Heart, lungs, kidneys

News blues

Research reveals

Damage to the body’s organs including the lungs and kidneys is common in people who were admitted to hospital with Covid, with one in eight found to have heart inflammation,
Previous studies have revealed that fewer than a third of patients who have ongoing Covid symptoms after being hospitalised with the disease feel fully recovered a year later, while some experts have warned long Covid could result in a generation affected by disability.
Now researchers tracking the progress of patients who were treated in hospital for Covid say they have found evidence the disease can take a toll on a range of organs.

Read more >> 

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On war…

Dmytro Kozatsky, Azov Regiment fighter and photographer, documented the siege of Ukraine’s Azovstal metalworks. Before his capture he posted his pictures on social media, asking that they be shared as widely as possible. This is some of his work showing the realities of life during the battle >> 

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The Lincoln Project: Mean Girl  (0:57 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Consultant to Shell Oils says Shell "blatantly doesn’t care" about climate change >> 

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The entity named Dear South Africa  solicits comments from South Africans regarding assorted bills under consideration. I track Dear South Africa; I even comment on it at times. This time it is soliciting comments on a climate change bill to "respond to a long-term, just transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy and society for South Africa in the context of sustainable development,  and to provide for matters connected therewith." More information on the bill.

Here are a handful of comments from South Africans - copied exactly, no edits, not even corrections of spelling - from the public comment section :

 
Comment: What will happen to members working in coal's mine. SA must not allow foreign policy to dictate terms for us in the mean time their stock piling coal from SA. Wake up SA before is too late.
Climate change is a natural cycle in earth, don't let the western world pass on their carbon emissions use onto us thats their problem not ours we don't have a carbons emissions problem our industry and vehicle count per capita is way much lower than any other country in Europe Asia and America, don’t get dragged into this debate.

 
Comment: Climate change is a load of crap. It’s just another way for this thieving ANC government to get their hands on more hard earned cash from the people of SA.

Comment: This is a vast subject to try put in ashort paragraph. However let's start at home. Municipal dumps.: There are no longer orange bags delivered which results in no separation of plastics from homes. This results in tons of plastics not going for recycling. Municipal dumps could be running waste bio mass recycling plants. Producing by products such as Bio Diesel lpg gas , Bio Char from garden cuttings, and powering the energy grid with co2 emmission free power which is produced by the turbines that generate power from the lpg gas produced by the waste to fuel plant. So simple . Go look what Denmark is doing. Our Sewage plants are outdated, we could cut their footprint dramatically and get methane free LPG from them that also produces power for the power grid, thousands of free Mega Watts , organic fertilizer, and clean water. Once again we sovfar behind. Just these two points alone produces thousands of jobs , earn money for the government and produces low cost bio diesel from plastic and rubber by utilizing pyrolysis plants. Low cost co2 free lpg , with energy free power reducing our energy costs and cutting co2 emissions by 100%. We need to wake up and invest in what works . Not solar panel farms that are going to cause huge headaches to recycle lead acid or Lithium iron batteries when the have reached the end of their life cycle. We could be producing bio plastics that is fully degradable in days of dumping produced from sugar beet, we could be planting sugar beet and harvest crops four times a year through proper crop rotation and revitalising our polluted farms from harmful pesticides and chemical fertilizers. The information is all out there but no one wants to see it.

 
Comment: It is so sad, but any new proposition made by the government (whether good or bad) I am immediately sceptical about. I TOTALLY support us taking responsibility for climate change and we MUST address it - but HOW will it be implemented? Will all coal-sourced energy be closed? Where will these people get work? Will it be the small percentage of taxpayers who again have to foot the bill and the others can do whatever they want? RESPONSIBLE government with well-informed wise decision making with integrity is what we need. Please!

 
Comment: Taxing the people to change the climate is absurd...

Comment: I do not believe that it it has been well-thought through and can not support the current government to implement this important action : will the funds allocated be used correctly or will it be spent in a corrupt way . Most importantly how will the system be policed when out of line findings happen.

Comment: 
corruption !!!!!!!!! .
Corruption !!!!!!!!!!! .
CORRUPTION !!!!!!!!!!!! .
CORRUPTIONNNNNN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .

