Lockdown disorientation

Ah, the joys of lockdown. Forty-eight, going on 49, weeks.

Somehow, amid the ongoing monotony of lockdown, I lost track of days and dates. Yesterday’s post assumed it was Sunday. But it was Monday… evidenced by the gardener’s appearance to garden. After all, why would he show up to work on Sunday?
Every day, for 334 days (and counting) I’ve posted something about macro and micro aspects of the pandemic that concern this human:

• a beautiful and bountiful planet poorly managed by capitalist thinking (use it all up, suck out the wealth, ensure ROI - return on investment),
• a pandemic that, essentially, is the result of capitalist thinking shrinking and toxifying the wild places and stressing the world’s creatures,
• and the resultant zoonosis.

For 334 days,  I’ve posted about aspects of my small, personal life amid a global crisis.
How much longer can this continue?
(Impressive, indomitable Dr Fauci suggests that “we” - those of us who actually wear masks - might still be wearing them in 2022.)
Famous pirate, Long John Silver, puts things in perspective: “shiver me timbers…”

News blues…

More than half a million Americans – confirmed - dead of coronavirus.

The milestone [and magnitude] based on a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html , came just over a month after the nation's death toll passed 400,000 and as public health officials train their sights on new, more contagious coronavirus strains that have been reported in almost every state and threaten to tax already stressed local health systems.

***

Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

***

Let’s remember how We the People got to the current toll of half a million Covid-19 deaths: 

The big lie propagated by former President Donald Trump, involving the coronavirus pandemic systematically downplayed the severity of Covid-19 and the utility of face masks. It very likely resulted in the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
To understand the genesis of this lie, remember that the coronavirus arrived in an election year. Despite a rancorous initial three years punctuated with an impeachment, the former president's path to reelection was bolstered by one unimpeachable accomplishment: a robust economy. The coronavirus threatened that. The resulting interplay between politics and the pandemic created an irresolvable conflict that influenced the Trump administration's coronavirus response for the remainder of his term. 

***

The Lincoln Project is back – at least temporarily. Let’s enjoy their humor while we still can:
Book your Mexican Getaway Now!  (1:55 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

A slight modification of Benjamin Franklin reported words, “A Republic, if We Can Keep It”: a bountiful planet, if we work at keeping it….

Health means many things to many people. Often it means an absence of illness, but to the World Health Organization (WHO), health does not just mean freedom from illness, but a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. This concept of well-being became translated into the language of biodiversity in a significant way through the work of the Millennium Assessment. 

***

Learn about GLEWS - Global Early Warning System - for health threats and emerging risks at the human–animal–ecosystems interface. The Joint FAO–OIE–WHO project to inform prevention and control measures, through the rapid detection and risk assessment of health threats and events of potential concern at the human-animal-ecosystems interface.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Trying to sell a house during a pandemic is bad. Trying to sell a house during a pandemic in South Africa is worse. Trying to sell a house during a pandemic to South Africans is a nightmare.
I’ve shared many bleak observations about South African tradespeople who make appointments then never show up, never warn that they’ll not show up, and never apologize for either.
Similar thing happens with home buyers. They make appointment to show up at an agreed upon time then, at the last minute, change their minds and make a different appointment time.
If I had nothing else to do but sit around sipping sundowner cocktails, perhaps I’d be more understanding.
Instead, last minute changes of mind based on apparent whim force me to reset my own appointments - and appear to disrespect someone else’s schedule.
It’s madding for someone with control freak tendencies who has lived for decades in the “time is money” US to appear as flaky as other South Africans.
It’s a live and learn world….

Eyes on POTUS

POTUS in San Francisco -
and no one can find him! 

Orange on orange. Oh no! The president visited San Francisco to offer aid and maybe make fun of the Democrat politicians running the state a little bit. But as soon as he stepped off Air Force One, Secret Service lost their visual on him, his soft, persimmon-hued skin blending in perfectly with the fiery hellscape around him. 

"Anyone got eyes on POTUS?" a frantic Secret Service agent shouted into his radio. "We've lost him! Repeat, we've lost him!" 

President Trump was completely invisible from the moment he arrived. 

News blues…

Level 1 anyone?

Just as spring is in the air, so too is the anticipation for further relaxation of lockdown regulations with a move to the risk-adjusted level 1 expected soon.
With the National State of Disaster for Covid-19 extended by a month on Thursday, expectations are for President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the nation in the coming days. 

***

The excuses Republicans, Trumpies, and Republican propaganda trumpeting machine Fox News’ maintain for Trump not arming Americans with the truth to fight Covid-19? “The fog of war.” An “epidemiological Pearl Harbor.” Oh, and Dr Fauci. And China (“Chayna!”) More excuses to come. Brace yourself…. 
Nevertheless, a real question remains: Why did Bob Woodward sit for so long on the audio tapes of Trump’s interviews? Was it, like John Bolton, to sell his book? Or because he’s a journalist embargoing information, including journalistic ethics to protect sources? If so, does that apply to current circumstance? Isn’t there an over-riding responsibility to the people of the world?

