April 21, 2022 - 507,015,200 confirmed infections; 6.207,600 deaths
April 22, 2021 – 143,503,705 confirmed infections; 3,056,000 deaths
US (Map)
April 21, 2022 - 80,801,505 confirmed infections; 990,210 deaths
April 22, 2021 – 31,862,100 confirmed infections; 569,500 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
April 21, 2022 - 3,743,590 confirmed infections; 100,195 deaths
April 22, 2021 – 1,568,500 confirmed infections; 53,900 deaths
Post from April 22, 2021: “Earth Day”
Post from April 23, 2020: “Try it, what have you got to lose?”
News blues
…and yet another variant/subvariant of coronavirus as BA.2.12.1 and BA.2.12 account for over 80% of cases in New York state- both “more transmissible than BA.2 with a 23% – 27% growth advantage.” This is a 67% increase since last week.Against the backdrop of rising new variants, the Biden administration is scrambling to provide new guidance around masks after a federal judge in Florida struck down a federal mask mandate for air travel and other forms of public transportation.Read more >>
…
President Joe Biden and his administration have signaled that people will have to make their own decisions on COVID as the pandemic evolves. Biden on Tuesday told reporters it’s up to Americans to decide whether to mask up aboard airplanes.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said last week that COVID won’t disappear and that people will have to weigh individual risks as cases rise.
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Another American stands up to Republican trends towards fascism ***
The Lincoln Project: It’s in the Plan (0:58 mins) Last week in the Republican Party - April 19, 2022 (1:49 mins)
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On war…
Day 56 of Russian invasion of UkraineHealthy planet, anyone?
A drop in the ocean – on sea level rise, with photos >>***
Why has humanity destroyed such vast forests? And can we bring this to an end? Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
The latest bout of Stage 4 power cuts – three 2.5-hour sessions per day - is scheduled for Stage 3 by 10pm tonight. This still entails three 2.5-hour sessions per day, just at different – actually more intrusive – times of the day.Sigh.
But take heart: Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter apologised to the country for this week's high-level power cuts, but said they were “necessary to avoid a total system blackout.”
Ah, joy. Thank you, Mr. de Ruyter…although when it’s dark, it’s dark. May as well be a “total system blackout.”
Insult to injury? Yesterday's post mentioned a study conducted in 2018 that established loadshedding costs SA business and industry in excess of R 2 billion per week.
That cost increased 1 April 2022 when Eskom increased their rates by 9.61%. We the People, bearers of the brunt of loadshedding’s inconvenience, pay for the luxury of Escom’s incompetent delivery/non-delivery.
Loadshedding focuses the mind and amps up negative emotions.
Looming power downs from 6pm to 8:30pm had me scurrying to secure the house and put the dogs to bed (Pixie hates her sleeping quarters and requires the incentive of 3 Beeno doggie biscuits to shift from her favorite armchair to that doggie bed.) I pull on my jammies, hurry through my pre-bed ablutions, set the emergency light, and ensure my laptop and phone are plugged in and prepped to begin charging as soon as power returns. I draw up my extra blanket, draw down my mosquito net, and hop into bed. Yes, 6pm is early for bed (then again, I’m up before 5am) but I read a library book on my cell phone until I fall asleep, awaken at midnight to read further, and fall back to sleep.
But take heart: Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter apologised to the country for this week's high-level power cuts, but said they were “necessary to avoid a total system blackout.”
Ah, joy. Thank you, Mr. de Ruyter…although when it’s dark, it’s dark. May as well be a “total system blackout.”
Insult to injury? Yesterday's post mentioned a study conducted in 2018 that established loadshedding costs SA business and industry in excess of R 2 billion per week.
That cost increased 1 April 2022 when Eskom increased their rates by 9.61%. We the People, bearers of the brunt of loadshedding’s inconvenience, pay for the luxury of Escom’s incompetent delivery/non-delivery.
Loadshedding focuses the mind and amps up negative emotions.
Looming power downs from 6pm to 8:30pm had me scurrying to secure the house and put the dogs to bed (Pixie hates her sleeping quarters and requires the incentive of 3 Beeno doggie biscuits to shift from her favorite armchair to that doggie bed.) I pull on my jammies, hurry through my pre-bed ablutions, set the emergency light, and ensure my laptop and phone are plugged in and prepped to begin charging as soon as power returns. I draw up my extra blanket, draw down my mosquito net, and hop into bed. Yes, 6pm is early for bed (then again, I’m up before 5am) but I read a library book on my cell phone until I fall asleep, awaken at midnight to read further, and fall back to sleep.
***
Insider humor from Zapiro |
| © Zapiro |
Zandile Gumede is the former mayor of Durban accused of corruption and the ANC’s newly elected eThekwini [Durban] chairperson. Her win is seen as “giving the middle finger” and “a setback for Ramaphosa’s renewal project”
Complicated stuff.Gumede and her co-accused are facing 2,786 charges relating to a 2017 Durban Solid Waste (DSW) tender amounting to more than R320 million. The trial has been set for July 13 to August 31 in the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Gumede was charged in May 2019 while she was still eThekwini mayor. She formally resigned as mayor in August 2019 after being recalled by the ANC.”Read more >>
[SA] Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana explained that officials were looking at setting up an independent agency to manage the [disaster/flood] money. This would include people from outside the government to ensure proper transparency.Read more >>
This is an immense concession – our own finance minister believes that the government is corrupt, or at the least, cannot be trusted.
There are plenty of examples as to why this has happened. Just in the past few years, money destined to buy personal protective equipment for health workers at the start of the pandemic was looted. Nearly half a billion rand was spent on sanitising classrooms that did not need to be sanitised. The contracts to do this work were agreed to on WhatsApp.
The newly elected eThekwini ANC regional leadership has been accused of hijacking the work of the eThekwini Municipality by establishing a nerve centre to co-ordinate the government’s response to the floods.
Who’s surprised that, after the ANC government promises to help the country recover from the recent floods and make financial resources available, ANC representatives are met, not with gratitude but overwhelming cynicism? Most people – me included - believe this money will simply be stolen.
Certainly, corruption is not just within South Africa nor only South African politicians. The US, too, has its COVID-19 fraud schemes, some of which, totaling $150 million, are drawing criminal charges. The US Justice Department is unveiling charges that range from overcharging for medical services to selling fake vaccination cards.
Corruption in the US tends towards powerful political figures "fund raising" from powerful lobbyists, corporate and business interests - who expect big things in return. This is built into the nation's laws, the most recent of came out of Citizens United vs FEC.
Money, always a major driving force of politics, each day becomes even more important across the world.
Astonishingly, US Congressman Mo Brooks, a Trumpie's Trumpie, loyal devotee of The Donald, was video'd recently explaining how Congressional committees work >>
Who was it said, "the truth will out"?
Astonishingly, US Congressman Mo Brooks, a Trumpie's Trumpie, loyal devotee of The Donald, was video'd recently explaining how Congressional committees work >>
Who was it said, "the truth will out"?
Oh, yes, Shakespeare ...
An outing I can get behind...
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