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 >> 

***

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

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

Yet another?

News blues

Ten billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, according to , according to the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford, 

…[this] milestone reflects the astonishing speed with which governments and drug companies have mobilized, allowing many nations to envision a near future in which their people coexist with the virus but aren’t confined by it.
The milestone… has not been arrived at equitably, even though 10 billion doses could theoretically have meant at least one shot for all of the world’s 7.9 billion people.
In the wealthiest countries, 77 percent of people have received at least one dose, whereas in low-income countries the figure is less than 10 percent. As North America and Europe race to overcome Omicron surges by offering boosters, with some nations even contemplating a fourth shot, more than one-third of the world’s people, many of them in Africa and poor pockets of Asia, are still waiting for a first dose. The United States has administered five times as many extra shots — about 85 million — as the total number of doses administered.

Read more >> 
Alas, vaccine and vaccinations follow new variants. Are we in for yet another round of mutated variant?

It's officially called "omicron BA.2," and this week scientists detected cases of it in several U.S. states, including California, Texas and Washington.
Although BA.2 is currently rare in the U.S., scientists expect it to spread in the country over the next month. There's growing evidence that it's just as contagious as — or possibly a bit more contagious than — the first omicron variant, called "omicron BA.1."
… Back in November, when scientists in South Africa and Botswana discovered omicron, they didn't find just one version. They found three, called BA.1, BA.2 and BA.3 by the Phylogenetic Assignment of Named Global Outbreak Lineages at the University of Edinburgh.
… Over the past several weeks, omicron BA.2 has begun to surprise scientists. And it's starting to look like it can, in some countries, outcompete its sibling omicron BA.1 — and, really, any other variants.

Read “A second version of omicron is spreading. Here's why scientists are on alert” >> 

Healthy planet, anyone?

Last September, pushed by students, Harvard University stopped investing in fossil fuel companies and did not renew their investments – an endowment totaling $53 billion – in the energy sector. This was biggest win yet for the climate divestment movement that applied a popular anti-apartheid activist tactic to get colleges, banks, charitable foundations, and religious organizations to stop funding oil and gas firms.

Yet… there’s now an institutional backlash…. the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — a Koch-linked nonprofit that helps state legislators craft right-wing policy—is writing model bills to protect fossil fuel investments, in essence making divestments like Harvard’s illegal. Their framework prohibits “discrimination” against fossil fuel companies by requiring state treasurers and comptrollers to withdraw government funds from banks, insurance companies, pension funds, and other financial institutions that “boycott” investing in oil and gas firms. …
[N]umerous institutions have already successfully disinvested in fossil fuels – up to $40 trillion from the industry’s reach so far. But if ALEC has its way, with the support of sympathetic red states and conservative legal scholars, it could strike a blow to one of the climate movement’s most effective tools.

Read an interview with Connor Chung, a Harvard Class of 2023 student who has been closely involved with Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard >> 

More good news (for reg’lar folks  promoting healthy living for a healthy planet): Federal judge Rudolph Contreras, US District Court for the District of Columbia, invalidated a massive oil and gas lease for 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico. He ruled the lease sale was invalid because the Department of Interior's analysis did not fully take into account the climate impacts of the leases.
Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Way back in the day, I spent several weeks living on the beach in a makeshift plastic tent on the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat. Back then, Sharm el-Sheikh housed nothing but a small dome-shaped dive shack. And a small cave where I spent my “honeymoon” with my new husband – and a hungry rat. (The rat came out at night to rummage through our backpacks for food while we slept outside under the amazing night sky and Milky Way.)
Back then, Sharm supported about half a dozen visitors at any one time. These days, Sharm el-Sheikh is an Egyptian beach resort town  with a population of 73,000.
Why am I riffing on the past?

Today’s view from the beach – looking southwest across the bay towards South San Francisco at low, low tide – reminded me of sitting on the beach at Dahab and looking towards Jordan and of sitting on the reef at Sharm and looking across the Gulf towards Saudi Arabia.

 

Good times.

Here we are...

