oh oh!

Worldwide (Map) 
December 29, 2022 - 659,290,487 confirmed infections; 6,685,590 deaths
December 30, 2021 – 284,807,650 confirmed infections; 5,425,550 deaths
December 31, 2020 – 82,656000 confirmed infections; 1,8040100 deaths

US (Map) 
December 29, 2022 - 100,588,312 confirmed infections; 1,091,522 deaths
December 30, 2021 – 53,659,715 confirmed infections; 823,120 deaths
December 31, 2020 – 19,737,200 confirmed infections; 342,260 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
December 29, 2022 - 4,048,580 confirmed infections; 102,568 deaths
December 30, 2021 – 3,433,555 confirmed infections; 90,935 deaths
December 31, 2020 – 1,039,165 confirmed infections; 28,035 deaths

Post from:
December 30, 2021 – “Auld lang syne” 

December 30, 2020 - “TGIO” 

News blues…

Current US joke:

Why is Covid better than Southwest airlines? 

Because it’s airborne!

(This, in response to Southwest airlines cancelling thousands of flights across the US.)
 

***

Not a joke:
“As Covid-19 Continues to Spread, So Does Misinformation About It. Doctors are exasperated by the persistence of false and misleading claims about the virus :

As Covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise in parts of the country, myths and misleading narratives continue to evolve and spread, exasperating overburdened doctors and evading content moderators.
What began in 2020 as rumors that cast doubt on the existence or seriousness of Covid quickly evolved into often outlandish claims about dangerous technology lurking in masks and the supposed miracle cures from unproven drugs, like ivermectin. Last year’s vaccine rollout fueled another wave of unfounded alarm. Now, in addition to all the claims still being bandied about, there are consiracy theories about the long-term effects of the treatments, researchers say.

Read more >> 

***

Depressing Covid news:
China
China’s hospitals were already overcrowded, underfunded and inadequately staffed in the best of times. But now with Covid spreading freely for the first time in China, the medical system is being pushed to its limits. 

Read more >> 

Could the COVID-19 surge in China unleash a new coronavirus mutant on the world?
Scientists don’t know but worry that might happen. It could be similar to omicron variants circulating there now. It could be a combination of strains. Or something entirely different, they say.
“China has a population that is very large and there’s limited immunity. And that seems to be the setting in which we may see an explosion of a new variant,” said Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University. 

And…

The Biden administration is weighing new precautionary measures for travelers entering the U.S. from China, according to American officials, as sales of air tickets out of China soared following Beijing’s decision to reopen its borders to international travel for the first time in almost three years.

Read more >> 

UK
UK hit by fifth Covid wave this year as cases shoot up by 20 per cent in a week. While Covid levels will be higher than for most of the pandemic in the next few weeks they will still be some way short of the previous record, set in July, experts predict.
Read more >> 

India

India has mandated a COVID-19 negative test report for travelers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand, the federal health minister said.
Passengers from those countries would be put under quarantine if they showed symptoms of COVID-19 or tested positive, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted on Saturday, as he posted photographs of tests being conducted at the international airport in the capital, New Delhi.

Read more >> 

***

On war… and culture war
Ukraine war photo essay >> 

Healthy planet, anyone?

Photo essay to remind us what we might lose unless we get out conservation act together. (And “we” here means ALL of us, not just a few; ALL OF US.)  

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I remain in California rather than having returned to South Africa, as planned. Here, we’ve had lots of rain, aka an “atmospheric river”  and the “pineapple express”. I’m not complaining about rain. We need it here and winter is the time for rainfall in California. (Luckily, I reside near the beach on San Francisco Bay and I’ve had no trouble with flooding as have some regions of coastal California.)
Southern hemisphere South Africa gets it monsoonal rainfall in summer (that is, now) beginning around October. This year, Kwa Zulu Natal is experiencing excessive thunderstorms, hailstorms, and rainfall. (As it did last year, alas!)
SA is 10 hours ahead of CA. Today, I awoke to a pinging cell phone. Two video clips had been sent from my late mother’s domestic worker about the SA house. The videos chilled my blood: the garden and the house’s lower flat have been completely flooded. The garden at the bottom of the property built on a slope culminates in a shallow valley with a lovely stream. This is not the first time the area has flooded but it is the first time I’ve seen it so completely flooded. Eyeballing it from rainy California I’d judge the water at least six to seven foot deep...and at least one foot deep in lower apartment.

Take a look:

Panic stations!
I immediately called KZN's local head of road works department who told me “It is end of the work day here and we cannot do anything until tomorrow.”

Alas, it’s not the first time I’ve worked with KZN's roads department folks. Unfortunately, they arrive with heavy equipment totally unsuited to the needs of the job. Both culverts must be cleared out, and regularly maintained so that water can can drain under the road and into a marsh area on the other side.  Moreover, silt and debris must be regularly cleared from the dirt road "gutters" so that this material does not drop into the house side of the stream. It's as clear as day that this is a good solution. It is a solution that the roads work team refuses to implement in any consistent fashion. 
I aslo notified the local Democratic Alliance councilor who has been terrifically helpful in the past. (The corrupt ANC has been outvoted in our district – largely due to ANC councilors’ complete lack of responsiveness.) 
My past dealings with roads works department and description of ongoing drainage problems with mindblowing photos:
From 2022, “More of the same”  and “Mortality rate backlog” 
From 2021, “Fishy” 
From 2019, “Fact or fake” 
It is NOT as if this problem has not been tackled in the past. It IS as if this problem has been tackled ineptly and incompetently in the past.
Now, from 14,000 miles away, I must figure out how to get competent assistance fast and get an insurance adjuster in to evaluate the downstairs damage and to pay out so I can get the damage fixed AND get the @#$#$#$# roads department people to DO THEIR JOBS FOR WHICH I PAY EXHORBITANT PROPERTY TAX.
‘nuf said!

… rain expected to continue through this AND next week in KZN and in California.
Groan!

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:24am
Sunset: 4:58pm
     Rain, rain, rain….

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:01am
Sunset: 7:02pm
    Rain, rain, rain….

Chillax!

The Lincoln Project:
Biden Christmas address (2:20 mins)

United!

