Vigil

News blues…

A potentially more transmissible variant of Covid-19 first identified in South Africa has now been confirmed in Maryland, US. The case involves an adult residing in the "Baltimore metro region" who hadn't left the country, indicating that there is "likely" community transmission of the variant. Contact tracing is now ongoing, according to a press release from Governor Hogan’s office. 

***

Ivermectin. Antidote? Or the new hydroxychloroquine?

The black market in ivermectin has boomed after it was touted as a treatment for Covid-19, at the same time as being unregistered for human use in SA.
In a space of two weeks, six foreign nationals gave been arrested at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg for being in possession of suspected ivermectin tablets worth millions.
Police spokesperson Col Athlenda Mathe said the latest arrests were on Thursday when three people were found with ivermectin worth R5m.
The first suspect, a woman, had 178,200 tablets of the drug while the second suspect, also a woman, had 66,400 tablets. The man had 49,200 tablets.

***

The Lincoln Project is gearing up to sue Rudy Giuliani for defamation after he falsely linked the organization to the storming of the Capitol. 
More on that with co-founder Steve Schmidt  (8:29 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Enjoy photos of our friends from the far north. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Today, I abbreviated my daily vigil at my mom’s bedside. Staff said she’d not eaten much breakfast, had enjoyed a stint in the Laziboy, and was very tired. I talked to her and petted her, but she didn’t stir.
I play CDs when I visit: Dean Martin, Nat King Cole… easy listening that will remind her of the good old days. 

My mom loved to dance, especially cha-cha. Cha cha music is too lively under the circumstances….

Vaccine uncertainties

News blues…

Contradictory information about vaccines:
New research suggesting that several Covid-19 vaccines are less effective against a variant first found in South Africa has increased pressure on President Joe Biden’s administration to speed inoculations and enforce basic public health measures like wearing masks.

• Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine was 66 percent effective at preventing moderate and severe disease in a global study, the company said Friday.
  The hotly anticipated findings are the first from a late-stage trial that enrolled 45,000 people across the world. While the shot was 72 percent effective in the U.S. arm of the trial, it fell to just 57 percent in South Africa, where a highly transmissible variant predominates. 
• The coronavirus vaccine by Oxford/AstraZeneca is safe and effective enough to use in adults over the age of 18, the European Medicines Agency announced Friday.
  The European Commission is expected later Friday to rubber-stamp the EMA’s recommendation to formally approve the vaccine in the EU with a conditional marketing authorization. A German scientific committee said Thursday there wasn’t enough data to know whether the jab is suitable for people 65 and over. The U.K. approved the vaccine at the end of December with a temporary emergency use authorization applicable in people over the age of 18. 
• Novavax announced Thursday its Covid-19 vaccine is more than 89 percent effective at protecting against the virus based on preliminary data from a large late-stage trial in the United Kingdom. But the vaccine was far less effective against a variant of the virus first discovered in South Africa, according to data from a small trial in that country, the company said. 

Healthy planet, anyone?

Will Joe Biden come through on climate change?

The vision laid out in the actions signed by Biden on Wednesday was transformative. A pathway for oil and gas drilling to be banned from public lands. A third of America’s land and ocean protected. The government ditching the combustion engine from its entire vehicle fleet, offering up a future where battery-powered trucks deliver America’s mail and electric tanks are operated by the US military. 

... Biden’s administration will spur new climate-friendly policies for farmers while also devoting resources to the urban communities, typically low-income people of color, disproportionally blighted by pollution from nearby highways and power plants. In all, 21 federal agencies will be part of a new, overarching climate body. “This isn’t time for small measures,” Biden said. “We need to be bold.”

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I called a local politician with the reputation of getting this done – an anomaly in this country. He said he’d come to the house at 4:00pm.
He did! Right at 4pm he pulled up at the gate and honked/hooted.
I handed him the letters and photos I’ve carried to the local roads department office, showed him the culverts on both sides of the road, and explained the history of lack of service.
One thing he mentioned that I’d be on board with: a rates/property tax boycott. If enough property owners stop paying monthly rates/property taxes if may get enough attention on the lack of service delivery (culverts, extravagant potholes in every local road, overgrown vegetation, etc.
On the other hand, it may not. This, after all, is South Africa: always expect the unexpected….

***

Monday sees us free of the 3-month contract with one real estate agent to sell the property – the “sole mandate.” Suddenly, other agents are interested in seeing the property and bringing potential buyers. Too bad it’s also when the garden, lawns, stream and fishponds are flooded – and the gardener is ill with Covid.
I brought in the neighbor’s gardener to mow. At least the grass will look less unkempt when realtors come over.

***

My daily visit with my mother was sad. The Care Center sprays the facility once or twice a week to prevent coronavirus. Residents enjoy morning tea on the lovely verandahs during this time.
My mother was slumped in her wheelchair when I arrived. Other than slumping further, she barely moved. I dribbled tea into her mouth using a syringe.
After this “outing” she was wheeled back in to her room and laid out on her bed. To prevent pressure sores, aka bedsores, she was placed on her side and propped up with pillows.
My proud mother would HATE to be seen like this.
I hate to see her like this.

“Coronavirus is over”?

News blues…

The first case of South Africa's Covid-19 variant has been discovered in the US.  

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control explained that two cases of the B.1.351 South African variant have been detected. Dr Anthony Fauci has expressed his concerns about the UK and South African strains reaching American shores and becoming a complicating factor. 

But, fear not: Clinical results from the Novavax vaccine trials in South Africa and the United Kingdom have shown the vaccine to be effective against the SA and UK variants of the coronavirus. 

Except… a domestic worker reports “Zulu radio station” in KZN tells listeners “Corona is over”, that is, no more Covid-19, that the pandemic is “over.”

***

Wondering why American style of uber-capitalist government is in such trouble? Well, it has become heavily dependent on financial donors to prop up amoral politicians. “Senators who backed Trump's election challenge may rethink their stance on impeachment after losing corporate funding, experts say” 
It’s not just Republicans. Democrats are also on the take from corporate donors. It is, after all, how the US system of so-called “democracy” works.
You suggest We the People do away with this All-American system of paying off politicians?
How? It’s locked in, now, and for the foreseeable future.
Financial contributions, aka money, have become the way of influence. Elections are quickly becoming obsolete – in the way. The problem has been exacerbated by the US Supreme Court decision on Citizens United in 2009/2010. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

This time last year I was suffering the effects of jet lag: interrupted schedule, lack of sleep, disorientation, and a big change in weather (from cold, wet, and dark winter in California to hot, humid, wet, and bright summer in KZN).But family and friends in California were well. Plans were agreed upon to safeguard my houseboat in the marina. I would return 21 May.
This year I’m suffering the effects of my mother’s impending death and the social effects of the infection and deaths of millions of people from Covid-19. Plus, lack of sleep due to stress. And a flooded garden because, after 2 years, the department that’s supposed to take care of roads and public property won’t do its job.
Today, I’m awaiting a call from a local politician with the reputation of getting this done. Perhaps he can shift this stuck process?