Here we are, more than 400 days into a pandemic. Who knew, back in June last year, we’d still be locked down?
The mind-boggling numbers back then: 

• June 25, 2020 - worldwide: 9,409,000 confirmed infections; 482,190 deaths
  June 19, 2020 - worldwide: 8,489,000 confirmed infections; 454,007 deaths
• June 25, 2020 - US: 2,381,540 infections; 121,980 deaths
  June 19, 2020 - US: 2,191,100 confirmed infections; 118,435 deaths
• June 25, 2020 - SA: 111,800 confirmed infections; 2,205 deaths
  June 19, 2020 - SA: 83,890 confirmed infections; 1,737 deaths

Predictions were dire back on 20 May, 2020…  

Today's numbers:
Worldwide (Map) 
May 13, 2021 – 160,450,550 confirmed infections; 3,331,300 deaths
   Vaccine doses administered: 1,357,850,000
April 29, 2021 – 149,206,600 confirmed infections; 3,146,300 deaths

US (Map) 
May 13, 2021 – 32,814,500 confirmed infections; 583,700 deaths
April 29, 2021 – 32,229,350 confirmed infections; 574,350 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
May 13, 2021 – 1,602,100 confirmed infections; 54,970 deaths
April 29, 2021 – 1,578,500 confirmed infections; 54,290 deaths

• Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 
• South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information… 

The Our World in Data COVID Vaccination dataset has been published in the academic journal, Nature 

News blues

Herd immunity” is achieved when a large enough portion of a community becomes immune to a disease (either through natural infection or vaccination) that there’s nowhere left for the virus to spread. There may still be small outbreaks, but they would be contained. (That’s different than eradicating the disease altogether, which has only ever been done twice in global history, with smallpox and rinderpest, a bovine disease that decimated southern Africa’s cattle from 1896 through 1899.) So, is coronavirus here to stay? What to know… 

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India, already reeling from Covid shows signs of yet more trauma, this time a deadly fungus:

A rare black fungus that invades the brain is being increasingly seen in vulnerable patients in India, including those with Covid-19, as the health system continues to struggle in the midst of the pandemic.
…The fungus, called mucormycosis, “is very serious, has a high mortality, and you need surgery and lots of drugs to get on top of it once it takes hold”, said Prof Peter Collignon, who sits on the World Health Organization’s expert committee on antibiotic resistance and infectious diseases.
The disease is caused by a group of moulds, called mucormycetes, that live throughout the environment including in soil and on plants. Mucormycosis is seen throughout the world, including in the US and Australia. It can be acquired in hospitals – most commonly by vulnerable transplant patients – when the moulds get on hospital linens, travel through ventilation systems, or are transmitted on adhesives.
“They’re a family of fungus that gets into your sinuses and deposit there, and they can get into the air spaces in your head,” Collignon said.

Read “What is the deadly ‘black fungus’ seen in Covid patients in India?” >> 

***

The glory of humor in dire times: an interview with Gary Trudeau of the cartoon, Doonesbury  (4:17 mins)
The Lincoln Project:

• Whaaat? On oldie but goodie? McConnell denounces Trump  (1;21 mins)
• Stefanik  (1:21 mins)

And, a clip from “our own” – SA’s Trevor Noah and The Daily Show: “a brutal look back at the life and times of Ted Cruz, ‘The Booger on the Lip of Democracy’”  (9:15 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Guardian News series on our disappearing glaciers

• Melting ice reveals first world war relics in Italian Alps. Accelerating retreat of glaciers in Lombardy and Trentino Alto-Aldige reveals preserved history of ‘White War’ 
• Glacial lakes threaten millions with flooding as planet heats up 
• Receding glaciers causing rivers to suddenly disappear. Global phenomenon known as river piracy demands urgent adaptation from ecosystems and people who rely on their flow 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

If only I could chill! I hoped that pressure of trying to sell my mother’s house would diminish after we/I took it off the market for the interim. Alas, it turns out cultural norms in this country still have the power to reduce me to a quivering mass of anger.
Preface to what I’m about to relate: After living in California for about a decade, I returned to college to earn under- and graduate degrees. By then, I’d experienced many bouts of culture shock and, paying attention to what I’d learned, I wrote my undergraduate thesis on that topic. I worked on graduate level studies of cultural shock as an adult learning experience. It was a wonderful, fascinating and very enlightening course of study that continues to serve me every day of my life … 

