Reincarnate

News blues…

COVID-19 has killed nearly 5 million people — that we know of and have recorded - and the pandemic is far from over.
As the world confronts another tragic milestone, experts say the death toll and collateral damage will rise unless vaccines are delivered swiftly.  (Includes an aerial view of a COVID-19 victims' burial ground at Rorotan Public Cemetery in Cilincing, North Jakarta, Indonesia on July 21, 2021. Sobering.)

Within the next few days, COVID-19 will have killed more than five million people worldwide. It is yet another grim milestone in a seemingly endless stream of them. In many countries, including the United States, COVID-19 is now a leading cause of death, alongside heart disease and stroke. And yet experts say the pandemic’s true toll is likely much higher.
“It’s quite possible that the number of deaths is double what we see,” says Amber D’Souza, professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “But five million is such a staggering number on its own. No country has been able to escape it.”

***

Critical election coming up on Tuesday next week. The Lincoln Project offers a perspective:
What’s on the ballot (0:25 mins)
Critical race card  (0:55 mins)
And, at COP 26, a dinosaur tells UN 'don't choose extinction' as part of new climate campaign  (2:31 mins)
Get the Don't Choose Extinction toolkit.

Stephen Colbert’s humorous view of Dr Horsey promoting Ivermectin. © The Late Show.

Healthy planet, anyone?

Jenny, a half-mile long trash-trapping system, hauled in more than 63,000 pounds of waste from the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  And Jenny wasn’t even fully operational….

***

Always a treat to watch US House Rep. Katie Porter, Democrat of southern California, address congress. Yesterday, she did her usual exceptional job, this time schooling fossil fuel executives – and the rest of us, too. Read the article and do watch the vid >>

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

With almost 5 million recorded deaths from Covid-19, titling this post “Reincarnate”- “to undergo rebirth in another body” or “reborn in another body”- may seems tasteless when applied to my lowly laptop.
Yesterday’s post, RIP, referred to my suspicion that my laptop – only two years old – was kaput. That was before I met Vladimir, the kaput laptop reviver. Vladimir removed 44 viruses, replaced the bum hard-drive (itself replaced while I was in South Africa last year), installed affordable anti-virus software (Wetroot, $25/year as opposed to McAfee, $160/year) and sent me on my way, laptop happily breathing a sigh of relief at its reprieve. Reincarnated, indeed. Thank you, Vladimir!

***

I dropped into my friendly grocery store’s pharmacy today to explore the possibility of getting my Covid booster earlier than the six month wait period. This, because I expect to return to South Africa before the six month window. (While SA is no longer on the UK’s countries red listed for travel to the UK, the CDC still cautions travelers.)
My thinking? I’d be just two or three weeks under the completion date. Surely, surely, I could wangle a jab. Yes, of course, I’d do my pre-flight Covid test, but I’d like to have the booster before I leave, too. So far, pharmacists’ responses are unequivocal: “No… you must wait until you are fully over the 6-month period. Not even a day earlier than the due date.”
The pharmacist was happy to jab me with Fluzone so I am vaxed against at least a subset of this year’s flu viruses.
Even as I know many the world over who want the jab are still trying for their first dose, I hanker for a third... 
Crazy times!

RIP?

Worldwide (Map) 
October 28, 2021 – 245,213,000 confirmed infections; 4,976,400 deaths
November 5, 2020 – 48,136,225 confirmed infections; 1,225,915 deaths
Worldwide vaccinations: 6,903,622,700. That’s almost 7 billion. (World population: 7.753 billion.) Keep it up, vax-positive humans! 

US (Map) 
October 28, 2021 – 45,711,200 confirmed infections; 741,400 deaths
November 5, 2020 – 9,487,470 confirmed infections; 237,730 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
October 28, 2021 – 2,920,600 confirmed infections; 89,049 deaths
November 5, 2020 – 730,500 confirmed infections; 19,585 deaths deaths

***

The Lincoln Project:
Last week in the Republican Party  (0:30 mins)
Ungrateful  (0:30 min)
A view of America, from a rock star and a former president, in 9:26 minutes. A great interview with two extraordinary guys: “Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen talk 'Renegades'" 
Obama’s question: how do we regain a sense of a common American story? Both men agree: “It’s a generational process….”
Are you in?

Healthy planet, anyone?

Everyone clued-in enough to understand the urgency of the climate crisis probably knows that the ocean has become a dumping zone for plastic and that single-use plastic bottles and bags are choking the planet. 

***

Here is a list of a dozen of America’s top “dirtiest” climate villains. 
There are many more, in America and around the world. For example, “The world’s largest investment banks have provided more than $700bn of financing for the fossil fuel companies most aggressively expanding in new coal, oil and gas projects since the Paris climate change agreement."  Also, BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard, 3 of the world’s largest money management companies. 
Question: Who are the climate villains in your country? Do you know?

