Veterans Day 2022

Worldwide (Map) 
November 10, 2022 – 634,056,770 confirmed infections; 6.60.235 deaths
November 10, 2021 – 251,624,400 confirmed infections; 5,076,300 deaths
November 12, 2020 – 52,070,000 confirmed infections; 1,274,000 deaths

US (Map) 
November 10, 2022 - 97.961.940 confirmed infections; 1,074,300 deaths
November 10, 2021 – 46,793,200 confirmed infections; 759,100 deaths
November 12, 2020 – 10,258,100 confirmed infections; 239,700 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
November 10, 2022 - 4,031,625 confirmed infections; 102,365 deaths
November 10, 2021 – 2,924,625 confirmed infections; 89,435 deaths
November 12, 2020 – 740,255 confirmed infections; 19,951 deaths

Post from:
November 11, 2021 “Veterans Day” 
November 11, 2020, “Veterans Day” 

News blues…

An uptick in sore throats, coughs, and fevers are telltale signs that flu season has arrived in the United States. But this fall, those common symptoms might be a sign of something more sinister: Public health experts warn we are likely facing a "tripledemic," the convergence of flu, COVID-19, and the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

Read more >> 

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The Lincoln Project:

Donald Trump v. Marco Rubio  (1:20 mins)
Who we are (1:55 mins)
The Red Mirage  (1:00 mins)
Never (0:30 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Pumpkin pollution? Tossing jack-o-lanterns in landfills generates harmful methane gas. There's a better way to get a second life out of your decorative gourds. 

Read more >> 

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COP 27 is on the go. Here’s my view of COP 26 from November 13 last year >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

It’s been a long week. Long. Cold. Rainy.
The good news: one more chemo session to go. Next week, Thursday. Then a few days of malaise before Mary bounces back. 

More good news: Mary has a date for the post chemo CT scan. December 14. A day or so later we will know the results of four sessions of chemo. That is, we will know the results that the CT scan can capture. The reality of mesothelioma is there are always microscopic “nodules” – read malignancies – ready to blossom that, to all intents and purposes, do not meet the scan's "eye". That is, according to her oncologist, scans can only capture the signs of new growth when that new growth reaches about a centimeter in size.

It's what you can't see that'll kill ya!

Veterans Day

Today is Veterans Day in the United States.

• Note that the World War I armistice was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. ...
• There were around 21.8 million veterans in the United States as of 2010.
• There are around 9 million veterans over the age of 65.
• Around 1.6 million veterans are women.
• Military.com’s  history of veterans day…

Let We the People ensure vets get all the benefits they’ve earned. 

Worldwide (Map) 
November 10, 2021 – 251,624,400 confirmed infections; 5,076,300 deaths
November 26, 2020 – 60,334,000 confirmed infections; 1,420,500 deaths
Total vaccine doses administered: 7,365,272,360

US (Map) 
November 10, 2021 – 46,793,200 confirmed infections; 759,100 deaths
November 26, 2020 – 12,771,000 confirmed infections; 262,145 deaths

SA (Tracker) 
November 10, 2021 – 2,924,625 confirmed infections; 89,435 deaths
November 26, 2020 – 775,510 confirmed infections; 21,2010 deaths
South Africa’s recent Covid tracker >> 

News blues…

How are UK, US, Italy, New Zealand, Canada, France, Singapore, and other countries dealing with Covid vaccine mandates ? A quick glance …
From Atlantic Monthly:

…breakthrough infections remain a statistical inevitability despite our very, very excellent vaccines. We’ll need to get comfortable with them as we learn to live with the coronavirus long term.

• A breakthrough infection is a logistical nightmare.  “A positive test sets in motion huge hassles and anxieties for anyone you’ve been in contact with,” says Alexis C. Madrigal, a co-founder of the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic who recently contracted COVID.
• But your immune system is ready to handle it. “A breakthrough, despite what it might seem, does not cause our defenses to crumble,” my colleague Katherine J. Wu wrote this summer. “Vaccines reinforce the defenses we already have.”
• We still don’t know how easily vaccinated people spread COVID.  “We might not reach a consensus on just how contagious breakthrough infections are, and that’s okay….”

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New political ads: Electile Dysfunction  (2:04 mins)
The Lincoln Project:

Rebuild  (0:57 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party  (2:06 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Getting your point across...

Tuvalu's foreign minister, Simon Kofe, says his country is looking at ways to retain statehood
even if it disappears due to climate change and rising sea levels. 
Photograph: Tuvalu Foreign Ministry/Reuters

Tuvalu's Foreign Minister Simon Kofe spoke to attendees at the COP26 climate summit and around the world while knee-deep in the ocean to show the effect of rising sea levels. >> 
Tuvalu will continue to raise awareness about the complexities of sea levels rise as it seeks to maintain state hood.

Tuvalu is looking at legal ways to keep its ownership of its maritime zones and recognition as a state even if the Pacific island nation is completely submerged due to the climate crisis….
“We’re actually imagining a worst-case scenario where we are forced to relocate or our lands are submerged,” the minister, Simon Kofe, [said].
“We’re looking at legal avenues where we can retain our ownership of our maritime zones, retain our recognition as a state under international law. So those are steps that we are taking, looking into the future.” 