But “knowing” what one is experiences only helps reduce – not extinguish – the negative sides of an experience.
I’ve complained about South African small businesspeople not showing up anywhere near the agreed upon day, and/or not showing up at all. I remind myself that, after decades in the US, I’ve taken on that culture’s view of time: linear, with a definitive beginning and end, and limited in supply. Working as a project manager made me especially attuned to “on time and on budget” focus on milestones and deadlines…
The US can be described as a monochronic culture that values orderliness and agrees that there’s appropriate time and place for everything. Most Americans hold the belief that “time is money” and do not value interruptions.
South Africa, I realize, is a polychronic culture that perceives time as cyclical and endless, a go with the “flow” attitude in which time-based schedule are followed loosely – if at all - and changes or interruptions are viewed as a normal part of the routine.
Here, it’s known as “African time” – and, if I don’t catch myself, it drives me crazy. That’s when I remind myself: “only 2 more weeks”… then I’m back to California, my family, my houseboat, and summer….

***

Getting darker here…
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 16: sunrise 5:59am; sunset 6:13pm.
March 29: sunrise 6:07am; sunset 5:58pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 15: sunrise 6:18am; sunset 5:39pm.
April 25: sunrise 6:23am; sunset 5:30pm.
May 1: sunrise 6:27am; sunset 5:24pm.
May 3: sunrise 6:29am; sunset 5:22pm.
May 10: sunrise 6:33am; sunset 5:17pm.
May 13: sunrise 6:35am; sunset 5:15pm.

Fly me to SFO…

News blues

First batch of Pfizer vaccine arrives in South Africa

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Tracking Covid-19:

• Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 
• South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information… 

***

Recent political ad from MeidasTouch: Voices  (1:15 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

© Our World in Data 

Most of the plastic in our oceans comes from land-based sources: by weight, 70 percent to 80 percent is plastic that is transported from land to the sea via rivers or coastlines. The other 20 percent to 30 percent comes from marine sources such as fishing nets, lines, ropes, and abandoned vessels.

…higher-resolution modeling of global riverine plastics… found that rivers emitted around 1 million tonnes of plastics into the oceans in 2015 (with an uncertainty ranging from 0.8 to 2.7 million tonnes). Around one-third of the 100,000 river outlets that they modeled contributed to this. The other two-thirds emitted almost no plastic to the ocean. It’s an important point because we might think that most, if not all, rivers are contributing to the problem. This is not the case.
But, importantly, the latest research suggests that smaller rivers play a much larger role than previously thought. In this chart 

(c) Meijer et al

we see the comparison of the latest research (in red) with the two earlier studies which mapped global riverine inputs. This chart shows how many of the top-emitting rivers (on the x-axis) make up a given percentage of plastic inputs (y-axis). Note that the number of rivers on the x-axis is given on a logarithmic scale.
… the latest research suggests that the top ten emitting rivers contribute a much smaller amount than previously thought: just 18% of plastics compared to 56% and 91% from previous studies. And to account for 80% of river plastics we need to include the top 1,656 rivers. This compares to previous studies which suggested the largest five or 162 rivers were responsible for 80%.
This makes a massive difference to how we tackle plastic pollution. If five rivers were responsible for most of the problem then we should focus the majority of our efforts there. A targeted approach. But if this comprises thousands of rivers we’re going to need to cast a much wider net of mitigation efforts.

Read “Where does the plastics in our oceans come from?” >> 
The Ocean Cleanup Project’s beautiful interactive map encourages you to explore plastic inputs from each of the world’s rivers.
Very interesting data. Most interesting to me? Given its consumer-orientation, the US and US rivers are, by far, not emitters of plastics via rivers.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I did it! I booked tickets to return to San Francisco Bay Area. I’m going home!
Listen to oldies on this happy topic:

• Going mobile  (3:36 mins)
• I got a ticket to ride  (3 2:55 mins)
• Coming into Los Angeles  (3:03 mins)
• Fly like an eagle  (3:15 mins)
• I believe I can fly  (5:30 mins)
• Learning to fly  (4:22 mins)

My plan after I land in SFO? 

