Urbanization is process of global scale changing the social and environmental landscape on every continent. Urbanization is a result of population migration from rural areas in addition to natural urban demographic growth. In 2007, the world’s population living in towns and cities surpassed 50% for the first time in history and this proportion is growing. Rapid, unplanned and unsustainable patterns of urban development are making developing cities focal points for many emerging environment and health hazards. As urban populations grow, the quality of global and local ecosystems, and the urban environment, will play an increasingly important role in public health with respect to issues ranging from solid waste disposal, provision of safe water and sanitation, and injury prevention, to the interface between urban poverty, environment and health.We, the people, have been warned.
Will we rouse ourselves enough to force a change in direction, from unfettered consumption to sustainability?
The good: More than 10,000 baby Olive Ridley turtles were released into the sea off the Indonesian island of Bali - part of conservationists’ attempts to boost the population of a vulnerable species and promote environmental protection.
The turtles, just a few inches long, scurried over the black sand and pebbles as the tide splashed over them.
The bad: Under a new “self-reliant India” plan, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, will boost the economy post-Covid-19 and reduce costly imports, [by opening] 40 new coalfields for commercial mining in some of India’s most ecologically sensitive forests.
New blues…
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| This Ridley Olive turtle screen saver graces my laptop. Click to enlarge. |
The turtles, just a few inches long, scurried over the black sand and pebbles as the tide splashed over them.
The bad: Under a new “self-reliant India” plan, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, will boost the economy post-Covid-19 and reduce costly imports, [by opening] 40 new coalfields for commercial mining in some of India’s most ecologically sensitive forests.
Among them are four huge blocks of 420,000 acres of forest in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, which sit above an estimated 5bn tonnes of coal…. [This pits] a rich and biodiverse Indian forest, indigenous people, ancient trees, elephants and sloths against the might of bulldozers, trucks and hydraulic jacks, fighting with a single purpose: the extraction of coal.The ugly: While more than 160,000 Americans are dead, unemployment has soared to levels not seen since the Great Depression...
federal payments to laid-off workers have expired with millions more facing possible eviction, and coronavirus cases continue to spike nationwide, Congress and the White House are mired in their ancient, all-consuming gridlock.
Two weeks of closed-door talks … failed to lead to a breakthrough on a new coronavirus relief package. [Democrats and Republicans] remained hundreds of billions of dollars apart on overall spending for the new package, and even more important, were separated by a huge ideological chasm over what role the government should play at this point in the calamity.
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The Lincoln Project’s Steve Schmidt on Trumps hot mic moment and strong words on Trumps Golf Club press briefing (12:15 mins)Meidas Touch: Vote out Racism (1:47 mins)
Trump Rant: Axios Interview, “I want a Do Over with more charts and graphs and no Jonathan Swan! (7:48 mins)
Don Winslow Films: Consequences For Trump (2:19 mins)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Granadilla, aka passion fruit, is a fruit native to southern Brazil through Paraguay and northern Argentina. It flourishes in lower altitude KwaZulu Natal; so far, I’ve had no luck growing it in the Midlands. Two weeks ago, I purchased a dozen purple fruit and waited for them to wrinkle and harden – evidence they’d ripened enough to eat. Then I made granadilla curd, a buttery, egg-yolk-rich, sweet/sour treat.It turned out well. I plan to bake granadilla bars – think lemon bars with seeds – although it’s a tossup if there’ll be enough curd left after the many spoonsful I snack on in the meantime.
Granadilla curd requires only the yolk of eggs. I beat the leftover egg whites and baked an impromptu veggie frittata: zucchini (“baby marrow”), onion, sweet pepper, garlic, parsley, olive oil, Swiss and Romano cheese.
Many ingredients I use in California are difficult to find in KZN: fish sauce - available sporadically. Mexican ingredients and spices (I’d kill for tortillas, a softshell taco, salsa verde, refried beans, a frozen margarita…).
On the other hand, Indian cuisine spans both countries – with the South African variety far cheaper. For example, a samosa in California costs from 5 to 7 US dollars - equivalent to 80 to 150 rand! Slightly less plump KZN samosas costs 18 to 20 rand each – that’s 1 to 1.20 dollars).
No melktert or koeksisters in California. No lacey cookies in KZN.
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As a child I had a one-on-one relationship with Jacko, a pet vervet monkey. These days, my relationship with vervet monkeys is hands off and communal. The local troop comprises about three dozen monkeys I address collectively as “monkeys ... monksters … monkilizers….”
I continue to appreciate their antics when they negotiate the garden perimeter, raid the bird feeder, and balance precariously on overhead wires.
My relationship with this primate community, however, is becoming more nuanced and complex as they uproot – destroy – seedlings, most recently snap peas and pole beans.
Local gardeners familiar with monkey business advise not transplanting my veggies into the dedicated veggie garden I’ve created. Rather, they suggest transplanting seedlings among decorative garden plants.
I’m not adverse, but it means rethinking an approach I assumed already settled.
Accordingly, I scanned the winter-dry garden for segments of garden capable of disguising veggies from monkeys.
A dry palm stump offered potential for climbing peas and beans. I donned my sunhat and gardening gloves and began removing the dry vegetation around the base of the stump.
Within a minute, dozens of small black ants swarmed over and bit into my hands and arms.
This encounter with South African ants was less vicious than a past encounter with Texas fire ants.
Outside the Crawford, Texas property of then-president George Bush, as we protested his administration’s war policies in Afghanistan and Iraq, I’d unwittingly pitched my tent on a colony of fire ants.
Those ants can bite – and their bites burn for days!
That day lives on in infamy!
I continue to appreciate their antics when they negotiate the garden perimeter, raid the bird feeder, and balance precariously on overhead wires.
My relationship with this primate community, however, is becoming more nuanced and complex as they uproot – destroy – seedlings, most recently snap peas and pole beans.
Local gardeners familiar with monkey business advise not transplanting my veggies into the dedicated veggie garden I’ve created. Rather, they suggest transplanting seedlings among decorative garden plants.
I’m not adverse, but it means rethinking an approach I assumed already settled.
Accordingly, I scanned the winter-dry garden for segments of garden capable of disguising veggies from monkeys.
A dry palm stump offered potential for climbing peas and beans. I donned my sunhat and gardening gloves and began removing the dry vegetation around the base of the stump.
Within a minute, dozens of small black ants swarmed over and bit into my hands and arms.
This encounter with South African ants was less vicious than a past encounter with Texas fire ants.
Outside the Crawford, Texas property of then-president George Bush, as we protested his administration’s war policies in Afghanistan and Iraq, I’d unwittingly pitched my tent on a colony of fire ants.
Those ants can bite – and their bites burn for days!
That day lives on in infamy!
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