Day 781 – Thursday, May 5, 2022 – Unanticipated consequences
Arrived in Zurich – 12C and drizzling - 3 hours later than originally scheduled. This, due to a side trip from Johannesburg to Durban before flying to Zurich. That, due to road and rail damage related to flooding after Durban’s torrential rainfall of few weeks ago resulted in no jet fuel transported to Johannesburg. Our filled-to-the-gills Airbus rerouted to Durban, refueled – took an hour to fill so LOTS of jet fuel – and we took off.This airport’s security required stripping down to seeds and stems – jacket off, shoes off, pockets emptied, “cosmetics” gone through. On discovering a forgotten half-filled bottle of water in my backpack, the security agent admonished me with a stern look and, “No water! Don’t you do that again!”
Hmmm, remember Richard Reid, the guy who carried explosive material in his shoe heels, aka The shoe bomber? Thanks, Richard, for over-vigilant security agents each traveler faces while you spend three consecutive life sentences and 110 years with no possibility of parole in Florence, Colorado’s supermax penitentiary, the prison holding the most dangerous prisoners in the federal system.
***
I have 3.5 hours to consult my cell phone – airport wi-fi is iffy – stretch my stiff body by walking and exploring Terminal E’s long hallways. Catching up on the news via spotty wi-fi access, Ukraine has moved off the front pages, replaced by the dismaying news that the US Supreme Court really is considering overturning Roe v Wade. This means abortion becomes a state-by-state elective surgery – and that many states will refuse the procedure to women wanting/needing it.
Will Americans really stand by for what will be an ongoing disaster?
Potentially, a very thorny socio-political direction ahead. Don’t expect assistance from Democrats who lost their spines and their courage decades ago and who seldom fight back against Republican over-reach.
Might We, the People fight for women’s rights and vote against Republican and evangelical over-reach in the upcoming election?
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 110
As a goodbye “gift”, Escom/Eskom saw fit – due to “heavily constrained system” – to load shed between 10am and 12:30 pm today. This feels like the kick-a-woman-when-she’s-down syndrome… an expect-the sort-of-unexpected except it is Escom – regularly offering the loadshedding gift that keeps on giving.
No electricity, no wi fi, no printer. Grrrrr!
That was the first half of the day.
Potentially, a very thorny socio-political direction ahead. Don’t expect assistance from Democrats who lost their spines and their courage decades ago and who seldom fight back against Republican over-reach.
Might We, the People fight for women’s rights and vote against Republican and evangelical over-reach in the upcoming election?
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 110
Days 780 - Wednesday May 4 - Foiled again!
No electricity, no wi fi, no printer. Grrrrr!
That was the first half of the day.
***
After I agreed to SwissAir’s conditions related to “a change in flight” I discovered the change: the flight departs Johannesburg and heads to Durban before heading to Zurich. I could have paid for a taxi service to Durban and saved myself a pile of rands if I’d simply noticed the extra tiny print on the itinerary. I’d also have saved myself several hours of wandering around Oliver Tambo Airport, too. But then I likely would been missed an incredibly intrusive security check. I thought Heathrow had intrusive security checks – they do – and today’s agent was almost on a par. Today’s agent removed a full bottle of facial freshener, a 4/5 empty bottle of mouthwash, a metal nail file, and a tiny foldup penknife set that I never use and that has traveled tens of thousands of miles, forgotten in a small pocket of my small backpack. Passing through security, however, was the good part of today’s story. The stressful part was arriving at SwissAir’s document check kiosk and discovering my Covid test – negative – was unacceptable. It was a day old. This, after asking the test lab about the longevity of the test results and being assured that, because of the double holiday – International Worker’s on Sunday and Monday – I’d best take the test of Friday.
My downfall?
Trusting professionals.
I pushed and pulled my luggage to a series of kiosks each offering one of several varieties of Covid testing. Luckily for me, the kiosk offering the R500 test required me using a QR code that required decent internet connection… that was unavailable on my cell phone. Instead, I ended up at the kiosk offering 15-minute, R150 antigen test. This time, the paperwork was accepted at the document check point.
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 110
Day 779 – Tuesday, May 3, 2022 – Daze of no wi-fi!
One day to take off. Many tasks completed over the last 3 months, some remaining. Today’s focus is on getting to a café that offers wi-fi and confirming flights, purchasing seats (always aisle seats for me) downloading Covid and other required health documents, packing…Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 110
Day 778 - Monday, May 2, 2022 – Bundu bashing
I met local neighbor Willem who agreed to act as guide along his section of stream/river. He approved of my foresight in carrying gumboots (see post below) and, after I donned them, we set off… into a jungle of blackjacks, khaki weed, bug weed, brambles, privet, hip-high thick grasses, 5-foot-tall blossoming grasses, and ankle high tangles and tendrils… all happily benefitting from this year’s ultra-wet summer and unusual amounts of rainfall.
Talk about bundu bashing!
Reaching the stream revealed a body of water flowing softly within well-carved banks surprisingly devoid of plastic bags, bottles, and assorted debris. Alien vegetation sucks enormous amounts of water – which may speak to the low flow volume.
Forests of alien trees block out sunlight and I wondered about otters’ attitudes to living amid aliens. If, like the ANC government, otters require the uprooting and destruction of all aliens in order to flourish, then local otters are doomed.
If otters are neutral toward aliens, the stream as is, flowing through a forest of aliens, provides ideal living conditions. On the plus side, overgrown weeds and aliens require extreme bundu bashing – a tour only the physically strong adventurer with a stout heart would indulge.
Year 3 of the Covid ere - Week 110
Day 777 - Sunday, May 1, 2022 – Kvetching, reprise
Kvetching alert: For several years, I’ve been overcharged by my wi-fi provider. I knew it. I made peace with it. Back then, it was tough to find a provider in my location – a verdant, tall tree-covered shallow valley. Potential providers offering affordable packages depended upon “line of sight” to a cell tower and the many trees precluded that. Last year, Metrofibre installed underground fibre cable in this semi-rural suburb. But 1) no flexible month-to-month service – why pay high monthly rates when I’m not here year-round? 2) service rates somewhat comparable to current rip-off rate, 3) owned a paid for router for which I’d been overcharged, so why purchase more hardware?
On balance? Yes, it would be “nice” to cease “business” with the pint-size, arrogant, over-charging, “no service after 5pm weekdays and no service on weekends” wannabe cowboy provider. (Wannabe cowboy? After he learned I lived in California, he'd come to the house dressed in cowboy hat, cowboy shirt, jeans, and western-style cowboy boots. His horse? A large, black sedan with highly polished chrome grillwork and throaty mufflers.)
Until today, finding another provider, coupled with imminent departure, made it not worth the hassle of seeking a different provider.
Last month, I used less than half of his minimum 50-gig package. This month, I used two-thirds of the same package. He terminated my service at 5pm on Saturday, 30 May (a weekend).
Co-incidentally, I learned neighbors’ choices of wi-fi services include providers that offer month-to-month, unlimited service at far cheaper rates than The Cowboy.
Unfortunately, now - pre-departure, pre-flight - is when I need wi-fi: 3 set of tickets, misc flight details to track, library books to download, rides to and from airports to organize … so many vital last-minute tasks to complete. And no wi-fi.
Alas, International Workers’ holiday means cafés providing wi-fi with a cup of tea and a scone are likely closed. International Workers’ holiday observed tomorrow means cafés providing wi-fi likely still closed.
I soothe myself with all the patience I can muster: Don’t stress, don’t fuss, don’t fret, try not to kvetch (a tall order)… all will be okay. You have done your Covid test and have your results (negative); you purchased a ticket to Oliver Tambo in Johannesburg. What you don’t have is a confirmation from the taxi service for a ride to the airport, requested two days ago.
No wi-fi and spotty cell service increases stress levels.
You can figure it out.
Don’t fret!
What would put the frosting/icing on this cake of kvetch?
Loadshedding.
***
Good news: Unlike the day before when I walked past his house and called his name, Willem, retired neighbor LINK to post, was home yesterday. Chatting over the fence, he detailed his dog’s latest ailment – an infected paw, exorbitant vet fees, challenging follow up: soaking the ailing paw 4 times per day, multiple doses of pills multiple times per day, anti-biotics once per day. (South Africans adore their dogs – and talking about them.)
Taking advantage of a lull in his explanation, I invited him into my plan: involve him and other neighbors in cleaning up their section of stream enough to entice otters - and Free Me, the animal rehab and release organization. (Americans adore their wildlife-saving projects – and talking about them.)
The result?
Meet Willem tomorrow at 8:00am for a tour of the stream in his part of the neighborhood, his house the last before the wetlands proper.
My current dilemma?
Touring wetlands calls for wearing gumboots. Should I walk to Willem’s house, gumboots in hand? Or should I drive, gumboots in boot/trunk?
Hmmm. A decision requiring much mulling.
Good natured Willem agreed that, while I’m in California, he’ll invite neighbors to get involved.
Word leaks out, otter families will line up for a spot in a re-hab’d stream (let’s pray they don’t demand wi-fi service…).
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 110
Day 776, Saturday, April 30 - Tested - again
News blues
News free day!Take a break.
Stare at your bellybutton... and chuckle at The Lincoln Project:
The GOP isn't interested (1:00 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
If you’re in a fragile state of mind today, skip this article.If you have the fortitude…
Global heating is causing such a drastic change to the world’s oceans that it risks a mass extinction event of marine species that rivals anything that’s happened in the Earth’s history over tens of millions of years, new research has warned. Accelerating climate change is causing a “profound” impact upon ocean ecosystems that is “driving extinction risk higher and marine biological richness lower than has been seen in Earth’s history for the past tens of millions of years”.Read “Global heating risks most cataclysmic extinction of marine life in 250m years” >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Had yet another Covid test today, my second test at the same pop-up facility located outside a local hospital. I displayed my vaccination card with my long list of vaccination details. I’m eligible for the second booster on return to California, too.The list is a statement on inequality: I’ve had 3, soon 4, Covid vaccinations. Too many people around the world (who seek vaccinations) await their first jab.
***
Immediately after being robbed upon 4 February arrival at Oliver Tambo Airport, I alerted my CA credit union about the loss and requested they replace my credit/debit cards. Done. (Local Standard Bank was less hospitable and I had to drive half an hour to another branch for one measly debit card and an interaction not tinged with suspicion.) I was unable to replace my stolen California phone SIM card with my years old California phone number, my CA driver’s license (acts like SA ID card), or my public transportation debit card, along with library cards and sorted other cards. All must be and will be replaced upon return. Upon arrival in CA, my immediate needs include US dollars to pay for public transportation (my dollars were stolen). I NEVER ask anyone to pick me up at SFO, a thirty-minute drive from home under best traffic conditions, but at least 2 hours under “normal” conditions of 6pm Bay Area traffic. I need a alert the person to pick me up at the train station nearest my home (no public phones anywhere anymore). All this with a brain foggy after a 32-hour, southern to northern hemisphere economy class trip.
No phone. No cash. One large bag, one small bag, and one smaller backpack (that, since being robbed, I’ve learned to wear as a front pack).
Oh, joy!
No phone. No cash. One large bag, one small bag, and one smaller backpack (that, since being robbed, I’ve learned to wear as a front pack).
Oh, joy!
***
International Workers’ Day tomorrow, 1 May… also observed 2 May. Irony? A unneeded holiday for South Africa's official unemployed - up to 36 percent of the working-age population.
Negative.
Yay!
Year 3 of Covid era - Week 110
Will the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry respond to California’s attorney general’s sweeping investigation into their alleged role in the spread of rampant plastic pollution?
Tick tock...
***
Results of having a long Q-tip poked down my throat and up my nose, seeking coronavirus?Negative.
Yay!
Year 3 of Covid era - Week 110
Day 775, Friday, April 29 - Up ticks
News blues
In the United States… the national seven-day average of new COVID cases hit nearly 49,000 up from about 27,000 three weeks earlier. The uptick is likely being driven by BA.2, the new, more transmissible offshoot of Omicron that’s now dominant in the United States. BA.2 does seem to be troubling: In Western Europe and the U.K. in particular, where previous waves have tended to hit a few weeks earlier than they have in the U.S., the variant fueled a major surge in March that outpaced the Delta spike from the summer.Read more >>
… so far, the official numbers in the U.S. don’t seem to show that a similar wave has made it stateside. But those numbers aren’t exactly reliable these days.
***
Africa, too
… is seeing an uptick in Covid-19 cases – largely driven by a doubling in cases reported in South Africa, according to the World Health Organization. New Covid cases and deaths on the continent have increased for the first time after declining for more than a month.Read more >>
***
The Lincoln Project:
Laughing (0:55 mins) ***
On war…
Ukraine – photo essay - April 29, 2022 >>Healthy planet, anyone?
 |
| © Adam Zyglis | Copyright 2022 Cagle Cartoons |
Will the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry respond to California’s attorney general’s sweeping investigation into their alleged role in the spread of rampant plastic pollution?
AG Rob Bonta said that the investigation will focus on what he called a “half-century campaign of deception” and that it will target companies “that have caused and exacerbated the global plastics pollution crisis.” Plastic pollution has long been a tentpole environmental issue, with conservationists decrying the spread of plastics to the remotest corners of the Arctic, into the planet’s geology and in the bodies of everything from the stomachs of sea birds to human lungs.Read more >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
This time next week I should be back in Californy…Tick tock...
Tick tock...
Autumn in KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:26am
Sunset: 5:26pm
Spring in San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:15am
Sunset: 7:57pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 109
Worldwide (Map)
April 28, 2022 - 511,746,700 confirmed infections; 6,228,600 deaths
April 29, 2021 – 149,206,600 confirmed infections; 3,146,300 deaths
US (Map)
April 28, 2022 - 81,189,400 confirmed infections; 992,800 deaths
April 29, 2021 – 32,229,350 confirmed infections; 574,350 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
April 28, 2022 - 3,776,300 confirmed infections; 100,351 deaths
April 29, 2021 – 1,578,500 confirmed infections; 54,290 deaths
April 28, 2020 post: “Chomping at the ‘net” >>
April 29, 2021 post: “Consequences” >>
Read more >>
Mollified: while unscrewing screwy screws does not a carpenter make, I’m mollified that the window frame I replaced after re-puttying the pane, did not fit because of long-term issues with fitting, not my lack of carpentry skills. In other words, an actual carpenter found that the frame was warped and, on querying the domestic worker, learned the window didn’t close properly “before.” I’m still not a carpenter, but I am mollified.
Yes, I tend towards over-independence – if you want something done, do it yourself. And, yes, after weeks of watching gutters overflow, over-independence won out over self-protection: do not climb rickety ladders to clean gutters yourself. Happily, I found a happy medium and climbed rickety ladders to clean the roof gutters I could “easily” reach.
I cleaned 5 of 8 gutters of a thriving compost of moss, mud, and organic materials that went, fittingly, into the compost pile.
Now I must find someone with the tools and the courage to tackle the five remaining, more precarious and more densely-packed gutters.
The joys of maintaining an elderly house. Not!
Willem was a font of local knowledge: no trees grew in the area when he moved into the area in 1974; the stream was more of a river back then and otters cavorted along the river/stream banks. I also learned how and after whom the road was named, how mowing communal verges encourages homeowners to mow their own lawns, and the history and habits of various homeowners.
Today, I awoke with the realization that Willem could make an ideal accomplice in my plan to reintroduce an otter family to the stream. Moreover, he could encourage his neighbors to alter their section of the stream to encourage otters, too.
Perhaps the neighborhood’s joint efforts for otters and other water creatures would encourage the local animal rehab group to release otters into the stream.
One can dream.
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:26am
Sunset: 5:27pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:16am
Sunset: 7:56pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 109
The Lincoln Project does its thing.
A reminder: The Lincoln Project was formed in 2019 by former and incumbent Republicans who had, previously, worked hard to prevent the election of Democrats to public office. During the 2020 presidential election, however, founders of the Lincoln Project aimed to prevent the re-election of Republican Donald Trump and to defeat all Trump-supporting apologist Republicans in close races running for re-election in the United States Senate. Since that time, the Project’s ads have focused on Republicans and the Republican Party’s trend to the extreme right.
Autumn in KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:26am
Sunset: 5:26pm
Spring in San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:15am
Sunset: 7:57pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 109
Day 774, Thursday, April 28 - Guttered
Worldwide (Map) April 28, 2022 - 511,746,700 confirmed infections; 6,228,600 deaths
April 29, 2021 – 149,206,600 confirmed infections; 3,146,300 deaths
US (Map)
April 28, 2022 - 81,189,400 confirmed infections; 992,800 deaths
April 29, 2021 – 32,229,350 confirmed infections; 574,350 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
April 28, 2022 - 3,776,300 confirmed infections; 100,351 deaths
April 29, 2021 – 1,578,500 confirmed infections; 54,290 deaths
April 28, 2020 post: “Chomping at the ‘net” >>
April 29, 2021 post: “Consequences” >>
News blues
A Florida judge’s ruling on mask mandates – to get rid of them – can impact humans today and into the future.The decision by Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a judge appointed to the Federal District Court in Florida by former President Donald Trump, is part of a larger effort by conservative judges nationwide to rein in federal administrative agencies. Experts in those operations, working under the direction of Congress, write many of the rules that govern our lives.Read more >>
If Judge Mizelle’s ruling is upheld, Gostin and Hosie warn, “the C.D.C. will be seriously hobbled and a ruinous precedent will be set for the entire federal regulatory apparatus.”
Which is why they write that even if you’re completely fed up with masking up, you should be distressed about Judge Mizelle’s decision.
***
The Covid outbreak in China quickly moves toward city-wide testing >> ***
Dr Fauci: The U.S. is no longer in the “full-blown” pandemic phase. He reports the U.S. is no longer seeing “tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths” from COVID-19. But…Read more >>
***
The Lincoln Project: Last week in the Republican Party - April 27, 2022 (2:15 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
Trash it or recycle it? How plastics keep us guessing >>Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Freedom Day yesterday, International Worker’s Day on Sunday and recognized as a public holiday on Monday. In April, the 18th was Family Day, the 15th Good Friday, and in March the 21st was Human Rights Day. Plenty of holidays – no official businesses open – in this part of the world.Mollified: while unscrewing screwy screws does not a carpenter make, I’m mollified that the window frame I replaced after re-puttying the pane, did not fit because of long-term issues with fitting, not my lack of carpentry skills. In other words, an actual carpenter found that the frame was warped and, on querying the domestic worker, learned the window didn’t close properly “before.” I’m still not a carpenter, but I am mollified.
***
An exchange/barter arrangement to clear this house’s roof gutters of debris, moss, and sprouting flora went awry. Perhaps my expectations were “too American”, that is, if one has already received the bartered item, one performs the work in a timely manner or presents a reason why the task is delayed and reschedules. Perhaps if I were “more South African” I’d recognize that, well, things get done – eventually – when the planets and stars align perfectly, one “feels” like doing it, etc., etc.
Clearing gutters is particularly important when rainfall exceeds expectations, and a house has a tendency towards dampness. Debris overloaded gutters means heavy rainfall simply overflows and floods verandahs and walkway and further damages already damp walls.Yes, I tend towards over-independence – if you want something done, do it yourself. And, yes, after weeks of watching gutters overflow, over-independence won out over self-protection: do not climb rickety ladders to clean gutters yourself. Happily, I found a happy medium and climbed rickety ladders to clean the roof gutters I could “easily” reach.
I cleaned 5 of 8 gutters of a thriving compost of moss, mud, and organic materials that went, fittingly, into the compost pile.
Now I must find someone with the tools and the courage to tackle the five remaining, more precarious and more densely-packed gutters.
The joys of maintaining an elderly house. Not!
***
My afternoon walk around the neighborhood presented Willem mowing communal lawns and verges. I’d never seen him before but wished him “a happy Freedom Day”. He responded and I took the opportunity to introduce myself. Since he was friendly, I took the opportunity to ask if his property had flooded recently. (This info could help with my plea to roads dept to unblock culverts.) Willem was a font of local knowledge: no trees grew in the area when he moved into the area in 1974; the stream was more of a river back then and otters cavorted along the river/stream banks. I also learned how and after whom the road was named, how mowing communal verges encourages homeowners to mow their own lawns, and the history and habits of various homeowners.
Today, I awoke with the realization that Willem could make an ideal accomplice in my plan to reintroduce an otter family to the stream. Moreover, he could encourage his neighbors to alter their section of the stream to encourage otters, too.
Perhaps the neighborhood’s joint efforts for otters and other water creatures would encourage the local animal rehab group to release otters into the stream.
One can dream.
***
Some sun though cold… KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:26am
Sunset: 5:27pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:16am
Sunset: 7:56pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 109
Day 770, Sunday, April 24 - Day of semi rest
The Lincoln Project does its thing. A reminder: The Lincoln Project was formed in 2019 by former and incumbent Republicans who had, previously, worked hard to prevent the election of Democrats to public office. During the 2020 presidential election, however, founders of the Lincoln Project aimed to prevent the re-election of Republican Donald Trump and to defeat all Trump-supporting apologist Republicans in close races running for re-election in the United States Senate. Since that time, the Project’s ads have focused on Republicans and the Republican Party’s trend to the extreme right.
Latest ads:
Kevin McCarthy is a Liar (1:18 mins)
Former President Obama on challenges to democracy (2:03 mins)
Meidas Touch:
Profanity alert as Texas Paul reacts to leaked Kevin McCarthy tapes! (2:39 mins)
And more profanity as Texas Paul reacts to “Turd” Cruz and his “furry porn fetish” (2:40 mins)
Ukraine – photo essay >>
It turned out not too bad. It helps that putty has a similar consistency to clay with which I’m intimately familiar; putty, however, is stickier, less obliging, and harder to remove from hands.