Head to my daughter’s place to hole up for the night. Next day, go for the first appointment of two for the Pfizer vaccinations. My daughter will make the appointment for me before I arrive.
After that, still wearing face shield and mask, I'll head to the BART train station nearest the friend who has kept my vehicle in good shape during my absence.
Among the first to have received the two-step Pfizer vaccination, this friend has made clear that – until I’ve had both vaccinations - I’m not invited to stay in his home. He plans to shop for and place essential groceries in my van and, maintaining needed social distance at the train station, point out the location of my vehicle so I can drive to my houseboat.

***

The grim humor of flying commercial in South Africa? Airlines carrying travelers on the short, one hour flight to Johannesburg offer insurance to “Receive a full refund of airfare and taxes if the airline you are flying with is liquidated prior to departure.”
This is the reality of political corruption and the results of politicians draining the country’s coffers, particularly SOEs - State-owned Enterprises - of vitally needed funds in a country with 55.75 percent unemployed and largely uneducated youth.
Recent stories of endemic corruption in South Africa: "Millions Out, Billions In (Part One): Businessman Thulani Majola’s investment in ANC and EFF kept everyone sweet "  
Even as the Zondo commission warns, “ANC must confront 'painful truths' about its non-response to state capture…”  news regularly breaks about of Eskom’s ongoing corruption. I’ve railed about Eskom in this blog. It’s the SOE that regularly imposes “load shedding” – power outages - even as it seeks to raise the cost of electricity. The latest, “Power utility’s R178 000 000 000 dodgy tender tsunami.” 
Cry, the beloved country?

***

Longer nights, shorter days.…
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 29: sunrise 6:07am; sunset 5:58pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 15: sunrise 6:18am; sunset 5:39pm.
April 25: sunrise 6:23am; sunset 5:30pm.
May 1: sunrise 6:27am; sunset 5:24pm.
May 3: sunrise 6:29am; sunset 5:22pm.

Earth Day

Mission Blue calls for ocean-loving volunteers
to dive into the Great Reef Census 

 “The world is blue, if you look at it from space that image alone should inspire us to think that we too are sea creatures.” Dr Sylvia Earle, Mission Blue 

 Mission Blue: Igniting public support for a global network of marine protected areas... 

***

And...  back to Covid… today’s Covid-19 stats compared to six months ago...

Worldwide (Map) 
April 22, 2021 – 143,503,705 confirmed infections; 3,056,000 deaths
November 26, 2020 – 60,334,000 confirmed infections; 1,420,500 deaths

US (Map) 
April 22, 2021 – 31,862,100 confirmed infections; 569,500 deaths
November 26, 2020 – 12,771,000 confirmed infections; 262,145 deaths

SA (Tracker) 
April 22, 2021 – 1,568,500 confirmed infections; 53,900 deaths
November 26, 2020 – 775,510 confirmed infections; 21,2010 deaths

Down memory lane with a post from one year ago - April 23, 2020: Try it; what have you got to lose? 

Tracking Covid-19:

• Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 
• South African experts to follow for up-to-date and accurate Covid information… 

News blues

Forty top world leaders gather online for the first big climate confab since 2019. From an American point of view, five key policies and political dynamics to watch:
    1. New U.S. emissions target
    2. China and the U.S.
    3. Brazil
    4. Big Money Pledges
    5. Intellectual property rights
Read the article >> 

***

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing in Geneva on Monday that, for eight consecutive weeks, Covid-19 infections are rising at an alarming rate and that more than 5.2 million new cases of Covid-19 were recorded last week - the most in a single week since the pandemic began. Tedros warned that the pace of the pandemic is accelerating, even as some countries tout their own improved vaccination programs. 

***

India: According to a CNN tally of figures from the Indian Ministry of Health, India reported 295,041 cases of coronavirus and 2,023 deaths Wednesday, its highest rise in cases and highest death increase recorded in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic.

