Day 175 Thursday, Sept 17 - Alas!
If you have not received a requested absentee ballot in time to return it to your state, you can use The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) as a backup ballot to vote for federal offices. The FWAB is available online at this link: https://www.fvap.gov/eo/overview/materials/forms.Hard copies of the FWAB are also available from your nearest U.S. Consulate. If your state absentee ballot arrives after sending in the FWAB, fill out and send in the official ballot as well. Your state will count only one. The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot – FWAB States administer elections in the United States and send absentee ballots to voters away from their voting residence.
Day 174 Wednesday, Sept 16 - 49 more days
49 more days left to the US presidential election. But Trump, if he loses the election, hangs around until January 20 – his window-of-opportunity to further punish Americans, this time for voting him out.News blues…
Trump visited Sacramento, California and, with his usual wisdom, advised “forest management” is at root of California’s devastating fires, that dry trees become “like matchsticks” and must be “removed” from forests. (BTW: Most US forests are on land owned by the federal government – which makes “forest management” his bailiwick.) According to Trump, “raking forest floors” is correct forest management – the PM of Norway told him that.Still in Sacramento, in the context of acknowledging California’s soaring temperatures but avoiding the topic of climate change, Trump tackled the weather, predicting: “It’ll start getting cooler. You just watch.”
According to The New York Times, “Mr Trump and his senior officials have regularly mocked, denied or minimized … human-caused climate change … and has sought to zealously rollback [environmental] regulations.”
***
Scientific American breaks its own record and steps into the fray. After 175 years of Scientific American not endorsing a presidential candidate, the respected magazine – and scientists – endorses Joe Biden for president. (3:30 mins)***
The Lincoln Project:Trump NO Nos Quiere YouTube (1:17 mins)
Don Winslow Films: How we got here (2:20 mins)
RVAT: President Trump couldn't care less about our military heroes (5:00 mins)
And, on the topic of political ads… Donald Trump et al blow it:
MSNBC’s The ReidOut, “Campaign Ad Slammed As Overtly Racist” (1:58 mins)
Finally, after we paid the deposit and first month’s rent, the household got on board behind the decision. We retrenched (“laid off”) a long term employee but retained another to help prepare the house for sale.
Today has been a long time coming.
Tomorrow, we pivot: 1) ready the house for sale, 2) possibly purchase a unit in a lovely “estate” (akin to a “gated community”), 3) figure out when – and how – I can return to California without exposing myself to Covid-19 or climate change fire-related health hazards.
But first, tonight is a moment to breath deep, pat myself on my back (no one else in the extended family will do so) and feel grateful that my mom will adjust into a new, safe, people-and-animal-filled life for her remaining days.
Amen.
Sobering. Terrifying.
I’m pleased I planned my mom’s move over two days: first day to set up the room; second day to drive her and Jessica there, a hassle-free, leisurely settling in.
For, “what can go wrong, will go wrong.”
The delivery of her new 6-drawer “bed base”/box spring was unsuccessful; something about not having received payment despite me having paid.
The team hired to set up her television arrived four hours after their scheduled appointment due to “unexpected delays.”
Had I decided to fit the move and the relocation into one day, my mother and Jessica would have spent all day waiting - and still not have had a bed in which to sleep.
Hoping for better service tomorrow.
Orange on orange. Oh no! The president visited San Francisco to offer aid and maybe make fun of the Democrat politicians running the state a little bit. But as soon as he stepped off Air Force One, Secret Service lost their visual on him, his soft, persimmon-hued skin blending in perfectly with the fiery hellscape around him.
RVAT: Hardcore Conservative: Now Voting for Biden (3:58 mins)
Young Business Owner: Flipping from Trump to Biden (4:45 mins)
113 Reasons REPUBLICANS Aren't Voting for Trump in 2020 (11:25 mins)
Another day to try – gently – to persuade my mother to attend to what she wants to pack. Diplomacy is not easy.
Stressful week ahead.
My mother transplanted this shrub from her former home.
I might graft a segment to grow in my new South African home. A fitting legacy.
Cry, beloved west coast.
All Bay Area friends, within the inner bay, and outside it, report ash falling like snowflakes, and cooler than usual temperatures. But no rain.