Worldwide (Map) 
December 22, 2022 – 655,145,823 confirmed infections; 6,671,946 deaths
December 22, 2021 – 277,088,800 confirmed infections; 5,376,100 deaths
December 24, 2020 – 78,674,530 confirmed infections; 1,730,000 deaths

US (Map) 
December 22, 2022 – 100,183,071 confirmed infections; 1,089,327deaths
December 22, 2021 – 51,537,000 confirmed infections; 812,100 deaths
December 24, 2020 – 18,455,660 confirmed infections; 326,100 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
December 22, 2022 – 4,046,986 confirmed infections; 102,568 deaths
December 22, 2021 – 3,353,110 confirmed infections; 90,587 deaths
December 24, 2020 – 974,260 confirmed infections; 25,660 deaths

Post from:
December 24, 2021 – “Pesky numbers"
December 24, 2020 – “Holiday madness" 

News blues…

Covid levels surge in San Francisco Bay Area wastewater. Is the next surge here?

What are the symptoms of an infection with BQ.1 and BQ.1.1? 

***

Cities across China scrambled to install hospital beds and build fever screening clinics on Tuesday as authorities reported five more deaths and international concern grew about Beijing's surprise decision to let the virus run free.

Read “China races to bolster health system as COVID surge sparks global concern” >>

***

A raging epidemic in China could be bad news for controlling the virus in the U.S., he and other experts said, because travelers will arrive sick and the chances of mutation increase anytime a virus infects a lot of people.

Read “COVID-19 is about to explode in China. What that could mean for the United States?” 

***

On war… and culture war
Ukraine President Zelensky arrives at the White House where he participates in a press conference with President Biden then addresses US Congress. 

***

The Lincoln Project:

We are united (Zelensky in US Congress) (2:00 mins)

Two meetings, a world of difference for democracy (0:45 mins) 
Uh oh, Donald  (0:44 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - December 20, 2022 (2:15 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - December 18, 2022  (2:57 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Way back in 1976, I visited the Dead Sea and floated in the ultra salty water. There was not much there then, few tourist amenities and fewer tourists. Today, the Dead Sea is dying. Beautiful, ominous photos show the impact as its water level drops and big sinkholes swallow whole tracts of land around it. 

Learn why this disaster is unfolding at the Middle East's iconic salt lake >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

As mentioned in the previous post, Mary and I had read the results of her recent scan but could not accurately decipher results. That is, the results we deciphered described several “areas of concern” – potentially active nodules. How could that be?
A discussion with the oncologist confirmed our fears: either the chemo had failed to flush what nodules remained after surgery or scar tissue in the lung affected/hid what was apparent. Of particular concern was a vascular bundle associated with lymph nodes behind the sternum. The oncologist had already contacted the surgeon and discussed the possibility of further surgical intervention in that area. His response? Too sensitive an area with too many blood vessels – also the reason he’d not addressed the area during initial surgery. And I suspect, the reason why he’d re-staged Mary’s diagnosis from Stage 2 to Stage 3 A.
What to do?
Inconclusive.
Next step?
Learn more with another PET scan.
That’s scheduled for Jan 4, 2023.
How to medically address the situation if, indeed, the chemo was insufficient to dissuade further growth?
Immunotherapy is an option.
Groan.

***

Given Meso Mary’s toxic contamination and my concern, these days I am hyperalert to all things asbestos and mesothelioma related. Here’s a view of the future, for India and Indians.
India banned asbestos mining in 1993, when the government stopped reissuing licenses, but it imports more of the toxic mineral than any other country. In 2021, India accounted for 44% of global imports, a 29% increase over 2020. Russia and Brazil are its key sources.
In India, “there’s almost no home or car that isn’t being built with asbestos as an ingredient…”

“The government is basically saying that Indian asbestos is poisonous, but Brazilian or Russian asbestos is not,” says Gopal Krishna, an occupational health researcher and founder of the Ban Asbestos Network of India. “It makes no sense.” India’s unmatched scale of exposure to asbestos means that in the coming decades more than 6 million people could have an asbestos-related disease, including more than 600,000 cancer cases, according to research published by Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). “It’s a ticking timebomb,” says Abhijeet Vasant Jadhav, lead author of the research. Asbestos is used in everything from cement to brake parts, says Krishna. “There’s almost no home or car in India that isn’t being built with asbestos as an ingredient. We are all exposed to it.”

Read “'We are all exposed to it’: the human face of India’s asbestos timebomb. Experts say country’s vulnerability to asbestos-related diseases is putting the health of millions of people at risk” >> 

***

Winter solstice and the US is cold!. The Bay Area is not as cold as many, most, areas across the US but it is still cold.
The good news? While it will be cold, even colder next month, we’re on the upswing. Spring is in the cards!

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:21am
Sunset: 4:54pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 4:56am
Sunset: 6:59pm

Scanned

Worldwide (Map) 
December 15, 2022 – 650,987,530 confirmed infections; 6,658,200 deaths
December 16, 2021 – 272,521,350 confirmed infections; 5,333,815 deaths
December 17, 2020 - 73,557,500 confirmed infections; 1,637,100 deaths

US (Map) 
December 15, 2022 - 99,629,185 confirmed infections; 1,085,900 deaths
December 16, 2021 – 50,408,000 confirmed infections; 802,770 deaths
December 17, 2020 – 16,724,775 confirmed infections; 303,900 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
December 15, 2022 - 4,045,475 confirmed infections; 102,550 deaths
December 16, 2021 – 3,231,100 confirmed infections; 90,226 deaths
December 17, 2020 – 873,680 confirmed infections; 23,665 deaths
Posts from:
December 16, 2021 – “Reconciliation” 
December 17, 2020 – “What can go wrong…” 

News blues…

Telltale signs of a ‘tripledemic’: “with flu, RSV and Covid-19 all swirling, hospitals and health care systems are approaching capacity as millions still refuse to get vaccinated >> 

***

State health officials are warning people that time is running out to get vaccinated before gathering with family over the holidays as Covid-19 cases surge nationwide alongside unseasonably severe waves of flu and respiratory syncytial virus.
The guidance comes after two excruciating holiday seasons that sent Covid-19 cases and deaths skyrocketing. And it underscores the ongoing struggle of public health officials at the state and federal level to get Americans vaccinated against the flu and Covid.