Yesterday, I applied wood preservative to the frame and, soon as it is dry, I will replace the refreshed window.
You go, girl!
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:23am
Sunset: 5:31pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:21am
Sunset: 7:53pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 109
In the US, Earth Day is a big thing – well, not big enough for a day off work and certainly not big enough to do anything serious about addressing our slowly suffocating planet or climate change….
(FYI: Wednesday is Freedom Day in South Africa and, yes, it’s a public holiday. Grocery stores will remain open, all other stores and offices closed.)
Kevin McCarthy is a Liar (1:18 mins)
Former President Obama on challenges to democracy (2:03 mins)
Meidas Touch:
Profanity alert as Texas Paul reacts to leaked Kevin McCarthy tapes! (2:39 mins)
And more profanity as Texas Paul reacts to “Turd” Cruz and his “furry porn fetish” (2:40 mins)
***
On war…
Rape as a weapon of war >>Ukraine – photo essay >>
Healthy planet, anyone?
Take a break from bad news on the planet and focus on wildlife: a photo essay >>Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Puttied my first window on Friday. To clarify, noticing badly cracked or missing putting in a window frame, I removed the window frame, the pane of glass, and the old putty. After that, I puttied the groove into which I replaced the pane of glass and applied fresh putty.It turned out not too bad. It helps that putty has a similar consistency to clay with which I’m intimately familiar; putty, however, is stickier, less obliging, and harder to remove from hands.
Yesterday, I applied wood preservative to the frame and, soon as it is dry, I will replace the refreshed window.
You go, girl!
***
Some sun, some rain… KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:23am
Sunset: 5:31pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:21am
Sunset: 7:53pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 109
Day 769, Saturday, April 23 - A titan passes
News blues
A day late and a dollar short: Earth Day – missed it! It shows up on calendars in SA but holds with no ceremony nor receives official recognition.In the US, Earth Day is a big thing – well, not big enough for a day off work and certainly not big enough to do anything serious about addressing our slowly suffocating planet or climate change….
(FYI: Wednesday is Freedom Day in South Africa and, yes, it’s a public holiday. Grocery stores will remain open, all other stores and offices closed.)
 |
| Editor's note: This is a special cartoon Gary drew for Earth Day 1990, as part of a project in which many cartoonists participated to bring more awareness to the state of the environment. © The Far Side, Gary Larsen |
***
Back in California, George Baxter Humphreys passed away. His obituary presents details about the man and his life that I never knew, but I knew him as a gift – knowledgeable, courageous, curious, generous with his knowledge and time, and dedicated to both educating residents and ensuring our town was as safe from toxic contamination as is possible under the circumstances. I also knew him as a gifted and patient watercolorist and artist.
George served on the town’s Restoration Advisory Board from its inception in 1997 until now.
George served on the town’s Restoration Advisory Board from its inception in 1997 until now.
A RAB is designed to act as the local citizenry’s oversight group that ensures – as far as possible – the clean up and removal of toxic contamination, In our case, the clean up and removal of toxic contamination produced by decades of military and navy activities.
George fulfilled his role as RAB president, co-president, community member and as informal outside educator. I visited his home several times on RAB business, learned a lot from him, and was impressed and amused at his RAB filing system: boxes and boxes containing years of RAB documents piled up in his large kitchen and his small office.
Past posts on RAB and RAB activities:
Plus ça change…
Play ball!
Consequences
Most impressive about George, vis a vis The RAB, was his activist heart. IMHO, it is unusual for someone with his professional education and background to engage with exposing systemic wrongs. He was a mainstream (white) man who questioned US Navy personnel about their assertions regarding health and safety measures – or the lack thereof – as they “cleaned up the base.” Many times US Navy personnel and contractors modified their assertions and their clean up actions based on George's professional feedback.
We’ll miss you, George. Thank you for your service.
Year 3 of the Covid era, Week 109
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 108
Worldwide (Map)
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?”
Last week in the Republican Party - April 19, 2022 (1:49 mins)
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.
Past posts on RAB and RAB activities:
Plus ça change…
Play ball!
Consequences
Most impressive about George, vis a vis The RAB, was his activist heart. IMHO, it is unusual for someone with his professional education and background to engage with exposing systemic wrongs. He was a mainstream (white) man who questioned US Navy personnel about their assertions regarding health and safety measures – or the lack thereof – as they “cleaned up the base.” Many times US Navy personnel and contractors modified their assertions and their clean up actions based on George's professional feedback.
We’ll miss you, George. Thank you for your service.
Year 3 of the Covid era, Week 109
Day 768, Friday, April 22 - Relief (not!)
 |
| Click to enlarge and enjoy © Zapiro |
News blues
In the US, the change in reported COVID-19 cases per 100k people in the last two weeks >>***
The Lincoln Project:McMorrow fights back (1:42 mins)
Zelensky’s post-talk tweet: “Had a phone conversation with @CyrilRamaphosa. Told about our resistance to Russian aggression. Discussed the threat of a global food crisis, deepening relations with the Republic of South Africa and cooperation within international organizations.”
Ramaphosa’s post-talk tweet: “I had a telephone conversation with President @ZelenskyyUa of Ukraine to discuss the conflict in Ukraine and its tragic human cost, as well its global ramifications. We agree on the need for a negotiated end to the conflict which has impacted Ukraine’s place in global supply chains, including its position as a major exporter of food to our continent. President Zelenskyy anticipates closer relations with Africa in future.”
“…deepening relations with the Republic of South Africa and cooperation within international organizations…” and “…closer relations with Africa in future”?
Sounds good.
But ...how tight is Putin’s grip on African leaders? Who, for example, is pushing nuke power in South Africa? Putin and Russia, that’s who. At least they’re the frontrunners, along with China – second in line but so-so on nuke power these days - also, South Korea, France, and US.
As fed up as I am with “service delivery” – the lack thereof – I pay my bills. The idea of purposefully putting myself into a position where I'd have to interact regularly with any South Africa bureaucracy as an individual is, well, laughable. If, however, a concerted effort by a nationwide community of protesters arose that was dedicated to fight corruption in government, I’d join. The ‘popcorn’ protests that spring up here and there are ineffective against SA’s entrenched corruption.
A nationwide effort, though? Hmmm....
This, over the DeSantis-inspired measure that bans schools from teaching young children about sexual orientation or gender identity.
Wanna-be-Donald-Trump Ron DeSantis doesn’t care who he takes down in his struggle to be anointed the next Donald Trump. Kids? Dime a dozen. Transgender? Way too many of ‘em already. Teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity? Bah humbug!
(Read the downside of DeSantis' effort to Floridians >>)
Ron DeSantis: bad for business (1:00 mins)
***
On war…
Ramaphosa and Zelensky finally talk about Russian aggression >>Zelensky’s post-talk tweet: “Had a phone conversation with @CyrilRamaphosa. Told about our resistance to Russian aggression. Discussed the threat of a global food crisis, deepening relations with the Republic of South Africa and cooperation within international organizations.”
Ramaphosa’s post-talk tweet: “I had a telephone conversation with President @ZelenskyyUa of Ukraine to discuss the conflict in Ukraine and its tragic human cost, as well its global ramifications. We agree on the need for a negotiated end to the conflict which has impacted Ukraine’s place in global supply chains, including its position as a major exporter of food to our continent. President Zelenskyy anticipates closer relations with Africa in future.”
“…deepening relations with the Republic of South Africa and cooperation within international organizations…” and “…closer relations with Africa in future”?
Sounds good.
But ...how tight is Putin’s grip on African leaders? Who, for example, is pushing nuke power in South Africa? Putin and Russia, that’s who. At least they’re the frontrunners, along with China – second in line but so-so on nuke power these days - also, South Korea, France, and US.
US isn’t going overboard for nuclear power anymore, plus, for US, I suspect nuke power would require way too much effort, given South Africa’s lack of knowhow and the minimal overall economic benefit to the US.)
So. We shall see how much closer and how much deeper relations become between presidents in the future.
Oh, great! Cold, dark winter made colder and darker because, after a decade of loadshedding, Escom – a power generation company - still hasn’t figured out how to deliver consistent power?
Just in Time – JIT* - for me to abandon ship… back to drought- and fire-ridden California. She’s got a ticket to ride ….
[*JIT? Just in time… A form of management – usually managing an inventory of consumables but sometimes of emotions - that requires suppliers and supply chains to produce materials just as production is scheduled to begin, no sooner.
The goal?
Lean and mean production machine that meets demand with zero storage costs.
Managing emotional inventory, however, means recognizing emotions, applying limits - neither ignoring nor overly expressing feelings of frustration, irritation, and anger, nor making dramatic snap decisions – and, importantly, knowing when to ride!]
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
More kvetching about Escom/Eskom:[The parastatal power company] Escom forecasts more load-shedding in the winter season, with the power utility saying there could be as many as 101 days of power outages — something that it calls an “extreme case” scenario.Read more >>
The “best case” scenario (if there is such a thing regarding the major inconvenience of load-shedding) is that Eskom might throw South Africa into darkness for 32 days during winter.
Oh, great! Cold, dark winter made colder and darker because, after a decade of loadshedding, Escom – a power generation company - still hasn’t figured out how to deliver consistent power?
Just in Time – JIT* - for me to abandon ship… back to drought- and fire-ridden California. She’s got a ticket to ride ….
[*JIT? Just in time… A form of management – usually managing an inventory of consumables but sometimes of emotions - that requires suppliers and supply chains to produce materials just as production is scheduled to begin, no sooner.
The goal?
Lean and mean production machine that meets demand with zero storage costs.
Managing emotional inventory, however, means recognizing emotions, applying limits - neither ignoring nor overly expressing feelings of frustration, irritation, and anger, nor making dramatic snap decisions – and, importantly, knowing when to ride!]
***
This week’s posts focused on corruption. There is another aspect: when fed up – or broke – residents do not pay their utility and rates (property tax) bills. Each month this year, uMngeni Municipality has sent out the following notice with their invoices:  |
| Click to enlarge |
A nationwide effort, though? Hmmm....
***
Disney in hot water: Least favorite governor Florida’s Ron DeSantis has it in for Disney, threatening to strip the company of its 55-year-old special status that allows it to operate as an independent government around its Orlando-area theme park.This, over the DeSantis-inspired measure that bans schools from teaching young children about sexual orientation or gender identity.
After DeSantis signed the bill into law earlier Monday, the Walt Disney Company wrote in a statement that its "goal" was to get the law repealed or defeated in the courts.Read more >>
DeSantis said Disney "crossed the line" with that statement. On Thursday, DeSantis went further, suggesting Disney's "special privileges" could be lifted.
Wanna-be-Donald-Trump Ron DeSantis doesn’t care who he takes down in his struggle to be anointed the next Donald Trump. Kids? Dime a dozen. Transgender? Way too many of ‘em already. Teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity? Bah humbug!
(Read the downside of DeSantis' effort to Floridians >>)
I support Disney in repealing or defeating DeSantis’s inhumane trend.
My gripe about Disney? The apparent impossibility of unsubscribing from its email lists. Specifically, its National Geographic for children’s email list.
I subscribed two children to that magazine. They liked it – until they outgrew it. That happens. Children grow and outgrow. Disney specializes in children so it must know that.
Yet, it’s taking months of frustration to stop Disney sending me annoying offers to re-subscribe, or buy this, that, or the next unwanted publication. A simple “unsubscribe” link isn’t offered on their emails, so I tried their Contact Us link. That consistently presents the error page, “our system is currently unavailable. Try again later.”
Frustrating.
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:22am
Sunset: 5:32pm
Rain, finally...
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:24am
Sunset: 7:51pm
My gripe about Disney? The apparent impossibility of unsubscribing from its email lists. Specifically, its National Geographic for children’s email list.
I subscribed two children to that magazine. They liked it – until they outgrew it. That happens. Children grow and outgrow. Disney specializes in children so it must know that.
Yet, it’s taking months of frustration to stop Disney sending me annoying offers to re-subscribe, or buy this, that, or the next unwanted publication. A simple “unsubscribe” link isn’t offered on their emails, so I tried their Contact Us link. That consistently presents the error page, “our system is currently unavailable. Try again later.”
Frustrating.
***
Sunny yesterday. Showers predicted today and for the next 3 days… KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:22am
Sunset: 5:32pm
Rain, finally...
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:24am
Sunset: 7:51pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 108
Day 767, Thursday, April 21 - Live with it
Worldwide (Map) 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.
***
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)
***
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...
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 108
Additionally, most major US airlines are no longer requiring travelers or employees to wear face coverings on domestic and some international flights >>
How do small and large business owners and their formal and informal workers manage to run under these conditions? Some, grocery store chains and big manufacturing plants, for example, run petrol- or gas-powered generators. The “little guys”?
A generator parts manufacturing company lists challenges facing businesses:
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 108
Day 765, Tuesday, April 19 - Discouraging
News blues
In the US state of Florida, a federal judge struck down President Joe Biden’s national mask mandate covering airplanes, airports and other public transportation. This prompted the White House to announce the rule would not be enforced while federal agencies decide how to respond to the judge’s order.The ruling appeared to free operators to make their own decisions about mask requirements, with several airlines announcing they would drop mandates, but other transport networks including the New York City subway planning to keep them in place.Read more >>
Additionally, most major US airlines are no longer requiring travelers or employees to wear face coverings on domestic and some international flights >>
***
The Lincoln Project: Roger Stone (0:20 mins) ***
On war…
Photo essay documenting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine >>Healthy planet, anyone?
President Ramaphosa addresses flooding across the east coasts of South Africa. Another national state of disaster!(25:00 mins)Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Loadshedding at stage 4 today; no electricity from 2 to 4:30am, 10am to 12:30pm, and 8 – 10:30pm. This just-in-time change presented on the app at 7:30am.How do small and large business owners and their formal and informal workers manage to run under these conditions? Some, grocery store chains and big manufacturing plants, for example, run petrol- or gas-powered generators. The “little guys”?
A generator parts manufacturing company lists challenges facing businesses:
- Loss of production: where most businesses use electricity for machinery, technology and light to complete the day’s work, loss of electrical power means that the day’s target cannot be completed.
- Loss of profit: with the loss of production, there is a loss of profit, and in some cases, a large loss. Businesses cannot keep pay their employees to be present during a power outage….
- Theft and burglary: small businesses are choosing to close for business during load shedding as incidences of theft increase. During the power outage, burglar alarms are rendered useless, , with increased risk of burglary, unless they have an alternate power source.
- Damage to electronics: the surge of electricity when the power is returned upsets the steady voltage flow in the electrical system. This in turn can cause damage to electronic components.
Read more >>
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:20am
Sunset: 5:35pm
Some drizzle predicted…
***
Rain slows, clear skies for few days… KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:20am
Sunset: 5:35pm
Some drizzle predicted…
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:28am
Sunset: 7:48pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 108
Read more >>
The Biden administration eschews lockdowns while it continue its strategy of vaccinations, boosters and treatments… and urging a seemingly reluctant Congress to take up a multibillion-dollar funding package upon its return from recess.
Read more >>
If I was desperate enough to apply for such a load would the S.G. Reserve Bank of Lithuania, affiliated with the SA Reserve Bank, give me precise measurements for the size hose to use to ensure efficient vacuuming of money out of / into my bank account?
“Bob’s story: During the Zuma years, a friend “Bob” – who speaks fluent isiZulu and is known to and liked by provincial chieftains who occasionally visited his country home - called an ambulance after the daughter of a KZN politician was involved in a vehicle accident.
Soon after, the woman’s father called Bob and asked for a bank account number into which to deposit a financial thank you. Caught between common sense (never share your bank account number with a politician) and local politics (don’t antagonize local chieftains) Bob reluctantly presented a seldom used bank account number. A day later, very large sums of money began to flow in and out of that account. Bob said nothing, did nothing, and never touched one penny of those funds. (FYI: One US penny is equivalent to 10 SA pennies.)
Corruption R Us?
As KZN residents suffer severe flooding, someone realistic recognizes the temptation presented by funds for flood victims. She or he determined that the SA Human Rights Commission will monitor the distribution of the SA government’s R1-billion emergency relief package. “The commission says it will ensure the resources reach those who need them most. The Public Protector will also send a team to make sure there is no maladministration or corruption.” .
Sunrise: 6:28am
Sunset: 7:48pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 108
Day 764, Monday, April 18 - Easter Monday
News blues
Covid news roundup: Pfizer and BioNTech reported preliminary clinical data supporting use of their Covid-19 vaccine as a booster in children ages 5 to 11. And, one vaccine developer won marketing authorization in Europe while another faces a regulatory setback.Read more >>
***
China’s strategy for managing their recent Covid outbreak in Shanghai, population more than 25 million, has been a tight locked down since last month; only last week did they begin to ease onerous restrictions. The Biden administration eschews lockdowns while it continue its strategy of vaccinations, boosters and treatments… and urging a seemingly reluctant Congress to take up a multibillion-dollar funding package upon its return from recess.
Read more >>
Our World in Data – global Covid tracker >>
What to do?
First, wonder – not for the first time – if I have the fortitude to live in South Africa. Unlike thousands of others, I’m choosing to live here. Is that the wrong choice? Why am I choosing the inconvenience and the ineptitude that accompanies almost every facet of daily life here?
***
On war…
Photo essay >>Healthy planet, anyone?
As I stepped into the bathtub last night the house plunged into darkness.What to do?
First, wonder – not for the first time – if I have the fortitude to live in South Africa. Unlike thousands of others, I’m choosing to live here. Is that the wrong choice? Why am I choosing the inconvenience and the ineptitude that accompanies almost every facet of daily life here?
After I donned my jammies, I tried to determine if the problem is local – confined to the house – or widespread. My recollection was that Escom called off loadshedding. Electrically power wi-fi doesn’t operate without power so accessing Escom’s loadshedding app with its schedule was out of the question.
Shining my heavy-duty emergency light on the main distribution board, I ascertained no fuses had tripped. Rather, the whole neighborhood was dark.
Escom's just-in-time schedule - no warning - again.
Escom's just-in-time schedule - no warning - again.
Source: Our World In Data based on BP Statistical Review of World Energy & Ember.
© OurWorldInData/energy
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
A recent SMS offered easy-to-get money that may be an invitation to participate in money laundering.Do you need a loan with a low interest of 5% which there is no credit check Blacklisted, Debt review and Court order are eligible and accepted. T & Cs applies… [sic]Info on how to contact sender included email address, phone, Whatsapp, and customer service numbers, along with another “call number”.
1. PERSONAL LOANS
2. SECURED LOANS
3. INSTALLMENT LOANS
4. STUDENT LOANS
5. HOME LOANS
6. BUSINESS LOANS
7. PENSION LOANS
8. PAYDAY LOANS
Loan Amount From R5,000 up to R10 Million Interested kindly contact our South Africa branch for more details on how you can apply. [sic]
S.G RESERVE BANK LITHUANIA AFFILATED WITH SOUTH AFRICAN RESERVE BANK.
If I was desperate enough to apply for such a load would the S.G. Reserve Bank of Lithuania, affiliated with the SA Reserve Bank, give me precise measurements for the size hose to use to ensure efficient vacuuming of money out of / into my bank account?
“Bob’s story: During the Zuma years, a friend “Bob” – who speaks fluent isiZulu and is known to and liked by provincial chieftains who occasionally visited his country home - called an ambulance after the daughter of a KZN politician was involved in a vehicle accident.
Soon after, the woman’s father called Bob and asked for a bank account number into which to deposit a financial thank you. Caught between common sense (never share your bank account number with a politician) and local politics (don’t antagonize local chieftains) Bob reluctantly presented a seldom used bank account number. A day later, very large sums of money began to flow in and out of that account. Bob said nothing, did nothing, and never touched one penny of those funds. (FYI: One US penny is equivalent to 10 SA pennies.)
Corruption R Us?
As KZN residents suffer severe flooding, someone realistic recognizes the temptation presented by funds for flood victims. She or he determined that the SA Human Rights Commission will monitor the distribution of the SA government’s R1-billion emergency relief package. “The commission says it will ensure the resources reach those who need them most. The Public Protector will also send a team to make sure there is no maladministration or corruption.” .
Hmmm. Will this avert the usual money grabbing?
The corrupt recognize no boundaries and no need other than their own. Amid a global pandemic, for example, billions were stolen from funds to address Covid in Africa and South Africa.
Indeed, SA health minister Zweli Mkhize, his ‘family friend’ and ex-private secretary pocketed Covid-19 cash via R82m Department of Health contracts.
Amanpour and Company recently interviewed Frank Vogl, anti-corruption expert and author of The Enablers: How the West supports kleptocrats and corruption – endangering our democracy (18:00 mins).
An excerpt:
Amanpour and Company recently interviewed Frank Vogl, anti-corruption expert and author of The Enablers: How the West supports kleptocrats and corruption – endangering our democracy (18:00 mins).
An excerpt:
Isabel Dos Santos, the daughter of Angola’s former dictator, had a personal fortune of more than $2 billion; 40% of Angolans live on less than $20 a month. And Vladimir Putin has stolen so much from Russia and its citizens, that he — not Bezos, Musk, or Gates — may be the richest person alive. As Frank Vogl shows in his deeply researched and damning new book, laundering the dirty cash of kleptocrats into safe investments could not happen without the help of Western bankers, lawyers, accountants, and realtors – these are the enablers.Read the review and buy the book >>
***
Yet more rain…
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:19am
Sunset: 5:37pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:29am
Sunset: 7:47pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 108
Shanghai’s Covid outbreak is China’s most serious since the beginning of the pandemic, with 200,000 cases reported – and likely far more not reported - since the outbreak started in March.
