I’ve been in South Africa eight, going on nine, months!
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Swimmingly
Still no internet. But the end of the month is nigh. Tomorrow, first day of the month of October, my internet service begins again.
I’ve been in South Africa eight, going on nine, months!
I’ve been in South Africa eight, going on nine, months!
Club Fed?
Still no Internet. Sigh.
Funny how taxes – not paying them – seems eventually to catch up with many a heretofore successful tax dodger. Given how replete history is with stories of the IRS catching up with dodgers, I wonder why tax dodgers think they can outsmart the IRS?
When the Trump-as-president fiasco is over, the Feds can open an entire new wing of Club Fed for Trump, his crooked family, cabinet, enabling congresspeople, Attorney General, and assorted hangers-on – at least the American hangers-on. The Russian, Indian, Chinese, etc., hangers on will escape. Who knows? Perhaps, to avoid justice a la IRS, the Trump entourage will relocate to Russia. Doesn’t Moscow already host a Trump hotel? If not, he’ll have time to build one. He can call it Mal-a-lardo.
I’m not complaining about rain – at least not yet. Plants were parched and dosing them pond water via watering cans gets old fast. Moreover, rain is the best medicine. Then again, the forecast predicts rain every day except this and next Wednesday – that’s ten days of rain.
***
With spring in full swing, birds, bugs, frogs appear, even the occasional mosquito has sniffed then sampled my ankles.
A joyous sunbird supped nectar from red salvia blossoms yesterday. It was the first time I’ve seen a sunbird in action. I was able to grab my camera and photographed it, but the photo shows none of the bird’s spectacular curving beak or iridescent plumage.
Another smaller variety of sunbird has returned to nest on the verandah. This is the third year running it has elected to lay eggs and bring up a family in a shaggy nest hanging off a plant pot on the well-trafficked verandah. Alas, the nest hangs on the dark side of the pot so not easily photographed by an amateur. Nor is it polite to shine a spotlight on a wild creature’s nest to snap a photograph ….
***
My goal was to put my mother’s house on the market on October 1. I’d arranged for a professional painter to come today, but rain prevented that. ***
The good mother and dog news: they’re settling into their new lives. Moreover, my mother is exercising more since Jessica “wants” to walk four or five time a day.
Way to go mom!
News blues…
The walls are closing in on The Donald. Ironic that, after talking, talking, talking about building walls, it’ll be walls that do him in. His notorious tax dodgery is catching up with him.Funny how taxes – not paying them – seems eventually to catch up with many a heretofore successful tax dodger. Given how replete history is with stories of the IRS catching up with dodgers, I wonder why tax dodgers think they can outsmart the IRS?
When the Trump-as-president fiasco is over, the Feds can open an entire new wing of Club Fed for Trump, his crooked family, cabinet, enabling congresspeople, Attorney General, and assorted hangers-on – at least the American hangers-on. The Russian, Indian, Chinese, etc., hangers on will escape. Who knows? Perhaps, to avoid justice a la IRS, the Trump entourage will relocate to Russia. Doesn’t Moscow already host a Trump hotel? If not, he’ll have time to build one. He can call it Mal-a-lardo.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Two nights ago, a marvelous, joyous, and loud chorus of frogs in the garden pond. Since then, rain.I’m not complaining about rain – at least not yet. Plants were parched and dosing them pond water via watering cans gets old fast. Moreover, rain is the best medicine. Then again, the forecast predicts rain every day except this and next Wednesday – that’s ten days of rain.
***
With spring in full swing, birds, bugs, frogs appear, even the occasional mosquito has sniffed then sampled my ankles.
A joyous sunbird supped nectar from red salvia blossoms yesterday. It was the first time I’ve seen a sunbird in action. I was able to grab my camera and photographed it, but the photo shows none of the bird’s spectacular curving beak or iridescent plumage.
Another smaller variety of sunbird has returned to nest on the verandah. This is the third year running it has elected to lay eggs and bring up a family in a shaggy nest hanging off a plant pot on the well-trafficked verandah. Alas, the nest hangs on the dark side of the pot so not easily photographed by an amateur. Nor is it polite to shine a spotlight on a wild creature’s nest to snap a photograph ….
***
My goal was to put my mother’s house on the market on October 1. I’d arranged for a professional painter to come today, but rain prevented that. ***
The good mother and dog news: they’re settling into their new lives. Moreover, my mother is exercising more since Jessica “wants” to walk four or five time a day.
Way to go mom!
Orange is the new orange
Still no Internet. Sigh.
One good thing: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – “AOC” – slapped back at those who had a field day squawking about her $250 hairdo. Turns out Trump spent $70,000 (ZAR 1.23 million) in one year for his hairdos. I wonder how much it’ll cost The Donald to find a hair color that matches the orange jail jumpsuit he’ll be wearing after he’s sentenced for tax fraud?
CNN UK also covers a far wider range of news. CNN US covers US news… unless the US is waging war on another country, then that other country is mentioned as a foe.
Fair and balanced?
Having only brief internet connection for someone with my level of regular use is frustrating. At a café, it is more so as access is limited to the goodwill of the café’s manager.
People work hard at dumps, and few are actually hired and paid to work there. Most workers are freelancers known as rag pickers, people who pick up rags and other waste material from the streets, refuse heaps, etc., for a livelihood.
News blues…
Reading the news on my cell phone is better than not reading the (US) news at all. None of it is good for POTUS Trump, or the Trumpettes (Ivanka could go to jail? OMG! ), Lindsay Graham, Moscow Mitch, etc., all staring into the abyss that is The Donald.One good thing: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – “AOC” – slapped back at those who had a field day squawking about her $250 hairdo. Turns out Trump spent $70,000 (ZAR 1.23 million) in one year for his hairdos. I wonder how much it’ll cost The Donald to find a hair color that matches the orange jail jumpsuit he’ll be wearing after he’s sentenced for tax fraud?
***
Comedian John Mulaney
, not usually a political funnyman, elegantly delving into politics with a light hand. A horse in a hospital.***
News viewers who have the luxury of seeing news inside and outside the United States know that that mainstream US news presented to mainstream US audiences is palpably different to the same news presented in, say, the UK, or Europe. That is, the fact are similar, but the manner in which it’s presented in different countries is markedly different. Moreover, the same news outlets frequently presents the news differently. Take CNN, for example. CNN in the US is far gentler – less pointed, more flattering - than CNN in UK. More importantly, CNN UK delves deeper and offers more nuance that the US outlet.
CNN UK also covers a far wider range of news. CNN US covers US news… unless the US is waging war on another country, then that other country is mentioned as a foe.
Fair and balanced?
***
The Lincoln Project Whispers II (0:54 mins)Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Before meeting a friend at a local café today, I accessed the café’s Internet, responding to business emails and glancing at the news.Having only brief internet connection for someone with my level of regular use is frustrating. At a café, it is more so as access is limited to the goodwill of the café’s manager.
***
After loading years-worth of rubbish into my elderly mother’s elderly China-manufactured Chana pick up, the gardener accompanied me to the local municipal refuse dump. Unlike in California, dumping rubbish in designated spots in KZN is free. KZN’s designated fills frequently were once pretty valleys easily filled with garbage of all sorts. People work hard at dumps, and few are actually hired and paid to work there. Most workers are freelancers known as rag pickers, people who pick up rags and other waste material from the streets, refuse heaps, etc., for a livelihood.
Rag picking is a hard way to earn a living anywhere. It is particularly hard at a dump site. It’s easier and there is less competition rag picking in neighborhoods before the municipal refuse trucks arrive to haul away trash. Working solo or with a companion or two, a neighborhood rag picker sorts through bagged household trash and takes anything worth saleable. (Naturally, no one ever takes plastic bags or torn or broken plastic items. Those things eventually end up in the ocean.) Rag pickers at dump sites compete mercilessly to grab discards as they arrive, frequently pulling discards before the delivery vehicle stops.
I threaded the lightweight Chana uphill through inches-deep mud, following the site manager’s hand signals, dreading the moment the Chana bogged down in mud and avoiding driving into rag pickers already digging through our load.
Unloading wsa fast and efficient as rag pickers examined each item. Who knows what recyclable treasures await? Something could mean the difference between eating and not eating at the end of the day.
Monday, September 28, 2020
Internet down – again!
Another day without Internet. Somehow, by day 26 of 30 of the month, I've used all 30 gigs – despite carefully titrating my use. I’ve experienced the same thing for the last four months: no warning that I’m approaching my monthly capacity – just suddenly no internet.
