Finished and klaar?*

Worldwide (Map) 
February 2, 2023 – 671,115,152 confirmed infections; 6,836,400 deaths
February 3, 2022 - 386,005,000 confirmed infections; 5,704,100 deaths
February 4, 2021 – 104,367,000 confirmed infections; 2,268,000 deaths

US (Map) 
February 2, 2023 – 102,468,581 confirmed infections; 1,109,745 deaths
February 3, 2022 - 386,005,000 confirmed infections; 5,704,100 deaths
February 4, 2021 – 104,367,000 confirmed infections; 2,268,000 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
February 2, 2023 – 4,056,201 confirmed infections; 102,595 deaths
February 3, 2022 - 3,613,000 confirmed infections; 95,465 deaths
February 4, 2021 - 1,463,016 confirmed infections; 45,344 deaths

Post from:
February 3, 2022 - “Culture shock” 
February 3, 2021 – “Mutant variants” 

* "Finished and klaar" means finished and finished in English and Afrikaans. In other words, more than finished, double finished!

News blues…

According to the Biden administration, Covid’s ravages upon our planet will be over in May – at least here in the US (and where else counts? [cynical jab at America’s assumed preeminence]. Specifically,

The Biden administration will end the Covid-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11, the White House said Monday in a major step meant to signal that the crisis era of the pandemic is over.
The move would restructure the federal government’s coronavirus response and unwind a sprawling set of flexibilities put in place nearly three years ago that paved the way for free Covid treatments and tests. The White House disclosed its plan in response to two House Republican measures aimed at immediately ending the emergencies, calling those proposals “a grave disservice to the American people.”

Woo hoo! (Let’s hope someone tells those pesky mutating viruses.) 

Read more >> 

***

On war… and culture war
Loss and resilience: Photos from a year of war in Ukraine >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Default  (0:47 mins)
Nikki Haley  (0:30 mins)
Elise knew  (0:55 mins)
RNC chaos  (1:40 mins)
Competition  (0:25 mins)
Who is The Lincoln Project? Last week in the Republican Party – January 24, 2023  (1:26 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party – January 31, 2023  (2:08 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

After decades of being killed for their fur, then because considered “nuisances”, beavers are now sought after as flood control engineers.
Take a quick tour of beavers, nature's engineers, making a comeback in UK >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Life goes on. Meso Mary prepares to begin immunotherapy – Yervoy and Opdivo – with her first session on February 9. 

Nervous? Yes, but so far undeterred. Me, too.

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:11am
Sunset: 5:33pm
More rain predicted...
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:29am
Sunset: 6:55pm
More rain predicted...

 

Is that spring in the air?

Worldwide (Map) 
January 26, 2023 – 669,818,916confirmed infections; 6,820,465 deaths
January 27, 2022 - 363,582,100 confirmed infections; 5,630,850 deaths
January 28, 2021 – 100,920,100 confirmed infections; 2,175,500 deaths

US (Map) 
January 26, 2023 – 102,254,233 confirmed infections; 1,107,466 deaths
January 27, 2022 -   72,991,900 confirmed infections;     876,800 deaths
January 28, 2021 –  25,600,000 confirmed infections;    429,160 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
January 20, 2023 - 4,054,803confirmed infections; 102,595 deaths
January 27, 2022 - 3,590,400 confirmed infections;    94,495 deaths
January 28, 2021 – 1,430,650 confirmed infections;   42,550 deaths

Post from:
January 27, 2022 - “Turn, turn, turn ” 
January 28, 2021 – “Anniversary” 

News blues…

It turns out that early waves of respiratory syncytial virus and influenza peaked before the new year, according to new data from the [US] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the expected winter uptick of coronavirus is nowhere close to overwhelming hospitals, as it did in 2021 when covid wards were filled with unvaccinated people struggling to breathe and last winter when the highly transmissible omicron variant ignited a massive wave of illness.

Read more >> 

***

XBB.1.5 is a spinoff of XBB, a subvariant of omicron that health officials worldwide have been warning about since the fall. XBB.1.5 is considered a recombinant virus because it carries genetic data from two previous mutations, Nexstar’s The Hill reports. XBB was first detected in India in August and spread quickly through Southeast Asia, according to the World Health Organization. At the time, the WHO described XBB as “the most antibody-evasive SARS-CoV-2 variant identified to date.”
Since first being discovered, XBB has evolved and now has two subvariants, XBB.1 and XBB.1.5. XBB.1.5 differs from its family members because it has a mutation that allows it to better bind to cells, Andrew Pekosz, a virologist for Johns Hopkins University, told CNBC. That ability to bind gives it a better chance of infecting people.
Earlier this month, XBB.1.5 began sweeping through the Northeast. As of Thursday, the CDC reports the variant makes up roughly 82% of cases in New England, New York, and New Jersey. It’s now becoming more prevalent across states along the East Coast.