Read “‘The situation in the hospitals is grim’: States face brutal virus fallout” >> 

***

The spread of Covid-19 in China is now “impossible” to track, the country’s health authorities have said, announcing they have stopped recording asymptomatic cases in their daily tallies.
The admission comes amid soaring presentations to hospitals and clinics as Covid-19 spreads rapidly through the population in the wake of the sudden removal of strict pandemic measures. Authorities have urged people not to seek emergency healthcare unless necessary, and announced the rollout of second boosters to elderly and vulnerable people.
China’s government abruptly ended the long-running and strict zero-Covid policy last week, rolling back measures including travel restrictions and lockdowns. Health authorities also ended the mass testing drives and compulsory regular testing which were pillars of the policy. As a result, official daily reports have become an increasingly inaccurate measure of the outbreak.

Read “China says spread of Covid ‘impossible’ to track as infections soar in Beijing” >> 

***

A study released Tuesday by the Commonwealth Fund shows that in [the past] two years, the Covid vaccines have averted over 3 million deaths in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 1 million Americans have died from Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic. But the study results show the toll would have been even worse had the U.S. had relied upon so-called natural immunity acquired through infection as the only immunological defense against the virus. Without vaccines, the country would have experienced four times as many deaths, 1.5 times more infections, and 3.8 times more hospitalizations in the time since December of 2020. The vaccines also saved the U.S. $1 trillion in additional medical costs.
The study’s key message is that vaccines are “worth our money as taxpayers,” said Isaac Chun-Hai Fung, an associate professor of epidemiology at Georgia Southern University, who was not involved in the study. “We pay for the vaccination campaign and it works. It saves us money and it saves lives.”

Read “Covid vaccines averted 3 million deaths in U.S., according to new study” >> 

Healthy planet, anyone?

Jane Goodall tells it like it is!

Environmental activist and primatologist Jane Goodall still believes Donald Trump essentially acts like a male chimpanzee.
Goodall first made the observation in 2016, during Trump's first presidential campaign, and told MSNBC's Ari Melber … that the former president still displayed the aggressive tendencies of the primate species….

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Base CT scan completed. Mary and I bussed to the scan department, half an hour before appointment time, as requested, filled in the inevitable forms and Mary drank the 2 cups of water required to filter scan “ink” medium from her system. Then, the scan. Then out of door…before her actual 10 o’clock appointment… indeed, back in the bus by 10. That’s service we appreciate!
Additionally, we received the scan results two hours later. Since neither of us can read/understand the results presented, we wait until Friday to review with the oncologist.
Waiting. We hate waiting under these conditions. Particularly as nothing on the scan results appear clearly to states that Mary is free of malignancy; the opposite, in fact.
Groan.
Mary has, however, expressed a “total lack of interest in yet another dose of chemo this year.”

***

The weather is cold here along the SF Bay. (It’s colder even 25 minutes away from the bay.) The waterfowl, however, are plentiful, beautiful, and a pleasure to watch.
TGFWF. (thank gods for waterfowl.)

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:17am
Sunset: 4:51pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 4:53am
Sunset: 6:55pm

It's baaack!

Worldwide (Map) 
December 8, 2022 – 647,326,420 confirmed infections; 6,647,910 deaths
December 10, 2020 – 68,849,000 confirmed infections; 1,568,750 deaths

US (Map) 
December 8, 2022 – 99,269,100 confirmed infections; 1,083,645 deaths
December 10 – 15,385,00 confirmed infections; 289,500 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
December 8, 2022 - 4,043,545 confirmed infections; 102,465 deaths
December 10 – 829,600 confirmed infections; 22,580 deaths

Post from
December 9, 2021, 2021 “Year 3 of the Covid Era” 
December 10, 2020, “Wear a mask” 

News blues…

Covid appeared to go underground for the summer and fall – at least in the SF Bay Area. Now it’s reappearing, along with ‘flu and RSV - Respiratory syncytial virus, a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms.
My Covid-cautious “bubble” of friends and acquaintances avoided Thanksgiving meal get-togethers this year as several close friends were infected prior to the holiday. Thankfully, all are well again.

***

On war… and culture war

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is this year’s 2022 Person of the Year.
Read more >> 

Illustration by Neil Jamieson for TIME
Source Images: Getty Images (12); Ivanchuk: Lena Mucha—The New York Times/Redux;
Kondratova: Kristina Pashkina—UNICEF; Kutkov:
Courtesy Oleg Kutkov; Nott: Annabel Moeller—David Nott Foundation;
Payevska: Evgeniy Maloletka—AP

***

The Lincoln Project:
Trump Against The Constitution(1:10 mins)
It begins again  (0:58 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - December 6, 2022  (2:12 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Infinite waste in boundless seas – a photo essay >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Been on hiatus … taking care of a friend. Meso Mary finished her 4th and last session of this first round of chemo. While each session was progressively more intense, the last session was the worst. Indeed, Mary has still not recovered to the point she was before she began that last session. 

It has been tough, perhaps made worse by the cold and wet weather. Who, after all, wants to step outside, wrapped up in winter woolies while feeling – and being – nauseous? Certainly not Mary, nor me accompanying her if she's not so inclined. 
Next step: CT scan to ascertain the results of the four session of intense chemotherapy.  The downside? CT scans only detect active malignancies that are at least one centimeter in size. This scan will act as a baseline to inform the next scan and the next stage of mesothelioma.

***

The good news? California and the SF Bay Area have benefitted from the rain. Not too much, not too little; just the right amount, so far. 

The worry is that, as has happened for the past several years, we have rain in December then it stops and there’s no more rain. Here’s hopin’ that’s not this year’s pattern.

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:12am
Sunset: 4:49pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 4:51am
Sunset: 6:51pm

Veterans Day 2022

Worldwide (Map) 
November 10, 2022 – 634,056,770 confirmed infections; 6.60.235 deaths
November 10, 2021 – 251,624,400 confirmed infections; 5,076,300 deaths
November 12, 2020 – 52,070,000 confirmed infections; 1,274,000 deaths

US (Map) 
November 10, 2022 - 97.961.940 confirmed infections; 1,074,300 deaths
November 10, 2021 – 46,793,200 confirmed infections; 759,100 deaths
November 12, 2020 – 10,258,100 confirmed infections; 239,700 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
November 10, 2022 - 4,031,625 confirmed infections; 102,365 deaths
November 10, 2021 – 2,924,625 confirmed infections; 89,435 deaths
November 12, 2020 – 740,255 confirmed infections; 19,951 deaths

Post from:
November 11, 2021 “Veterans Day” 
November 11, 2020, “Veterans Day” 

News blues…

An uptick in sore throats, coughs, and fevers are telltale signs that flu season has arrived in the United States. But this fall, those common symptoms might be a sign of something more sinister: Public health experts warn we are likely facing a "tripledemic," the convergence of flu, COVID-19, and the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:

Donald Trump v. Marco Rubio  (1:20 mins)
Who we are (1:55 mins)
The Red Mirage  (1:00 mins)
Never (0:30 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Pumpkin pollution? Tossing jack-o-lanterns in landfills generates harmful methane gas. There's a better way to get a second life out of your decorative gourds. 