It consistently happens on a weekend, too. I’m about done with this.
This means this house is full of duplicate items, or items still in boxes having never been opened or used.
For someone who lives on a houseboat, it is unnerving to find myself surrounded by “stuff”. My instinct it to give it away.
News blues…
Instead of increasing my level of anxiety about breaking my promise to myself – to post every day of Lockdown – I’ll simply do my best. If I’m late posting a daily pandemic diary, so be it. I’ll post when technology re-establishes my connection to the great wide world.Healthy futures, anyone?
Review of David Attenborough’s “A Life on Our Planet,” – a stark climate emergency warning‘I am David Attenborough and I’m 93. This is my witness statement.” There is a tremendously moving sense of finality about Attenborough’s terrifying new documentary on the climate emergency. It is being marketed as a retrospective, a look back at his life and 60-years-plus career. But make no mistake about its true agenda: Attenborough is here to deliver a stark warning that time is ticking for the planet. It is a personal film – and political, too. There is emotion and urgency in that familiar soothing voice.
[Attenborough warns] …that it’s not too late if we act now. Halt the growth in the world’s population. Create no-fishing zones. Stop eating meat. It’s not about saving the planet, it’s about saving ourselves.
***
Mea culpa. My endless appetite for dark chocolate – and the appetite of millions of others – has bitter environmental consequences Cocoa production, catering especially to a wolfish demand for candy in Europe and the U.S. (each American consumes about 9.5 pounds of chocolate a year; in Switzerland, 19.8 pounds) has led to the decimation of forests.
***
RVAT: Packers Fan WRECKS Trump Worse Than Favre Wrecked the Jets (4:30 mins) Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Prepping to sell the house continues. I’ve uncovered a maternal consumption philosophy that is diametrically opposite my ow. I like nice things but I lack the over-consumption gene. My mother's theory: buy in bulk, have other people manage and monitor consumption and – if someone cannot find a purchased item – buy more.This means this house is full of duplicate items, or items still in boxes having never been opened or used.
For someone who lives on a houseboat, it is unnerving to find myself surrounded by “stuff”. My instinct it to give it away.
***
My mother’s relocation to the Care Center is complete (sort of) and her – and Jessica, The Dog’s - settling in proceeds. My mother’s sole focus is Jessica’s happiness – and she appears to believe that my sole focus should be Jessica’s happiness, too. (Displacement theory is alive and well: deny your own anxiety and place it upon someone else/a pet – then focus on that creature’s anxiety.) Nevertheless, I regularly drive to the Center with freshly cooked giblets for Jessica, Beeno biscuits for Jessica, a non-slip mat for Jessica. (The non-slip mat was an attempt to secure the plastic crate intended as a step for Jessica to mount my mother’s bed. The first step worked well but was too large for the small room. Alas, the crate slipped and Jessica fell spectacularly. Since then she'd ignored the crate, even opting to sleep on the floor. An unheard of humiliation..) I was instructed to return the too-large step.
***
I cancelled today’s visit today as I’m feeling unwell and, with coronavirus, a visit to an establishment catering to the elderly could spell disaster. My potentially compromised health had me delay picking up Jessica’s organic anti-anxiety-med-impregnated collar from the vet. Miraculously, the vet was heading toward the Care Center anyway and she dropped off the medicated collar.
Jessica’s eating habits, a reprise. While my mother and I agreed that Jessica “must” begin the arduous task of transitioning to canned dog food. Jessica, alas, has other ideas: canned dog food? You expect me to eat canned food? I don’t eat no stinking canned dog food!
My mother explained Jessica “doesn’t want it.” Jessica’s refusal scares my mother. What if… the dog starves? … the dog is insulted by the new dietary direction?
I try to lay the ground for Jessica’s transition to the more practical, Care Center-centered diet - whether she “wants it” or not. “Mix small amounts of canned food into Jessica’s high-end giblets meals to acclimate her.”
“But,” my mother tells me, “She doesn’t like it.”
“She will get used to it,” I urge. “Canned dog food is the practical solution. Your job as leader of the pack is to demonstrate to The Dog how to adjust to change.”
Alas, this goes nowhere.
For me, it’s back to carry freshly cooked giblets to the Care Center.
I cancelled today’s visit today as I’m feeling unwell and, with coronavirus, a visit to an establishment catering to the elderly could spell disaster. My potentially compromised health had me delay picking up Jessica’s organic anti-anxiety-med-impregnated collar from the vet. Miraculously, the vet was heading toward the Care Center anyway and she dropped off the medicated collar.
Jessica’s eating habits, a reprise. While my mother and I agreed that Jessica “must” begin the arduous task of transitioning to canned dog food. Jessica, alas, has other ideas: canned dog food? You expect me to eat canned food? I don’t eat no stinking canned dog food!
My mother explained Jessica “doesn’t want it.” Jessica’s refusal scares my mother. What if… the dog starves? … the dog is insulted by the new dietary direction?
I try to lay the ground for Jessica’s transition to the more practical, Care Center-centered diet - whether she “wants it” or not. “Mix small amounts of canned food into Jessica’s high-end giblets meals to acclimate her.”
“But,” my mother tells me, “She doesn’t like it.”
“She will get used to it,” I urge. “Canned dog food is the practical solution. Your job as leader of the pack is to demonstrate to The Dog how to adjust to change.”
Alas, this goes nowhere.
For me, it’s back to carry freshly cooked giblets to the Care Center.
Friday, September 25, 2020
Reality check
Day after day I read the news and become more agitated at the goings on, in the world and, particularly, in the United States. US media ratchets up the anxiety, as do polls, the president, and Congress.
I’m reaching the point at which it becomes … mentally destabilizing… to focus on US news for news.
Wrong. Again.
Here’s How the Pandemic Finally Ends : A vaccine by early 2021, a steady decline in cases by next fall and back to normal in a few years — 11 top experts look into the future.
Globally, the richest 10 percent are those with incomes above about $35,000 (£27,000 / ZAR600,000) a year. The richest 1 percent are people earning more than about $100,000 (£78,000 / ZAR1,711,600) a year.
This requires a shift in understanding, particularly if one assumes an annual a salary of $35,000 barely provides a sustainable lifestyle in California’s San Francisco Bay Area. There, an annual salary of $35,000 disallows rental of even a small apartment,, and certainly disallows saving enough money to make a down payment on a home. (The median home value of single-family homes and condos in San Francisco is $1,416,879, with a down payment of 20 percent, that is, more than $280,000.)
The Lincoln Project: The Choice (0:55 mins)
Meidas Touch:
Lying Lindsey (0:58 mins)
Vote Or Die: You Are Not Nobody (0:25 mins)
Really American: Trump Destroys Democracy (0:35 mins)
After cancelling my visit today - I’m feeling unwell - and hired someone to deliver Jessica’s freshly cooked giblets.
In theory, my mother agrees that Jessica “must” transition to eating canned dog food. But she reports that Jessica “doesn’t want” to eat it – and frets that Jessica will starve.
I insist that Jessica transition to that more practical diet - whether she “wants to” or not – and advise mixing small amounts of canned food into Jessica’s high-end giblets meals.
“But,” my mother moans, “She doesn’t like it.”
“Your job as leader of the pack,” I urge my mother, “is to demonstrate to The Dog how to adjust to change.”
Each day allows one to re-evaluate reality. Not an easy task.
News blues…
The underlying assumption of Donald Trump’s many proclamations about Covid-19: life will immediately return to normal after a vaccine is administered.Wrong. Again.
Here’s How the Pandemic Finally Ends : A vaccine by early 2021, a steady decline in cases by next fall and back to normal in a few years — 11 top experts look into the future.
“It will take two things to bring this virus under control: hygienic measures and a vaccine. And you can’t have one without the other,” says Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.Buckle up – and don’t forget to wear your mask!
… Producing and distributing a vaccine will take months, with the average American not receiving their dose (or doses) until at least mid- or late 2021. And while widespread inoculation will play a large role in bringing life back to normal, getting the shot will not be your cue to take off your mask and run free into a crowded bar. The end of the pandemic will be an evolution, not a revolution, the vaccine just another powerful tool in that process.
… Experts’ estimates of the timeline vary, but there seems to be some agreement that the virus could be in decline and under control by the second half of 2021, and that society could see pre-Covid “normal” within two years.
