Moral Obligation?

Today I saw the article: Do I have a moral obligation to wear a mask or get vaccinated? I kjust had to read it; I found it very interesting to see response from bioethicist & associate professor of religious studies Karey Harwood. The short answer is, "Yes, people who are healthy enough to be vaccinated have a moral obligation to get vaccinated." And, "Unless there is a medical reason why a person cannot safely wear a mask, yes, there is a moral obligation to wear one to reduce the transmission of disease." Click on the link above for the full discussion.

When asked about theological justifications for a religious exemption from taking the vaccine, Harwood says, "It certainly seems that people are straining credulity in what they characterize as a "religious" reason for requesting an exemption from vaccination." She goes further to say, "One might expect a group like Christian Scientists to refuse vaccination across the board, but this is not the case. Although Christian Scientists normally rely on the power of prayer for healing, rather than modern medicine, they recognize their obligations to public health: 'For more than a century, our denomination has counseled respect for public health authorities and conscientious obedience to the laws of the land, including those requiring vaccination. Christian Scientists report suspected communicable disease, obey quarantines, and strive to cooperate with measures considered necessary by public health officials. We see this as a matter of basic Golden Rule ethics and New Testament love.'" She further quotes philosopher Ruth Groenhout who wrote that, "Jesus 'advocated an ethics of service and assistance to all (Matt. 26:14-39, Luke 22: 24-27, John 13: 1-17), but especially to those seen as one's enemies (Matt. 5:43-48, Luke 6: 27-36) and to the sick and poor (Matt. 25:31-46).'" Wow! 😯

It began raining about 4 this morning. Hard. I had intended to walk up at Maunalani early this morning but not in the pouring rain. Auē! Instead I focused on packing things to send to Hawaiʻi Island. I will be reorganizing the holding area in the hallway to my room; moving things ready to go to the forward end of the hall. FYI It did not rain all day in Honolulu but it was fairly gray all day & they are predicting rain for the weekend. All over the state. Lots of rain, like flood watch level rains; in fact the northwestern part of Hawaiʻi Island is under a Flood Advisory.

I made a plain proothie again. I did not want to be harvesting lau ʻuala out in the rain.

CJ texted me this morning. She had seen that there was a foot of snow predicted here today. She was wondering if it was for Mauna Kea; it is. I checked the Canada-France-Hawaiʻi Telescope several times today to see what was happening. It did not look like there was snow that fell last night or during the daylight hours. I will have to check tomorrow morning again. Here is a map of the different telescopes on Mauna Kea.

(Map by W. M. Keck Observatory)

Here are a series of photo from the live web cam at the Canada-France-Hawai'i Telescope (CFHT) that faces northwest towards Kohala Mountain & Haleakala in the distance. You really can't see either in these photos. It looks like the lens started out covered with snow which melts off throughout the day. By 2:15 p.m. the lens is clear, however, it looks like snow is sliding off of whatever is above the lens. In the last photo at 3:49 p.m. the clouds have cleared the summit of Mauna Kea but the lower elevations & off in the distance things are still under cloud cover.

The photos in the next series is from a live web cam at the Gemini Northern Telescope, looking northerly at the CFHT. The CFHT begins to be just barely visible through the fog at about 10:03 a.m. & stays that way until about 3:00 p.m. when the fog begins to lift. As it lifts you can see there was no new snowfall overnight.

At 7:07 a.m.

At 10:03 a.m.

At 12:05 p.m.

At 2:16 p.m.

At 3:00 p.m.

At 3:49 p.m.

This next series of photos is from the CFHT, looking easterly. In the 1st photo the sun has risen in the east; there is a weed of some sort in the lower right corner of the frame. Cloud cover to the east remains quite thick throughout the day.

This last series of photos is from the CFHT, looking southerly at the Gemini Northern Telescope. In the 1st photo, it looks like there might be something beyond the fog. In the next 3 photos the ground can be seen, but the structure itself is still hidden in the fog. By 3 p.m. the fog begins to lift & the structure begins to come in to view; it is also clear there was no new snowfall overnight. I wonder if these 2 institutions are collaborating to provide each other with visual data of their respective facilities?

