don’t have an opinion yet or are working out what they think to manufacture one and present it to a jury of total strangers on the internet who will render an instant verdict on its propriety.

Yes, Yes, Yes to ALL THAT!

People need to be allowed time & space to process traumatic events.

The "Silence is Violence" fanatics refuse to allow people time & space to process traumatic events.

In other words, the "Silence is Violence" crowd commit extreme psychological violence against those who need time & space to process traumatic events.

This reminds me of back in 2020/2021 when idiot activists got mad at Chloe Kim (Olympic snowboarder) for not being fast enough to make a public statement against anti-Asian racism when it turned out that she was dealing with her own trauma of anti-Asian racism.

Alyssa Roenigk, “Olympic Gold Medalist Chloe Kim Shares Her Experiences with Anti-Asian Hate,” ESPN, April 2, 2021,

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/31182888/olympic-gold-medalist-chloe-kim-shares-experience-anti-asian-hate

In an interview with ESPN on Thursday night, Kim opened up about her experience of racism, her fears for her safety and that of her parents, and her decision to speak out as a high-profile Asian American woman.

"I was getting messages from people telling me I'm part of the problem because I was being silent," Kim told ESPN. "I was like, 'Do you realize I'm also Asian American and this affects me?' It was a lot of white people telling me they were upset at my silence."

Kim said she hoped her Instagram post raised awareness about the prevalence of Asian American hate and illustrated that she, too, deals with discrimination on a daily basis. Her silence was not due to apathy, she said, but fear. "Just because I am a professional athlete or won the Olympics doesn't exempt me from racism," Kim said. "I get hundreds of those kinds of messages monthly. I see maybe 30 a day."

Also note that Chloe Kim became famous because she was a teen athletic prodigy, when most people her age haven't even developed a political or sociological philosophy, much less know how to express it. You can't expect teen prodigies (whether in sports, arts, etc) to be articulate on social issues like how Malcolm X or Martin Luther King were in their 30's.

This is especially because teen prodigies are still in their teens and therefore still learning how to deal with socio-emotional issues that affect them. Most adults aren't good at expressing how they deal with socio-emotional issues, but people were mad at a then-teenager for not knowing how to express her grief of dealing with anti-Asian racism?

While people were expecting a then-teenaged Chloe Kim to speak like Malcolm X, we have to remember that the real-life Malcolm X wasn't an activist as a teen. As a teen & young adult, he was a street hustler. He started to become more educated in sociology and politics while incarcerated. In other words, some people need a little more time to mature before they become ready for prime time.

But people demanded a then-teenaged Chloe Kim to have Malcolm X level of articulateness on social issues, when Malcolm X didn't become THE Malcolm X until later in life?

Also, people need time to investigate the issue before making public statements. Not everyone is versed on the nuances of Israel-Palestine, climate change, criminal justice, economics, or whatever else is the hot topic of the day.

So to all you idiot activists, lay off with the "Silence is Violence" Nonsense, and learn how to communicate your ideas to those who aren't publicly on your side.

Learn how to convince people.

Learn how to convince people to join your side.

Learn to lead by example, instead of acting so self-righteous all the time.

(and this "silence is violence" preaching is the epitome of self-righteous)

Is it easier said than done? Of course.

But now that you know that "Silence is Violence" isn't effective in gaining sincere support, it's time to learn to talk to the people, instead of always talking at the people.

=====

Also check out this 4-minute video from the New York Times, titled "Pick a Side. Pick a Side. Pick a Side. Now."

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/25/opinion/israel-palestine-social-media.html

Sunday, October 15, 2023

I'm now 43

Today, I officially lived 43 years!

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TBM_Citeis_43.svg

So much triumphs and challenges since the previous birthday!

On my previous birthday, I was still employed at Macy's, with a job I picked up in the first pandemic year. I was ready to move on.

I did!

I returned to the education industry as a substitute teacher. In the previous stint (2005-2018), I subbed mostly with public schools, but also with private schools as well.

This time around, I'm sticking with the private schools, only because they pay faster. Any job with the State of Hawaii makes you wait at least a month for your paycheck. I'd rather not wait!

I'm much happier being a sub than I was at Macy's.

The problem is that there's no paid leave, no sick leave, no vacation pay.

And this year, I had the biggest rent increase I've ever experienced. I'm not sure how much longer I stay in my apartment.

And my dad is retiring at the end of the year, so he'll most likely be making less on social security.

