Troublesome

News blues

Dr. Anthony Fauci warned about a pair of "pretty troublesome" Covid variants — omicron descendants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 — as the U.S. braces for a winter surge. 

Read more >> 

And,

People who reported experiencing side effects to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines such as fever, chills or muscle pain tended to have a greater antibody response following vaccination, according to new research.
Having such symptoms after vaccination is associated with greater antibody responses compared with having only pain or rash at the injection site or no symptoms at all….
“In conclusion, these findings support reframing postvaccination symptoms as signals of vaccine effectiveness and reinforce guidelines for vaccine boosters in older adults,”

Read more >> 

A team of scientists affiliated with Duke University found that ivermectin does not meaningfully improve the recovery of people with mild to moderate Covid.
“These findings do not support the use of ivermectin in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19,” they concluded.
The FDA has warned people against taking the tablets for anything other than their approved use.
Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Tyranny  (0:57 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

On plastics and the myth of recyclable plastics

Just 5% of plastic products are recycled in America and many common items just aren’t able to be recycled at all, according to a damning new study released by Greenpeace USA.
The study estimates the U.S. produced about 51 million tons of plastic waste in 2021, but just 2.4 million tons of that was reprocessed.
The data compiled by Greenpeace is even more bleak than that released by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2018. The government estimated at the time just 9% of all plastics had been recycled that year, with the remaining 91% winding up in landfills. (At the time much of the country’s plastic was shipped to China and considered recycled, even if it was dumped in a landfill anyways).
Shockingly, the research said no type of plastic packaging in America met the threshold needed to be considered “recyclable” promoted….

Read more >> 

Recycling plastic waste fails for a variety of reasons that Greenpeace boils down to: the impossibility of collection and sorting, the environmental toxicity, synthetic compositions and contamination, and a lack of economic feasibility.
There are thousands of different types of plastics with different compositions that cannot be recycled together, let alone sorted. Plastic recycling facilities are likely to catch on fire because plastic is flammable, and living near one poses a huge health risk—take Turkey, which became a new plastic waste export destination after China banned imports and saw an influx of EU waste expose workers and communities to new health risks. Plastics can also absorb toxic chemicals, further complicating recycling efforts and increasing their toxicity. On top of all this, recycled plastic costs more than new plastic because of the aforementioned factors encouraging companies to simply make more instead of pursuing alternatives.

Read more >> 

***

More than four months after devastating monsoon floods began in Pakistan, at least 1,500 people have died, and the waters that inundated nearly the entire country have yet to recede. This ongoing emergency is causing illness and communicable disease to spread, and these effects are likely to be much more deadly than the initial catastrophe. “The public health risks are worse, and the death toll could be much higher”....

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Another foray into battling mesothelioma. Today, Mary's trip to the blood lab begins her third chemo session – and, we hope, her second to last treatment of this round. Why “this round”? Well, the unpleasant truth is, to date, there is no cure for mesothelioma. The asbestos fibers that stimulate, aka cause, the disease never are dissuaded: they simply regenerate. This, because indiscernible microfibers are ready, willing, and able to regrow. It’s the job of the patient and her medical team to stay ahread of new growth. This means that after this round of four sessions of chemo, Mary will undergo a scan to judge the chemo sessions’ effectiveness. If all appears clear in the scan, Mary will be free of scans for the next six months. If anything appears suspicious in the scan, the medical team will suggest next steps.
So, today, blood tests ascertain that Mary’s system is up to the task of another round. If any element of her blood suggests she’s above or below desired “measurements” the chemo session will be delayed until her blood levels are more “workable.” To date, Mary “feels fine” and is preparing for another several days of feeling under par.

