Exemplars of absurdism

“I recently thumbed through “The Plague,” to see if Albert Camus had intuited anything about the rhythms of human suffering in conditions of fear, disease and constraint. Naturally, he had. It was on April 16 that Dr. Rieux first felt the squish of a dead rat beneath his feet on his landing; it was in mid-August that the plague “had swallowed up everything and everyone,” with the prevailing emotion being “the sense of exile and of deprivation, with all the crosscurrents of revolt and fear set up by these.” Those returning from quarantine started setting fire to their homes, convinced the plague had settled into their walls."

We’ve hit a pandemic wall: New records show that Americans are suffering from record levels of mental distress. 

Healthy futures anyone?

I recently “had my say” on South Africa’s Nuclear Regulation Act. Take a look and, if South African, have your say. 
South Africa taking on another nuke power station is, well, an exemplar of absurdism. Why purchase – with the country’s demonstrably corrupt tender system and little technical knowhow – a power system that provides mountains of toxic waste?
No nuclear waste has ever been successfully (sustainably) managed anywhere in the world.
Why nuke power in an era when the world must go in a sustainable direction?

African prosperity will not come by it being shackled to the outdated dirty energy infrastructure of the past. Rather than trudging behind in the 50-year-old footsteps of European countries, Africa needs to leapfrog to the clean, cheap and renewable technologies of the future. This is how Africa will catch up with its global neighbours. Africa is blessed with more sun, wind and geothermal energy than anywhere else on the planet, but that fact does not help the GWPF or the coal industry.
Not only are wind and solar increasingly becoming the cheapest forms of new electricity across the globe, but they are also inherently more agile and versatile than grid-reliant fossil fuels. Pastoralists in remote parts of Africa in need of electricity will not be served waiting for hulking great power grids to be built, cutting a swathe across Africa’s precious natural landscape. They would be better off with solar mini-grids and wind turbines supplying energy exactly where it is needed most.  

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Mauritius environment minister Kavy Ramano and fishing minister Sudheer Maudhoo concur, “We are in an environmental crisis situation… This is the first time that we are faced with a catastrophe of this kind and we are insufficiently equipped to handle this problem.” 

The problem? A breach in the vessel MV Wakashio, carrying 200 tonnes of diesel and 3,800 tonnes of bunker fuel.

The ministers said all attempts to stabilise the ship had failed because of rough seas and efforts to pump out the oil had also failed. Ecologists fear the ship could break up, which would cause an even greater leak and inflict potentially catastrophic damage on the island’s coastline. The country depends on its seas for food and for tourism, boasting some of the finest coral reefs in the world.

It’s not rocket science: We the Critters of this planet all depend on our oceans. (Way back in May 2010, Greg Moses wrote “Oil Wars come home to roost."  It’s more relevant than ever. )
What can you do? Start small with an easy-to-accomplish step:
Call on world leaders to protect Antarctica and deliver the largest act of ocean protection in history. Only one Antarctica 

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A line from the movie, “Cry, the Beloved Country, about apartheid South Africa: “In South Africa, the law and justice are distant relatives – and they haven’t been on speaking terms for decades.” 

Update that for this moment and substitute the law and justice with Trump and responsible leadership. Trump is a dangerous clown but he is merely the current instrument with which American right-wing politicians hammer home their philosophy expressed by Grover Norquist: “I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”
And right-wing Republicans accuse “The Left” of anarchism? 

It's a complex history with a simple plot line: subjegate The People by impoverishing them, taking away possibilites of health care, decent and affordable education, minimum wage....
How the pandemic defeated America. 

This is not a blanket condemnation of all Republicans. The Lincoln Project, for example, is made up of Republicans of a different feather (at least during this season of Trump disasters).
Republican Vets Against Trump  (1:00 mins)
Meidas Touch:
Leave Me A Loan: Trump's PPP Scandal Exposed (1:16 mins)
Trump Hoaxed America  (1:00 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Overnight temperatures dropped to 2C/ 36F – that means below zero in our valley wetlands. And that means, ice in my watering can this morning. In anticipation of freezing temperatures, last night I wrapped vulnerable plants.
I watch the days getting longer by mere seconds, longing for the return of spring and summer. This time last month, the sun rose at 6:53am and set at 5:12am; today, it rose at 6:37am and will set at 5:29. Getting there, slowly but surely.

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The latest threat to healthy seedlings and flourishing vegetable gardens?
Monkeys.
I discovered the hard way – solid evidence – that monkeys, curious rather than malicious, pluck seedlings out the ground and toss ‘em. 

I’d be less chagrined if monkeys ate seedlings – it’s winter and they’re hungry.
But, wanton destruction?
Exemplars of absurdism.