Read more >> 

***

The [US] Food and Drug Administration is considering a major shift in the nation's COVID-19 vaccine strategy.
The goal is to simplify vaccination against COVID and perhaps adopt an approach similar to what is used for the flu vaccine, with annual updates to match whatever strain of the virus is circulating. This is according to a federal official who spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
NPR reported the proposed shift early Monday morning, and later Monday the FDA outlined it publicly in a set of documents released in advance of a meeting Thursday of the agency's Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC). The committee will vote on the agency's proposal. Currently, people who want to be fully vaccinated against COVID have to first get their primary vaccinations — two shots of the original vaccine spaced weeks apart. That's followed at least two months later by a booster, currently the bivalent shot that's tailored to protect against omicron.
Under the new approach, most people would be advised to simply get whatever the latest version of the vaccine is annually each fall like the flu vaccine. They wouldn't have to worry about how many shots they've already gotten and which one they got when. Those who still need to receive two doses initially, such as young children and older people, would use the same formulation for all three shots.

Read more >> 

About 80% of China’s population has been infected with Covid-19 since restrictions were lifted in early December, Chinese health authorities have said.
The figure, which would equate to about 1.2 billion people but cannot be confirmed by outside bodies, prompted some pandemic experts to estimate that more than 1 million may have died – far more than the government’s official tally of about 72,000.

Read more >> 

On war… and culture war
A diversion from the usual…
In an out of the way area of South Africa, near the Orange River, lies the growing town of Orania. This “homeland for Whites” offers a way of life to predominantly Afrikaner people “far from the madding crowd.”
Check out with cultural anomaly presented in this 16 minute video show >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Still here  (0:50 mins)
MTG and McCarthy  (1:35 mins)
The way I handle things  (0:29 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party – January 24, 2023  (1:50 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

There’s …

a murky brown sheen sitting on the surface of the South African city’s harbour, where brilliantly white yachts worth millions of rand float in water contaminated with human excrement.
“We all call it Shit Creek,” said Brad Groddler, 50, a boat captain who takes tourists out for whale-watching and fishing trips.
Ever since deadly floods in April last year damaged an already ailing sewage and water system, millions of litres of untreated sewage have spilled into the beaches, rivers, harbours and ocean in and around Durban.
Between April and December many of the city’s beaches – which usually draw hundreds of thousands of tourists for the southern hemisphere’s summer – were closed after critical levels of E coli, a bacteria that can cause diarrhoea, vomiting and fever, were found in the water.
Nine months after the floods, environmental scientists say contamination is still a big problem.

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Here in California, we’re experiencing promising signs of spring on the way: sunshine, people out and about enjoying that sunshine, warmer temperatures, and teeny tiny buds of greenery in trees and plants.
I say, enjoy this while we can!

Here comes the sun

Worldwide (Map) 
January 20, 2023 – 668,465,287 confirmed infections; 6,736,686 deaths
January 20, 2022 – 317,486,000 confirmed infections; 5,516,000 deaths
January 21, 2021 –  96,830,000 confirmed infections;  2,074,000 deaths

US (Map) 
January 20, 2023 – 101,964,661confirmed infections;  1,103,724 deaths
January 20, 2022 – 338,550,400 confirmed infections; 5,568,100 deaths
January 21, 2021 – 24,450,000 confirmed infections:     406,100 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
January 20, 2023 - 4,053,527 confirmed infections; 102,568 deaths
January 20, 2022 – 3,564,600 confirmed infections;  93,571 deaths 

January 21, 2021 – 1,370,000 confirmed infections;  38,900 deaths

Post from:
January 20, 2022 - “Plus ça change” 
January 21, 2021 – “The vulgarian has left the building” 

News blues…

COVID is never going away. But the pandemic will inevitably end at some point. Right?
For many, it already has, with masks, social distancing, and frequent handwashing relegated to a traumatic past they’re unwilling to revisit.
[Recently] the Biden administration extended the U.S. public health emergency for another 90 days, though U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials recently warned states that the emergency status may soon come to an end. World Health Organization officials, too, continue to express optimism that the global health emergency may draw to a close this year. A committee meeting on the matter is set for Jan. 27.
Are we—or are we not—still in a pandemic, three years in?