“At least my chemo sessions are every three weeks. This gives me enough time to recover between bouts. And I do recover. Yes, my lung/chest feels wooden but I have full movement of my left arm. Indeed, I can almost forget the dire disease and prognosis for … well, minutes… at a time.” At that she chuckles warily and wearily and adds, “Perhaps one of these days, it’ll be forgetfulness for half-hourly bouts of time.”
I can attest to Mary’s fortitude. Yesterday, together, we added a layer of bottom shelves to a set of wooden shelves on my patio. Mary was an active  participant in adding this new layer that will house small pots of newly propagated succulents. We’ve added several more rarer-than-usual-for-us cacti and succulents. In general, our philosophy for such plants is “don’t pay money for what’s readily available.” Problem with that philosophy? Some cacti – for examples, Rebutia  - native to Bolivia and Argentina, and Lithops,  native to South Africa and Namibia. These beautiful plants are not, alas, not “readily available” except by purchase.

Summer's here

News blues

Remember the ivermectin-as-savior-against-Covid craze? During the years 2020 through 2021 that I spent locked down in South Africa, the use of ivermectin as antidote to Covid was widespread. That was the period before vaccines became available, but continued after vaccines were introduced, too. Many people swore – and still swear – by this anti-bacterial medication used to de-worm animals. 

Alas, recently, “the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) terminated its [ivermectin] controlled access programme with immediate effect after seeing no credible evidence to support a therapeutic role for ivermectin in Covid-19”  >> 

I suspect the pro-ivermectin folks will ignore and disbelieve the “no credible evidence” data and continue to seek out the med. Some will blame Bill Gates… or George Soros… or Dr Fauci … or “pedophiles” … or Democrats … for the lack of evidence. 

Such is the state of the human mind these days.

***

On war – and the Culture War

According to Jillian Peterson an associate professor of criminology at Hamline University, and James Densley, a professor of criminal justice at Metro State University, [American] mass shooters overwhelmingly fit a certain profile … which means it’s possible to ID and treat them before they commit violence.

Their findings, published in the 2021 book, The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic, reveal striking commonalities among the perpetrators of mass shootings and suggest a data-backed, mental health-based approach could identify and address the next mass shooter before he pulls the trigger — if only politicians are willing to actually engage in finding and funding targeted solutions.

If only…. 

The lives and safety of our children and grandchildren depend on "if only...."

Read more >> 

***

Photos from 100 days of war in Ukraine >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Think again  (0:33 mins)
Two Faced Elise  (1:00 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Enjoy murmurations >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Summer began in the United States this week. May 31st is both a public holiday – Memorial Day – and recognized as the beginning of summer. Appropriately, the public park next to which my apartment resides, is hosting the first of many gatherings. Today's gathering includes microphones and music although today’s musicians sound like they’re having more fun fooling around than presenting polished voices. I'm enjoying it anyway. Laughing, out of tune singing, more laughing, the sounds of kids running around… 

Ah, welcome summer.

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 5:47am
Sunset: 8:27pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:47am
Sunset: 5:07pm

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.

For those wearing, but chafing about mask mandates: “The study emphasizes a lot of what we already know about Covid-19 infections, not least of which is why it's so important to cover both your mouth and nose when sick to help protect others.”
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.
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.

Read more >> 

***

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.

In decline?

Worldwide (Stats ) 
February 24, 2022 - 429,508,650 confirmed infections; 5,917,000 deaths
February 25, 2021 - 112,534,400 confirmed infections; 2,497,100 deaths
Vaccination data & map >>

US (Map) 
February 24, 2022 - 78,731,000 confirmed infections; 942,000 deaths
February 25, 2021 - 28,335,000 confirmed infections; 505,850 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
February 24, 2022 - 3,662.100 confirmed infections; 98,868 deaths
February 25, 2021 - 1,507,450 confirmed infections; 49,525 deaths

News blues…

Despite predictions to the contrary, the US has not yet reached the 1 million and more dead from Covid-19. That good news indicates Omicron has been less fatal than Delta, although “nursing homes and other long term care facilities have lost a record number of residents and staff to COVID-19…

[Such numbers represent] about a quarter of all COVID deaths  in [the US].
Now, the industry is suffering through a historic staffing shortage, further exacerbated by omicron. Workers have quit in record numbers since the pandemic started. And during the worst of omicron many frontline staff had to stay home because of breakthrough infections.