Monday sees the end of the 3-months-long sole mandate for the sale of the house. Not a single person was interested in seeing the house.
I’ve two realtors from two different real estate companies interested in the business.
Alas, the garden is a mess due to copious summer rainfall (70mm in 15 hours this week) and fecund grass and weeds tower. With our gardener sick with Covid and his recovery expected to be slow, I’ve hired the neighbor’s gardener to mow the lawns.
It’s not easy to focus on the house and garden when my mother is shrinking day-by-day.
I’m aware that I must settle on something creative to do that will change the channel in my head from my dying mother, selling her house, and the incompetence of public officials. I’m pondering how to buy clay to build/sculpt “something.” Choices are limited:
Call the person who offers (offered?) class twice a week. Perhaps the most practical solution as he has a fully equipped studio albeit the hours are limited. That is if he still offers classes amid the pandemic. (Problem? During a creative spell, a creator needs uninterrupted work time. A schedule of 3 hours twice a week kills inspiration. No one creates fulling according to an externally imposed timetable. When inspired, I rise at dawn and work through the day, taking short breaks as needed, but always returning to the work-in-progress until it is finished.) Find some clay and build something I hold no hopes/intention of firing. This will offer the joy of working clay/gestating a sculpture, but never seeing it come to fruition.
Build my own studio in my new home. I’ve not clay, no tools, no slips/glazes, no equipment. Besides turning my small living space into a clay-dusty studio, this choice would also require a trip to Durban – 50 kms away during a pandemic – spending lots of money … and continuing to spend lots of money in the future (clay, slips and glazes, kiln, firing, etc.). A few months ago, I explored the possibilities of experimenting with a substitute for clay. (Perhaps one that did not require firing, etc.?) It didn’t work. The joy of clay is inherent in the substance, the ability to knead, easily mold and manipulate, and clay’s feel and texture.
The search continues….

Anniversary

Exactly one year in SA. I arrived a year ago today, scheduled to leave May 21, 2020. I’m still here. US Embassy clarified my return (see below) but who knows when I’ll actually depart.

And the numbers of Covid-19 sufferers continue to climb….

Worldwide (Map)
January 28, 2021 – 100,920,100 confirmed infections; 2,175,500 deaths
December 31 – 82,656000 confirmed infections; 1,8040100 deaths
November 26 – 60,334,000 confirmed infections; 1,420,500 deaths 

US (Map) 
January 28, 2021 – 25,600,000 confirmed infections; 429,160 deaths
December 31 – 19,737,200 confirmed infections; 342,260 deaths
November 26 – 12,771,000 confirmed infections; 262,145 deaths 

SA (Tracker)
January 28, 2021 – 1,430,650 confirmed infections; 42,550 deaths
December 31 – 1,039,165 confirmed infections; 28,035 deaths
November 26 – 775,510 confirmed infections; 21,2010 deaths

News blues…

Coronavirus can infect people so rapidly that it has continued to spread despite shutdown orders aimed at slowing the growth of new cases and flattening the line below.
So far, 1 out of every 12 people in the state [California] has tested positive. The number statewide is now on pace to double every 96.2 days, a number used to measure how quickly the virus is spreading. 

***

A Respiratory Therapist Explains the Effects COVID-19 Has on the Lungs and Heart  (3:06 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

© Cicada: ‘When they are this abundant,
they fly, land and crawl everywhere,
including occasionally landing on humans,'
said Gary Parsons of Michigan State University.
Photo: Jim Lane/Alamy

A remarkable phenomenon’ as billions of cicadas set to emerge across eastern US. 

Billions of cicadas that have spent 17 years underground are set to emerge across large areas of the eastern US
…The cicadas emerge in a 17-year cycle, meaning they will appear this year once temperatures are warm enough, expected to be mid-May.
“They may amass in millions in parks, woods, neighbourhoods, and can seemingly be everywhere,” said Gary Parsons, an entomologist at Michigan State University.”
Parsons said that while cicadas will not harm people, pets that gorge on them may become ill. It is thought that long underground development helps cicadas survive predators, as their huge and synchronized arrival provides protection in numbers. The noise made by the enormous swarms will be noticeable, however, with males emitting mating calls that can reach 100 decibels, the same sound as standing next to a motorcycle revving its engine. The males produce these mating “songs” by vibrating their tymbals, two rigid, drum-like membranes on the underside of the abdomen.

There’s a 13-year species of Magicicada, too. I saw the emergence of this 13 year variety in Nashville Tennessee. It was amazing: cicadas flying in dense clouds across roads, settling in trees, crawling on the ground.
And locals hated the creatures with a passion! They found them the emergence of this astonishing bug an imposition on their lives and thoroughly annoying.
KZN has cicadas, too. We call them Christmas beetles as they appear and sing around that time of year.
Fewer cicadas/Christmas beetles appear these days. But when they do, I recall how, as a teenager, I responded to the sound that I loved. 
I had a motorcycle – a “scrambler” 80cc bike – that I’d ride to Kloof, a village about 15 or 20 miles from home. Kloof had a long street lined both sides with sycamores? Plane trees? Not sure, but large, leafy trees that shaded the street and provided perfect conditions for Christmas beetles to sing, find mates, and procreated.
I’d name my motorcycle Maybell - after a red-light district worker I’d met in a movie. Maybell and I would ride up and down this street. I enjoyed the overwhelming screeching of cicadas so much I couldn’t help but join in. Up and down, up and down, Maybell carried me as I screeched along.
C’est magnifique!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Rained for 15 hours straight. First thing I did on waking today: check the water level in the lower garden. The stream has been on the cusp of flooding for weeks, since the culvert has almost completely blocked.
I’ve carried letters to the entity responsible for this kind of work. To no avail. 
Predictably, the lower garden is flooded. 

The culvert is now completely covered by water backing up ... no place to go but to flood the garden.

This is my foot in a gumboot showing the water level above my ankle. 

Tomorrow, I will carry – yet again – a letter with photographs to the responsible entity. 

And wait… and wait. 

Meanwhile, more rain is predicted.

***

A very stressful time. My mother is hanging on…. Today, I took one of her small dogs up to visit. My mother appreciated having the dog on her lap as she sat in the Laziboy. Alas, she’s too weak to pet the dog.