***

To successfully emerge from Covid into a fairer, greener future we need to recognise nature as an essential piece of the puzzle: “Net zero is not enough – we need to build a nature-positive future” >> 

***

The Guardian’s Greenlight segment promotes The Climate Pledge , Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s contribution “of his personal $10 billion” to the Bezos Earth Fund - equivalent to more than 7 percent of his net worth.” (Ironically, Bezos recently spent $5.5 billion to be in space for 4 minutes...but who's quibbling? Better to spend something on cleaning up some of what you’re responsible for.)
On the other hand, his former wife, MacKenzie Scott, contributed $5.7 billion in unrestricted donations “to hundreds” of groups. The seven- and eight-figure gifts were the largest many [charities] had ever received." She’s donated $8 billion since 2020. 

Hmm, just showing up ol’ Jeff? Who cares? Compete away, Bezos... and keep it coming, 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

RIP laptop? My laptop is riddled with … something… that makes it most frustrating to use. Today, it goes into “the shop” for an overhaul for what's described as “a couple of days…”
We shall see. Post resume asap….

Water

News blues

With further travel in my imminent future, digging through current travel requirements and restrictions is a fulltime job.
The CDC’s website “operationalizes the President’s “safer, more stringent international travel system”.  The US White house’s website offers an outdated executive order, “A Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Non-Immigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting Coronavirus Disease” 
New details emerge on travel to the US, including from South Africa:

Beginning Nov. 8, foreign, non-immigrant adults traveling to the United States will need to be fully vaccinated, with only limited exceptions, and all travelers will need to be tested for the virus before boarding a plane to the U.S. There will be tightened restrictions for American and foreign citizens who are not fully vaccinated.
The new policy comes as the Biden administration moves away from restrictions that ban non-essential travel from several dozen countries — most of Europe, China, Brazil, South Africa, India and Iran — and instead focuses on classifying individuals by the risk they pose to others.
It also reflects the White House’s embrace of vaccination requirements as a tool to push more Americans to get the shots by making it inconvenient to remain unvaccinated.

Accordingly, given my vaccination status, I’d be cleared to travel to South Africa – well, pending negative results of my pre-travel Covid test. But I worry about clearance to return to the US in the spring. My current life is a balancing act: property and family responsibilities here in California and property and estate/family responsibilities there, in South Africa.
Responding to those responsibilities in South Africa seems like a no-brainer… except for Covid. Covid, the Great Unknown.

***

The Lincoln Project: What’s on the ballot (0:30 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Water. A non-renewable resource.

Did you know that there's as much water today, as there was thousands of years ago? Actually, it's the same water. The same water supply has been circulating throughout the world for ages. In fact, the water from your faucet could contain molecules that dinosaurs drank!
How is that possible? Through the amazing Water Cycle as nature's way of constantly meeting water demand with water supply.
We depend on fresh water from two main sources - surface water and ground water. Surface water is the water found on the earth's surface such as oceans, lakes, streams, rivers, ponds and reservoirs. Of all the earth's surface water, 97 percent is too salty to drink because it's located in oceans and seas. Another 2 percent is locked in ice caps and glaciers. Only about 1 percent of the earth's water is fresh water to be used for agricultural, commercial, manufacturing, community and personal household needs.
Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Living in the conurbation of San Francisco Bay – population 7.75 million – means many choices of lifestyle. My choices include living modestly albeit close to water… near a marine preserve with miles of shoreline I explore regularly on foot.
Today’s exploration included the western portion of Ballena Isle, looking toward San Francisco. These photos (taken on my cell phone) don’t do justice to the Bay, nor do they give a realistic view of just how many cargo ships populate the Bay, awaiting service – unloading or loading - at the Port of Oakland… due to the ongoing supply chain backup.
I’ve walked this area multiple times over the years. Today was my first visit since returning from South Africa in early June.

San Francisco Bay - city on horizon - with cargo ships lining up...

More cargo ships awaiting service at the Port of Oakland.

An altar of small treasures.

The marina  on this side of Ballena Isle, home to some 200 boats of different sizes and shapes, looks about the same.
The big change was to the garden used by the marina’s life-aboards. What was once patchy and somewhat unkempt has morphed into a lovely, artistically groomed Eden, clean, swept, and full of small treasures.