Yet, here I am, the “go-to” person expected to maintain this lifestyle. It’s a challenge to which the pandemic and Lockdown has added layers of complexity.
Over the last 170 days, my mom left the house once: last week, a trip to the vet’s clinic to put down her three elderly dogs. She’s unfamiliar with the lengths to which the public and neighbors conform or not, to pandemic regulations. Nor is she invested in ensuring her domestic workers conform. That was left to me. And, when I instituted regulations to ensure safety, especially the safety of my 87-year-old mother, my efforts were undermined, even chastised. This sticky situation was exacerbated by domestic workers reluctant to accept and conform to Lockdown regulations in general and more so to those of the household.
Next week, however, things look up: one domestic worker – the most reluctant – leaves my mother’s employ after 38 years.
Next day, I move my mother’s good to her new home in the Care Center.
Day after that, I move my mom and her dog.
Then, preparation for sale of house begins….
Nevertheless, this twenty-fifth week of Lockdown presents a new batch of weirdness, including exposure of the moral bankruptcy of our collective political institutions…
Agree to many hours of interviews with Woodward for another book, Rage, due out on September 15. Trump’s incomprehensible solution – a do-over - did not go as he’d hoped. Instead, Fear ignited further controversy after Woodward released audio recordings from the interviews.
President of the United States Donald Trump clearly states his awareness of the dangers posed by Covid-19 – and his solution: to lie about it. Thus began the tragic comedy of fatal errors and lies that has lead, so far, to more than 190,000 dead Americans dead and more than 6.3 million confirmed infections. (“UnAmerican")
Trump’s excuse for his lies and lack of effective action? “I don’t want people to panic.”(Covid-19)
From the virus’ “miraculous” disappearance, to endangering children (“they’re immune”), culture wars about wearing masks, undermining science and scientists, the man is scrambling to stay ahead of an accumulating mountain of lies.
But this is the essence of Trump.
Unfit (2:00 mins)
EXCLUSIVE CLIP "THE TRUMP APPEAL" – Project co-founder George Conway discusses what's going on in Donald Trump's head (2:04 mins)
Vote Vets Maine Ad – Marty (0:55 min)
RVAT: Max is disgusted with Trump's lack of character, so he's going against his party and voting Biden (3:32 mins)
Meidas Touch: Pretend President: Trump Downplayed the Pandemic (0:53 mins)
The water never shutdown.
Eskom, too, warned of scheduled load shedding. That never happened either.
Will either or both suddenly shut down without warning? It is possible.
I’ve not been in the city since my I picked up my mother from the hospital several weeks ago. It was strange driving with hundreds of other drivers and vehicles racing robots (“traffic lights”) and one another. Today's errand, though, has been a long time coming: delivering for recycling several dozen empty bottles of my mother’s favorite wine at an off-sales liquor store.
I parked outside the security gate exactly at opening time: 9am.
I waited. And waited. At 9:10am I phoned the store and was told “the security guard will come open the gate.” I waited. And waited some more. At 9:20am I exited my car – parked over the pedestrian pavement (“sidewalk”) – and approached security guards at the exit gate.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Today, I delivered my 87-yr-old-mother and her chosen dog, Jessica, to her chosen retirement center. This move has been month’s in the making – plans interrupted by the pandemic, my mom changing her mind, then changing it back again, repeating that…Finally, after we paid the deposit and first month’s rent, the household got on board behind the decision. We retrenched (“laid off”) a long term employee but retained another to help prepare the house for sale.
Today has been a long time coming.
Tomorrow, we pivot: 1) ready the house for sale, 2) possibly purchase a unit in a lovely “estate” (akin to a “gated community”), 3) figure out when – and how – I can return to California without exposing myself to Covid-19 or climate change fire-related health hazards.
But first, tonight is a moment to breath deep, pat myself on my back (no one else in the extended family will do so) and feel grateful that my mom will adjust into a new, safe, people-and-animal-filled life for her remaining days.
Amen.
Day 173 Tuesday, Sept 15 - Getting there
The Johns Hopkins Covid-19 Dashboard has been one of the most reliable data providers for coronavirus infections, trends, and deaths. This week’s numbers are rising fast to what, six months ago, was inconceivable: 30 million infections – and 100,000 dead.Sobering. Terrifying.