Read or listen to “The pandemic pummeled long-term care” >> 

According to a recent statement from WHO,

The Omicron variant of concern is currently the dominant variant circulating globally, accounting for nearly all sequences reported to GISAID. Omicron is made up of several sublineages, each of them being monitored by WHO and partners. Of them, the most common ones are BA.1, BA.1.1 (or Nextstrain clade 21K) and BA.2 (or Nextstrain clade 21L). At a global level, the proportion of reported sequences designated BA.2 has been increasing relative to BA.1 in recent weeks, however the global circulation of all variants is reportedly declining.

Read WHO’s full statement on omicron sublineage BA.2 >>

Doh! Ivermectin fails another COVID trial as study links use to GOP politics >> 

***

The Lincoln Project:
Weakness  (1:24 mins)
Four decades living in the US indicated being a “commie” was about the worst kind of American. Not so anymore. Thanks to Trump, “Commies”, Putin, et al are “good”. Right wing Americans now beat the drums against “socialists”, the “woke”, and supporters of Black Lives Matter.
The Donald sews mayhem:
Trump loyalties  (1:30 mins)
And, where The Donald goes there goes Fox News: Fox loves Putin  (0:55 mins)
Last Week in the Republican Party - February 22, 2022  (2:20 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

As Midlands KZN copes with almost too much rain, California and the American West considers desalination as a cure to its lack-of-water woes >> 
According to GRID – Arendal,  the Number of wildfires will rise by 50% by 2100 and, surprise, governments are ill-prepared >> The organization,

calls on governments to adopt a new ‘Fire Ready Formula’, with two-thirds of spending devoted to planning, prevention, preparedness, and recovery, with one third left for response. Currently, direct responses to wildfires typically receive over half of related expenditures, while planning receives less than one per cent. To prevent fires, authors call for a combination of data and science-based monitoring systems with indigenous knowledge and for a stronger regional and international cooperation.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Almost finished recycling rusty patio furniture. It looks “good enough”; happily, I paid less than ZAR 300 (equivalent to about 20 Yankee Dollas) – plus sweat equity – to accomplish this feat. I placed a cushion on one of the refurbished chairs and thoroughly enjoy the peace, the cool late afternoon breeze, and the sounds of assorted birds.
Nothing I do in the DIY department is perfect, but I’m replete with good intentions and try my best. Many can do a more professional, more skilled job, but I wager our joyous sense of accomplishment is similar.

***

The area of KZN I occupy – semi-rural/sub-urban - is replete with social media. Today’s social media posted a warning from a local resident:

Take note: people stage minor accidents then demand compensation.
Between 9:30 and 9:45 my wife and I travelled in a westerly direction [and] suddenly heard a dull thud on the left side of my vehicle
I asked my wife, “What that was?”
We saw two males approaching the vehicle, at a fast pace. … I turned left at the robot and stopped outside the hospital.
The accomplice, in a very friendly manner, inquired whether my vehicle was damaged.
I replied, NO.
The second male was holding his right arm which he said was very sore.
I accompanied him to the clinic at the local hospital where the doctor suggested an X ray examination.
The X ray was returned, and the doctor found no fractures.
The patient received medication from the clinic. I signed and paid for doctor including the X ray, an amount of R850.
The sister in charge at casualty warned me that these type of accidents occur frequently. She said that [people] deliberately stage minor accidents and then demand money. She advised me to accompany the patient to the local police station where we’d both sign an affidavit agreeing that his injury was appropriately attended and that he had no further financial claim.
He, however, refused to sign this affidavit. He argued furiously with the police and was absolutely determined to be remunerated for the accident, regardless of the medical findings and expense incurred.
I reported the accident to the Howick police and signed an affidavit.