***

Science Writer at The Atlantic, Ed Yong’s August 2020 article, “How the Pandemic Defeated America: A virus has brought the world’s most powerful country to its knees.” 
Ed Yong interviewed on MSNBC, discussing the American response to COVID-19.  (2:04 mins)

***

Cross cultural political ads. Political ads are not confined to the US election. South Africa creates fine political commentary, too. Meet The Kiffness  (4:25 mins)
Another Kiffness product, off topic on the pandemic but timely.
Julius Malema (Jerusalema Parody)  (1:52 mins)
Background: Economic Freedom Front (EFF) frontman Julius Malema took offense at an advertisement published by Clicks. (Clicks is similar to US’s Longs or CVS chain of stores.) The ad shows “dull and damaged” and “frizzy and dull” over images of black women with “normal” and “fine and flat” used over images of white women. Describing the ad “insensitive and offensive,” EFF organized a violent invasion of Clicks stores.
“Mzansi” is a colloquial name for South Africa and also refers to aspects of South African arts, culture and leisure, etc. 

RVAT: Hardcore Conservative: Now Voting for Biden  (3:58 mins)
Young Business Owner: Flipping from Trump to Biden  (4:45 mins)
113 Reasons REPUBLICANS Aren't Voting for Trump in 2020  (11:25 mins)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Another trip to the local city to recycle wine bottles I couldn’t recycle last week due to Lockdown’s rules about alcohol consumption.
Another day to try – gently – to persuade my mother to attend to what she wants to pack. Diplomacy is not easy.
Stressful week ahead.

White House: Home of the Whopper

By January 2020, Donald J Trump had made 16,241 verifiably false or misleading claims. With the pandemic offering him the opportunity to outdo his own record of whoppers, he’s excelling (for once).
A sampler of his recent whoppers:

• Maximum Of 60,000 Deaths

During a White House briefing March 29 in the Rose Garden, Trump referenced modeling that found there could be between 1.6 million and 2.2 million fatalities in the U.S. if no containment measures were taken.
“If we could hold that down … so we have between 100 and 200,000, we all together have done a very good job.”
Trump moved the target again last week, predicting a maximum of 60,000 Americans would fall victim to the disease … “We did the right thing, because if we didn’t do it you would have had a million people, a million and a half people, maybe 2 million people dead… Now, we’re going toward 50, I’m hearing, or 60,000 people.”

(May 3, US death toll is more than 65,000.)

• ‘We’ve Tested More Than Every Country Combined.’

A shortage of COVID-19 tests [is]… ultimately costing the health care system precious time. … Trump declared that “anybody that needs a test gets a test.” Dr. Anthony Fauci… contradicted the president…describing “the lack of available tests as an ongoing failure.”
Trump also promised “…individuals to be able to drive up and be swabbed without having to leave your car.” … [and that] “Google was “very quickly” developing a website for checking symptoms and locating testing sites. Instead, Google issued “a statement that said the website was in “early development”….
“We had a chance to contain this outbreak, but we didn’t,” Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, told ABC News.
“And as a result of that testing failure, over 60,000 Americans are dead and our economy has been shut down. It didn’t have to be this way.”

• There’s Plenty Of PPE For Health Care Workers

“We have masks. We have everything,” said the prez. … Pressed …about widespread accounts from health care workers of personal protective equipment shortages, Trump declared them to be “fake news.”
With dire shortages of vital supplies – protective N95 masks, gloves, gowns and face shields - health care workers have resorted to wearing trash bags or Yankees rain ponchos as gowns. In many places, doctors, nurses and other workers reuse masks that are supposed to be thrown away after a single use. In others, personnel are forced to use substandard equipment, like surgical masks that provide little protection compared to N95 masks. Health care workers are even staging GoFundMe campaigns to buy the supplies their employers aren’t providing. Some medical personnel have even been fired for speaking out against unsafe working conditions.

• A Coronavirus Vaccine Is ‘Very Close’

Feb 25: “We’re very close to a vaccine.”
Feb 26: “We’re rapidly developing a vaccine,”
Feb 27: “The vaccine is coming along well.”
Vaccines typically take years to develop and test and there’s always a chance that one is never developed. Dr Fauci dispelled “the president’s nonsense. A vaccine, he said … would take at least 18 months”….[and] offered a somewhat more optimistic assessment of the progress of developing a coronavirus vaccine: Immunizations could be available as soon as January. Eleven months actually would be a fast deployment for a vaccine preventing a virus that was only discovered last winter… In fact, we’ve never successfully created a vaccine for other coronaviruses.

