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 >> 

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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 >> 

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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.

However, Our World In Data’s fossil fuel energy tracker map presents interesting data on global electricity sources. 

 

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]
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.

Info on how to contact sender included email address, phone, Whatsapp, and customer service numbers, along with another “call number”.
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?

 
More worries that KZN disaster relief funds will be looted: report 

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:

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 >> 

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Yet more rain…
KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:19am
Sunset: 5:37pm

San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:29am
Sunset: 7:47pm