One more negative thing to look out for while in the world. 

Humans. 

Hard to live with ‘em, hard to live without ‘em….

More of the same

News blues

One hundred weeks and 700 days of posts tracking Covid-19. This count may not be statistically accurate as I flitted from southern to northern to southern hemispheres during this pandemic. It’s a pretty good approximation of the trajectory of the pandemic, from discovery of the virus, to the initial devastation it wrought, to the creation and manufacture of vaccines, to where we are today. On this note, a report finds that, for all its flaws, the Covid-19 vaccination rollout has been a historic win for humanity.>> 
Surrounded as I am by vax skeptics and misinformation, I’m totally grateful for science and scientists. (Yes, I understand science/scientists – and politicians, marketing experts, supporters of wars, even family members, etc. – can – and do - manipulate data to derive desired results. That’s life in the modern world. And I remain a fan of Covid vaccine.
On that note, here’s a guide to coronavirus and Covid-19 >> 

***

MeidasTouch 

Trump is guilty  (1:10 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

February 15, the White House unveiled a slew of policies aimed at overhauling the U.S. industrial sector  in order to reduce its planet-warming carbon pollution. Many of the policies have bipartisan backing—they were authorized in last year’s infrastructure bill.  These policies are a big deal because they could help solve one of decarbonization’s thorniest problems: how to make steel, concrete, chemicals, and other major industrial products in a zero-carbon way. These products typically rely on fossil fuels to generate intense heat or provide a raw-material input, which is part of why the industrial sector is responsible for more than 20 percent of global emissions.
However crucial these policies are for the planet, they are arguably even more important as a matter of political economy. They signal a profound and bipartisan change in how the federal government presides over the economy

Read “ The White House Is Going After One of Climate Change’s Thorniest Problems” >>

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

An ivermectin-skeptic, I found myself in a conversation with two fully-convinced-ivermectin-takers. One, a young funeral director, swallows ivermectin each week to ward off a second bout of Covid. (His first dose of Covid was life-threatening.) The other man is simply a full-on believer, just because…. In such conversations, I simply ask the question, “Why take an anti-bacterial medication for a viral disease?” and leave it at that. I’m curious about the responses, but I’m uninterested in going down the ivermectin rabbit hole, particularly as South Africa is chock-a-block with ivermectin swallowers. Two days after that conversation, another article stating, again, that according to the study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, the antiparasitic drug ivermectin doesn't prevent severe disease from Covid-19 any more effectively than symptom management and close observation by medical professionals. >> 
I thought, very briefly, of sending the study’s link to the ivermectin fans. But why bother? Belief in ivermectin falls, in my opinion, into the same ideology as Trump is the Best Human President in the World. I ain’t gonna change that mindset with logic or data. I’d rather shift dirt/soil uphill with a spade.
One more comment on South Africa’s conspiracy theorists. Recently, I enjoyed meeting up with two friends at a local coffee shop. The male of the couple has been vaccinated and always wears his mask. My friend, his wife, is a vax skeptic who dons her mask amid much muttering about mask-uselessness. During out conversation, she also informed me that “studies prove” many, many more Covid deaths have occurred amongst the vaccinated than the unvaccinated.
Hmmmm
My sheer incredulity that I’m actually hearing such drivel generally renders me speechless. The best response I can come up with in the moment is, “That’s not at all true and I don’t believe it.” Then I try to change the subject. The problem with my response? Conspiracy theorists expect this response. It is, after all, exactly their response to their facts: always suspect the “mainstream” narrative: “they” are just trying to “'take over'….”
Indeed, there are times when “the public” is offered convenient – and money saving - bundles of BS. I’ve not spent more than a decade on a community board dealing with the US military’s so called “clean-up” of toxic waste generated during it sojourn in my California town not to understand this. 