Comment: Over the years we have seen very little effect from this mythical monster. But, if you want to put the blame on something, then the animal farming industry is the largest culprit - larger than fossil fuel burning. Stop people eating (so much) meat and you will have a far cleaner environment. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/22/eu-farm-animals-produce-more-emissions-than-cars-and-vans-combined-greenpeace.

From these comments, I learn that everyone is an expert and that We, the People have not a hope in hell of getting ourselves, our families,  and our friends out of the death spiral we are in. Depressing, ain't it?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Perfect climate here on the bay… The south and east parts of the US are beginning to sizzle, but SF Bay Area is perfect, hovering around mid-70s F (mid-20s C)…that is similar to the temps in KZN these days:
SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 5:52am
Sunset: 8:18pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:41am
Sunset: 5:10pm

Meaty Issues

(c) Progressive Charleston
click to enlarge.

China’s Calling

Trump might have small paws, but when it comes to grasping money, they reach around the world.
From possible money laundering  to loans coming due, life’s going to get interesting for the guy who too often gets away with bad chit!
Those of us who follow the prez, know he’s up to his orange hair in various money schemes.
Now We the People (at least, those of us who care) discover that Trump owes tens of millions to the Bank of China – and the loan is coming due:

In 2012, his real estate partner refinanced one of Trump’s most prized New York buildings for almost $1 billion. The debt includes $211 million from the state-owned Bank of China — its first loan of this kind in the U.S. — which matures in the middle of what could be Trump’s second term.

Second term? Nah, he’s not getting another shot at that, is he? The question is, how will he squirm out of this one? And, how deeply will he implicate all of us?

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The meat of it

Increasing evidence suggests climate change, decreasing natural environments, and pandemics go hand in hand. Fossil fuels subsidies are in the mix, too. So are your individual actions....

Usually not a head-in-sand kind of person, I admit existential pain kept me from looking too closely at the toll of ongoing poaching, hunting, and trafficking of wild animal and the devastation of our communal oceans.
Last week I joined the Daily Maverick webinar, Earth Day: Nature and Societal Reset in the Age of Covid-19.  Presenter Linda Tucker clued me into what was happening with lion bones … and lions, and tigers, and bears….
It ain’t pretty.

Serendipitously, soon after the webinar, I received an email from Dear South Africa, a policy shaping outreach organization to which I subscribe.  Dear South Africa encourages citizen participation in governmental propositions. (If you are South African, sign up )
This time, it asked citizens: Do you support the draft amendment to the Meat Safety Act?
I read the information then, not one to hold back, I responded:

No, I do not support the draft amendment to the Meat Safety Act.
Never in my wildest nightmares did I consider humans to be as short-sighted, greedy, thuggish, and self-centered as this amendment shows them to be. Instead of domesticating and/or eating and/or otherwise consuming wild creatures, we humans should be doing our best to conserve them and the natural lands that SUPPORT THEM AND US IN THE LONG TERM. If its an issue of money, FAR MORE MONEY CAN BE MADE CONSERVING RATHER THAN KILLLING. Wake me up, someone. This nightmare must end!

You can get involved and share your view on the Meat Safety Act

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Next week, lockdown will ease from Level 5 to Level 4.
Who knows if easing will make much of a difference in the here and now. Long term, however, lockdown has gifted me with the time to truly notice the ongoing lives around me: birds, bugs, fish, fowl, primates, plants. I noticed and appreciated these lives before but this time around, the joy of just sitting, listening, and watching has been a luxury.

Pond Creature Takes a Breather
Click to enlarge

This frog (Common Striped River Frog?) popped out the pond and posed for me.
I titled it, "Pond Creature Takes a Breather."

Far away in Florida, endangered sea turtles agree that Covid-19 has an upside.
They're taking a breather, too.

Monkey dream
I dreamed an ill neighborhood monkey placed herself in my care.
I wrapped the wild creature in a blanket and felt her furry forehead for fever.
We stared into one another’s eyes...and we saw one another. Fellow creatures.

The dream ended there but the feelings evoked have not ended. I hope they don’t.
I’ve re-dedicated to following the knowledge with which I’ve been gifted. Oh, the existential pain will be there, but my personal pain is nothing compared to that foisted upon our living planet by thuggery, greed, and ignorance.


Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5

See photos Spying on Garden Creatures 
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