Signs of the times?

Boaters recently took to Lake Travis to trumpet their support of The Donald in the “Trump Boat Parade.”
It didn’t go well. According to Kristen Dark, spokesperson for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, “multiple vessels began sinking.”

“During the boat parade we received multiple calls from boats that were in distress and several boats did sink.”
The calls came in from “all over the parade route and described situations that included a boat taking on water, a boat capsizing and a boat “stalled and smacking on the rocks. It was all over the place.”
Dark did not know the exact number of boats that participated in the event overall. “There were a lot of boats on our lake,” she said. “And it’s a very, very large lake.”

Hmmm, extraterrestrial commentary? 

News blues…

As Trump ducks and tries to cover from the fallout of his views on military personnel, yet more insight into his worldview:

In a book due to be published next week, [fix-it man and Trump former lawyer, Michael] Cohen alleges that Trump described Mandela as a poor leader, according to the Washington Post which reported it obtained a copy of the book.
According to the newspaper, Cohen wrote that following Mandela's death in 2013, Trump said: "Mandela f---ed the whole country up. Now it's a s---hole. F--- Mandela. He was no leader."
Cohen also alleged that Trump said: "Tell me one country run by a black person that isn't a s---hole. They are all complete f---ing toilets." 

*** 

Ischgl ski resort, in Austria’s Paznaun valley is one of Europe’s most popular vacation spots. Facilities are well-run, with 45 convenient state-of-the-art ski lifts, and après-ski bars galore.
One bar with DJ booth offers a very popular feature: large red button that, when pressed, lowers the music volume and sets off a siren.
The problem?
That red button may have been a coronavirus super spreader.
Charlie Jackson, from Berkshire, partied with eight friends in the bar and reported, “You had to push [the button] with the palm of your hand. By the end of that night the button was slippery with sweat. One man alone “must have pressed it 50 times that night.” Since then,

At least 28 people who visited Ischgl in late February and early March have died of Covid-19. Four of the eight men in Jackson’s group fell ill with the virus on their return. Many thousands more are thought to have caught it at the resort. By mid-March, it was clear that tourists travelling in and out of the Paznaun valley had been the key accelerators behind the first wave of the virus on the European continent.
Outbreaks in northern Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland have all been traced back to skiers returning home from the Paznaun valley, and the devastating reach of the Ischgl cluster is likely to be considerably wider: an Austrian lawyer compiling a class action lawsuit against the Tirol region, alleging it failed in its public health duties, has gathered the signatures of more than 6,000 tourists from 47 countries who believe they caught the virus in Ischgl, including people from Canada, Cambodia and Zimbabwe. Around 180 of them are British citizens, who took the virus back to London, Manchester, Birmingham, Norwich and Brighton.

As I recall, South Africa’s first case was confirmed in nearby Hilton, KZN after a family went skiing in Italy. 
So much for Trump et al blaming China: “the Chayna virus.” Turns out it may have been the European virus mundanely brewed up on a sweaty red button in an Austrian après-ski bar.
Irony, anyone?

***

The Lincoln Project’s recent email blast states,

It's time for an actual Commander-in-Chief.
“Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.”
Trump’s disparagement of our fallen war heroes isn’t surprising — he’s called John McCain a “loser,” whined about flags being lowered to honor McCain in his death, and said “I like people who aren’t captured” — but that doesn’t make it any less revolting.
A private citizen making these comments would rightfully be shunned and humiliated...for them to come from the Commander in Chief is an abhorrent and devastating — and completely predictable — outcome from a narcissistic draft-dodging conman’s elevation to the White House.
We know Trump is a fraud and a criminal. It’s plainly apparent that he is also a feckless coward, or directly complicit, in the face of Russia’s targeting of our troops with bounties paid to the Taliban.
Either way he is wholly unfit to be Commander-in-Chief in the first place and our troops can’t afford another term.

POW  (0:55 mins)
RVAT: American Veteran and Pastor: Explaining Why Trump's Supporters Remain Loyal  (4:55 mins)
Meidas Touch: Draft Dodger Don: Trump Hates Our Troops  (0:55 mins)  

The Choice  (1:18 mins) 
Joe Biden Pays Tribute to John Kelly's Son  (0:45 mins)
NowThis | Gold Star Father Slams Trump  (5:14 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Spring in KwaZulu Natal Midlands. Gorgeous.
Imagine: the close of a warm day – temps reached 28C / 83 F and, at 4:15pm, a balmy 19C / 67 F; sitting near the garden pond, gusty breeze lifting hair and swaying the leaf greening trees. Binoculars and camera are within reach on the coffee table, a gin and tonic in hand. 

Striped kingfisher
Click to enlarge. 

Along with many monkeys, masked weavers and many small, flitting unidentified birds, I spotted a striped kingfisher, a handful of frogs, and water bugs.
It’s about as perfect as it gets in the Midlands in spring. Well, except for Eskom load shedding: no electricity for two hours. Luckily, dinner accompanied the G&T: a bag of peanuts.