And as mentioned in the blog post "My Mental Health & Career Development", finding a steadier job with better pay that matches my talents and my psychological well-being has been a major challenge for me.

read the blog post "My Mental Health & Career Development" at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2023/03/my-mental-health-career-development.html

And I've been in a less celebratory mood since the pandemic started.

Anybody who knew me pre-pandemic knew I loved parties! Facebook photos confirms that!

But the covidiots who ignored public health protocols and the bullies who tell people "covid is over" & "take off your mask" made me reluctant to go to public events, especially where alcohol is served! It's to the point where I make sure I can reach my pepper spray in case some covidiot gets close to me, though so far, covidiots tend to be cowards who comment from a far distance.

So I've been more of a recluse. I always desired a lot of "me time" before the pandemic, but now "me time" is all the time.

Well, almost all the time.

One of my friends visited my apartment last night, and we viewed yearbooks and photo albums from the past.

And earlier today, I talked with my parents, who gave me a birthday card stating

On your birthday,

remember that you make a difference in this world
just by showing up and being you!

I definitely needed that reminder as I go on through the next 12 months and beyond!

Sunday, October 08, 2023

Surgical masks and hard hats

Earlier this month, I came across an article titled "Mask mandates are returning to some hospitals. Should they be there to stay?"

Elizabeth Hlavinka, “Mask Mandates Are Returning to Some Hospitals. Should They Be There to Stay?,” Salon, October 5, 2023, https://www.salon.com/2023/10/05/mask-mandates-are-returning-to-some-hospitals-should-they-be-there-to-stay/.

From the article

While the chance of severe disease is reduced for those who have been vaccinated or who have already had a COVID infection, doctors are concerned about vulnerable patients in hospitals, which are by nature meeting points for all sorts of disease-causing pathogens, not just SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID. Hospitals are also at elevated risk of things like long COVID, which can occur even in the vaccinated, young and otherwise healthy.

"Our elderly relatives, people with serious illnesses — these are the only places they can go to get care when they are in the worst shape of their lives," said Dr. Theodore Pak, an infectious diseases fellow, who has seen hundreds of COVID-19 patients at the hospitals he practices at in Boston, Massachusetts.

"We may give somebody a powerful medication that takes away their entire immune system and then in order to get medical care, they have to go to a hospital where they sit next to people that are unmasked that could give them a disease that could kill them," Pak told Salon in a phone interview. "We don't really think about that or weigh that risk anymore."

Hospitals should've never given up on the mask mandates.

Hospitals are there to take care of people with health vulnerabilities. Many of those people are at increased risk of getting infected by contagious respiratory diseases. Requiring people to wear surgical masks would reduce the spread of contagious respiratory diseases.

Sadly, some people act as if "covid is over" (or even worse, act as if covid never existed) and would throw hissy fits when asked to wear a mask to protect others from contagious respiratory diseases.

Hospitals should stand firm on their mask mandate!

After all, construction sites put HUGE SIGNS saying that they require people to wear safety protective gear like hard hats, safety goggles, steel-toed boots, and more! Those who threw hissy fits over such regulations would be fired and expelled!

If we as as a society can recognize that hard hats are required for construction sites, then why can't we as a society recognize that surgical masks should be required for hospitals?

And why can't we recognize that it might be a good idea to wear a surgical mask in other places where people gather in close proximity (ie schools, malls, concerts, etc)?

And why can't we recognize that wearing a surgical mask would be a good idea when it comes to food service?

This isn't complicated

=======

I made a 4-minute video speech titled "Hey Anti Maskers, Do Hard Hat Requirements at Construction Sites Trigger You?"

Check it out here, and make the video go viral (pun intended)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rv4g3y6hW8

"Hey Anti Maskers, Do Hard Hat Requirements at Construction Sites Trigger You?"

In memory of Bob Wagner (1947-2023)

Bob Wagner was the head football coach for the University of Hawaii from 1987-1995

Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Bob Wagner

Being that I was born in 1980, Bob Wagner was the 1st UH football that I can remember. I was too young to be paying attention when the previous coach Dick Tomey had his magical run.

Learn more about Dick Tomey at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2019/05/in-memory-of-dick-tomey-1938-2019.html

Bob Wagner continued Tomey's winning tradition and took the program to even greater heights.