***
Daily Maverick webinar: Eskom’s Survival is South Africa’s Survival. Hosted by Sasha Planting with Sikonathi Mantshantsha and Doug Kuni.Healthy futures, anyone?
The wealthiest one percent of the world’s population are responsible for the emission of more than twice as much carbon dioxide as the poorer half of the world from 1990 to 2015.Carbon dioxide emissions rose by 60% over the 25-year period, but the increase in emissions from the richest 1% was three times greater than the increase in emissions from the poorest half.The biggest surprise?
A report, compiled by Oxfam and the Stockholm Environment Institute, warned that rampant overconsumption and the rich world’s addiction to high-carbon transport are exhausting the world’s “carbon budget”.
Such a concentration of carbon emissions in the hands of the rich means that despite taking the world to the brink of climate catastrophe, through burning fossil fuels, we have still failed to improve the lives of billions, said Tim Gore, head of policy, advocacy and research at Oxfam International.
“The global carbon budget has been squandered to expand the consumption of the already rich, rather than to improve humanity,” he told the Guardian. “A finite amount of carbon can be added to the atmosphere if we want to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. We need to ensure that carbon is used for the best.”
The richest 10% of the global population, comprising about 630 million people, were responsible for about 52% of global emissions over the 25-year period, the study showed.
Globally, the richest 10 percent are those with incomes above about $35,000 (£27,000 / ZAR600,000) a year. The richest 1 percent are people earning more than about $100,000 (£78,000 / ZAR1,711,600) a year.
This requires a shift in understanding, particularly if one assumes an annual a salary of $35,000 barely provides a sustainable lifestyle in California’s San Francisco Bay Area. There, an annual salary of $35,000 disallows rental of even a small apartment,, and certainly disallows saving enough money to make a down payment on a home. (The median home value of single-family homes and condos in San Francisco is $1,416,879, with a down payment of 20 percent, that is, more than $280,000.)
***
A note about political ads shared below: US political campaigns spend millions of dollars each year on political ads, and many more millions during presidential elections. This year, for the first time in my memory, Republicans are running political ads against Republican incumbents, particularly against the incumbent Republican president. The ads are diverse, hard hitting, and unprecedented. I share them to express surprise at the anomaly and at creativity. Enjoy!The Lincoln Project: The Choice (0:55 mins)
Meidas Touch:
Lying Lindsey (0:58 mins)
Vote Or Die: You Are Not Nobody (0:25 mins)
Really American: Trump Destroys Democracy (0:35 mins)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
My mother’s relocation to the Care Center is complete (sort of) and her – and Jessica, The Dog’s - settling in proceeds. My mother’s sole focus is Jessica’s happiness – and she appears to believe that my sole focus should be Jessica’s happiness, too. Accordingly, I regularly drive to the Center with freshly cooked giblets for Jessica, Beeno biscuits for Jessica, a non-slip mat for Jessica. (This, to secure the recycled crate upon which Jessica accesses my mother’s bed. Jessica’s first try on the crate resulted in the crate slipping on the tile floor and Jessica tumbling. So far, she’s refused to approach the crate for another try.)After cancelling my visit today - I’m feeling unwell - and hired someone to deliver Jessica’s freshly cooked giblets.
In theory, my mother agrees that Jessica “must” transition to eating canned dog food. But she reports that Jessica “doesn’t want” to eat it – and frets that Jessica will starve.
I insist that Jessica transition to that more practical diet - whether she “wants to” or not – and advise mixing small amounts of canned food into Jessica’s high-end giblets meals.
“But,” my mother moans, “She doesn’t like it.”
“Your job as leader of the pack,” I urge my mother, “is to demonstrate to The Dog how to adjust to change.”
Each day allows one to re-evaluate reality. Not an easy task.
Thursday, September 24, 2020
International intrigue
Our world shrinks by the day, scientists (for those who believe scientists) grow smarter by the day, yet the vast majority of humans stay stuck in the same old thinking we’ve enjoyed for millennia. This disconnect could be humanities’ undoing.
As the Covid-19 virus continues to mutate, experts believe it’s probably becoming more contagious, and cases US have started to rise once again, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/coronavirus-mutate-contagious-study-us-cases POTUS (President of the United States) ignores 32-plus million infections and more than 200,000 dead and calls coronavirus “harmless.”
That Trump is Trump is irrefutable; he ain’t gonna change.
Why people continue to believe him is mysterious. It appears that won’t change either.
Humans. Go figure.
Chad halts lake's world heritage status
Weekly averages
19 September 2020: 411.47 ppm
This time last year: 408.48 ppm
10 years ago: 387.00 ppm
Pre-industrial base: 280
Safe level: 350
Atmospheric CO2 reading from Mauna Loa, Hawaii (part per million). Source: NOAA-ESRL.
As the Covid-19 virus continues to mutate, experts believe it’s probably becoming more contagious, and cases US have started to rise once again, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/coronavirus-mutate-contagious-study-us-cases POTUS (President of the United States) ignores 32-plus million infections and more than 200,000 dead and calls coronavirus “harmless.”
That Trump is Trump is irrefutable; he ain’t gonna change.
Why people continue to believe him is mysterious. It appears that won’t change either.
Humans. Go figure.
News blues…
Finnish dogs respond to the call of the wild coronavirusFour Covid-19 sniffer dogs have begun work at Helsinki airport in a state-funded pilot scheme that Finnish researchers hope will provide a cheap, fast and effective alternative method of testing people for the virus.
A dog is capable of detecting the presence of the coronavirus within 10 seconds and the entire process takes less than a minute to complete, according to Anna Hielm-Björkman of the University of Helsinki, who is overseeing the trial. She said, “It’s very promising. If it works, it could prove a good screening method in other places” such as hospitals, care homes and at sporting and cultural events.
Healthy futures, anyone?
 |
| Lake Chad, in the Bol region, 200km from Chad’s capital city, N’Djamena, lies on the borders of Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon. Photo: Sia Kambou/AFP/Getty |
In a letter leaked to the Guardian, Chad’s tourism and culture minister wrote to Unesco, the body which awards the world heritage designation, asking to “postpone the process of registering Lake Chad on the world heritage list”. The letter says the government “has signed production-sharing agreements with certain oil companies whose allocated blocks affect the area of the nominated property”…The letter asks Unesco to “postpone the process” in order to “allow [us] to redefine and redesign the map to avoid any interference in the future”.The request follows a multiyear process involving the governments of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria to jointly nominate the Lake Chad cultural landscape to the Unesco world heritage list. It has been nominated as both a natural and a cultural site.
… “It is important to recall that the goal of the inscription of a site on the world heritage list is to ensure conservation of its outstanding universal value for future generations,” a spokesperson for the Unesco world heritage site centre said. “A suspension of the inscription process is not contemplated among the possibilities offered by the provisions of the world heritage nomination process”.
If Chad decides to go ahead with oil exploitation, the process would have to be cancelled all together, Unesco said.
***
Scientists take temperatures of butterflies to uncover climate threat ***
In context, consider current CO2 levels in our atmosphereWeekly averages
19 September 2020: 411.47 ppm
This time last year: 408.48 ppm
10 years ago: 387.00 ppm
Pre-industrial base: 280
Safe level: 350
Atmospheric CO2 reading from Mauna Loa, Hawaii (part per million). Source: NOAA-ESRL.
Read more about CO2 levels.
I did not know “they” had moved my boat – from a covered slip (out of direct sun and direct rain) into an open slip.
It was 11am or so in California (SA time is 9 hours ahead of California) and I called the office. I talked to Peter - the brother of Rob, the major share owner - and he promised Rob would call me. I’ve met neither Peter nor Rob as they only recently purchased the marina.
I was asleep an hour or more later when Rob called. He explained the covered slip cost US$100 more per month than I was paying so, without telling me, they moved my houseboat into a cheaper slip. None of their cheaper covered slips accommodated my boat’s width (“beam”).
I purchased my houseboat in July 2019, 13 months ago. For eight of those 13 months Covid-19 has locked me down in South Africa. I’ll be in SA for at least another four months, engaged with selling my mother’s house, her move and wellbeing, etc.
Marina-owner Rob also asked me how I learned about the move “so soon.” I mentioned that person I’d considered a friend-in-the-making. By the call’s end, Rob had led me to believe he’d look into a solution that would protect my boat from the full onslaught of sun and rain – despite my state of unemployment/lack of income due to pandemic.
That remains to be seen.
I filled in the person I’d thought a friend-in-the-making about my call with Rob.
