Belonging

Amy Klobuchar tweet.

Briefly a 2020 presidential candidate, Amy Klobuchar’s tweet refers to the White House as the house belonging to all Americans, and not as a Trump branding opportunity. 

The humorous tweet (meme?) also references the all-American lawn as contested territory, the eye of the storm between public and private spheres: 

The state of a homeowner’s lawn is important in relation to their status within the community and to the status of the community at large. Lawns connect neighbors and neighborhoods; they’re viewed as an indicator of socio-economic character, which translates into property- and resale values. Lawns are indicative of success; they are a physical manifestation of the American Dream of home ownership. To have a well maintained lawn is a sign to others that you have the time and/or the money to support this attraction. It signifies that you care about belonging and want others to see that you are like them. A properly maintained lawn tells others you are a good neighbor. 

News blues…

MSNBC interview with Steve Schmidt, The Lincoln Project co-founder. (3:35 mins)

Sixty-five days and counting before the US presidential election. From 14,000 miles away, I see large swathes of Americans anxious at the possibility of The Donald remaining in office for another four years. It is a terrifying thought. Surely it is not possible? Alas, documentary film-maker Michael Moore warns,

Donald Trump appears to have such momentum in some battleground states that liberals risk a repeat of 2016 when so many wrote off Trump only to see him grab the White House. Moore said, “Sorry to have to provide the reality check again.”
Moore, one of few political observers to predict Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016, said that “enthusiasm for Trump is off the charts” in key areas compared with the Democratic party nominee, Joe Biden.
“Are you ready for a Trump victory? Are you mentally prepared to be outsmarted by Trump again? Do you find comfort in your certainty that there is no way Trump can win? Are you content with the trust you’ve placed in the DNC [Democratic National Committee] to pull this off?”

Polls show The Donald’s approval in the 40s – including “the bump” from the RNC. How is it possible that 40 percent of Americans approve of the man’s performance as president? It’s mind boggling. 

***

The role of political ads in this election…

Really American: Keep Tucker Dunks Trump on TV  (1:00 min)
Put Don and Eric on TV  (0.26 min)
Meidas Touch: Bye Eric: A Total Phony  (1:15 mins)
Trump Failed: The Results Speak For Themselves  (0:25 min)
VoteVets – The First  (1:24 mins)

***

Daily Maverick webinar, The Inside Track: Don Magashule: The Godfather of the Free State.  Hosted by Pauli van Wyk with Scorpio investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

While driving, I often listen to RSG Radio (Afrikaans, pronounced “Er”, “Es”, “Ge-uh” – guttural “g”). It’s soothing – probably because I don’t always understand what being said but grasp enough to get the big picture.
Radio hosts discuss gardening and present news items, and their musical offerings are delightfully behind the times. Today, I listened to elevator music version of Rolling Stones, “Satisfaction,” and a male vocalist doing The Shirelles, “Will you still love me tomorrow?”
It helps that, due to Lockdown Level 2, all my car trips are local. This means I’m tuned into RSG for stints not longer than 10 to 15 minutes. Just enough time to keep my brain translating the Afrikaans with non-demanding background music.

***

Successful visit with real estate agent.After dipping a toe into the arcane world of buying and selling residential property real estate in South Africa, I found commonalities with the agent. A brief off-topic conversation about which high school I attended – Girls High – and he asked about girls I might have known then. Indeed, I knew several of the names he mentioned.
A feature of life as an adult immigrant is knowing no one who shared one's primary or high school years. In California, I never meet anyone I knew as a child or teenager. In small town South Africa, I frequently run into childhood acquaintances.
An unfamiliar feeling – belonging – suffuses me when I recognize and talk to someone I knew decades ago. It feels good.

*** 

Monkeys from the neighborhood troop uprooted more of the snap pea seedlings I’d recently transplanted. They also uprooted another set of pole beans that I’d tried to disguise under a flight of outdoor steps. It’s maddening. News from a small town in rural Japan universalized my frustration:

…local farmers have been dealing with hordes of hungry monkeys eating up potatoes, onions, eggplants and cucumbers.…
Three older women who call themselves the “Monkey Busters” …use air guns to scare monkeys away from the crops.
The women are so dedicated to the cause they often show up to a monkey sighting still in their aprons so not a moment of monkey-scaring is wasted.
Monkey Busters don’t kill their targets, [but] fire warning shots followed up with firecrackers and other loud noises.
…Monkey Busters leader Masako Ishimura said, “We were really troubled by the monkeys’ damage to the crops, so the three of us cooperated to get rid of the monkeys. I will continue to do my best for the region with the feeling of not losing.” 

I’ll not use guns or fireworks on local monkeys, but I’m Sympatico with Japanese farmers.
Maybe I should try wearing an apron?

***

Weather report signals cold and wet next few days, but that can’t hide the signs of spring all over: plum, trees, Pride of India trees, many trees and plants are blossoming….
I’m so ready for spring.
Best news? It’s raining….

