Booster downer

Worldwide (Map) 
September 29, 2022 - 616,767,290 confirmed infections; 6,542,430 deaths
September 30, 2021 - 233,414,450 infections; 4,776,885 deaths
October 1, 2020 – 33,881,275 confirmed infections: 1,012,980 deaths

US (Map) 
September 29, 2022 - 96,252,475 confirmed infections; 1,058,525 deaths
September 30, 2021 - 43,361,700 infections; 7.808,100 deaths
October 1, 2020 – 7,233,199 confirmed infections: 206,940 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
September 29, 2022 - 4,018,102 confirmed infections; 102,169 deaths
September 30, 2021 - 2,898,900 infections; 87,420 deaths
October 1. 2020 – 674,340 confirmed infections: 16,735 deaths

Post from:
September 30, 2021, “Tested” 
October 1, 2020, “Going woolly” 

News blues

Do the new bivalent COVID boosters come with more side effects?
Chicago's top doctor answered that question during a Facebook Live Tuesday - and her answer was no. [In fact, she suggests, it may even be the opposite.]
"We're generally hearing fewer side effects because people who are getting bivalent boosters are people who have had prior vaccines," she said. "Of course, some people have even had COVID."
She said the reasoning behind that is because vaccines are intended to teach an immune response so the more doses of the vaccine you get, especially combined with infection, the quicker your body can respond.

Read more >> 

Hmmm, I respectfully disagree with Chicago’s top doc. Five shots on, and for the first time, I had noticeable side effects beyond sensitivity at the injection site. Indeed, my side effects – about 36 hours’ worth - more closely resembled flu than “the opposite” of no side effects. All five of my shots have been from the same manufacturer, Pfizer.
My point here? No one can, nor should, predict how someone else might react to anything, including vaccinations. And get your booster anyway. From what I glean from those struck with Covid and from ever-present Dr Google, a dose of Covid could be a lot worse than a booster against Covid… plus one runs the risk and rigors associated with Long Covid. Who needs that? 

Get the shot - of vaccine, not ivermectin, nor hydroxychloroquine, nor breastmilk of newt, nor any other kitchen table “cure”…

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On war… and escaping war
Russian men flee Russia and war >>  (2:50 mins)
Putin trying to salvage his “special operation” … by conscription of Russian men >>  (26:00 mins)

[Note: this blog is read by a handful of Russians in Russia... hence I share these news broadcasts for interested Russians to access news unlikely to be shown in Russia.]
 

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The Lincoln Project:
Making America Fascist  (0:38 mins)
Kevin’s plan  (0:59 mins)
Tide  (0:58 mins)
Blake Masters  (0:58 mins)
Tucker calls Putin  (0:58 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - September 27, 2022  (2:18 mins) -->

Healthy planet, anyone?

Lions, and tigers, and bears – making a comeback?

... By the first half of the 20th century, many of Europe’s mammals had been reduced to just a fraction of their historical levels. Millennia of hunting, exploitation, and habitat loss had forced them into decline. Many had been wiped out completely.
But many mammal populations have seen a dramatic increase over the last 50 years.
A coalition of conservation organizations – including the Zoological Society of London; Birdlife International; and Rewilding Europe – periodically publish reports on how animal populations across Europe are changing. In their latest report they looked at the change in populations of 24 mammal species, and one reptile species – the Loggerhead turtle. The results are shown in the chart.
Eurasian badger populations achieved an average increase of 100% – a doubling. Eurasian otters tripled, on average. For red deer this was an increase of 331%.
The Eurasian beaver has made the most remarkable recovery. It’s estimated to have increased 167-fold, on average. There were likely only a few thousand beavers left in Europe in first half of the 20th century. Today there are more than 1.2 million.
The European bison has achieved a similar level of comeback.
In the 2013 mammal comeback report, one species – the Iberian lynx – had shrinking populations. But, there is good news: after decades of decline, it has been making a remarkable recovery. So much so that the IUCN moved it from Critically Endangered to Endangered on the Red List in 2015. Its average population sizes are now bigger than they were in 1987.
There are more than 250 European mammal species, so the ones that we covered here represent just 10% of the continent’s mammals.

Read more >>  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

This time next week, Mary will be offering up her arm for another dose of chemotherapy. In the meantime, we enjoy our daily walks together.
During yesterday’s walk, I photographed some of my favorite things: rocks and stones…

Textures provided by late afternoon low tide.
iPhone photo: (c) Susan Galleymore

Some kind of conglomerate with serpentine.
This rock, one of many acting as rip rap demarkating tidal from pedestian zones,
were trucked onto the beach some decades ago when the area was landfilled. 
iPhone photo: (c) Susan Galleymore

Close up.
iPhone photo: (c) Susan Galleymore

And birds… this Great Blue Heron frequently avails him- or herself of snacks generously provided by the condo fishpond.

 

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SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 7:03am
Sunset: 6:54pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 5:38am
Sunset: 5:59pm