Read “COVID keeps surging, but life is returning to normal everywhere you look. When will the pandemic really be over?” 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Decision  (1:20 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Look on the bright side: We the People face unprecedented weather …and this ground squirrel is doing its best to warn us to, "for god's sake, do something about climate change"…

***

The United States endured 18 separate disasters in 2022 whose damages exceeded $1 billion, with the total coming to $165 billion, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
… Extreme weather events, fueled by human-caused climate change, are occurring at a higher frequency with an increased cost — in dollars and lives.
"Climate change is creating more and more intense, extreme events that cause significant damage and often sets off cascading hazards like intense drought, followed by devastating wildfires, followed by dangerous flooding and mudslides," said Dr. Rick Spinrad, NOAA's administrator, citing the flooding and landslides currently happening in California.

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

As it did yesterday morning, a large, shiny golden orb appeared in the eastern section of the sky this morning. I assume it will disappear, as it did yesterday, in the western section of the sky at the end of day. I’ve not seen this golden orb for weeks. It is very welcome.

***

Reading the tealeaves, Meso Mary is in for a rough ride. Her latest PET scan shows “hypermetabolic” activity “under the diaphragm”. Translated: the cancer has spread outside the thoracic cavity (her lung pleura) and into her “belly.” Moreover, it has entered the lymph system.
This is scary stuff. 

As Mary – and I – absorb this news, we’re also preparing for the next phase of her treatment: immunotherapy.
Immunotherapy has successfully treated mesothelioma in some patients – at least for a period of time. Mesothelioma, however, is not curable. It goes underground for a period then flares up again. Immunotherapy can create longer periods between resurgence of the disease. That’s not to be sneezed at.
The downside of immunotherapy? The immune system can ‘over-react’ and ‘attack’ organs it assumes are ill or inflamed … leading to damaged liver, or kidneys, or adrenals, or heart, or ….
Alas.
Neither Mary nor I will, as we’d planned, travel to South Africa at the end of this month. Indeed, given the treatment’s expected course, we’ll not travel there until at least August.

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:29am
Sunset: 5:10pm
Sun... welcome, sun!
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:18am
Sunset: 7:01pm

Bogged down

Worldwide (Map) 
January 12, 2023 – 665,599,815 confirmed infections; 6,714,255 deaths
January 13, 2022 – 317,486,000 confirmed infections; 5,516,000 deaths
January 14, 2021 –  92,314,000 confirmed infections; 1,977,900 deaths

US (Map) 
January 12, 2023 – 101,511,950 confirmed infections; 1,098,512 deeaths
January 13, 2022 –  63,232,340 confirmed infections;   844,650 deaths
January 14, 2021 –  23,071,100 confirmed infections;  384,635 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
January 12, 2023 - 4,050,290 confirmed infections; 102,568 deaths
January 13, 2022 – 3,540,900 confirmed infections;  92,830 deaths 

January 14, 2021 – 1,278,305 confirmed infections;  35,140 deaths

Post from January 13, 2022 - “The beat goes on…” 

News blues…

Four weeks ago, the XBB.1.5 variant caused less than 10% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. Now it causes more than 25% of them. Virologists including Andy Pekosz, a professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, are paying attention. Should the general public be concerned?
The Bloomberg School of Public Health provided this Q&A with Pekosz to help explain what virologists are seeing, what this new variant means for case rates and treatments, and why it’s so important for more people to get the bivalent booster.

Read “What you need to know about XBB.1.5, Omicron’s latest variant” >> 

People who haven't had COVID will likely catch XBB.1.5 – and many will get reinfected, experts say.
Variant XBB.1.5 is very contagious, meaning everyone is at risk even if you've already been infected. As the U.S. enters year 3 of the pandemic, here's an update on the state of COVID.
Read more >>

COVID-19 is more widespread in animals than we thought. From lions and tigers to big hairy armadillos, a growing number of animals have been infected with the coronavirus. 