Read more >> 

***

COP 27 is on the go. Here’s my view of COP 26 from November 13 last year >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

It’s been a long week. Long. Cold. Rainy.
The good news: one more chemo session to go. Next week, Thursday. Then a few days of malaise before Mary bounces back. 

More good news: Mary has a date for the post chemo CT scan. December 14. A day or so later we will know the results of four sessions of chemo. That is, we will know the results that the CT scan can capture. The reality of mesothelioma is there are always microscopic “nodules” – read malignancies – ready to blossom that, to all intents and purposes, do not meet the scan's "eye". That is, according to her oncologist, scans can only capture the signs of new growth when that new growth reaches about a centimeter in size.

It's what you can't see that'll kill ya!

New vistas in reality

Worldwide (Map) 
November 5, 2022 – 631,240,410 confirmed infections; 6,594,475 deaths
November 4, 2021 –248,312,000 confirmed infections; 5,026,000 deaths
November 5, 2020 – 48,136,225 confirmed infections; 1,225,915 deaths

US (Map) 
November 5, 2022 - 97,610,630 confirmed infections; 1,071,630 deaths
November 4, 2021 – 46,261,150 confirmed infections; 750,580 deaths 

November 5, 2020– 9,487,470 confirmed infections; 237,730 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
November 5, 2022 - 4,028,655 confirmed infections; 102,312 deaths
November 4, 2021 – 2,922,800 confirmed infections; 89,220 deaths
November 5, 2020– 730,500 confirmed infections; 19,585 deaths

Post from:
November 4, 2021, “What a difference…” 

5 November, 2020, “Counting Chickens Thursday” 

On war… and culture war
Crowdfunding campaigns have been powering the Ukrainian military since the early days of the war.

The fundraising appeal for the armoured vehicles – tagline “Grab them all” – had only been launched …[hoping] that the $5.5m (£4.8m) required for the major purchase would be secured within a week.
Within nine hours, half of the funds had been pledged by donors, ranging from private individuals to big Ukrainian corporations and smaller high street firms, such as the bedding company World of Mattresses.
[T]here was no need to continue pumping out the calls for cash, and the social media memes that had made much of the conceit of the coming battle between Spartans and Persians, a wry nod to the Iranian kamikaze drones that have been plaguing Ukrainian cities in recent months.

Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:

President Biden speaks on democracy (2:15 mins)
Time for a change  (0:55 mins)
Denial (0:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Despite a pledge to reduce use of plastics, a study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the United Nations Environment Programme revealed that some companies – including Coca-Cola KO.N and Pepsi – are using more virgin plastic than ever and are almost certain to miss a target to make plastic packaging more sustainable by 2025.

The headline pledge was that 100% of plastic packaging would be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025, but this goal will “almost certainly be missed by most organisations”, the environmental group’s report said. Nestle said these targets were hampered by a lack of government recycling infrastructure globally, noting that it had reduced the amount of virgin plastic it uses by 8% since 2018.
Mars said it is making progress in tackling plastic waste and investing hundreds of millions of dollars to redesign thousands of packaging components.
Pepsi and Coca-Cola did not respond to requests for comment.
Greenpeace said the report is evidence that voluntary corporate targets have failed and called on the U.N. to forge a treaty that forces governments and companies to use less single-use plastic packaging.
“This underlines the need for governments to ensure that the global plastic treaty … delivers major reductions in plastic production and use.”

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Mary is making a slow but sure comeback. The reality of mesothelioma and its long-term consequences in her life are slowly sinking in.
“It’s five months since my diagnosis, surgery, and first foray into chemo. It’s rough. I thought I’d sail through and come out smarter and stronger. Now? I’m done with chemo session 3, awaiting chemo session 4, and I’m not sure I can do this for the rest of my abbreviated life.”
Mary has been blessed with good health all her life. I remind her that she can cope with this as she’s coped with other obstacles in her life. She agrees and adds, “But let me feel out this new direction. It’s not something I ever thought I’d deal with. I’m disappointed in myself but I’m also trying to face a reality that’s, well, very real.”
She’s right.
All I can do is support her.

Flu season

News blues

Covid has not disappeared “like a miracle” (as predicted by The Donald during his disastrous term). It’s no longer getting much attention, despite the approaching winter months in the US and the confluence of winter flu.

COVID-19 infections have run into an early flu season and an usual surge of respiratory infections in young children to create what some experts are calling a “tripledemic.”
Northeastern University experts explain what is behind the triple whammy, why it’s hitting now— and why next year might not be as bad.
“I think it’s going to be a rough winter,” says Brandon Dionne, associate clinical professor at Northeastern University’s School of Pharmacy. “There’s lots of factors at play.”
But chief among them is what experts are calling the “immunity gap,” the lack of regular exposure to viruses that helps rebuild the body’s immune response to individual viruses.
“People were taking all these precautions in the past few years that were really mitigating the spread of all respiratory viruses,” Dionne says.

Read more >> 
Buckle up. Get boosted.

***

The Lincoln Project:
Country over Party (0:57 mins)
Hell, no  (1:20 mins)
DJ Trump - Texas remix  (0:55 mins)
De Santis or Trump (1:02 mins)
Pelosi attack  (1:00 mins)
Election Denier Tudor Dixon (1:00 mins)
Finchem (1:10 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - November 1, 2022  (2:12 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

It’s been a rough few days post chemo. Mary stayed in bed from Saturday afternoon until today. She was feeling better yesterday but not well enough to spend much time away from bed. Falling over was replaced by “mere” feelings of light-headedness followed by needing to sit down. All accompanied by muscles spasms in her back. These latter likely associated with lack of exercise.
What to do but ride it out?

Never a dull moment

On war…
Ukrainians use phone app to alert military about incoming drone and missile attacks.

