Trump’s reelection campaign manager tweeted images Thursday of “Keep America Great”-branded and “Trump-Pence”-branded face masks. (I'll bet they're made in China, not in America. After all, MAGA, and all that....)
The irony was not lost on many Twitter users, who pointed out the president persistently dismissed the threat of the coronavirus, leading to a severe outbreak in the United States that has claimed more than 75,000 lives. The production of these promotional masks seems a particularly absurd move given the administration’s failure to help provide adequate personal protective equipment for health care workers and Trump’s own refusal to wear a mask at events despite safety guidelines.C’est la vie Trump! Irony is not his strong suite. Instead, up is down, down is up… lie, obfuscate, fire the truth-tellers – and make as much money as you can, while you can, wherever you can, however you can. Damn the logic, morality, or consequences.
News blues…
Another Trump snippet: CNN news anchor/presenter Chris Cuomo Reveals ‘Ugly’ Reason Why Donald Trump Downplays Coronavirus Testing. “It is dishonest and destructive and it is done by design.”For Trump, it was all about hiding the truth about the pandemic, which has so far killed more than 73,000 people nationwide. The United States has more confirmed cases than any other country in the world.Covid-19 lurks
“Testing is truth because numbers are truth, and they want you to believe that COVID is going away faster than it actually it is because they believe the longer it is real, the worse it is for Trump and the election,” said Cuomo, who himself recovered from the virus last month. “The politics of forcing reopening is as obvious as it is ugly.”
It was a matter of time before the numbers of South Africa’s confirmed infections – and deaths - began to climb, and double.
Times Live reports SA's confirmed Covid-19 cases increased to 8,895, a single-day increase of 663. There were also 17 new deaths reported, taking the toll to 178.
These were the biggest single-day increases reported since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
Of the deaths, nine were from the Western Cape, there were three each in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, and two from KwaZulu-Natal.Are your spirits, like mine, sagging?
The provincial breakdown of cases on Thursday [May 7] was provided as:
• Western Cape — 4,497;
• Gauteng — 1,851;
• KwaZulu-Natal — 1, 253;
• Eastern Cape — 989;
• Free State — 133;
• Mpumalanga — 60;
• Limpopo — 43;
• North West — 42; and
• Northern Cape — 27.
Tough to remain an optimistic realist in the face of our world-as-we-know-it falling apart.
Change is afoot.
Under the circumstances, however, do we have leadership capable of ensuring equitable and sustainable change?
Will the coming change make our planet better for the less-than-privileged majority, or tighten the grip of a vastly over-privileged minority?
The Swamp
Every US politician seeking higher office promises to drain The Swamp and “root out corruption” in Washington, D.C.
Donald J Trump promised that, too.
Today, The Swamp of Washington, D.C., is more, not less, corruption-and-disease-ridden.
The phrase drain the swamp originally referenced the literal removal of water, replete with disease-carrying mosquitos and Egyptian crocodiles from Italy’s Pontine marshes outside Rome.
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini introduced the phrase, “drenare la palude.”
The good news? That marsh was drained between 1932 and 1934.
Take away? If it suits them, even dictators can bring about positive change.
The Donald? Hmmmm, don’t hold your breath. Positive change ain't his concern or his bent.
***
Hope SpotOn this lovely Saturday, Day 44, let’s celebrate Mission Blue’s Hope Spots.
Hope Spots are places critical to the health of our planetary environment.
Scroll down on this page for a map showing Hope Spots around the world.
In 9:47 minutes, discover Hope Spot Spitsbergen Island, in the Svalbard Archipelago. The 2,000 people-strong settlement of Longyearbyen is the northernmost inhabited place on Earth.
Watch ice divers face one of the most extreme effects of global warming.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Previous posts indicated the US Consulate in South Africa’s flip-flops regarding repatriation flights.With communication difficult in my part of rural KZN, I enlisted a friend in California to research the status of commercial airline service.
My generous friend phoned the Turkish Airline office in San Francisco. Persistence won out over listening to one dead-end voice mail after another and, imaginatively, my friend pressed the correct phone pad number for the Complaints line.
He talked to an actual and informed human being.
Yes, Turkish Airlines appears to offer sporadic commercial flights from Durban’s Shaka International. A flight is scheduled from Durban to San Francisco via Istanbul at the end of May. However, that flight is not confirmed. It depends on lockdown.
Best wait-and-see, until, at least, mid-June.
That news momentarily lifted my sagging spirits.
Then, alas, spirits sagged again at the Times news about the “biggest single-day increases reported since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country”….
Today, I’ll lift my spirits by creating a microcosmic Hope Spot: the garden and pond.
Read Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7
See photos Spying on Garden Creatures
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