Here’s what we’ve learned >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Warning  (1:11 mins)
What has violence ever accomplished? (0:30 mins)

Presidential Citizens Medal Ceremony  (2:07 mins)
Kingmaker  (1:25 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - January 10, 2023 (2:13 mins)
Last year in the Republican Party - January 6, 2023 (2:20 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

To bee or not to bee?
The USDA has issued a conditional vaccine license as its “first licensure of a honeybee product.”
“We hope the availability of this product will aid in the prevention and/or treatment of the disease American Foulbrood in honeybees given their central role in American agriculture (e.g. pollination),” said the USDA.
Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Raining, raining, raining…. My part of California – inner bay – is soggy, floody in some spots, hosting fallen trees, but essentially doing well in comparison to many other areas of this state. It is cold and wet: a weather combination that makes one feel truly bogged down. And more rain forecast for the coming week. 

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:24am
Sunset: 5:10pm
More rain, rain, rain….
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:11am
Sunset: 7:03pm
More rain, rain, rain….

Meanwhile...

Worldwide (Map) 
January 5, 2023 - 662,096,600 confirmed infections; 7,507,700 deaths
January 6, 2022 – 298,194,650 confirmed infections; 5,468,100 deaths
January 6, 2021 – 87,157,000 confirmed infections; 1,882,100 deaths

US (Map) 
January 5, 2023 - 101,043,100 confirmed infections; 1,095,225 deaths
January 6, 2022 – 57,826,000 confirmed infections; 823,359 deaths January 6, 2021 – 21,294,100 confirmed infections; 361,100 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
January 5, 2023 - 4,049,460 confirmed infections; 102,568 deaths
January 6, 2022 – 3,494,700 confirmed infections; 91,561 deaths January 6, 2021 – 1,150,000 confirmed infections; 30,525 deathsbr />
Post from:
January 6, 2022 – “Enough already!” 
January 6, 2021 – “Over-the-top whackidoodle-itude” 

News blues…

US Congress is at a standstill. It appears there’s no way to move beyond the whacky shenanigans of the whackidoodles. No Speaker of the House of Representatives – after at least 9 sessions of voting for a Speaker – and still no one and nothing accomplished!
Meanwhile…

… [recently] the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Covid-19 variant dashboard revealed a new dark horse that could soon sweep the field: XBB.1.5.
The CDC estimates that XBB.1.5 has more than doubled its share of the Covid-19 pie each week for the last four, rising from about 4% to 41% of new infections over the month of December. In the Northeast, the CDC estimates, XBB.1.5 is causing 75% of new cases.
“For a few months now, we haven’t seen a variant that’s taken off at that speed,” said Pavitra Roychoudhury, director of Covid-19 sequencing at the University of Washington School of Medicine’s virology lab.

Read “Omicron offshoot XBB.1.5 could drive new Covid-19 surge in US” 

***

Is China’s data ‘under-representing’ the true impact of its Covid outbreak?

The UN agency released data provided by the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a day after WHO officials met Chinese scientists. China has been reporting daily Covid deaths in single figures.
“We believe that the current numbers being published from China under-represent the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of ICU admissions, and particularly in terms of deaths.”
China has recorded only 22 Covid deaths since December and has dramatically narrowed the criteria for classifying such fatalities, meaning that Beijing’s own statistics about the unprecedented wave are now widely seen as not reflecting reality.

Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
McCarthy (v)  (1:00 mins)
MAGA vs. MAGA  (0:56 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

On the eve of her second PET scan, Mary (diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma) got word that the PET scan equipment was out of order so her appointment had been rescheduled. It went from Wednesday January 4 to Friday, 13th.
Recall Mary had surgery on July 14 last year and proceeded to and completed her first set of 4 chemotherapy treatments on November 17. The results of her follow up CT scan on Dec 14 were troubling enough (no clear indication “nodules” were gone) that a follow up PET scan was ordered for January 4.
Now, we wait some more….
Meanwhile…
California is amid continuing flooding from yet another “atmospheric river” – with more on the way.

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:24am
Sunset: 5:04pm
More rain, rain, rain….

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:05am
Sunset: 7:03pm
More rain, rain, rain….

With all the rain, I continue to send letters with photos to local KZN road works departments to ensure the disastrous flooding the occurred December 29 does not happen again this year as the rains continue.
Getting effective action is like peeing into the wind: all that happens is more flooding.

Soggy new year 2023

News blues…

…A pandemic has long been known to be far riskier for global security than conventional, nuclear or chemical warfare, said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of public health law at Georgetown University and a leading expert in global health.