Ukraine has been subject to months of deadly long-range missile strikes, but the attacks have stepped up in the past month as Russia has fired hundreds of cheap, Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones into cities and at Ukraine’s infrastructure.
…
A simple mobile phone app has been developed by Ukrainian volunteers to allow civilians to report sightings of incoming Russian drones and missiles – and, it is hoped, increase the proportion shot down before they hit the ground.
The app, ePPO, relies on a phone’s GPS and compass, and a user only has to point their device in the direction of the incoming object and press a single button for it to send a location report to the country’s military.

Read more >>

***

The Lincoln Project:
Answer the question, Ron (0:50 mins)
Large Marge  (0:58 mins)
Funding Fascism  (0:57 mins)
House of Horrors  (0:56 mins)
Lip lickin’ liar  (0:40 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - October 25, 2022  (2:05 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Does the photo below not appear to show two exhausted swimmers taking a well-earned rest against an iceberg? Or perhaps a Jason deCaires Taylor  sculpture?
Rather, it is nature doing its thing in the far away ocean. Imagine all the other amazing natural feats we landlocked humans miss each moment.

 See more amazing photos >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Chemotherapy session three down the hatch. Well, almost. It’s all over but for the recovery from the session – including yet more drugs, this time to counter nausea. Mary returned from her post-chemo acupuncture session – to address nausea, too – and will lie low for the rest of the day. Best to not push too hard two days after poisons have been infused through one’s system.
The recent session followed the usual protocols although with the addition of infused Emend anti-nausea drug, instead of taking the pill form of Zyprexa. This change added extra time to the session. During the hours of 9am to 2pm, Mary took in more than 5 liters of liquid, from water to Emend to water and pemetrexed to water and cisplatin and yet more water to finish off. By the time she departed the oncology clinic water retention made her puffy from forehead to toes. Today, she’s still puffy though less than yesterday. Now she must contend with nausea.
Moreover, she must continue to imbibe at least two liters of water each day to ensure her kidneys continue to flush the poisonous meds.
Mesothelioma: never a dull moment.
The good news? Only one more session to go – at least that’s what we’re expecting. The post chemo sessions scan will confirm that (or not). Then, she’s free until the next scan in 6 months to track any resurgence.

Troublesome

News blues

Dr. Anthony Fauci warned about a pair of "pretty troublesome" Covid variants — omicron descendants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 — as the U.S. braces for a winter surge. 

Read more >> 

And,

People who reported experiencing side effects to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines such as fever, chills or muscle pain tended to have a greater antibody response following vaccination, according to new research.
Having such symptoms after vaccination is associated with greater antibody responses compared with having only pain or rash at the injection site or no symptoms at all….
“In conclusion, these findings support reframing postvaccination symptoms as signals of vaccine effectiveness and reinforce guidelines for vaccine boosters in older adults,”

Read more >> 

A team of scientists affiliated with Duke University found that ivermectin does not meaningfully improve the recovery of people with mild to moderate Covid.
“These findings do not support the use of ivermectin in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19,” they concluded.
The FDA has warned people against taking the tablets for anything other than their approved use.
Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Tyranny  (0:57 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

On plastics and the myth of recyclable plastics

Just 5% of plastic products are recycled in America and many common items just aren’t able to be recycled at all, according to a damning new study released by Greenpeace USA.
The study estimates the U.S. produced about 51 million tons of plastic waste in 2021, but just 2.4 million tons of that was reprocessed.
The data compiled by Greenpeace is even more bleak than that released by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2018. The government estimated at the time just 9% of all plastics had been recycled that year, with the remaining 91% winding up in landfills. (At the time much of the country’s plastic was shipped to China and considered recycled, even if it was dumped in a landfill anyways).
Shockingly, the research said no type of plastic packaging in America met the threshold needed to be considered “recyclable” promoted….

Read more >> 

Recycling plastic waste fails for a variety of reasons that Greenpeace boils down to: the impossibility of collection and sorting, the environmental toxicity, synthetic compositions and contamination, and a lack of economic feasibility.
There are thousands of different types of plastics with different compositions that cannot be recycled together, let alone sorted. Plastic recycling facilities are likely to catch on fire because plastic is flammable, and living near one poses a huge health risk—take Turkey, which became a new plastic waste export destination after China banned imports and saw an influx of EU waste expose workers and communities to new health risks. Plastics can also absorb toxic chemicals, further complicating recycling efforts and increasing their toxicity. On top of all this, recycled plastic costs more than new plastic because of the aforementioned factors encouraging companies to simply make more instead of pursuing alternatives.

Read more >> 

***

More than four months after devastating monsoon floods began in Pakistan, at least 1,500 people have died, and the waters that inundated nearly the entire country have yet to recede. This ongoing emergency is causing illness and communicable disease to spread, and these effects are likely to be much more deadly than the initial catastrophe. “The public health risks are worse, and the death toll could be much higher”....

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Another foray into battling mesothelioma. Today, Mary's trip to the blood lab begins her third chemo session – and, we hope, her second to last treatment of this round. Why “this round”? Well, the unpleasant truth is, to date, there is no cure for mesothelioma. The asbestos fibers that stimulate, aka cause, the disease never are dissuaded: they simply regenerate. This, because indiscernible microfibers are ready, willing, and able to regrow. It’s the job of the patient and her medical team to stay ahread of new growth. This means that after this round of four sessions of chemo, Mary will undergo a scan to judge the chemo sessions’ effectiveness. If all appears clear in the scan, Mary will be free of scans for the next six months. If anything appears suspicious in the scan, the medical team will suggest next steps.
So, today, blood tests ascertain that Mary’s system is up to the task of another round. If any element of her blood suggests she’s above or below desired “measurements” the chemo session will be delayed until her blood levels are more “workable.” To date, Mary “feels fine” and is preparing for another several days of feeling under par.

“At least my chemo sessions are every three weeks. This gives me enough time to recover between bouts. And I do recover. Yes, my lung/chest feels wooden but I have full movement of my left arm. Indeed, I can almost forget the dire disease and prognosis for … well, minutes… at a time.” At that she chuckles warily and wearily and adds, “Perhaps one of these days, it’ll be forgetfulness for half-hourly bouts of time.”
I can attest to Mary’s fortitude. Yesterday, together, we added a layer of bottom shelves to a set of wooden shelves on my patio. Mary was an active  participant in adding this new layer that will house small pots of newly propagated succulents. We’ve added several more rarer-than-usual-for-us cacti and succulents. In general, our philosophy for such plants is “don’t pay money for what’s readily available.” Problem with that philosophy? Some cacti – for examples, Rebutia  - native to Bolivia and Argentina, and Lithops,  native to South Africa and Namibia. These beautiful plants are not, alas, not “readily available” except by purchase.