***

And news from the US Embassy in SA:

Health Alert: U.S. Citizens are Still Able to Return to the United States Despite a Presidential Proclamation Suspending Entry for Immigrant and Non-Immigrants in South Africa
  Location: The Republic of South Africa 
  Event: President Biden announced that effective at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 30, 2021, immigrant and non-immigrant entry into the United States will be suspended for individuals who were physically present within the Republic of South Africa during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. Please note that this proclamation does not apply to U.S. citizens and contains multiple exceptions including for lawful permanent residents of the United States and some non-citizen family members. All travelers to the United States, including U.S. citizens, must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test to airlines prior to departure.
  Actions to Take: 

• For more information about this Presidential Proclamations and exceptions to the proclamation, please visit https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/25/proclamation-on-the-suspension-of-entry-as-immigrants-and-non-immigrants-of-certain-additional-persons-who-pose-a-risk-of-transmitting-coronavirus-disease/
• Visit the CDC’s webpage for details on COVID testing entry requirements for air travelers to the United States: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html 
• Visit the Embassy’s COVID information page, https://za.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information-2/, for additional information on COVID in South Africa.

Happy place: Trains, ‘planes, and automobiles

News blues…

More than 100 million humans confirmed infected with Covid-19. More than one quarter of those infected reside in the United States – and that’s more than half of the number of the next highest number of infected, and that’s India.
How did we get here? “Evil decisions” were made, says Steve Schmidt of The Lincoln Project. (7:44 mins)

***

Survey on South Africans’ attitudes towards Covid-19 vaccines   (3:00 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

With countries closing borders to flights from South Africa due to "the new Covid variant", and lockdown continuing, I'm thinking about when, more importantly, how I can return to California and take care of my life there, my family and friends, my houseboat, etc. That set me on a look back to a golden age of music: Enjoy!
Trains: Arlo Guthrie – City of New Orleans, and, for South Africans… Hugh Masekela Stimela  (9:50 mins)
‘planes: Arlo Guthrie – Coming into Los Angeles  (3:06 mins) 

and automobiles:  Bruce Springsteen - Pink Cadillac (3:36 mins)

 Yes, it’s from “way back” – a golden age....

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

My mother was more communicative although I still cannot make out what she’s trying to say.
For the last 60 years she’s made decisions about her business and, far as I’m concerned, her severe physical decline doesn’t mean she should be excluded from offering input on current decisions. I invited her to comment on various decisions I face on her behalf: 

Impending tax refund: for the past 5 weeks, SARS has regularly emailed me that they would deposit her refund into her bank account “in ten days.” It’s close to 40 days - and 6 email notices - and not a penny has been deposited. My mother chuckled at the irony of SARS sending her first ever tax refund as she’s dying. 

Selling her house: I mentioned I may have a buyer and explained the conditions under which he’d be interested. She knows the proposed buyer and she nodded her approval. 

Doggie drugs: I asked her about the contents of a package of dog medications she’d given to her domestic worker. She appeared to recollect giving the medications, but I couldn’t understand her response. I said I’d ask the vet and that appeared to satisfy her. 

What I learned from this interaction was not to ask questions. The implicit assumption is that she can answer. She can’t. If I must ask questions, I must phase it so she can nod agreement or shake her head in disagreement.
I stroked her head and told her she’d had a good life and it was okay to let go and move on to the next steps – that I was sure her friends and all her dogs were waiting to welcome her to that place. 

Watching a loved one die is a profoundly complex experience.

All too much…

It’s not even midday and I am, as South Africans would say, “gatvol”! That means I’ve taken about as much as I can take and I need a break. I’ll post this then tune out for a while…

News blues…

California Has Its Own Coronavirus Variant, Researchers Reveal Scientists suspect the homegrown strain is likely linked to the case surge in Los Angeles County.  

Healthy planet, anyone?

A blight upon the planet?
A Trump Presidential Library? Don’t Count On It. 

Yet, a ‘Presidential Library’ for Donald Trump offers grim and funny possibilities 

Under the ‘Grift’ shop, it could list ‘presidential pardons’ for sale and sell MAGA playing cards with tweets by the outgoing President. And at the café, visitors could buy ‘Corona Beer’  
I addressed Trump's presidential library way back in March 2020 with a series of design ideas, deriving from popular neighborhoods Little Libraries. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

My mother was more communicative today although I still could not make out what she was trying to say.
For the last 40 years she’s made decisions about her business and, far as I’m concerned, her severe physical decline doesn’t mean she should be excluded from decisions now. I invited her to comment on various decisions I face on her behalf: Impending tax refund: for the past 5 weeks, SARS has regularly emailed me that they would deposit her refund into her bank account “in ten days.” It’s close to 40 days - and 6 email notices - and not a penny has been deposited. My mother chuckled at the irony of SARS sending her first ever tax refund as she’s dying.
I mentioned I may have a buyer for her house and explained the conditions under which he’d be interested. She knows the proposed buyer and she nodded her approval.
I’d persuaded the Care Center matron to allow my brother to visit tomorrow. (Alas, I’ve not been able to reach him by phone to invite him.)
I asked about the contents of a package of dog medications she’d given to her domestic worker. She appeared to recollect giving the medications, but I couldn’t understand her response. I said I’d ask the vet and that appeared to satisfy her.
I stroked her head and told her she’d had a good life and it was okay to let go and move on to the next steps – that I was sure her friends and all her dogs were waiting to welcome her to that place. 

Watching a loved one die is a profoundly complex experience.

Coping

News blues…

Category 2 tropical cyclone Eloise pummeled Madagascar and Mozambique and heads into Limpopo, Mpumalanga and northern KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) .
This part of Midlands (KZN) is getting off lightly with steady rainfall, no thunder and lightning, no hail, and no wind.

***

KZN has moved into second place with its Covid-19 numbers of infected (293,050) only behind Gauteng (373,100), the most urban province in the country.
South Africans should expect a third Covid-19 wave in 3 to 4 months – and the crisis hits world headlines  (2:03 mins)
Biden responds to this news by preparing to impose a travel ban for non-U.S. citizens traveling from South Africa. (2:23 mins)
Theoretically, I could still depart SA although the UK is stopping flights from SA into that country.
Dubai is a stopover possibility. That country is a favorite destination for desperate South Africans.

***

Exactly one year after its first confirmed case of Covid-19, the US passes 25 million confirmed cases. 