Across the US, evident rise of BA.2 variant >>
War of words: Across the U.S., law makers are writing and presenting insidious anti-gay and anti-transgender bills – essentially, to outlaw a facet of humanity that includes human sexuality and human love. Missouri bill 2140 is one of 50 similar bills being presented in state capitals around the U.S.
Thank the gods for Missouri Representative Ian Mackey who confronts this direction. In this clip, Ian Mackey confronts a colleague in a beautiful, heartfelt speech. (2:15 mins)
You go, Ian Mackey! Eventually, you will be proved right: these bills and the people who write them will lose. It’ll take time for the pendulum that is American politics to swing from its current extreme right position to something more humane, but it will swing. Sadly, people will suffer in the meantime. I, like millions of other Americans, can hardly wait for the swing.
May We the People see more Ian Mackeys sharing heart and love and humanity and generosity of spirit….
Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has presided over record deforestation of the Amazon – as unclear-on-the-concept humans stood by and watched.
As Bolsonao’s reelection campaign begins, can this essential-to-life rainforest can survive 4 more - any more - years of Bolsonaro in office?
Can humanity survive him?
A deeply unsettling reality: Forcing one country’s 2.126 million people to vote for life or death of the entire planet and 7.753 billion humans.
Read more >>
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:19am
Sunset: 5:38pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:30am
Sunset: 7:46pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 108
Reviewing the aftermath of recent flooding in Durban, President Ramaphosa said, “…climate change is serious, it is here… We no longer can postpone what we need to do, and the measures we need to take to deal with climate change.”
Good for Ramaphosa. The reality, however, more complex. Where does a country like South Africa, burdened with ongoing massive corruption at the highest levels of government, get the funds needed to competently address the growing effects of climate change. Moreover, South African police used stun grenades to disperse a crowd in Durban, suffering catastrophic flood damage, calling for more and better official aid for flood victims.
Read more >>
(See below, more on climate change action.)
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:19am
Sunset: 5:37pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:29am
Sunset: 7:47pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 108
Day 763, Sunday, April 17 - Deeply unsettling
News blues
As Covid takes hold across China,… cities are locking down their residents, supply lines are rupturing, and officials are scrambling to secure the movement of basic goods - as the largest ever recorded outbreak of Covid-19 threatens to spiral into a national crisis of the government's own making.Read more >>
At least 44 Chinese cities are under either a full or partial lockdown as authorities persist in trying to curb the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant…
In Shanghai, the epicenter of the country's latest outbreak, scenes once unimaginable for the hyper-modern financial capital have become part of the daily struggle for 25 million people. There, residents forbidden to leave the confines of their apartments or housing blocks for weeks have been desperate for food and freedom….
Shanghai’s Covid outbreak is China’s most serious since the beginning of the pandemic, with 200,000 cases reported – and likely far more not reported - since the outbreak started in March.
While the government touted its Zero Covid strategy, its system of containment using intensive testing and tracing, combined with partial or complete lockdowns when a case is detected, as keeping case counts and deaths low over the past two years, the reports coming out of Shanghai suggest that the local government was unprepared for an outbreak in the country’s economic center and cast doubt on the feasibility of Zero Covid at this point in the pandemic. That’s translated into serious struggles for residents, including hours-long ambulance wait times, dwindling savings, and inadequate or rotten food supplies, among others. Although the central government is reportedly stepping up efforts to get supplies to the city, the overall policy is driving many residents to criticize the government’s policy — and Shanghai’s implementation of it — despite serious potential risks to their safety and freedom by doing so.Read more >>
[Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations said recently,] “Even the authoritarian governments… still have to take this mass reaction into account, or else will lose the cooperation from the society. We’re going to expect that [the central government] is going to improve the policy implementation, even though the policy itself is not going to change.”
Across the US, evident rise of BA.2 variant >>
***
The Lincoln Project: Affinity (0:32 mins) ***
On war…
Russia Resumes Attacks On Kyiv >>War of words: Across the U.S., law makers are writing and presenting insidious anti-gay and anti-transgender bills – essentially, to outlaw a facet of humanity that includes human sexuality and human love. Missouri bill 2140 is one of 50 similar bills being presented in state capitals around the U.S.
Thank the gods for Missouri Representative Ian Mackey who confronts this direction. In this clip, Ian Mackey confronts a colleague in a beautiful, heartfelt speech. (2:15 mins)
You go, Ian Mackey! Eventually, you will be proved right: these bills and the people who write them will lose. It’ll take time for the pendulum that is American politics to swing from its current extreme right position to something more humane, but it will swing. Sadly, people will suffer in the meantime. I, like millions of other Americans, can hardly wait for the swing.
May We the People see more Ian Mackeys sharing heart and love and humanity and generosity of spirit….
Healthy planet, anyone?
The Amazon Rainforest, a critical global ecosystem, is on the ballot in Brazil.Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has presided over record deforestation of the Amazon – as unclear-on-the-concept humans stood by and watched.
As Bolsonao’s reelection campaign begins, can this essential-to-life rainforest can survive 4 more - any more - years of Bolsonaro in office?
Can humanity survive him?
A deeply unsettling reality: Forcing one country’s 2.126 million people to vote for life or death of the entire planet and 7.753 billion humans.
Read more >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Yet more rain in…KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:19am
Sunset: 5:38pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:30am
Sunset: 7:46pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 108
Day 762, Saturday, April 16 - MeerKAT
News blues...
Covid, schmovid! Let’s celebrate something out of this world – and first spotted by South Africans:This record-breaking megamaser is the most distant one ever observed at 5 billion light-years away from Earth.Read more >>
The light from this space laser traveled a whopping 36 thousand billion billion miles (58 thousand billion billion kilometers) to reach our planet.
An international team of astronomers, led by Marcin Glowacki, observed this light, using the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory's MeerKAT telescope. (MeerKAT is shorthand for Karoo Array Telescope, preceded by the Afrikaans word for "more.")
Glowacki is a research associate at the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research in Australia.
Megamasers are created when two galaxies crash into each other. It is the first hydroxyl megamaser that MeerKAT has observed,,,,
***
 |
| (c) Zapiro |
Good for Ramaphosa. The reality, however, more complex. Where does a country like South Africa, burdened with ongoing massive corruption at the highest levels of government, get the funds needed to competently address the growing effects of climate change. Moreover, South African police used stun grenades to disperse a crowd in Durban, suffering catastrophic flood damage, calling for more and better official aid for flood victims.
Read more >>
(See below, more on climate change action.)
***
The Lincoln Project: Abbott’s Wall (0:55 mins)
***
On war…
Alla Gutnikova's speech at the Dorogomilovsky court. She is one of the editors of the Moscow student journal DOXA, and facing prison sentences for "inciting minors to take part in illegal opposition protests”. But the speech, “Be Like Children. Repeat: 2+2=4. Black Is Black. White Is White.” is about so much more.Read Alla Gutnikova's speech at the Dorogomilovsky court >>
Read more >>
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:18am
Sunset: 5:39pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:32am
Sunset: 7:45pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 107
Worldwide (Map)
April 14, 2022 - 501,095,900 confirmed infections; 6,186,310 deaths
April 15, 2021 – 138,278,420 confirmed infections; 2,973,058 deaths
US (Map)
April 14, 2022 - 80,483,900 confirmed infections; 986,510 deaths
April 15, 2021 – 31,421,361 confirmed infections; 564,402 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
April 14, 2022 - 3,734,000 confirmed infections; 100,116 deaths
April 15, 2021 – 1,560,000 confirmed infections; 53,500 deaths
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was extending the order, which was set to expire on April 18, until May 3 to allow more time to study the BA.2 omicron subvariant that is now responsible for the vast majority of cases in the U.S.
I’m intending to wear masks every moment of my return trip to California anyway, but…
Indeed, there really “needs to be a serious review of stormwater drainage systems - all infrastructure - related to our local and provincial road networks to ensure that rainwater can easily drain away.”
My “timely” - 6 YEARS – nagging the local roads department to attend to the blocked culverts paid off, albeit in miniscule fashion.
Healthy planet, anyone?
Twenty-five scientists affiliated with Extinction Rebellion, arrived at Westminster, London, and... pasted pages of scientific papers to the windows of the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and glued their hands to the glass to highlight the climate science they said the government was ignoring.An observer tweeted, “The government’s insane, and I don’t know what to do, other than to do this, to try and get the attention that we need to wake the public up.”
This, a week after the government published a new energy strategy that promised to continue the exploitation of North Sea oil and gas, failed to set targets for onshore wind, and gave nuclear power a central role.
Dr Aaron Thierry, a 36-year-old ecologist said, “Last week the world’s scientists released a report that sounded the final alarm for the planet. It said we must end our addiction to fossil fuels now. The UK government’s response a few days later was to announce it will increase its exploration for oil and gas with the intention of extracting every last drop.
“Science tells us that this approach will condemn our civilisations to destruction. We will not stand by and let this happen. Scientists have been sounding the alarm for decades but have been ignored by governments.”
…[Another scientist said} ““At both the domestic and international policy level, there are very powerful actors who don’t want our society to decarbonise.
“There are people who are very wealthy and powerful from the way that the world is set up now and they don’t want that to change, they don’t want to decarbonise because that will limit their opportunity to generate money from fossil fuels.
“As a result we have government departments making decisions that will lead us to calamity, and as a scientist I know what impacts this has, I can see that coming, and I can’t be passive, I can’t just let that happen. I need to act.
Read more >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
More clouds, more rain…KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:18am
Sunset: 5:39pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:32am
Sunset: 7:45pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 107
Day 760, Thursday, April 14 - Persistence
Worldwide (Map) April 14, 2022 - 501,095,900 confirmed infections; 6,186,310 deaths
April 15, 2021 – 138,278,420 confirmed infections; 2,973,058 deaths
US (Map)
April 14, 2022 - 80,483,900 confirmed infections; 986,510 deaths
April 15, 2021 – 31,421,361 confirmed infections; 564,402 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
April 14, 2022 - 3,734,000 confirmed infections; 100,116 deaths
April 15, 2021 – 1,560,000 confirmed infections; 53,500 deaths
News blues
The world surpasses half a billion known coronavirus cases, amid concerns about testing.***
The Biden administration announced it is extending the nationwide mask requirement for airplanes and public transit for 15 days as it monitors an uptick in COVID-19 cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was extending the order, which was set to expire on April 18, until May 3 to allow more time to study the BA.2 omicron subvariant that is now responsible for the vast majority of cases in the U.S.
I’m intending to wear masks every moment of my return trip to California anyway, but…
Read more >>
They were very real yesterday. Video clips of flooding in and around Durban (3:00 mins)
Flood aftermath: view 1 (2:17 mins) and view 2 (3:54 mins)
More than 300 dead >>
***
The Lincoln Project: Last week in the Republican Party - April 13, 2022 (2:12 mins)
***
Healthy planet, anyone?
How much greenhouse gas emissions the world emits in the coming decades is unknown. … It will depend on what people around the world will do now and in the future.In this situation, it’s helpful to create scenarios that cover a range of possible futures. This is what the ‘Shared Socioeconomic Pathways’ (SSPs) are. SSPs are the possible futures that climate researchers in the IPCC consider in their models.Read more and use the IPCC Climate Scenario Explorer >>
SSPs do not tell us what the world will look like. Instead, they tell us what the world could look like.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
That heavy rainfall that fell on KZN? Those predictions of flooding?They were very real yesterday. Video clips of flooding in and around Durban (3:00 mins)
Flood aftermath: view 1 (2:17 mins) and view 2 (3:54 mins)
More than 300 dead >>
Stormwater drainage infrastructureRead more >>
Many in the business community say the damage was made worse by a failure on the part of the provincial government and the Durban municipality to maintain drainage infrastructure and prepare for eventualities such as these.
Now, the Durban Chamber of Commerce has called for the government to undertake a “serious review” of the stormwater drainage system along the road networks.
It wants the local and provincial governments of eThekwini to share their disaster management plans, including their programmes of infrastructure maintenance and development to improve drainage and traffic congestion.
“There needs to be a serious review of stormwater drainage systems related to our local and provincial road networks to ensure that rainwater can easily drain away,”
Indeed, there really “needs to be a serious review of stormwater drainage systems - all infrastructure - related to our local and provincial road networks to ensure that rainwater can easily drain away.”
My “timely” - 6 YEARS – nagging the local roads department to attend to the blocked culverts paid off, albeit in miniscule fashion.
Plenty more nagging ahead.
Frankly, I doubt that public entity – supported by residents’ property taxes, including mine - will ever devote the people power needed to address infrastructure problems, including my small one: clearing the second totally blocked culvert and removing silt that continues to threaten to rise to levels that block water from draining.
Nevertheless, their recent small efforts helped. This, after I kvetched to local council people then to the head guy in Pietermaritzburg. His terse email to the local office to get the work done galvanized the local team. Had I complained with less dedication, this house’s downstairs would be under water.
The good news? The sheer volume of water pushing into the open culvert cleared out debris and silt. Water is flowing better than it has for some years. The overflowing stream banks, last week not visible, are still overflowing, but the water level has dropped after reaching a depth in the lower garden of more than 1 meter (3 feet).
Alas, the sump formed by the backhoe operator is now a convex hump rather than a hole, due to silt runoff from the dirt road.
I will continue kvetching to the roads department although their workload increased exponentially with the flooding across the province. I will write another email, in report format and accompanied by photos and video clips, to the head guy in Pietermaritzburg. He’ll send a terse email to the local team. The local team will show up, mill around, scrape debris here and there, depart. And the cycle will be unbroken (4:00 mins)
And… amid the flooding, Escom – South Africa’s parastatal electricity company – is “load shedding” again. Our electricity schedule: two hours off at 8:00 pm.
Nevertheless, their recent small efforts helped. This, after I kvetched to local council people then to the head guy in Pietermaritzburg. His terse email to the local office to get the work done galvanized the local team. Had I complained with less dedication, this house’s downstairs would be under water.
The good news? The sheer volume of water pushing into the open culvert cleared out debris and silt. Water is flowing better than it has for some years. The overflowing stream banks, last week not visible, are still overflowing, but the water level has dropped after reaching a depth in the lower garden of more than 1 meter (3 feet).
Alas, the sump formed by the backhoe operator is now a convex hump rather than a hole, due to silt runoff from the dirt road.
I will continue kvetching to the roads department although their workload increased exponentially with the flooding across the province. I will write another email, in report format and accompanied by photos and video clips, to the head guy in Pietermaritzburg. He’ll send a terse email to the local team. The local team will show up, mill around, scrape debris here and there, depart. And the cycle will be unbroken (4:00 mins)
And… amid the flooding, Escom – South Africa’s parastatal electricity company – is “load shedding” again. Our electricity schedule: two hours off at 8:00 pm.
Try pumping away massive amounts of excess water without electricity.
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:16am
Sunset: 5:41pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:35am
Sunset: 7:43pm
Year 3 of the Covid era
It’s one thing to live in the bubble associated with “modern” life: a cozy fire on cold and wet days, contradictions of ideology alongside the need for physical safety, a functional security system, a vehicle for trips to the grocery store, and so many other taken-for-granted conveniences that allow one to view others’ struggles from a distance.
It’s uncomfortable to look outside the bubble for reminders of what life is like for the planet’s vast majority.
Yesterday, in front of the fire, when I looked outside the bubble, I learned how my late mother’s former staff and their families struggle for a semblance of comfort. This, alongside world news reporting dire events affecting peoples’ day-to-day lives:
While I’m currently no longer harassed by that man, he continues to wander, always drunk, around this neighborhood, harassing his fellow humans; retaliation has put him in the hospital more than once. Now, I learn his sister – whom I’d always thought married a decent, hardworking man – married a hardworking but regularly drunk man who spends his earnings on maintaining a constant level of alcohol in his bloodstream. His desperate wife, ironically named Happiness, begs money to purchase food for her three children – and one grandchild. Her oldest daughter, 13, is a mother, too.
Today’s Zuma-related concern?
Our faithful domestic worker begins her first fulltime holiday since the beginning of the pandemic. She will take a taxi to Pietermaritzburg, then a bus ride for 30 km to her home in a rural village.
Alas, the courthouse is around the corner from the taxi rank and bus station.
Worrisome.
Heavy rainfall, flooding predicted, and possible riots and/or protests associated with Zuma’s trial.
Bon voyage?
As it turned out, no serious protests and Zuma’s trail postponed, yet again.
Flooding, however, continues.
Writing this, the sun is yet to rise so I can’t yet see the extent of flooding in the garden. Given constant rainfall during the night, and the blocked culverts, I assume yesterday’s photos indicate continued flooding of the lower lawn.
Year 3 of the Covid era
***
“Clear” weather predicted today. Alas, more rain predicted for the Easter Bunny weekend:KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:16am
Sunset: 5:41pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:35am
Sunset: 7:43pm
Year 3 of the Covid era
Day 758, Tuesday, April 12 - Reality checks
News blues
According to Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the way we were thinking about transmission of Covid-19 - surfaces, large respiratory droplets – “was missing the point”.Two-plus years into the Covid-19 pandemic, you probably know the basics of protection: vaccines, boosters, proper handwashing and masks. But one of the most powerful tools against the coronavirus is one that experts believe is just starting to get the attention it deserves: ventilation.Read “This invisible Covid-19 mitigation measure is finally getting the attention it deserves” >>
If you're indoors, you could be breathing in less fresh air than you think.
"Everybody in a room together is constantly breathing air that just came out of the lungs of other people in that room. And depending on the ventilation rate, it could be as much as 3% or 4% of the air you're breathing just came out of the lungs of other people in that room," Allen said.
He describes this as respiratory backwash.
"Normally, that's not a problem, right? We do this all the time. We're always exchanging our respiratory microbiomes with each other. But if someone's sick and infectious ... those aerosols can carry the virus. That's a problem."
***
U.S. universities nationwide reinstate mask mandates amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases >> ***
On war…
Photo essay >>Healthy planet, anyone?
 |
| © UN FAO |
It’s one thing to live in the bubble associated with “modern” life: a cozy fire on cold and wet days, contradictions of ideology alongside the need for physical safety, a functional security system, a vehicle for trips to the grocery store, and so many other taken-for-granted conveniences that allow one to view others’ struggles from a distance.
It’s uncomfortable to look outside the bubble for reminders of what life is like for the planet’s vast majority.
Yesterday, in front of the fire, when I looked outside the bubble, I learned how my late mother’s former staff and their families struggle for a semblance of comfort. This, alongside world news reporting dire events affecting peoples’ day-to-day lives:
- Flooding: Zululand, South Africa (see photos of my flooded garden, below). Ramshackle houses around KZN buckle under constant rainfall. Australia
- Drought: southern Africa (Eswatini is former Swaziland), Afghanistan, Iran
- Fire: southern Europe and western US
- Famine: Yemen
- Food shortages:
“On March 24, 2022, President Biden warned of food shortages due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “It’s going to be real,” he said of food shortages. “The price of these sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia; it’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country [US] as well. Both Russia and Ukraine have been the breadbasket of Europe in terms of wheat…just to give one example.”
In truth, it’s not only Russia causing food shortages; a badly managed pandemic and simple lack of care for our world’s most vulnerable are included. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Peru , South Africa, - War: Yemen, Syria, Ukraine, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic
- Xenophobia: South Africa and “deadly denial”
- Pandemic hotspots: China, Washington, DC and think of the effects of the ‘claw back’ of $5 billion in funding for the global vaccination effort that the US had previously proposed .
While I’m currently no longer harassed by that man, he continues to wander, always drunk, around this neighborhood, harassing his fellow humans; retaliation has put him in the hospital more than once. Now, I learn his sister – whom I’d always thought married a decent, hardworking man – married a hardworking but regularly drunk man who spends his earnings on maintaining a constant level of alcohol in his bloodstream. His desperate wife, ironically named Happiness, begs money to purchase food for her three children – and one grandchild. Her oldest daughter, 13, is a mother, too.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Yesterday, former president Jacob Zuma was due back in the Pietermaritzburg court. Last year when he was to appear in court, Gauteng and KZN were wracked by riots. (It was during that time, July 12, although not related to the protests and riots, that my mother passed away peacefully.)Today’s Zuma-related concern?
Our faithful domestic worker begins her first fulltime holiday since the beginning of the pandemic. She will take a taxi to Pietermaritzburg, then a bus ride for 30 km to her home in a rural village.
Alas, the courthouse is around the corner from the taxi rank and bus station.
Worrisome.
Heavy rainfall, flooding predicted, and possible riots and/or protests associated with Zuma’s trial.
Bon voyage?
As it turned out, no serious protests and Zuma’s trail postponed, yet again.
Flooding, however, continues.
Writing this, the sun is yet to rise so I can’t yet see the extent of flooding in the garden. Given constant rainfall during the night, and the blocked culverts, I assume yesterday’s photos indicate continued flooding of the lower lawn.
Year 3 of the Covid era
Day 756, Sunday, April 10 - Memories
News blues
[US] Senators announced a deal on a $10 billion coronavirus aid package on Monday to provide additional aid for domestic testing, vaccination and treatment efforts, after dropping a push to include billions for the global vaccination effort.Read “Senate negotiators announce a deal on a smaller Covid spending proposal without global vaccine funding” >>
The agreement requires at least $5 billion to be set aside for therapeutics and $750 million for research and clinical trials to prepare for future variants. The remaining funds will be used for vaccines and testing.