Yikes!
He was angry. Accused me of using him as “a source of information,” called me a “snitch,” implied I’d exposed “a confidential source.”
Oh, oh. In what strange inter-cultural predicament have I landed?
Just what I do not want nor need: international intrigue. Another saga.
***
Some of the best reporting the environment comes from the Guardian News . Usually, I’d not promote a news or other outlet on this blog, but these are perilous times…
41 days to save the Earth …
… the Guardian is all in. Are you? On November 4, a day after the presidential election, the US will formally withdraw from the Paris agreement on constraining global heating. It’s urgent that we tell the world what this means, and the Guardian is pulling out all the stops to do so. Will you help us by supporting our journalism?
With millions are flocking to the Guardian every day, financial support from our readers is crucial in enabling us to produce open, fearless, independent reporting that addresses the climate emergency. It helps sustain the freedom we have to present the facts comprehensively, explain the details as they unfold, and interrogate the decisions made.
The Guardian recognises the climate emergency as the defining issue of our times. That’s why we have pledged to give climate change, wildlife extinction and pollution the sustained attention and prominence they demand, as a core part of our journalism.
At this pivotal moment for our planet, our independence enables us to always inform readers about threats, consequences and solutions based on scientific fact, not political prejudice or business interests. This makes us different. And we are equally determined to practice what we preach: we have divested from the oil and gas sectors, renounced fossil fuel advertising and committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.
We believe everyone deserves access to information that is fact-checked, and analysis that has authority and integrity. That’s why, unlike many others, we made a choice: to keep Guardian reporting open for all, regardless of where they live or what they can afford to pay. Our work would not be possible without our readers, who now support our work from 180 countries around the world. Every reader contribution, however big or small, is so valuable for our future. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
***
The Lincoln Project:
We, the people, will reject Donald Trump’s presidency on November 3rd. There will be no Trump coup in this country.Meidas Touch: Arizona Knows Honor (0:58 mins)
The American experiment, which has endured since 1776 — through civil war, world wars, and depressions — will not yield to a dime-store Mussolini who is faithless to his duty and is the worst president in American history.
He will be repudiated and humiliated by history’s judgment. It is our job to make that happen.
Donald Trump is threatening the peaceful transition of power because he is losing and he is weak. Let us finish him off.
Peaceful Transition (0:25 mins)
Nobody (0:25 mins)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
32 degrees Centigrade (90F) here today. Tomorrow: 34C (93F). And, it’s only September.***
Late yesterday South Africa time, I received a text message from an acquaintance – I’d believed a friend-in-the-making - at the marina where my houseboat is docked: “Do you know they moved your boat?”I did not know “they” had moved my boat – from a covered slip (out of direct sun and direct rain) into an open slip.
It was 11am or so in California (SA time is 9 hours ahead of California) and I called the office. I talked to Peter - the brother of Rob, the major share owner - and he promised Rob would call me. I’ve met neither Peter nor Rob as they only recently purchased the marina.
I was asleep an hour or more later when Rob called. He explained the covered slip cost US$100 more per month than I was paying so, without telling me, they moved my houseboat into a cheaper slip. None of their cheaper covered slips accommodated my boat’s width (“beam”).
I purchased my houseboat in July 2019, 13 months ago. For eight of those 13 months Covid-19 has locked me down in South Africa. I’ll be in SA for at least another four months, engaged with selling my mother’s house, her move and wellbeing, etc.
Marina-owner Rob also asked me how I learned about the move “so soon.” I mentioned that person I’d considered a friend-in-the-making. By the call’s end, Rob had led me to believe he’d look into a solution that would protect my boat from the full onslaught of sun and rain – despite my state of unemployment/lack of income due to pandemic.
That remains to be seen.
I filled in the person I’d thought a friend-in-the-making about my call with Rob.
Yikes!
He was angry. Accused me of using him as “a source of information,” called me a “snitch,” implied I’d exposed “a confidential source.”
Oh, oh. In what strange inter-cultural predicament have I landed?
Just what I do not want nor need: international intrigue. Another saga.
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Sundowners
Whither coronavirus, you ask?
Worldwide (Map)
September 24 – 31,780,000 confirmed infections; 975,100 deaths
September 17 – 29,902,200 confirmed infections; 941,400 deaths
US (Map)
September 24 – 6,935,000 confirmed infections; 201,880 deaths
September 17– 6,630,100 confirmed infections; 196,831 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
September 24 – 665,190 confirmed infections; 16,206 deaths
September 17 – 653,445 confirmed infections; 15,705 deaths
Positive news from the Western Cape
Watch Dr Fauci klap Congressman Rand Paul who maneuvers- and fails - to get the last word for a photo op.
Way to go, Dr Fauci!
And drive up and down to my mom’s new home in the Care Center to accommodate her need to keep her dog healthy? If Jessica, the dog, refuses to eat for a couple of days, I’m asked to purchase appetite stimulating meds for the dog. I order meds. Meanwhile, the dog – inevitably – starts eating again.
I’m grateful she’s coming to paint.
I do not understand the … canine fetish … that drives South Africans to prioritize dogs over making a living – or living independent of dogs.
Hope springs eternal and I’ll keep trying. Already I see signs that the more mature monkeys are tempted: they sit, scratch, stare, sometimes even wander into the garden as I cajole.
Wouldn’t monkeys look great sipping on sundowners?
Worldwide (Map)
September 24 – 31,780,000 confirmed infections; 975,100 deaths
September 17 – 29,902,200 confirmed infections; 941,400 deaths
US (Map)
September 24 – 6,935,000 confirmed infections; 201,880 deaths
September 17– 6,630,100 confirmed infections; 196,831 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
September 24 – 665,190 confirmed infections; 16,206 deaths
September 17 – 653,445 confirmed infections; 15,705 deaths
News blues…
Across South Africa in the last 24 hours, 1,906 people have tested positive for Covid-19. While SA’s infection rates continue to climb, the country is now 9th on the Johns Hopkins worldwide list of most infected countries. Most recently, Spain surpassed SA’s numbers and rose to 8th place.Positive news from the Western Cape
The number of active cases of Covid-19 in the Western Cape slipped below 2,500 on Thursday. At the height of the provincial outbreak at the beginning of July there were more than 17,600 active cases and nearly 1,900 people in hospital. These figures were down to 2,492 and just over 600 on Thursday, meaning active infections in the province are 35.3 per 100,000 people.
The per capita active infection rate in Cape Town — once the epicenter of the national epidemic — is even lower, at 30 per 100,000.
***
European countries experience a second wave. Coronavirus world map: which countries have the most Covid cases and deaths? ***
Dr Fauci “klaps” back. (For readers unfamiliar with South African idioms, “klap” is the Afrikaans word for hit back or fight back. It’s also used to describe a strenuous effort, as in, “I’ll klap that job, one way, man!” Translation into American: I’ll make short work of that job.Watch Dr Fauci klap Congressman Rand Paul who maneuvers- and fails - to get the last word for a photo op.
Way to go, Dr Fauci!
***
Barton Gellman’s recent article in The Atlantic,The Election that could Break America, paints an alarming election scenario The [election] contest will be decided with sufficient authority that the losing candidate will be forced to yield. Collectively we will have made our choice—a messy one, no doubt, but clear enough to arm the president-elect with a mandate to govern.Time for Americans to engage their inner patriot and demand – and vote for – democracy over authoritarianism. There’s no time like the present.
As a nation, we have never failed to clear that bar. But in this election year of plague and recession and catastrophized politics, the mechanisms of decision are at meaningful risk of breaking down. Close students of election law and procedure are warning that conditions are ripe for a constitutional crisis that would leave the nation without an authoritative result. We have no fail-safe against that calamity…[and] blinking red lights.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
A conundrum: how to stage for sale one large property, full-of-“stuff” being held to use after the purchase of a small property? With limited help and limited funds to hire help?And drive up and down to my mom’s new home in the Care Center to accommodate her need to keep her dog healthy? If Jessica, the dog, refuses to eat for a couple of days, I’m asked to purchase appetite stimulating meds for the dog. I order meds. Meanwhile, the dog – inevitably – starts eating again.
The more things change, the more things stay the same.
***
I thought I’d hired a skilled painter to handle the more complex areas of the house’s façade. Since she lives far from this house, we’d agreed she’d stay overnight until the job was finished. She’d bring her two dogs. Then she thought about it and decided her dogs and my mother’s three dogs that remain here, would fight. She cancelled the job. Then she thought about that – and decided she’d leave her dogs at home and drive here each day.I’m grateful she’s coming to paint.