But, never fear, Jared Kushner is on the job. He summed it up and declared victory. “The federal government rose to the challenge. This is a great success story.”

News blues

According to the Guardian, “Trump is handling coronavirus so badly, he almost makes [Boris] Johnson look good.”

We don’t need to wait for a full statistical analysis to know that Johnson has not been the worst world leader in this crisis, because we can declare a winner in that contest right now.
Each day Britons wake up to ever more jaw-dropping news from across the Atlantic. Last week, it was Donald Trump advising Americans to inject bleach. On Friday, it was his claim to have seen evidence that coronavirus was developed in a Wuhan laboratory, a claim denied by his own director of national intelligence. The shocking images of protesters wielding assault weapons storming into the state assembly in Michigan on Thursday night are hardly a surprise, given that Trump himself was tweeting “Liberate Michigan!” a matter of days ago, cheering on those who are demanding their states defy the advice of Trump’s own White House and prematurely end the lockdown that has so far proved to be the only way to stop the virus.
However bad Boris Johnson and his government of conspicuously few talents is … they can at least show a modicum of human empathy for those who’ve lost loved ones, a feat that continues to elude Trump. They have at least – eventually – united behind a coherent “stay home” message, rather than undermining that advice at every turn. They are not hawking quack cures and endorsing deranged conspiracy theories. They do not seem willing to countenance mass death in the insane belief that it will help them win an election.
It’s a low bar, but these are low times. 

Going mobile?

My scheduled departure date is May 19. So far, at least half my trip – London to San Francisco - has been cancelled. Even if the first half - Johannesburg to London - isn’t cancelled, current Lockdown Level 4 rules prevent me crossing provincial borders prevents me travelling to Johannesburg.
I missed the US Consulate’s deadline issued for its “last/final” repatriation flight to the US. I received another email yesterday:

We have been notified of Embassy of Qatar-coordinated repatriation flights to Doha in the coming weeks. It is not confirmed as a certainty; however, we are collecting information on prospective travelers to provide to the Qatar Embassy in the event the flights are approved.

Flight information:

• These flights will depart from Johannesburg only and will land in Doha. You must make your own onward arrangements from Doha; you will not be able to stay in Doha – only transit is allowed at this time.
• You will be responsible for finding your own transportation to either the Johannesburg airport or to a required staging area (if applicable); we are not aware of any domestic flights at this time.
• It is our understanding that travel between provinces will be permitted next week and thus no travel letter is needed.
• Currently, we do not have any further information on baggage allowances, flight cost, or specific flight times/final dates. We also do not know if business class seats will be available.

Hmmmm. Good news is "It is our understanding that travel between provinces will be permitted next week and thus no travel letter is needed."
My choice? Stay here with garden, lawns, critters, and mental health discomforts… or sit in Doha airport until I can book a flight from Doha to California?
Is this Hobson’s Choice, Morton’s Fork, or Buridan’s Ass?
Hobson’s Choice: A free choice in which only one option is offered; i.e., “take it or leave it”.
Morton’s Fork: A a choice between two equally unpleasant alternatives… or two lines of reasoning that lead to the same unpleasant conclusion. It is analogous to the expression, “between the devil and the deep blue sea,” and “between a rock and a hard place”.
Buridan’s Ass is an illustration of a paradox in philosophy in the conception of free will. It refers to a hypothetical situation wherein an ass is placed precisely midway between a stack of hay and a pail of water. Since the paradox assumes the ass will always go to whichever is closer, it will die of both hunger and thirst since it cannot make any rational decision to choose one over the other. The paradox is named after the 14th century French philosopher Jean Buridan, whose philosophy of moral determinism it satirizes. (Thanks Kennon-Green.)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

David, artist and friend based in New Mexico, posts Stare, the world’s longest-living blog.  This weekly/“weakly” notes:

The coronavirus is killing people faster than the living can cremate or bury them. …the solution [is] obvious: reusable, composting caskets. That would get rid of the backlog of bodies and provide fertilizer to help with the upcoming food shortages.

If humans weren’t so finicky about death and dying, David’s idea could work. It aligns with Lockdown Level 4’s stipulation not to travel to attend funerals.

Perhaps it needs more fleshing (ahem!) out.
How about simply slipping bodies – with or without coffins - into compost piles? Or stuffing bodies without coffins into garden sink holes? If charity begins at home, my garden sink hole has room to stuff bodies. Moreover, if my suspicious are correct, bodies would quickly be recycled by my sink hole’s debris-consuming dragon…

(Hmmm, talking about mental health…)

Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5   | Week 6

See photos Spying on Garden Creatures 

Watch Videos of Garden Creatures