For example, for years & years, UH kept losing to BYU! Being that UH had the only college football team in Hawaii, we didn't have an instate rival, and therefore BYU was our rival at the time! BYU not only beat UH on the field but also in recruiting. Laie was the center of Mormon culture in Hawaii, and that town also had a lot of Polynesian players who played for Kahuku High School and BYU! Bob Wagner jokingly called Laie "Guantanamo" (the US military base in Cuba). (and yes, Laie has a BYUH, a satellite campus without a football team)

Hawaii has so many heart-breaking losses to BYU that legend had it that elderly fans begged UH coaches to beat BYU before they passed away.

In 1989, under Bob Wagner, UH finally did it. They finally defeated BYU. To us, it was like winning the Super Bowl.

And in 1990, they did it again. UH beat BYU again. It was also the last game of the regular season! And the funniest part was that earlier that day, it was announced that BYU QB Ty Detmer won the Heisman Trophy! UH receiver Jeff Snyder mocked Detmer by doing the Heisman pose after making a touchdown.

(I'm not sure about this, but I think that game was probably why they now delay the announcement of the Heisman Trophy winner until after the regular season is over)

Then in 1992, UH not only beat BYU but also the conference championship! We won the WAC (Western Athletic Conference) and we were headed for our first bowl game on the continent. We were playing in the Holiday Bowl against Big Ten's Illinois! And we surprised the world with a bowl victory.

However, for Bob Wagner, it was downhill from there.

The next 3 seasons didn't have the success of his earlier seasons.

Some blamed UH administration for making it's academic standards stricter for incoming students. But this is COLLEGE football, and coaches are expected to find student-athletes who can win in the classroom and on the field.

Also, even with the win, UH didn't have the money to invest in the facilities while its competitors were impressing recruits with shiny new facilities.

I remember in 1994, attending my first UH football game in-person, watching UH defeat Oregon early in the season. The interesting thing was that the Oregon team ended up playing the prestigious Rose Bowl whereas UH ended the season with a 3-8-1 record! Talk about a reversal of fortunes.

By 1995, the fans were sick of losing. They no longer thought of Bob Wagner as the guy who finally defeated BYU and won the 1992 Holiday Bowl. They acted as if he's a no-good coach. I'm old enough to remember hearing family members & peers who wanted him gone, as if he never had a winning season in his life.

Before the last game, it was announced the Bob Wagner would be fired, but that he would be allowed to coach the last game!

And guess who replaced Bob Wagner?

Fred von Appen, who had 3 losing seasons at UH including the notorious 0-12 team of 1998!

Because of the fan's impatience, UH replaced Wagner with someone who was much worse!

Sadly, it wouldn't be the last time that UH gave in to impatient fans to replace a winning coach with someone much worse.

Gregg McMackin (aka Coach Mack) went 10-3 in 2010. In 2011, the team went 6-7, and angry fans acted as if Coach Mack was the worst coach ever. All for a slightly-less-than-average season after a winning season!

UH "retired" Coach Mack at the end of the season

(learn more at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2023/02/jim-leahey-and-coach-mack-2-legends-of.html )

UH replaced him with Norm Chow (a former BYU assistant coach).

Guess what? EVERY SINGLE SEASON under Norm Chow WAS WORSE THAN ANY SEASON under Coach Mack.

In 2014, Norm Chow nearly matched Fred von Appen's 0-12 record. He only avoided that by finally winning one game, which happened to be the final game of the season.

Norm Chow was fired after losing a Halloween game in 2015.

(learn more at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-end-of-norm-chow-era.html)

=======

Anyways, back to Bob Wagner.

After losing his job at UH, Wagner did join Dick Tomey at Arizona.

Then, he came back to Hawaii in 2002, this time as an athletic director at what was then a new high school, the Kamehameha School's campus on the Big Island. He remained in the position for 10 years until he retired.

In 2014, former UH president Kenneth Mortimer apologized to Bob Wagner for the way the school handled Wagner's dismissal in 1995.

Then, in this past week, Bob Wagner died at the age of 76.

======

After the 1992 season, Bob Wagner wrote the book "Getting the Edge: Hawaii Football"

"Getting the Edge: Hawaii Football" by Bob Wagner

In that book, Wagner wrote about his life growing up in Ohio, being an assistant coach at the University of Washington, and coming to coach at Hawaii. He wrote about the various players that he coached here at UH! But most importantly, he wrote about his coaching and recruiting philosophy. His philosophy can be applied to other careers and even your personal life. I definitely recommend this book!

I got the book at one of those Friends of the Library of Hawaii booksale years ago!

According to a quick online search, the book is currently being sold on Amazon and eBay.

====