I do not understand the … canine fetish … that drives South Africans to prioritize dogs over making a living – or living independent of dogs.
***
With the change in weather, ending a lovely spring day next to the garden pond, sipping a “sundowner” (a cocktail in the English colonial tradition), and chatting with monkeys. Well, “chatting” is a stretch of my imagination. I invite monkeys to chat, but none have accepted my invitation – so far.Hope springs eternal and I’ll keep trying. Already I see signs that the more mature monkeys are tempted: they sit, scratch, stare, sometimes even wander into the garden as I cajole.
Wouldn’t monkeys look great sipping on sundowners?
Licensed!
News blues…
In the latest polls US presidential candidate Joe Biden leads presidential incumbent Donald Trump 51 percent to 44 percent. https://edition.cnn.com/election/2020/presidential-pollsMy only comment? How can 44 percent of the United States voting public still support Donald Trump? More than 7 million American infected with Covid-19, and 200,000 plus dead.
It is inconceivable that any human, never mind 44 percent of ‘em, could vote for a man devastating the United States with his lies.
***
The Lincoln Project:
Meidas Touch:
Joe Knows How (0;25 mins)
Bye Kayleigh (0:55 mins)
RVAT: As Bill watches Trump dismantle checks and balances across the board, he prepares to vote Biden. (3:45 mins)
Three weeks ago, I visited the municipality to renew my license. I learned I could get an appointment to renew.
Today was the day, at 11:00am.
I dreaded the visit, largely because the first time I visited that office – three years ago, to transfer my vehicle into my name – it took six visits to accomplish my goal. I’d never done it before, could find no directions on how to do it, and anyone I asked gave conflicting directions. The clerks behind the thick glass were impatient and unhelpful. In short, licensing my car annually has been stressful. Moreover, the transaction is in-person only - no online service and no functional post office to deliver pertinent and timely documents.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Big day: due to pandemic, my car license (“car registration” in US) lapsed at the beginning of May. Allowances were made to accommodate drivers’ lapsing licenses due to Covid-19. I experienced police at roadblocks making gentle suggestions about renewal – “do it as soon as possible” - instead of issuing tickets. (Municipality offices, the police station, too, have shut down several times during Lockdown due to detection of Covid-19 infections among employees. Shut downs last for two or three days while office undergo “deep cleaning.”)Three weeks ago, I visited the municipality to renew my license. I learned I could get an appointment to renew.
Today was the day, at 11:00am.
I dreaded the visit, largely because the first time I visited that office – three years ago, to transfer my vehicle into my name – it took six visits to accomplish my goal. I’d never done it before, could find no directions on how to do it, and anyone I asked gave conflicting directions. The clerks behind the thick glass were impatient and unhelpful. In short, licensing my car annually has been stressful. Moreover, the transaction is in-person only - no online service and no functional post office to deliver pertinent and timely documents.
While anxious, I hoped that today’s 11:00am appointment meant a quick in and out – with license in hand.
First surprise: I was fourth to join a line of socially distanced customers seated outdoors under a tree. Within 10 minutes the line was a dozen customers long. We all had appointments for 11:00am.
I tried alleviating my anxiety by reading my Kindle library book on my cell phone. Alas, I reread the same page several times before realizing I was eavesdropping on the conversation among the three people in line ahead of me.
The man dominating the conversation explained he carried vehicle license renewal paperwork for 8 other people… then interspersed his monolog with his schtick of rhetorical negativisms: “how many more years does the white man have in South Africa? He answered his own question: "20? Nah. Less."
Then he threw in comments about “cannibalism” and how “it is not over yet” ...and followed this up with dour jokes themed on how “they” are “not on the ball”.... that “we will end up in chaos”... how he hoped “we don’t end up like Zim” [Zimbabwe] “but we’re heading there...” After that, he segued to public officials’ salaries. “They [the village mayor] make about R120,000 [US$7272] per month, a million a year” … “for doing nothing, and taking no responsibility.”
He offered insight into how “they” are “talking about taking away/doing away with peoples’ pensions... Oh well….”
I’d arrived at 10:35 for my 11:00am appointment. I checked the time: 11:30am. I saw no discernable progress getting customers into or out of the office.
Meanwhile, our voluble companion had moved onto sharing his plan for his old age: suicide.
He explained he already had the means in his possession: a two-phase poison. “I’ll add it to my orange juice one morning…. No trace will be found which means my life insurance policy will be paid. It’s all about quality of life... I’ve had a good life. I got nothing... so bugger all to lose which is nice... I’ve no medical insurance. Few years ago, I had a heart attack and they took me to Edendale Hospital [a free government-run hospital]. It was like being in the heart of Africa. But they fixed me up. It cost me nothing. And I feel better than ever! Even my eyesight improved.”
11:55am.
Then two of us were called inside the office.
11:55am.
Then two of us were called inside the office.
After sanitizing hands, having temperature taken, and filling in personal details and signing the Covid tracing document, I settled in to wait.
Three clerks served a waiting group of 6 socially-distanced customers.
Now the topic of conversation was “that horrible man” waiting in line outside, how he had paperwork for 8 vehicle owners… and how the staff intended to make him wait until the end of the work day (2pm at the municipality)…
Customers who’d experienced “that horrible man” laughed at the notion of keeping him waiting….
Soon, I faced the thick glass window and the clerk. Within six minutes, I paid my fee - no late fee - tucked my paperwork into my backpack, and departed.
Best of all: next year I'll renew my license by August 31 instead of April 30. Six months reprieve.
Bliss.
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
Equinox
The past winter – my first in South Africa in decades – I recorded daily sunrise and sunset schedules.
July 1, 2020 the sun rose at 6:53am and set at 5:11pm.
Today, September 22, 2020 the equinox, the sun rose at 5:45am and will set 5:54pm.
Fiat lux. (“Let light be made,” aka “let there be light”.)
Alas, “best laid plans,” etc., etc. The saga continues: yesterday, I learned he’s still here, somewhere in the village.
Why?
Who knows? Not on my account, I hope.
His mother sends him money for food.
I informed our security service so they’re aware I’m still under threat of physical harm.
Oakland, California lies on San Francisco Bay, adjacent to Alameda, the delightful island city I lived in for the last 20 years. When I’m not in KwaZulu Natal, I work in Oakland, too.
Architecturally, Oakland is fascinating: art deco buildings interspersed with modern, postmodern, Chinese, and everything in between.
Recently, a friend wrote me about this city:
I see these photos and remember the times I’ve spent in Oakland, working, enjoying city life, sightseeing, and protesting - the invasion of Iraq, the ongoing war and trauma to American troops and Iraqi civilians, etc.
July 1, 2020 the sun rose at 6:53am and set at 5:11pm.
Today, September 22, 2020 the equinox, the sun rose at 5:45am and will set 5:54pm.
Fiat lux. (“Let light be made,” aka “let there be light”.)
Perhaps We the People need more balance in how we pay attention to micro- and macro-cosms? An Equinox of Daily Living?
It’s not an exaggeration to say the political struggle in the US is for the very soul of the nation. What kind of nation – therefore world – will emerge after the election? It really is up for grabs.
For decades, Americans took our version of democracy for granted. Many didn’t bother to vote or to struggle against the authoritarian direction Republicans slowly instituted.
News blues…
Trump's Total Failure: Francis Ford Coppola On His Old Classmate (4:40 mins)It’s not an exaggeration to say the political struggle in the US is for the very soul of the nation. What kind of nation – therefore world – will emerge after the election? It really is up for grabs.
For decades, Americans took our version of democracy for granted. Many didn’t bother to vote or to struggle against the authoritarian direction Republicans slowly instituted.
Let's pray it's not too late. After praying, let's get out there and work for a better outcome.
And the “we’ll get to it sooner or later” news: Botswana says it has solved mystery of mass elephant die-off.
Now the good news, aka, “who-knew?” news: the sacred giants of the dung-beetle world
Healthy futures, anyone?
First, the bad news: “I lived the climate crisis every day of my childhood. This November, I'll vote on it.”And the “we’ll get to it sooner or later” news: Botswana says it has solved mystery of mass elephant die-off.
Now the good news, aka, “who-knew?” news: the sacred giants of the dung-beetle world
***
The Lincoln Project:
It’s critical we defeat Trump and Trumpism in November. His enablers in the Senate are just as guilty for aiding and abetting this criminal administration as Trump himself.Accountable (0.25 mins)
Let’s ensure South Carolinians know: It’s America, or Trump.