I met Peet walking Dave, her very friendly pit bull who, by way of greeting, slobbered over my trousered knees. During our friendly conversation, Peet explained she – and her husband and Dave – lived aboard their trawler. Surprise! I’d believed live aboard lifestyles were a thing of the past in San Francisco Bay. I learned that it was still possible – theoretically, right now, in my hometown, to live aboard one’s boat. Peet advised I approach the Harbor Master to “get your name on the two year’s long waiting list but get on it anyway…”. The waiting list wasn’t a surprise. Moreover, two years on a list for a slip is no hardship right now when I no longer have a boat.
At the Harbor Master’s office I got caught n the Catch 22: One can only get on the wait list if one already has a boat in that marina – that, presumably, one does not live aboard. But why would I have a boat in the marina if I wasn’t living aboard?

Turned out, also, Peet is a self-employed muralist. She volunteered to paint a mural painted on the wall of a storage container at the marina garden.
Note the brown pelicans, once endangered, but making a comeback in this area...  

Peet's mural, highlighting the comeback of California's Brown Pelicans.

Spectacular, aren't they? Note how Peet incorporated the actual tree (top left) into the mural.

 

The day after...

News blues

Still mulling Ivermectin? Before embarking on any self-help regime, get the basic facts. For example, the difference between what’s bacteria and what’s virus is not inconsequential. Bacteria and viruses can live outside of the human body (for instance, on a countertop) sometimes for many hours or days. Parasites and bacteria, however, require a living host in order to survive, and both can usually be destroyed with antibiotics. Antibiotics cannot kill viruses. Coronavirus is, yes, a virus.
Ivermectin kills parasites/bacteria. Moreover, “scientific” reports on Ivermectin show that not all science is worth following. 

 How do you know what to believe? Keep an open mind, conduct research with discrimination, and practice discernment. These days, be skeptical.
Remember, no one ever promised you a rose garden  … (3:09 mins)

***

MeidasTouch: Trump in hiding  (0:30 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Inevitably, tens of millions of filthy, used medical gloves imported into the US: Trash bags stuffed full of used medical gloves, some visibly soiled, some even blood-stained, litter the floor of a warehouse on the outskirts of Bangkok.
But don’t only blame Bangkok. We in America do an excellent job of pretending discarded PPE miraculously disappear. We burn it . Or pretend we don’t know it’s there  . Or “recycle” it  ...
What so you so with your discarded PPE? What you do matters, too. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Apres le deluge… Call it a bomb cyclone, an atmospheric river, or a drenching storm, local news reports on areas hard hit (1:16 mins) More local news tells of heavy rain that resulted in serious flooding and debris flows across drought-stricken and wildfire-ravaged California and even breaking some all-time 24-hour precipitation records >> 
In my neighborhood, old oak and sycamore trees lining walkways near my apartment block my direct view of the park and beach. I donned my colorful polka dot gumboots and took to the pathways for a firsthand look.

Waterflow barometer: the pond is full to the rim

This short dam wall was completely exposed this time last week.

mo'tating mallards

This concrete "jetty" sat, dry, in sand and leaf debris just days ago

Polka dot gum boots indicated depth of water in a temporary pond 

Amazingly small amount of debris blown out of sycamores

Ditto: not much damage to elderly trees

Leaf debris sculpted by water

Atmospheric river

News blues

Boosting boosters…
I dropped by the friendly pharmacy at the local grocery store that delivers Covid jabs for an update. According to my reckoning, I’m due for a booster by December and wanted to confirm that’s the soonest I can get the jab.
Perhaps it’s a sign of the times – supply chains, inefficiency, etc., – but this major grocery store had posted someone at the entrance to prevent shoppers from entering. “The computer system has gone down. We don’t expect it up for at least another hour. Come back then.”
Hmmm. 

Being anti-shopping in general and particularly anti-shopping on weekends, I’ll try again on Monday. Meantime, I continue to read and try to make sense of the plethora of conflicting and/or worrisome information about the pandemic.

• Mixing Covid boosters 
• UK’s neighbours criticize Covid policies as cases begin to surge across EU 
• Half doses, third doses, kids' doses: COVID vaccine delivery goes next-level difficult as the U.S. Covid-19 vaccine rollout gets a lot more complicated. 
• The high-stake risks for older, fully vaccinated people; new data on COVID-19 vaccines for younger kids; rising anxiety and depression in children. 

And, how to know when the pandemic becomes endemic 

***

Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website  >>

***

Healthy planet, anyone?

Weather forecasters and emergency workers warn of impending atmospheric river – a deluge of rain. Rain in BA forecast Bay Area Bracing for Atmospheric River This Weekend 
This forecast sent me out in the glorious fall weather both to gauge the impact of rain we had over the last couple of days and to record now what’s likely to change in the next day. 

Gutters struggling to absorb what's fallen so far.

This neighborhood pond looked parched just a week ago.
Accepting storm water, it's looking healthier this week.
Next week? If rain falls as forecast, it'll be flush.

Ducks and coots appreciate the additional fresh water.

Storm clouds (facing east)

Storm clouds over San Francisco (facing west).