News blues…
According to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s report recently published report,In only half a year, the coronavirus pandemic has wiped out decades of global development in everything from health to the economy. Progress has not only stopped but has regressed in areas like getting people out of poverty and improving conditions for women and children around the world.
“In other words, we’ve been set back about 25 years in about 25 weeks,” the report says. “What the world does in the next months matters a great deal."
Global action to stop the pandemic would prevent illness and deaths caused by Covid-19, but there's more at stake: The crisis sets back strides made in global poverty, HIV transmission, malnutrition, gender equality, education and many more areas. Even if the world manages to get the coronavirus under control soon, it could take years to claw back lost progress.
***
The Lincoln Project:Broke (0:55 mins)
Don the Con (0:58 mins)
School (0:25 min)
RVAT: Nebraska Republican: I Remember a Very Different GOP (1:50 mins)
Brian can't vote for Trump for two reasons: he destroyed fiscal conservatism and he's a moron. (0:50 mins)
Like The Kiffness? Take a tour of Dave Scott’s pandemic compendium.
I begged her to reconsider, take the larger room, choose comfort over cost. Yes, the larger room was more expensive. But she and her large, hefty mongrel, Jessica, would have space to relax in the larger room.
I couldn’t convince her.
Then, yesterday, fewer than 24 hours before moving, she changed her mind. Suddenly, she wanted the larger room.
I tried. I contacted the Center manager. The larger room had been snapped up by a decisive couple. More power to them.
At the Care Center today ("100% lockdowned due to Covid-19"; masks compulsory at all times) to set up my mom’s small room, I peeked into the larger room as passed: the decisive couple resident there now looked very settled and comfortable.
Don the Con (0:58 mins)
School (0:25 min)
RVAT: Nebraska Republican: I Remember a Very Different GOP (1:50 mins)
Brian can't vote for Trump for two reasons: he destroyed fiscal conservatism and he's a moron. (0:50 mins)
***
This is a favorite Lockdown interaction: “Father & Son" (Cat Stevens Lockdown Parody (3:15 mins) Like The Kiffness? Take a tour of Dave Scott’s pandemic compendium.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Three weeks ago, my mother was offered a choice of a large room or a small room for her upcoming life in a local up-market Care Center. She chose the smaller.I begged her to reconsider, take the larger room, choose comfort over cost. Yes, the larger room was more expensive. But she and her large, hefty mongrel, Jessica, would have space to relax in the larger room.
I couldn’t convince her.
Then, yesterday, fewer than 24 hours before moving, she changed her mind. Suddenly, she wanted the larger room.
I tried. I contacted the Center manager. The larger room had been snapped up by a decisive couple. More power to them.
At the Care Center today ("100% lockdowned due to Covid-19"; masks compulsory at all times) to set up my mom’s small room, I peeked into the larger room as passed: the decisive couple resident there now looked very settled and comfortable.
I’m pleased I planned my mom’s move over two days: first day to set up the room; second day to drive her and Jessica there, a hassle-free, leisurely settling in.
For, “what can go wrong, will go wrong.”
The delivery of her new 6-drawer “bed base”/box spring was unsuccessful; something about not having received payment despite me having paid.
The team hired to set up her television arrived four hours after their scheduled appointment due to “unexpected delays.”
Had I decided to fit the move and the relocation into one day, my mother and Jessica would have spent all day waiting - and still not have had a bed in which to sleep.
Hoping for better service tomorrow.
Day 172 Monday, September 14 - Eyes on POTUS
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| POTUS in San Francisco - and no one can find him! |
"Anyone got eyes on POTUS?" a frantic Secret Service agent shouted into his radio. "We've lost him! Repeat, we've lost him!"
President Trump was completely invisible from the moment he arrived.
Nevertheless, a real question remains: Why did Bob Woodward sit for so long on the audio tapes of Trump’s interviews? Was it, like John Bolton, to sell his book? Or because he’s a journalist embargoing information, including journalistic ethics to protect sources? If so, does that apply to current circumstance? Isn’t there an over-riding responsibility to the people of the world?