It does not include $5 billion in funding for the global vaccination effort that had previously been proposed, after senators spent the weekend haggling over a Republican demand to claw back money Congress previously approved.
Healthy planet, anyone?
In London, UK: Climate change activists forced the closure of London's famous Tower Bridge on Friday in the latest protest ahead of what they have warned will be even more disruptive action in the British capital. Read more >>In Australia: protests re inaction on climate change and massive flooding >> (0:50 mins)
Cold and rain predicted for next two days.
This house has a fireplace that I’ve never used. This house also has stored firewood. Fireplace and firewood could mean a fire. Why not?
Turns out I’ve little talent for starting fires, at least intentionally. My efforts showed a basic misunderstanding of how much effort and know-how is required to start a fire in a fireplace.
With a little help from my friends, we got a fire started…and it looked great for 15 or 20 minutes…
Americans show little interest in the dark fruit cake that pleasures my taste buds. Some Americans like a light, cakey fruit cake while most enjoy carrot cake - which is uncommon here. (A cultural factoid: South African wedding cakes present dark fruit cake, lavishly frosted with marzipan and firm icing. American wedding cakes tend toward carrot cake with moist, creamy frosting.)
The local chain grocery store/bakery combo that sells the dark, fruity gustatory delights appears, however, currently to have a less experienced baker than usual. Over the past months I’ve purchased two cakes – nothing fancy, no marzipan, no icing, shaped like square loaves - and both have been dry. Since it’s not fun eating dry fruit cake, I improvised. I purchased a bottle of cheap sherry, sprinkled it over the cake, let it soak, then – yum, snack on it over time. (I tell myself this cake is healthful – full of iron and ‘roughage’ – and that is true. It’s also delicious and addictive.)
Sipping on sherry now and again is also fun. An added bonus? Cheap sherry is self-limiting and one sherry glass full does the trick.
While I consume little alcohol, I appreciate an occasional margarita or mojito. The price of decent tequila here sounds too outrageous for me to indulge – R400 to R500 ($27 to $34) a bottle! Instead, I indulged in a bottle of moderately priced white rum – R200 to $275 – that accompanied my purchase of the bottle of cheap sherry.
Mint grows thick and fast in this garden. Cooked into mint syrup to replace sugar, it makes a tasty ingredient for a mojito at day’s end: mulled fresh mint, mint syrup to taste, ice, soda water, and a dollop of rum.
In ye olde days, white South Africans enjoyed sundowners. Family and friends gathered on the lawn under the bright rays of late afternoon sun. Ladies enjoyed a glass of wine or small glass of sherry. Gentlemen indulged in “cane and coke” or “dop en dam”.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Cold and rainy today.Cold and rain predicted for next two days.
This house has a fireplace that I’ve never used. This house also has stored firewood. Fireplace and firewood could mean a fire. Why not?
Turns out I’ve little talent for starting fires, at least intentionally. My efforts showed a basic misunderstanding of how much effort and know-how is required to start a fire in a fireplace.
With a little help from my friends, we got a fire started…and it looked great for 15 or 20 minutes…
The dog liked it.
I liked it.
Alas, left to its own devices, the flames died and the logs smoked.
Diagnosis? “Wood is damp.”
The good news? Damp wood dries out when confronted with fire and knowhow. Soon the smoke died down, the flames rekindled, dogs and humans were content.
I face a new challenge: learn to make a usable fire in a fireplace.
***
One of the delights of this locale is the presence for several months beyond Christmas of what I call Christmas Cake. Dark, moist, and thick with fruit, raisins, currents, cherries.Americans show little interest in the dark fruit cake that pleasures my taste buds. Some Americans like a light, cakey fruit cake while most enjoy carrot cake - which is uncommon here. (A cultural factoid: South African wedding cakes present dark fruit cake, lavishly frosted with marzipan and firm icing. American wedding cakes tend toward carrot cake with moist, creamy frosting.)
The local chain grocery store/bakery combo that sells the dark, fruity gustatory delights appears, however, currently to have a less experienced baker than usual. Over the past months I’ve purchased two cakes – nothing fancy, no marzipan, no icing, shaped like square loaves - and both have been dry. Since it’s not fun eating dry fruit cake, I improvised. I purchased a bottle of cheap sherry, sprinkled it over the cake, let it soak, then – yum, snack on it over time. (I tell myself this cake is healthful – full of iron and ‘roughage’ – and that is true. It’s also delicious and addictive.)
Sipping on sherry now and again is also fun. An added bonus? Cheap sherry is self-limiting and one sherry glass full does the trick.
While I consume little alcohol, I appreciate an occasional margarita or mojito. The price of decent tequila here sounds too outrageous for me to indulge – R400 to R500 ($27 to $34) a bottle! Instead, I indulged in a bottle of moderately priced white rum – R200 to $275 – that accompanied my purchase of the bottle of cheap sherry.
Mint grows thick and fast in this garden. Cooked into mint syrup to replace sugar, it makes a tasty ingredient for a mojito at day’s end: mulled fresh mint, mint syrup to taste, ice, soda water, and a dollop of rum.
In ye olde days, white South Africans enjoyed sundowners. Family and friends gathered on the lawn under the bright rays of late afternoon sun. Ladies enjoyed a glass of wine or small glass of sherry. Gentlemen indulged in “cane and coke” or “dop en dam”.
“Cane”, I believe, is a form of white rum; coke is regular old coca cola.
Dop en dam is brandy and water. Ice wasn’t necessary, perhaps considered an affectation or difficult to produce.
Ah, the memories stimulated while sitting in front of a fire on a cold, wet morning.
Year 3 of the Covid era
Brian Schatz is Right (1:17 mins)
Doctored (0:42 mins)
This man votes (0:32 mins)
Truth Social vs Twitter (0:30 mins)
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:14am
Sunset: 5:46pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:42am
Sunset: 7:39pm
Year 3 of the Covid era
April 8, 2021 – 133,132,000 confirmed infections: 2,888,000 deaths
US (Map)
April 7, 2022 - 80,248,990 confirmed infections; 983,820 deaths
April 8, 2021 – 30,923,000 confirmed infections: 559,116 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
April 7, 2022 - 3,725,200 confirmed infections; 100,070 deaths
April 8, 2021 – 1,553,610 confirmed infections: 53,111 deaths
Dop en dam is brandy and water. Ice wasn’t necessary, perhaps considered an affectation or difficult to produce.
Ah, the memories stimulated while sitting in front of a fire on a cold, wet morning.
Year 3 of the Covid era
Day 755, Saturday, April 9 - Eats shoot and leaves
News blues
The BA.2 omicron subvariant of the coronavirus has been on [US radars] for months — scientists conducting wastewater surveillance noticed it back in January. BA.2 first received widespread attention in early February as it appeared to drive a large wave of infections in the United Kingdom. And ever since, some health experts have been warning that this new iteration of the virus — even faster-spreading than the super-contagious original omicron variant — could create another wave in the pandemic.Read more >>
***
The rise of the ivermectin cult is one of the most nonsensical storylines — in a sea of nonsensical storylines — to emerge during the pandemic. Even now, as Covid begins to become a less dominant force in our lives, the ivermectin bunkum continues.Read “Why the Covid cult of ivermectin won't die" >>
There have been several recent large, well-done, clinical trials, including one published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, that definitively show, according to one of the study’s authors, “there’s really no sign of any benefit.”
…
In the pandemic’s early days there were laboratory studies — that is, research done in petri dishes and not involving actual humans — that suggested the drug, which is used to treat parasites in horses, had antiviral properties. (This kind of work rarely translates into clinical application.) There were also some observational studies that seemed promising.
But as soon as data from more rigorous and comprehensive studies started to come in, it became clear that ivermectin was not a magical cure. In July, for example, a systematic review by the highly respected and independent Cochrane Collaboration — an international academic organization that does evidence reviews to inform clinical practice — concluded that there was no good evidence to support the use of the drug to treat or prevent Covid.
***
The Lincoln Project:Brian Schatz is Right (1:17 mins)
Doctored (0:42 mins)
This man votes (0:32 mins)
Truth Social vs Twitter (0:30 mins)
***
On war…
South Africa had abstained three times since March 2 from resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly on the Ukraine war, which were highly critical of Russia, because Pretoria believed that condemning Russia’s aggression would not advance the cause of peace – and could even provoke Russia to further “offences”.Read more >>
Healthy planet, anyone?
The [US] federal government has begun tallying the damage climate change could do to its economy and budget. Two trillion dollars a year is the future cost of climate inaction. Time is running out to avoid catastrophic global warming.Read more >>
The week in wildlife – photo essay >>
The week in wildlife – photo essay >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Yesterday, the lone backhoe and driver arrived – and departed 15 minutes later. Teeti – project overseer – phoned me to report drizzly rain meant wet terrain and weather too cold for young workers.Fair enough.
Except… drizzly rain and cold weather predictions make me skeptical about the lone backhoe and driver and the young workers returning when the weather improves.
My ace in the hole?
I have Teeti’s phone number. And I'll use it....
To encourage otters moving back, I visited a local animal rehab center. While they don’t currently have otters for rehab, nor do they often, this property is now on their list as a prospective otter home.
I’ll modify the fence along the stream and pond area to make it inviting to otters (and other creatures) and safe from elderly dogs.
Water lilies and otters: eats shoot and leaves.
My ace in the hole?
I have Teeti’s phone number. And I'll use it....
***
Apparently, before my late mother erected fencing along the stream edge, for security and to coral her many dogs, otter sightings were not uncommon. The stream edge supports reeds, trees, shrubs, and plenty of vegetative camouflage for the shy creatures. It’s likely a confluence of hunting, fencing, and water flow (think blocked culverts) that has resulted in no recent reports or sightings of otters. To encourage otters moving back, I visited a local animal rehab center. While they don’t currently have otters for rehab, nor do they often, this property is now on their list as a prospective otter home.
I’ll modify the fence along the stream and pond area to make it inviting to otters (and other creatures) and safe from elderly dogs.
Water lilies and otters: eats shoot and leaves.
***
Ugh! Cold today! 52 F/11 C. Raining, too. KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:14am
Sunset: 5:46pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:42am
Sunset: 7:39pm
Year 3 of the Covid era
Day 753, Thursday, April 7 - Say what?
Worldwide (Map)
April 7, 2022 - 495,119,710 confirmed infections; 6,166,410 deathsApril 8, 2021 – 133,132,000 confirmed infections: 2,888,000 deaths
US (Map)
April 7, 2022 - 80,248,990 confirmed infections; 983,820 deaths
April 8, 2021 – 30,923,000 confirmed infections: 559,116 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
April 7, 2022 - 3,725,200 confirmed infections; 100,070 deaths
April 8, 2021 – 1,553,610 confirmed infections: 53,111 deaths
 |
| Numbers from April 2019 |
Posts from back then >>
Serious times (0:55 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - April 6, 2022 (2:15 mins)
An increase of workers does not mean an increase in effectiveness clearing the culverts.
Tea-tee (Teeti?), the sole female overseer of the work, promised the work team would be back to continue today. One problem? Tea-ti sees two culverts on “my” side of the road – one of which is totally blocked – but does not see that culvert on the other side of the road. This leads her to believe there is no culvert exiting the other side of the road, that, somehow, someone(s) built half a culvert that ends halfway under the road. She also thinks the department may have to tear out the culverts and build a bridge. A bit radical, but I’m not against that long-term solution. It would allow a larger space for water to flow – that is, until silt and debris builds up and blocks the space under the bridge. That’s unlikely to happen over the next decade so… go for it, Tea-tee. (First, though, check with locals – farmers and small-holders, plus drivers who use this back road to avoid backups on the freeway – on how building a bridge would affect them day-to-day.)
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:13am
Sunset: 5:49pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:45am
Sunset: 7:37pm
Year 3 of the Covid era
“We have now entered a new phase in Covid-19,” President Ramaphosa said. “While the pandemic is not over, conditions no longer require that we stay in a state of national disaster.”
News blues
While we have an “official” end to Covid’s state of disaster in South Africa, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma throws cold water on a nation when she…warned that government can declare a national state of disaster again should Covid-19 infections spiral.
South Africa exited the national state of disaster following an announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa during an address to the nation on Monday night.
… Addressing the media on Tuesday, Dlamini Zuma said the Covid-19 pandemic no longer qualified as a disaster.
***
As national concern for COVID withers [across the United States], the country’s capacity to track the coronavirus is on a decided downswing. Community test sites are closing, and even the enthusiasm for at-home tests seems to be on a serious wane; even though Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a new deal on domestic pandemic funding, those patterns could stick. Testing and case reporting are now so “abysmal” that we’re losing sight of essential transmission trends…Read more about what this might mean >>
***
The Lincoln Project:Serious times (0:55 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - April 6, 2022 (2:15 mins)
***
On war…
Analysis: Why some African countries are thinking twice about calling out PutinHealthy planet, anyone?
“Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals, but the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels.”Read “Climate scientists are desperate: we’re crying, begging and getting arrested” >>
– United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Update of culverts. Yesterday, after I sent a photo of growing signs of damp walls in this house, the roads work team went from one lone backhoe and driver dealing with the periphery of the culverts to a backhoe and driver and a dozen people wearing reflector jackets milling about watching the backhoe and driver scrape silt and debris around the culverts.An increase of workers does not mean an increase in effectiveness clearing the culverts.
Tea-tee (Teeti?), the sole female overseer of the work, promised the work team would be back to continue today. One problem? Tea-ti sees two culverts on “my” side of the road – one of which is totally blocked – but does not see that culvert on the other side of the road. This leads her to believe there is no culvert exiting the other side of the road, that, somehow, someone(s) built half a culvert that ends halfway under the road. She also thinks the department may have to tear out the culverts and build a bridge. A bit radical, but I’m not against that long-term solution. It would allow a larger space for water to flow – that is, until silt and debris builds up and blocks the space under the bridge. That’s unlikely to happen over the next decade so… go for it, Tea-tee. (First, though, check with locals – farmers and small-holders, plus drivers who use this back road to avoid backups on the freeway – on how building a bridge would affect them day-to-day.)
***
I’ve three weeks more here before I return to California. Friends tell me CA weather is hot, hot, hot – unseasonably hot for April. This time I’ll not return to my boat on the river so no way to easily cool down on hot days.KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:13am
Sunset: 5:49pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:45am
Sunset: 7:37pm
Year 3 of the Covid era
Day 752, Wednesday, April 6 - Disaster no more
News blues...
As of midnight Monday, after 750 days, SA declares an end to the national state of disaster.“We have now entered a new phase in Covid-19,” President Ramaphosa said. “While the pandemic is not over, conditions no longer require that we stay in a state of national disaster.”
Watch President Ramaphosa (2:48 mins)
Editor's note: By my count of 745 days, I appear to have lost or dropped almost a week of South Africa's state of disaster. What a disaster.
Editor's note: By my count of 745 days, I appear to have lost or dropped almost a week of South Africa's state of disaster. What a disaster.
With restrictions dropped at 750 days - 2.13 years - I recalibrate my count ... and the direction of the theme of this blog. More on that tomorrow....
Day 744, Tuesday, April 5 - Shanghai-d
News blues
China’s strict zero-Covid policy means all positive cases have to be hospitalised. But in the last few weeks, as case numbers have risen sharply and 26 million people entered a harsh lockdown, mainland China’s most important financial hub has come to a standstill. The number of new daily positive cases exceeded 10,000 for the first time on Monday. Although 38,000 health workers have been shipped in from around China to help, medical resources are overwhelmingly diverted to combat Covid, leaving it difficult for non-Covid patients ... to access them.Read “This is inhumane” >>
***
Even as South Africa surpasses the milestone of 100,000 confirmed Covid deaths, the government – strict about restrictions until now - still plans to end lockdown "soon", despite scientists’ warnings that a fifth wave is imminent. Last week, April 5 – that’s today – was the day to end restrictions. As of now, no certainty nor update on this deadline.
Responding to questions posed in parliament, Deputy President David Mabuza said, “We think (forcing people to vaccinate) would be crossing the red line'. All we can do is encourage our people to go and vaccinate."Read more >>
Despite a wide range of initiatives to encourage large-scale vaccination, there has a been a great reluctance to do so, spurred on by optimism after the government relaxed regulations that enforced mask-wearing in public, and opened up sports and entertainment facilities to increased spectator and audience numbers.
Mabuza said the easing of these regulations announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week was part of attempts to convince citizens to take the vaccine voluntarily, as they would be required to show this when attending events.
Mabuza also said plans announced by Ramaphosa for amended health regulations to replace the much harsher 'State of Disaster' laws that have been in place for over two years now were underway, despite warnings from experts about the risk of a fifth wave.
He confirmed the views of some scientists that this wave would be less severe than previous ones, because the population had reportedly developed a level of herd immunity.
Healthy planet, anyone?
Off planet, an amazing opportunity to glimpse a giant planet evolve. It is still ‘in the womb’ yet nine times the mass of Jupiter.Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Practicing the tactic “apply pressure through channels (culverts?) but let things evolve”, I contacted the ANC’s councilperson for this area to request attention to clear blocked culverts. After the ANC were voted out in favor of the DA, I contacted the new councilperson for this area. She stepped up and did what she could. Indeed, she managed to get a backhoe out here and the driver backhoed and scooped and pushed and pulled. But he did not touch the actual culverts; hard to do that with a backhoe. He implied he'd be back to finish the job.That was two days before the national holiday, Human Rights Day. Since then?
Nothing.
Nada.
Dead quiet on the eastern front.
Lots of rain though, so flooding continues.
Finally, yesterday, after trying to “do the right thing” – for 6 years! – I phoned the regional big boss. He’d been informed the problem was resolved. I explained it had not – that the culverts have never been directly dealt with, only the area surrounding the culverts had been graded or backhoed.
He copied me on an email to the crew in charge of roads in this area:
We wait.
Meanwhile, the flooded area of the garden continues….
Finally, yesterday, after trying to “do the right thing” – for 6 years! – I phoned the regional big boss. He’d been informed the problem was resolved. I explained it had not – that the culverts have never been directly dealt with, only the area surrounding the culverts had been graded or backhoed.
He copied me on an email to the crew in charge of roads in this area:
Colleagues, Please urgently attend to the blocked culvert on D 292 at xx Road. Please make contact with [the resident cc'd here] to advise when it will be done.
I suggest you use a TLB and VRRM Labour in cleaning out the silted pipes.
His colleague in charge responded:What happens now?
Good day
Note two weeks back MS Zondi was opened that drain at D292 with a TLB. Thanks
I responded:
Thank you for including me in this email... Here are yesterday's photos of the blocked culverts on "my" side of the road [photos posted yesterday] ... As you can see, the quality of the silt now flowing into the area when it rains shows the silt is also draining into the area from the district road.
Let me know if you want photos of flooded area taken over the last weeks AND the last four years that show the continuing evolution of this problem.
We wait.
Meanwhile, the flooded area of the garden continues….
The damp in the house continues.
Thank the gods for water as it allows me to soothe my simmering anger by clearing lilies and pond weed. As I work, I contemplate next steps: Now that I have email addresses, I continue direct pressure. I also write an article for the local paper. Then another article. I also visit the local animal rehab center, Free Me and, 1) explain the disappearance of fresh water otters in this wetland and how the blocked culverts may contribute to otters’ demise, 2) encourage them to apply pressure to the roads department to clear the culverts and encourage the return of otters, and, 3) explore whether they’d consider re-introducing otters into the waterway. Otters in the waterway would benefit my pond, too: they’d make short work of the runaway growth of the lilies by gobbling them up. Yum, tender lily root salad for otters.
Year 3 of the Covid era
MAGAmadness (2:13 mins)
Compromised (1:12 mins)
I finished the first round of settling into the new office. The floor is unfinished – that must wait for now – but the desk is “good enough”, three lamps installed on the desktop (I take pleasure in “re-modeling” lamps and creating one-of-a-kind lampshades) and the expandable worktable is ready to work.
Martha swept and tidied the garage.
The newly resident kids – 8 and 10 years old – tested the swimming pool and found it suited their needs. Yay! Lovely to see people using the pool.
Alas, it rained heavily last night, second night of such rain after dark. I’ll have to check the culverts again today. Yesterday’s check was alarming…
Still no word on when the culvert crew from municipality will be back.
Time to begin another campaign of harassment to get them to finish the job – now six, going on seven years. Easier to work on improving my harassment skills. To date, the harassment skills have proved exceptionally ineffective.
***KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:11am
Sunset: 5:53pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:51am
Sunset: 7:33pm
Year 3 of the Covied era
Other findings include:
Read “First human challenge study of Covid-19 yields valuable insights about how we get sick” >>
New England Journal of Medicine's deputy editor recently said that Ivermectin did nothing to help COVID-19 patients: “If there are active treatments, it is better to use those agents than agents that we wish worked."
More harrowing war devastation >> (8:00 mins)
Trump and Russia: Partners in Crime (0:40 mins)
Trump Loyalties (1:20 mins)
Electrician still trying to sort through the cable and wire spaghetti that is this house’s electrical system.
That’s turning out to be a bigger challenge than anyone expected.