***

Boogieman of the conspiracy crowd, Dr Fauci, now President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, spills on working for Trump:

Fauci frequently contradicted Trump’s baseless claims about COVID-19. In his interview with The New York Times, he recalled Trump’s repeated claims that the virus would simply “go away.”
“It isn’t like I took any pleasure in contradicting the president of the United States,” Fauci said. “I have a great deal of respect for the office. But I made a decision that I just had to. Otherwise I would be compromising my own integrity, and be giving a false message to the world. If I didn’t speak up, it would be almost tacit approval that what he was saying was OK.”
“That’s when I started to get into some trouble,” he continued. “The people around him, his inner circle, were quite upset that I would dare publicly contradict the president.”
Asked if Trump ever confronted him for contradicting him about the pandemic, Fauci said the then-president would express “disappointment.” 
“There were a couple of times where I would make a statement that was a pessimistic viewpoint about what direction we were going,” Fauci said, “and the president would call me up and say, ‘Hey, why aren’t you more positive? You’ve got to take a positive attitude. Why are you so negativistic? Be more positive.’”
“He would get on the phone and express disappointment in me that I was not being more positive,” Fauci added. He said Trump didn’t explain why he was upset that Fauci didn’t have a more upbeat attitude about the deadly pandemic.
…In his interview with the Times, Fauci said he’s received numerous death threats in the last year stemming from “right-wing craziness.”
“It was the harassment of my wife, and particularly my children, that upset me more than anything else… They knew where my kids work, where they live. The threats would come directly to my children’s phones, directly to my children’s homes. How the hell did whoever these assholes were get that information?”
In one alarming incident, Fauci said he opened a letter he had received and a “puff of powder” exploded onto his face and chest.
“That was very, very disturbing to me and my wife because it was in my office,” he said. “So I just looked at it all over me and said, ‘What do I do?’ The security detail was there, and they’re very experienced in that. They said, ‘Don’t move, stay in the room.’ And they got the hazmat people. So they came, they sprayed me down and all that.”
The powder was tested and the results showed it was “a benign nothing,” Fauci told the Times.
“But it was frightening,” he said. “My wife and my children were more disturbed than I was. I looked at it somewhat fatalistically. It had to be one of three things: A hoax. Or anthrax, which meant I’d have to go on Cipro for a month. Or if it was ricin, I was dead, so bye-bye.”

Dr Birx unloads on Trump, too…. 

***

Pineapple on pizza? MSNBC news anchor (“presenter”) Ari Velschi was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and raised in Toronto, Ontario, son of Murad Velshi, the first Canadian of Indian origin elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and Mila, who grew up in South Africa.
Perhaps it’s the southern /northern hemisphere connections or being an immigrant (like me, he lives in the US), or simply that he’s smart and eloquent, but, here, he expresses ideas with which I’m on board … . (And, I’m a “no” on pineapple on pizza.)

***

Steve Schmidt, co-founder The Lincoln Project, Republican Party Is An Organized Conspiracy  (12:30 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Lots to cope with these days: Fast moving Covid, extended and unanticipated stay in SA, a typhoon, trying - so far, unsuccessfully - to maintain and sell my mother’s large property, find congenial homes for 3 mature dogs, find work for a longtime employee, a gardener ill with Covid, and a mother dying. 
Time to catch my breath and ponder….

Uncharted territory

The death of shame (2:54 mins)

News blues…

• Covid trends in South Africa  (4:57 mins)
• Hundreds of National Guard members and 38 Capitol police officers test positive for COVID after protecting Capitol from threats   

***

Right wing conspiracy theory and propaganda continues: 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) attracted attention last week when he said in a floor speech that former President Donald Trump “bears responsibility” for the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. But since then, he has seemed to walk back his criticism.
On Thursday, he told reporters that he didn’t actually believe Trump had “provoked” the mob of his supporters.
In an interview airing Sunday on Gray Television’s “Full Court Press With Greta Van Susteren,” McCarthy insisted he wasn’t changing his tune. “No, I have not changed in that,” he said.
He stood by his assertion that Trump does bear some responsibility for what happened. But, he added, so does every other person around the country. “I also think everybody across this country has some responsibility,” he said.
McCarthy then started pointing to Democrats who opposed Trump, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), people who are rude on social media and law enforcement authorities who didn’t prepare for the attack as some of the people who were somehow responsible.

With this kind of claptrap emanating from Congress, what, you many wonder, is the long-term prognosis for the American Experiment in Democracy?
Not good.

On the other hand, we see new ways of thinking among American youth. We the People need to listen to youthful voices speaking for a more equitable future for all. 

***

An inevitable outcome of America’s gun-crazy culture? A Republican member of tries to carry a gun onto the House floor:  (4:58 mins)

***

Steve Schmidt, co-founder The Lincoln Project, Congressman “Rand Paul has “soiled his oath”  (5:30 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Clothes washing linked to ‘pervasive’ plastic pollution in the Arctic 

© Red crabs on Christmas Island climb
a bridge designed for their protection. 
Photograph: Chris Bray Photography/Swell Lodge

How creating wildlife crossings can help reindeer, bears – and even crabs 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

My new posting schedule is awkward but necessary as I segue into my new life and new home with my new wireless connection – and visiting my mother each day.
She’s dying.
It is … well, expected, but outlandish…
How can my mother die?
Preposterous. But true.

My mother’s dominance over my “family of origin” ensured the trickle down of her predominant ideology: “everything-is-fine”; don’t make waves – unless you’re angry, then make tsunamis; resistance to an action or idea means “you’re just jealous”; females, lesser beings than males, are inherently untrustworthy; positive reinforcement is unnecessary, indeed, “spoils” a child….
This meant touching, hugging, and expressing affection has not been part of my relationship with my mother although she and my brother always meet and depart with a kiss.
Given this history, I was apprehensive about visiting her in the Care Center each day.
Thinking she’d like Kipling’s classic, The Jungle Book I downloaded it onto my cell phone to read to her.
She’d nodded agreement about this plan, and I began. Five minutes later, she mumbled question about why I was reading about a wolf family: did I think she was a child?
I put the story aside.
I scanned through her CDs and found Nat King Cole. It wouldn’t play. I found Bing Crosby. That wouldn’t play either. Dean Martin’s 40 favorite hits played, and she indicated she enjoyed hearing it.
Huh. Maybe she and I could find common ground in simple enjoyments.
I showed her pictures of her grand- and great-grandchildren, told her my brother was “fine,” reported on the dogs and their wellbeing… Teatime rolled around and I urged sips of liquid through a syringe; antipathy to drinking water leads to her dehydration, but she can’t sit upright to drink from a cup. Her musculature is kaput.
My first try led her to choke and I had to shout to the staff for help.
On departing, I stroked my mother’s head, patted her hands and thigh, told her I’d be back tomorrow.
Arriving home, I messaged my brother and his kids: gran is in bad shape, please, please send photos and anecdotes I can share with her.
Today, I’ll lie next to her on her bed and share what they sent.
I’m in uncharted territory.
It’s heartbreaking.

***

The gardener called me late yesterday to report he’d not be at work on Monday as he’s “very sick. I don’t know what’s wrong,” he said.
He works for a neighboring friend on a Wednesday and she reported he wasn’t well that day.
He’s a family man with a wife and two young children and an all-round good guy. Send him your best vibes, prayers, and wishes….

Payback

News blues…

Don’t worry, be happy?

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Friday night that there was “promising evidence” that the Covid-19 second wave was on the decline. 
Mkhize said on Friday that 11,761 new cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours — but this was at a positivity rate of 19%, significantly lower than the positivity rate from the height of the second wave of infections over the past month.

For skeptical South Africans sick of the corruption and lies at the heart of the troubles in this country, I suggest a more apt phrase: “Show me the money!”

