Giving thanks

News blues

Set up to fail? Does the fall booster plan targeting Omicron have a “fatal paradox”? >> 

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On war and culture war
I’ve made no secret of, nor apologies for, my antipathy towards The Donald (Donald Trump, senior – and, to be honest, DT junior, too). Moreover, I’m heartily sick of the man and his antics – from before, during, and since his so-called presidency. My antipathy toward him has neither increased nor decreased with his inappropriate secreting of highly classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The man is a wily, cunning, greedy, self-centered user.
And, distressingly, he could – likely won’t but could – get another run for another presidential term. What might that look like? Well, the former president and his allies have explained their plans quite clearly >> 

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The Lincoln Project:
Intruder (1:37 mins)

The list (1:00 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Info shared as a heads-up and not as a downer…. An underlying contention of this Covid-related blog is: we humans can (likely will) but must not continue business as usual vis-à-vis competently addressing the fragility and complexity of our planet. We know yet we refuse to act on knowledge, that, as we shrink our global wilderness areas and expand “development” and urbanization we endanger all life.
For example, Pakistan and South Asia currently suffer devastating climate change-related flooding, so does US's Mississippi. Meanwhile, California, too, suffers insidious climate change-exacerbated disease. Valley fever, or coccidioidomycosis, can be contracted simply by breathing California’s air .

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I adore hummingbirds and regularly provide my neighborhood’s hummingbirds sustenance via sugar-water feeders. As anyone knows who provides such food stations, hummingbirds can be aggressive towards other hummingbirds. Why is this, you wonder? For insight, read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Mary reports her lung and chest continue to improve, that she’s modifying her tendency to move quickly by taking it slow, particularly moving from sitting to standing. “Becoming light-headed each time I stand reminds me that slow is beautiful, too.” 

Today, over early morning coffee – she drinks it cold now, something new in the last month – Mary said, “I’m so proud of my body. I’ve tried to take care of it over my lifetime and, yes, mesothelioma might kill me – eventually – in the meantime my body is doing an amazing job of recovering from a drastic and invasive surgery. I thank it for its long years of optimal service.” 

Lovely.
(Reminder, surgeon’s photo of the “gunk” removed from the pleura – lining – of Mary’s left lung.  )

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SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:38am
Sunset: 7:41pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:16am
Sunset: 5:44pm