Nor is it "just" Pacific islands suffering effects of melting glaciers and rising sea level, Tangier Island – a Virginia fishing town home to about 400 people - is losing ground faster than previously thought, highlighting how climate change threatens U.S. coastal communities >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Infrastructure is, indeed, a critical need in the US, even in cosmopolitan San Francisco and the East Bay. This became clear today as I drove through the cities of El Cerrito (home to the band Credence Clearwater Revival), small and cozy Albany, and Berkeley, site of the esteemed University of California campus. While these cities’ roads don’t have the extreme potholes of South African roads, they are, nevertheless, decrepit, cracked, patchy; in some spots – College Avenue, for example, it’s as if one is driving on loose gravel.
Shock at the state of the cities’ roads, however, was outweighed by the thrill of visiting these cities after several years’ absence. While I lacked time, today, to park and explore (I plan to do that “soon”) I noticed much that has changed and more that remains the same. I look forward to visiting as a tourist on foot – with camera – and sharing what I discover. What’s clear already, though, is that even cities age, sometimes, as I discovered, not gracefully.
The Biden Administration’s infrastructure bill – disappointing as it is in its paring down of what is vitally needed – addressing the effects of climate change - passed not a moment too soon.

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Is it the pandemic or am I "just" nuts?

Insomnia evolves into obsessive attention to iPhone battery level graphs,
and turned into “art” depicting new levels of obsession….

Veterans Day

Numbers for end of Lockdown Week 33

Worldwide (Map)  
November 12 – 52,070,000 confirmed infections; 1,274,000 deaths
October 15 – 38,426,375 confirmed infections; 1,091,250 deaths

US (Map)
November 12 – 10,258,100 confirmed infections; 239,700 deaths
October 15 – 7,911,500 confirmed infections; 216,860 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal)
November 12 – 740,255 confirmed infections; 19,951 deaths
October 15 – 696,420 confirmed infections; 18,155 deaths

A somber Veterans Day in the United States yesterday. With 136,000 newly confirmed cases across the country in one day, we learn that,

More than 4,200 veterans have died from Covid-19 at hospitals and homes run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and nearly 85,000 have been infected, according to the department. 
That death toll does not include an untold number who have died in private or state-run veterans facilities, including the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home in Massachusetts, which had nearly 80 deaths earlier this year. Two former administrators were charged with criminal offenses after an investigation found that “utterly baffling” decisions caused the disease to run rampant there.
American veterans are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 because of their age and underlying health conditions, some of which can be traced to exposure to the Vietnam-era defoliant Agent Orange and smoke from burning oilfields in the Persian Gulf.

News blues…

President Ramaphosa addressed the nation last night.  (36:11 mins) 

Key takeaways:
Virus still present across the land yet South Africans are forgetting this
Highest number of weekly new cases and deaths (more than 2,000 new cases today)
Covid far from over – and will remain “for some time to come”
Kudos to front line workers…
SA’s response widely recognized and commended around the world
Toll on health and wellbeing of SA
92 percent recovery rate
Pay attention to Eastern Cape with a resurgence: 50 percent higher number of cases now
Too many large gatherings, not enough mask wearing
Government response:
Implement resurgence plan: intervention include primary health care outreach, contact tracing, readiness
Wake up call: cannot relax or be complacent
Extending national state of disaster to Dec 15
Second area of concern:
Festive season – people want to travel, relax, gather and this poses a great threat to managing the pandemic
What we know and what we need to do:
Wear masks
Avoid poorly ventilated buildings
Don’t let your guard down
Download free Covid alert app
Public intervention:

Testing:
Vaccine coming… need about 750 million doses thru Africa
Manufactured in SA, too, to ensure sufficient supply to SA and continent
Social benefit intervention:
Economic reconstruction – from relief to recovery
Covid 19 grant extended to Jan 2021
UIF extended for another month
Alcohol sales back to regular hours
Travel returning to normal 

From Wed Nov 25 to Sun 29 – 5 days of mourning of Covid 19 and Gender-based Violence (GBV): 6 am to 6pm - wear black arm bands.

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Healthy futures, anyone?

Disinformation and misinformation is the name of the game these days. Confusion reigns. For example, Tuesday’s post  presented information that Covid recovery plans threaten global climate hopes. Today, news reports, “Renewable energy defies Covid-19 to hit record growth in 2020: International Energy Agency expects green electricity to end coal’s 50-year reign by 2025" 
At the same time, “Rolls-Royce vows to create 6,000 UK jobs with nuclear power station plans: Engineering firm is part of consortium pushing for government backing."

There is no agreed upon way forward for healthy futures - at least not by public figures. 

Seeing is not believing....
Meanwhile, "fears for a million livelihoods in Kenya and Tanzania as Mara River fish die out: water biodiversity is on the brink, with dire consequences for the region known for the zebra and wildebeest migration":

Fish are being driven to extinction in the Mara River basin, putting the livelihoods of more than a million people in Kenya and Tanzania in jeopardy, according to WWF.
A report  by the wildlife NGO details how farming, deforestation, mining, illegal fishing and invasive species could sound a death knell for the transboundary river. 

The first stocktake of biodiversity in the river basin identified 473 native freshwater species including four mammals, 88 waterbirds, 126 freshwater associated birds, four reptiles, 20 amphibians, 40 fishes, 50 invertebrate species and 141 vascular plants. 

We, the people (who pay attention) know the Covid-19 pandemic is an outcome of humans’ dysfunctional relationship with nature.  Yet, as in so many other areas of public life, we continue to push against this inconvenient truth, pretending “technology”, “science”, “know-how” will overcome.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The weather in this part of KZN – the Midlands – reflects my mood: damp, somber.
The birds continue cheerfully to twitter and build nests. Time for me to take a lesson from these extraordinary creatures and cheer up!