Let the rains begin...

October updates

Today’s Covid numbers compared with numbers exactly one year ago:
(Note: worldwide, we’re on the cusp of 5 million dead.) 

Worldwide (Map) 
October 21, 2021 – 241,837,800 confirmed infections; 4,917,467 deaths
October 22, 2020 – 41,150,000 confirmed infections; 1,130.410 deaths
Worldwide vaccinations: 6,690,061,700. That’s 6.6 billion. Amazing.

US (Map) 
October 21, 2021 – 45,161,400 confirmed infections; 729,500 deaths
October 22, 2020 – 8,333,595 confirmed infections; 222,100 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
October 21, 2021 – 2,917,300 confirmed infections; 88,674 deaths
October 22, 2020 – 708,360 confirmed infections; 18,750 deaths

News blues

SA recorded 591 new Covid-19 cases and 80 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the latest National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). 
… Of the new cases, only two provinces recorded more than 100 infections in the past day — KwaZulu-Natal with 129 and the Western Cape with 124. Gauteng was third most affected, with 71. Limpopo had the fewest new cases, with seven recorded. 

***

Vaccines for kids ages 5-11 prepare to roll out, according to the CDC’s plan advising states on how to carry it out. 

***

Where the rubber meets the road? Stopping the spread of COVID-19 is a great way to help U.S. military families, yet anti-vaxxers don’t see it that way: The Hypocrisy of the Anti-vax Patriot 

***

Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website >>

***

Whackidoodle-ism continues
The Lincoln Project: This week in the Republican Party  (2:00 mins)
One would think that, with close to 5 billion dead from a coronavirus on Planet Earth, contradictory humans would re-evaluate their points of view. Instead, too many continue to spew theories suitable only for Planet Whackidoodle:

• End-times radio host says COVID vaccines implant 'an egg that hatches into a synthetic parasite' in your body 
• Utah Protesters Claim Hospitals Are Killing People Who Have COVID 
• Current top 10 conspiracy theories 

Healthy planet, anyone?

California’s Dixie Fire is now 90% contained. The fire has burned a total of 963,195 acres, the largest single wildfire in California history.
See how California’s Dixie Fire  created its own weather … 
Tornadoes… 
Fire whirls … 
And atmospheric instability… 
Fires and climate change …  and more on fires and climate change 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Other than continuing to prep my apartment for short-term rental – and respond to interested parties about that – life has been non-eventful. Intermittent rain continues… Pacific Flyway birds continue to arrive in the park and on the bay.
Life is good enough.

Getting tough

News blues

US Prez Biden is cracking down on vax-avoidant  states – finally!

Officials with US OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration - are threatening to assert jurisdiction over workplace safety in three states that haven’t adopted President Joe Biden’s emergency regulation for health care facilities.
South Carolina, Arizona and Utah all have what are known as OSHA state plans. Federal OSHA oversees workplace safety around the country, but states are allowed to handle it on their own as long as they meet minimum federal requirements.
OSHA officials said Tuesday that those three states had missed the deadline to implement the Biden administration’s new rule meant to protect health care workers from COVID-19. If they don’t implement such a rule, the administration will move to revoke approval of their state OSHA plans — which would subject employers in South Carolina, Arizona and Utah to federally run inspections.
Read more >> 

***

Variant of the Delta variant?

Delta is the UK's dominant variant, but latest official data suggests 6% of Covid cases that have been genetically sequenced are of a new type.
AY.4.2, which some are calling "Delta Plus", contains mutations that might give the virus survival advantages.
… identified as AY.4.2, this offshoot or sublineage of Delta has been increasing slowly since then. It includes some new mutations affecting the spike protein, which the virus uses to penetrate our cells.
So far, there is no indication that it is considerably more transmissible as a result of these changes, but it is something experts are studying.

Read more >> 

***

Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website  >>
(0:35 mins)

***

The Lincoln Project: Rudy Giuliani loses it… again… here he is acting out the part of Abe Lincoln to blacklist a Democratic candidate  … then putting his foot in his mouth to be sued by The Lincoln Project . Will this madness ever end?

Healthy planet, anyone?

Rain has finally come to the Bay Area. This, as California records it’s driest year in nearly a century  and Gov. Newsom declares a statewide drought emergency and officials announce that Californians reduced water use an average of 5% in August..
Rain falls only in winter in California and, usually, it’s a gentle rainfall, perhaps windy but seldom accompanied by thunder and lightning. Lightning is an anomaly and, when it occurs, frequently ends up as a spectacular photo on the front page of local newspapers.
Rainfall in Kwa Zulu Natal, on the other hand, usually is accompanied by thunder and lightning. The rainy season has begun there, too.
Water. Life giving.