Read “As COVID turns 3, experts worry where the next pandemic will come from – and if we'll be ready” >> 

***

Public health experts are concerned for omicron’s new subvariant XBB with one study suggesting the strain is resistant to Covid-19 boosters from prior infections. NBC News’ Valerie Castro has more on whether the U.S. is looking at another surge as hospitals are already overwhelmed with RSV and flu cases.
Read more >> 

No country has a perfect COVID-vaccination rate, even this far into the pandemic, but America’s record is particularly dismal. About a third of Americans—more than a hundred million people—have yet to get their initial shots. You can find anti-vaxxers in every corner of the country. But by far the single group of adults most likely to be unvaccinated is Republicans: 37 percent of Republicans are still unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated, compared with 9 percent of Democrats. Fourteen of the 15 states with the lowest vaccination rates voted for Donald Trump in 2020. (The other is Georgia.)

Read “How Many Republicans Died Because the GOP Turned Against Vaccines? Party leaders are unquestionably complicit in the premature deaths of their own supporters.” >> 

***

On war… and culture war
American comedian David Letterman interview Ukrainian comedian – and president – Volodymyr Zelenskyy . A touching interview well worth watching >>  (44:00 mins)
Note: More and more Russians are logging onto and reading this blog. If you are Russian, I hope you enjoy it. My pleasure to provide hard-to-get information about the war to you in Russia.

Healthy planet, anyone?

We aim to encourage a healthy planet. We understand, however that our aim and worldview has formidable foes. Take, for example, the tobacco industry and its tie to mesothelioma.

It’s hard to think of anything more reckless than adding a deadly carcinogen to a product that already causes cancer—and then bragging about the health benefits. Yet that’s precisely what Lorillard Tobacco did 60 years ago when it introduced Kent cigarettes, whose patented ‘Micronite” filter contained a particularly virulent form of asbestos.
Smokers puffed their way through 13 billion Kents between March 1952 and May 1956, when Lorillard changed the filter design. Six decades later, the legal fallout continues—just last month, a Florida jury awarded more than $3.5 million in damages to a former Kent smoker stricken with mesothelioma, an extremely rare and deadly asbestos-related cancer that typically shows up decades after the initial exposures.

Read “Remember When Big Tobacco Sold Asbestos as the “Greatest Health Protection”?” >> 
More on asbestos cigarette filters >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Along with torrential rain in Kwa Zulu Natal and California - dramatic flooding here, there, and everywhere – I stepped outside today for a quick walk in the park before the next deluge. Alas, I discovered trees along the park entrance toppled over sometime overnight. This includes a most spectacular and my favorite buckeye. No more walking up to this lovely tree and whispering how beautiful it is and how much I appreciate its glorious candelabra blossoms. 

So sad.

 

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:24am
Sunset: 5:01pm
More rain, rain, rain….

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:03am
Sunset: 7:02pm
More rain, rain, rain….

oh oh!

Worldwide (Map) 
December 29, 2022 - 659,290,487 confirmed infections; 6,685,590 deaths
December 30, 2021 – 284,807,650 confirmed infections; 5,425,550 deaths
December 31, 2020 – 82,656000 confirmed infections; 1,8040100 deaths

US (Map) 
December 29, 2022 - 100,588,312 confirmed infections; 1,091,522 deaths
December 30, 2021 – 53,659,715 confirmed infections; 823,120 deaths
December 31, 2020 – 19,737,200 confirmed infections; 342,260 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
December 29, 2022 - 4,048,580 confirmed infections; 102,568 deaths
December 30, 2021 – 3,433,555 confirmed infections; 90,935 deaths
December 31, 2020 – 1,039,165 confirmed infections; 28,035 deaths

Post from:
December 30, 2021 – “Auld lang syne” 

December 30, 2020 - “TGIO” 

News blues…

Current US joke:

Why is Covid better than Southwest airlines? 

Because it’s airborne!

(This, in response to Southwest airlines cancelling thousands of flights across the US.)
 

***

Not a joke:
“As Covid-19 Continues to Spread, So Does Misinformation About It. Doctors are exasperated by the persistence of false and misleading claims about the virus :

As Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise in parts of the country, myths and misleading narratives continue to evolve and spread, exasperating overburdened doctors and evading content moderators.
What began in 2020 as rumors that cast doubt on the existence or seriousness of Covid quickly evolved into often outlandish claims about dangerous technology lurking in masks and the supposed miracle cures from unproven drugs, like ivermectin. Last year’s vaccine rollout fueled another wave of unfounded alarm. Now, in addition to all the claims still being bandied about, there are consiracy theories about the long-term effects of the treatments, researchers say.

