Wear a mask
As Hawaii continues to cautiously lift public health related restrictions on the populace while maintaining the state’s stellar COVID-19 statistics, divisions between local people are becoming more clear, even in the brotherly setting of churches, over the issue of masks. It is hard to understand, albeit instructive, about society today.
In my view, discussing masks in terms of evil or oppression makes sense only if one is addressing the Ku Klux Klan, al-Qaida, bank robbers and the like.
Thinking that medical masks are a political statement or a philosophical position is, in itself, a commentary on one’s state of heart and mind that transcends politics and the teachings of Plato.
“Believing” that masks are, or are not, effective in limiting contagion carries no meaning; prophylactics are not a faith-based system, they are not a religion.
Wearing a medical mask is a health care precaution — a submission to prudence, not tyranny. Masks are a physical inconvenience, not tangibly painful shackles (and if you think they reflect the wearer’s mental fetters, you are still not getting it).
Wearing (or not wearing) a mask, irrespective of your socio-political-religious point of reference, speaks volumes about your consideration of, and care for, your fellow man. (For the respiratory-compromised among us who legitimately exhibit limited physiological tolerance for the devices, rest in the knowledge that you alone have an excusable reason to forgo the mask.)
John Atwell
Kurtistown
No help from county
My wife and I own a 4-acre macadamia nut farm at the end of Lauone Street.
We were excited to learn that $62 million had been approved for the restoration of roads. We were shocked to learn the money didn’t have to be used for our roads.
My emails to my local representatives were met with indifference.
I then attempted to meet with the mayor and voice my opinion. I received an email from (Department of Public Works spokeswoman) Denise Laitinen, stating a meeting was premature at this time. Really?
I came away from all of this with the impression that Mayor Harry Kim has no intention of using FEMA money to restore these county roads, regardless of need.
Ian and Cherie McArthur
Pahoa