Ed Yong interviewed on MSNBC, discussing the American response to COVID-19. (2:04 mins)
Another Kiffness product, off topic on the pandemic but timely.
Julius Malema (Jerusalema Parody) (1:52 mins)
Background: Economic Freedom Front (EFF) frontman Julius Malema took offense at an advertisement published by Clicks. (Clicks is similar to US’s Longs or CVS chain of stores.) The ad shows “dull and damaged” and “frizzy and dull” over images of black women with “normal” and “fine and flat” used over images of white women. Describing the ad “insensitive and offensive,” EFF organized a violent invasion of Clicks stores.
“Mzansi” is a colloquial name for South Africa and also refers to aspects of South African arts, culture and leisure, etc.
News blues…
Level 1 anyone?Just as spring is in the air, so too is the anticipation for further relaxation of lockdown regulations with a move to the risk-adjusted level 1 expected soon.
With the National State of Disaster for Covid-19 extended by a month on Thursday, expectations are for President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the nation in the coming days.
***
The excuses Republicans, Trumpies, and Republican propaganda trumpeting machine Fox News’ maintain for Trump not arming Americans with the truth to fight Covid-19? “The fog of war.” An “epidemiological Pearl Harbor.” Oh, and Dr Fauci. And China (“Chayna!”) More excuses to come. Brace yourself…. Nevertheless, a real question remains: Why did Bob Woodward sit for so long on the audio tapes of Trump’s interviews? Was it, like John Bolton, to sell his book? Or because he’s a journalist embargoing information, including journalistic ethics to protect sources? If so, does that apply to current circumstance? Isn’t there an over-riding responsibility to the people of the world?
***
Science Writer at The Atlantic, Ed Yong’s August 2020 article, “How the Pandemic Defeated America: A virus has brought the world’s most powerful country to its knees.” Ed Yong interviewed on MSNBC, discussing the American response to COVID-19. (2:04 mins)
***
Cross cultural political ads. Political ads are not confined to the US election. South Africa creates fine political commentary, too. Meet The Kiffness (4:25 mins) Another Kiffness product, off topic on the pandemic but timely.
Julius Malema (Jerusalema Parody) (1:52 mins)
Background: Economic Freedom Front (EFF) frontman Julius Malema took offense at an advertisement published by Clicks. (Clicks is similar to US’s Longs or CVS chain of stores.) The ad shows “dull and damaged” and “frizzy and dull” over images of black women with “normal” and “fine and flat” used over images of white women. Describing the ad “insensitive and offensive,” EFF organized a violent invasion of Clicks stores.
“Mzansi” is a colloquial name for South Africa and also refers to aspects of South African arts, culture and leisure, etc.
RVAT: Hardcore Conservative: Now Voting for Biden (3:58 mins)
Young Business Owner: Flipping from Trump to Biden (4:45 mins)
113 Reasons REPUBLICANS Aren't Voting for Trump in 2020 (11:25 mins)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Another trip to the local city to recycle wine bottles I couldn’t recycle last week due to Lockdown’s rules about alcohol consumption.Another day to try – gently – to persuade my mother to attend to what she wants to pack. Diplomacy is not easy.
Stressful week ahead.
Day 171 Sunday, September 13 - Fool's paradise
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A banner protests President Donald Trump’ pandemic and climate change response at RNC HQ, 24 Aug. © JEMAL COUNTESS VIA GETTY IMAGES |
Trump’s latest surreality? Comparing his response to Covid-19 to PM Winston Churchill’s response to the Blitz of WWII.
One problem?
Trump got it wrong - again.
Trump said of Churchill, “He always spoke with calmness. He said we have to show calmness.”
Churchill may have spoken “with calmness,” but he was forthright and truthful with the British people. According to historian Jon Meacham, author of Franklin and Winston, Churchill said, “The British people can face any misfortune with fortitude and buoyancy as long as they are convinced that those in charge of their affairs are not deceiving them, or are not dwelling in a fool’s paradise.”
Trump’s response? Covert, deceitful, denying, and patriarchal: hiding of the truth from Americans so as not to “cause panic” – as if child-like Americans must be protected from the truth.