Year 3 of the Covid era
Worldwide (Map)
March 31, 2022 - 485,581,100 confirmed infections; 6,135,050 deaths
February 25, 2021 -128,260,000 confirmed infections; 2,805,000 deaths
February 25, 2020 - 112,534,400 confirmed infections; 2,905,000 deaths
January 21, 2021 – 96,830,000 confirmed infections; 2,074,000 deaths
US (Map)
March 31, 2022 - 80,022,500 confirmed infections; 978,700 deaths
February 25, 2021 - 30,394,000 confirmed infections; 551,000 deaths
February 25, 2020 - 28,335,000 confirmed infections; 505,850 deaths
January 21 2021 - 450,000 confirmed infections; 406,100 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
March 31, 2022 - 3,715,390 confirmed infections; 99,976 deaths
February 25, 2021 - 1,547,000 confirmed infections; 52,790 deaths
February 25, 2020 - 1,507,450 confirmed infections; 49,525 deaths
January 21, 2021 – 1,370,000 confirmed infections’ 38,900 deaths
Post from March 29, 2021: Fall days
Three years of pandemic World Health Organization states the BA.2 variant of coronavirus now represents nearly 86% of all sequenced cases. Even more transmissible than its highly contagious Omicron siblings, BA.1 and BA.1.1, evidence suggests that it is no more likely to cause severe disease.
The Gini index or Gini coefficient is a measure of the distribution of income across a population. Developed by the Italian statistician Corrado Gini in 1912, it often serves as a gauge of economic inequality, measuring income distribution or, less commonly, wealth distribution among a population. South Africa - with a Gini coefficient of 63.0 - is currently recognized as the country with the highest income inequality. (The World Population Review attributes this massive inequality to racial, gender, and geographic discrimination, with white males and urban workers in South Africa earning much better salaries than everyone else.)
Income inequality coupled with greed, endemic corruption, incompetence, and a pandemic result in South African children malnourished and, indeed, starving.
Thank the gods for water as it allows me to soothe my simmering anger by clearing lilies and pond weed. As I work, I contemplate next steps: Now that I have email addresses, I continue direct pressure. I also write an article for the local paper. Then another article. I also visit the local animal rehab center, Free Me and, 1) explain the disappearance of fresh water otters in this wetland and how the blocked culverts may contribute to otters’ demise, 2) encourage them to apply pressure to the roads department to clear the culverts and encourage the return of otters, and, 3) explore whether they’d consider re-introducing otters into the waterway. Otters in the waterway would benefit my pond, too: they’d make short work of the runaway growth of the lilies by gobbling them up. Yum, tender lily root salad for otters.
Year 3 of the Covid era
Day 742, Sunday, April 3 - Slowly, slowly
News blues
Almost 5 million people in the UK are now believed to have Covid-19 ... an all-time high figure for the disease which first struck the nation two years ago. Hospital admissions and deaths are also rising but not nearly so sharply...Read more >>
This sharp jump in case numbers is being driven by the virus variant BA.2 which is even more transmissible than the original Omicron version that swept the UK at the beginning of the year.
The latest wave comes just as the government has ended free testing for the virus and as the nation prepares to enjoy its Easter holidays. This prospect raises the fear that further increases in case numbers, followed by rises in hospital admissions and deaths, could afflict the UK.
But as other researchers have pointed out, spring has arrived and warmer weather will allow more and more people to mix out of doors where they are less likely to infect each other. The outcome is unclear, in short.
***
The Lincoln Project:MAGAmadness (2:13 mins)
Compromised (1:12 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
 |
| From Instagram, info on UNEA plastics treaty and greenpeaceafrica |
Almost 80,000 tonnes of plastic leak into the oceans and rivers of South Africa each year, making up 3% of the plastic waste generated annually in the country. About 2.4 million tonnes of plastic waste is generated in South Africa each year. From that, 70% is collected, but just 14% of it (including imported waste) is recycled.Read “Strangling the ocean: Volunteers are trawling the South African coastline to find out where all the plastic pollution is coming from” >>
…
In October last year, eco-volunteers from the Strandloper Project embarked on an expedition to collect data about the types and origins of plastic pollution along the southern shoreline of South Africa.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
This house is a hive of activity. Electrician still figuring out the spaghetti of aged and aging wires cluttering up the system, but he’s making progress. The tenant/caretaker and his young crew mowed two sections of lawn yesterday … before discovering one mower is leaking oil due to a crack and the other mower has a bearing problem.I finished the first round of settling into the new office. The floor is unfinished – that must wait for now – but the desk is “good enough”, three lamps installed on the desktop (I take pleasure in “re-modeling” lamps and creating one-of-a-kind lampshades) and the expandable worktable is ready to work.
Martha swept and tidied the garage.
The newly resident kids – 8 and 10 years old – tested the swimming pool and found it suited their needs. Yay! Lovely to see people using the pool.
Alas, it rained heavily last night, second night of such rain after dark. I’ll have to check the culverts again today. Yesterday’s check was alarming…
Still no word on when the culvert crew from municipality will be back.
Time to begin another campaign of harassment to get them to finish the job – now six, going on seven years. Easier to work on improving my harassment skills. To date, the harassment skills have proved exceptionally ineffective.
 |
| Since the backhoe driver removed trees and plants holding back silt, exposed silt is pouring into culvert area from both sides. |
 |
| That silt in middle ground did not exist this time last year. It's a product of plant removal, more rain, and inability to foresee the likely result of tree and plant removal. |
 |
| The second, totally blocked culvert, exposed....At least on the south side of the road. On the north side of the road, 20 feet away, there's no indication at all that a culvert exists. The culvert is entirely hidden by debris and vegetation. |
 |
| Backhoe created a perfect conduit for silt and debris to slip into culvert area. |
 |
| Close up of above silt-into-culvert path. |
***
Sunrise: 6:11am
Sunset: 5:53pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:51am
Sunset: 7:33pm
Year 3 of the Covied era
Day 740, Friday, April 1 - April fool
 |
| (c) Maxine |
News blues
Among the journal Nature Medicine’s findings from research that deliberately infected healthy volunteers with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, it takes just a tiny virus-laden droplet - about the width of a human blood cell - to infect someone with Covid-19.Other findings include:
- Covid-19 has a very short incubation period. It takes about two days after infection for a person to start shedding virus.
- People shed high amounts of virus before they show symptoms (confirming something epidemiologists had figured out).
- On average, the young, healthy study volunteers shed virus for 6½ days, but some shed virus for 12 days.
- Infected people can shed high levels of virus without any symptoms.
Read “First human challenge study of Covid-19 yields valuable insights about how we get sick” >>
***
Another round of debunking Ivermectin, popular anti-parasitic medication, as an antidote to Covid-19, a virus. New England Journal of Medicine's deputy editor recently said that Ivermectin did nothing to help COVID-19 patients: “If there are active treatments, it is better to use those agents than agents that we wish worked."
Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug often used to deworm horses and cattle, does not reduce the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19 despite its questionable rise as an alternative treatment for the disease, according to a large new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.Read more >>
The clinical trial, which began in 2020, analyzed more than 1,300 patients in Brazil who were infected with the coronavirus. Half were given ivermectin and half a placebo in the randomized, double-blind study, meaning neither doctors nor trial participants knew what a patient received.
The results confirmed what U.S. health officials have long stressed: Ivermectin did nothing to aid those sickened with the virus or reduce the risk of ending up in the hospital.
***
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Gauteng government has spent a staggering R1.238-billion of much-needed Covid-19 funds on the construction of four new “field intensive care” hospitals. The money was spent in 2020, but two are still not open. The other two are only partially open and are being repurposed for other aspects of healthcare. The Alternative Build Technology units were controversially commissioned in March 2020 to provide extra bed capacity for the first wave of the pandemic.Read “Gauteng’s ‘new’ R1.2bn Covid-19 ICU hospitals still lie abandoned, unfinished or underused “ >>
***
Daily Maverick, an informative progressive South African news outlet, presents updates on Covid:- SA’s State of Disaster could be lifted by next week [although confusion reigns].
- Shanghai, home to 26 million people, in the fourth day of a new, two-stage lockdown.
- Canada is facing a fresh Covid-19 wave just as authorities ease restrictions.
- The US is set to end its pandemic-related expulsion policy at the border with Mexico, lifting the hopes of thousands of migrants who have been waiting months for a chance to seek asylum in America.
- Children between five and 11 years old who received the Pfizer vaccine were 68% less likely to be admitted to hospital during the Omicron wave in the US than unvaccinated children, according to a new study.
***
On War:
Before and after photo essay >> More harrowing war devastation >> (8:00 mins)
***
The Lincoln Project:Trump and Russia: Partners in Crime (0:40 mins)
Trump Loyalties (1:20 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
A reminder of our beautiful world, in photos >>Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Yesterday was another big workday: second layer on the pond cracks; sorted through more river rocks to separate out weeds and roots; painted the office. The latter was exhausting, but now done, “finished and klaar.” True, the office needs a new floor since I pulled up to replace old carpeting and discovered two sheets of wood covering an odd, concrete-lined rectangular hole. Until that floor’s laid, I – or someone who knows carpentry – cannot set up the desk that will be affixed to one wall.Electrician still trying to sort through the cable and wire spaghetti that is this house’s electrical system.
That’s turning out to be a bigger challenge than anyone expected.
Year 3 of the Covid era
Day 739, Thursday, March 31 - Shame of the nation
Worldwide (Map) March 31, 2022 - 485,581,100 confirmed infections; 6,135,050 deaths
February 25, 2021 -128,260,000 confirmed infections; 2,805,000 deaths
February 25, 2020 - 112,534,400 confirmed infections; 2,905,000 deaths
January 21, 2021 – 96,830,000 confirmed infections; 2,074,000 deaths
US (Map)
March 31, 2022 - 80,022,500 confirmed infections; 978,700 deaths
February 25, 2021 - 30,394,000 confirmed infections; 551,000 deaths
February 25, 2020 - 28,335,000 confirmed infections; 505,850 deaths
January 21 2021 - 450,000 confirmed infections; 406,100 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
March 31, 2022 - 3,715,390 confirmed infections; 99,976 deaths
February 25, 2021 - 1,547,000 confirmed infections; 52,790 deaths
February 25, 2020 - 1,507,450 confirmed infections; 49,525 deaths
January 21, 2021 – 1,370,000 confirmed infections’ 38,900 deaths
Post from March 29, 2021: Fall days
News blues
Whither Covid?Three years of pandemic World Health Organization states the BA.2 variant of coronavirus now represents nearly 86% of all sequenced cases. Even more transmissible than its highly contagious Omicron siblings, BA.1 and BA.1.1, evidence suggests that it is no more likely to cause severe disease.
As with the other variants in the Omicron family, vaccines are less effective against BA.2 than against previous variants like Alpha or the original strain of coronavirus, and protection declines over time.Read an explainer >>
***
This week, the Biden administration launched a new website to provide a clearinghouse of information on COVID-19. This is part of a continuing effort to prepare Americans to live with the coronavirus >> ***
On War:The Gini index or Gini coefficient is a measure of the distribution of income across a population. Developed by the Italian statistician Corrado Gini in 1912, it often serves as a gauge of economic inequality, measuring income distribution or, less commonly, wealth distribution among a population. South Africa - with a Gini coefficient of 63.0 - is currently recognized as the country with the highest income inequality. (The World Population Review attributes this massive inequality to racial, gender, and geographic discrimination, with white males and urban workers in South Africa earning much better salaries than everyone else.)
Income inequality coupled with greed, endemic corruption, incompetence, and a pandemic result in South African children malnourished and, indeed, starving.
In the past 15 months, 14 children under the age of five starved to death in Nelson Mandela Bay and another 216 new cases of severe acute malnutrition were confirmed in the Eastern Cape’s biggest metro, where more than 16,000 families were left without aid because of a bureaucratic bungle by the provincial Department of Social Development.Nelson Mandela would weep with shame.
Another 188 children received in-patient treatment at the metro’s hospitals for severe acute malnutrition and in February 11 children were hospitalised with severe acute malnutrition.
The impact of dire food shortages, including a shortage of nutritious food in communities, is, however, much larger. The University of Cape Town’s Child Institute estimates that 48% of child hospital deaths in South Africa are associated with moderate or severe acute malnutrition.
…This comes after the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development forfeited R67-million meant to assist those worst affected by poverty in the province.
During a sitting of the provincial legislature last week, members of the legislature were told that the department had been unable to spend the money, which was meant for families who were unable to meet basic needs.
“It is unfathomable and simply unacceptable that the department, under the leadership of MEC Siphokazi Mani-Lusithi, was unable to spend R67.076-million that was meant for the most vulnerable in our province. These funds are now lost forever, while the people of this province go hungry,” said Edmund van Vuuren, the Democratic Alliance’s spokesperson on social development.
[He added,] “In Nelson Mandela Bay alone, 16,634 beneficiaries were denied social relief of distress, in the form of food parcels, because Mani-Lusithi’s department chose to appoint service providers that did not have the capacity to deliver.”
Along the same lines of income inequality coupled with greed, endemic corruption, and incompetence:
- The Life Esidimeni tragedy (also called "the greatest cause of human rights violation" in democratic South Africa). This company is still in business, promoting itself as “in the business of caring for the most vulnerable members of our society”…
- ”Unknown individuals, most likely working from inside the aspiring state-owned Postbank, stole millions through the social grant system late last year. The breach, which has been kept a secret, is the second time the Sassa payment system has been compromised since Postbank took charge of the social grant payment system in 2018.” >>
Unemployment in Q4 last year rose to 35.3% from 34.9% in the previous quarter. This was the highest level since the start of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey in 2008. The youth unemployment rate remains at a staggering 65.5%.Read more >>
Under the expanded definition which includes discouraged job seekers, the unemployment rate declined to 46.2% from 46.6%. You know things are pretty bad when this is the “good news”.
***
The Lincoln Project: Partner (0:40 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - March 29 (1:50 mins)
Today, with trepidation deriving from our apparent inability to communicate, I asked the day laborer to accompany me in the “bakkie” – my late mother’s Chinese lightweight pick-up Chana.
Rather than struggle, however, we enjoyed a confused and confusing couple of hours during which he expressed a desire better to speak English and I, more courage to express Zulu.
Healthy planet, anyone?
Wildfires have been igniting in Colorado and Texas, and have burned hundreds of thousands of acres in the past few weeks alone >>Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
After the untimely death of our gardener this time last year, I’ve occasionally hired a “day laborer/labourer” to assist with painting exterior walls, some gardening, and light handiwork. It’s been going well enough despite his lack of English skills and my decrepit abilities in Zulu. As a child I managed alright with pidgin Zulu. As an adult, I’m embarrassed to express myself in error-prone Zulu. This is a new wrinkle in my attitude: in past situations involving an unfamiliar tongue I’ve enjoyed immersion: fumbling through the language until I get it right. Immersion has allowed passing “well-enough” in Hebrew in Israel, French in Belgium, and Dutch in Nederland.Today, with trepidation deriving from our apparent inability to communicate, I asked the day laborer to accompany me in the “bakkie” – my late mother’s Chinese lightweight pick-up Chana.
Rather than struggle, however, we enjoyed a confused and confusing couple of hours during which he expressed a desire better to speak English and I, more courage to express Zulu.
I learned I’d been mispronouncing numbers one to ten. I also learned the respectful term for a person’s death. Until yesterday, I’d used the less respectful term to communicate my mother had died.
Our jaunt in the Chana also culminated in him asking me to teach him to drive the vehicle.
Our jaunt in the Chana also culminated in him asking me to teach him to drive the vehicle.
I won’t do that. (The Chana is for sale, and I cannot risk damaging it.)
In the past, I’d set up this pond with a handful of golden comet fish, lilies and duckweed, and a filter/fountain. Alas, I’d returned to SA to find “an accident” had killed all life in that pond.
Until last week, I’d not had the stomach to try again.
Then, I tested the pond’s concrete lining for leaks.
There were many.
Yesterday, I began plugging them.
***
Water is a wonderfully mysterious and generative element. Despite too much water in one section of the garden – the overflowing stream near the blocked culverts – I’m rehab’ing the decrepit grotto fishpond located near the carport. In the past, I’d set up this pond with a handful of golden comet fish, lilies and duckweed, and a filter/fountain. Alas, I’d returned to SA to find “an accident” had killed all life in that pond.
Until last week, I’d not had the stomach to try again.
Then, I tested the pond’s concrete lining for leaks.
There were many.
Yesterday, I began plugging them.
 |
| Locating and cleaning leaks. |
 |
| Figuring out what materials will fill cracks so large they expose the plastic underlining. |
 |
| Overly ambitious, I'll also sift the silt that's built up around the river pebbled landscaping. This is a big job with an advantage: pulling out deeply embedded weed roots. |
***
Crisp evenings and nights signal autumn here:
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:09am
Sunset: 5:57pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:55am
Sunset: 7:31pm
Year 3 of the Covid era
Read more >>
War makes unpleasant bedfellows…
South Africa as a political entity has been sitting on the fence regarding Russia’s invasion and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. Now, it may become clear why this is so: the confluence of Escom’s decades-long mismanagement (Escom, remember, is SA’s coal-driven electricity parastatal), the potential for Russian-built nuclear power plants in our future, and Russian natural gas. And, “daar lê die ding” - Afrikaans for something like “that’s the thing” or “the truth is revealed”….
And more >>
And yet more >>
Shawn Heinrichs grew up along South Africa’s coasts. His protective instinct for life beneath the waves inspired a career investigating its mistreatment by humans and campaigning for change.”
Today, he photographs oceans and ocean creatures and says, “'Apathy is one of our biggest problems'”.
See his photos >>
Readers may know my penchant for Marmite. For the gustatorily ill-informed, Marmite, it is a black, salty goop invented by German scientist Justus von Liebig and originally made in the UK. South Africans who enjoy eating this black goop spread it on bread, toast, savory biscuits, etc.
Marmite threads through my memories of childhood so I overcome the gross factor and tuck in. For example, I attended an all-girl high school as a “day scholar” (not a “boarder”) and wore uniforms with a tie, brown lace up shoes with bobby socks, etc., etc.
One memory of those days involved the trays of Marmite sandwiches (“sarmies”) set out for “boarders” for a first “break” snack. I and a girlfriend – also a “day scholar” - found it the height of daring to sneak up on the trays and snatch half a marmite sandwich. We’d scarf up the morsel, only half conscious that the snatching added to the taste.
Oh, what daredevils! Good times!
Marmite was on my grocery list today.
Sunrise: 6:09am
Sunset: 5:57pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:55am
Sunset: 7:31pm
Year 3 of the Covid era
Day 737, Tuesday, March 29 - Apathy
News blues
Shanghai, China’s biggest city and metropolis of 25 million people, will lock down its eastern half from Monday until Friday. The phased lockdown is expected to curb the Omicron-fueled Covid-19 outbreak and has in recent days become the leading hotspot in a nationwide outbreak that has hit China with its highest caseloads since the early days of the pandemic.Read more >>
***
Americans have been deeply divided ideologically about a multitude of issues - healthcare, immigration, voting rights, gun reform, climate change, on and on – for years. The pandemic has exacerbated rifts, pushing Americans further apart on key pandemic response efforts. Last year,
[s]urveys from Pew Research Center, found that in the early months of the pandemic, about 6 in 10 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents believed the virus was a major threat to the health of the U.S. population, compared to only a third of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents. That 26-point gap would ultimately grow to approximately 40 points by the fall…Read “For red and blue America, a glaring divide in COVID-19 death rates persists 2 years later” >>
***
On War:War makes unpleasant bedfellows…
South Africa as a political entity has been sitting on the fence regarding Russia’s invasion and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. Now, it may become clear why this is so: the confluence of Escom’s decades-long mismanagement (Escom, remember, is SA’s coal-driven electricity parastatal), the potential for Russian-built nuclear power plants in our future, and Russian natural gas. And, “daar lê die ding” - Afrikaans for something like “that’s the thing” or “the truth is revealed”….
Amid a war in Ukraine and soaring gas prices, South Africa wants to urgently secure access to vast amounts of natural gas.Read more >>
Gazprombank, owned by Russia’s state-owned gas supplier, confirms it is considering a bid for what is potentially a multibillion-rand contract — which, if awarded, would raise questions on whether South Africa’s stance on Ukraine is being influenced by its thirst for gas.
The Central Energy Fund (CEF) released a tender last month, looking for a gas aggregator to help secure liquified natural gas (LNG) for various gas-to-power projects planned for the Coega special economic zone in the Eastern Cape.
And more >>
And yet more >>
Healthy planet, anyone?
 |
| © Joel Pett | Copyright 2022 Tribune Content Agency |
Shawn Heinrichs grew up along South Africa’s coasts. His protective instinct for life beneath the waves inspired a career investigating its mistreatment by humans and campaigning for change.”
Today, he photographs oceans and ocean creatures and says, “'Apathy is one of our biggest problems'”.
See his photos >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Readers may know my penchant for Marmite. For the gustatorily ill-informed, Marmite, it is a black, salty goop invented by German scientist Justus von Liebig and originally made in the UK. South Africans who enjoy eating this black goop spread it on bread, toast, savory biscuits, etc.
Marmite threads through my memories of childhood so I overcome the gross factor and tuck in. For example, I attended an all-girl high school as a “day scholar” (not a “boarder”) and wore uniforms with a tie, brown lace up shoes with bobby socks, etc., etc.
One memory of those days involved the trays of Marmite sandwiches (“sarmies”) set out for “boarders” for a first “break” snack. I and a girlfriend – also a “day scholar” - found it the height of daring to sneak up on the trays and snatch half a marmite sandwich. We’d scarf up the morsel, only half conscious that the snatching added to the taste.
Oh, what daredevils! Good times!
Marmite was on my grocery list today.
Alas, no Marmite.
Marmite is made from brewers’ yeast. Apparently, the pandemic played havoc with SA’s Marmite production affected by shortages of brewers’ yeast and the shortage continues. Plenty of Bovril on store shelves. Bovril is a salty, black goop but it doesn’t entice.