Discernment is key: work toward understanding with discernment.
Moreover, wearing masks and accepting vaccine is about more than one individual. It’s about our entire community of humans the world over. Thinking beyond one’s immediate nose and self-interest is a requirement for living in today’s world.

***

Last night was the first time in three weeks that I slept for more than seven hours. And I fell asleep as a crashing thunderstorm raged overhead. I chalk up this good sleep to good old fashioned hard physical labor.
Between regular bouts clearing the pool filter and repositioning the filter’s “creepy, yesterday’s labor included trimming overgrown hedges and plants with manual hedge clippers and raking the debris into piles for easy removal to the dump. I also spaded the garden’s dirt/soil level. This property slopes downhill and heavy rainfall shifts loose dirt/silt downhill. If I want a decent garden – and I do – then I must replace dirt/soil. A spade does the job, albeit a job tough on the human body. (Try pushing an old wheelbarrow packed with dirt uphill.) I unlocked old outside cabinets, cleared them of years-old debris, and piled that up for later removal to the dump. Serendipitously, I also rescued two Pool Kits that will allow me to test pool water for PH and acidity levels.
Today, Sunday? After last night’s thunderstorm, the day is clear, clean, and bright. And hot.
On today’s agenda? More of the same hard physical labor.
A mechanical hedge clipper sure sounds nice. Unfortunately, it’s a luxury I’m not sure I can afford. Then again, perhaps it is a luxury I cannot not afford. The questions: How resilient is my human body? Is my health and welfare not worth one stinky mechanical hedge clipper?
Hmmm.

***

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:44am
Sunset: 6:41pm

San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:52am
Sunset: 5:53pm

Short is sweet

News blues

American and wondering who’s paying for all that ivermectin? Well, you are. That is, insurers and taxpayers shelled out more than $130 million for a drug that doesn’t work.

Last August, author Kao-Ping Chua, an assistant professor of health management and policy at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, noticed an alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that noted a dramatic increase in ivermectin prescriptions during the pandemic. Before 2020, ivermectin prescription rates from US doctors were low—just a few thousand a week for parasitic diseases like scabies. Yet by the week ending August 13, 2021, as the Delta variant began to sweep the United States and ivermectin advocates proliferated, that number had skyrocketed to 88,000 prescriptions.
Chua recalls, “I thought to myself, I really hope insurance is not paying for that.”
No such luck. Chua’s team looked at an insurance database of 5 million patients with private insurance and 1.2 million with Medicare Advantage from December 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021. They identified about 5600 ivermectin prescriptions and found that private insurers paid 61 percent of the claims and Medicare Advantage paid 74 percent—roughly $36 and $39 respectively.

Read more >> 

***

The Lincoln Project: Gutless  (0:30 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Terrific photos of South Africa >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Walked later than usual yesterday, that time of day when people get off work and exercise their dogs. While not a dog owner, I was struck with how many people are. Indeed, at least half of the dog walkers walked two dogs – all on leash of course.

 Spectacular sunset...

(c) S. Galleymore

The day after...

News blues

Still mulling Ivermectin? Before embarking on any self-help regime, get the basic facts. For example, the difference between what’s bacteria and what’s virus is not inconsequential. Bacteria and viruses can live outside of the human body (for instance, on a countertop) sometimes for many hours or days. Parasites and bacteria, however, require a living host in order to survive, and both can usually be destroyed with antibiotics. Antibiotics cannot kill viruses. Coronavirus is, yes, a virus.
Ivermectin kills parasites/bacteria. Moreover, “scientific” reports on Ivermectin show that not all science is worth following. 