Read more >> 

***

Depressing Covid news:
China
China’s hospitals were already overcrowded, underfunded and inadequately staffed in the best of times. But now with Covid spreading freely for the first time in China, the medical system is being pushed to its limits. 

Read more >> 

Could the COVID-19 surge in China unleash a new coronavirus mutant on the world?
Scientists don’t know but worry that might happen. It could be similar to omicron variants circulating there now. It could be a combination of strains. Or something entirely different, they say.
“China has a population that is very large and there’s limited immunity. And that seems to be the setting in which we may see an explosion of a new variant,” said Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University. 

And…

The Biden administration is weighing new precautionary measures for travelers entering the U.S. from China, according to American officials, as sales of air tickets out of China soared following Beijing’s decision to reopen its borders to international travel for the first time in almost three years.

Read more >> 

UK
UK hit by fifth Covid wave this year as cases shoot up by 20 per cent in a week. While Covid levels will be higher than for most of the pandemic in the next few weeks they will still be some way short of the previous record, set in July, experts predict.
Read more >> 

India

India has mandated a COVID-19 negative test report for travelers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand, the federal health minister said.
Passengers from those countries would be put under quarantine if they showed symptoms of COVID-19 or tested positive, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted on Saturday, as he posted photographs of tests being conducted at the international airport in the capital, New Delhi.

Read more >> 

***

On war… and culture war
Ukraine war photo essay >> 

Healthy planet, anyone?

Photo essay to remind us what we might lose unless we get out conservation act together. (And “we” here means ALL of us, not just a few; ALL OF US.)  

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I remain in California rather than having returned to South Africa, as planned. Here, we’ve had lots of rain, aka an “atmospheric river”  and the “pineapple express”. I’m not complaining about rain. We need it here and winter is the time for rainfall in California. (Luckily, I reside near the beach on San Francisco Bay and I’ve had no trouble with flooding as have some regions of coastal California.)
Southern hemisphere South Africa gets it monsoonal rainfall in summer (that is, now) beginning around October. This year, Kwa Zulu Natal is experiencing excessive thunderstorms, hailstorms, and rainfall. (As it did last year, alas!)
SA is 10 hours ahead of CA. Today, I awoke to a pinging cell phone. Two video clips had been sent from my late mother’s domestic worker about the SA house. The videos chilled my blood: the garden and the house’s lower flat have been completely flooded. The garden at the bottom of the property built on a slope culminates in a shallow valley with a lovely stream. This is not the first time the area has flooded but it is the first time I’ve seen it so completely flooded. Eyeballing it from rainy California I’d judge the water at least six to seven foot deep...and at least one foot deep in lower apartment.

Take a look:

Panic stations!
I immediately called KZN's local head of road works department who told me “It is end of the work day here and we cannot do anything until tomorrow.”

Alas, it’s not the first time I’ve worked with KZN's roads department folks. Unfortunately, they arrive with heavy equipment totally unsuited to the needs of the job. Both culverts must be cleared out, and regularly maintained so that water can can drain under the road and into a marsh area on the other side.  Moreover, silt and debris must be regularly cleared from the dirt road "gutters" so that this material does not drop into the house side of the stream. It's as clear as day that this is a good solution. It is a solution that the roads work team refuses to implement in any consistent fashion. 
I aslo notified the local Democratic Alliance councilor who has been terrifically helpful in the past. (The corrupt ANC has been outvoted in our district – largely due to ANC councilors’ complete lack of responsiveness.) 
My past dealings with roads works department and description of ongoing drainage problems with mindblowing photos:
From 2022, “More of the same”  and “Mortality rate backlog” 
From 2021, “Fishy” 
From 2019, “Fact or fake” 
It is NOT as if this problem has not been tackled in the past. It IS as if this problem has been tackled ineptly and incompetently in the past.
Now, from 14,000 miles away, I must figure out how to get competent assistance fast and get an insurance adjuster in to evaluate the downstairs damage and to pay out so I can get the damage fixed AND get the @#$#$#$# roads department people to DO THEIR JOBS FOR WHICH I PAY EXHORBITANT PROPERTY TAX.
‘nuf said!

… rain expected to continue through this AND next week in KZN and in California.
Groan!

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:24am
Sunset: 4:58pm
     Rain, rain, rain….

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:01am
Sunset: 7:02pm
    Rain, rain, rain….