***

Also life giving? A sacred valley. Could it be designated America’s next national monument? If successful, the designation would end a decades-long fight to protect rare swamp cedars — and a key Native American site >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

In Houston, Texas, a new theme for children’s birthday parties: Indoor skydiving….  Shown here, a member of the family checking it out as a venue for grandson’s birthday party with 5 of his friends. Woo hoo!

Tourist

News blues

U.S. throws out millions of doses of COVID vaccine as world goes wanting >> 

***

On US and global infrastructure and supply chain management (or lack thereof…)

… the thick layer of irrationality …encrusts our supply chain. It’s beyond the power of any one person to change this anytime soon, but trying to scrape off as many of these encumbrances as possible should be a national priority.
We are experiencing the worst disruption of the supply chain since the advent of the shipping-container era in the late 1950s, driven, at bottom, by the pandemic. A surge in e-commerce, coupled with a labor shortage, helped to create the conditions for a spiraling series of bottlenecks.
Ships are idling waiting to unload their cargo at ports, while containers are waiting at the ports to be shipped further inland, while cargo is waiting outside full warehouses on chassis that aren’t available to use to pick up other containers, and so on. In theory, there are plenty of ships, trucks and other capacity to handle the volume, but not if so much of that capacity is tied up and frozen in place.
… there’s no underestimating the challenge here. Everyone along every part of the U.S. logistics chain is pointing fingers at each other, and everyone deserves some blame, whether it’s the ports, the truckers, the warehouses, the railroads or other players.
Read more >> 

 

One section of supply chain buildup at Port of Oakland, October 16, 2021.

A supply chain joke for 2021.

***

The latest information on vaccine boosters
Across the board, from Feds to local clinics, communication – lack of and outright miscommunication? – has been a worrisome feature of the Covid-19 pandemic. Contradictory information continues… but we do the best we can to research and uncover the latest information on how to protect ourselves and our family and friends. The following is the latest – as of this week – on boosters.

• FDA Panel Endorses Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Booster >> 
• So far, 8.8 million Americans have received a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Here’s everything to know about booster doses of all three vaccines.
  Read more >> 
• Should you mix and match COVID-19 vaccines? Experts weigh in. While not yet authorized, small trials suggest some booster combinations are not only safe, they may yield better protection. Read more  >> 

***

Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website >>

***

The Lincoln Project : Peaceful Pledge  (0:35 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I recommend anyone become a tourist in her/his home region and/or city.
Yesterday, I was a tourist in one small section of San Francisco, from the ferry building to the downtown half mile of Mission Street, over Market Street via Kearney Street to inner North Beach. Blessed with great weather it was a wonderful trip!

Ferry passing me… not even a thought to stop and pick me up!

 
I misread the ferry schedule and arrived at one of the East Bay ferry terminals early. According to my online schedule, a ferry is due at 10:15. According to the posted schedule at the terminal, there is no 10:15am ferry on a weekend.

Forty minutes later, aboard! On my way to San Francisco towards the Ferry Building.

San Francisco....

Ferry Building Landing with Farmer's Market kiosks.

Iconic Ferry Building, 2021.

Mission Street hosts the leaning towers of the Millennium, Transbay Transit Center, and the Salesforce buildings – with tax payers on the hook to pay for the fix.

Impressive... too bad they're sinking...

San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art – MoMA – seems to have expanded since my last visit, too.

Of my choices – Paul Klee and Ruth Asawa, Alex Calder and other exhibits, I elected for Diego Riviera’s “Pan American Unity” mural. 
I did not visit the Yerba Buena Ctr although I have many memories both attending and being part of presenting events there. Moreover, one memory still haunts: A group of anti-war protesters and protest groups – including Vets for Peace, Courage to Resist – presented a moving protest that entered and then passed YBC gardens. I noticed one woman, perhaps working in YBC garden, take fright at our overt spectacle. She sunk to the ground and began to cry. I do not speak Spanish nor was she interested in conversation. Instead, she ran away, still crying. Clearly, our raucous protest had stimulated unpleasant memories in her.
An example of how wide is human experience, memory, over-focus on one’s own current issue, and lack of awareness about one’s actions can affect others.
San Francisco is full of memories, from the Occupy movement – Justin Herman Plaza and local streets hosted many Occupy tents back in the day (see A Month in the Life of Occupy  and May Day in Occupy Oakland  and many more pictures).
In North Beach, I discovered City Lights books going strong (not shut down as I’d heard. Co-founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti died  but City Lights goes on… So, too, does Spec’s although it opens at 3pm on Saturdays and I couldn’t wait.
Lunch was a North Beach Special sandwich from Molinari’s – prosciutto, provolone, pickled red peppers and sundried tomatoes. Yum!