Relax, it's Sunday

News blues

Interesting information, from discovering Omicron to how data is and is not used, from Harvard’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health >> 

***

On war…
Six months of war in Ukraine: photos >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:

We've been warning you (0:45 mins)
Daddy  (0:57 mins)
Puppies  (0:58 mins)
Doug Mastriano Threatens American Democracy  (1:15 mins)
Val Demings owns Marco Rubio  (1:58 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Just chuggin' along. Mary undergoes another session of chemo next Thursday. We feel and we hope that we are slightly better prepared with two sessions behind us. Moreover, Mary video conferenced with her oncologist last week and they agreed on another strategy to address potential nausea associated with her falling over post-chemo last time around. 

Here’s hopin’ this new strategy will improve Mary's pace of healing.

Her oncologist also confirmed with Mary that, as of now we’re expecting two more chemo sessions. That is, she’s half way through this round of chemo. After the fourth and last session mid-November Mary will undergo another scan – likely a CT scan – to evaluate the chemo’s effects and create a baseline to evaluate future resurgences of growth of mesothelioma malignancies.

Want to know more about mesothelioma and surgeries that address it? Link to a recent webinar with the surgeon who performed the P/D on Mary’s left lung >> 

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:26am
Sunset: 6:20pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:12am
Sunset: 6:13pm

Costs of denialism?

Worldwide (Map) 
October 20, 2022 – 626,441,100 confirmed infections; 6,573,750 deaths
October 21, 2021 – 241,837,800 confirmed infections; 4,917,467 deaths
October 22, 2020 – 41,150,000 confirmed infections; 1,130.410 deaths

US (Map) 
October 20, 2022 - 97,085,250 confirmed infections; 1,066,600 deaths
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 20, 2022 - 4,024,555 confirmed infections; 102,246 deaths
October 21, 2021 – 2,917,300 confirmed infections; 88,674 deaths
October 22, 2020 – 708,360 confirmed infections; 18,750 deaths

Post from:
October 22, 2021 “Not much” 
October 21, 2020 “October updates” 

News blues

The imbalance in death rates among the nation’s racial and ethnic groups has been a defining part of the pandemic since the start. To see the pattern, The Washington Post analyzed every death during more than two years of the pandemic. Early in the crisis, the differing covid threat was evident in places such as Memphis and Fayette County. Deaths were concentrated in dense urban areas, where Black people died at several times the rate of White people.
….
Over time, the gap in deaths widened and narrowed but never disappeared — until mid-October 2021, when the nation’s pattern of covid mortality changed, with the rate of death among White Americans sometimes eclipsing other groups. .
A Post analysis of covid death data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from April 2020 through this summer found the racial disparity vanished at the end of last year, becoming roughly equal. And at times during that same period, the overall age-adjusted death rate for White people slightly surpassed that of Black and Latino people.

Read more >> 

Gov. Gavin Newsom will end California's COVID-19 state of emergency in February 2023 and surrender the emergency powers he has held for over two years, the governor's office announced this week. What does this really mean?
Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Political ads flood the airwaves as We the People get closer to a nailbiter election. (Each day as I read the news, I CANNOT believe that ANYONE would vote for ANY Republican “policies”. WTF?)
1849  (0:57 mins)
J. D. Vance is an Extremist  (0:56 mins)
Even Fox News gets it  (1:00 mins)
The Difference Between McMullin and Lee  (1:14 mins)
Mike Lee begs, Part 2 (0:55 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The SF Bay Area is experiencing wonderful Indian Summer weather. Additionally, it’s a pleasure to walk along the beach with Mary and more wonderful to hear her maturing perspective on the devastating form of cancer that afflicts her. In short, Mary finds the implications on her health – mesothelioma does not reverse, nor it is curable – a “kind of precious gift that allows me to truly understand and appreciate the gravitas that is life and living. Weird to say but I’m more fully enjoying each moment of my life. More weird to say, more people might face similar fates to allow their deeper apprecation of their lives - and the implications of wasting their time on over-emotional nonsense such as vaccine denialism, etcetera etcertera etcetera."
Thank you, Mary.

***

Mary suffers from toxic contamination of asbestos, and subsequent malignancies in her left lung with “some” implication of lymph nodes near her lower trachea. 

What is asbestos? A mineral mined that, among other uses, is an effective foil against excessive heat buildup. 

What’s its history and is it banned in the US? 

In a word, no, it is not banned. 

I’ll collect and share pertinent info on this mineral as it becomes available.
Asbestos history and background – and culpability
ProPublica: “Swimming in this stuff”: The U.S. never banned asbestos. These workers are paying the price. 

As other countries outlawed asbestos, workers in a New York plant were “swimming” in it. Now, in a fight against the chemical industry, the United States may finally ban the potent carcinogen. But help may come too late.

Read more >> 

NPR: They inhaled asbestos for decades on the job. Now, workers break their silence.

While the U.S. considers finally banning the carcinogen, a group of men have come forward, saying they were exposed repeatedly while working at a chemical plant in New York.

Read more >>

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:23am
Sunset: 6:24pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:15am
Sunset: 6:11pm

Enjoying life

News blues

In a [recent interview, Dr Anthony] Fauci urged the US Congress not to be complacent and to resume funding efforts to combat the virus, including the scourge of long Covid, which remains scientifically elusive but understood to hit women and people of colour especially hard.
“It’s a very insidious beneath-the-radar-screen public health emergency,” the chief medical adviser to Joe Biden said, “because it isn’t that you have people who are hospitalized or dying but their function is being considerably impaired and, for reasons that are obvious, that doesn’t attract as much attention as a death rate.”

Read more >> 

***

On war…

Russian drone and missile attacks this month have destroyed almost a full third of [Ukraine’s] power stations. The destruction has triggered blackouts across the country, but the grid has remained relatively stable, showing that even Ukraine in a literal war with a superpower can still have better power scheduling than South Africa.