***

In the US, the incoming administration usually begins to enact its “agenda” within the first 100 days, aka “the honeymoon period.” After that, the gloves come off and opposition begins in earnest. 

Joe Biden’s “honeymoon” period lasted less than 12 hours. So much for “unity”.
Corruption and lies show up in the US system, too. Republican efforts to coldcock the honeymoon period include:

• Thanks to Trumpian lack of goodwill, indeed, malice, Biden’s coronavirus team “don’t’ know what they don’t’ know”  about Trump’s Covid plan.
• Just two weeks after the Capitol riot inspired by their own voter fraud lies Republicans are mad Joe Biden isn’t uniting the nation around the GOP agenda. “The new president’s policies are dividing the nation.” 
• Then there’s Republican “kiss my ass” response to the Federal mask mandate 
• And the “goofy”: delay in power sharing 
• Donald Trump and his wrecking crew created the 1776 Commission  to promote “patriotic education” and counter the New York Times’ controversial “1619 Project”. The former was, according to historians, “a hack job” reflecting a “clumsy partisan intent” Now, it is itself history – gone, disappeared, vamoosed. Thanks, Joe Biden.
• Trump’s legacy includes a Republican Party prepared to punish formerly respected Republicans for stepping out of line.

***

A rose by any other name?
Is the phrase “domestic violent extremism” the new term evolving to avoid the politics of “domestic terrorism” yet capitalize on cultural disdain for “domestic violence”? 

***

The Lincoln Project: You had it all, Josh  (0:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

A million young people urge governments to prioritize climate crisis. …
Coalition quietly adds fossil fuel industry leaders to emissions reduction panel 
Shark tourism and conservation off the coast of South Africa – a photo essay 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Yesterday, permitted into the Care Center for the first time since my mother’s fall and subsequent surgery, I was shocked at what I found.
Instead of my proud 87-year-old mother, an ancient, drooling gnome-like figure squirmed in a Lazi-boy armchair. Her head lolled on her chest as I tried to squirt tea into her mouth using a syringe. Nor could I understand the few mumbled words she uttered.
When I met her one open eye, however, I saw my mother inside that physical wreck. She appeared trapped in a useless body, unable to escape.
I’m not easily shocked, but….
I went to the matron for answers. It was, after all, the matron – not my mother’s doctor – who alerted me to something “off” about my mother’s condition. We talked. I sought names of doctors I could ask for second opinions, and then I set to work.
It’s not easy to find busy doctors who will agree to same-day appointments. One well-respected doctor had no open appointments until March 24. I emailed her “… MY MOTHER WILL BE DEAD BY MARCH 24….” Perhaps that phrase stimulated her admin to return my call? We agreed that doctor would work with the doctor I solicited for a second opinion to review my mother’s prescription drugs of the last several months. It’s my (non-medical) opinion that her regular doctor’s back-and-forth decisions on prescription precipitated her decline.
I met the new doctor before he examined my mother and spoke to him afterwards. He concurred that she’s in a deep depression. He plans to liaise with other doctors and come up with a regime that will suit my mother’s condition.
Meanwhile, I have permission to enter the Covid-conscious, locked down Care Center every day to visit my mother.
Thinking about how best to use that time: read to her (something easy and fun? Jungle book?). Sing to her? Tell her stories of earlier, happier days? I’ll carry photos there too.
If my mother doesn’t revive her interest in living, she will quickly die.
A lifetime in the School of Hard Knocks has toughened me up, but the next weeks will test everything I think I know about who I think I am.

New connections

Make Americans Feel Great Again! (MAFGA?)
“Goodbye Donald Trump”  (1:35 mins, more than 2.5 million views so far!)

Wow! True American Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet League – reads her wonderful poem at Biden/Harris inauguration. (5:50 mins) and interviews with CNN’s Anderson Cooper…  (10:51 mins)
Amanda’s mantra that she recites to herself anytime she’s about to perform in public:
     I’m the daughter to black writers
     We’re descended from freedom fighters
     Who broke their chains
     And changed the world.
     They call me.

And let’s remember the costs-to-date of reaching this still-far-off Promised Land  (1:32 mins)

News blues…

Reality check in South Africa.
(c) Zapiro

Reality check in US:

• Biden gets a cold dose of ‘unity’ 
• Republicans bludgeon Biden's big stimulus plans 
• Schumer, McConnell at loggerheads over U.S. Senate power sharing 
• Republicans Celebrate Democracy After Lying About Fraud, Voting To Overturn Election  
• Kevin McCarthy Says Trump Didn’t Incite That Mob, Actually 

Ah, unity schumity – who needs it anyway? 

The good news? Chief Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci's in charge....  

***

The Lincoln Project:
Moving day  (1:09 mins)
Dawn  (2:15 mins)
Morning in America  (0:55 mins)
Trump’s Legacy (1:54 mins)
Meidas Touch: Goodbye, Donnie  (1:04 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

From Keystone XL to Paris Agreement, Joe Biden signals a shift away from fossil fuels:

On his first day in the White House, Biden took a series of executive actions that put an exclamation point on his commitment to address climate change. Biden immediately moved to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change, revoke a permit that former President Donald Trump granted to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and place a temporary moratorium on oil and gas leasing in the Arctic.
…"The era of supporting fossil fuels, even as a temporary bridge to a clean future, is over," said Bob McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group. "The United States has shifted from all-of-the-above to accelerated decarbonization."

Well, let’s hope Bob McNally is correct. Actually “shifting” from fossil fuels to “decarbonization” won’t be easy. For one thing, change is hard for human. Moreover, what to do with all the toxics in your increasingly popular, considered “renewable” basic battery? Toxics include acid, lead, nickel, lithium, cadmium, alkaline, mercury and nickel metal hydride ... leaking and contaminating soil and water along with accumulating in wildlife and humans. Plus, the expense… 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

My new Internet connection at my new place went into effect today.
Initially, the install was scheduled for 12:30pm. At 9:30am, the installer called to ask for an earlier install. I agreed; that freed up my afternoon.
My online connections become more complicated for the foreseeable future. I will finish up service from one (expensive) ISP and start service (way cheaper and 4 times as much data) in my new location. But I’ll be without wireless at my mother’s house – and that means without phone connection – for weeks. Can I resist buying more data from the expensive ISP? Enquiring minds wanna know….
I’m anxious about losing phone connection and easy access, but looking forward

***

As January draws to a close, my optimism rises. Not only is Trump et al off the airwaves 24/7, I’m closer to the conclusion of the 3-month sole mandate on my mother’s property.
A sole mandate is a contract to protect realtors’ interest: any commission deriving from a sale, whether or not the realtor showed the property, goes to the realtor.
No sole mandate means any realtor can show/sell the place and receive the commission. Or no realtor required to sell a property; seller/buyer can work directly with conveyancer/title company.
IMHO, the realtors serving this property have been the opposite of pro-active. In 3 months, not a single person has shown interest in even looking at the property.
True, the pandemic dampens enthusiasm and jobs and money are scarce.
Also true, I’m more familiar with California/San Francisco Bay Area real estate where, from the moment a reasonably priced property appears on the market, it garners requests to view. Bidding wars are the norm between competing buyers and properties frequently sell far above the asking price.
Throttling back expectations for the SA has been difficult.
The sooner I sell this property, the sooner my mother gets the money in her bank, the sooner I can return to California to see my family and friends… and my houseboat.