Back in October of last year, makers of yeast-extracted Marmite said production was to start up again. No sign of the goop at Pick n Pay.
Boo hoo!
The hard work I’ve mentioned over the last weeks is paying off. I’ve accomplished much. Not so the electrician who, despite his statements to the contrary, has still not installed the pre-paid electrical meter downstairs. A month ago he assured me he’d have installed both meters within two weeks. That hasn’t happened. Indeed, I’m troubled by the dearth of completion on any of the jobs he’s working on at this house. (The laundry washing machine unexpectedly burned a fan belt that’s been extraordinarily difficult to replace. It’s an older workhorse of a machine, so I wait and wait and wait…. Maybe, like Marmite the fan belt shortage is a product of the pandemic, too?)
Marmite is made from brewers’ yeast. Apparently, the pandemic played havoc with SA’s Marmite production affected by shortages of brewers’ yeast and the shortage continues. Plenty of Bovril on store shelves. Bovril is a salty, black goop but it doesn’t entice.
Back in October of last year, makers of yeast-extracted Marmite said production was to start up again. No sign of the goop at Pick n Pay.
Boo hoo!
***
The goodish news? The hard work I’ve mentioned over the last weeks is paying off. I’ve accomplished much. Not so the electrician who, despite his statements to the contrary, has still not installed the pre-paid electrical meter downstairs. A month ago he assured me he’d have installed both meters within two weeks. That hasn’t happened. Indeed, I’m troubled by the dearth of completion on any of the jobs he’s working on at this house. (The laundry washing machine unexpectedly burned a fan belt that’s been extraordinarily difficult to replace. It’s an older workhorse of a machine, so I wait and wait and wait…. Maybe, like Marmite the fan belt shortage is a product of the pandemic, too?)
The workload is exhausting – cleaning in preparation for painting, painting, cleaning up after painting… weeding the pond… harassing the culvert/road workers … weeding the pond... sorting through “stuff” … keeping the house running… this, that, and the next thing…
But we’re getting there!
***
Crisp evenings and nights signal autumn here: KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:08am
Sunset: 5:59pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:58am
Sunset: 7:29pm
Year 3 of the Covid era
Sunrise: 6:08am
Sunset: 5:59pm
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:58am
Sunset: 7:29pm
Year 3 of the Covid era
Day 735, Sunday, March 27 - Not easy
News blues
With America in a pandemic lull, communities across the country are choosing to shut down COVID testing and vaccination sites, even as experts warn that another wave could be on the horizon.Read more >>
Read more >>
Tens of thousands gather in London to show solidarity with Ukraine >>
***
Shanghai, China’s financial hub of 25 million people, has quickly become the epicenter of China's worst coronavirus outbreak, posting its highest-ever daily caseload this week. Read more >>
***
On War:Tens of thousands gather in London to show solidarity with Ukraine >>
***
The Lincoln Project: Be not afraid (1:53 mins) Healthy planet, anyone?
Even prior to his words shared here, Senate Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse would have made as good a president of the US as anyone in the political class, certainly better than 99.9 percent of that class. He’ll never get the chance. Alas, his views on US climate policy are good, including his opinion that, to date, US climate action has been ‘a calamity’ >>***
Amory Lovins, nicknamed the “Einstein of energy efficiency”, and adjunct professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, has been one of the world’s leading advocates and innovators of energy conservation for 50 years. He wrote his first paper on climate change while at Oxford in 1968, and in 1976 he offered Jimmy Carter’s government a blueprint for how to triple energy efficiency and get off oil and coal within 40 years. He says,
Up and at ‘em.
Trying to kick back on this so-called Day of Rest.
Not easy to do.
Alas.
Year 3 of the Covid era
The Times' Marcus Yam, no stranger to war photography, gives a first-person account from Ukraine >>
Republicans exposed as traitors (1:33 mins)
Ted Cruz gets HUMILIATED during Confirmation Hearing (3:33 mins)
Abandon hope, all ye who read here: “UN ocean treaty summit collapses as states accused of dragging out talks. Conservationists despair at ‘glacial pace’ of negotiations to protect wildlife and oversee fishing amid high seas’ ‘governance vacuum’” >>
And, if that’s not enough to worry about, a new investigation by Consumer Reports describes dangerous chemicals found in food wrappers at major fast-food restaurants and grocery chains. Fast-food wrappers and takeout containers at major food chains contain dangerous chemicals known as PFAS.
Year 3 of the Covid era
Note:
The US has still not reached the 1 millionth confirmed deaths rate. A feat indeed.
South Africa hovers on 100,000 confirmed deaths.
“Solar and wind are now the cheapest bulk power sources in 91% of the world, and the UN’s International Energy Agency (IEA) expects renewables to generate 90% of all new power in the coming years. The energy revolution has happened. Sorry if you missed it.”Read more >>
But just as with the 1970s oil shocks, the problem today is not where to find energy but how to use it better. The answer, he says, is what he calls “integrative, or whole-system, design,” a way to employ orthodox engineering to achieve radically more energy-efficient results by changing the design logic.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Same old, same old.Up and at ‘em.
Trying to kick back on this so-called Day of Rest.
Not easy to do.
Alas.
Year 3 of the Covid era
Day 734, Saturday, March 26 - Tired!
News blues
Covid in the UK:Swab tests suggest about one in every 16 people [in UK] is infected, as the contagious Omicron variant BA.2 continues to spread.Read more >>
That's just under 4.3 million people, up from 3.3 million the week before. The figures for the week ending 19 March, are thought to give the most accurate reflection of what's happening with the virus in the community.
***
On War:The Times' Marcus Yam, no stranger to war photography, gives a first-person account from Ukraine >>
***
Meidas TouchRepublicans exposed as traitors (1:33 mins)
Ted Cruz gets HUMILIATED during Confirmation Hearing (3:33 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
It is inevitable, but still creepy:Microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood for the first time, with scientists finding the tiny particles in almost 80% of the people tested.Read “Microplastics found in human blood for first time. Exclusive: The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body and may lodge in organs” >>
The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body and may lodge in organs. The impact on health is as yet unknown. But researchers are concerned as microplastics cause damage to human cells in the laboratory and air pollution particles are already known to enter the body and cause millions of early deaths a year.
Huge amounts of plastic waste are dumped in the environment and microplastics now contaminate the entire planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. People were already known to consume the tiny particles via food and water as well as breathing them in, and they have been found in the faeces of babies and adults.
The scientists analysed blood samples from 22 anonymous donors, all healthy adults and found plastic particles in 17. Half the samples contained PET plastic, which is commonly used in drinks bottles, while a third contained polystyrene, used for packaging food and other products. A quarter of the blood samples contained polyethylene, from which plastic carrier bags are made.
Abandon hope, all ye who read here: “UN ocean treaty summit collapses as states accused of dragging out talks. Conservationists despair at ‘glacial pace’ of negotiations to protect wildlife and oversee fishing amid high seas’ ‘governance vacuum’” >>
And, if that’s not enough to worry about, a new investigation by Consumer Reports describes dangerous chemicals found in food wrappers at major fast-food restaurants and grocery chains. Fast-food wrappers and takeout containers at major food chains contain dangerous chemicals known as PFAS.
Read more >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Tired, tired, tired.Tired of painting.
Tired of clearing pool and pool filter of bamboo and avocado leaves.
Tired of prepping rental property.
Tired of being tired.
The good news is the local lap swimming pool is open again, and has been for a week. Truth is, I’m too tired to swim.
The good news is the local lap swimming pool is open again, and has been for a week. Truth is, I’m too tired to swim.
Now that’s tired!
Year 3 of the Covid era
Day 732, Thursday, March 24 - The beat goes on
 |
| Funny signs from © Happy Land |
Worldwide (Map)
March 24, 2022 - 475,487,400 confirmed infections; 6,104,200 deaths
March 25, 2021 – 124,894,200 confirmed infections; 2,746,000 deaths
US (Map)
March 24, 2022 - 79,844,400 confirmed infections; 974,830 deaths
March 25, 2021 – 30,011,600 confirmed infections; 545,300 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
March 24, 2022 - 3,705,700 confirmed infections; 99,895 deaths
March 25, 2021 – 1,540,010, confirmed infections; 52,372 deaths
March 25, 2021 – 124,894,200 confirmed infections; 2,746,000 deaths
US (Map)
March 24, 2022 - 79,844,400 confirmed infections; 974,830 deaths
March 25, 2021 – 30,011,600 confirmed infections; 545,300 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
March 24, 2022 - 3,705,700 confirmed infections; 99,895 deaths
March 25, 2021 – 1,540,010, confirmed infections; 52,372 deaths
Note:
The US has still not reached the 1 millionth confirmed deaths rate. A feat indeed.
South Africa hovers on 100,000 confirmed deaths.
Unfortunately, ‘confirmed’ numbers do not reflect anything near actual numbers. It is likely the world will never know numbers of confirmed infections and deaths from Covid-19.
Post from one year ago, “One down, one to go?” >>
Editorial note: skip to about 8:00 mins for the nitty gritty on changes.
And… the pushback…
Read more >>
Post from one year ago, “One down, one to go?” >>
News blues
President Ramaphosa updated South Africans on current Covid—19 situation and the (slight) changes to Level 1 restrictions. (15:50 mins)Editorial note: skip to about 8:00 mins for the nitty gritty on changes.
And… the pushback…
The high force of SARS-CoV-2 infections in SA, and the 300,000 excess deaths that have been mostly attributed to Covid-19, is indicative of the failure of the government-enforced regulations to prevent significant numbers of infections in South Africa.Read more >>
These regulations, such as lockdown strategies, limits on gatherings, curfews, social distancing and mask mandates, at best drew out the initial period over which roughly the same number of infections would have occurred.
***
The World Health Organization (WHO) says several European countries lifted their coronavirus restrictions too soon. The result? Sharp rises in infections probably linked to the new, more transmissible BA2 subvariant. Read more >>
***
Covid-19 cases are rising again in Europe. They’re outright exploding across much of Asia. The United States, however, is in a Covid lull, having just come down from the winter’s omicron outbreak.Read more >>
It’s an uneasy time. On one hand, it’s likely the worst of the pandemic is over, at least in terms of severe illness and death. But on the other hand, we have to ask: Do these upticks in the rest of the world foreshadow America’s future?
***
South Korea struggles as Covid-19 cases top 10 million - nearly 20% of its population - and crematoria and funeral homes are overwhelmed. Read more >>
More than 10 million displaced. Photos from Ukraine >>
Josh Mandel: Ohioans or Trump? (o:46 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - March 23 (1:50 mins)
Bringing humor to the day with signing punny funs – oops, I mean funny puns >> (7:50 mins)
About a third of people around the world are not now covered by early warning systems, but in Africa the problem is greater, with about six in 10 people lacking such warnings. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had recently found half of humanity was “in the danger zone” for climate breakdown. That so many people were still not covered by early warning systems is “unacceptable”, said António Guterres.
Read more >>
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:05am
Sunset: 6:05pm
The Opposite is true in
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 7:06am
Sunset: 7:24pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 104
I asked several South Africans what, if anything, was the focus of Human Rights Day. Or is it a day to recognize humans and their rights. All shrugged. Being a curious curmudgeon, I tackled the Internet. Human Rights Day:
Photos from Ukraine >>
***
On War:More than 10 million displaced. Photos from Ukraine >>
***
The Lincoln Project: Kid Rock (1:13 mins) Josh Mandel: Ohioans or Trump? (o:46 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - March 23 (1:50 mins)
Bringing humor to the day with signing punny funs – oops, I mean funny puns >> (7:50 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
Eyes on wildlife: photo essay >>***
As climate breakdown takes hold across the globe, more people are likely to be affected by extreme weather, including flash floods, heatwaves, more violent storms and coastal storm surges, made worse by sea level rises.About a third of people around the world are not now covered by early warning systems, but in Africa the problem is greater, with about six in 10 people lacking such warnings. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had recently found half of humanity was “in the danger zone” for climate breakdown. That so many people were still not covered by early warning systems is “unacceptable”, said António Guterres.
Read more >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
The beat goes on. Painting, repairing, and, finally, untangling the house’s electrical wiring and systems. The hodge podge of an electrical system that was certified when this house changed owners should never have passed. I assume the certification was purchased under the table, a ‘not uncommon’ transaction in South Africa. (One example of common fraud >>.) The net haul for fraudulent certifications when transferring ownership of higher ticket items such as houses and commercial buildings must be worth the risk to fraudsters. After all, it’s taken almost ten years to untangle the mess in this house’s electrical system. And, if I were not obsessive about fixing it, it’s likely no one would have noticed – until an electrical fire ignited.***
Perfect equinox today: KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:05am
Sunset: 6:05pm
The Opposite is true in
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 7:06am
Sunset: 7:24pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 104
Day 730, Tuesday March 22 - Discoveries
News blues
Deltacron – the new hybrid version of the coronavirus combines the delta and the omicron variants of the virus. What to know >>***
On history
Yesterday, 21 March, was the public holiday of Human Rights Day in South Africa. It’s also close to or on the spring equinox. I asked several South Africans what, if anything, was the focus of Human Rights Day. Or is it a day to recognize humans and their rights. All shrugged. Being a curious curmudgeon, I tackled the Internet. Human Rights Day:
Human Rights Day is a national day that is commemorated annually on 21 March to remind South Africans about the sacrifices that accompanied the struggle for the attainment of democracy in South Africa.And
The day is linked with the Sharpeville Massacre of 21 March 1960, when 69 people died and 180 were wounded after police opened fire on a group protesting against apartheid pass laws. It is intended to commemorate those ordinary people who united to proclaim their rights.This is more like it. Sharpeville, a day and a place that lives on in infamy.
***
On War:Photos from Ukraine >>
***
The Lincoln Project:Ohio GOP Debate - Any Questions
(0:35 mins)
The Union (1:20 mins)
The Union (1:20 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
Celebrate wildlife – in pictures >>Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
I’ve muttered deprecations each time I’ve opened the door to my late mother’s fridge. The door’s design is unfamiliar: no door or pull handle in sight. Made no sense, but I figured my mom had opted not to purchase a handle when the fridge could be opened with fingers pulling at the door “seam”.Odd, but no more odd than other decisions people make.
Then, a foray into purchasing a box of frozen fish revealed the fascinating truth. Not much of a frozen food purchaser or eater, I'd had few reasons to open the freezer section before. If, however, I’d opted for frozen food earlier, I may have saved myself much muttering about painful fingers and odd decisions. How,?
On placing the frozen fish package into the freezer section of the fridge, I tugged at the clearly visible groove that runs horizontally along the top of the door. I returned to opening the “regular” fridge by tugging along the door “seam”… and grunting my dissatisfaction with sore fingers.
On placing the frozen fish package into the freezer section of the fridge, I tugged at the clearly visible groove that runs horizontally along the top of the door. I returned to opening the “regular” fridge by tugging along the door “seam”… and grunting my dissatisfaction with sore fingers.
Then, a ray of light! An "ah hah" moment.
The fridge door is opened with a similarly designed groove that runs horizontally along the bottom of the door. Imagine! An invisible door opener! Such a design concept.
It is in such moments that one recognizes the impact of a blind spot, the years of complaining about an unsupported assumption. Such recognition humbles. And frees. My fingers are gleeful, too.
Time to re-examine other assumptions. Where to begin?
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 104
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 >>
It is in such moments that one recognizes the impact of a blind spot, the years of complaining about an unsupported assumption. Such recognition humbles. And frees. My fingers are gleeful, too.
Time to re-examine other assumptions. Where to begin?
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 104
Day 728 Sunday, March 20 - Over the rainbow?
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 >>
***
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” >>
***
On War:Photos from Ukraine >>
***
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
Year 3 of the Covid era
Worldwide (Map)
March 17, 2022 - 463,665,500 confirmed infections; 6,058,000 deaths
March 18, 2021 - 120,740,000 confirmed infections; 2,672,000 deaths
January 14, 2021 – 92,314,000 confirmed infections; 1,977,900 deaths
US (Map)
March 17, 2022 - 79,631,710 confirmed infections; 968,330 deaths
March 18, 2021 – 29,550,000 confirmed infections; 537,000 deaths
January 14, 2021 – 23,071,100 confirmed infections; 384,635 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
March 17, 2022 - 3,696,850 confirmed infections; 99,730 deaths
March 18, 2021 – 1,531,000 confirmed infections; 51,560 deaths
January 14, 2021 – 1,278,305 confirmed infections; 35,140 deaths
Blog post from this time last year, Dilemmas
***
Israel has detected cases of a new COVID variant that is a hybrid of Delta and Omicron. According to national broadcaster Kan, the variant surfaced in swab samples that were sequenced in labs. A limited number of cases have been detected among people who returned from Europe, and there is no community spread.
Read more >>
China Covid cases surge with millions in lockdown (2:29 mins)
U.K. and Europe are suffering rising COVID-19 infections two weeks after the United Kingdom dropped its last remaining Covid-19 mitigation measure — a requirement that people who test positive for the virus isolate for five days. Cases and hospitalizations climb once again.
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
Year 3 of the Covid era
Day 725 Thursday, March 17 - No nukes!
Worldwide (Map) March 17, 2022 - 463,665,500 confirmed infections; 6,058,000 deaths
March 18, 2021 - 120,740,000 confirmed infections; 2,672,000 deaths
January 14, 2021 – 92,314,000 confirmed infections; 1,977,900 deaths
US (Map)
March 17, 2022 - 79,631,710 confirmed infections; 968,330 deaths
March 18, 2021 – 29,550,000 confirmed infections; 537,000 deaths
January 14, 2021 – 23,071,100 confirmed infections; 384,635 deaths
SA (Coronavirus portal)
March 17, 2022 - 3,696,850 confirmed infections; 99,730 deaths
March 18, 2021 – 1,531,000 confirmed infections; 51,560 deaths
January 14, 2021 – 1,278,305 confirmed infections; 35,140 deaths
Blog post from this time last year, Dilemmas
News blues
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| The above image summarizes the proportion of each named variant present in worldwide sequenced samples on a weekly basis. These data help public health officials and government leaders track changes in the presence of variants of concern to help inform their communications to the public and design mitigation efforts. Read more >> © Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center |
***
Read more >>
China Covid cases surge with millions in lockdown (2:29 mins)
U.K. and Europe are suffering rising COVID-19 infections two weeks after the United Kingdom dropped its last remaining Covid-19 mitigation measure — a requirement that people who test positive for the virus isolate for five days. Cases and hospitalizations climb once again.
Read more >>
Photos from Ukraine >>
Last Week in the Republican Party (March 15) (2:05 mins)
Gotta say, I tremble at this news. A country that cannot systematically provide fossil-generated electricity (or drain two culverts in 6 years) has no business even contemplating nuke energy. No wonder President Ramaphosa sits on the fence with Putin’s deadly invasion of Ukraine. He will allow Russians to build nuke plants here.
***
On War:Photos from Ukraine >>
***
The Lincoln Project:
Leader of Peace (2:16 mins) Last Week in the Republican Party (March 15) (2:05 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
Say what? South Africa plans to shift from coal to nuclearGotta say, I tremble at this news. A country that cannot systematically provide fossil-generated electricity (or drain two culverts in 6 years) has no business even contemplating nuke energy. No wonder President Ramaphosa sits on the fence with Putin’s deadly invasion of Ukraine. He will allow Russians to build nuke plants here.
Terrifying.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Light at the end of the culverts?
Six years of kvetching may finally come to resolution. But don't hold your breath.
Six years of kvetching may finally come to resolution. But don't hold your breath.
I celebrate receiving the following message from my local councilperson:
Lord, make it so!
Don’t say the US Congress gets nothing done. Last Tuesday, the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 that would make daylight saving time permanent across the U.S. beginning in 2023. Approved by unanimous consent but requires House approval and President Biden's signature to become law.
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 7:16am
Sunset: 7:18pm
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:01am
Sunset: 6:13pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 102
South Africa and Covid-19: what’s up with National State of Disaster? (5:34 mins)
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 102
Hello, the roads and storm water drains manager was on site this afternoon for inspection. [The director] has instructed his teams to get down there and excavate the silt. Bongeka the roads manager has said she will also write to Blake this evening of her findings. She agrees there are three parts to the problem. The water coming from the D road, the blocked pipes which on removing of excess soil and silt will unblock these. She noted the amount of water in your property and took photos.I want to believe. I want this to be true. I need this.
Lord, make it so!
***
The last season the US practices daylight saving time? Don’t say the US Congress gets nothing done. Last Tuesday, the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 that would make daylight saving time permanent across the U.S. beginning in 2023. Approved by unanimous consent but requires House approval and President Biden's signature to become law.
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 7:16am
Sunset: 7:18pm
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:01am
Sunset: 6:13pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 102
Day 723 Tuesday, March 15 - Mortality rate backlog
News blues
Covid-19: South Africa records 3 more deaths, but there may be mortality rate backlog.South Africa and Covid-19: what’s up with National State of Disaster? (5:34 mins)
***
A new, hybrid variant on the horizon? ***
I get that we'd all rather talk about anything than Covid at this point, but it's still surprising how little coverage the spike in cases in Asia is getting at the moment. Read more >> On War:
Photos from Ukraine >>
Putin’s Puppet (1:00 mins)
The climate emergency is the biggest threat to civilisation we have ever faced. But there is good news: we already have every tool we need to beat it. The challenge is not identifying the solutions but rolling them out with great speed.