 How do you know what to believe? Keep an open mind, conduct research with discrimination, and practice discernment. These days, be skeptical.
Remember, no one ever promised you a rose garden  … (3:09 mins)

***

MeidasTouch: Trump in hiding  (0:30 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Inevitably, tens of millions of filthy, used medical gloves imported into the US: Trash bags stuffed full of used medical gloves, some visibly soiled, some even blood-stained, litter the floor of a warehouse on the outskirts of Bangkok.
But don’t only blame Bangkok. We in America do an excellent job of pretending discarded PPE miraculously disappear. We burn it . Or pretend we don’t know it’s there  . Or “recycle” it  ...
What so you so with your discarded PPE? What you do matters, too. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Apres le deluge… Call it a bomb cyclone, an atmospheric river, or a drenching storm, local news reports on areas hard hit (1:16 mins) More local news tells of heavy rain that resulted in serious flooding and debris flows across drought-stricken and wildfire-ravaged California and even breaking some all-time 24-hour precipitation records >> 
In my neighborhood, old oak and sycamore trees lining walkways near my apartment block my direct view of the park and beach. I donned my colorful polka dot gumboots and took to the pathways for a firsthand look.

Waterflow barometer: the pond is full to the rim

This short dam wall was completely exposed this time last week.

mo'tating mallards

This concrete "jetty" sat, dry, in sand and leaf debris just days ago

Polka dot gum boots indicated depth of water in a temporary pond 

Amazingly small amount of debris blown out of sycamores

Ditto: not much damage to elderly trees

Leaf debris sculpted by water

Category of critter

Week 76
Day 535, Thursday, September 9 - Category of critter

Well, the United State continues to lead the world in Covid infections. Amazing.
Worldwide (Map)
September 9, 2021 – 223,101,000 confirmed infections; 4,604,450 deaths 

September 3, 2020 – 26,940,000 confirmed infections; 861,870 deaths

US (Map)
September 9, 2021 – 40,601,000 confirmed infections; 654,600 deaths 

 September 3, 2020 – 6,114,000 confirmed infections; 185,710 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal)
September 9, 2021 – 2,843,100 confirmed infections; 84,327 deaths 
September 3, 2020 – 630,596 confirmed infections; 14,390 deaths 

News blues

Finally, some sanity during an insane time in the life of America. President Biden expands vaccine push with mandates for the private sector and announces sweeping vaccination and testing requirements for federal government workers, contractors and even private sector employees, as his administration works to fight the spreading coronavirus.
About time, Mr. Biden!

***

Hospitals in California’s Central Valley have been increasingly overwhelmed by the fourth surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, with officials scrambling to transfer some critically ill patients more than 100 miles away because local intensive care units are full.  

The San Joaquin Valley, the Sacramento area and rural Northern California are now the regions of the state being hit the hardest by COVID-19 hospitalizations on a per capita basis… The regions have lower vaccination rates than in the highly populated, coastal areas of Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.

My houseboat is moored in the San Joaquin River, part of this region. I’m grateful that I’m not living on my houseboat right now.

***

Seeking resources and information on Covid vaccines? Explore the CDC website  >>

***

The Lincoln Project
Sad  (0:56 mins)
Ivermectin  (1:25 mins)
Last Week in the Republican Party – (reprise)  (1:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

An important article with full excerpt from the National Geographic newsletter by By Victoria Jaggard, SCIENCE executive editor:

Since the beginning of the pandemic, scientists and government officials have gotten sage advice from a group of people who were already battling a massive threat to public health: climate scientists. From piles of sometimes contradictory evidence to rampant misinformation  to mind-boggling denials of established facts, the issues that have plagued COVID-19 researchers and policymakers are starkly like those that have influenced the climate crisis. The pandemic has also laid bare similar issues with equity, access to healthcare, intergovernmental squabbling, and reluctance to embrace solutions that might harm the bottom line. But while the state of things may seem bleak right now, we actually have a lot to celebrate with COVID-19, in part because the pandemic spurred people to act urgently and drove a lot of innovation. Now mRNA vaccines are not only keeping people out of hospitals, they hold potential for combating a host of other diseases. More people are saying they will embrace masks as an effective way to prevent respiratory illness beyond COVID-19. And governments and institutions are investigating ways to improve healthcare infrastructure.  So why can’t we learn a few things from COVID-19 to get serious about tackling climate change? That’s what the editors of more than 200 medical journals are asking this week in an article co-published across their pages. 