The vulgarian has left the building

Exit the vulgar grifter. Welcome, an opportunity for We the People to get it together to fight – and beat – a pandemic showing little let up:

Trump departed a city under militarized fortification meant to prevent a repeat of the riot he incited earlier this month.
For his opponents, Trump's departure amounts to a blissful lifting of a four-year pall on American life and the end to a tortured stretch of misconduct and indignities. Even many of Trump's onetime supporters are sighing with relief that the White House, and the psychology of its occupant, may no longer rest at the center of the national conversation.
He leaves office with more than 400,000 Americans dead from a virus he chose to downplay or ignore.

Worldwide (Map) 
January 21 – 96,830,000 confirmed infections’ 2,074,000 deaths
December 17 – 73,557,500 confirmed infections; 1,637,100 deaths
November 19 – 56,188,000 confirmed infections; 1,348,600 deaths

US (Map)
January 21 – 24,450,000 confirmed infections’ 406,100 deaths
December 17 – 16,724,775 confirmed infections; 303,900 deaths
November 19 – 11,525,600 confirmed infections; 250,485 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal)
January 21 – 1,370,000 confirmed infections’ 38,900 deaths
December 17 – 873,680 confirmed infections; 23,665 deaths
November 19 – 757,145 confirmed infections; 20,556 deaths

News blues…

"This is more work than in my previous life," [Donald Trump} told Reuters 100 days into the job [four years ago]. "I thought it would be easier." 

I echo the sentiments of New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof who writes,

I thought about saying something more about Trump… about the final count from The Washington Post of 30,573 false or misleading statements as president (an average of 21 a day). About his financial challenges. About his legal risks. About his isolation, unable to get even his own vice president to Joint Base Andrews for his farewell.
But Trump has messed with us enough. Yes, we need accountability, and we’ll get it with civil and criminal investigations, and with the Senate impeachment trial. But let’s focus on healing, which means no longer letting Trump set the agenda. He’s off Twitter, thank God, and I want some time not thinking of him and instead letting Biden wrestle with our national problems — including healing the country.

Amen, brother!

***

As he promised, President Joe Biden spent the first day of his term walking back Donald Trump’s legacy and establishing a new order through a flurry of executive actions. Close to top of the list: 100 day mask mandates in all Federal executive actions ... addressing climate change… cancelling the permit on Keystone XL pipeline …
In total, he signed 17,  more than half of which reversed a Trump-era policy.
Read the full list >> 

Boring never looked so good!

 
Alas, conspiracy theorist, seditionists, and whackidoodles dazed and confused 

***

The Lincoln Project: An email from my favorite former-Republican and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, Steve Schmidt:

The President’s success is America’s success.

"I am rooting hard for you." 

                                                        — George H.W. Bush to Bill Clinton

In a bygone era of American politics before coups and QAnon, we had a rich tradition of honoring democracy and the peaceful transfer of power with nonpartisan hope, optimism, and decorum.
Sitting presidents, regardless of party and of their own electoral result, passed the baton to their successor by rallying support, offering encouragement, and leaving a piece of advice or two.
It was obvious to men like Barack Obama, George Bush Jr. and Sr., Bill Clinton, and dozens before them that partisanship was ultimately performative, and the urgency and importance of strong leadership in the White House superseded ground-floor politicking.
For the country to be successful, the president must be successful, and vice versa.
How far we have fallen.
It was obvious from day one that the Trump presidency would lack convention or tradition.
It was clear Trump felt no fidelity to democracy—that he could not sense the gravity of his office, or of his power, or of his place in history.
Needless to say, those observations held steady.
Today, Trump left office mired in disgrace. He never once congratulated his successor, let alone acknowledge the result of the election.
The closest he came to conceding was reading a statement committing to a “peaceful” transfer of power long after the Capitol had been overrun by domestic terrorists.
Today, Trump leaves with the majority of the country against him—against his brashness and narcissism, antipathy and racism.
America is moving on from Trump.
Good riddance.
Today, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will set a new tone for our nation’s discourse.
They’ll reassert a standard to be expected of public servants in this country.
They’ll stand up for American ideas and ideals, and repudiate those who espouse hatred and ignorance.
We may not agree on every policy outcome or key decision point.
That’s OK.
Respectful disagreement is the very thread through which democracy is woven.
But Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have a reverence and deference to our Constitution and democratic norms, in absentia through the Trump presidency.
Mr. President and Madam Vice President, we’re rooting hard for you.
Your victories are our country’s victories.
Make us proud.
— Steve

PS: Donald Trump may have left Washington—but we [The Lincoln Project] aren't going anywhere. All those who sought to overturn our free and fair election in the Sedition Caucus, including Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, must pay a price for betraying our country and defying their oath. Stay tuned!

Healthy planet, anyone?

In keeping with the light-heartedness around the world as the Trumpster takes his sordid place in history, note the message on vehicle:

“Dried rhino poacher testicles cure AIDS – ACT NOW!”

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Sore throat update: still sore, but slightly less sore. Overnight discomfort present but manageable. I’m on the mend.
A recipe to soothe sore throats – and reduces the fear that accompanies sore throat sufferers during a pandemic:
In one bowl, combine:
     2 scoops of vanilla ice cream (faux ice cream works too)
     2 tablespoons mint syrup (recipe below)
     2 tablespoons grapefruit flavored rum (pink gin works too)
     I comfortable spot to sit/lounge(armchair, air mattress, bed…)
     Carry bowl and spoon to comfortable spot, settle, and dig in! 

Mint syrup recipe (easy to make and excellent for mojitos)
     Half cup of sugar
     Half cup of water
     Boil together until sugar is dissolved/
     Add 2 large handfuls of fresh, washed mint leaves and simmer for 5 minutes.
     Cool.
     Drain mint leaves from syrup, pour liquid into jar/container, store in fridge until needed.

Experimenting with the ice cream remedy for sore throats means a dwindling supply of grapefruit-flavored rum.
Surprise! The local TOPS (liquor store) was shut – and had been for weeks.
I’d forgotten a Lockdown Level 3 mandate:

Alcohol sales from retail outlets and onsite consumption are banned. The prohibition on the public consumption of alcohol remains. 

Ah, well… win some, lose some….

Gotta pace myself. 
Hmmm, maybe pink gin will work almost as well....

Pardon-athon?

We know who he'll pardon first. 
But who else is on his list?
Enquiring minds wanna know....

