News blues
About three weeks ago, COVID case rates in the United Kingdom made an abrupt about-face, spurred on by a more transmissible Omicron subvariant called BA.2. (So far, there is no reason to believe the new subvariant causes more severe disease.) Case rates are rising, too, in Switzerland and Greece and Monaco and Italy and France. Given that BA.2 is already present in the United States, The Washington Post reports that epidemiologists and public-health leaders suspect that North America will be next. After all, the paper said, “in the past two years, a widespread outbreak like the one in Europe has been followed by a similar surge in the United States some weeks later.”Read “Another COVID Wave Is Looming. How bad will it be?” >>
Dr. Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, also is concerned about current case increases in Europe, which usually predict a rise in the U.S. a short time later >>
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America’s Flu-Shot Problem Is Also Its Next COVID-Shot Problem. ***
In South Africa, the Department of Health has called for public comment on new regulations under the National Health Act to replace the state of disaster Covid regulations. Once approved, the Department of Health said regulations will be implemented without being tabled in parliament (as they’re subordinate legislation already delegated to the minister). New regulations (sound a lot like the old regulations):
- all people entering or exiting South Africa during a pandemic should present negative PCR tests not older than 72 hours in the event they do not have a vaccination certificate.
- continued restrictions will be placed on night vigils and after-funeral gatherings
- Indoor and outdoor gatherings may be occupied up to 50% of the venue capacity, provided valid vaccine certificates are produced. For gatherings where no valid vaccine certificates are required, artificial limits of 1,000 and 2,000 people will apply for indoor and outdoor gatherings, respectively.
- Social distancing of one metre must be maintained
- Face masks will be compulsory for indoor gatherings, people cannot enter public premises or make use of public transport without a mask.
Needless to say, there’s pushback.
A local community group, ‘Dear South Africa', reports “ We have filed legal papers and are going to court to end the State of Disaster and regulations, to make sure that no one can abuse the tyrannical powers afforded by the Disaster Management Act ever again.”
Daily Maverick reports,
Photos from Ukraine >>
The Parties on Putin (0:55 mins)
Last Week in the Republican Party (March 15) (2:05 mins)
I also force feed one of the two of my late mother’s dogs her meds. This dog breeds cysts all over her body. One on her neck regularly burst and bled. Ugh! Awful.
A local community group, ‘Dear South Africa', reports “ We have filed legal papers and are going to court to end the State of Disaster and regulations, to make sure that no one can abuse the tyrannical powers afforded by the Disaster Management Act ever again.”
Daily Maverick reports,
Extending the national State of Disaster for the umpteenth time has bought the government time to shift Covid-19 lockdown extraordinary measures into regular, ordinary law. South Africa’s constitutional democracy now is at a dangerous tipping point.Read “We’ve got the power: Government hangs on State of Disaster to keep control” >>
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On War:Photos from Ukraine >>
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The Lincoln Project:
Pop up fact check (0:56 mins) The Parties on Putin (0:55 mins)
Last Week in the Republican Party (March 15) (2:05 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
A widely used kind of recycled plastic bottle passes more potentially harmful chemicals into their contents than newly manufactured bottles, researchers have warned.Read more >>
Researchers from Brunel University London found 150 chemicals that leached into drinks from plastic bottles, with 18 of those chemicals found in levels exceeding regulations.
And they found that drinks bottled using recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) can contained higher concentrations of chemicals than those bottled using new PET, which suggests that problems with the recycling process may be causing contamination.
They are calling for more careful recycling methods to remove the potentially harmful chemicals.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Wake up at 3:30am (unplanned and not desired but…), read until 5:00am, coffee, don work/paint clothes, then paint walls…and paint…and paint. In between, I drag pond weed from the pond, check on blocked culverts, strategize with the electrician – the electrical system in this house is a nightmare.I also force feed one of the two of my late mother’s dogs her meds. This dog breeds cysts all over her body. One on her neck regularly burst and bled. Ugh! Awful.
A trip to the vet surgically removed these “knobs”, each incision requiring six or seven stitches. The dog’s recovering, thanks to pain pills and antibiotic she’s force feed twice a day.
Ugh!
For someone neutral on dogs – neither a dog lover nor hater - taking on someone else’s dogs is a “learning experience.” Dorothy put it well when she told Toto, “I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” (But nor am I over the rainbow!)
Sunrise: 7:12am
Sunset: 7:20pm
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:02am
Sunset: 6:10pm
Ugh!
For someone neutral on dogs – neither a dog lover nor hater - taking on someone else’s dogs is a “learning experience.” Dorothy put it well when she told Toto, “I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” (But nor am I over the rainbow!)
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San Francisco Bay AreaSunrise: 7:12am
Sunset: 7:20pm
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:02am
Sunset: 6:10pm
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