A fool’s paradise is Trump’s favorite paradise.
A sample of what Twitter users had to say about Trump and Churchill:
Surprisingly, there are people out there who favorably compare Churchill and Trump. A motivational speaker and diehard Trumpie authored a book promoting Churchill and Trump as “defenders of Western Civilization.”
One problem?
Trump got it wrong - again.
Trump said of Churchill, “He always spoke with calmness. He said we have to show calmness.”
Churchill may have spoken “with calmness,” but he was forthright and truthful with the British people. According to historian Jon Meacham, author of Franklin and Winston, Churchill said, “The British people can face any misfortune with fortitude and buoyancy as long as they are convinced that those in charge of their affairs are not deceiving them, or are not dwelling in a fool’s paradise.”
Trump’s response? Covert, deceitful, denying, and patriarchal: hiding of the truth from Americans so as not to “cause panic” – as if child-like Americans must be protected from the truth.
A fool’s paradise is Trump’s favorite paradise.
A sample of what Twitter users had to say about Trump and Churchill:
- Winston Churchill never, NEVER, said that the Blitzkrieg was a hoax, or that he took “no responsibility at all.”
- And he certainly wasn't put off by the rain. [A reference to Trump refusing to attend Belleau Wood as rain would muss his hair.]
- Or that his followers should disregard the blackout orders and keep their lights on proudly for freedom.
- “No the Nazis aren’t coming. Relax. It’s a hoax. And besides if Hitler does show by April the heat will drive him out. Like a miracle, all the Nazis will just disappear.”
Surprisingly, there are people out there who favorably compare Churchill and Trump. A motivational speaker and diehard Trumpie authored a book promoting Churchill and Trump as “defenders of Western Civilization.”
News blues…
More Trumpian imprecision: In a series of expensive ads posted on Facebook and Instagram, the Trump campaign claimed President Donald Trump had been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize – for achieving “PEACE in the MIDDLE EAST!”Two problems:
Problem 1: There is no such prize as the Noble (it is the Nobel)…
Problem 2: unfortunately, the Middle East is as unpeaceful as ever.
RVAT: Gulf War Vet Tears Trump Apart (3:20 mins)
Rain predicted on Tuesday and Wednesday, moving days. I’ve hired two movers for Tuesday’s transport of my mom’s small collection of furniture and large TV. This being South Africa, a seat-of-the-pants country, should I remind the movers to bring tarps for cover. Or should I trust movers will do so? Hmmm.
***
More accurate political adsRVAT: Gulf War Vet Tears Trump Apart (3:20 mins)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
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| Yesterday-today-and-tomorrow shrub |
***
Spring is springing. As I write, perfume of the yesterday-today-and-tomorrow perennial shrub wafts through the garden. The brunfelsia pauciflora, a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae, the nightshades, is another exotic carried to South Africa from Brazil. Other common names include, morning-noon-and-night, Kiss Me Quick, and Brazil raintree. My mother transplanted this shrub from her former home.
I might graft a segment to grow in my new South African home. A fitting legacy.
Day 170 Saturday, September 12 - Attention requested
News blues…
President Cyril Ramaphosa and health minister Zweli Mkhize's tease at dropping to level 1 lockdown and easing restrictions further.According to Ramaphosa, some of the proposals are from religious leaders who are requesting an extension in the number of people who may attend gatherings… the sports sector, the entertainment, hotels and tourism industry had also submitted proposals.This, even as SA records 113 new Covid-19 deaths and approaches more than 650,000 confirmed infections. The recovery rate is close to 573,003 or close to 89 percent. The latest pandemic update confirmed the death of 97 more patients in the past 24-hours: 17 from KwaZulu-Natal, 21 from Gauteng, seven from Eastern Cape, four from Free State, one from Limpopo, 26 from Mpumalanga, 15 from North West and six from the Western Cape.
“We are considering all of that as we do an evaluation of where the infection rate is. We will be able to give consideration to all of these proposals and get advice,” said Ramaphosa. “This is where we will need advice from the Medical Advisory Committee as well as from our [National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure] NATJoints, which is the real engine of monitoring our coronavirus approach.
