Moving on

US President-elect Joe Biden is naming his cabinet and the country is moving on…. 

Now to roll out an actual, coherent plan  to address the pandemic across that nation and the world.

News blues…

Lockdown booze ban saved 21 lives a day: Shocking stats reveal how badly SA is impacted by alcohol abuse, with young men bearing the brunt.

A report on unnatural deaths in SA during the second alcohol ban shows the devastating effect that booze has on the country.
Researcher Kai Barron of the Berlin School of Economics, says the data showed “the five-week sales ban reduced the number of unnatural deaths in SA by 21 per day, which is substantial”...

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South Africa’s health ministry confirms 2,493 new cases in the past 24 hours from 20,288 tests — a positivity rate of 12.2%  

The ministry also confirmed 115 new Covid-19 related deaths, taking the national death toll to 21,083. Of the new deaths, 45 were in the Eastern Cape, 20 in the Free State, 19 in Gauteng, 16 in the Western Cape, 10 in KwaZulu-Natal, and five in the Northern Cape.
There have also been 716,444 recorded recoveries, at a recovery rate of 92.8%.
The figures are based on 5,325,631 total tests to date, of which 20,288 fell in the past 24-hour cycle.

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US sets record for Covid-19 hospitalizations amid fall surge 

There are 88,080 people currently hospitalized with Covid-19, setting a record for hospitalizations amid a continuing fall surge, according to the Covid Tracking Project. This is the highest number of Covid-19 hospitalizations the nation has ever experienced since the pandemic hit the US.

Healthy planet, anyone?

Amazing creatures of our amazing planet: each arm of an octopus may have a mind of its own…. 

The common octopus, Octopus vulgaris, … has three hearts, and eight limbs with 200 suckers that can feel, taste and smell its surroundings. Scientists remain divided over whether it has one brain or nine. In mammals, most neurons are in the brain, but with octopuses, two-thirds are in their body and arms, enabling each arm to do complex tasks, such as opening jars to obtain food, apparently independently from the central brain.
After much experimenting with underwater mazes and other contraptions, scientists concluded that octopuses could solve various problems with one limb and then communicate the experience to other arms via the central brain.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I grew up in KwaZulu Natal’s rural Valley of a Thousand Hills, elevation 759m/2490ft. 

Elevation of my current home in the Midlands: 1032m/3386ft. 

That 273m/896ft difference means, among other natural wonders, cooler weather and smaller critters, including smaller snakes. Indeed, overall, there appear to be fewer snakes here than in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, home to large snakes, from non-venomous mole snakes to lethal black- and green mambas as well as rinkhals (spitting cobra), adders (puff and night), rock pythons, etc. During my childhood, I’d find snakes relaxing under or on a bed, in cupboards, on verandahs, on footpaths…. I recall finding a puff adder wrapped around cistern plumbing, three inches from my young, vulnerable spine, as I sat upon the toilet.
Until yesterday, in two years, I’d seen only three small snakes here. I spotted the fourth in the veggie garden while I rearranged potato plants uprooted by invading monkeys. Small, black, and whiplash fast, it burrowed into debris.
Like me, monkeys are terrified of snakes. As I child, I saw Jacko, our pet vervet monkey, faint at the sight of a rubber snake placed under his shelter.
Maybe the small, black snake in the potato plants can help dissuade neighborhood monkeys from regular and destructive incursions into the garden?
It has certainly dissuaded me …

G&T

Yet another day with no Internet connection at the house.
I visited a local café and, for the price of one decaf latte and one toasted cheese muffin, I caught up on online business, posted on this blog, dabbled in the news – until my laptop battery ran low and Eskom began a 2.5 hour session of load shedding.

News blues…

The Republican National Convention. What to say? My brief glimpse into goings-on suggests a marathon Revision-of-History. Three days to reversion events of the last three and a half years, pit reality against Trump fantasy, wrap lies up in the Stars and Stripes, and hope The Base doesn’t notice and votes for him anyway.

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Fox News refuses to show a 30-second ad by the American Federation of Teachers union, “Enough is Enough” declaring it “inaccurate.”

AFT slams Trump and Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell for what the union says is failure to provide adequate personal protective equipment to educators and plan for a safe return to public schools during the coronavirus outbreak. “Enough is Enough, this November say ‘no’ to Trump and McConnell’s chaos. 

*** 

The Lincoln Project:

The Wall  (0:55 mins) 

Evil  (0:55 mins) 

Comedienne Sarah Cooper riffs on Trump at DNC (1.20 mins) 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Unlike some US states, liberal California allows grocery stores to sell limited selections of wine and liquor. Liquor laws, however, differ from state to state. 

In Texas, for example, sales of beer are permitted between 7am and midnight on all days except Sunday; Sunday sales are permitted between midnight and 1am and between 12pm and midnight (excepting certain sales of beer with food). 

In the so called “dry” states - Kansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee — entirely dry by default - counties specifically must authorize the sale of alcohol in order for it to be legal and subject to state liquor control laws. Alabama specifically allows cities and counties to elect to go dry by public referendum. Other states permit sales by country, that is, some counties are “dry”, others not. 

Complicated. 

Apart from the ban on alcohol due to Covid, in KZN alcohol beverages are not sold in grocery stores but in specialized “bottle stores” or “off sales.”
I’m not interested enough in alcohol to visit a bottle store regularly to purchase alcohol, and it’s been six months or more since I’ve had wine, beer, cocktail, or a mixed drink.
Today, grocery shopping at a small mall, I noticed a bottle store and, out of nowhere, longed to taste a margarita, frozen. I entered the store – masked, of course – offered my hands for the doorperson to spritz, then scanned the shelves.
The tequila section comprised 3 unknown brands, all 2 liter size, priced around R200 per bottle. Cheap for booze in comparison to US prices, but more than I wanted to pay. No tequila offered in smaller bottles, and my dreams of a margarita dashed.
“What about a smaller size bottle of gin, say Tanqueray gin?” I asked. 

No Tanqueray in small bottles either.

Instead, the salesclerk displayed a packaged set of three small bottles (twice the size of airplane offerings) labeled, “Bloedlemoen” – blood orange; a “special” price of R49.99 (US$2.95).
Gin and tonic sounded delicious.
I paid, asked her to remove the packaging, and stuffed 3 small bottles of Bloedlemoen gin into my backpack. 

Limes, I knew, awaited me in the ‘fridge back at home. 

Alas, it had been so long since I’d enjoyed a gin and tonic, I’d forgotten to purchase tonic water.
After a quick drive to the local grocery store, I enjoyed my first alcoholic beverage in months.
Delicious.