***
Last Sunday, U.N. agencies warned that the escalation of Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, including attacks on health care facilities, could prolong the pandemic. “Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has already put health systems and health care workers under enormous strain, such attacks have the potential to be even more devastating for the civilian population,” reads a joint statement issued by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the United Nations Population Fund.Read more >>
The statement cited 31 attacks that destroyed or damaged health care facilities since the beginning of the Russian invasion, curtailing Ukrainians’ access to services, including vaccinations against COVID-19.
***
The Lincoln Project: Brent Renaud (1:00 mins) Putin’s Puppet (1:00 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
Take a climate pledge.The climate emergency is the biggest threat to civilisation we have ever faced. But there is good news: we already have every tool we need to beat it. The challenge is not identifying the solutions but rolling them out with great speed.
Read some reasons to be hopeful >>
Read more >>
The best part of painting? Cleaning and putting away tools – brushes, rollers, paint trays, paint cloths – then inspecting the finished product. Sometimes inspecting the finished product, however, reveals yet another coat of paint is required. Grrr. In that case, finishing a third coat provides a form of bliss I’ve seldom encountered.
Heavy rainfall has nowhere to go and dams up behind the blocked culverts.
***
Another bad idea whose time has come - and gone? Was cleaning the Great Pacific Garbage Patch a bad idea? Scientists worry that flashy efforts to clean plastic from the ocean do more harm than good.Read more >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Painting, painting, painting. I’ve painted a bedroom and I’m almost finished painting a large living room. I prefer walking and swimming as exercise, but several hours of painting each day is a decent workout.The best part of painting? Cleaning and putting away tools – brushes, rollers, paint trays, paint cloths – then inspecting the finished product. Sometimes inspecting the finished product, however, reveals yet another coat of paint is required. Grrr. In that case, finishing a third coat provides a form of bliss I’ve seldom encountered.
***
The saga of the block culverts continues. This is what happens after 6 years of trying, unsuccessfully, to get the appropriate department to maintain their tax-supported responsibilities in the community.Heavy rainfall has nowhere to go and dams up behind the blocked culverts.
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| Blocked culverts mean water cannot drain ... |
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| Believe it or not: two culverts hidden within this overgrown, muddy, debris-filled zone... The problem now? Mid-right: Water borne silt pouring into the already over-silted area. That silt is now more than 1 meter/3 feet deep - and hardening by the day. One would assume this circumstance would bring out a team of workers to alleviate the problem. Here? Nope. Despite 10 years of paying property taxes ("rates") and six years of asking for assistance, this is the state of affairs. Distressing. |
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 102
Day 721 Sunday, March 13 - R.I.P.
News blues
A pandemic and a regional war threatening to morph into a wider conflagration – plus the threat of the use of nukes. Humans are in a pickle even as economies reopen and governments look to move beyond their "pandemic footing."Read more >>
***
US Congress failed to approve additional pandemic response funding and prominent Covid-19 experts are worried. Congress may yet approve more funding but experts warn of potentially devastating consequences if the federal government runs out of funding to invest in more therapeutics, vaccines, testing, and other pandemic response initiatives. Read more >>
The higher figure is a better estimate of the true global casualty figure to the end of 2021…
Read more >>
"The fact that we're using COVID as an excuse to keep out asylum seekers at this moment in time, it's just becoming more and more absurd and untenable for the administration," said Blaine Bookey, an attorney at the Center for Gender & Refugees Studies, who is representing the Ukrainian family.
Read more >>
It was a seat-of-the-pants event. Just the way she’d like it.
I transported the many boxes of ashes - I was late to the gathering. (I discovered all the cargo-laden trucks plying the road between Johannesburg and the Port of Durban were on the main drag. And that 3 lanes of traffic had been whittled down to one lane. A Toyota Yaris is very small and vulnerable amid hundreds of trucks. The main drag is under repair and widening efforts for the entire distance I had to drive.)
We all made it, though, including family flying own to Durban from Johannesburg.
Some might have found our “ceremony” too informal, but I believe it worked for my mother. We snuck onto the property – now overgrown with weeds and vegetation (my mother would approve as she resisted pruning trees), emptied the many boxes of ashes into a common receptacle, then walked around and drizzled them out onto “her” land.
Never did I expect to have my hands dusty with the ash residue of so many once-thriving critters.
R.I.P. mother and friends.
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:22am
Sunset: 6:14pm
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:58am
Sunset: 6:18pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 102
Worldwide (Map)
March 10, 2022 - 449,958,700 confirmed infections; 6,016,600 deaths
March 11, 2021 – 117, 645,000 confirmed infections; 2,612,000 deaths
US (Map)
March 10, 2022 – 79,369,500 confirmed infections; 961,950 deaths
March 11, 2021 - 29,222,420 confirmed infections; 529,884 deaths
Amazingly, the 1 million death toll predicted two weeks ago is still in our future in the US. Or not. Perhaps Covid-19 deaths will cease and we’ll never reach that dire statistic. Here’s hoping.
SA (Coronavirus portal)
March 10, 2022 - 3,686,560 confirmed infections; 99,625 deaths
March 11, 2021 – 1.522,700 confirmed infections; 50,910 deaths.
I’m tempted to implement Plan B: appeal through humiliation. Write an article for the local weekly print paper explaining the issue then beg readers and local residents each to contribute R5,00 into a fund geared toward paying a non-governmental team of workers to work on public projects. Donations should be deducted from residents’ monthly rates (“property tax”) bill.
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 102
Read more >>
***
Two years of a pandemic: photo essay >> ***
The Covid-19 pandemic may have claimed more than three times the official death toll, a new study suggests – some 18.2 million lives around the world.The higher figure is a better estimate of the true global casualty figure to the end of 2021…
Read more >>
***
On War: Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their country began to arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border between Tijuana and San Diego this week. They were met with pair of court rulings on Title 42 - cruel restrictions put in place at the beginning of the pandemic by the Trump administration. "The fact that we're using COVID as an excuse to keep out asylum seekers at this moment in time, it's just becoming more and more absurd and untenable for the administration," said Blaine Bookey, an attorney at the Center for Gender & Refugees Studies, who is representing the Ukrainian family.
Read more >>
***
The Lincoln Project: Red phone (0:35 mins)Healthy planet, anyone?
Notice our world, its little and the large critters: photo essay >>Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
We gathered yesterday to carry out my late mother’s wishes for her ashes and those of her dogs and significant others: scatter them at what was her home for more than 6 decades.It was a seat-of-the-pants event. Just the way she’d like it.
I transported the many boxes of ashes - I was late to the gathering. (I discovered all the cargo-laden trucks plying the road between Johannesburg and the Port of Durban were on the main drag. And that 3 lanes of traffic had been whittled down to one lane. A Toyota Yaris is very small and vulnerable amid hundreds of trucks. The main drag is under repair and widening efforts for the entire distance I had to drive.)
We all made it, though, including family flying own to Durban from Johannesburg.
Some might have found our “ceremony” too informal, but I believe it worked for my mother. We snuck onto the property – now overgrown with weeds and vegetation (my mother would approve as she resisted pruning trees), emptied the many boxes of ashes into a common receptacle, then walked around and drizzled them out onto “her” land.
Never did I expect to have my hands dusty with the ash residue of so many once-thriving critters.
R.I.P. mother and friends.
***
US daylight saving time and that means no more darkness upon waking and setting off to work. Yay!San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:22am
Sunset: 6:14pm
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:58am
Sunset: 6:18pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 102
Day 718 Thursday, March 10 - More of the same
Worldwide (Map) March 10, 2022 - 449,958,700 confirmed infections; 6,016,600 deaths
March 11, 2021 – 117, 645,000 confirmed infections; 2,612,000 deaths
US (Map)
March 10, 2022 – 79,369,500 confirmed infections; 961,950 deaths
March 11, 2021 - 29,222,420 confirmed infections; 529,884 deaths
Amazingly, the 1 million death toll predicted two weeks ago is still in our future in the US. Or not. Perhaps Covid-19 deaths will cease and we’ll never reach that dire statistic. Here’s hoping.
SA (Coronavirus portal)
March 10, 2022 - 3,686,560 confirmed infections; 99,625 deaths
March 11, 2021 – 1.522,700 confirmed infections; 50,910 deaths.
Ironically, load shedding continues. We are without electricity for three 2.5-hour stints each day.
The Lincoln Project Re-airs President Biden's Remarks on Ukraine (12:38 mins)
Read more >>
A little more than one year ago, I shared the most recent information about KZN’s Dept of Transportation’s (DOT) lack of effective maintenance of culverts adjacent to my mother’s property. Requesting maintenance has been an ongoing project over several years.
It’s not that DOT is unresponsive. Bulldozers and diggers show up, but these are the wrong tools for the job. What is required? Strong people wielding shovels. Here, as in many places, manual labor is considered less sexy than driving a diesel-powered bulldozer.
News blues
As South Africa heads towards the dreaded 100,000 Covid-19 deaths toll, Ministerial Advisory Committee and director of CAPRISA, Salim Abdool Karim reviews the last two years of Covid-19 and its successes in South Africa. (8:19 mins)***
The US CDC says 90 percent of people no longer need masks. Experts who've been very careful thus far are starting to shift their approaches — but just a little >> ***
On War: “Ukraine: Mother of Russian soldier asks, 'Whose door should I knock on to get my child back?' >> ***
The Lincoln Project: Last Week in the Republican Party (March 8) (1:35 mins) The Lincoln Project Re-airs President Biden's Remarks on Ukraine (12:38 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
Described by the head of the UN Environment Programme as the most important multilateral environmental deal since the Paris agreement in 2015, the new legally binding treaty world leaders recently agreed upon covers the full lifecycle of plastics from production to disposal. This could provide an essential tool to hold governments and companies accountable for their environmental impacts.Read more >>
***
For Svitlana Krakovska, Ukraine’s leading climate scientist, it was meant to be the week where eight years of work culminated in a landmark UN report exposing the havoc the climate crisis is causing the world. But then the bombs started to crunch into Kyiv.Read “‘This is a fossil fuel war’: Ukraine’s top climate scientist speaks out”
Krakovska, the head of a delegation of 11 Ukrainian scientists, struggled to help finalize the vast Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report ahead of its release on 28 February even as Russian forces launched their invasion. “I told colleagues that as long as we have the internet and no bombs over our heads we will continue,” she said.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
In drought-ridden California, I adore the sound of rain. In waterlogged KZN, I dread the same sound.A little more than one year ago, I shared the most recent information about KZN’s Dept of Transportation’s (DOT) lack of effective maintenance of culverts adjacent to my mother’s property. Requesting maintenance has been an ongoing project over several years.
It’s not that DOT is unresponsive. Bulldozers and diggers show up, but these are the wrong tools for the job. What is required? Strong people wielding shovels. Here, as in many places, manual labor is considered less sexy than driving a diesel-powered bulldozer.
 |
| Blocked culverts back in April 2019 |
 |
| One of two culverts, this one totally blocked - April 2019 |
 |
| March 9, 2022 - now not only utterly blocked, also invisible. Is this is how ancient cities "disappeared"? |
With the unprecedented amounts of rain, my late mother’s garden is ankle-deep in water due to barely functioning culverts designed to drain water from the stream, under the roadway, eventually reaching Howick Falls. One is entirely blocked and covered with vegetation and debris. (Watching this occur over the past 6 years presents insight into how whole cities of the ancient world disappeared until intrepid archaeologists dug them out. Hmmm, maybe I need intrepid archaeologists on this job?)
Last night’s pouring rain had me frantically messaging our local councilperson – again.
I’m tempted to implement Plan B: appeal through humiliation. Write an article for the local weekly print paper explaining the issue then beg readers and local residents each to contribute R5,00 into a fund geared toward paying a non-governmental team of workers to work on public projects. Donations should be deducted from residents’ monthly rates (“property tax”) bill.
This approach shares the burden of “fighting city hall” among members of the community rather than burdening one person with blowback.
Come to think of it, We the People could adopt the same strategies for other areas where the municipality fails to use residents’ property taxes for residents and public areas (potholes, storm drains, broken signage, dangerous roadways, severely cracked bridges and overpasses…).
Come to think of it, We the People could adopt the same strategies for other areas where the municipality fails to use residents’ property taxes for residents and public areas (potholes, storm drains, broken signage, dangerous roadways, severely cracked bridges and overpasses…).
***
Been working my half hour stint weeding the pond when it is not too rainy or too hot. Each day the pile of pond debris on the pond banks gets a little higher and the pond a little freer.
***
Hello, darkness, my old friend…. Escom (SA’s parastatal Electrical Supply Commission) began, again, depriving the citizenry of electricity. This area is at Stage 4, meaning our electricity goes down three times per day - from 6:00 am to 8:30am, 2:00pm to 4:30pm, and from 10pm to 12:30pm. Oh, and the price of electricity hikes up at least 10 percent each year.
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:27am
Sunset: 6:11pm
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:56am
Sunset: 6:21pm
***
Three days to US daylight saving time.San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:27am
Sunset: 6:11pm
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:56am
Sunset: 6:21pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 102
Day 715 Monday, March 7 - Second thoughts
News blues
Covid-19 case counts are falling in the United States and many parts of the country are starting to relax.Read more >>
Cities like Washington, DC, and New York are lifting vaccine mandates for many public indoor spaces. National public health officials are easing up, too. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now advises that communities with low levels of transmission can forgo universal masking. As spring draws near, is it finally time to feel hopeful? Is it possible the worst of the pandemic is behind us?
But… even as the global number of new cases and deaths continued downward, falling by 16 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively in the week ending last Sunday, compared to the previous week, scientists caution that the end of the Omicron surge is not the end of the pandemic, but more like the plateau experienced between previous waves over the past two years.
As immunity wanes, and another variant emerges at some point, the population could again be susceptible to mass infections….Read more >>
Epidemiologist Adam Kucharski, an associate professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said it was hard to predict how long it may take for the next troublesome variant to emerge, but he pointed to similar plateaus experienced between the Alpha and Delta variants.
“Many countries with declining cases are likely to be in a ‘honeymoon period’ of lower transmission, especially if much of the reduction in transmission has come from vaccines, which can wane quickly in terms of protection against Omicron infection.”
***
Meidas Touch Little girl sings “Let it Go” in bomb shelter in Ukraine (1:35 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
A new climate movement to persuade and support relatively well-off people to make “The Jump” and sign up to the six pledges.(With my current “lifestyle” of traveling to/from South Africa once a year, I already contravene one of the six pledges. Maybe my rare forays into stores to shop and/or buy “new clothing” balances out my travel climate bill? Enquiring minds wanna know….)
Our world in photos >>
Our world in photos >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Garden pond: from pondering to foraying. I deemed too expensive the only quote I’d been given to clear the garden pond of over-growth. Overly ambitious, I took on the project, pledging to spend half- to one-hour per day ridding the waterway of its overgrown (“alien”) lilies and water grass. So far, so good. |
| Current pile of removed pond weed. This stuff is heavy when wet. |
 |
| Still got to weed out all the remaining weeds seen here, plus a greater amount of lilies growing densely on the other side of the pond. Biting off more than I can chew? Hmmmm. You think? |
Alas, looking at these photos, I realize I’m working hard yet making little headway.
Either half- to one-hour per day is insufficient and I must up my game or I must bite the bullet and engage an actual pond landscaper to complete the work.
Moreover, the sun at 8:30am today is already too hot and intense to don waders and carry out my scheduled 30 mins.
Either half- to one-hour per day is insufficient and I must up my game or I must bite the bullet and engage an actual pond landscaper to complete the work.
Moreover, the sun at 8:30am today is already too hot and intense to don waders and carry out my scheduled 30 mins.
Or not.
Maybe I'll head there after I post this.
Or not.
Moreover, my stash of band-aids ("plasters") was in my wallet... stolen in Johannesburg airport the day I arrived. What do band-aids have to do with pond weeding? Well, the gumboots attached to my waders rub the skin off my ankles while I work in the pond. My socks are inadequate to protect my sensitive ankles from further irritation. I need to purchase more band-aids.
Hmmmm.
Lack of band-aids might be today's perfectly logical reason to delay today's pond foray.
Day 713 Saturday, March 5 - Home alone
News blues
Plummeting Covid-19 case counts across the United States are leading to lifted mask mandates and more conversations about steps toward normalcy — but more people are dying of the coronavirus now than during most points of the pandemic.Read more >>
The pandemic is following a very predictable and depressing pattern. As with diseases such as malaria and HIV, rich countries are “moving on” from COVID while poor ones continue to get ravaged.
Read more >>
Not focused on Covid-19 … but meet Fiona Hill, my hero since I watched her uncompromising and forthright testimony during Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial. (Video clip from that time >>)
Fast forward to March 3, and Fiona Hill and Stephen Colbert chat about her dinner with Vladimir Putin, Russians protesting Putin’s current war, and the invasion and demolition of Ukraine and Ukrainians >> (9:28 mins)
Nuclear weapons:
For more than 30 years, one very good friend has engaged the reality of nuclear weapons and nuclear power: that they’re no good for people or planet. This friendship makes me sensitive to the topic – and very fearful of Putin’s putsch into Ukraine. These days, ridding our planet of nukes – weaponry and power generation – should be in the forefront of all humans’ minds.
The consequences of nuclear war would be devastating. Much more should – and can – be done to reduce the risk that humanity will ever face such a war.
Vote Vets:
Party of Putin (1:10 mins)
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Alexander Vindman Articulates What Must Happen Now That Russia Invaded Ukraine (1:29 mins)
But “wild life” predators must avoid overexploiting their prey if they are to survive. They cannot evolve to become so aggressive that they eat all their prey and then go extinct themselves?
Why – and how – have they “done” this?
Read “Animals have evolved to avoid overexploiting their resources – can humans do the same?” >>
Locking up the house last night was an adventure. I discovered where are the “weaknesses” … noticed which locks are tenuous, which exterior lights need attention….
Unlocking this morning was an adventure, too. Under the watchful eyes of hungry dogs, I managed this laborious task then doled out breakfast.
For the next 3 days, I’ve arranged my weekend to ensure the appearance of constant human presence in the house. This, to discourage unexpected incursions. (That thuglet who threatened my life still haunts the neighborhood, albeit mostly sleeping in local bushes as he sleeps off drunken episodes. I keep an eye out for him and opt to prevent incursions from the gen pop, too.)
Read more >>
***
War!:Not focused on Covid-19 … but meet Fiona Hill, my hero since I watched her uncompromising and forthright testimony during Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial. (Video clip from that time >>)
Fast forward to March 3, and Fiona Hill and Stephen Colbert chat about her dinner with Vladimir Putin, Russians protesting Putin’s current war, and the invasion and demolition of Ukraine and Ukrainians >> (9:28 mins)
Nuclear weapons:
For more than 30 years, one very good friend has engaged the reality of nuclear weapons and nuclear power: that they’re no good for people or planet. This friendship makes me sensitive to the topic – and very fearful of Putin’s putsch into Ukraine. These days, ridding our planet of nukes – weaponry and power generation – should be in the forefront of all humans’ minds.
The consequences of nuclear war would be devastating. Much more should – and can – be done to reduce the risk that humanity will ever face such a war.
***
The Lincoln Project: Biden's Response to Tyranny (1:35 mins) Vote Vets:
Party of Putin (1:10 mins)
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Alexander Vindman Articulates What Must Happen Now That Russia Invaded Ukraine (1:29 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
Scientists have doubted whether the process of evolution can create “prudent predators” able to avoid extinguishing their own prey – and therefore themselves.But “wild life” predators must avoid overexploiting their prey if they are to survive. They cannot evolve to become so aggressive that they eat all their prey and then go extinct themselves?
Why – and how – have they “done” this?
Read “Animals have evolved to avoid overexploiting their resources – can humans do the same?” >>
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Last night was my first night, ever, alone – well, with three dogs – in my late mother’s house. (After a year of barely any time off, our domestic worker took the weekend off to attend a traditional Zulu wedding. This includes a cow meeting its demise and its peeled and dripping skin drying out over a fence while the edible parts are consumed with gusto).Locking up the house last night was an adventure. I discovered where are the “weaknesses” … noticed which locks are tenuous, which exterior lights need attention….
Unlocking this morning was an adventure, too. Under the watchful eyes of hungry dogs, I managed this laborious task then doled out breakfast.
For the next 3 days, I’ve arranged my weekend to ensure the appearance of constant human presence in the house. This, to discourage unexpected incursions. (That thuglet who threatened my life still haunts the neighborhood, albeit mostly sleeping in local bushes as he sleeps off drunken episodes. I keep an eye out for him and opt to prevent incursions from the gen pop, too.)
This weekend will be replete with painting walls, gardening, hedge clipping….
A year ago, I perseverated over purchasing a mechanical hedge clipper to trim the many hedges around my apartment. While this fecund vegetation affords privacy - one of the reasons I chose that apartment - one afternoon manually clipping presents reality: I can’t do this regularly. Reluctant but practical, I put aside ambitions of designing and cutting shapes - waves? Animals? People? - and contemplated the glory of mechanical clippers.
Alas, the selection of such tools around here is narrow: most clippers are too big and powerful for me - or too small and not powerful enough.
A friend swore by her small, battery-operated clipper, but I wasn’t enamored of the manufacturer and avoided that brand.
Hedge clippers were the last thing on my mind after I departed the country last year and attended to the demands of Covid-19.
A year later, those privacy-presenting hedges tower over my apartment garden. They desperately need clipping. I haven’t the appetite manually to clip them. Moreover, the many hedges in my late-mother’s garden need clipping too.
Rekindling interest in the perfect mechanical hedge clippers, I comparison-shopped in three local stores, saw little that enticed, returned home to the reality of overgrown hedges, and grappled with my dilemma.