Healthcare and other essential services across India are close to collapse as a second coronavirus wave that started in mid-March tears through the country with devastating speed.
Graveyards are running out of space, hospitals are turning away patients, and desperate families are pleading for help on social media for beds and medicine.
"The volume is humongous," said Jalil Parkar, a senior pulmonary consultant at the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, which had to convert its lobby into an additional Covid ward. "It's just like a tsunami."
"Things are out of control," said Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in New Delhi.
"There's no oxygen. A hospital bed is hard to find. It's impossible to get a test. You have to wait over a week. And pretty much every system that could break down in the health care system has broken down….” 

***

Iraq has just topped 1 million Covid-19 cases for the first time after setting the highest single-day record with 8,696 new cases announced on Wednesday, according to the daily health ministry report.
The ministry also recorded at least 38 Covid-19 related deaths on Wednesday, bringing the country’s total recorded death toll to 15,098.
There are currently 109,447 Covid-19 patients hospitalized across the county, with 517 cases in ICUs.
Iraq started its Covid-19 vaccine rollout on March 27, with 300,000 people having been vaccinated since — less than 1% of the nation’s total population of 40,150,000.
The Iraqi government eased lockdown restrictions last month, saying the country faced serious economic challenges.

***

Brazil: The coronavirus has killed an estimated 1,300 babies in Brazil since the beginning of the pandemic, even though there's overwhelming evidence that Covid-19 rarely kills young children.
While data from the Health Ministry suggest that over 800 children under age 9 have died of Covid-19, including about 500 babies, experts say the real death toll is higher because cases are underreported because of a lack of widespread coronavirus testing, according to the BBC, which first reported the story. 

***

The Lincoln Project:
An Idea Called America  (0:55 mins)
Truthless (0:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

(c) Our World in Data’s Biodiversity

A diverse range of mammals once roamed the planet. Since the rise of humans, wild mammal biomass has declined by 85%. Our history with them has been a zero-sum game: we either hunted them or destroyed their habitats with the expansion of agricultural lands.
But, for the first time in human history, we have the opportunity to turn this into a net-sum game: we can produce enough food from a smaller land area, making it possible for them to flourish again. Our World in Data’s Biodiversity research  looks at the long-term decline of wild mammals.

***

Environmental Documentary "Current Sea" explores the illegal fishing trade (trawling) in Cambodia and the individuals who risk it all to intervene. The film follows the story of ocean activist and Kep Archipelago Hope Spot Champion Paul Ferber, and investigative journalist, Matt Blomberg, in their dangerous efforts to create a marine conservation area and combat the relentless tide of illegal fishing.
Coming soon… meanwhile, watch the promo clip. 
The film can be watched in hundreds of countries via Amazon Prime/Amazon,  iTunes and Google Play and is subtitled in 8 languages.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

It is wonderful to host my daughter here, albeit for too short a time (she departs on Wednesday next week).
She helps me understand how stressed – and angry – I am these days, and how short is my fuse. (Anger, frustration, and isolation are – I guess – hallmarks of life under Covid for a re-pat (repatriating) with a “troubled” extended family….)

My daughter does not pooh-pooh, under-estimate, or undermine how much I’ve tried to ameliorate the difficulties my mother faces nor under-estimate how much resistance I face. What a treat!
She’s great company and has a good sense of humor.
In my daughter’s company, whole half-hours, even hours, pass when I don’t think of the 1.5 years spent away from my California home, 1.5 years lost income, 1.5 years of not seeing family and friends….
Moreover, my daughter is fascinated by tasks I never thought anyone (besides me) would have to complete. For example, now that that Chana – Chinese designed and built pick-up truck – is repaired, my daughter intends to help me load that vehicle with metal items and drive them to the scrap yard. She’s also looking forward to driving a load of unusable items – aka “junk” - to the local dump, or “landfill” as it is known around here. Landfills a la South Africa are often located in former lovely valleys commandeered to filled to the brim and higher with rubbish. Landfills are frequented by “rag pickers,” self-employed workers who glean what they can from the debris, clean, repair, and sell it. The rag-picking life is tough, but people here are happy to have the work and the opportunity to make a small living at trolling through the castoffs of other, more materially advantaged people.