News blues…

The Donald’s ship has sailed – and the rats, his so-called “allies”, can’t abandon him fast enough.
The odd thing about Trump? Despite perfecting the Art of Usury – including using people for his own ends - his pathological arrogant narcissism never understood that users beget users. A list of “allies” who’ve abandoned the Trumpster so far:

• GOP Leaders Cordially Decline Trump's Going Away Party  (3:55 mins)
• After 4 years of sycophancy, “Moscow Mitch” now says, “The mob was fed lies.” 
• Pence, McConnell, and McCarthy are skipping Trump's departure ceremony 
• Republican support for convicting Trump in Senate growing 
• Ah, well, who needs ‘em? Trump’s arranging his own send-off at Joint Base Andrews at 8am on Wednesday. Naturally, Trump wants a military-style send-off with a band and a flyover.
• He and his family, from wife to kids and grandkids, no longer welcome in New York, are off to Florida. 

With four hundred Americans dead from Covid-19 and a country in shambles, “Good luck, Florida!”

***

The Lincoln Project:

In less than 24 hours, Joe Biden will be President. Kamala Harris will be Vice President.
And Donald Trump will be a disgraced ex-President, failed businessman, and a Twitter-less private citizen.
We are in the final hours of the worst presidency of our lifetimes, and one of the most destructive in our country’s history.
For the first time in four years, the sitting president won’t be a national security landmine, a walking emoluments clause violation, or a nepotist pimp dealing spoils and favors to loyalists and the highest bidders.
We will soon have a president who listens to scientists instead of conspiracy theorists, experts instead of provocateurs, and trusted legal minds instead of pillow salesmen.
Our new president will consider the human toll of the raging pandemic before his political posturing.
Our new president will defend the values of liberal democracy, instead of abandoning our allies and cozying up to autocrats and oppressors.
Our new president will work for all Americans—not just himself and the privileged few.
Reaching this day was years in the making. November’s election did not occur in a vacuum.
It took every other patriot in this coalition to fight for democracy and deliver Joe Biden’s victory.
It took millions of Americans standing up for what is right versus what is so clearly wrong.
This is our time.
And this is our new president.

As glad as I am that the Trumps are going, the cynic in me wonders how long the current adoration of Biden as Savior will continue.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

My things-to-do before-I-can-depart-SA list just got one item more complicated. Before I can purchase a return ticket and depart, not only must I sell a house – my mother’s - and find homes for three dogs – ditto, my mother’s – figure out if I should rent my own new home, and set up a routine that tries to ensure my mother’s well-being in the Care Center, I must also follow Embassy-level directions before I can re-enter California.
As per the US Embassy in SA:

Health Alert: Requirement for Proof of Negative COVID-19 Test or Recovery from COVID-19 for All Air Passengers Arriving in the United States
Location: The Republic of South Africa
Event: Starting January 26, 2021, all air travelers to the United States, including U.S citizens, are required to provide a negative COVID-19 test or proof of recovery to enter the United States.
On January 12, 2021, CDC issued an Order requiring all air passengers arriving to the US from a foreign country to get tested no more than 3 days before their flight departs and to provide proof of the negative result or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 to the airline before boarding the flight. This Order will go into effect on January 26, 2021. Actions to take: 

• Visit the CDC’s webpage for more details on this requirement: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html
• Visit the Embassy’s COVID information page, https://za.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information-2/, for additional information on COVID in South Africa.

Talking about Covid, my sore throat is still sore, but slightly less sore than this time (5:45am) yesterday. Pain and discomfort is worse overnight and, happily, last night’s discomfort was marginally less than the previous night’s.
Restored health on the horizon?
Amen!

5G. Golly gee!

KwaZulu Natal is many things… including a mishmash of misinformation and hysteria amongst those who believe that 5G towers are spreading coronavirus, that vaccines will “infect” their blood with “demons,” and that a combo of 5G, coronavirus, vaccines, electricity transmission lines, etc. herald the imminent apocalypse… 
The targeted “bad guys” at the center of many conspiracies circulating in South Africa? 

Bill Gates and Anthony Fauci. George Soros, too, although he’s more demonized in the US than he is in South Africa.
Interestingly, few South Africans recognize Mark Zuckerberg, his name, his social media platforms, or his outsized role in social media. This, despite WhatsApp - and Facebook - being social media platforms of choice for “everyone” in SA with a mobile phone .
Conspiracy theories swirl more than ever as news circulates about users having to opt into WhatsApp’s updated privacy rules by 6 February  
As increasingly bizarre conspiracy theories multiple exponentially, Telegram is promoted as the alterative social media platform. In the US, however, Telegram (along with Gab, CloutHub, and MeWe) are described (by “normal” people) as “a haven for MAGA extremists and far-right message boards such as 8kun (formerly 8chan)).
Positioned with one foot in California and one foot in KZN offers a fascinating peek into human complexities, conspiracy theories and all.

News blues…

Eish! Hasn’t he left yet?

(Above) This week’s New Yorker magazine says it all.

Next week’s prescient New Yorker cover.  

***

As Donald Trump prepares to scuttle out of Washington, DC, he’s said to be selling pardons, for up to $2 million each. 
Hey, Donald, haven’t you heard? “You’re fired!”

***

The Lincoln Project: The Liar's Guide to Mendacious Hypocrisy  (2:06 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Will Neptune’s balls save us?

Underwater seagrass in coastal areas appear to trap plastic pollution in natural bundles of fibre known as “Neptune balls”, researchers have found. 
With no help from humans, the swaying plants – anchored to shallow seabeds – may collect nearly 900m plastic items in the Mediterranean alone every year, [according to a study] in the journal Scientific Reports.

My concern about miracle cures, whether Neptune’s balls or any other?
Humans tend to decide “someone else” is taking care of the planet's plastics problem and nothing more effort is required of them.
Friends, that’s far from true.
Much of the plastic dropped in recycling bins isn't being recycled. 

In 2014, 22 percent of PET plastic collected for recycling was exported out of the United States. Plastic production surged from 15 million tons in 1964 to 311 tons in 2014 — an increase of more than 2,000 percent. 

According to the EPA, of the 267.8 million tons of municipal solid waste generated by Americans in 2017, only 94.2 million tons were recycled or composted. Sixty-six percent of discarded paper and cardboard was recycled, 27 percent of glass, and 8 percent of plastics were recycled. 

Recycle, recycle, recycle and learn if plastic is recycled productively in your neighborhood. 

Your efforts, small or large, are vital. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Heron Pond is one of four small lakes spaced, ladder-like, in a shallow valley near my section of my soon-to-be-new home. Over the weekend, while circumambulating Heron Pond, I learned anyone can fish for bass in any of the small lakes – Heron, Stork, Robin, and Duck.
Traditionally, fishing has not been my choice of pastime. I have accompanied a friend into California’s Sierra foothills to fly fish trout. LINK He practices catch-and-release so I wasn’t faced with the dilemma of watching a pretty trout lose the struggle for breathe on a riverbank.
While he fished, I explored tide pools, scrambled over rocks, and admired rock formations.
The idea of sitting on the bank of Heron or other pond appeals. I’d probably not bait the hook (what if a bass bites?), but holding a fishing rod/pole would provide cover for sitting near and staring into water.
Or I could watch for fish eagles These amazing predators frequent these ponds. I watched two circle overhead and one dive to the pond surface. 