I returned to one store, listened again to Vision, the salesperson, and focused on one brand. All the men with whom I consulted about mechanical clippers steered me away from purchasing a battery-operated set: “battery-run tools are limited”. Nevertheless, I purchased a battery-operated Stihl brand tool that perfectly suits me.
How did I settle on it?
The petrol (“gas”) fuel clipper offers a rope pull. After months struggling to start my small gadabout-boat motor with a rope pull, I swore never again tug anything with rope pull.
For my late mother’s large garden, the electrically powered versioin requires a very long extension cord (cost about R1000,00/US$65). And it would lie in/near water while I clipped. No way I’m risking electrocution if water intruded into the electrical system.
The set I purchased has a battery designed to run for up to two hours. Since I work 30-to-45-minute sessions, it should work. It’s lightweight enough for that duration session, too.
Back home, I charged the battery, inserted it, and clipped.
The device is 95% perfect for my size and strength. The 5% that’s imperfect? It struggles to cut long, sword-shaped, densely packed leaves. I’m a soupçon disappointed, but perfection is rare in a single garden tool. (After all, it’s the hunt for perfection that sends gardeners back to garden stores and allows tool manufacturers to generate profits.)
I’m chuffed with my almost-perfect mechanical hedge clippers.
What fun!
It’s drizzling in the San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:34am
Sunset: 6:06pm
It’s drizzling in KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:53am
Sunset: 6:27pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 101
Worldwide (Map)
March 3, 2022 - 439,214,350 confirmed infections; 5,968,350 deaths
March 4, 2021 – 115,175,000 confirmed infections; 2,600,000 deaths.
US (Map)
March 3, 2022 - 79,099,500 confirmed infections; 952,800 deaths
March 4, 2021 – 28,770,000 confirmed infections; 518,400 deaths.
SA (Coronavirus portal)
March 3, 2022 - 3,675,700 confirmed infections; 99,430 deaths
March 4, 2021 – 1,516,265 confirmed infections; 50,366 deaths.
Now, the world and its people, amid a proven-deadly novel coronavirus (perhaps morphing into endemic) are watching a brutal war unfold in Ukraine.
How long before Covid-19 impacts efforts of both uninvited and invading Russians and Ukrainians?
The good news on a different front? Despite dire predictions of several weeks ago, the US has not seen the official count of Covid deaths pass the one million mark.
We were warned (1:50 min)
Do alarm systems have self-determination or is it only our system?
After a month of fretting about the overgrown vegetation in the large garden pond, yesterday I donned my waders and spent an hour weeding. Last week, I’d offered a landscaper the job, but his quote was beyond my capacity to pay. (Aside: South Africans assume anyone with “dollars in her pocket” is rich and therefore can be soaked.)
I assist the crabs and other water-based life back into the water if they find themselves suddenly thrust into air-based life.
I plan to continue short forays into the pond over the next weeks to finish the job.
Wet vegetation is heavy. Nevertheless, the pile on the banks of the pond will grow day-by-day.
Not sure yet what to do with the discards. Options are 1) wheelbarrow transport it in increments to an area in front of the house and fill in dongas (holes) there (despite the huge physical effort, that's my preference) or, 2) hire someone to collect it and drive it to the local dump.
The problem with option 1: the ANC was voted out of office in favor of the DA (Democratic Alliance) and the DA’s “new” municipality is keen to fine anyone recycling vegetation by filling in dongas. The ANC didn’t care one way or another since most ANC councilors spent their time feathering their own nests rather than conduct business for the people. For now, DA councilors are trying hard to enforce regulations. We’ll see how long this lasts. In the meantime, I’ll keep pulling out pond overgrowth.
The fun never ends.
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:37am
Sunset: 6:04pm
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:52am
Sunset: 6:29pm
Ten days to the beginning of US daylight saving time.
Year 3 of the Covid Era - Week 101
[Conservative Political Action Conference] CPAC: Days 3 and 4 in 135 Seconds (2:10 mins)
United Nations’ latest temperature-check on global warming provides a sweeping analysis of climate impacts and vulnerability
Case in point of “world governments’ responses so far have proven woefully inadequate to ease, much less reverse”: the US Supreme Court is weighing in on climate change. The Court appears
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:40am
Sunset: 6:02pm
Lots of rain as autumn/fall marches along in South Africa:
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:50am
Sunset: 6:32pm
Year 3 of the Covid Era - Week 101
South Africa’s National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and other stakeholders are working on “alternative measures to exit the state of disaster… our health regulations, making sure that we have enough protection measures through the National Health Act and its regulations to replace the Disaster Management Act.”
This, to formulate new regulations to replace the national state of disaster and to ensure continued management of Covid-19.
Under the new guidance, roughly 70% of the U.S. population can now contemplate removing their masks.
The CDC now focuses on minimizing severe disease and ensuring that hospitals are able to cope with Covid cases while still delivering standard care.
Read more >>
A year ago, I perseverated over purchasing a mechanical hedge clipper to trim the many hedges around my apartment. While this fecund vegetation affords privacy - one of the reasons I chose that apartment - one afternoon manually clipping presents reality: I can’t do this regularly. Reluctant but practical, I put aside ambitions of designing and cutting shapes - waves? Animals? People? - and contemplated the glory of mechanical clippers.
Alas, the selection of such tools around here is narrow: most clippers are too big and powerful for me - or too small and not powerful enough.
A friend swore by her small, battery-operated clipper, but I wasn’t enamored of the manufacturer and avoided that brand.
Hedge clippers were the last thing on my mind after I departed the country last year and attended to the demands of Covid-19.
A year later, those privacy-presenting hedges tower over my apartment garden. They desperately need clipping. I haven’t the appetite manually to clip them. Moreover, the many hedges in my late-mother’s garden need clipping too.
Rekindling interest in the perfect mechanical hedge clippers, I comparison-shopped in three local stores, saw little that enticed, returned home to the reality of overgrown hedges, and grappled with my dilemma.
I returned to one store, listened again to Vision, the salesperson, and focused on one brand. All the men with whom I consulted about mechanical clippers steered me away from purchasing a battery-operated set: “battery-run tools are limited”. Nevertheless, I purchased a battery-operated Stihl brand tool that perfectly suits me.
How did I settle on it?
The petrol (“gas”) fuel clipper offers a rope pull. After months struggling to start my small gadabout-boat motor with a rope pull, I swore never again tug anything with rope pull.
For my late mother’s large garden, the electrically powered versioin requires a very long extension cord (cost about R1000,00/US$65). And it would lie in/near water while I clipped. No way I’m risking electrocution if water intruded into the electrical system.
The set I purchased has a battery designed to run for up to two hours. Since I work 30-to-45-minute sessions, it should work. It’s lightweight enough for that duration session, too.
Back home, I charged the battery, inserted it, and clipped.
The device is 95% perfect for my size and strength. The 5% that’s imperfect? It struggles to cut long, sword-shaped, densely packed leaves. I’m a soupçon disappointed, but perfection is rare in a single garden tool. (After all, it’s the hunt for perfection that sends gardeners back to garden stores and allows tool manufacturers to generate profits.)
I’m chuffed with my almost-perfect mechanical hedge clippers.
What fun!
***
Eight days to the beginning of California's daylight saving time regime.It’s drizzling in the San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:34am
Sunset: 6:06pm
It’s drizzling in KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:53am
Sunset: 6:27pm
Year 3 of the Covid era - Week 101
Day 711 Thursday, March 3 - Moving forward
Worldwide (Map) March 3, 2022 - 439,214,350 confirmed infections; 5,968,350 deaths
March 4, 2021 – 115,175,000 confirmed infections; 2,600,000 deaths.
US (Map)
March 3, 2022 - 79,099,500 confirmed infections; 952,800 deaths
March 4, 2021 – 28,770,000 confirmed infections; 518,400 deaths.
SA (Coronavirus portal)
March 3, 2022 - 3,675,700 confirmed infections; 99,430 deaths
March 4, 2021 – 1,516,265 confirmed infections; 50,366 deaths.
News blues
With the world-changing arrival of Covid-19, this blog morphed from its original topic - the effects of war on people – to the struggle, the war, if you like, on Covid-19 – and its effects on people.Now, the world and its people, amid a proven-deadly novel coronavirus (perhaps morphing into endemic) are watching a brutal war unfold in Ukraine.
How long before Covid-19 impacts efforts of both uninvited and invading Russians and Ukrainians?
The good news on a different front? Despite dire predictions of several weeks ago, the US has not seen the official count of Covid deaths pass the one million mark.
***
In the US, the White House plans to unveil a wide-ranging strategy for the next phase response to the pandemic. The strategy will lay out how the nation can safely ease public health restrictions and restore some sense of normalcy and a less disruptive endemic stage of the virus. ***
Most people know someone who has stubbornly resisted catching Covid, despite everyone around them falling sick. Precisely how they do this remains a mystery, but scientists are beginning to find clues.Read “Scientists seek to solve mystery of why some people do not catch Covid” >>
The hope is that identifying these mechanisms could lead to the development of drugs that not only protect people from catching Covid, but also prevent them from passing it on.
***
The Lincoln Project:We were warned (1:50 min)
Healthy planet, anyone?
In a new report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), researchers from 67 countries warned that warming is putting a large portion of the world’s biodiversity and ecosystems at risk of extinction, even under relatively conservative estimates. Never before has an IPCC report — considered the gold standard for climate science — revealed in such stark detail how climate change is harming nature. What ails wildlife ails us, the authors wrote. Humans are inextricably dependent on many species that are in jeopardy from rising temperatures, whether they’re animals that pollinate crops, filter rivers and streams, or feed us. In the US alone, for example, more than 150 crops depend on pollinators, including nearly all fruits and grains, and climate change puts them at risk.Read more >>
***
African countries are being forced to spend billions of dollars a year coping with the effects of the climate crisis, which is diverting potential investment from schools and hospitals and threatens to drive countries into ever deeper poverty.Read more >>
Dealing with extreme weather is costing close to 6% of GDP in Ethiopia alone, equating to a spend of more than $1 repairing climate damage for every $20 of national income, according to research by the thinktank Power Shift Africa.
The warning comes just before the major new scientific report from the global authority on climate science, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This report, the second part of the IPCC’s comprehensive summary of global climate science, will set out the consequences of climate breakdown across the world, looking at the floods, droughts, heatwaves and storms that are affecting food systems, water supplies and infrastructure. As global temperatures have risen in recent decades, and as the impact of extreme weather has become more apparent around the world, efforts to make infrastructure and communities more resilient have largely stalled.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
For the second time this week, our security alarm screeched in the early hours of the morning. Checking the CCTV monitor showed no incursions. What’s going on? Who knows?Do alarm systems have self-determination or is it only our system?
After a month of fretting about the overgrown vegetation in the large garden pond, yesterday I donned my waders and spent an hour weeding. Last week, I’d offered a landscaper the job, but his quote was beyond my capacity to pay. (Aside: South Africans assume anyone with “dollars in her pocket” is rich and therefore can be soaked.)
I assist the crabs and other water-based life back into the water if they find themselves suddenly thrust into air-based life.
I plan to continue short forays into the pond over the next weeks to finish the job.
Wet vegetation is heavy. Nevertheless, the pile on the banks of the pond will grow day-by-day.
Not sure yet what to do with the discards. Options are 1) wheelbarrow transport it in increments to an area in front of the house and fill in dongas (holes) there (despite the huge physical effort, that's my preference) or, 2) hire someone to collect it and drive it to the local dump.
The problem with option 1: the ANC was voted out of office in favor of the DA (Democratic Alliance) and the DA’s “new” municipality is keen to fine anyone recycling vegetation by filling in dongas. The ANC didn’t care one way or another since most ANC councilors spent their time feathering their own nests rather than conduct business for the people. For now, DA councilors are trying hard to enforce regulations. We’ll see how long this lasts. In the meantime, I’ll keep pulling out pond overgrowth.
The fun never ends.
San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:37am
Sunset: 6:04pm
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:52am
Sunset: 6:29pm
Ten days to the beginning of US daylight saving time.
Year 3 of the Covid Era - Week 101
Day 709 Tuesday, March 1 - So, long Covid
News blues
Among the nearly half a billion people who have contracted COVID around the world so far, an estimated 10 to 50 percent will experience long-term symptoms. For four weeks to years after the initial diagnosis, the aftereffects of the virus may linger, affecting how patients go about their daily lives.Read more >>
Medical experts are still trying to understand why long COVID grips some patients and not others. According to a study in the journal Cell, a patient may be more prone to long-term symptoms if they experience one or more of the following biological factors: high viral load during the initial infection, a flood of autoantibodies, reactivation of the Epstein-Barr virus, and a history of Type 2 diabetes. These drivers aren’t immediately visible in patients from the outset, making it challenging to predict who eventually is at higher risk for long COVID.
Some studies suggest that vaccines halve the risk of adults ending up with long COVID—but other preliminary research suggests otherwise.
***
The Lincoln Project:[Conservative Political Action Conference] CPAC: Days 3 and 4 in 135 Seconds (2:10 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
[The UN report] emphasizes what millions of people can already intuit from dramatic shifts in weather patterns: Ways of life that sustained generations are coming to an abrupt and chaotic end, causing great suffering that world governments’ responses so far have proven woefully inadequate to ease, much less reverse.Confirm your intuition about our collective futures and read “14 Takeaways From The Latest U.N. Study On Climate Change’s Deadly Toll” >>
“We simultaneously need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to reduce the risks of climate change and address losses and damages that are already being experienced,” Adelle Thomas, an author of the report and researcher at the University of Bahamas, said in a call with reporters. “And we have a very limited amount of time to do this.”
Case in point of “world governments’ responses so far have proven woefully inadequate to ease, much less reverse”: the US Supreme Court is weighing in on climate change. The Court appears
… poised to narrow the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to reduce carbon pollution from power plants, a move that could further derail President Joe Biden’s ambitious plans to fight climate change that have already suffered a setback in the Senate.Feeling hopeless about effective leadership on this critical, world-changing reality of our times?
Yup, me too!
Who is Suzie and how did she arrive on the scene in my email inbox?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Who is Suzie and how did she arrive on the scene in my email inbox?
For the past year the US Democratic Party has been sending promo and fundraising emails to “Suzie.” I’m not sure who is this Suzie person, or how she came about. Moreover, the number of emails to Suzie is increasing exponentially. Where once Suzie received emails from one Democrat, today Suzie receives emails from Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Eric Swalwell, Adam Schiff, and others. Neither I nor Suzie read these emails….
***
Thirteen more days until California changes to daylight savings time. Unfortunately, the predicted cold spell arrived, but none of the predicted rain. Some snow in the Sierras….San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:40am
Sunset: 6:02pm
Lots of rain as autumn/fall marches along in South Africa:
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:50am
Sunset: 6:32pm
Year 3 of the Covid Era - Week 101
Day 707 Sunday February 27 2022 - Het Bouhe
 |
| Police surround a protester holding a sign painted with "No to war!" and an image of the Ukrainian flag in St. Petersburg. Photo: Kommersant Photo Agency/REX/Shutterstock. See more anti-warRussian protesters <br> |
News blues…
This, to formulate new regulations to replace the national state of disaster and to ensure continued management of Covid-19.
***
Under its revised guidance on when Americans should consider wearing masks to protect themselves against Covid-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lays out a system that designates individual counties as being at either low, medium, or high risk from Covid-19. Roughly 62.6% of counties — home to 71.7% of Americans — fall into the low- and medium-risk categories.Under the new guidance, roughly 70% of the U.S. population can now contemplate removing their masks.
The CDC now focuses on minimizing severe disease and ensuring that hospitals are able to cope with Covid cases while still delivering standard care.
Read more >>
***
The Lincoln Project:
[Conservative Political Action Conference] CPAC Day 1 in 105 Seconds (1:50 mins)
CPAC: Day 2 (1:50 mins)
Primetime propaganda [2] (0:55 mins)
[Conservative Political Action Conference] CPAC Day 1 in 105 Seconds (1:50 mins)
CPAC: Day 2 (1:50 mins)
Primetime propaganda [2] (0:55 mins)
Mother Russia (1:24 mins)
Naturally, the dog insisted on sleeping on its doggie bed in the middle of the room I was painting. Paint didn’t spill on her either. The other unexpected surprise? A handyman who has become a friend dropped by on the spur of the moment, so I put aside the painting for the duration of his visit. The paint didn’t dry out. Paint didn’t coagulate on brushes and roller. Afterwards, I returned to painting and finished the job.
A Sunday well spent.
What’s amazing is Russians are protesting Putin’s invasion of Ukraine >> photo essay of anti-war protests across Russia
But before we leave Covid-19 in the dust, author Steven Taylor, professor and clinical psychologist at the University of British Columbia, and author of The Psychology of Pandemics, reminds us that the pandemic changed everything about our lives: how we worked, socialised, travelled. Dealing with so many changes at once was a mental challenge for us all. As Covid-19 fizzles out, and things go back to “normal”, some of these pressures will ease as life becomes more recognisable. But the end of a pandemic will require an adjustment, just as the beginning did.
We are not entering the same “normal” that we left – and we are not the same people we were then.
Read his article, “I wrote the book on pandemic psychology. Post-Covid will take some getting used to” >>
Primetime propaganda (0:58 mins)
Old man (0:14 mins)
Today's Republican Party (0:46 mins)
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Painting, painting, painting. How come painting – walls, not arty pictures – is such hard work? I spent more than a day prepping the walls, then more time prepping the materials: step ladder, drop cloths, paint gear… then finally started painting. Miraculously I didn’t spill paint on anything other than my hands, feet, overalls, and the drop cloth.Naturally, the dog insisted on sleeping on its doggie bed in the middle of the room I was painting. Paint didn’t spill on her either. The other unexpected surprise? A handyman who has become a friend dropped by on the spur of the moment, so I put aside the painting for the duration of his visit. The paint didn’t dry out. Paint didn’t coagulate on brushes and roller. Afterwards, I returned to painting and finished the job.
A Sunday well spent.
Day 705 - Friday, February 25 - Covid-19. Passé?
News blues…
Move over, Covid-19! You’re passé. You’re yesterday’s news. We, the people have moved on… to war!What’s amazing is Russians are protesting Putin’s invasion of Ukraine >> photo essay of anti-war protests across Russia
But before we leave Covid-19 in the dust, author Steven Taylor, professor and clinical psychologist at the University of British Columbia, and author of The Psychology of Pandemics, reminds us that the pandemic changed everything about our lives: how we worked, socialised, travelled. Dealing with so many changes at once was a mental challenge for us all. As Covid-19 fizzles out, and things go back to “normal”, some of these pressures will ease as life becomes more recognisable. But the end of a pandemic will require an adjustment, just as the beginning did.
We are not entering the same “normal” that we left – and we are not the same people we were then.
Read his article, “I wrote the book on pandemic psychology. Post-Covid will take some getting used to” >>
***
The Lincoln Project:Primetime propaganda (0:58 mins)
Old man (0:14 mins)
Today's Republican Party (0:46 mins)
Healthy planet, anyone?
World leaders will come together online and in Nairobi, Kenya, next week, in what is described as a “critical moment” in progress towards the first ever global treaty to combat plastic waste. …Hear! Hear!
[According to Inger Andersen, director of the UN Environment Programme] an agreement at the UN environment assembly could be the most important multilateral pact since the Paris climate accord in 2015.
Public disgust and impatience over the growing mountain of plastic waste has led to an unprecedented “degree of focus” that could see member states agreeing a blueprint for a legally binding treaty to control plastics “from source to sea”, she said. “Public impatience is something that is very powerful. … The public has had enough. We are all dependent on plastic, but they obviously want to see some resolution of this issue.”
Read “Plastic summit could be most important green deal since Paris accords, says UN” >>
Alas, removing carpet in this old house disclosed one third of the floor space devoted to two large, thick slabs of plywood. The screws in each corner of both slabs are already stripped so I cannot easily remove them to discover what’s underneath the wood. The implication of this plywood is that there’s some sort of space below. The oddity? Far as I can tell, there is no more house under it, only dirt.
Have I stumbled upon a long-lost crypt? A secret stash of rhino horns? Piles of Kruger Rands?
Enquiring minds wanna know….
The good news? After removing the carpet and foam backing, I placed them on the street side of the security gate – hoping someone passing by would adopt them and carry them home. (Such “donations” have proven popular in the past.) However, I assumed a 50/50 chance since carpet and foam is bulky and requires a truck or bakkie to carry them away.
An hour after setting out the goods, I checked the status. All had disappeared.
Yay! Nothing from this house went into landfill today.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
The mysteries of old houses include expecting that after removing old and ugly carpet, the floor below will be bare concrete that can be stained to produce an unusual, useful, and attractive “look.”Alas, removing carpet in this old house disclosed one third of the floor space devoted to two large, thick slabs of plywood. The screws in each corner of both slabs are already stripped so I cannot easily remove them to discover what’s underneath the wood. The implication of this plywood is that there’s some sort of space below. The oddity? Far as I can tell, there is no more house under it, only dirt.
Have I stumbled upon a long-lost crypt? A secret stash of rhino horns? Piles of Kruger Rands?
Enquiring minds wanna know….
The good news? After removing the carpet and foam backing, I placed them on the street side of the security gate – hoping someone passing by would adopt them and carry them home. (Such “donations” have proven popular in the past.) However, I assumed a 50/50 chance since carpet and foam is bulky and requires a truck or bakkie to carry them away.
An hour after setting out the goods, I checked the status. All had disappeared.
Yay! Nothing from this house went into landfill today.
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