Lindsey's lack of integrity once before, and now, thanks to you, his race is a dead heat as voters are now finally recognizing the extent of his cowardice.
To ensure Lindsey’s defeat, we have to expose his depravity — and we’re using his own words to do it:
“I want you to use my words against me...You can say 'Lindsey Graham said let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.'"
Lindsey Graham can not, and will not, stand up for principle—or even his own word.
He has abandoned his duty and neglected South Carolinians, all while cowering to Trump and his cruel, antidemocratic agenda.
Once Trump entered the White House, Lindsey’s fidelity to his principles—and his oath—vanished.
Time and time again, Donald Trump has proven to be horrifically unfit and dangerous—and at every turn, Lindsey has done nothing but give Trump cover, accommodate his corruption, and evade any accountability.
Lindsey is petrified at the threat of a Trump tweet. Let’s remind him who he answers to.
Is Jamie Harrison the guy who can vote Lindsey Graham out? (5:35 mins)
It’s up to you, South Carolinians. To quote Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, “Make it so.”
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Back in July, I posted the beginnings of a saga involving my mother’s long term domestic worker’s son, a lay about, make-no-effort-to work drunk. Miffed at being dislodged from his comfy spot his mother had organized to bum off my elderly mother, I had him ousted, legally. Nevertheless, his mother – my mom’s domestic worker - continued surreptitiously to let him enter and exit the property each night. After security cameras showed this, I locked the upper gate and kept the only key. Thwarted and in a drunken rage, he threatened to kill, rape me, etc. (he’d served prison time for rape). I had him served with a restraining order. When his mother departed her job and this area last week, I expected he’d leave with her.Alas, “best laid plans,” etc., etc. The saga continues: yesterday, I learned he’s still here, somewhere in the village.
Why?
Who knows? Not on my account, I hope.
His mother sends him money for food.
I informed our security service so they’re aware I’m still under threat of physical harm.
***
Oakland, California lies on San Francisco Bay, adjacent to Alameda, the delightful island city I lived in for the last 20 years. When I’m not in KwaZulu Natal, I work in Oakland, too.
Architecturally, Oakland is fascinating: art deco buildings interspersed with modern, postmodern, Chinese, and everything in between.
Recently, a friend wrote me about this city:
Did you know all of Downtown Oakland is completely shut down? From Jack London Square [the waterfront] all the way to about 21st Street almost all the shops are boarded up in covered up with Black Lives Matter murals. It's wild! You can't smash any more windows because there aren't any Windows left to smash. I look at it as a rebellion against corporate repression. They left standing a couple of the smaller shops, but obliterated all the banks, the CVS, the Walgreens, Target - virtually anything that looks look like a chain store - is gone. There would be no reason for anyone to go to downtown to shop for anything because there's nothing there. For whatever reason, what's left of Jack London Square is still intact. It's just all along Broadway that is decimated.“I’ve an ongoing project photographing changes in rural and urban environments, both in my small part of KZN and in California, including Oakland. Before I departed California in January, I and a friend spent the afternoon walking Downtown Oakland and Chinatown while I photographed most recent changes. So much has changed there - driven by the tech industry (Uber, for example, headquarters in Oakland) - that we got lost in Chinatown.
These photos – none of which are mine – show the area over time.
Now? Photos taken during Black Lives Matter protests:
Set 1.
Now? Photos taken during Black Lives Matter protests:
Set 1.
I see these photos and remember the times I’ve spent in Oakland, working, enjoying city life, sightseeing, and protesting - the invasion of Iraq, the ongoing war and trauma to American troops and Iraqi civilians, etc.
I miss it.
I want to be there.
Sunday, September 20, 2020
ngiKhathele
After a weekend prepping my mother’s large house for sale and ngikhathele - (Zulu) I am tired!
As Rumi said, “heedlessness is a pillar that sustains our world….”
The Notorious RBG (1:12 mins)
Goodness (0:55 mins)
If Trump is re-elected, he’ll rip the Constitution to shreds. He’s told us so. (1:20 mins)
Trump has turned the US into a “shithole country”… That’s about the only thing he’s succeeded in doing in this entire life. What a legacy.
My mother’s remaining longtime domestic worker is here working, too. Due to privacy, I’ve hesitated to share names, but it’s appropriate to recognize Martha’s efforts. She’s a trooper and I’m glad she’s working alongside me.
Martha, as usual, will prepare breakfast for the remaining two dogs – and for Jessica, the dog that accompanied my mother. I’ll drive Jessica’s breakfast to the Care Center. Yes, for now Jessica has hot food delivered. I thought that life would become easier with fewer dogs around, but no – it gets more complex and more resource intensive.
And it ain’t over yet.
Did I bite off more than I can chew?
Possibly.
Talking about travel, yesterday I heard an unfamiliar sound overhead: an aeroplane/airplane. Haven’t heard an aeroplane since Lockdown began. What’s more, it looked like SAA – even though that airline is teetering on the edge of closure due to corruption-inspired bankruptcy.
If SAA can fly high, so can I. So can you!
Did I bite off more than I can chew?
Possibly.
News blues…
The big news in South Africa? Level 1 is on! Be careful out there: Covid-19 infections and fatalities continue. Wear your mask, wash your hands, socially distance, but go to work, travel….Talking about travel, yesterday I heard an unfamiliar sound overhead: an aeroplane/airplane. Haven’t heard an aeroplane since Lockdown began. What’s more, it looked like SAA – even though that airline is teetering on the edge of closure due to corruption-inspired bankruptcy.
If SAA can fly high, so can I. So can you!
***
A tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, RIP: How she spent her last weeks. ***
Other news out of the US is too depressing, too much same old/same old Trumpie, just too much alarm to share. ***
In South Africa, the barely functional post office does not have to pay retirement funds to post office retirees.The post office retirement fund has failed in its court bid to force the SA Post Office (Sapo) to continue making contributions to the fund despite the tough financial situation the postal agency finds itself in due to Covid-19. Last week the high court in Pretoria dismissed the fund's case with costs. In her judgment, Judge Elizabeth Kubushi said the economic downturn resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic was of a magnitude that no-one could have predicted.
The fund took Sapo to court after not receiving members' contributions for May, June and July. In its arguments, the fund said its concern was that the member contributions are deducted from their salaries but not paid into the fund.
The fund argued that the benefit of pension contributions is a legal obligation which must be complied with, adding that according to the fund rules, this must be done monthly.
In response, Sapo agreed that it should have paid the contributions as it was supposed to, but said under the current conditions it would not have been possible.
***
Jerusalema – the ultimate: African animals join in… (4:31 mins)Healthy futures, anyone?
Along with fear and uncertainty, it was clear Covid-19 and its accompanying PPE would create a giant pile of plastic discards. This is the quintessential paradox of modern life: that which makes life safer and more convenient also destroys the ecosystem, even the planet.As Rumi said, “heedlessness is a pillar that sustains our world….”
“Cleaning volunteers asked to record plastic PPE found on UK beaches: Beach clean organiser wants to assess amount of masks and gloves discarded during coronavirus crisis.”
Volunteers in this year’s Great British Beach Clean are being asked to record the personal protective equipment (PPE) they find, to get a clearer picture of the volume of plastic masks and gloves discarded during the coronavirus pandemic and their impact on the environment.
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), which organises the annual September event, is urging people to organise their own surveys with smaller groups of friends, family and “bubbles”, in line with government guidance.
“It’s likely we’ve all seen masks and gloves littering our local area, whether that’s on the coast or on our street” said Lizzie Prior, MCS beachwatch officer. “Much like other single-use litter, face masks and plastic gloves put our seas and marine life in danger. PPE can be mistaken for food and ingested by marine life or trap animals in the elastic straps of face masks as we’ve seen recently. It’s so upsetting to see another form of single-use litter polluting the UK’s beautiful beaches, and we’re determined to ensure this doesn’t become a new normal.
