Make your own choices based on available information.

Listening to news, Maui sounds like a wasteland. But having just listened to a weekly radio program out of Maui- The Blue Bus- I hear a very different story. Yes, the fires were destructive with over a 100 lives lost and billions of $$$ in property damage. But the radio host says the damage effects less than 5% of the island and hotels, restaurants, car rentals, airBnBs, fishing guides, scooter rentals all depend on tourists dollars and they want you to come now. The longer tourists stay away, the quicker those businesses fail and those employees lose their jobs.

And what about Ukraine? I have no desire to get killed in a war zone. But if they ever needed tourists dollars, it's now, right? Some say it would be disrespectful to visit. But maybe visiting is a show of respect and that they are not forgotten? I don't know. I have been to both places in better times. Would I go now? Probably not.

And there's the little village in Laos where they make spoons from the carcasses of unexploded bombs from the Vietnam War. I really wanted a spoon made from an American bomb. Some say buying spoons encourages the villagers to send their kids out to look for more bombs where they are potentially killed or maimed. Others say if you don't support their craftsmanship the village dies. I didn't buy a spoon. But every morning when I stir my tea I think 'damn, wish I bought that spoon.'

As for the article, I lost interest when it started quoting an expert who wrote a book about it in the 70s.