“Many governments met the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic with unprecedented funding. The environmental crisis demands a similar emergency response,” the editors write. And yes, they add, “the science is unequivocal” that climate change is a huge risk to public health. Extreme heat already threatens the health of about 30 percent of the world’s population, according to a 2017 study. Shifting climate zones mean that tropical diseases—many carried by my personal archnemeses, mosquitoes—are pushing into higher latitudes, threatening even more people with ailments such as dengue fever, malaria, Zika, and valley fever. Droughts are making crops harder to grow and less nutritious, while floods create stagnant waters that can carry all sorts of icky infectious agents. Heck, climate change has even been implicated in making seasonal allergies worse  

The global response to COVID-19 has not been perfect. But it has shown the world what’s possible when people come together with the resources and the willpower to overcome a deadly challenge. And as the journal authors write: “Despite the world’s necessary preoccupation with Covid-19, we cannot wait for the pandemic to pass to rapidly reduce emissions.” All our lives depend on it.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I still have not acclimated to my new life as a commuter, nor found a way to commute, work a full day, and come home regularly post on this blog.
I’m trying but it’s a learning curve.

***

Currently, people who are medically immunocompromised – suffering from illnesses associated with underperforming immune systems such as cancers, organ transplants, untreated HIV, and high dose steroid treatments – can receive a third dose of a Covid vaccine.
Naturally, people being people, many not suffering such illnesses arrive at the clinic and try to bulldoze their way into receiving this cautionary measure. One of my jobs is to try to explain to the latter category of people the difference between the third dose for the immunocompromised and “booster shots”. 

The simplest explanation? Booster shots are not yet available. 

I repeat the same information scores of times a day – while also performing my “real” duties. A part of me enjoys these glimpses into how the human mind works to bamboozle it’s way into getting third doses. Healthy people know they’re ineligible, but they’re willing to sign their names to Attestations and have false information entered into their medical records – in other words, create proof that they’re liars – simply to get a third dose of vaccine.
These people are the opposite of the people who’d rather take an anti-bacterial horse de-wormer – Ivermectin – than a human anti-viral vaccine.
Fascinating.
Humans. 

A hard to understand category of critter.

Vigil

News blues…

A potentially more transmissible variant of Covid-19 first identified in South Africa has now been confirmed in Maryland, US. The case involves an adult residing in the "Baltimore metro region" who hadn't left the country, indicating that there is "likely" community transmission of the variant. Contact tracing is now ongoing, according to a press release from Governor Hogan’s office. 

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Ivermectin. Antidote? Or the new hydroxychloroquine?

The black market in ivermectin has boomed after it was touted as a treatment for Covid-19, at the same time as being unregistered for human use in SA.
In a space of two weeks, six foreign nationals gave been arrested at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg for being in possession of suspected ivermectin tablets worth millions.
Police spokesperson Col Athlenda Mathe said the latest arrests were on Thursday when three people were found with ivermectin worth R5m.
The first suspect, a woman, had 178,200 tablets of the drug while the second suspect, also a woman, had 66,400 tablets. The man had 49,200 tablets.

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The Lincoln Project is gearing up to sue Rudy Giuliani for defamation after he falsely linked the organization to the storming of the Capitol. 
More on that with co-founder Steve Schmidt  (8:29 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Enjoy photos of our friends from the far north. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Today, I abbreviated my daily vigil at my mom’s bedside. Staff said she’d not eaten much breakfast, had enjoyed a stint in the Laziboy, and was very tired. I talked to her and petted her, but she didn’t stir.
I play CDs when I visit: Dean Martin, Nat King Cole… easy listening that will remind her of the good old days. 

My mom loved to dance, especially cha-cha. Cha cha music is too lively under the circumstances….