Sweep out the old

Worldwide (Map) 
February 17, 2022 - 417,702,100 confirmed infections; 5,837,900 deaths
February 18, 2021 - 109,885,600 confirmed infections; 2,430,000 deaths
Total vaccinations to date: 10,257,109,700

Track Covid vaccinations worldwide >> 

US (Map) 
February 17, 78,171,300 confirmed infections; 928,500 deaths
February 18, 2021 - 27,824,660 confirmed infections; 490,450 deaths
Interactive: rank Covid deaths by US state >> 

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
February 17, 2022 - 3,649,000 confirmed infections; 97,520 deaths
February 2021 - 27,824,660 confirmed infections; 490,450 deaths

News blues

While the actual (unconfirmed) “excess deaths” due to American Covid-19 is assumed to number more than 1 million, the official number, according to Johns Hopkins  has yet to reach 1 million. Many expected the official 1 million toll to be reach a week ago. Does that is has not yet reached that milestone mean Covid’s lethality is slowing. Let’s hope so….
Ranking Covid deaths by state tells a story, too.

Interactive: rank Covid deaths by US state >> 

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Pfizer/BioNTech's Covid-19 mRNA vaccine is said to provide an added layer of protection against reinfection for people who have been previously infected with the novel virus. It also is said to increase immune durability over time, according to two studies published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine >> 

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The Lincoln Project:
Clown Show  (1:04 mins)
Putin’s Allies  (1:40 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…

With South Africa’s official unemployment rate at 35 percent and the unofficial rate much higher,  , people scramble to afford basic food and housing. One young local man apples maximum creativity to earn a living: he sweeps debris back into potholes.
I’d noticed this young man standing near a four-way intersection offering what I assumed was a bunch of herbs to sell. He’s manned his post everyday over the past 10 days holding the same vegetation. Yesterday, I saw him using the flora to sweep small, loose stones back into a nearby pothole and tidy up loose debris.
I assume he’s working for tips although it has taken me 10 days to figure it out. Perhaps he needs signage: Sweeping for Rands?
It is heartbreaking to see so many people - young and old - so desperate.

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KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:42am
Sunset: 6:44pm

San Francisco Bay Area
Sunrise: 6:56am
Sunset: 5:50pm