Read more >>

***

The Lincoln Project:
Evidence  (0:27 mins)
Two faces  (1:08 mins)
Mike Lee begs  (0:45 mins)
Ticket  (0:59 mins)
Trumperton  (0:39 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - October 18, 2022  (1:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

A reminder – our planet is beautiful. Photos have the power to prove it >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Nine more days of Mary feeling healthy, enjoying her days of exercise, research, and, yes, joy, too. Indeed, so easily does she find putting from her mind that mesothelioma is invading her lung and that chemo is coming up, again, that, today, she forgot to take her maintenance supplementary meds. That’s the right kind of forgetfulness.
Mary is enjoying life, perhaps more than ever....

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:20am
Sunset: 6:25pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:17am
Sunset: 6:11pm

“Daar lê die ding”

News blues

The Donald and his corrupt shenanigans remain persistent on the news, even to the detriment of Covid (remember how persistent he was about Covid not worth his time and effort to thwart?). Nevertheless, Covid has not “just disappeared” – again, The Donald’s words. Covid is still around.

New offshoots of the Omicron Covid-19 variant that virus experts say appear to spread easily are on the rise in the U.S., … underscoring how the virus is mutating and presenting new risks as it proliferates.
Two of the Omicron subvariants, both related to the BA.5 version that drove the most recent U.S. surge, are called BQ.1 and BQ.1.1. They were estimated to represent a combined 11.4% of U.S. Covid-19 cases by mid-October, according to estimates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Friday.

Read more >> 

***

Covid is one thing. The scourge of cancers on the rise may be even more insidious.

A new review of cancer registry records from 44 countries found that the incidence of early-onset cancers is rising rapidly for colorectal and 13 other types of cancers, many of which affect the digestive system, and this increase is happening across many middle- and high-income nations.
The review’s authors say the upswing in younger adults in happening in part because of more sensitive testing for some cancer types, such as thyroid cancer. But testing doesn’t completely account for the trend, says co-author Shuji Ogino, a professor of pathology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Ogino says the spike is due to an unhealthy stew of risk factors that are probably working together, some which are known and others that need to be investigated.
He notes that many of these risks have established links to cancer like obesity, inactivity, diabetes, alcohol, smoking, environmental pollution and Western diets high in red meat and added sugars, not to mention shift work and lack of sleep.

Read “A global epidemic of cancer among people younger than 50 could be emerging” >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Time for answers  (1:40 mins)
Social Security  (1:09 mins)
Protecting the Capitol  (1:06 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

The post “Living”, earlier this week, promoted the efforts to give legal rights to animals, trees and rivers. This week, Rogelio Luque-Lora of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, writes, “Why I’m sceptical about giving legal rights to animals, trees and rivers.” Read more >> 

***

“Making a plan…”
South Africans are a hardly lot and “making a plan” is as South African as is gorgeous scenery and hard work (and, these days, as South African as Eskom’s terrible load shedding). With unprecedented blackouts, South Africans are, despite Eskom's monopolistic grip on the nation, cutting the chord as much as we can and “making plans” by turning away from Eskom in growing numbers.

Reader responses complied by Daily Maverick Community Manager Sahra Heuwel.
Graphic: Rudi Louw

From Daily Maverick’s “How to cut the Eskom chord”, here’s what South Africans say:

• “I had to buy an inverter as I am dependent on supplementary oxygen. But the present rate of load shedding doesn’t allow the inverter to recharge fully.”
• “We have a back-up battery that currently kicks in to supply us with power for basic needs, which in our case includes a ventilator and medical machines for a severely physically challenged 18-year-old.”
• “We have solar and an inverter but not enough to last the night. We have a back-up generator (too). But (we) still rely on Eskom between load shedding to power the house and recharge batteries. We are basically self-sufficient, but not totally. Provided we can get two sets of three hours of Eskom power, we’re okay.”
• “I have resorted to using wood for cooking and candles for lighting the house.”
• “It’s back to basics. Paraffin is back in use as an alternative. Just for cooking and lights. No electronics.”
• “I grew up with lamps and candles in the (Bantustan) Ciskei, so we have reverted back 60 years. I have a small UPS (uninterrupted power supply) connected to a truck battery in order to teach uninterruptedly online. I even use an ancient push-push lawnmower to lessen grid pressure.”

(On topic, “We are a beautiful country but political thugs are dragging us into the Dark Ages” )

And, so, my dear South Africans, “daar lê die ding….”  (2:10 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Yesterday’s walk along an island gifted Mary and me with a bonanza of watery wildlife. First, crossing a bridge over the flowing tide, we spotted this curious but unafraid night heron:

Next, glittering silver streaks, like lights on a disco ball, attracted our attention: a school of small sardine-like fishies … followed by four large, hungry stiped bass. I’d never seen such large bass.

Moments later, what looked like plastic bag debris turned out, on closer inspection, to be a blue tinted jellyfish! Never seen a jellyfish in these waters before.

Further along on our walk, we noticed freshly blossomed tree mushrooms. 

Photos: © S. Galleymore. iPhone SE.

My cursory research did not suggest a name for this particular beauty. Maybe you’ll have better luck searching 
This bonanza of peeks into nature should have stimulated us to buy a lottery ticket.

***

Mary and I have a theme song, Gloria Gaynor and “I will survive”  (3:14 mins) Thank you, Gloria.

***

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:19am
Sunset: 6:30pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:20am
Sunset: 6:09pm

Squeaking

Stephen Colbert’s Meet the Flynnstones (0:55 mins)

 
The Lincoln Project:
What They believe  (0:59 mins)
J. D. Vance’s fake non-profit  (0:35 mins)
Storm  (0:57 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Learn more, get involved >>

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Yesterday, after showering, Meso Mary displayed the clump of hair that had come away in her hand while she shampooed.
Most of her hair remains on her head, but the clump in her hand was a sobering foreshadowing of what may await.
Indeed, Mary, ever proactive, intends to visit a stylist for a shorter, more manageable hair style that will allow her to focus on bouncing back from chemo rather than how she looks to herself and others.

***

Thom Hartmann’s Opinion piece, “Why does the GOP work so hard to let psychopaths in suits get away with murder?” addresses the reality of deaths – including that of Hartmann's father from mesothelioma - due to rampant toxic contamination in the United States.
For many years, I’ve engaged with the reality that “business” – big and little – is geared toward profit and, too often, endangers its workers with nothing to little demanded of the companies. Moreover, this is getting worse. (That is, worse from the point of view of the Little Guy; better from the point of view of big biz and big profit margins.) With Republican Party determination to neutralize (at best) democracy in the US, We the People can expect far more of the same.
A quote from Hartman’s piece:

In America today if you poison and kill your wife to make $150,000 in life insurance money, you’ll probably end up in prison.
But if you poison and kill hundreds of thousands of people so you can take home a multi-million-dollar paycheck, you get to buy a new yacht.
This has to end.