Molinari's

I ate half of the huge Molinari’s sandwich in a small park I’d passed through most every day of my life when I worked in the tech industry around Pacific Avenue and the Levi Strauss & Co building, then HQ for that company.
Good times!

One of my favorite North Beach buildings... on Colombus...
owned, or once owned, by Francis Ford Coppola.

My visit stimulated so many memories. I’d find myself stopping at a point, trying to remember what about it stimulated my memory. Sometimes it was simply an area where I’d purchase coffee each morning, sometimes a spot where a US Army recruiting station had operated for a short while, or the building housing a TV studio where I’d been interviewed on my anti-war travels and book ….Crossing Broadway at Columbus and bumping into John Cleese...
I spent more than four hours visiting my past in San Francisco then took the ferry back home. The view leaving The City is as impressive as is the view arriving….

 
Interesting trivia on the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge…

508-foot caisson

This 508-foot caisson was thus built from the top down and rammed through 100 feet of mud into bedrock to tower 288 feet above the water. This anchorage contains more concrete than the Empire State Building. 

I’d planned to visit again today, with a friend. Weather forecasters predicted rain so we agreed to go another day. So far, alas, no rain….

Leadership

…the fading art of leadership…[is] not a failure of one party or another; it’s more of a generational decline of good judgment.
“The elites think it’s all about expertise… It’s important to have experts, but they aren’t always right. They can be “hampered by their own orthodoxies, their own egos, their own narrow approach to the world.”
[Conclusion]: “You need broad-minded leaders who know how to hold people accountable, who know how to delegate, who know a good chain of command, and know how to make hard judgements. 

— The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid B
by Lawrence Wright  

 Talking about leadership, or lack thereof, remember this "Failure" of leadership?  >>  (2:10 mins)

***

Worldwide (Map) 
October 14, 2021 – 239,341,600 confirmed infections; 4,877,540 deaths
July 22, 2021: 191,945,000 confirmed infections; 4,126,300 deaths

More than 6.5 billion vaccinations administered
Track worldwide vaccination rate  >> 

US (Map) 
October 14, 2021 – 44,694,200 confirmed infections; 719,760 deaths
July 22, 2021: 34,226,300 confirmed infections; 609,900 deaths

SA (Tracker) 
October 14, 2021 – 2,914,000 confirmed infections; 88,500 deaths
July 22, 2021: 2,327,475 confirmed infections; 68,200 deaths

News blues

Roughly 36,000 people died from Covid-19 in the United States from July to the end of August 2021. How many could have been saved if the nation as a whole had achieved ambitious, but nevertheless realistic, levels of vaccination?

Read “Lives lost to under-vaccination“ >> 

***

Quote:

By the end of 2020, the death rate per 100,000 for the United States as a whole was 134.89; in other words, more than one American died for every thousand people in the country. That was nearly two and a half times the rate in Canada, at 53.98. Only Italy and the U.K. had higher rates than the U.S. among countries most affected by Covid. In the first half of 2020, life expectancy in the U.S. fell by a full year, from 78.8 years to 77.8, the largest drop since the Second World War. By the end of the year, the United States had more cases and more deaths than any other country. The actual tally will never be known, but a retrospective serological study estimated that 35 percent of Covid deaths went unreported. Total deaths increased by 15 percent, making 2020 the deadliest year in recorded U.S. history. The figure that will haunt America is that the U.S. accounts for about 20 percent of all the Covid fatalities in the world, despite having only 4 percent of the population. At the beginning of the pandemic, China’s unprecedented lockdown, compared to the initial halting reaction in Italy, suggested that autocratic systems had an unbeatable advantage in dealing with a contagion like that of SARS-CoV-2. Over time, however, democratic regimes found their footing and did marginally better than authoritarian ones. Advanced countries performed better than developing ones, but not by as much as might have been expected. Due to the high volume of air travel, richer countries were quickly overwhelmed, while poorer countries had more time to prepare for the onslaught. High-tech medical advantages footing and did marginally better than authoritarian ones. Advanced countries performed better than developing ones, but not by as much as might have been expected. Due to the high volume of air travel, richer countries were quickly overwhelmed, while poorer countries had more time to prepare for the onslaught. High-tech medical advantages proved of little use when the main tools for countering the spread of the disease were social distancing, hand washing, and masks. This can be seen in the rankings by the Lowy Institute of the performance of countries managing the pandemic. The top ten countries are:
New Zealand
Taiwan
Thailand
Cyprus
Rwanda
Iceland
Australia
Latvia
Sri Lanka
The United States ranked number 94 out of 98, between Bolivia and Iran. China was not included in the rankings because of the lack of transparency in its testing.
The Pew Research Center surveyed fourteen advanced countries to see how they viewed the world during the pandemic. In Denmark, 95 percent of the respondents agreed that their country had handled the crisis capably. In Australia, the figure was 94 percent; Germany was 88 percent. The United Kingdom and the U.S. were the only countries where a majority disagreed. In Denmark, 72 percent said that the country had become more unified since the contagion emerged. Only 18 percent of Americans agreed with the statement. In every country surveyed, people ranked the U.S. response lowest. And respondents in most countries said that China was now the leading economic power, not the U.S. Each of these categories is a measure of leadership. 
— The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid
by Lawrence Wright

