Forward momentum?

Correction: Lockdown Level 2 begins 00:01 Tuesday, not Sunday or Monday. I’m not the only one confused. Newspapers also acknowledged and clarified the confusion. Tuesday seems an odd time to transition. The latest pandemic stats are worrisome, too.

On Sunday, 3,692 new Covid-19 cases were reported. [South Africa] has now recorded 587,345 confirmed cases since the coronavirus hit South African shores in March.
Gauteng continues to be the epicentre of the virus, with 199,635 confirmed cases. KwaZulu-Natal has now the second highest number of positive cases at 105,383, followed by the Western Cape with 102,449 cases.

News blues…

Trumpian logic: slash medical care during a global pandemic even as the US leads the world in infection rates.

Pentagon officials working on Defense Secretary Mark Esper's cost-cutting review of the department have proposed slashing military health care by $2.2 billion, a reduction that some defense officials say could effectively gut the Pentagon’s health care system during a nationwide pandemic…[and] imperil the health care of … roughly 9.5 million active-duty personnel, military retirees and their dependents …as the nation grapples with Covid-19. 

Hmmm, why not cut back on the manufacture, production, testing, and use of military equipment and toxic arms and armaments? The US spends by far more than any other country on earth on its military.
The DoD’s fiscal year 2020 budget is approximately $721.5 billion ($721,531,000,000) - approximately $712.6 billion discretionary and $8.9 billion in mandatory spending. But no. Can’t cut back on weapons, only on personnel costs.

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Desperate men reach for desperate measures...or, more Trumpian logic:

During an interview on Fox News, Trump said that if USPS does not receive the additional $25 billion funding request that Democrats included in the ongoing stimulus negotiations, then he believes the Post Office won't be able to handle the influx of mail-in ballots in the upcoming election.
"They want three and a half billion dollars for something that'll turn out to be fraudulent, that's election money basically. They want three and a half billion dollars for the mail-in votes. Universal mail-in ballots. They want $25 billion, billion, for the Post Office. Now they need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots.”

Americans rear up and push back against Trump and his cronies:

Protesters filled the streets outside the head of the U.S. Postal Service's home in Northwest Washington, D.C., on Saturday, some carrying signs that read "Don't mess with the USPS" and "Don't stamp out our democracy." The demonstrators blew airhorns and banged pots as a few of them walked to the front door of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's building and pinned fake ballots to his front door, as protesters accused him and the White House of working together to undermine main-in ballots and the election.
"Hey hey, Louis DeJoy, the Postal Service is not your toy!" the protesters chanted. It was not known if he was home.
… DeJoy, a Trump ally who has served as postmaster general since May, reshuffled much of the experienced senior leadership in USPS's organizational chart when he took control of the agency, and he has introduced a number of policy changes that appear to have slowed the delivery of mail. … DeJoy has also overseen the decommissioning of 671 of the agency's letter sorting machines, which can individually sort 35,000 pieces of mail per hour.

Healthy future’s anyone?

See all 18 photos 

The demise of the MV Wakashio leads to the demise of Maurtius’ Blue Bay Marine Park reserve, environmentally protected marine ecosystems, pristine waters, tourist beaches, and mangrove plantations.

It's unclear how much oil was removed before Saturday. Earlier this week, the operator, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, said about 1,180 metric tons of oil had leaked from fuel tanks - with about 460 tons manually recovered from the sea and coast. The ship was carrying about 3,800 tons of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil and 200 tons of diesel oil…  
The Panama-flagged tanker was carrying more than 4,000 tonnes of heavy oil, lubricants and diesel from China to Brazil. Between 800 and 1,200 tonnes was thought to have leaked into the sea, with the rest being pumped out by salvage experts.
“In view of the rough sea condition, the salvage company … has informed us that it cannot carry on with the pumping of the remaining oil,” the Mauritius National Crisis Committee said in a statement.
Scientists say the full impact of the spill is still unclear, but the oil has already reached exceptional zones of marine life…[as well as]… a unique coastal wetland recognised for the diversity of its coral and fish species, as well as for the endangered green turtle [causing] … “a massive poisonous shock to the system,” said Adam Moolna, an environmental scientist from Mauritius. “This oil will have cascading effects across the webs of life.”
…Thousands of volunteers, many smeared from head to toe in black sludge, ignored official instructions to stay away and strung together miles of improvised floating barriers made of straw in a desperate attempt to hold back the oily tide.
“We have had to fully equip our front-line staff … Many persons have been wading into the oil spilled waters with only thongs and wearing shorts and it is extremely dangerous. A couple of hours exposed to fumes can cause headaches, nose and eye burns and even dizziness,” said Jean Hugues Gardenne, of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation.
…Tourism generated 63bn rupees ($1.6bn) for the Mauritian economy last year. The industry had already been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mauritius shut its borders on 19 March and has had only 344 cases of Covid-19, of which 332 have recovered and 10 have died. The country is still closed to international air travel. In May, the central bank said that in the past two months alone, the nation had lost 12bn rupees in foreign exchange due to the fall in tourism. 

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The Lincoln Project: Complacent  (0:55 mins)
Astonishing that, within 12 hours of publishing, Lincoln Project ads generate more than half a million views. Bad news for Trump; great news for We, the People.
Meidas Touch: Are You Better Off? | Airing Nationwide on Fox News  (0:55 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The weather is cold and dreary and predicted to drop below freezing the next two nights. Nevertheless, guarded optimism as the country drops to Alert Level 2.
Action is possible.
I’m back on track to find a safe, welcoming – and acceptable to my mother – retirement community that provides caring oversight…and that permits her to keep at least one dog.
Prior to Lockdown – 144 days ago - I’d contacted representatives of an Ambers property. Then, alas, plans went on hold.
Covid-19 was the ostensible reason although my mother, after agreeing with the plan, changed her mind, nixed the new plan, came up with another, then nixed that one, too.
Since then, we’ve bobbed in the waters of uncertainty, indecision, and negativity.
But a new day dawns.
I’m hopeful that I can visit that Ambers property, and other similar properties, this week.
Forward momentum feels good!