“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 >> 

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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” >> 

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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 >> 

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“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.

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

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

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