***
The Lincoln Project:The Notorious RBG (1:12 mins)
Goodness (0:55 mins)
If Trump is re-elected, he’ll rip the Constitution to shreds. He’s told us so. (1:20 mins)
Trump has turned the US into a “shithole country”… That’s about the only thing he’s succeeded in doing in this entire life. What a legacy.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
That plan for my Sunday that I expressed in yesterday’s post - stay home, work in the garden, don my waders and remove fast growing pond weed, and attend to my compost pile? None of that happened. Instead, I prepped my mom’s large house and began to box her now semi-abandoned property – bed linens, clothes, and pots, pans, other kitchen impedimenta.My mother’s remaining longtime domestic worker is here working, too. Due to privacy, I’ve hesitated to share names, but it’s appropriate to recognize Martha’s efforts. She’s a trooper and I’m glad she’s working alongside me.
Martha, as usual, will prepare breakfast for the remaining two dogs – and for Jessica, the dog that accompanied my mother. I’ll drive Jessica’s breakfast to the Care Center. Yes, for now Jessica has hot food delivered. I thought that life would become easier with fewer dogs around, but no – it gets more complex and more resource intensive.
Saturday, September 19, 2020
Early voting begins
 |
| The Lincoln Project lawn signs. |
In Virginia, Trumpies grouped in front of the polling area, waving flags and shouting. Unprecedent behavior outside pollling booths….
Will voting make a difference in how Trump, Trumpies, and the Republican-majority senate approach the nomination for the next justice? That is, will they respect the "will of the people" and allow the process to unfold in respectful order?
Nah!
Judaic tradition mourns for seven days. Islam tradition mourns for three days. Christian tradition mourns for seven days (up to 40 days for Orthodox).
Mourning Ruth Bader Ginsburg and reviewing her extraordinary life is being shoved aside and replaced by a distasteful Trumpie-flavored squabble.
Ghana Army (1:25 mins)
The Novices of Daughters of St Francis of Assisi (FSF) at St Leo Formation House - Izotsha - Umzimkulu Diocese (5:25 mins)
Jerusalema Master KG Top best dance challenge World Wide (12:15 mins)
Interview with South Africa’s Master KG on the massive global hit (12: mins)
Accountable (0:25 mins(
Hypocrisy Incarnate (1:18 mins)
Meidas Touch: Demand Decency (0:45 mins)
I will also sort through what likely will be the first of two rounds to auction my mother’s personal property.
Keeping "RBG" in mind, I celebrate the spring and welcome the first monsoonal rainfall.
Lots to do.
News blues…
The unbecoming fight for the next Supreme Court justice is on.Judaic tradition mourns for seven days. Islam tradition mourns for three days. Christian tradition mourns for seven days (up to 40 days for Orthodox).
Mourning Ruth Bader Ginsburg and reviewing her extraordinary life is being shoved aside and replaced by a distasteful Trumpie-flavored squabble.
Jerusalema
The Jerusalema dance challenge continues…. People all around the world are sharing videos of their unique teams dancing to the hit song Jerusalema by South African musician Master KG, featuring the voice of songstress Nomcebo Zikode.Ghana Army (1:25 mins)
The Novices of Daughters of St Francis of Assisi (FSF) at St Leo Formation House - Izotsha - Umzimkulu Diocese (5:25 mins)
Jerusalema Master KG Top best dance challenge World Wide (12:15 mins)
Interview with South Africa’s Master KG on the massive global hit (12: mins)
***
The Lincoln Project: Accountable (0:25 mins(
Hypocrisy Incarnate (1:18 mins)
Meidas Touch: Demand Decency (0:45 mins)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
After days of moving my mother into the Care Center, I plan to stay home, work in the garden, don my waders and remove fast growing pond weed, and attend to my compost pile.I will also sort through what likely will be the first of two rounds to auction my mother’s personal property.
Keeping "RBG" in mind, I celebrate the spring and welcome the first monsoonal rainfall.
Lots to do.
Friday, September 18, 2020
American Calamity!
Five fifty a.m. Saturday morning, I checked the news on my smartphone. Calamity! Ruth Bader Ginsburg (“RBG”) succumbed. After years of fighting cancer, the trooper died.
I’m surprised at how devastated I am.
Today, I wish I was in the US, among people who know and understand what the passing of this really terrific human woman means.
This brief posting honors RBG. 2020 Liberty Medal Honoring Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The Jerusalema dance challenge has taken social media by storm – and touched hearts around the world (including mine; how wonderful people can be when we put our minds to cooperating as a collective). People all around the world are sharing videos of their unique teams dancing to the hit song Jerusalema by South African musician Master KG, featuring the voice of songstress Nomcebo Zikode.
Start here: a description and meaning of the Jerusalema challenge by KP Hospital (7:03 mins) in South Africa, where it all started, Barberton High School (3:50 mins) and Plettenberg Bay (3:50 mins)
Also, Transylvania (2:12 mins)
Jerusalem (3:15 mins)
10 Best (so far) Jerusalema Dance Moves | WORLDWIDE (12:05 mins)
More dancers and dance moves tomorrow….
I’m surprised at how devastated I am.
Today, I wish I was in the US, among people who know and understand what the passing of this really terrific human woman means.
This brief posting honors RBG. 2020 Liberty Medal Honoring Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Jerusalema
Amid death, live! President Ramaphosa advised South Africans to dance amid the pandemic (socially distanced, of course). I add, dance to celebrate RBG’s amazing strength.The Jerusalema dance challenge has taken social media by storm – and touched hearts around the world (including mine; how wonderful people can be when we put our minds to cooperating as a collective). People all around the world are sharing videos of their unique teams dancing to the hit song Jerusalema by South African musician Master KG, featuring the voice of songstress Nomcebo Zikode.
Start here: a description and meaning of the Jerusalema challenge by KP Hospital (7:03 mins) in South Africa, where it all started, Barberton High School (3:50 mins) and Plettenberg Bay (3:50 mins)
Also, Transylvania (2:12 mins)
Jerusalem (3:15 mins)
10 Best (so far) Jerusalema Dance Moves | WORLDWIDE (12:05 mins)
More dancers and dance moves tomorrow….
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Today, I mourn … and feel… life…Jerusalema
New week, big numbers: more than 30 million people around the world infected with Covid-19, close to one million dead.
Horrific.
Then the bad news: Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US
A side effect of the outages - darkness then power surges as power comes back online? Alarm systems, ours and that of dozens of residences in the area, strain. Ours beeps intermittently and persistently for no apparent security breech. I’ve figured out how to quell the sound, but it is disconcerting: how does one know when the beep portends trouble?
This week, President Ramaphosa advised this nation, enjoy your weekend – and dance the Jerusalema challenge. (3:54 mins)
Horrific.
Healthy futures, anyone?
First the good news: Dolphin numbers up in Hong Kong after Covid crisis halts ferriesLarge numbers of dolphins returned to Hong Kong waters within weeks of the Covid-19 crisis shutting down high-speed ferries, and researchers are now calling for protections before the ferries resume.Wildlife photos to start your weekend off right
Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, also known as Chinese white dolphins and pink dolphins, are native to the Pearl River estuary, but typically avoided the waters between Hong Kong and Macau because of the high volume of high-speed boats.
But researchers say that with the pandemic drastically reducing water traffic, including the suspension of ferries, dolphin numbers in the area have risen by 30% since March.
Then the bad news: Birds 'falling out of the sky' in mass die-off in south-western US
Flycatchers, swallows and warblers are among the species “falling out of the sky” as part of a mass die-off across New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Arizona and farther north into Nebraska, with growing concerns there could be hundreds of thousands dead already, said Martha Desmond, a professor in the biology department at New Mexico State University (NMSU). Many carcasses have little remaining fat reserves or muscle mass, with some appearing to have nose-dived into the ground mid-flight.The world fails to meet a single target to stop destruction of nature – UN report
“I collected over a dozen in just a two-mile stretch in front of my house,” said Desmond. “To see this and to be picking up these carcasses and realising how widespread this is, is personally devastating. To see this many individuals and species dying is a national tragedy.”
The world has failed to meet a single target to stem the destruction of wildlife and life-sustaining ecosystems in the last decade, according to a devastating new report from the UN on the state of nature.
From tackling pollution to protecting coral reefs, the international community did not fully achieve any of the 20 Aichi biodiversity targets agreed in Japan in 2010 to slow the loss of the natural world. It is the second consecutive decade that governments have failed to meet targets.
The Global Biodiversity Outlook 5, published before a key UN summit on the issue later this month, found that despite progress in some areas, natural habitats have continued to disappear, vast numbers of species remain threatened by extinction from human activities, and $500bn (£388bn) of environmentally damaging government subsidies have not been eliminated.
