Adolf Putin
I am terrified at the actions of Vladimir Putin and the Russian military. It is too much like the start of World War II, when Germany attacked Poland and other countries and annexed much of their territory under the doctrine of Lebensraum.
Lebensraum means “living space,” and the Nazis claimed that they needed that space for the same reasons that Putin is giving for invading Ukraine, Crimea and Georgia. Putin claims that the people in all those countries are really Russians at heart, so therefore, he is just liberating them from their oppression.
It looks like the Ukrainians beg to disagree with Adolf Putin, and I am amazed at their bravery and tenacity.
I am especially impressed with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the former comedian and current president of Ukraine. His black humor when he responded to an offer of an asylum flight to the United States will go down in history: “I don’t need a ride, I need ammunition.”
This is the same guy who stood up to Donald Trump when Trump used extortion to try to get him to dig up dirt on Joe Biden. In that case, Trump was threatening to withhold military aid — aid that is now being used to fight off the Russians.
I have been finding good, up-to-the minute coverage of what is happening in Ukraine at the English language website of the Kyiv Independent newspaper (https://kyivindependent.com). They are mainly crowd-funded, and there is a “donate” button on their website.
I would like to hear from other readers of other ways to help Ukrainians defeat this new Hitler before he gets too far.
Matt Binder
Waimea
‘Juvenile barbs’
Rochelle delaCruz’s Feb. 28 opinion piece on tattoos is a long-winded way to say “mea culpa” while tossing repeated, ungracious, and juvenile barbs at the reader (me) who called out the weakness of her initial diatribe on the issue.
I doubt that many paying subscribers appreciate schoolmarm histrionics occupying so much real estate in our morning paper. All columns have a shelf life.
John Atwell
Kurtistown
Dosages and weight
There are dosages of the vaccines for adults and children, but one problem with that is there are adults who could qualify for a child’s dosage and children who could qualify for an adult’s dosage.
Case in point: A friend/neighbor in her late 50s/early 60s who (recently) got herself a $2,400-plus taxi ride to the hospital weighs about 100 pounds soaking wet. Prior to this COVID debacle, she tried to donate blood, but was told she couldn’t donate due to her low body mass.
She had received the first vaccine shot, but couldn’t deal with the second one.
Where immunizations are administered, there should be a scale set with age and weight to assist in determining what dosage particular individuals should receive. If there is any question, err on the side of caution.
It would be interesting to see what the medics would say about this.
Dave Kisor
Pahoa