Healthy futures, anyone
All the world’s people must begin to grapple with the reality of climate change. That we’re amid climate change is the reality that must shift from the ideological to the practical, despite denier politicians, denier corporations, denier citizens….After touring the fire damage in the North Complex Fire near Oroville in Northern California, Governor Gavin Newsom was in no mood for one of his usual, careful media statements. “If you do not believe in science,” Newsom said bluntly while standing in the ashes of what once was a Butte County forest, “I hope you believe observed reality.”Last week, it was predominantly California that suffered devastating wildfires. This week, it’s the west coast, from southern California to Washington, with Oregon and Oregonians experiencing fire nightmares.
“The hots are getting a lot hotter and the wets are getting a lot wetter. The science is absolute. The data is self evident. We have to own that reality and we have to own the response to that reality.”
Last year by this time, 118,000 acres had burned, he observed. This year, it’s over 3 million acres charred. The state is currently battling five of the 20 most destructive fires in the last century. The debate is over in terms of climate change. If you don’t believe that, just come to the state of California.”
Cry, beloved west coast.
Deadly wildfires raging Friday in Oregon, Washington and California made two major West Coast cities — Portland, Oregon, and Seattle — the places with the worst air quality in the world.My hometown-away-from-home, the island city of Alameda in the San Francisco Bay, recently experienced an AQI of 235.
Portland had an air quality index of over 200 on Friday — more than that of any other major city in the world, according to IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company that operates a real-time air pollution monitoring platform.
Seattle ranked second, with an AQI of around 190.
All Bay Area friends, within the inner bay, and outside it, report ash falling like snowflakes, and cooler than usual temperatures. But no rain.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Anyone who is a daughter knows the kind of tension common among mothers and daughters. I’m no exception. Lockdown in SA initially exacerbated the tensions between me and my mother. Moreover, I’ve little in common with her chosen lifestyle – multiple dogs, domestic workers, huge house and garden. To me – independent, focused on art and ideas – that lifestyle is enigmatic, cumbersome, confining….Yet, here I am, the “go-to” person expected to maintain this lifestyle. It’s a challenge to which the pandemic and Lockdown has added layers of complexity.
Over the last 170 days, my mom left the house once: last week, a trip to the vet’s clinic to put down her three elderly dogs. She’s unfamiliar with the lengths to which the public and neighbors conform or not, to pandemic regulations. Nor is she invested in ensuring her domestic workers conform. That was left to me. And, when I instituted regulations to ensure safety, especially the safety of my 87-year-old mother, my efforts were undermined, even chastised. This sticky situation was exacerbated by domestic workers reluctant to accept and conform to Lockdown regulations in general and more so to those of the household.
Next week, however, things look up: one domestic worker – the most reluctant – leaves my mother’s employ after 38 years.
Next day, I move my mother’s good to her new home in the Care Center.
Day after that, I move my mom and her dog.
Then, preparation for sale of house begins….
Day 169 Friday, September 11 - Do-over?
President Ramaphosa hints at reviewing Lockdown levels and, perhaps, dropping to level 2; Looking forward to that.Nevertheless, this twenty-fifth week of Lockdown presents a new batch of weirdness, including exposure of the moral bankruptcy of our collective political institutions…
News blues…
What was Donald Trump’s solution to Bob Woodward’s 2018 book, Fear: Trump in the White House, an unflattering portrait of the current White House residents?Agree to many hours of interviews with Woodward for another book, Rage, due out on September 15. Trump’s incomprehensible solution – a do-over - did not go as he’d hoped. Instead, Fear ignited further controversy after Woodward released audio recordings from the interviews.
President of the United States Donald Trump clearly states his awareness of the dangers posed by Covid-19 – and his solution: to lie about it. Thus began the tragic comedy of fatal errors and lies that has lead, so far, to more than 190,000 dead Americans dead and more than 6.3 million confirmed infections. (“UnAmerican")
Trump’s excuse for his lies and lack of effective action? “I don’t want people to panic.”(Covid-19)
From the virus’ “miraculous” disappearance, to endangering children (“they’re immune”), culture wars about wearing masks, undermining science and scientists, the man is scrambling to stay ahead of an accumulating mountain of lies.
But this is the essence of Trump.