Women on Women’s Day

Our world is on the cusp on 20 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection.
The US is responsible for more than 25 percent of those cases (5.5 million confirmed). That’s more infections in the US than New Zealand has people (population: 4,886 million). Moreover, New Zealand has virtually eliminated Covid-19 with zero active cases. 
Iceland, too, has zero active cases. Iceland’s population is 364,000 so the US has “lost” the equivalent of half of Iceland’s population to Covid-19.
Reminder: New Zealand and Iceland have women as heads of government. Just sayin’….

According to new research, a record number of people are giving up their US citizenship.

Hmmm, perhaps these Americans have moved to New Zealand or Iceland.

News blues…

National Women's Day is celebrated annually in South Africa on 9 August. If that day falls on a Sunday – as it does this year – Monday is the public holiday. (Naturally, not all women will have a holiday – certainly not a paid holiday.)
According to Wikipedia, Women's Day

...commemorates the 1956 march of approximately 20,000 South African women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition against the country's pass laws that required South Africans defined as "black" under The Population Registration Act to carry an internal passport, the “pass.” The pass allowed the maintenance of population segregation, controlled urbanisation, and managed migrant labour during apartheid.
The first National Women's Day was celebrated on 9 August 1995. In 2006, a reenactment of the march was staged for its 50th anniversary, with many of the 1956 march veterans.

International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world on 8 March. Not to knock it, but I recall IWD as a burden when I was a young mother in the US. It meant I – and other working mothers – had to find and pay for babysitters to care for our children so we could work to earn money to support our children. 

Ironic that a day meant to recognize women was not geared in practice to recognize mothers. That is, heavy on intention, light on practicalities.

***

President Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address for national Women’s Day  under the global campaign themed “Generation Equality: Realizing women’s rights for an equal future.” (Ramaphosa’s segment begins at 53:27 mins. My opinion of his address? Heavy on intention, light on practicalities.)

***

Daily Maverick webinar, “The Inside Track: A Critical Conversation with Advocate Shamila Batohi.” 

Daily Maverick Associate Editor Ferial Haffajee in conversation with National Prosecuting Authority Advocate Shamila Batohi, the National Director of Public Prosecutions, on gender-based violence and the war on women. Batohi also talks about her experience as a woman leader within the National Prosecuting Authority.

An eye-opening fact- and statistic-based conversation about South Africa’s criminal justice system and how it affects violence against the country’s women and children.
Takeaways:

• Gender-based violence (GBV) is, essentially, a war on this country’s women.
• 82,726 cases of gender-based violence from 2017 through 2018
• Rape has increased by 1.4 percent. (Only 1 in 9 rapes is actually reported.)
• What is going on in our country when the levels of violence against women and children is so high?
• 70 to 80 percent conviction rate – but based on number of cases that come to court, not the number of reported cases (only 10 percent are reported). It is the detection rate that is under-reported.
• Everybody in the justice system needs training in the holistic system’s view rather than one or two segments of the whole.
• Huge challenges, including how to deal with forensic evidence What values are we teaching out children and young people when they can violate respect for other human beings?
• National registers in the works for violations against women and children – but perhaps not enough being done at the level of preventation.
• Prevention and better detection required.
• Value system is off in this country; custom, patriarchy, and entitlement plays big roles in attitudes towards women, too.
• Alcohol plays a huge role; Ban on alcohol due to pandemic reduced gender-based and domestic violence.
• Admits there are “serious problems” within SAPS (corruption, lack of training, responses, and attitudes to women complainants, etc., “system fails many women.” (Personal view: Backstory on GBV in this house.)
• NPA looking to understand lens through which we view these issues and developing a policy about how to deal with them.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Monkeys become bolder by the day. They’ve moved from the garden’s perimeter fence into the garden and close to the house. The “watch” dogs are too comfy in their toasty beds to rouse themselves.
My experiment to discourage monkeys with rubber snakes failed. 
Now I’m researching how to discourage them via smell and taste. I’m weighing the … ethics … of this recipe:

To keep vervet monkeys away, mix 1/3 cup flower, 2 tablespoons red chili powder and two tablespoons powdered mustard and sprinkle around the garden. If you want to spray it, add 4 cups of water and some vinegar. Even just sprinkling vegetables with pepper will deter monkeys from eating them.

The ethics involved? Monkeys do what monkeys do… moreover, they do it well: feed themselves and their young. Punishing them with chili and mustard powder feels… unethical. Isn’t it illogical to feed wild birds (mostly doves) but not feed wild monkeys? (I’m not for feeding monkeys – that’s also discouraged by wildlife experts – just pointing out well-meaning but faulty logic.)
Another recipe:

Sprinkle Jeyes Fluid inside, on the outside or around refuse bins and bags. Refuse skips covered with shade cloth and treated with Jeyes Fluid will deter vervets. 5. Use nylon bird or hail netting over and around vegetable, strawberry and other produce gardens to keep them out.

I’ll skip the Jeyes Fluid - a strong disinfectant. (Back in the day, my grandfather dipped his cows with diluted Jeyes Fluid to kill ticks.)
Netting might work. But it takes only one persistent monkey breeching the netting to destroy weeks of gardening effort.