Eyewitness testimony

News blues

The following obviously is not Covid news. It’s a change from Covid news yet, while it addresses eyewitness testimony on UFOs, it can be taken in a wider context that is applicable to Covid, particularly Covid kitchen table vaccine “testimony”.
The quote comes from the e-book, “Letters from an Astrophysicist”, by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Think about it.
Sobering.

… eyewitness testimony is, by far, the weakest form of evidence that a person can present in support of a claim. In spite of its high value in the court of law, in the “court” of science, eyewitness testimony is essentially useless. Psychologists have known for quite some time how ineffective the human senses are as data taking devices. Note that the pedigree of the observer is irrelevant here—as long as he or she is human, the fallibility of observation is manifest. Note further that claims of a “cover-up” or “conspiracy” is the battle cry of people who want to believe, in the face of insufficient data to fully support their claims. Another well-known shortcoming of the human mind is what psychologists and philosophers call “argument from ignorance.” The NASA cases … come closest to category (4) above, since we have video of strange phenomena—video that we take to be generally reliable, reminding us again of what the “U” in UFO stands for. Once you confess to not knowing what you are looking at, no logical line of reasoning allows you to then declare that you know what you are looking at. And that includes assertions that the flying shapes “must be” intelligent, technologically advanced aliens from distant planets secretly observing the behavior of Earthlings. You simply bear insufficient evidence to make that jump, however tempting it may be. A similar argument from ignorance comes from the Big Bang. When I am asked what was around before the Big Bang, I say, “We do not yet know.”

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On war… and the culture war
With Opinions like the following what politician needs publicity? 

A scathing opinion on UK’s current PM by John Crace: “Half-witted, reckless Librium Liz may be even worse than May and Johnson”  >> 
Curios if Crace had ever opined on Donald J Trump, former (current but ‘cheated’?) president, I consult Dr Google and discover:
Trump's stream of subconsciousness becomes a torrent in car-crash interview >> 

and
Yes, it's me, President Trump, visiting some third-world hellhole >> 
Ah, yes. Classic Crace. He does not disappoint.

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The Lincoln Project:
Regret  (1:00 mins)
Ginnie Smile (0:19 mins)
D J Trump – Wilmington remix (0:45 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Zapiro.com

Why, with Eskom just one of South Africa's myriad catastrophic failures looking for solutions would anyone want to take on “running” South Africa, other than continue the deadly “running into the ground”?
Well, there is a not nice but honest answer.
Money. Lots of money, directly into a politician’s pocket.
Here’s Pew Research ’s view in 2016 >> 
And, today
“Biggest Voting Block in South Africa’s ANC Backs Ex-Health Minister to Lead Party” (Mkhize faces disqualification if charged [of corruption] before conference >>  

Then Health Minister Mkize, you may recall, was "put on special leave… after allegations his department irregularly awarded COVID-19-related contracts to a communications company controlled by his former associates.” 
In other words, the ANC proposes a way-more-intelligent-than-Zuma but also corrupt official as the next president of SA.
Corruption, all the way down. 

Way to go, ANC!

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Circling back to Eskom, above pic from my iPhone shows one of many similar examples of what South Africans are served up by Eskom’s app, EskomSepush, each day these days.
Darkness, literal and metaphoric, all the way down.

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SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:04am
Sunset: 6:53pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:39am
Sunset: 6:00pm

To bee and butterfly...

News blues

When is the pandemic “over”? In the early days of 2020, we envisioned it ending with the novel coronavirus going away entirely. When this became impossible, we hoped instead for elimination: If enough people got vaccinated, herd immunity might largely stop the virus from spreading. When this too became impossible, we accepted that the virus would still circulate but imagined that it could become, optimistically, like one of the four coronaviruses that cause common colds or, pessimistically, like something more severe, akin to the flu.
Instead, COVID has settled into something far worse than the flu.

Read more >> 

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On war and the culture war
Let’s hear it for critical thinking and more with astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson  (16:46 mins)

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The Lincoln Project:
With age come wisdom (1:40 mins)
Was it worth it, JD? (0:23 mins)
Flip flop Lindsey  (0:17 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - September 20, 2022  (2:08 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Small and successful start to support butterflies and bees in UK and Europe. (Now to convince the US….)

Butterflies and bees are getting their own transport network as “bee bus stops” start to pop up around UK cities and across Europe. Humble bus shelter roofs are being turned into riots of colour, with the number of miniature gardens – full of pollinator-friendly flora such as wild strawberries, poppies and pansies – set to increase by 50% in the UK by the end of this year.

Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Mary gets stronger each day since her first chemo session. Moreover, she’s expressing her need to take time alone to sit on and enjoy sunset on the beach. The sunsets this time of year are glorious. I know she chants the vajra guru mantra while out there. (I chant it when I’m out there, too.)

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SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 6:59am
Sunset: 7:02pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:46am
Sunset: 5:56pm