On the other hand, it could this his solution to quelling the days-long furor of Americans angry at Trump’s view of military personnel: “losers,” “suckers,” “dopes,” “babies,” and “I don’t get it. What’s in it for them?’
It is possible. That’s the way The Donald rolls….
It is possible. That’s the way The Donald rolls….
***
Daily Maverick webinar: The Rise and Fall of the ANC Youth League. Hosted by Gregory Nicolson with Rebone Tau and Prof Somadoda Fikeni ***
The Lincoln Project:
Parasite (0:56 mins) Unfit (2:00 mins)
EXCLUSIVE CLIP "THE TRUMP APPEAL" – Project co-founder George Conway discusses what's going on in Donald Trump's head (2:04 mins)
Vote Vets Maine Ad – Marty (0:55 min)
RVAT: Max is disgusted with Trump's lack of character, so he's going against his party and voting Biden (3:32 mins)
Meidas Touch: Pretend President: Trump Downplayed the Pandemic (0:53 mins)
Healthy futures, anyone
The good(ish) news:Up to 48 bird and mammal extinctions have been prevented by conservation efforts since a global agreement to protect biodiversity, according to a new study published in the journal Conservation Letters. It estimates that extinction rates for birds and mammals would have been three to four times higher over that period, which was chosen because 1993 is when the UN Convention on Biological Diversity came into force.The bad news:
Since then, 15 bird and mammal species have become extinct or are strongly suspected to have disappeared. But researchers say that between 28 and 48 bird and mammal species were saved.
Wildlife populations are in freefall around the world, driven by human overconsumption, population growth and intensive agriculture, according to a major new assessment of the abundance of life on Earth.With all the chaff swirling around the political environment these days, it’s tough to find the kernels of truth about the ongoing degradation of our planet. Here’s a list of five lies uttered to conceal truth….
On average, global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles plunged by 68% between 1970 and 2016, according to the WWF and Zoological Society of London (ZSL)’s biennial Living Planet Report 2020. Two years ago, the figure stood at 60%.
The research is one of the most comprehensive assessments of global biodiversity available and was compiled by 134 experts from around the world.
It found that from the rainforests of central America to the Pacific Ocean, nature is being exploited and destroyed by humans on a scale never previously recorded.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Two days ago, local residents got an urgent warning: “Umngeni Water will be doing their maintenance upgrade in the Howick Reservoir Pipeline and as such there will be a TOTAL SHUTDOWN of water on Tuesday 08 September 2020.” Naturally, residents – including in this household – took this warning seriously. We stored water in kettles, pots, and buckets.The water never shutdown.
Eskom, too, warned of scheduled load shedding. That never happened either.
Will either or both suddenly shut down without warning? It is possible.
***
Big day: I drove to the local city – 20 miles away – to purchase and set up delivery for a bed base (aka “box spring) for my mother. Her new home is small, and this bed base has three drawers on either side. It’ll give her better storage capacity. One of the perks of living on a houseboat as I do: exquisite eye for best use of space, and saving space.I’ve not been in the city since my I picked up my mother from the hospital several weeks ago. It was strange driving with hundreds of other drivers and vehicles racing robots (“traffic lights”) and one another. Today's errand, though, has been a long time coming: delivering for recycling several dozen empty bottles of my mother’s favorite wine at an off-sales liquor store.
I parked outside the security gate exactly at opening time: 9am.
I waited. And waited. At 9:10am I phoned the store and was told “the security guard will come open the gate.” I waited. And waited some more. At 9:20am I exited my car – parked over the pedestrian pavement (“sidewalk”) – and approached security guards at the exit gate.
One asked, “Do you have a license?” I told him I had a driver’s license. He ignored me. The other guard asked, “Do you have a license?” I asked what license he had in mind. “Liquor license.” I confirmed I had no liquor license. Then I realized: liquor stores are closed Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays across the land.
I’d carried several dozen empty wine bottles without remembering this salient fact about Lockdown. The two guards and I laughed at my mistake.
I’ll drive back there again on Monday.
I’d carried several dozen empty wine bottles without remembering this salient fact about Lockdown. The two guards and I laughed at my mistake.
I’ll drive back there again on Monday.
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