I don’t pretend my work will end this. I’m a very small cog in a very large system. But I am a cog. And cogs, just like squeaky wheels, require a modicum of attention.
Mary’s fatal ailment stimulates me to squeak.
Let the squeaking begin.

***

Inexorable trend toward darkness in:
SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:17am
Sunset: 6:32pm

And the trend toward light in:
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:21am
Sunset: 6:07pm

Living

Worldwide (Map) 
October 13, 2022 – 623,005,700 confirmed infections; 6,562,000 deaths
October 14, 2021 – 239,341,600 confirmed infections; 4,877,540 deaths
October 15, 2020 – 38,426,375 confirmed infections; 1,091,250 deaths

US (Map) 
October 13, 2022 – 96,831,600 confirmed infections; 1,0634,000 deaths
October 14, 2021 – 44,694,200 confirmed infections; 719,760 deaths
October 15, 2020 – 7,911,500 confirmed infections; 216,860 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
October 13, 2022 - 4,021,750 confirmed infections; 102,200 deaths
October 14, 2021 – 2,914,000 confirmed infections; 88,500 deaths
October 15 – 696,420 confirmed infections; 18,155 deaths

Post from: 

October 14, 2021, “Leadership” 
October 15, 2020, “Scamdemic” 

News blues

Considering another trip to South Africa in the next months, I’ve begun looking into country-by-country Covid travel advisories.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it will assess the level of Covid-19 infection in each country and post notices only when there are new variants or other situations that would change its travel recommendations.
Here’s hopin’
Read more >> 

***

On war… and crowdfunding a war
Ah, the genius of people under enormous life-and-death pressure!
Certainly, the power of crowdfunding put to great use!

A crowdfunding appeal that was launched after Russian attacks on cities across the country on Monday has raised $9.6m (£8.7m) in 24 hours for the purchase of kamikaze drones for the Ukrainian armed forces.
An initial 50 Ram II drones, unmanned aerial vehicles with a 3kg explosive payload, designed and built by Ukrainian companies, will be bought with the money, along with three control stations.

Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Pucker up, J. D.  (1:09 mins)
Republican Socialists  (0:26 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - October 11, 2022  (2:10 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Dr Wendy Schultz, futurist and co-author of the report titled Law in the Emerging Bio Age says. “There is a growing understanding that something very different has to be done if our children are going to have a planet to live on that is in any way pleasant, much less survivable.”
Schultz and co-author Dr Trish O’Flynn call to enshrine rights for the natural world.
I’m for that.
Are you?
Here’s more: O’Flynn, an interdisciplinary researcher who was previously the national lead for civil contingencies at the Local Government Association, says legal frameworks should be “fit for a more than human future” and developments such as genetic modification or engineering. This means covering everything from labradors to lab-grown brain tissue, rivers to robots.

Ecuador and Bolivia have already enshrined rights for the natural world, while there is a campaign to make ecocide a prosecutable offence at the international criminal court. The report for the Law Society, the professional body for solicitors in England and Wales, explores how the relationship between humans and mother earth might be recalibrated in the future.

Personally, I think this is a grand plan…that might take decades to implement. For one thing, the United States does not recognize the jurisdiction of the legal body that is the international criminal court. As long as the US, currently the most influential country on the planet, is not onboard, few other countries will pay much attention. People, however, should continue to push for such a legal framework. Perhaps then politicians would change their stripes and blend with the trend? (Hmmm, just a guess but … nah!)

Read more >> 

***

Staying on topic…

Earth’s wildlife populations have plunged by an average of 69% in just under 50 years, according to a leading scientific assessment, as humans continue to clear forests, consume beyond the limits of the planet and pollute on an industrial scale.
From the open ocean to tropical rainforests, the abundance of birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles is in freefall, declining on average by more than two-thirds between 1970 and 2018, according to the WWF and Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) biennial Living Planet Report. Two years ago, the figure stood at 68%, four years ago, it was at 60%.

Read more >>

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

These last 7 post chemo days have been the worst for Meso Mary. (Let’s hope they remain the worst and nothing in the future competes.) Nausea was an issue but the main issues were weakness, dizziness, general malaise, and passing out briefly before falling to the floor.

Mary fell three times, the first time heavily on her left hip – bruising it – and subsequently falling on the same hip but not as heavily.
After the second fall, she decided to lower her center of gravity and crawl instead of walk.
It’s terrifying to see someone one loves reduced to crawling along the floor to ensure she doesn’t fall and hurt herself.
Yes, Mary could have simply stayed in bed. Indeed, she stayed in bed for much of three days, but that's impractical, well nigh impossible, when one has been directed to drink more than 2 liters of liquid per day. What goes in, must come out....
Mary is stubborn (one of her best features when on a project; not such a great feature after chemo treatment). She refused the oncology nurse’s advice to go to the hospital emergency room reasoning, “at least not now. I’ll go if needed. For now, it’s not worth the stress of getting there, waiting in a room potentially with Covid sufferers, and accepting advice that will include ‘hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.’ Why don’t I simply stay home and hydrate?”

Good points.  
She took her own advice and took it easy, working slowly on personal projects, and eating nutritioius meals. 
I fully support her. I have full confidence that she’s making the right decisions based on her situation and needs.
At the same time, I’m becoming more enraged at Mary’s reality.

Imagine. Being fatally attacked by asbestos “hidden” in materials that Mary used and uses to share her creative gifts, asbestos not only known but purposefully embedded by manufacturers into materials because it’s cheaper than removing it and therefore means making more profit for manufacturing companpies.
Outrageous... and I intend to publicize the outrage. 

***

Sometimes the good balances out the not-so-good.
Good: we took a short walk in the park where I photographed this red tailed hawk with its dinner, a ground squirrel. 

Not-so-good: being dinner.  

I’ve never been allowed this close to a bird of prey before. This one clearly wasn’t ready to abandon its gustatory pleasure to avoid the close observation of two intrigued and puny humans.

Red tailed hawk
© S. Galleymore

***

Continuing with cool in and around San Francisco Bay Area ...
SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:16am
Sunset: 6:34pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:22am
Sunset: 6:07pm