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Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website  >>

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“Global supply chain”… the latest buzzwords warning of upcoming trouble. And an opportunity for humans to understand how interdependent are We the People. One link of the chain goes down… and we’re all endangered.
Also known as, “another wake up call”?
Read more >> 

Healthy planet, anyone?

… the climate crisis is often discussed alongside what can seem like surprisingly small temperature increases – 1.5C or 2C hotter than it was in the era just before the car replaced the horse and cart.
… But the single digit numbers obscure huge ramifications at stake. “We have built a civilization based on a world that doesn’t exist anymore,” as Katherine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University, puts it.
The world has already heated up by around 1.2C, on average, since the preindustrial era, pushing humanity beyond almost all historical boundaries. Cranking up the temperature of the entire globe this much within little more than a century is, in fact, extraordinary, with the oceans alone absorbing the heat equivalent of five Hiroshima atomic bombs dropping into the water every second … the climate crisis is often discussed alongside what can seem like surprisingly small temperature increases – 1.5C or 2C hotter than it was in the era just before the car replaced the horse and cart.
… But the single digit numbers obscure huge ramifications at stake. “We have built a civilization based on a world that doesn’t exist anymore,” as Katherine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University, puts it.
The world has already heated up by around 1.2C, on average, since the preindustrial era, pushing humanity beyond almost all historical boundaries. Cranking up the temperature of the entire globe this much within little more than a century is, in fact, extraordinary, with the oceans alone absorbing the heat equivalent of five Hiroshima atomic bombs dropping into the water every second.

Read “Climate disaster is here” >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Weather people continue to predict rain. Rain doesn’t seem to have heard the predictions. We’re still waiting….
I miss my houseboat.

So many dead...

News blues

Each flag represents an American dead of Covid-19
In D.C., 695,000 Flags—and Counting—Memorialize the Americans Who Have Died of Covid-19. ... Each flag, planted in neat squares on 20 acres of grass just north of the Washington Monument, represents one person who has died from Covid-19 in the United States...
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Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website  >>

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The Lincoln Project - and other media
Last Week in the Republican Party…  (2:06 mins)
Dragon of Budapest  (0:55 mins)

Quote:
Italy’s economic experience after the Black Death. “It was a great time to be an artisan… Suddenly, labor was scarce, and because of that, market wages had to go up. The bourgeoisie, the artisans, and the workers started to have a stronger voice. When you don’t have people, you have to pay them better.”
The relative standing of capital and labor reversed: landed gentry were battered by plunging food prices and rising wages, while former serfs, who had been too impoverished to leave anything but a portion of land to their eldest sons, increasingly found themselves able to spread their wealth among all their children, including their daughters. Women, many of them widows, entered depopulated professions, such as weaving and brewing.
“What happens after the Black Death, it’s like a wind, fresh air coming in, the fresh air of common sense,” Pomata said.
The intellectual overthrow of the medieval medical establishment was caused by doctors who set aside the classical texts and gradually turned to empirical evidence. It was the revival of medical science, which had been dismissed following the fall of ancient Rome, a thousand years earlier. After the Black Death, nothing was the same,” said Pomata. “What I expect now is something as dramatic is going to happen, not so much in medicine but in economy and culture. Because of danger, there’s this wonderful human response, which is to think in a new way.” 

 — The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid
       by Lawrence Wright

Healthy planet, anyone?

The UN’s main human rights body overwhelmingly voted to recognise the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right, and to appoint an expert to monitor human rights in the context of the climate emergency.
The human rights council passed the clean-environment resolution, which also calls on countries to boost their abilities to improve the environment, by 43-0 while four member states – China, India, Japan and Russia – abstained.

Okay. That’s step one. Step two and implementation is a way more difficult job. Let’s see how that goes…. Meanwhile, read the article >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

How do I define luxury? Leaving my vehicle at home and taking the bus to the neighboring town to conduct business by appointment.
During these Covid-conscious days, local transit systems protect bus drivers from potential Covid infection by erecting a see-through Perspex door between driver’s cabin and bus interior.
On the way to town yesterday, the bus driver simply had riders enter the bus through the back door, no charge for riding, no need to pass through the Perspex door.
The bus driver on the return trip informed riders before they entered the bus that it was “very crowded, standing room only” (local high schools had closed for the day and many teenagers were on their way home). Passengers like me, determined to enter the bus, paid the fare then passed through the Perspex door. The bus was, indeed, very crowded – social distancing of fewer than six inches rather than six feet – and if a teenager wore a mask, s/he wore it around her/his chins. A crowded bus ride was still better than driving my vehicle.
My appointment was near an upscale grocery store I’d frequented in the past. Yesterday, I dropped by there, to purchase both lunch – pumpkin/apple soup – and, I planned, a bottle of imported British elderberry juice concentrate. Alas, the store no longer carries elderberry juice concentrate. It does, however, carry British imported Marmite.