At 7:07 a.m.

A little after CJ's text, Suzanne texted me about a family of endangered ʻAkikiki on Kauaʻi. They are in danger of becoming infected with avian malaria & dying so wildlife biologists are trying to locate & capture them. If the biologists are successful, they will move the family to a research center on Maui that is high enough that there are no mosquitoes. The ʻAkikiki family will be raised with other ʻAkikiki at the research center until the mosquito & avian malaria problem on Kauaʻi is solved; then they will be returned to the Kauaʻi forests.

Suzanne & Manu were in San Diego on a layover between the 1st & 2nd legs of their trip from the east coast. The 2nd leg will take them to San Francisco, then they will get on the flight to Honolulu. They arrive late tonight. They will be busy over the weekend with the memorial. We hope to be able to get together before they leave next week Saturday. 

For lunch I had the furikake salmon that I picked up at Times Supermarket yesterday. Because I reheated it in the microwave it was a slight bit chewy though not distractingly so.

For dinner I ate the Sweet Chili Chicken Wings that I also picked up yesterday at Times Supermarket. Earlier in the week when I stopped at Foodland to get the supplies for The Potential Most Favorite Roommate, I also picked up 3 different types of riced cauliflower; tonight I heated up the Cauliflower Risotto Medley. It was a good combination; the macronutrients are the same as plain riced cauliflower so I think I will stock the risotto since it has bits of asparagus & mushrooms so there will be some different micronutrients.

The latest Volcano Watch article in Big Island Now describes how USGS scientists map the terrain of Kīlauea volcano in the middle of an active eruption at Halema'uma'u crater. 

The Aix weather app forecast rain in the morning becoming drizzle until about mid-afternoon when it would begin raining & go through the evening. The forecast was accurate through midday when it became partly cloudy for the remainder of the day. For Kapaʻau, Aix forecast rain in the morning becoming a whole lot of rain along with thunderstorms going through the night; Big Island Now was very different, foreasting sunny in the morning turning to mostly cloudy with showers in the afternoon & a 70% chance of rain. The Honomū weather station recorded 0.06 inches of precipitation by 5:31 p.m. For Marysville, Aix forecast partly cloudy skies until later in the evening when it would become rain just before midnight.
The I-5 traffic cams appeared to support that.

Rain in Kaimukī looking easterly at 6:22 a.m.

Slowing to a drizzle in Kaimukī looking easterly at 6:43 a.m.

Drizzling in Kaimukī looking westerly at 6:59 a.m.

Honomū looking northerly at 7:00 a.m.

Marysville looking southerly at 7:01 a.m. HST.

Kaimukī looking westerly at 1:`15 p.m.

Honomū looking northerly at 5:31 p.m.

Marysville looking southerly at 5:32 p.m.

Hawaiʻi County has a new interactive hazard map that is available on line. The map combines information from a number of sources to provide up to date information on rainfall, flooding, high winds, tsunami, road closures, & more. The map is actually for the entire State but each island can be enlarged to show more detail.

The page when you open it.

You can hide the legends.

You can also enlarge the map.

The surf along north facing shores is increasing& expected to reah High Surf Warning levels this weekend. Other areas were reasonable or flat.

Laniakea (N) at 7:01 a.m.

Hilo Bay (E) at 7:03 a.m.

Waikīkī (S) at 7:05 a.m.

Banyans (W) at 7:04 a.m.

Laniakea (N) at 5:28 p.m.

Hilo Bay (E) at 5:28 p.m.

Waikīkī at 5:28 p.m.

Banyans (W) at 5:29 p.m.

There were 125 new cases of COVID-19 reported today, bringing the total known cases up to 88,023. There was also 1 new death reported increasing the death toll to 1028; currently there are 1235 cases considered active. As of today there were 2,352,493 doses of vaccine administered, providing full vaccination for 71.6% of the State population and at least one dose to 77.4%. There are 37 cases in the hospital with 7 in the ICU & 4 on ventilators. The 7-day new case average for the State is 94 with a positivity rate of 1.4%. The 7-day new case average for Oʻahu is 49 with a positivity rate of 1.1%.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Stacey!