***
The Lincoln Project: Plan (0:57 mins)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
We end this week with short, unexpected – that is, unannounced - electrical power outages. No explanation from Eskom for several varying length outages last night. No notice on Eskom’s app about what’s happening. We are in the dark!A side effect of the outages - darkness then power surges as power comes back online? Alarm systems, ours and that of dozens of residences in the area, strain. Ours beeps intermittently and persistently for no apparent security breech. I’ve figured out how to quell the sound, but it is disconcerting: how does one know when the beep portends trouble?
This week, President Ramaphosa advised this nation, enjoy your weekend – and dance the Jerusalema challenge. (3:54 mins)
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Alas!
Another week of pandemic, but Lockdown eases in South Africa. As of Sunday, we the people of South Africa go to Level 1, with restrictions eased. Alas, many countries are experiencing a second wave.
Gosh, the man is presidential. What a novel concept for my American self!
Compare the President of the United States on masks, etc. response to how humans can protect themselves from Covid-19 (if they feel like it). Trump contradicts and demeans CDC director (10:00 mins)
Care Center misplaced the forms I’d filled out back in March when I first attempted to get my mother into care. Then the pandemic scuppered all plans. Soon as Level 2 was reached, I approached the Center again. That was 6 months ago. So, re-doing all forms again.
Things don't look good anywhere. I began this post early this morning but put it aside to fulfill other obligations. Coming back to it at days end, the number of infections and deaths have increase.
Below, the numbers from this morning – 6 hours ago – shown in “(x )” and italics.
Worldwide (Map)
September 17 – 29,902,200 confirmed infections; 941,400 deaths)
(September 17 – 29,764,000 confirmed infections; 939,450 deaths)
September 10 – 27,766,325 confirmed infections; 902,470 deaths.
US (Map)
September 17– 6,630,100 confirmed infections; 196,831 deaths
(September 17– 6,631,650 confirmed infections; 196,800 deaths)
September 10 – 6,360,000 confirmed infections; 190,820 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
September 17 – 653,445 confirmed infections; 15,705 deaths
(same numbers/not updated)
September 10 – 642,431 confirmed infections; 15,086 deaths
He also advised South Africans to celebrate upcoming Heritage Day as a time to enjoy family and to reflect on the journey we’re on with Covid-19, to remember those lost, to rejoice in our national heritage, celebrate the global phenomenon Jerusalema – and to sing, dance with “good moves”, and to rollup our sleeves to restore national prosperity and development.
Worldwide (Map)
September 17 – 29,902,200 confirmed infections; 941,400 deaths)
(September 17 – 29,764,000 confirmed infections; 939,450 deaths)
September 10 – 27,766,325 confirmed infections; 902,470 deaths.
US (Map)
September 17– 6,630,100 confirmed infections; 196,831 deaths
(September 17– 6,631,650 confirmed infections; 196,800 deaths)
September 10 – 6,360,000 confirmed infections; 190,820 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
September 17 – 653,445 confirmed infections; 15,705 deaths
(same numbers/not updated)
September 10 – 642,431 confirmed infections; 15,086 deaths
News blues…
President Ramaphosa addressed South Africans last night with good news: as of 20 September, we’re going to Alert Level 1. This includes:- Further easing of gatherings - up to 50 percent of “normal capacity of a facilty” up to 250 people indoors and 500 outdoors.
- Keep wearing masks, sanitizing hands, keeping social distance
- Funeral capacity up to 50; vigils not permitted
- Exercising, etc., up to 50 percent of venue capacity – subject to social distancing
- Sporting event restrictions remain
- Voting – subject to health protocols, as are jails, schools, etc.
- International travel: gradually and cautiously easing restrictions after Oct 1 2020 with continued restrictions for countries with high rates of infections; Main airports only: Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town; travelers must hold negative test result not older than 72 hours; No test? Required to remain in mandatory quarantine at travelers own cost; Showing symptoms? Quarantine until repeat tests are negative;
- Visa applications open and longterm visas will be reinstated;
- Curfew hours: midnight to 4am
- Alcohol for home consumption purchased between Monday to Friday from 9am to 17:00pm; Onsite consumption at licensed establishments with adherence to curfew
- Economic sectors open but careful!
- Wear masks, socially distance, wash hands, ventilate all buildings
- Let’s rebuild economy and restore growth and jobs.
He also advised South Africans to celebrate upcoming Heritage Day as a time to enjoy family and to reflect on the journey we’re on with Covid-19, to remember those lost, to rejoice in our national heritage, celebrate the global phenomenon Jerusalema – and to sing, dance with “good moves”, and to rollup our sleeves to restore national prosperity and development.
Gosh, the man is presidential. What a novel concept for my American self!
Watch Ramaphosa's address to the nation. (36:00 min)
Compare the President of the United States on masks, etc. response to how humans can protect themselves from Covid-19 (if they feel like it). Trump contradicts and demeans CDC director (10:00 mins)
***
The Lincoln Project urges:There is a critical shortage of poll workers.
Due to Trump’s catastrophic failure in stopping the spread of coronavirus, there will likely not be enough poll workers for this election. Insufficient staffing could cause polling locations to close, leaving many people unable to cast ballots.
If you are able and comfortable, we highly encourage you to sign up to serve your community as a poll worker and help ensure every voter is able to cast his or her ballot securely.
Donald Trump's failures and attacks on our election are an existential threat to our republic.
In sowing distrust of our electoral processes and encouraging his supporters to vote twice and police voting locations, he seeks to intimidate voters, cast doubt over our free and fair elections, and claim an illegitimate win.
We cannot let Trump steal this election by defrauding our country. Serving your community and our country as a poll worker is an act of patriotism; there's nothing more American than helping protect democracy. Having fully staffed polling locations is absolutely critical for the security of our election during the most consequential vote of our lifetimes.
Signing up to be a poll worker is fast and easy—you can get started right here.***RVAT: Paul has a question for Christians who support Trump. (2:23 mins)***An alert travel advisory received from the US Embassy in South Africa
The Department of State revised its Travel Advisory for South Africa on September 15, 2020.
The Department continues to advise travelers to exercise normal precautions in South Africa. Reconsider travel to South Africa due to COVID-19. Exercise increased caution in South Africa due to crime, civil unrest, health, and drought.
Read the Department of State’s COVID-19 page before you plan any international travel. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for South Africa due to COVID-19.
South Africa has lifted stay at home orders and resumed some transportation options and business operations. Visit the Embassy's COVID-19 page for more information on COVID-19 in South Africa.
Violent crime, such as armed robbery, rape, carjacking, mugging, and "smash-and-grab" attacks on vehicles, is common. There is a higher risk of violent crime in the central business districts of major cities after dark.
Demonstrations, protests, and strikes occur frequently. These can develop quickly without prior notification, often interrupting traffic, transportation, and other services; such events have the potential to turn violent.
Parts of South Africa are experiencing a drought. Water supplies in some areas may be affected. Residential water-use restrictions are in place in Cape Town and other municipalities. Read the country information page.
Please see our Alerts for up-to-date information. If you decide to travel to South Africa:
- See the U.S. Embassy's web page regarding COVID-19.
- Visit the CDC’s webpage on Travel and COVID-19.
- Avoid walking alone, especially after dark.
- Avoid visiting informal settlement areas unless you are with someone familiar with the area.
- Do not display cash or valuables.
- Drive with doors locked and windows closed.
- Always carry a copy of your U.S. passport and visa (if applicable). Keep original documents in a secure location.
- Conserve water and follow local guidance on water use for tourists and Save Like a Local.
- Check the City of Cape Town website for up-to-date information and guidance on how to manage water consumption.
- Monitor water levels at the City of Cape Town’s Water Dashboard.
- Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
- Follow the Department of State on Facebook and Twitter.
- Review the Crime and Safety Report for South Africa.
- U.S. citizens who travel abroad should always have a contingency plan for emergency situations.
Yikes, I’d be discouraged from visiting a country with this many cautions – if I wasn’t already Locked down here!
***
AMERICAN? VOTE IN UPCOMING ELECTIONS
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.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
My mother’s first full day at the Care Center. I phoned in the morning and she reported all went well overnight. Important to note that Jessica, the dog, was well rested, too.Care Center misplaced the forms I’d filled out back in March when I first attempted to get my mother into care. Then the pandemic scuppered all plans. Soon as Level 2 was reached, I approached the Center again. That was 6 months ago. So, re-doing all forms again.
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
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.
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.”
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:
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, September 13, 2020
Eyes on POTUS
 |
| 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.
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