Topsy Turvy

What becomes more obvious about our topsy turvy world is the intricate layers of ideology that weave around the reality of close to 91 million humans infected with, and close to 2 million deaths from Covid-19. 

There are the "no such thing as Covid" crowd, the anti-maskers, the "they're taking away our freedom" crowd, the Trump-ubes-alles crowd, the anti-vaxxers.... the list goes on. 

One of the my more disorienting but positive facets is optimism about a handful of Republicans who are breaking with the Republican Party line. .
The Lincoln Project , co-founded by former Republicans, quickly emerged as opting, not for business-as-usual Republican ideology, but for truth over lies, human decency over power-grabs, democracy over fascism, and integrity over Trumpism. The Project used a typically American way of making its points: humor and irony.

News blues…

Muscleman, actor, fellow immigrant, and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently shared a heart-felt message following this week's attack on the US Capitol. More than 4.5 million viewers have watched this honest and revealing 7:36 minute clip.
What is Arnie referring to? This…  (10:47 mins)

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On the frontlines of Covid: How do you persuade 67% of South Africa to receive two doses of a non-compulsory Covid-19 vaccine – when almost half the country, according to a recent poll, says they won’t take it?  
Ramaphosa tries to convince the skeptics ...

Healthy planet, anyone?

Birds’ eye view – these birds of a very colorful feather will blow your mind 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The Rain, rain, and more rain.
The culvert is still blocked. The garden floods further. The mosquito population explodes. 
Yesterday, the gardener and I explored the blocked culvert.
My goal was to convince him that he and a friend of his choosing could manually dig out the culvert. His goal? Avoid taking on the job.
Our first discovery: someone had dumped a large load of garden waste – bagsful of mowed grass clippings and dozens of pruned tree limbs – along the stream bank. Clumsily, we made our way over that illegal dump to one of the culverts (the other is so completely blocked that trees have taken root in the debris).
With the streambed almost completely submerged beneath debris, water in and around the culvert is stagnant.
Clearing even one culvert will be a far larger job than I’d thought during my recent exploration. 
The NPA officers and service crews are due back at work next Monday.
I’ll be there with more letter and more photographs and more advice and more encouragement to urge officials to attend to the blocked culverts. 

I’ll also approach my neighbor with wetlands to add his voice to my request for service.
If only there was a mosquito abatement program in this area. Or even a department of health interested in addressing mosquito-borne diseases. 

Alas, Covid usurps attention from minor issues such as flooding and mosquitos.