Marmite, as any Brit or South African knows, is a viscous, blackish, very salty spread made from Brewers’ yeast. Many not brought up on Marmite “sarmies” (sandwiches) find the substance gross. I admit I’m less fond of Marmite than I once was, particularly when the price of a jar is as jacked up as it is in this grocery store. Marmite in SA is less than half the price in California. Nevertheless, stymied in my desire to purchase elderberry juice concentrate, I opted for Marmite. (Elderberry juice would likely have been more expensive than Marmite, too.) Apparently, Marmite is expensive these days as British breweries shut down due to Covid.
The pumpkin/apple soup was good. I sat on a rickety bench outside the store to eat. Pre-Covid, the store offered customers outdoor tables and chairs. Those are long gone.
My car-free trip into and around town stimulated me to further exploration.
Yesterday was the first time, since my return to California on 28 May, that I had time to explore. Covid changes include shuttered stores and fewer shoppers in the streets, but just as many teenagers doing just what teenagers have always done on busses: rough-house, talk loudly, harassed one another – and never, ever, offer a seat to “seniors” as directed by bus drivers and posted signs.
Saturday I plan to board the local ferry and head into San Francisco, perhaps the Museum of Modern Art, or Union Square and other touristy areas.
Sunday, I’ll head back to San Francisco with a friend, again on the ferry, to explore North Beach.
North Beach was, once upon a time, the gathering place for “Bohemians” - artists, writers, and creatives. Alas, I’ve heard that famed City Lights and other famous bookstore, Spec’s bar, the Condor Club (of Carol Dodo fame) have closed. One of our most beloved local poets, Jack Hirschman,  with whom many of us met each Wednesday night at Spec’s bar, died recently - one month after my mother’s passing. He was 87 years old.
I’ve been away for two years, but I might run into someone in North Beach that I know from that time….

Gear up for COP

News blues

More than 400 international health organisations and professionals, representing two-thirds of global healthcare workers, have signed an open letter calling on politicians to consider the health benefits of climate action ahead of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.
“We know that climate change is impacting people’s health, this is increasingly visible around the world. We also know that many solutions to address climate change offer tremendous health co-benefits,” said Dr Jeni Miller of Global Climate and Health Alliance, the organisation which drafted the letter. “The health community is really seeing that if we don’t step up and call for action on climate change, we’re failing the patients and the communities that we care for.”

Read more >> 

Even Pope Francis is worried about political and corporate will, lack of focus, and inaction on climate change. Recently, 84-year-old Pope Francis told lawmakers to get their act together: “We owe this to the young, to future generations….” 

COP 26 information >> 

What is Cop26 and why does it matter? The complete guide and many things you need to know about the Glasgow conference seeking to forge a global response to the climate emergency.

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The Lincoln Project - and other media
Glenn Will Not Replace Us  (0:55 mins)

Quote: Patient Zero, if that person is ever found, will tell us how the current pandemic arose, but the search will also uncover the many ways dangerous diseases emerge. If the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 is natural, then we can expect recurrences, as the processes that led to its interaction with humans — climate change, intensive animal farming, the encroachment of civilization into natural preserves, smuggling and consumption of exotic species — have only increased. If the virus was created in a laboratory, for whatever purpose, then it is a reminder that science is engaged in experiments that invite catastrophe with the smallest slip. In either case, Covid-19 is a harbinger.

— The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid
     Lawrence Wright

Healthy planet, anyone?

Creative thinking and doing….

In Nigeria, a country heavily reliant on revenues from its oil exports, entrepreneur Ifedolapo Runsewe has identified another type of black gold: used car tyres.
She has set up Freetown Waste Management Recycle, an industrial plant dedicated to transforming old tyres into paving bricks, floor tiles and other goods that are in high demand in Africa’s most populous nation.
“Creating something new from something that will otherwise be lying somewhere as waste was part of the motivation,” Runsewe said at her factory in the city of Ibadan in southwestern Nigeria.
“We are able to create an entire value chain about the tyres,” she said, holding a paving brick that is one of the company’s best-selling products.

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

No longer in the daily grind known as the commute, but I’m busy, nonetheless. More on that tomorrow…