Vegetation blocked my view of whether her/his dive was productive.
Next time, I’ll carry a camera

***

Sore throat update: My infected throat is neither noticeably better nor worse. I continue to steam and gargle salt water. I took advice from the doctor’s office to use a throat spray and to try a different over-the-counter lozenge or syrup.
While I’m willing to go with medical advice, to date my flesh is unwilling to comply.

“Free again, free again…”

I’ve been in South Africa for almost one year – 8 months beyond what I’d planned. One luxury I’ve granted myself during this time is an Internet connection. While I love the location of this house - semi-rural in a valley with wonderful vegetation and tall trees - I pay a premium for the Internet connection.
As of next Thursday, I’ll move to a connection one third the price for four times the data. 

It’ll be awkward and disruptive and my posting schedule will change, but I’m looking forward to no longer being exploited by an ISP that considers me a source of endless Yankee dollas.
I’ve managed, despite load shedding and ISP troubles, to post every day since the beginning of Covid and Lockdown and I intend to maintain that discipline.
Thank you for reading this blog and, after Thursday, please be patient as we segue to a modified schedule. Daily posts will continue albeit slightly later in the day.

News blues…

Since the recent attempted coup/insurrection/siege of the Capitol, will America and Americans have another round of soul searching around race and xenophobia?

For African Americans, Wednesday’s siege of the U.S. Capitol by a mob bent on keeping President Donald Trump in office despite his election loss in November offered fresh evidence that the double standard and the racism … remain firmly in place. 

The Lincoln Project: Which side  (0:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

A Black Lives Matter rally
in Brisbane in June after the death of
George Floyd in the US.
'In a just world, no one should
have to fight for oxygen,’
writes author Jennifer Mills . 
Photo: James D Morgan/Getty Images 

The question of who breathes, and who suffocates, is a question of who deserves to live. It’s a question that will only become more urgent as the climate crisis develops.
Read, Trouble breathing: 'We all breathe the same air, but we don't breathe equally' >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Eskom, South Africa’s electrical supply commission parastatal, regularly displays its budgetary and executive/managerial shortcomings.
Load shedding – shutting down the country’s power grid to cope with diminished supply – is an ‘in your face’ display of shortcomings, but the devil, as they say, is in the details.
Once upon a time, Eskom offered industry and residents the cheapest electricity in the world. 

Yes, politically and socially those were the “bad old days” of apartheid: labor was abundant, cheap, and exploitative. 

And yes, since electricity was so cheap, it was the power source of choice (for those who could afford installation). Natural gas was available, but more expensive therefore less desirable than electricity.
These days, for purposes of load shedding, Eskom’s supply grid is segmented into named and numbered neighborhoods that endure load shedding together. Our neighborhood, “same-village name_A-14”, is across the freeway from “same-village name_B-14”.
About a month ago“same-village name_A-14” – our neighborhood – endured several days without power due to theft of electrical cable from a transformer on our street. 

A week after that, we endured another day without power because a drunk driver crashed into and damaged the same transformer.
This weekend, a portion of “same-village name_A-14” endured 19 hours without electricity while our house, endured 2.5 hours of scheduled load shedding.
Nineteen hours is a long time without power, more so if you’re an elderly, alone, shut-in with ill health that includes diabetes. My neighbor and friend could not cook her solitary hot meal, could not bath, could only worry as she watched her stash of frozen food slowly thaw.
She and her dog ate processed meat and bread.
I dared not reach out to her since I suffered a sore throat, potentially a Covid indicator.
Naturally, social media was rife with rumor and conjecture about why power was off only in sections of the same grid.
Eskom was silent.
Hour 20, power returned – and a reason for the outage. Somehow, physical cable for “same-village name_A-14” and “same-village name_B-14” had been confused and mis-connected at a local transformer.
That is, residents endured 19 hours without power along with the regular load-shedding schedule due to a faulty transformer connection,.
Did I mention that Eskom now has among the most expensive electricity in Africa?

***

Sore throat update: I’ve now had a sore throat for longer than Eskom supplied continuous power: from Friday night to Monday morning. 

It’s worse overnight. 

Still no other overt signs it’s evolving into a more dire illness.

There goes the neighborhood

© Sheneman, the Star-Ledger

News blues…

White, in-charge-of-the-system, America is slowing waking up to the reality that “white, right-wing extremism” can be synonymous with “domestic terrorism.”
Can business-as-usual grapple with climate change, income inequality, racial inequality, economic collapse, teetering democracy, recalcitrant Republicanism, developing fascism, and “domestic terrorism”?
Under a Biden presidency?
Enquiring minds wanna know.
Federal statutes provide a definition of domestic terrorism, but there is no a specific law that outlaws it .
I suspect We the People will watch months, if not years, of Congressional squabbling as House and Senate grapple with an agreed upon and just solution to address the recent insurrection.
Keep in mind …

Just six weeks after the September 11 attacks, a panicked Congress passed the "USA/Patriot Act," an overnight revision of the nation's surveillance laws that vastly expanded the government's authority to spy on its own citizens, while simultaneously reducing checks and balances on those powers like judicial oversight, public accountability, and the ability to challenge government searches in court.

“Panicked” is the key word.
Congress is panicked again. And pressure is building for Congress to refine “domestic terrorism” – or not. The Patriot Act was controversial at the time . Any tool can be abused.
One view of the pros and cons of The Patriot Act. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Update: My throat is less sore than the early hours of Saturday, but still sore. The care routine I’ve developed over the past 3 days: gargle salt water upon waking; drink orange juice then indulge in coffee; breathe in steam; suck a Strepsil lozenge (flubiporfen 8.75 mg) every 3 to 4 hours; continue to regularly gargle salt water.
After I complained to a friend that I was developing ear ache, he recommended gargling with alcohol. Hmmm. Okay. Of a choice between gin and rum, I prefer rum, so I chose gargling with gin. “Gin might be too strong,” he advised.
As we chatted on the phone, I gargled a small swig of rum.
My friend had suggested I spit it out. Alas, the (grapefruit-flavored) rum gargle tasted great - so I swallowed it.
Delicious.
Next time you have a sore throat, gargle with grapefruit flavor rum.
Not sure it helped my sore throat, but it was a good start to the day.
Observations:
Symptoms lessen during the day.
Sense of smell is robust; no loss of energy nor increased fatigue; no fever; no head- or body aches; no cough.
Conclusion: perhaps a slow-developing cold?