Over-the-top whackidoodle-itude!

© A pro-Trump mob breaks
into the U.S. Capitol.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

Watch (mask-free) far-right Trumpies storm US Capital building and enter Congress! (4:50 mins)
One unarmed woman, so far unidentified, was shot and killed, her alleged shooter “a senior U.S. Capitol Police officer.” 

Meanwhile, Covid-19 marches on….

Worldwide (Map) 
January 6 – 87,157,000 confirmed infections; 1,882,100 deaths 

December 3 – 64,469,710 confirmed infections; 1,492,100 deaths
November 5 – 48,136,225 confirmed infections; 1,225,915 deaths

US (Map)  
January 6 – 21,294,100 confirmed infections; 361,100 deaths 

December 3 – 13,920,000 confirmed infections; 273,370 deaths
November 5 – 9,487,470 confirmed infections; 237,730 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
January 6 – 1,150,000 confirmed infections; 1,30,525 deaths 

December 3 – 796,475 confirmed infections; 21,710 deaths
November 5 – 730,500 confirmed infections; 19,585 deaths

News blues…

KZN in Covid trouble (3:49 mins)

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I ran into a caregiver in the grocery store and, as we caught up on news since our last meeting, she said she would not take any coronavirus vaccine offered in South Africa. This, because “it takes years to ensure vaccines are effective. This coronavirus vaccine has no history.”
She’s not alone in this point of view.

Only 53% of South Africans would want to take a coronavirus vaccine if it was available, an Ipsos/World Economic Forum survey has found. Two causes of this low percentage are worries about potential side-effects, and people being against vaccines in general….
…in December 2020, just 53% of South Africans said they totally agreed that if a vaccine was available, they would take it. By comparison, in October, 68% of South Africans surveyed said they would take the vaccine. In August, the number stood at 64%.
According to the survey, with multiple answers allowed, reasons for people not wanting to take a vaccine were worries about potential side effects (65%), not being sure it was effective (24%), there not being enough of a risk of contracting Covid-19 (17%), against vaccines in the first place (23%), don’t have time for it (5%), and other reasons (18%). Five hundred South Africans who were more urban, educated and/or more affluent than the general population were sampled for the survey.

Read the Ipsos/World Economic Forum report >> 

In the US, the results of a survey of 2,730 consenting US adults, aged 18 years and older, with a response rate of 39% and a …

… sample weighted to be demographically representative of the US population, [suggested that] overall, 61.4% (95% CI, 60.0%-63.0%) of respondents indicated they would likely get a COVID-19 vaccine. Republicans and Independents were, however, significantly less likely to get vaccinated than Democrats (Republicans, 44.3% [95% CI, 41.7%-46.8%]; Independents, 58.4% [95% CI, 55.5%-61.1%]; Democrats, 76.6% [95% CI, 74.7%-78.5%]), and Black respondents were significantly less likely than non-Black respondents to get vaccinated (43.6% [95% CI, 39.2%-48.2%] vs 63.7% [95% CI, 62.3%-65.2%]).

Read “US Public Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates" >> 

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After a very close race, two Democrats were elected in the US state of Georgia. This puts the US Congress and it’s ability to legislate in a different position to what it has been for the past four years – and where it was during the Obama presidency. With the US Senate now evenly distributed between Democrats and Republicans – 50/50 – Vice president-elect Kamala Harris becomes a tie-breaker, if needed. .
One hopes that all the bills “Moscow” Mitch McConnell has refused to bring to the floor will resurface.
One hopes better days are ahead.
The Lincoln Project celebrates the results of Georgia’s election:

We did it, again.
Georgia once again rejected the politics of racism and bigotry.
Georgia said ‘no more’ to gross abuses of office and Trump loyalism.
Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff will soon be sworn in, bringing the U.S. Senate to a 50-50 partisan split—the slimmest of Democratic majorities, with Vice President Harris casting any tie-breaking votes.
50-50 is no blank check. Every individual Senator in the majority will have extraordinary power over what passes the upper chamber.
But reaching this point—McConnell out of power, and two of Trump’s most sycophantic enablers removed from office—is as critical for crushing Trumpism as it is for Joe Biden’s ability to lead and heal this nation.
It goes without saying—our work is far from over.
Today, we expect over 100 Republican House members and at least a dozen Republican Senators to back the latest and most shameless attempt to overturn the will of the American people.
By objecting to the certification of Electoral College members, Republican seditionists will assert that it is up to Congress, not We the People, to determine who the next President of the United States will be.
Every member of the Sedition Caucus will be named.
We will ensure that their remaining time in office is as politically painful as possible.
The votes they take today to subvert the Constitution and the will of the people will follow them around for the rest of their miserable lives.
We guarantee it.
People, revel in the joy and excitement of these two monumental wins.

Healthy planet, anyone?

Every year, between October and December, 8–10 million straw-coloured fruit bats descend on the park to feast on an abundance of fruit. From west Africa, over the forests of the Congo basin and on to Zambia, the bats migrate thousands of kilometres over savanna and open land, dispersing seeds into deforested areas, and reforesting and regenerating landscapes on their journey. Scientists are still trying to fathom why these fruit bats, or “flying foxes”, gather at Kasanka in numbers not seen anywhere else. Each night they leave their evergreen swamp fig roosts to fly up to 55 miles (90km) in search of wild berries and fruit….
[But]
…With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the bats have faced a new threat from humans seeking to attack them. “These bats are being persecuted because of ongoing publicity about their role as virus hosts. Their importance completely outweighs the potential threat,” says Dechmann, adding that their role in transmitting viruses such as Covid-19 directly to humans has not been scientifically proved.

Read “Why the world's biggest mammal migration is crucial for Africa – a photo essay” >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Eskom resumes load shedding. Our schedule is generous: electricity scheduled to go off between 22:00/10pm and 5:00/5am. I awoke at 12:50am and it was off. Awoke again at 3:50am and it was back on. Go figure.

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Yesterday, I shared misgiving about the precarious health situation I face if Covid finds a path into my lungs/body. Consequently, I began paying more attention to recognizing symptoms. This video helps. It is short and to the point.  (1:31 mins).