***

We went zip lining in the Karkloof canopy:

A view of the Karkloof from a high platform in the canopy.
(click to enlarge)

The zip line mystery: who will appear through the virgin foliage?
(click to enlarge)

 

Poster of the different indigenous trees found in the Karkloof canopy.
(click to enlarge and read)

We also saw a solitary Samango monkey. Alas, my Canon camera choose that moment to disobey my finger pressure on the shutter. Alas, I took no photo of the rare primate, but Google to the rescue

Here I am, zip lining onto a platform.

***

Getting even darker here…
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 29: sunrise 6:07am; sunset 5:58pm.
April 1: sunrise 6:09am; sunset 5:54pm.
April 14: sunrise 6:14am; sunset 5:43pm.
April 22: sunrise 6:22am; sunset 5:32pm.

One year of Covid

© Mike Lukovich

News blues…

What’s up with them crazy ‘Mericans, anyway?

According to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Kansas... the 24 counties with mandatory mask mandates saw an overall decrease in COVID-19 cases, while the 81 counties that opted out of the mask mandate continued to see increases in cases.

Today, despite warnings from experts across the nation, the trend is for “red states” (predominantly Republican-dominated states), always resistant to mask-wearing, push against continuing mask mandates.
Dr Fauci’s warning on governors deciding to ease coronavirus restrictions, even completely lifting mask mandates, amid the pandemic. (3:35 mins)

***

In South Africa, after a year of Covid, some sobering and not-so-sombre facts on the pandemic:

• The first Covid-19 case was recorded on March 5 2020. The patient was a 38-year-old male who had travelled to Italy with his wife as part of a group of 10 people who had arrived in the country four days earlier.
• On March 28, the health ministry announced the first Covid-related death. On January 13 2021 the country recorded its highest death toll in a single day - clocking in 806 new Covid-19 related deaths in 24 hours.

More facts on this topic. 

South Africa’s year of Covid in pictures 

***

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

Healthy planet, anyone?

(c) Our World in Data

Disclaimer:

I spent my adolescence, teenage years, and early adulthood, first, as a fruitarian then as a vegetarian. Oddly, when in South Africa, I occasionally eat chicken and, about once every two months or more infrequently, lamb chops. This year, under lockdown, I’ve eaten more lamb chops – about 8 - than I’ve ever eaten in my life.
I never eat pork. (A favorite childhood activity was watching – “helping” – staff clean then butcher and segment pigs grown and slaughtered on “the farm.” I was fascinated by the view of pigs’ interiors but eat them? No way..)
I seldom eat beef and, when I do, it’s usually while in South Africa.
Seldom eating meat presents an opportunity to notice the impact meat has on digestive system and my wellbeing when I do eat it.
I do not suffer digestive maladies. I notice a meat-based meal staves off hunger longer than a plant/cereal-based meal.
For me, an occasional meat-based meal likely is positive for my overall health. (Feel free to disagree. Healthy disagreement fosters enlightenment.)

 
With that disclaimer out of the way, Our World in Data presents fascinating information on the impacts, real and potential, of how adopting a plant-based diet could reduce global agricultural land use – from 4 billion to 1 billion hectares  (a size comparable to the entire United States and Brazil).
If you are a regular meat eater, how would you feel about adopting a predominantly plant/cereal-based diet?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

As of today, all, even the wishy-washy, property deals concerning the sale of my mother’s house are off the table. I’m back at square one.
It is worrisome, particularly as my mother’s care expenses have escalated alarmingly over the last weeks: health insurance increased by more than R1,500/ month; Care Center rate increased by more than R3,500/ month. Running two households on one fixed income is no longer feasible.
I continue to seek advice from an assortment of professionals: other care providers, realtors, lawyers, and, today, I meet with my mother’s financial advisor.

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A good day to obsess about the sun’s trajectory as autumn/”fall” approaches:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
Feb 27: sunrise 5:48am; sunset 6:32pm.
Feb 28: sunrise 5:49am; sunset 6:31pm.
March 1: data missing due to failed battery on my iPhone 6SE. (Curse you, Apple! LOL!) March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 3: sunrise 5:51am; sunset 6:28pm.
March 4: sunrise 5:52am; sunset 6:26pm.